Dear Students,

During Week 14, starting November 11th, we focused on completing Writing Quiz 2. Additionally, we began exploring the Society unit by watching and analyzing an episode of the original The Addams Family series.

In class, we engaged in:

• Listening comprehension and analysis questions related to the episode.
• A guided discussion about themes such as Americanness, family values, and Anglo-Saxon/Western society. We compared the family model presented in the series to contemporary perspectives from film and media.

We also coordinated that preparation for final exams will commence next week.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

Best regards,
Prof. Masías O. 

Dear students,

I hope you're all doing well. During Week 13, which began on November 4th, we briefly revisited writing exercises in preparation for the upcoming essay writing test scheduled for November 11th. Following that, we officially kicked off our last unit of the semester titled Society. The objectives of this unit are to enable you to discuss changes in society, compare older and younger generations, and more. We also focused on the structure of Pros & Cons essays through examples and practical exercises, along with feedback on the recent listening quiz.

For our warm-up activity, we reflected on the differences between the culture of the USA in the 60s-70s and our current times, particularly focusing on topics such as the constitution of the family, the American Dream, gender roles, and aesthetics. We also revisited The Addams Family series, watching an episode from the original 1964 show, after which we developed comprehension and discussion questions in groups.

As always, all materials for this week are available on U-Cursos. Feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Best regards,
Prof. Masías

Dear students,

During Week 11, which started on October 21st, we focused our efforts on the Financial Matters unit. Through a mix of individual and gamified activities, group work involving research, and dialogue creation, we were able to conduct a comprehensive vocabulary review related to financial topics.

In addition to that, we explored the process of opening student bank accounts, both in other countries and in our own, before finishing the week with some classic online exercises.

I encourage you to review the material on U-Cursos, and as always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

Best regards,
Prof. Masías

Dear Students,

I hope you're all doing well.

During last week's classes, we completed the communicative practices and content for the unit "Facing Problems." We explored functional and syntactic aspects such as:

• The use of modal verbs for speculating
• Giving advice and recommendations
• Managing different levels of formality and politeness

Additionally, we successfully completed the Speaking Midterm Test.

If you have any questions or need further clarification, feel free to reach out.

Best regards,
Prof. JM

Dear Students,

I hope you're doing well.

Last week, we focused on strengthening your speaking skills, reinforcing the communicative functions we've developed throughout our thematic units, all in preparation for the upcoming Speaking Midterm. We concentrated on key areas such as:

• Narration skills
• Talking about transportation and interesting places in the city
• Practicing how to give advice and discuss duties and obligations

We also put our oral production skills into practice in various ways to help improve fluency and coherence.

If you have any questions or need clarification, feel free to reach out.

Best regards,
JM

Dear Students,

Last week, we continued progressing through the unit What was it like? where we are exploring how to talk about past events. We dedicated two sessions to collaborative speaking activities to help improve your speaking skills and foster a sense of bonding among you. Through a series of written and interactive exercises, we explored how meaning changes depending on the structure, with examples and online games.

All the materials are available on U-Cursos.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

Best regards,
Prof. Masías O.

Dear Students,

I hope you’re all doing well. Last week, we resumed our learning activities and focused on several key areas:

In the first session, we went over the feedback from Writing Quiz 1. We corrected our mistakes and worked on improving our writing skills as part of a self-evaluation process. Additionally, I provided the instructions for the Video Talk assessment, which will count for 10% of your final grade.

In the second session, we started the unit "What was it like?" aimed at developing narrative skills. We reflected on how different verb tenses communicate the chronology of events. We also analyzed the structure of narratives and reviewed irregular verbs through a mandala activity.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Best regards,
JM

Dear Students,

I hope this message finds you well.

During the past week, we focused on consolidating our knowledge of punctuation and capitalization in English. We also reviewed the formal parameters for writing emails in English, analyzing their structure, format, punctuation, and key phrases that reflect different levels of formality.

In addition, we explored the concepts of coherence and cohesion, working through online activities that introduced various expressions and linking phrases. These will be essential in future assignments.

The central theme of our current unit is titled "Places to Stay," and the final goal is for you to develop the ability to write emails informing others about visiting and navigating a city. You will also learn to request information about similar topics, especially in international contexts.

Best regards,

Prof. Masías O.

Ps. There is a Paragraphing Homework available on U-Cursos, for you to practice for the upcoming Writing Quiz 1.