OPINION ESSAYS

Hello again!

We'll soon revise how to structure them, but meanwhile, you can have a look at this post from Masterpapers or these instructions from eHow. In Custom Writing you can also find some good advice on what to do, what to avoid and some expressions that may come handy.

Now that Halloween is approaching, you will start hearing ghost stories and other scary stuff. However, if you would like to check for yourself if a house is really hauted (or maybe it's just your friends trying to terrify you), you can follow these steps to find out.

Finally, if you've still got what it takes, you can listen to some spooky stories here. When you click on the story, it takes you to the script, then you must click on "listen to the audio version". Try not to read anything the first time, please, just concentrate on what you hear. The second time you are allowed to read while you listen. OK? Enjoy!

IMPROVING YOUR LISTENING

Would you like to improve your listening without too much effort? 

OK, here's something really awesome: if your browser is Mozilla Firefox, you can download a complement or extension called "Download helper" (absolutely free, as usual). Once installed, it will enable you to download any audio you hear, including podcasts!!!

Whenever there's something playing (or downloadable), these three little balls will start moving in your task bar. Just click on the icon and download the podcast. Try with this podcast from VOANEWS.COM (about learning with songs) or this other one from 6 Minute English  from the BBC: "Tea Drinking in the UK". Just play the "listen" button and watch the icon move, then just save it! If you want to read the script, it's on the right of the page.

A second option for you to practise your listening and your pronunciation, is to listen to songs. Where? You can either go to Youtube (and look for the songs with lyrics) or to goear.com , where some of the songs include the lyrics, like this one which I particularly like, Only Girl (In The World) by Rihanna. 

A third option is to install iTunes in your computer. It allows you to subscribe to your favourite podcasts and it downloads everything for you automatically every time you open it. There are losts of great podcasts you can subscribe to for free. You can download it from this page.

Now all you have to do is keep your podcasts in your iPod or MP3 player and listen to them while you're enjoying a walk along the beach, for example. Nice, isn't it? Enjoy! Please let me know if this helps you.