Why on Earth have their profits plunged??? Perfect Modal Verbs / Third Conditional for Speculation

This week we've been using perfect modal verbs again but this time we've been speculating about business and companies.....

Imagine you saw a graph for company profits like this:-

PROFITS

YEAR 1 / YEAR 2 / YEAR 3 /  YEAR 4

Let's try to use the following structures to speculate about what could have caused this plunge / plummet (caída en picado):-

There might have been bad press for the company's products.

The company owner must have had financial problems.

The company would have gone bankrupt in year 5 if the profits had kept plunging.

PERFECT MODAL VERBS:-

SB + MODAL VERB + AUX. HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

e.g. There could have been a problem with company's shares on the stock market. (Impersonal SB)

OR

Mrs Black (the CEO) might have resigned. (Personal SB)

THE THIRD CONDITIONAL

IF + SB + HAD + PAST PART., SB + MODAL VERB + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

OR

SB + MODAL VERB + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE IF SB + HAD + PAST PARTICIPLE

e.g. If the profits had carried on growing like in year two, the company would have been in a fantastic position nowadays.

Feel free to leave your own examples in the comments!

Paranormal.... Or not??? Let's take English beyond the final frontier.....

This week we have started a project in class about "Ghastly ghosts", what's ghastly (you're probably thinking)? Well, the definition of ghastly is:-

ghastly

/ˈɡɑːs(t)li/

adjective

1. 1.

   causing great horror or fear.

   "one of the most ghastly crimes ever committed"

   :	terrible, frightful, horrible, grim, awful, dire;
2. 2.

   extremely unwell.

   "she had sobered up but she felt ghastly" :ill, unwell, washed out, peaky; 

   
   
   
   
   

   

   
   
3. 
   
4. As you can imagine in this case we're going to be using the first context.
5. So, first thing's first, do you believe in ghosts? I must admit that I do, there just seems to be too much evidence to do so, and not enough to say otherwise.

As I said we have been reading about different, possibly, paranormal cases this week and trying to find rational explanations for them, meanwhile we practise our English.

Some of the vocabulary we have been going over is:-

• evil
• demon
• frightening
• to haunt
• haunted house
• spook
• murder
• murderer
• poltergeist
• psychic experts
• parapsychology

One example of a case is that of Queen's House in Greenwich, England.

https://www.rmg.co.uk/queens-house/history

Here is a photo that was taken at Queen's House in 1966 by a tourist, how could we explain that???

Try using modal verbs for speculation:-

It must have been the reflection of somebody in a mirror.

It could have been somebody's shadow.

It can't have been a real person, its clothes are two old-fashioned.

Please leave your own ideas in the comments.

The Price is Right

The price is right was a TV game show shown in the UK, in Spain it was called "El Precio Justo".

In the show, contestants compete to win cash and prizes by guessing the prices of merchandise.

Here's a videoclip of the show:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ps0Op2CbRs

We have been playing "The Price is Right" in class this week. Each student showed the class three things they normally buy, describing each object in detail and then the other students (and I) had to estimate how much each object costs. The student with the closest guess got a point.

So here are my objects, let's see if you can get the price right*:-

1.

This is the last book I bought, it's by one of my favourite authors, James Patterson. It's a paperback book and I bought it at a shopping centre.

2. 

These are my favourite chocolates, lindor. This box is 200g and has a mix of white, milk and dark chocolates. I don't buy them very often... I promise.

3. 

The last one is a purse from the brand "Anekke". It was made in Spain and it's good quality material. It came in a card gift box.

Leave your estimates in the comments below!!!!

I will reveal the correct prices on 20th March!

*get something right - to say / do something correctly.

Effective Presentation Openings in English - Part 2

When you attend a presentation as a viewer you realize that it needs to catch your attention right from the start to make it interesting enough to carry on listening. So what we're going to look at is how to make your opening catchy.

One way to make your presentation catchy is to use an amazing fact (related to the topic) to get the audience engaged from the very first minute.

Here are some example structures you can use:-

Did you know that 50% of today's consumers never spend more than 100€ on their weekly food shopping?

According to the latest study the most popular hybrid car on the market is the Toyota Prius.

Statistics show that only a quarter of the consumers that buy eco-friendly products, on the High Street, actually buy them online as well.

I read somewhere the other day that Microsoft made more in 1999 than IBM made in the whole decade.

 Feel free to make some more examples and write them in the comments below!

Can you improve your English by playing board games? Why not? #trivialchallenge

I'm sure all of you have played Trivial Pursuit at sometime, the game all depends on your level of general knowledge but in this case just asking and trying to answer those questions can be a great way to boost your English knowledge.

Take a chance at #trivialchallenge

Look at the following questions, one per each category of the well-loved board game. 

The first person who can correctly write the six answers in the comments below or on LinkedIn will be entitled to a free 30 minute skype/telephone lesson OR a novel in English (according to your level). 

The challenge will run from today 24/02/19 - 03/03/19, so any answers after 03/03/19 won't be valid. 

Good luck!!!

1st Category - GEOGRAPHY

2nd Category - ENTERTAINMENT

3rd Category - HISTORY

4th Category - ART & LITERATURE

5th Category - SCIENCE & NATURE

6th Category - SPORT & LEISURE

Effective Presentation Openings in English - Part 1

When you attend a presentation as a viewer you realize that it needs to catch your attention right from the start to make it interesting enough to carry on listening. So what we're going to look at is how to make your opening catchy.

One way to make your presentation catchy is to use a problem scenario (related to the topic) to get the audience engaged from the very first minute.

Here are some question examples that would get people participating:-

What would you do if you went to a meeting and discovered you had forgotten your notes / powerpoint presentation / laptop, etc?

How many people here this morning / afternoon / evening have had an unpleasant colleague at work? If so, how did you deal with him or her?

Suppose you had to present a product and when you had to give a demonstration, the product wouldn't work, what would you do?

Can you think of other similar examples that are relevant to your sector / speciality?
Feel free to leave them in the comments!!!

Storytelling

Have you ever had to improvise at a meeting, while giving a presentation or to entertain visitors?

This is something that is a walk in the park in your native language but how about in English?

Perhaps you have your own repertoire of tried and tested anecdotes or stories but let's imagine you have to improvise.

First of all, we will need some connectors, such as:-

• AT FIRST
• IN THE END
• JUST THEN
• HOWEVER
• WHEN
• SUDDENLY
• BECAUSE OF THIS
• EVENTUALLY
• IN ORDER TO
• BUT SOON
• SO 
• LATER
• FINALLY

So let's put this into practice, take a look at the photo below and try to tell an imaginary story/ancedote using the pictures on the dice and at least five of these connectors.

Now think about if your story has:-

1. An introduction
2. Background (context)
3. A problem or main event
4. The resolution or continuation
5. A final comment or conclusion

Feel free to leave your stories or anecdotes in the comments below!