Sample letters of complaint and some tips on how to go about writing them!


http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/letters-of-complaint
http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eiw/complaint_letter_constructor.htm#Warning
http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/pdf/odo/practical%20writing/disappointing%20holiday.pdf
http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/pdf/odo/practical%20writing/leaking%20radiator.pdf
http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/pdf/odo/practical%20writing/faulty%20product.pdf
http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/pdf/odo/practical%20writing/unsatisfactory%20workmanship.pdf

 CITY GUIDES!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/series/amsterdam-city-guide
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/series/barcelona-city-guide
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/series/istanbul-city-guide
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/series/tokyo-city-guide

 Fill-the-blanks listening practice. The internet is awash with listening tests. Have a look round!

 http://www.examenglish.com/CAE/cae_listening2.htm
http://www.examenglish.com/CAE/listening.php
http://www.examenglish.com/CAE/cae_listening4.htm
http://www.examenglish.com/CAE/cae_listening3.htm
http://www.examenglish.com/CAE/cae_listening1.htm
http://www.esl-lab.com/expense/expensefra.htm
http://www.esl-lab.com/trouble/troublefra.htm
http://www.esl-lab.com/drive/drivefra.htm
http://www.esl-lab.com/home/homefra.htm
http://www.esl-lab.com/cm1/cm1wd.htm
http://www.esl-lab.com/market/marketfra.htm
http://www.esl-lab.com/taxi1/taxifra.htm

This is a fun series for beginners! Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAi1JlMIQVM

Where can i find sky-is-the-limit vocab ?
http://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksDirector

What are you into?

Is it cooking, kitting, playing guitar, yoga, boulder climbing, origami, leaning chinese, fiction writing...?
WHAT IS IT?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFvOwf9IByc&list=PL688B13824DC61470&index=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6DvkrxjI6o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml-rxMwcaf0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_EkJ5nNCkA&playnext=1&list=PL25F7965C70285333&feature=results_main
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_l7QHxSwms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf5Esemp2f4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyQ1wEBx1V0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-hEdVboS6o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSijU52XJ7w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uw-nUvGrBY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7Ehn3tnqpk

Inspiring ideas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6EOGDnUgS4

Exemplify!!!

I had already hinted that this webpage is MUST when it comes to illustrating the use of a given set phrase or chunk of language.
http://www.linguee.com/english-spanish/search?source=auto&query=+unacquainted+with
http://www.linguee.com/english-spanish/search?source=auto&query=vent+my+frustration
http://www.linguee.com/english-spanish/search?source=auto&query=+concede+that

 Some great discussion and debate links you can fantastic tips from...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtLd6AKiTfs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM7ypUb62Hc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyhozMqvq1ghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrcJOitz-d4

Interesting show on immigration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HshRtCDsF7g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc_Gc4bfnEg

miscellaneous samples of journalistic English

Articles, reviews, human interest stories and video interviews (if you're interested in photography make sure you check out the last link. you might get a few useful tips!)

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2013/01/the-season-two-premiere-of-girls-lena-vs-hannah.html

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2013/02/dvd-of-the-week-the-elephant-man.html

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/photobooth/egypt/#slide_ss_0=1

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/12/jeffrey-toobin-second-amendment.html

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/photobooth/everybody-street/

communal writing

The woman yawned. A long lazy noise came right out of her and was gone. It was an unearthly sound. She felt extremely tired after a bad night's sleep. Nightmares had plagued her since her early childhood but their vividness had increased of late. They had  become virtually indistinguishable from reality.

Nadia tentatively felt the other side of her bed with the back of her hand in vain. Her husband was gone.

communal writing

he remembered having once reflected upon the possibility of humans living like humans. there might have been a chance. some tribes had once truly believed in a pre-existing being, incomparable to anything real. this sole idea had made it possible to act humanely. they had feared the consequences of their injustices even if they were all essentially forgetful beings. some had lived hoping for an afterlife. a few believed their lives were gifts and followed a path set by their tenacious wills to be decent people.

an originator of duality and contradiction, possibility and opposition? modern notions of history and science didn t seem to allow for such an entity.

the fleeting idea of a being setting everything in motion or even surveying the unfolding of events in the universe was made more approachable by the existence of messengers; some were charlatans, others were unveilers.

our boy, though, was of a third kind. No categories really applied to him.

To err is human...lyrics is plural!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyrics
http://www.wordreference.com/definition/lyrics

Some miscellaneous comments and reviews taken from the amazon, youtube and vimeo.
http://www.amazon.com/Stronger-Than-Me-Amy-Winehouse/dp/B0000DD9AV
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Macy-Gray/dp/B000N8UYBO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CYE0DYIbaw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limit_to_Your_Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwTU9CY0gLE
http://vimeo.com/15624524

 Three clips from a very juicy documentary

The English people are systematically taught is not the english most UK natives speak
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEsI2t-mvZk

English as the language of the Empire and Lingua franca
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzt2p1jRiro

Dated slang and slang that made it into the 21st century
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qub-s7e55k


 Naughty mockumentary on the history of the English language
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rexKqvgPVuA

What we did with inside job one can do with...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0PQAtko8Cc
http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/ommovies/contenidotematico.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEsI2t-mvZk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgljsnHknF4

Explore the amazing vintagey world of audioslides!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/audioslideshow/2012/nov/26/brief-history-of-global-capitalism-leo-panitch
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/audioslideshow/2012/oct/10/homelessness-mario-story-audio-slideshow

More juicy critical reviews

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNgfaYmzZbA&list=ELBijyEGVUMqc

Film and music reviews.

Written reviews.
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/nov/28/guardian-best-albums-2012-20-11
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/jun/03/angels-share-ken-loach-review

Podcast reviews.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/audio/2012/nov/29/popandrock-jessie-ware

Video reviews.
http://betchabottmdolla.blogspot.com.es/2012_04_01_archive.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/film+content/video
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2012/nov/30/the-hunt-video-review

Picture reviews?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/gallery/2012/dec/01/10-best-screen-adaptations-pictures

A few interesting webpages to keep you busy for the duration of your nine English speaking lives


BERKLEE (musical life)
http://www.berklee.edu/video
THE MOTH (real life stories)
 http://themoth.org/
OPEN CULTURE (audiobooks life)
http://www.openculture.com/2012/10
YALE(psycological life, post-colonial life, popular science )
http://www.youtube.com/user/YaleUniversity#g/c/003CE0429CAE4E19 ()
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwsj9AZnaaE&feature=edu&list=PLACAA5E35D77BA4B0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq6u4RFf7ck&list=EC27FAF837577D180A&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAQN6EPU7hc&feature=edu&list=PLACAA5E35D77BA4B0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmKWhPbYwaE&feature=edu&list=PLACAA5E35D77BA4B0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyGEMsmcm54
HARVARD (quantum life)
http://athome.harvard.edu/programs/jmr/#
http://athome.harvard.edu/programs/sst/
http://athome.harvard.edu/programs/sst/video/sst1_5.html
http://athome.harvard.edu/programs/sst/video/sst1_3.html
DEF POETRY JAM (poetic life)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuH-ZMrlie0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuAbGJBvIVY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4Xu0LW7ilo
STAND UP (not exactly PC fundamentalist humorous life)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ktBQ51iGWw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACA0OBB9Qc4&playnext=1&list=PL3F3F2DBBC3010312

Very interesting videos to work on conjunctions linking words and syntax in general.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSU2hZXhr8U&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Reec7NtvY&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoUCYCaoHno&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El-Gr22YUCQ&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZRVaVJMWAk&feature=relmfu