Proficiency: Christmas Homework

For this Christmas holiday homework I'll be asking for a review of a book and an exposition of some interesting vocabulary. You can choose any book you want just as long as it is in English but I have posted here a list of books by modern British authors which I think contain a lot of interesting language and idiomatic expressions.

Part1: Review

For instructions on how to write your review visit the writing section at the end of your student's book. You have some more interesting resources here. I also highly recommend visiting some online magazines to read some professional reviews and extract some language from them.

Part 2: Vocabulary exposition

Read the book and write down any words or short phrases that are new or difficult to understand, or that are important in the story.

Choose two words, two idioms and two collocations. You´ll explain the meaning of these words, idioms and collocations to the class providing the context (please careful with SPOILERS) and some examples of it's use. (You need to search the internet for common uses of these expressions)


e.g. From Us by David Nicholls

Collocation: to run its course

Context: The main character of the book is woken up by his wife in the middle of the night. He thinks at first that she's scared of burglars and tries to reassure her but it turns out that it is something else that worries her. She says:

"I didn't say anything about burglars. I think our marriage has run its course. Douglas I think I want to leave you."

Meaning: The expression means that something continues until it has finished. In the previous sentence it means that it has continued for a while but now it has reached its natural ending.

Other examples:

The doctor insisted I rested for a few days until the disease had run its course

This new anti-drugs strategy is needed now because the existing EU strategy will have run its course by the end of this year. 

A merry christmas and a happy new year to all of you.

Strong vs weak forms: I can explain

We were seeing in class strong and weak forms.

The strong form of can is/kæn/ but we usually use the weak form  /Kən/

In the video below we hear people saying "I can explain" using mostly the weak form.

The strong form is only used when we stress can because we want to empasise the positive  /kæn/

The negative is always stressed but has a different sound the long vowel ɑː can't /kɑːnt/ 

Exercise:

Find two people who use the strong form ( too see the answers click on the comments below.)

CAE: A tower of Giraffes: Some fun collective nouns

We saw in class some collective nouns A flock of sheep, other examples would be A pack of wolves and A pounce of cats. There are all sorts of strange names for groups of animals. Here is a short exercise with some of the most interesting ones:

Match the collective noun to the right animal:


1. A tower  of  (j)                a. fish
2. A plague of                     b. ants (also swarm)
3. A scourge of                   c. elephants
4. A herd of                        d. lions
5. A parade of                     e. bees
6. A pride of                        f. hyenas
7. An army of                      g. mosquitoes
8. A swarm of                      h. locusts
9. A school of                      i. birds
10. A flock/flight of             j. giraffes
11. A cackle of                    k. cows


Have a nice week!

What I'm really thinking! Reading

Experimenting on shower conversations.

Shower conversations are an idea I got from a TED talk by Sid Efromovich, who speaks seven languages. It is basically talking to yourself which might sound crazy but it's actually a great way to prepare for a real conversation. Modelling how you are going to say something will help you to be more fluent when you get to class.

On Wednesday we´ll be talking about the weekly series run by the Guardian called what I´m really thinking. You can find a link to the index below:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/what-im-really-thinking

Make sure you choose a job, and prepare a shower conversation.

Take these things into consideration:

1) You'll be telling the class what you read (just a brief summary) and giving your opinion on the text.
2) You can also pose some questions to the class. (Think on what people will say and how you´ll react, it has to be a conversation not a monologue) Some ideas: Would you like to do this job? Why (not)? How would you feel if..?  Is the writer being obnoxious? Should this job even exist? Have you ever felt frustrated when dealing with a...? etc.
3) You should try to use some of the adjectives and collocations we learnt in class.
4) Be prepared to explain any unknown words or idioms as other students might not understand them

Homework 20/08/14: Ted.com

TED is the best thing since sliced bread, it has hundreds of inspirational talks about all kinds of topics from how to be successful to the benefits of being introverted. I can spend hours just watching random stuff.

If you visit TED talks you can choose language English and whichever topic your prefer. Try to find a short talk, maybe from three to ten minutes, and take notes as you watch it. Tomorrow you can tell the class about it.

Here are some of my personal favorites:

David Gallo on underwater creatures
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_gallo_shows_underwater_astonishments

Richard St John on how to reach success
http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_st_john_s_8_secrets_of_success

Susan Cain on Introverts and extroverts
http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts

Elizabeth Gilbert on creativity
http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_success_failure_and_the_drive_to_keep_creating

(Note: You have a interactive transcript. If you click on a sentence the transcript takes you straight to that part of the video)

FCE Listening: Scottish Accent

I.Gerard Butler on David Letterman


Ana and Eduardo both sent me this fun interview with Scottish actor Gerard Butler on the David Letterman's show, a late night television talk show.

As you listen you can answer the following questions:

1) What does Gerard Butler mostly do when he goes back home to the Highlands in Scotland?
A) He eats a lot of Scottish traditional meals
B) He Sleeps
C) He argues with his mom

2) Where did he sleep when he went to Plockton?
A-In a castle
B-In a B&B
C-He crashed with a married couple.

3) Why did he nearly crash when he was driving his helicopter in Hawaii?
A) A log got in his way
B) He was telling a story
C) It was windy.

II) Sean Connery on David Letterman

 Raquel sent me an old interview with Connery on the BBC, but I chose this one because he does one of the greatest entrances ever!

As you listen fill in the gaps in these sentences.

-Letterman thought Connery had bought the jetpack at ___________(4) round the corner.

-There were rumors that the actor was ________ (5) away.

-In the Orient, being announced dead when you aren't, means ________ (6)

-Sean Connery was in Spain for about _________ (7)

III) John Hannah

 Lucia kindly sent me an extract of a film with John Hannah. I have decided to post a short interview instead as in the extract there are some other accents too. He has probably the strongest accent of the three. So listen carefully and as you do, answer the questions below.

8- John Hannah doesn't like cop shows because...
A- He hates maverick cops
B- All cop shows are the same.
C- The writers aren't very good.

9-Most actors want...
A- To mess about between the scenes
B- To do funny shows
C- Write their own jokes

10-What information does he give away
A-His daughter is one of the characters
B-Somebody dies.
C-A Cardboard cutout of a child is used in the interview room.