-ING AFTER PREPOSITIONS

Halloween (click here to find some classroom materials)

October 31st

First of all, here is an excellent "recut trailer" of Mary Poppins, very appropriate for Halloween:

A SONG: This is Halloween, from Nightmare Before Christmas

and

A WITCH, or so they say (by Monty Python)

Me too / So do I

We introduced in class the structures "so do I" and "neither do I" to replace "me too" and "me neither".

If you need to revise how this structures work, click on the following link and read section

2. So/Neither do I, I do, I don't., etc.

If you don't know or you are not sure about when you can use "me too" and when you should use "so do I", here is the answer from the BBC Learning English site to this question:

Finally, here are some exercises about the structure "so/neither do I":

Election Day Vocabulary

Tomorrow, 6th May 2.010 is election day in the United Kingdom.

Students sometimes ask about the vocabulary related to this, especially on the voting day.

Here is a piece of authentic material which can be used in order to extract information about the terms listed below.

Students should suggest a definition and/or their translation into their language after reading it. Click on the pictures to see them better.

Tip: you can role play a voting situation when they have to elect their class representatives.

Local Goverment Elections

Parliamentary Election

Poll Card

Polling Station

Ballot Paper

Polling Booths

Ballot Box

Presiding officer

Life-cycle: John Lewis's ad

As a teacher, I tend to choose materials by how useful they are in the learning context but some other times their artistic or entertaining value makes them worth mentioning.

Here is an ad for John Lewis which has both. When I first saw it I really liked it but it also made me think about how good it was to introduce the topic and vocabulary of the different ages we go through in life: childhood, adolescence, maturity... (see other suggestions below)

It seems I'm not the only one who liked it, as it has gone viral on YouTube this week. Here is the video and a link to MailOnline, where you can read an interesting article about it.





The £6m ad that's got Britain talking - and sobbing

Added on May 9th:

Why the John Lewis advert has us hooked

More ways of exploiting the advert:

* "Can" for abilitiy: the song, Billy Joel's She's Always A Woman is based on the repetition of the structure "she can ..." to make a list of the "abilities" a woman may have (from the point of view of the singer, of course). This can also be used as a topic for discussion at higher levels.

*Descriptions: students may describe the different actresses and see their similarities and differences (on top of age). Actually, at a certain point, they might notice some slight change in height in one of them. Also the background changes but here is where the ad has received the only negative criticism, as it does not seem to change in time.

*Biographies: the story in the ad could be used to invent a biography and add details which are not mentioned, like the woman's job, her husband, where they live, etc.

More suggestions?

Logorama: A Story with Brand Names and Logos.

Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.

Teacher helps pupils cheat

GCSE: the General Certificate of Secondary Education is "an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland" (Wikipedia)

Public school: although it may sound like a contradictory term, a public school is that which is run by private hands, as opposed to a state school, which is run by education authorities and on public funding.

Teacher at princes’ school helped his pupils to cheat in French exam (Timesonline)

Gordonstoun teacher banned after pupils get exam 'tip-off' (News.scotsman.com)

Games: The Times Spelling Bee

The Times Spelling Bee is part of the TIMESONLINE and a good way to practise your spelling and listening skills. It is addressed to native children, so you will need to know quite a good range of vocabulary. It's worth trying and you can also learn new words.

Remember the menu on the right where you can choose different types of games.



Spelling is not consistent in English and that creates serious problems to both native and foreign learners of the language. That is why you may have seen some reference to spelling championships in some movie or series from an English speaking country. Something totally strange to Spanish speakers, for example.

April Fool's Day (Santos Inocentes)

Related vocabulary

Hoax: Act intended to deceive or trick.

Practical joke: a prank or trick usually intended to make the victim appear foolish.

Prank: a mischievous trick or practical joke.

Día de Andalucía: icons.

In November 2008 I published a post with a link to a page which should have had an entry of its own. In this website, you can find a collection of different items which can be considered English icons, along with an explanation about them. It was this:





Next Sunday we are celebrating the Día de Andalucía and I was wondering what I would include in a similar collection called ICONOS. un retrato de Andalucía.




Here is one which shocked me when I realised it was something "anomalous" in a British pub:



If you actually look at the picture of the interior, you feel you must be in Andalucía but might not know why until you pay attention to the "elements" hanging from the cupboard. Yes, it is "un jamón" and it is in the centre of London.

This happened to me in what is called a "gastropub",which is a pub converted into a restaurant. This one is supposed to be Spanish, hence the decoration.

Going back to the icons, here are some suggestions for Andalucía. Do you agree? Can you add more?

Valentines and love letters.

Here is a video that could be used to introduce a class about St Valentine's Day:

One thing I like about it is that it uses lots of song lyrics in the sentences the character is trying to write and it could be a good idea to make some competition in class to try to identify (and sing!!) some of them. Students could also try to "help" the man to write his love letter or valentine without watching the end of the story.

If you need more materials about St Valentine's Day, Larry Ferlazzo's blog could be of use. Here you will find more links to what he considers the best sites to learn about St Valentine's Day.

Now here is a song which is not mentioned in the video above but which is directly linked to its theme. It could represent the reaction of the lady who receives the letter from the man in the video.

The song is "Love letters", a classic, in the voice of Alison Moyet (the first version I heard although not necessarily the best, that is up to you).

To help you write valentines, here is a suggestion I have taken from Times Online. The two first lines are the "cliché" of valentine "poetry". The rest is a highly political statement and the basis for the joke.

It makes reference to an interview in which the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, opens his heart about private matters in front of the cameras. This has been perceived by some people (the cartoonist Peter Brookes , for example) as a change of attitude in the prospect for votes in the next election.

TV shows and teenagers

Here is an article (click on the image) from Guardian.co.uk, the online version of The Guardian , a British broadsheet newspaper.
.

In the article, some of the most popular UK TV shows among teenagers are described by one of them, Liberty Love (15), by answering to three questions:

- Who watches it.

- Why it is good (written as an indirect question, thus the word order).

- Best character.

A similar activity could be done in class (about programmes in your own country, other types of programmes, or for other age groups) and present it as an article or as a short talk.

Of course, as it is an opinion article, disagreement and debate could be another ingredient in the final recipe.

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Interesting vocabulary: must-see (adjective created from shortening the sentence "must be seen", meaning you cannot miss it or worth seeing). Read about its origin in Wikipedia.

Messages: which one is more effective?

Warning: You might not want to watch the following advert if the previous one already managed to convince you and left you with a very good feeling.

Which one is more effective in your opinion?

Groundhog Day

Today is Groundhog Day. You might not know what it is, but it surely is an excellent opportunity to watch a great movie with lots of tips for language learners, as dialogues are repeated and repeated.

In the following scene you have basic questions for introductions and how to ask somebody to marry you (in a traditional way):

If you actually want to know about Groundhog Day, here is the "official" link:

Everyday activities from a multidisciplinary perspective

Here is a link to a video (unfortunately it cannot be embedded), where everyday activities are analysed under a new perspective.



It could be used for elementary levels and for CAL groups, identifying the different disciplines which have connections with what appears in the video. Click on the image to watch it.

Oxford Street and Christmas lights.

Well, I have to say that they had to cover patches with tarmac here and there, as the works have not been completely finished yet. We thought this only happened in Spain, but here it is the same.

Today is the day the Christmas lights will be lit up in Oxford and Regent Street and this attracts crowds in the same way "el alumbrado" does in Seville for the opening of the April Fair, so it had to be ready by all means.


It is a great improvement, though, and it is fully functional in spite of the patches I mentioned.

And I thank the Mayor of London as I always come out of the underground station on the wrong side (I am that silly) and it is crazy trying to cross the street at this point, fighting masses of people in all directions.








Here you are some information about Xmas lights in London, with the calendar for the different areas, as they are not lit up at the same time.


This year and thanks to Disney, Regent Street and Oxford Street will be lit up at the same time (the crossing of these streets is Oxford Circus, above).

Oxford Circus has been decorated with references to Disney's adaptation of Charles Dicken's Christmas Carol, showing today the world's premiere.

The Day of the Dead at the British Museum

Coinciding with the exhibition about "Moctezuma, Aztec Ruler", the British Museum will celebrate the "Day of the Dead" on Sunday 1st November, just after Halloween, in the way Mexicans do. Click on the picture to see how:

The English Blog

The English Blog, by Jeffrey Hill, is in my list of favourite blogs and the following post is a good example of why. Of course, on top of the interesting posts, there are excellent links and resources for students of English:

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, by Mark Haddon

On Wednesday 6th May we had a lesson in which we talked about different aspects of "The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Night-Time". The debate was very interesting and many ideas were expressed. The general opinion about the book was very positive. Here I leave you a video of a "rapid review" which reflects some of the things we mentioned in class (we dealt with many many more aspects):

We also learnt that  autism and Asperger Syndrome are not exactly the same thing although they share many common features. We finally watched and discussed some videos from a campaign in the UK which is trying to make us aware of the existence of people with behavioural differences caused by this syndrome.

One aspect we mentioned is how some scenes and ideas might seem comical in the book when that is not the intention of the main character, something which is clearly reflected in some of the videos too.

These are the videos:

Finally, here is an interview with the author of the book, Mark Haddon, which is worth reading.

If I hadn't slipped, I wouldn't have sprained my ankle

Hi, everybody!

As you know I'm on a sick leave due to a sprained ankle (a serious one, believe me) but I can still post here and want to use my situation to introduce/revise the third conditional in the context of "regrets", one of the commonest uses.

This is the uninteresting story of the sprain (but if you don't read it now and ask me how it happened when I get back, I'll make you read it as homework):

"Last Wednesday I went to the gym after breakfast. I got changed and was ready to start when I felt the need to visit the toilet. On my way to the toilet I noticed something strange in my left eye and as I was passing in front of a mirror, I turned to check if there was something wrong. Unfortunately, this mirror was above a washbasin and the floor was wet. It was when I was turning that I placed my foot in the wrong position and on the slippery floor. And then it happened, my ankle twisted and I felt a very intense pain while the whole weigh of my body fell on it. I had to get a taxi to go to the doctor's and now I must spend 15 days without leaning on that foot. A silly accident with serious consequences. Something to regret. If I hadn't gone to the gym, I wouln't have sprained my ankle...(but I did and there's nothing I can do to change the past, is there?)

Conditional sentences: If + past perfect (type III)

Task 1.

Can you think of other situations in which you could use this structure to express regrets?

You can write a composition beginning or ending with a third conditional and then explaining your story and the reason for your regret. I'll be happy to read it in my (hopefully brief) retirement.

Here you are another story in which someone has something to regret. And it also happens in a changing room! (You can also find it in Yapper, where you can read the subtitles but try first without any help)

But not everything must be about regretting. Watch the following video and send your answer to this question as a comment.

What would you have done if you had been there?