New (Academic) Year, New Sites: MusicEnglish

Welcome back!

Let's start the new academic year with songs.

Here is a site where you can find videos for a selection of songs with English subtitles which make it easy for you to sing along.

  MusicEnglish 

 You can also find Norah Jones singing "Don't Know Why" live (Thanks to Richard Gresswell) and download the lyrics by clicking here.

And here's a studio version with subtitles.

 

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)

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?

Shakespeare's Birthday: What A Piece Of Work Is Man!

Today, 18th April, is Shakespeare's Birthday, and it is celebrated at The Globe, the reconstruction of the theatre built for his company, although this one is not in the exact location of the original. Click on the picture on the right to read about its history.

References to Shakespeare and his works my appear anywhere and at any moment in the English speaking culture. An example:

In the the musical "Hair", at the moment in London, also a film, one of the songs is "What A Piece Of Work Is Man" and the lyrics come from Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (Act II, Scene II). It is a beauftiful although not very uplifiting passage (Hamlet is a tragedy and this quotation summarises Hamlet's melancholic mood at a certain point).

The song is also beautiful and it is sung at a critical moment in the musical.

The lyrics

What a piece of work is man!

How noble in reason!
How infinite in faculties!

In form and moving how express and admirable!

In action how like an angel!
In apprehension how like a god!

The beauty of the world!

The paragon of animals!

...

I have of late--but wherefore I know not--lost all my mirth,

This goodly frame, the
Earth, seems to me a sterile promontory,

This most excellent canopy, the air, you,

This brave o'erhanging firmament,

This majestical roof fretted with golden fire,

Why, it appears no other thing to me

Than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
...

What a piece of work is man!

How noble in reason!

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (Act II, Scene II)

HAMLET

I will tell you why; so shall my anticipation
prevent your discovery, and your secrecy to the king
and queen moult no feather. I have of late--but
wherefore I know not--lost all my mirth, forgone all
custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily
with my disposition that this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.

What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me,
what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not
me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling
you seem to say so.


If you want to read Shakespeare's works, this is an excellent site:

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

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.

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.

Ken Lee

If you are still alive after Halloween and the Day of the Dead, here is something to kill you. Just how far bad English can take you: the "Ken Lee" phenomenon. And the Bulgarian protagonist lives in Spain. Just in case, don't copy her pronunciation:

In the next video you can read (using the subtitles, unless you speak Bulgarian, of course) how the singer managed to achieve such pronunciation. In spite of everything, I would not reject the method, but I would suggest you refine it a little bit after the first steps (phonetics might help here). Oh, and watch out for some mistakes in the subtitles (at least they do not affect communication):

By the way, here is the original song with the "right" pronunciation. Please, learn this if any:

HOUSES

Although we are now dealing with a new topic, in the previous lesson we talked about houses and we could not listen to a song which I promised to upload here, so there you are:

OUR HOUSE, by Madness

(a hit from the 80's)

Songs and conditional sentences

We've been working with conditional sentences in class and these are some songs to practise them:

If + present
(type zero and type I)

If you don't know me by now (Simply Red)





You can get it if you really want (Jimmy Cliff)

If + past simple
(type II)

If I had a hammer (Trini López)

If I were a bell (from Guys and Dolls, Doris Day version suggested by María)

If I were a rich man, a classical from Fiddler On The Roof. In this song you will also find some first type and mixed type (second and third) conditional sentences.

More than words, by Extreme (one of my favourite songs). Although the version below is clearer, this group sang this song live in Seville at the Expo 92. If you were lucky enough to see them (I wasn't), here is a reminder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE1XRob6KkU

In the following song, the subjunctive "if I were..." is replaced by the more and more frequently used simple past "if I was...", something considered incorrect from a traditional grammar perspective:


All I want is you (

Barry Louis Polisar), from the film "JUNO"

I also think "If I could" by Seal is a good song for this purpose but I couldn't find a listenable version on the web. Any more suggestions?

ABILITES

Abilities and resolutions are somehow connected, especially when we think about learning new skills. Most of the times, what we can do and what we would like to be able to do are two different things and that means needing a lot of will and effort to gain a new ability. One of these abilities is learning a new language, which is what we are trying to do with English, isn't it?

In class we heard the song "Spanish Lesson" by

Madonna, where she becomes the Spanish teacher in spite of being far from speaking the Spanish language. We have to thank her, though, for her love of Spanish culture and the "type-1 conditional sentence" she introduces: If you do your homework, baby I will give you more.

Here is a link to the song: SPANISH LESSON

And now a little homage to someone who is able to surprise us with his skills on the court. Click on the photo and read the article in the Australian press (The Australian on line):

Appearances

WHAT DOES HE/SHE LOOK LIKE?

This is a link where you can find some vocabulary (a lot, actually) about physical appearance. It is from a site to learn Spanish but the list is as valid for learners of English:

WORDS TO DESCRIBE PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, FROM

FALSE APPEARANCES

Who are these people?

They look like celebrities but they are not, they are Sophia Loren's, Robin William's and Prince's look-alikes.

Definition of "look-alike" (Wikipedia): A look-alike is a living person who closely resembles another living person. In popular Western culture, a look-alike is a person who bears a close physical resemblance to a celebrity, politician or member of royalty.

Definition of "impersonator" (Wikipedia): An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another.

While look-alikes base their skills on mere resemblance, impersonators use make-up and other elements (clothes, wigs, etc.) to look like the person they try to copy but remind us of the person mostly because of their behaviour, voice and/or way of acting.

Who does she remind you of?

Watch the video and you will have not doubt about it:

Students sometimes impersonate their teachers or fellow students. Do you know of any cases? Did they get into trouble? Do you like that idea or you find it offensive?

Christmas Messages

The first message comes from Her Royal Majesty:



If you are really interested in the British Royal Family, the following link might suit your needs better than the previous one:


But if what interests you is "real" messages, here is one, a cover of Ben E. King's classic "Stand By Me" sung and/or played by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it travelled the globe:



Playing For Change: Song Around the World | Stand By Me from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

You can add further messages using "comments" below.