Adjectives as nouns and adjective order links

Here you have some links to study this grammar point more in depth:

Try any or all these easy quizzes to check your difficulties using nationality adjectives:   quiz 1 quiz 2 quiz 3
If you had problems I recommend you to revise any of these lists:  list 1 list 2

To revise the use of the + some adjectives to talk about specific groups of people I suggest these links: explanation exercise

or for the use of one and ones: exercise 1

As for the position of adjectives before a noun, although it is impossible to give a clear rule which will work in all circumstances, here is an acceptable order for adjectives.

THE ROYAL ORDER OF ADJECTIVES
Determiner	Observation	Physical Description				Origin	Material	Qualifier	Noun
		Size	Shape	Age	Color
a	beautiful			old		Italian		touring	car
an	expensive			antique			silver		mirror
four	gorgeous		long- stemmed		red		silk		roses
her			short		black				hair
our		big		old		English			sheepdog
those			square				wooden	hat	boxes
that	dilapidated	little						hunting	cabin
several		enormous		young		American		basketball	players
some	delicious					Thai			food

(taken from http:// grammar.ccc.commnet/edu/grammar )

Finally I think you could try this general quiz on adjectives

 

 

Stereotypes

I was surfing the net in search of information on this topic when I found this definition of stereotype:
“a single statement or attitude about a group of people that does not recognize the complex, multidimensional nature of human beings.”
Even though we, human beings, must simply accept that stereotypes are mainly negative and have to agree that they are generally unjust and deceptive, we still persist in proving how unfair is “a simplified and fixed image of all members of a culture or group”; and when trying to show that, only from time to time, we encounter examples that make us wonder.
Last year the CNNNY TV offered their viewers a video of American people answering “general knowledge” questions in the middle of the street. I am not going to describe what purpose they had in mind when they made the video, you can judge yourselves.

While watching the video, you were probably amused and astonished to see all those passers-by unable to articulate correct answers. Most of the questions were quite basic and obvious, but others were not so evident. I suggest that you should try to answer them, but keep in mind that you will be under no pressure, so you can do that at your own pace.

Name a country that begins with U.
Who is in the coalition of the willing?
What is the religion of Israel?

What religion are Buddhist Monks?

Who won the Vietnam War?

Who is Fidel Castro?

How many sides does a triangle have?

What is the currency used in the United Kingdom?

Koffee Annan is a coffee drink, true?
Who is Tony Blair?
Which countries are in the Axis of Evil?
Who was the first man on the moon?

What is a Mosque?

How many kidneys does a person have?

What is collateral damage?

How many World Wars have there been?

Which state does KFC come from?

Star Wars is based on a true story, true?

What are Hiroshma and Nagasaki famous for?

Where is the West Bank?

How many Eiffel Towers are in Pairs?

What is Al-Qaeda?

Where was the Berlin Wall?

The language spoken in Latin America is Latin, true?

Now you can compare your own ideas with these video-answers.

However, if you think that something like that could only have happened in USA, watch these two other videos where European citizens are asked quite elementary questions and are not able to give the right answers, either.

I really believe that making genalizations about countries and nationalities does not help to understand each other better, and I complete agree with this person’s opinion that “we all stereotype and sometimes the stereotype image is true, partially true and sometimes it is false. Many nationalities share similar traits and behaviors that lead to stereotyping. Is this bad? No I do not think so, but the problem is that many people stop there. The human animal is complex and is changing faster as technology and communication spreads. We are becoming more homogeneous than before. Is this bad? I think not, as long as we can appreciate our cultural heritage.
If we find ourselves stereotyping, we must also take the effort to look beyond, all people are unique, even though they may share certain stereotypical behaviors.” (taken from  englishclub.com forum)

A week for past memories

This has been the week of anniversaries, celebrations and memories of the past:

from the sad 5th anniversary of  the death of the writer Stieg Larsson (9 November, 2004), the author of the popular Millenium trilogy.

or the joyous celebration of the start of the TV programme for children Sesame Street (10 November, 1969)

to the commemoration of two important historical events in the last century: the fall of the Berlin Wall (9 November 1989)

and the end of the First World War (11 November, 1918)

I have been a distant witness of some of these happenings and, although I was not  aware of their relevance at the time, I feel now sort of proud that I saw them on the go. I haven’t forgotten the music of Sesame Street, which I still manage to sing in my head again and again and, strangely enough, what I best remember about the fall of the Wall is the image on a screen of a spectacular concert that took place in Postdamer Platz, Berlin, 8 months later.

Twenty years have passed since the World was  witness of that momentous event: Berlin citizens from the Two Germanies climbing the infamous ‘Wall of Shame’ to greet each other. It was the climax of a pacific anti-opression movement that had been taking place for the last months. It was a bloddless revolution where people used their arms, not those that hurt others in wars but the ones that human beings can use to climb walls, hold to other people’s hands and embrace each other.

As for the First World War, although  further back in time, we should not forget that it meant a terrible loss of human lives (the death of more than 15 million people) and had worldwide consequences.

2nd INT (2ºC, 2ºE, 2ºH) 1st term tests

2ºE , 2ºE

Monday 16th Nov: Listening+Reading+Writing

Monday 30th Nov: Listening+ ?

Monday 14th Dec: Listening+Reading+Writing

2ºH

Tuesday 17th Nov: Listening+Reading+Writing

Tuesday 1st Dec: Listening+ ?

Tuesday 15th Dec: Listening+Reading+Writing

1st INT (1ºC) 1st term tests

Monday 16th Nov: Listening+Reading+Writing

Monday 30th Nov: Listening+ ?

Monday 14th Dec: Listening+Reading+Writing

1st INT- Sessions 9th – 12th Nov

Sports vocabulary and listening tests: SS listen to people talking about sports they do.

Homework: think about a sporstperson who has retired. You’ll have to tell your mates about them.

Grammar revision: past forms exercise.

Speaking: Students interview each other about sport. Exercise 6, p. 10.

Reading: SS read and discuss about sporstpeople who have retired. Exercise 7 on p. 11.

Pronunciation: SS practise and contrast the long vowel sounds in sport and word. Exercise 5 , p. 10.

Vocabulary and speaking: SS revise and extend family vocabulary and discuss how the typical family is being redefined.

Grammar: the three most common future forms will be studied and contrasted. Exercise 2, p. 13.

Reading: SS read about two sisters and their relationship.Exercise 3 on p. 14.

Writing: SS read two emails, eliciting the main ideas. They correct spelling mistakes and answer some general comprehension questions.

Grammar and speaking: SS talk about their future, using some questions from a worksheet as prompts.

2nd INT – Sessions 9th – 12th Nov

Reading: SS read about medical myths. Exercise 3 on p. 11 (WB)

Listening: SS listen to 3 people who gave or received first aid. Ex. on p. 12 (WB)

Grammar: SS revise and extend what they know about the present perfet simple and continuous. Ex. 5, on p. 14 (SB)

Reading and speaking: SS read about different kinds of stress, and discuss about activities that are bad for their health. Exercise 6 on p. 15.

Grammar: SS practise perfect and present verb forms in pairs. Exercise 5 d on p. 14 from two worksheets.

Writing: SS identify and correct different types of mistakes in an email. Then they revise other useful expressions in letters/emails.

Speaking games: SS practise present perfect forms playing a  board game in groups, and then a guessing game as a whole class.

2nd INT – Sessions 3rd – 5th Nov

Speaking and vocabulary: SS’ s knowledge of first aid is tested and discussed, ex. 1a and 1b on p. 12 (SB). Then they expand their vocabulary of medical words ex. 1c

Pronunciation: the focus is on consonant and vowel sounds, and how phonetics can help them to pronounce correctly, ex. 2 on p. 12.

Speaking: SS talk about their personal experience of an illness.

Reading and listening: Ss read about two first aid cases in pairs. They tell each other about their story and then discuss if the people giving help did the right thing. Finally they try to guess the end of the stories and check their guesses listening to what really happened.

Reading and speaking: SS do a quiz and discuss what to do in medical crises.

Homework: revision exercises on p. 18.

1st INT- Sessions 3rd – 5th Nov

Vocabulary and speaking: check vocabulary worksheet exercises and interview each other about sport (ex. 70.5)

Grammar: SS revise past tenses on p. 8 and 9.

Listening: listen to J A Marín talking about the advantages and disadvantages of being a professional football referee.

Speaking: Who’s the best at cheating? SS tell anecdotes trying to cheat their partners. After listening to everybody’s anecdote, they choose the best cheat.

 

Homework: revision of sports vocabulary.

Men’s brains vs women’s brains

Yesterday a mate sent me a video which I had a good laugh watching. I thought it was really hilarious, so I told my eighteen-year-old son to see it. I was a bit puzzled by his reaction. I had assumed he would find it funny too. Obviously I was wrong: he couldn’t understand what made the audience laugh so heartily. I do not know whether our different point of view might be the consequence of the generation gap between us or just because the video is not really funny. What do you think?

By the way, I recommend you this link from a site on “How to do just about anything” If you feel you need to laugh yourself silly. You have some tips there to help you see the funny side of life.