Although I haven’t written posts for the last weeks’ lessons guide, I’ll keep you up-to-date in case you haven’t been able to come on these days but you still want to keep up with our classes in the future.

Grammar: SS have learnt  the difference between each other and the reflexive pronouns (15)

Vocabulary and pronunciation: SS have focus on learning adjectives of personality and practising their correct pronunciation. (p 15)

Listening and speaking: SS have listened to a psychologist talking about how our personality is defined by our position in the family (p 15). Afterwards, they have given their opinions basing their arguments on their own personal experiences as members of a family.

Listening: SS have listened to a song by the group Sister Sledge back in the lates seventies, and they’ve used a photocopy to do some activities on the lyrics.

Questionnaire: SS have been given a set of questions about the importance of money in their lives. They have been working in pairs comparing their answers. (worksheet Is money all you need?)

Grammar: revision of the present perfect and the past simple; a dialogue where two people were arguing about money has provided the context (p. 21). They have been given a set of photocopies with exercises for self-study.

Listening and vocabulary: SS have listened to a song about today’s money-obsssesed society and  they have learnt common words and phrases to talk about money.

For homework they have been given a worksheet to do vocabulary exercises on the topic of money.

As a follow-up activity on the blog, they have been able to do another vocabulary exercise and to listen and read the lyrics of two songs, which ,although very different, deal with the same topic of money.

Speaking: SS have practised the contrast between the past simple and the present perfect and also they have been provided an opportunity for free-speaking (ex. 3 on p. 21).

Writing (homework): SS have written about the following topic: “You have just won 2500 euros and have to spend them all on a weekend. Write about your plans for that weekend. Remember that the money which is left will be wasted.”

These are some links to help you study past tenses:

Irregular Verbs List

Simple past :     explanation exercise 1

Past continuous:    explanation exercise 2 exercise 2

Past perfect:     explanation exercise 3

Past perfect continuous:      explanation exercise 4

Mixed past tenses exercise

In order to look at basic vocabulary to talk about money I suggest you doing this self-test exercise.

Now what about a bit of music? I’ve thought you might like to listen to two quite different songs , whose chorus I’ve used to give a title to this post:

the first song is one of the pieces of the 1972 American musical film Cabaret.

The second song was released more than twenty years later by the American singer and song-writer R. Kelly and it appeared in his 1989 album “R”

I was searching for a song on the net, when I came across this interesting video on the topic of influenza. The moment I saw it, it immediately caught my attention. As you probably know, I’ve just recovered from this common disease, which is affecting a lot of people and making them feel as miserable and exhausted as I felt for a number of days.

On the same interesting website where you can see the video there is also a quiz which can be done after watching it.

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

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)

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.

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

Monday 16th Nov: Listening+Reading+Writing

Monday 30th Nov: Listening

Monday 14th Dec: Listening+Reading+Writing

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.