Class: 13^th/14^th December

Unit 8: Brand Awareness

Can-Do Objectives: Talk about advertising and marketing

                                 Describe effects and influences

Pages: 79; 83; 86

Grammar: Measuring differences; Use of ‘WHATEVER’

Vocabulary: tough, garment, to hound, whim(sical), stationary store, thorough, nondescript

Homework: Workbook – pg. 54 ex. 6 & 7; pg. 55 ex. 10, 11a and b

Also: To understand Viral Ads I recommend you read the following article and watch the ads if you can. The article contains the link.

 

The 20 Most Viral Ads of 2013

Unruly Media's list of spots people had to share By Tim Nudd

http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/20-most-viral-ads-2013-154000#intro

I could help it! I also need to include the video of this great band.

STATUS QUO (whatever you want live)

Here is a TED Talk that is related to our topic in an interesting way. Let’s see if we can discuss it during our next class.

TED Talks: What FACEBOOK And GOOGLE Are Hiding From The World

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAMP1Wu_M2U

Class: 29^th/30^th November

Unit 8: Brand Awareness

Can-Do Objectives: Discuss Brands

    Describe effects and influences

    Talk about the image and qualities of products

Pages: 77 – 79; 84

Grammar: Affect vs. Effect

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/affect-vs-effect/

Vocabulary: pesticide, herbicide, celiac, lactose intolerant, slaughter house, compromise, commitment, starch, degenerative disease, to take for granted, broad band, providers, generic, to be hooked on, convalescence, inheritance, migraine, Intelligence Quotient (IQ), Valued Added Tax (VAT), government-backed

Homework: Workbook - Finish up Unit 7 and Unit 8 pg. 52, pg. 53 ex. 3. Composition – Write a Letter to the Editor agreeing or disagreeing with the following statement: Health care should be universal. (180 – 200 words)

Also: Here are a couple of videos that might further your understanding of the concept of brand:

What is Branding?

What is the DNA of a powerful marketing message?

THERE IS NO CLASS ON THE 6^TH OR 7^TH OF DECEMBER!!!

Class: 22^nd/23^rd November

Unit 7: Health

Can-Do Objectives:  Take turns in a discussion

                                  Give opinions in an extended conversation

Pages: 73 – 75

Grammar: Passives and participles;

                  Referencing and substitution

Vocabulary: (SAD) Seasonal Affective Disorder, (TB) Tuberculosis, aerosol droplets, pidgin English, lice, louse, lousy, raise awareness, to irk, irksome, midst, runway, biometric, comprise, involve, include, contain, consist of, to worship, Primary Health Care

Homework: Workbook pg. 47 ex. 5; pg. 51 (ALL)

Also: Do you think the following ad is effective?

Healthy lifestyle campaign

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUghGYoFYGg

Class: 15^th / 16^th November

Unit 7: Health

Can-Do Objectives:  Discuss implications

                                  Discuss an issue

Pages: 72 and 76

Grammar:  Passives and participles;

                  Referencing and substitution

Use of Either – or and Neither – nor

http://esl.about.com/od/grammarintermediate/a/cm_bothand.htm

Use of Some and any

http://www.grammar.cl/Notes/Some_Any_A_An.htm

http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/some.htm

Vocabulary:  lenient, to gather, non-conformist, literacy, to ban, tack

Homework: Workbook – pg. 45 ex. 1; pg. 48; pg. 50

Also: In class I mentioned that in the past I had posted a couple of videos that might interest you regarding the food industry. If you want to watch them, go to the blog archive and look at the posts for February. The first video is posted on February 15^th/16^th under the title About the food industry. The other is a Jamie Oliver youtube video titled Food Revolution-Pink slime.

With regards to Beauty, I recommend that you watch the following BBC documentary.

The Human Face: 3/4 - Beauty (Documentary Series - BBC)

Class: 2^nd / 8^th November

Unit 7: Health

Can-Do Objectives:  Describe and comment on an exhibition

                                         Describe a process or an experiment

                                         Discuss implications and significance

                              

Pages: 69 - 71

Grammar: Passives and participles;

             Referencing and substitution

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-other-types-of-pronouns/

Vocabulary:  to cram, coffin, casket, to intersperse, to intermingle, to be biased, jittery, gullible, C-section, epidural, cyst, hyphen, to sip, to devise, to lure, to summon, emetic, to stash, to do a double take, to drift, ravenous, far-fetched, far-reaching, homeopathy

Homework: Workbook – pg. 45 ex 2 a & b, pg. 46, pg. 47 ex 6 a & b

Also, read:

The Nocebo Effect: Media Reports May Trigger Symptoms of a Disease

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130506095305.htm

TED Talk - Eric Mead: The magic of the placebo

http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_mead_the_magic_of_the_placebo.html

Class: 25^th / 26^th October

Unit 7: Health

Can-Do Objectives: Talk about health problems and treatments

                              

Pages: 68 - 69

Grammar:

Passives and participles;

http://englishharmony.com/past-participle-as-adjective/

Referencing and substitution

(THIS vs. THAT)

Vocabulary:  sick leave, maternity leave, compassionate leave, premature ejaculation/birth, miscarriage, comfort food, over-the-counter, drugstore, slipped disk, withdrawal, prescription, WHO, STD, GP, DNA, contraceptives, emaciated, psychiatrist, scientist, gifted, genetic predisposition, fabric, hay fever, stroke, painkiller, lozenges, stark

Homework: As many of you many still do not have the workbook that goes with the textbook, I will not assign any exercises there. BUT!!!! You do have homework. First of all, I would like for all of you to go to the link below and fill out the life expectancy questionnaire. Read each question and chose the option that best describes your situation. However, DO NOT REGISTER to obtain the result. They might even try to charge you money for the result. I will not assume any responsibility if you decide to go ahead and do it. As you do complete the questionnaire, ask yourself what questions you think are ‘useless’ and if there are any other questions you would add.

https://www.livingto100.com/

No! I’m not done! I also request that you watch the TED Talk below. You don’t have to be a scientist to follow it. I will ask specific questions about it during our next class.

Russell Foster: Why do we sleep?

http://www.ted.com/talks/russell_foster_why_do_we_sleep.html

Class: 18^th/19^th October

Dear All,

It was a real pleasure to meet you. I hope the feeling is mutual. Anyway, as soon as I get all of your e-mails, I will send you the calendar of our academic year. I urge you to miss as few classes as possible because missing one class means missing out on a whole lot of content. You will feel lost and it is the worst thing that can happen when trying to learn anything. (Hopefully, this blog will minimize this.)

As I explained in class, the marking criterion is as follows:

10% of your mark (grade, in American English) is participation;

30% corresponds to homework, blog, etc.;

10% the Oral Project; (I shall explain more about it further ahead in the course.)

10% the Mid-term Evaluation

40% the Final Exam

We will be producing 8 written pieces of work in an attempt to improve our writing skills. We’ll look at punctuation and organizing text content as well as fine tuning our understanding of tone and register.

I plan to work a bit on pronunciation for a couple of important reasons: 1) if you can’t pronounce properly, no one will understand all the wonderful and sophisticated words you are producing; and, 2) you’ll understand far more of what native speakers are saying because you have a better idea of what to expect.

One of your classmates suggested taking a look at the blog below. (Thank you, Carmina.) It might frighten you at first but it is very useful. We’ll take a look at it in class at some point during the course. http://allphonetics.blogspot.com.es/

In preparation for next class (25^th/26^th October), I would like for you to watch a TED talk by chef Jamie Oliver and find out who Dr. Ben Goldacres and what it is he has to say that is so interesting. (In other words, google him.)

Jamie Oliver: Teach every child about food

http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html

(Click on Show transcript at the bottom of the image window to see the talk written out.)

Finally, please don’t forget to bring any photocopies/hand-outs I give you to every class. We will often refer back to these.

If you have any questions about anything, you can contact me at auroracsim@gmail.com.