Class: 26^th/27^th April, 2013

Unit 6: Appearances

Can-Do Objectives: Describe appearances

                              Conduct a personal interview

                              Describe someone’s achievements and attitudes

                              Appreciate written and spoken genres

Pages: 62 and 65

Grammar: Present perfect simple and continuous (passive)

Vocabulary: plush, to befit, to crop up, to do smtg for good, assailant

Homework: Write and article similar to the one about Paulo Coelho on pg. 62 with the information you obtained from the brief interview you had with your classmate. (200 words)

Presentations: I love hearing and seeing your Oral Projects. I’m learning a lot of interesting things. I would like to thank Javier, Auxi, Lucas, Angel, Alba G. and Maria S. for their excellent work.

Youtube Interview: Here is an interview with one of my favourite people who, unfortunately, is no longer on this planet. It’s long but very informative. I hope you enjoy it.

 

George Carlin Interview

Class: 19^th/20^th April, 2013

Unit 6: Appearances

Can-Do Objectives: Talk about fakes and forgery

Pages: 60 and 61

Grammar: Present perfect simple and continuous (passive)

Vocabulary: devious, purveyor, to be worth one’s salt, to put it bluntly, squad, accessories, churn out, to con, phishing, to crop up

Homework: Workbook pg. 44, pg. 38, pg. 39 ex 2 & 3

Polishing our English:

Please remember that PEOPLE ARE because PEOPLE is a PLURAL noun.

Also, with regards to Every vs. All, I found this explanation for you on Internet. If you still have doubts, let me know.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv266.shtml

Comments about today:

Thank you to Paula, Carlos, Laura, and Inés for their excellent presentations. We all enjoyed and found them truly informative.

Here is an interview with the art forger James Myatt whom we read and talked about today in class.

Artist and Forger John Myatt

Also, I found this article about doctoring (altering) news photos. You might be interested in reading it. It’s about the Boston Marathon bombings.

http://news.yahoo.com/daily-news-doctored-front-page-photo-boston-bombing-135840069--finance.html

Class: 12^th/13^th April, 2013

Unit 6: Appearances

Can-Do Objectives: Describe appearances and changes to appearance

                              Discuss photos and images

                              Talk about aim and intention

Pages: 58, 59, 63, 67

Grammar: Present perfect simple and continuous (passive)

Vocabulary: overhaul, air raid, with abandon, to redden, menacing, extent, savvy, flawless, freckles, beauty mark, to mirror, to airbrush

Homework: Workbook pg.39 ex 4a; pg.40 ex 4b, 4c, 5; pg 42 and 43

A TED Talk related to the topic of this unit.

Cameron Russell: Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model.

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

Class: 5^th/6^th April 2013

Unit 5: Concepts of space (My space, your space, our space)

Can-Do Objectives: Describe spaces in cities

                              Describe how spaces are used

                              Describing places

                              Outline problems

                              Discuss and suggest solutions

Pages: 48, 49, 52, 54, 56 ex 2a and 57 ex 3, 4 and 6

Grammar: Passives

Vocabulary: pedestrian crossing, pedestrian promenade, to vacate, to evict, military headquarters, squats, canvas, allotment

Homework: Workbook – pg. 31, 32, 33 ex 5 & 6, and 37.

Composition: Describe your favourite urban space: the good, the bad and how it could be improved.

Remember: Send me an e-mail with the date and approximate length of your oral presentation.

A TED Talk: Edi Rama: Take back your city with paint

I strongly recommend you view this talk. It is extremely relevant after our last class.

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

Class: 15^th/16^th March 2013

Unit 5: Concepts of space (My space, your space, our space)

Can-Do Objectives: Talk about crime

  Discuss and suggest solutions

  Discuss the meaning of privacy

Pages: 53 and 57

Grammar: Passives

Vocabulary: Collocations with solution, petty, petty cash, offenders, re-offend, prompted, stance, curfew, perpetrator, cigarette butt.

Homework: Work on your Oral Presentation; Workbook – pg. 33 ex 7, pg. 34 and 36.

Exam: I shall correct your exams over the holiday and hand them back on the first class we have (5^th/6^th April).

Polishing our English

I have to admit that you are all making a lot of progress and it is definitely not my doing. During our last class, I heard some great English. However, (and there is always a ‘however’), I feel that you could try to work on ridding yourselves of some ‘ugly’ habits that produce some sentences such as:

                                                                                                 The people is important.

When you have a minute, take a look at the links below.

Using the definite article the

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=71

Subject – verb agreement (Excellent if you click on HINT which is the grammatical explanation.)

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/write/we/ch6/subjverbag.htm?AnswerFile=..%2Fqpserver%2F21a&rad1=a&rad2=a&rad3=a&rad4=b&rad5=b&rad6=b&rad7=a&rad8=a&rad9=a&rad10=a&rad11=a&rad12=b&rad13=a&rad14=a&rad15=b&mark=100

Also: GO OUT is NOT equal to salir unless you are referring to having fun.

SO:

No salgo del trabajo hasta las 19:00.    is       I don’t leave work until 19:00.

Sal de clase!                                       is       Leave the room!

¿Cuando sale el tren?                         Is       When does the train leave?

Actually salir translates into many different verbs in English. Look at the following sentences and think of how they would translate into English.

¿Han salido las notas?

Nunca me salen bien las croquetas.

Sal de dudas.

Va a salir el sol.

La mancha ha vuelto a salir.

Salió a la venta el martes.

Another TED talk:

Because we have been discussing possible solutions to petty crimes, I thought it might be interesting to hear what this speaker has to say about sentencing and creative ways of administering justice.

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

Class: 8^th/9^th March 2013

Unit 5: Concepts of space (My space, your space, our space)

Can-Do Objectives: Talk about crime and surveillance

                              Comment on experiences

Pages: 50, 51 and 56

Grammar: Passives

Vocabulary: fumble, oblivious, allay, hone, rampaging, a smack of smtg., mugging, riots, busking, reckon, paltry

Homework: Review unit 1 – 4 for the exam.

Remember: Next class, 15^th/16^th March, you will be having an exam on Units 1-4. As it will not take up the whole class time, we will continue working on unit 5.

Also, below I’ve included the trailer to the movie 1984 which we talked about in class. I encourage you not only to watch the whole movie but to also read the book by George Orwell included on the list of Modern Library 100 Best Novels.

Before next class (15^th/16^th), I encourage you to watch this video so that we might discuss it. It is a clip from a British game show about trivia called QI and hosted by Stephen Fry. The topic is about the American sentencing system and prison/jail.

Stephen Fry on American Prison Facts

And finally, here is the link to the page that I mentioned in class so that you can practice differentiating between Because of and due to.

http://web.ku.edu/~edit/because.html

Class: 1^st/2^nd March 2013

Unit 4: Maps (Changes)

Can-Do Objectives: Make comparisons and talk about changes

                              Talk about results

                              Talk about diet and nutrition

Pages: 40, 43, 45, 46

Grammar: Pronunciation /v/ vs. /b/; the future; comparisons involving verbs and times

Vocabulary: fizzy, pulses, stale, deafening, grimy, squat, pristine, snooze, hangout, fancy, stunted, is bound to, on the verge of, on the brink of

Homework: Workbook – Complete unit 4.

In preparation for next class: Please think of what you are going to do your Oral Project on. Also, take a look at this video. We’ll be discussing it in class.