Homework: Monday, 30 April 2007

By yourself:

(a) look at the pictures of two festivals on page 75 and write A or B against the sentences below them;

(b) think of a festival you know of and then answer the questions in section B of the ‘Vocabulary Link’ section of on page 75 about.

(c) what are some of the major festivals in Korea? What are some of the words one might need to use when talking about them?

Workbook: Unit 7: Lesson A

Find below link to the Workbook Pages for Unit 7: Lesson A.

Page 38
Page 39
Page 40

A Song For You: Celebration

My song for you this week - in keeping with this weeks' theme - is Celebration by the 1970's soul sensations Kool and the Gang.

Released as the first single off their multi-platinum 1980 album, Celebrate! Celebration has been one of the most listened to and loved soul / disco songs of the last three decades.

Listen or watch, boogie away and get ready for a week of talking in class about celebrations and celebrating!

Celebration:
Kool and the Gang

Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate)
Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate)

There's a party goin' on right here
A celebration to last throughout the years
So bring your good times, and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate your party with you

Come on now

Celebration
Let's all celebrate and have a good time
Celebration
We gonna celebrate and have a good time

It's time to come together
It's up to you, what's your pleasure

Everyone around the world
Come on!

Celebrate good times, come on!
It's a celebration
Celebrate good times, come on!
Let's celebrate

We're gonna have a good time tonight
Let's celebrate, it's all right
We're gonna have a good time tonight
Let's celebrate, it's all right

Baby...

We're gonna have a good time tonight (Ce-le-bra-tion)
Let's celebrate, it's all right
We're gonna have a good time tonight (Ce-le-bra-tion)
Let's celebrate, it's all right

Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate)
Celebrate good times, come on!
It's a celebration!
Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate)

(ad lib)

Come on and celebrate, good times, tonight (Celebrate good times, come on!)
'Cause everything's gonna be all right
Let's celebrate (Celebrate good times, come on)
(Let's celebrate)...

Exam Timetables

Here are the times I have for your meetings with me on Wednesday and Friday.

If there is a problem, let me know either before 9 a.m. or between 11:00 and 12:00.

Be good and happy and remember Nothing is friendship, Everything is Winning!!

Class 1

Class 2

Class 3

Powerpoint Presentation:Week 8: Class 1

Here is the Powerpoint Presentation from Monday's Class with respect to the exam.

Powerpoint Presentation 8:1

Sorry for the delay it posting it.

Below are some of the web sites I suggested you might find useful:

http://www.manythings.org/caw/intro.html

http://www.kumc.edu/international/ESL/Amber's%20Self-Introduction.html

http://www.speech-topics-help.com/self-introduction-speech.html

http://topten.org/content/tt.AF88.htm

The one I suggested might be particularly useful was:

http://www.cis.doshisha.ac.jp/kkitao/library/student/writing/materials/w_m4.htm

A Song For You: Sympathy for the Devil

Your song this week, Sympathy for the Devil, is one of the most famous [to some infamous] rock songs in the history of popular music.

Written and performed by the Rolling Stones - who along with the Beatles are often regarded as being the greatest rock groups of the 1960's -it was recorded and released in 1968 and was the opening track on their Beggars Banquet album.

As the entry in Wikipedia notes, the song is sung by Mick Jagger - the lead singer for the Stones - as a first-person narrative and commentary from the point of view of a suave and sophisticated Lucifer. The lyrics have been said to be inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita.

You can can download it through the link in the title below, watch it on through Youtube.com by clicking the arrow in the image above or do both.

Sympathy for the Devil:
Rolling Stones

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul and faith

And I was 'round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game

I stuck around at St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a-time for a change
Killed the czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain

I rode a tank
Held a general's rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
Ah, what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, ah yeah

I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades (
For the gods they made

I shouted out,
"Who killed the Kennedys?"
When after all
It was you and me

Let me please introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached Bombay

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name,
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game

Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
'Cause I'm in need of some restraint

So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy and some taste
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I'll lay your soul to waste,

Pleased to meet you ....

Mid-Term 'Exam': Details

The mid-term exam will involve you meeting with me with another classmate - preferably your language partner - of your choice.

The meeting should take no more than ten minutes and will involve you:

1. providing a self introduction of no more than two minutes.

2. answering some basic questions relating to your personal details.

3. engaging in a conversation with me and your fellow examinee on a topic of your choice drawn from the first six chapters of the text book.

The self-introductions and conversation will be recorded for later reference.

The meetings will take place at a time agreed on in Monday's class in our usual classroom.

Message from Simon: Sunday, 22nd April 2007

As mentioned in the last couple of classes, this week will be devoted to the mid-term 'exam'.

In Class 1, on Monday, I will give you some idea of what I would like you to do and also some ideas about how you might go about preparing yourself.

In Classes 2 & 3, on Wednesday and Friday, I will see each of you in groups of two.

The times for us to see each other will be arranged in class on Monday.

I am hoping that each group will take no more than 10 minutes.

Please note. This exam will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis. I am more interested in you getting to feel comfortable with the task than you competing with each other. Your chance to that will come later!!!

Remember: WINNING IS EVERYTHING, FRIENDSHIP NOTHING!!

p.s. the photo is one of me aged 18 when I was in my first year of University. You will note that my hair was slightly longer then.

Workbook: Unit 6: Lesson B

Please find below pages of the Workbook for Lesson B, Week 6.

Workbook Page 35
Workbook Page 36
Workbook Page 37

Homework: Wednesday, 11 April 2007

By yourself, use the topics and model on the top of page 65 to write about:

(i) what you are doing now and..

(ii) about your future.

Use be going to and will to make predicitons

Workbook: Unit 6: Lesson A

Find below links to the workbook for Lesson A: Week 6

Workbook Page 32
Workbook Page 33
Workbook Page 34

Homework: Monday, 9 April 2007

With your language partner or imaginary friend:

(i) Look at what the students say about their graduation. Which student do you think I graduating at a definite time and place?

(ii) a list of the things you plan to do in the future?

(iii) Practice talking about it using the following expressions

A Song For You: # 9 Dream

Given that this weeks topic is college life I thought I would share with you a so-called college rock song.

According to the Wikipedia entry: "college rock was a term used to describe 1980s alternative rock before the term "alternative" came into common usage. So named because it was primarily played on campus radio stations, these bands combined the experimentation of post punk and new wave with a more melodic pop style and an underground sensibility. It is not necessarily a genre term, but there do exist some common aesthetics among college rock bands. Artists such as R.E.M., 10,000 Maniacs, and the Replacements became some of the better-known examples in the mid 1980s. By the 1990s, however, the genre had been supplanted by grunge and indie rock."

The song I have chosen for you is the most recent song by one of the most successful and highly regarded groups in this genre - indeed many critics regarded the as the best band in the workd for much of the 1980's and 1990's - R.E.M.. The song, "#9 Dream" [pronunced 'number nine dream"] is a cover version of a song written by John Lennon of the Beatles in 1975. The song comes from their new CD.

#9 Dream
R.E.M.

So long ago
Was it in a dream, was it just a dream?
I know, yes I know
Seemed so very real, it seemed so real to me

Took a walk down the street
Thru the heat whispered trees
I thought I could hear (hear, hear, hear)
Somebody call out my name as it started to rain

Two spirits dancing so strange

Ah! b'wakawa pouss?, pouss?
Ah! b'wakawa pouss?, pouss?
Ah! b'wakawa pouss?, pouss?

Dream, dream away
Magic in the air, was magic in the air?
I believe, yes I believe
More I cannot say, what more can I say?

On a river of sound
Thru the mirror go round, round
I thought I could feel (feel, feel, feel)
Music touching my soul, something warm, sudden cold
The spirit dance was unfolding

Ah! b'wakawa pouss?, pouss?
Ah! b'wakawa pouss?, pouss?

Audio Files: Unit 5: Lesson A

Please find below the audio files for the Listening and Speaking activities for Unit 6, Lesson A.

Listening Audio File
Speaking Audio File

Pronunciation: Unit 6: Lesson A

The focus in the pronunciation section week is on the expression "going to".

As the audio recordings demonstrate, this often sounds like "gonna" in fast speech. As such, its is worthwhile training your ear to make sure that you pick it up when it is spoken.

You need however to beware of a couple of things:

(i) "gonna" is a pronunciation form, not a wriiten one. You should not [except when you are reporting what other people have actually said, and wish to indicate for some reason that they said "gonna" as opposed to "going to"] use this when writing.

(ii) you should probably try and avoid using it when speaking as it is regarded by many people as a "low" form of English and may lead some people to think of you less highly.

As time goes on, and you become more and more used to speaking English, it is possible that abbreviated forms of expressions such as "going to" will become part of the way your speak. My advice would be to wait until it does rather than adopting "gonna" now.

pronunciation audio file 1
pronunciation audio file 2

Homework: Friday, 6 April 2007

With your language partner or imaginary friend:

(i) at the picture on page 56 and read the sentences;

(ii) Look at the list in section B and number the event in the order they happened;

(iii) Note down all the nouns on page 52, write down 20 more nouns and/or verbs related to colleges and /or college life.

As always random volunteers [or sacrificial victims if you think that is a more appropriate description] will be chosen on Monday to share their musings.

Web Links: Unit 5: Around The Neighorhood

Here are some web links related to this weeks topic: Around the Neighborhood

Vocabulary
Vocabulary Lists

Listening
Around My Neighborhood

Exercises
Communities and Community Resources

Games
My Imaginary City
Places in a Town or City
In Town Word Search

Workbook: Unit 5: Lesson B

Please find below links to the Work Book pages for Unit 5: Lesson B

page 29
page 30
page 31

Homework: Wednesday, 4 April 2007

Using the example on page 55 of the textbook as a model, write a message of about 150 words to a friend who is thinking about renting an apartment in your neighborhood.

In your message, tell them:

(i) What are the good things about it?

(ii) What makes it exciting or interesting?

Workbook: Unit 5: Lesson A

Please find please links to the work book for Unit 5, Lesson A

page 26
page 27
page 28

Homework: Monday, 2 April 2007

With your language partner:

(i) Look at the pictures on page 51 of the Textbook and read the descriptions and discuss which neighborhood you would prefer to live in and why.

(ii) Complete the questionnaire about you neighborhood and describe them to each other.

(iii) Note down all nouns, verbs and adjectives on page 51 related to neigbhorhoods and the come up with ten more.

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Nouns          Adjectives      Verbs
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sidewalks      friendly        litter

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