AN INTERVIEW TO EMMA WATSON

Once more, you have an interview to watch and answer a few questions. This time it is Emma Watson on David Letterman's Show. You will probably know her for the Harry Potter films, but she's much more than than.

1.- Why is Emma Watson on the show?

2.- Why does Emma Watson recommend to read the Harry Potter books first and then watch the films?

3.- What is Emma Watson studying and where?

4.- Where is Noah's story in the Bible? How long is it?

5.- What is Noah's Ark in the film like?

6.- Where did they build the Ark for the film?

7.- Was it possible for anybody to see the Ark ?

8.- Who or what is Sandy?

9.- How is Emma Watson's character portrayed in the Bible?

10.- Does Emma Watson like to watch herself on the screen?

As usual, send me a voicemail with your answers.

Deadline: Wednesday 30th

AN INTERVIEW TO SHAKIRA

Short, easy task for you, guys, this week. You have to watch the interview from Jimmy Fallon to Shakira and then answer the ten questions about it orally. Read the questions and give the answers.

1.- In how many countries is Shakira's album number 1?
2.- Is her son Milan musical? Which instrument does he play?
3.- What is Milan's favourite pastime?
4.- What happened to Jimmy when he tried to play soccer for the first time?
5.- What happened to Shakira when she was 10?
6.- What did Shakira win at the singing contest?
7.- What kind of song can you find in Shakira's latest album?
8.- Who is Chris Martin?
9.- What is the relationship between Shakira and Chris Martin?
10.- What song does Shakira play on stage?
11. Do you like Shakira? Why? Why not?

Deadline: Thursday 10th

LISTENING PRACTICE FOR APLE2

This week's assignment is on improving your listening skills.
Go to your virtual course and complete the listening task there. It consists of 5 different parts. You can listen to each audio track twice. Bear in mind that you have a time limit to carry out this activity and you have an only attempt. So make sure you've got those 40 minutes you'll need to complete the listening. Good luck!

Deadline: Friday 4th April

LET IT ALL OUT

Now that you're done with exams, at least for a short while before starting the third and last term as secondary students, let all the stress out and get ready to cope with your finals.

It might not be much comfort but students all around the world also get all stressed out about different matters. Listen to them.


What stresses out High School students?






Does it get any better in college?




What can you do about it? How can we cope with stress?



Now forget about all your worries and allow yourself a few minutes of relaxation with the help of this website below. Choose your nature theme and indulge yourself into a guided calm session!

AN INTERVIEW TO BECKHAM

Here you have an interview by Jimmy Fallon, a famous American presenter to David Beckham. They don't talk much about football, though. Whether you like Beckham or not, take a few minutes to listen to the interview and these questions in a VoiceMail.
Enjoy your weekend! And don't study too hard!!!

1.- Why is David Beckham on Jimmy Fallon's Show? 

2.- Where is David's family at the moment?

3.- How old is David's daughter?

4.- What happened when David went to see his son's soccer game? 

5.- Why was Romeo crying at the end? 

6.-What does Jimmy say about David's underwear? 

7.- What is special about David's commercial at the Super Bowl?

8.- Are all the 12 eggs the same? 

9.- What does each contestant have to do? 

10.- Who wins the competition and why? 

Deadline: Friday 7th March

OSCAR NOMINEES 2014

 I guess if you like films and the cinema you will love your assignment this week. As you might know on January 16th the nominations for the Oscars 2014 were announced.







You must watch the announcement of the nominees and the 9 trailers in the link below:

Once you have watched the trailers for the nine nominees for The Best Picture (around 2 minutes each trailer) I want you to fill in the quizz below

LEARN CODE!

Last year I wrote a post about coding and asked some of you if you would be interested in taking this subject were it to be taught at your High School. Obama himself has made a recent call on the importance of learning to code for American students and for America itself. Watch the video below:

 

Well, now it seems that what we thought as a long term future subject may not be so and that education authorities in Spain are along the same lines and techonological high schools might be in the lead in this subject. I can't read more... 
Anyway, if you are interested, I got an invitation from Khan Academy (I guess you're familiar with the site; you don't know what you're missing, otherwise) to take one hour lesson on coding I'm sharing with you. It all seems to be part of a movement to get people of all ages to give coding a try: www.hourofcode.com

Welcome to our Hour of Code!: Pamela welcomes you to our programming community here.  

I still haven't given it a go, but some of you may be interested and can devote some time during the holidays. I hope some of you, girls, find it interesting too, since we're dealing with gender gap and women don't seem to be so fond of computer science.

As Sal Khan, Founder of Khan Academy, says: "you'll be part of creating our technology future, not just living in it! If you can type, you can code!" and who knows... I may even get a greeting card soon...    Start coding your holiday card

Internet Influence on Language

"To Google" has become a universally understood verb and many countries are developing their own internet slang. But is the web changing language and is everyone up to speed? The Internet's impact on society in general and on language in particular has raised opposing standpoints. Listen to the article and try to fill in the blanks in the activity in your course. You needn't send me any results. They will automatically appear in your grade chart.

I'm displaying the activity here in case some of you have some connection difficulties and need to do it in the blog and send me the results. Deadline: Thrusday 10th

Now I would like to know your opinion about the matter. You can do some research to try to answer these questions accurately: What do you think of the impact of Internet and mobile messaging on language? Language itself changes slowly but, do you think the internet has speeded up the process of those changes so you notice them more quickly? Do you think those changes are for the better or for the worse? Has the language you used on the Internet influenced your academic written language? Being English the lingua franca on the Internet, do you think there is a new linguistic imperealism that leads to the destruction of other languages or cultures? Do you ever use English in your social web interactions? ...





Deadline: Wednesday 16th

SEPTEMBER 26th: EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES

As an ESL teacher, I'd like to raise awareness of the need to learn one or more foreign languages. Language ability brings more than just economic benefits. It encourages us to become more open to others, their cultures and attitudes, and people who can communicate confidently with those of other cultures are likely to be more tolerant. And if that was not enough, studies have been showing that speaking several languages is one of the best exercises your brain can get. Even up to postponing the onset of Alzheimer's by 4 to 5 years.

At the initiative of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, the European Day of Languages has been celebrated every year since 2001 on 26th September. You can surf the web for some fun and facts.


Listen to the following track by www.eslholidaylessons.com and try to fill in the gaps below:

Start by doing this test to self-evaluate your language skills according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Now let's check if your guess was right!

(Share Clip)

Whatever your result was, we should admit Spaniards have always had difficulties in learning foreign languages, especially English. Just notice the role our politicians still play at International Meetings where they can hardly communicate with their colleages. However, Chancellor Merkel is fluent in Russian and English; Russian President Vladmir Putin speaks English, German and French and France's President François Holland gets by in English. David Cameron and Barack Obama, on the other hand, are not fluent in any foreign languages. Check this for celebrities speaking other languages.

Send me a voicemail explaining your view on this matter: Why do you think Spain struggles with English? You may do some research to support your opinion. Don't hesitate to blame whoever or whatever and suggest some ideas to improve our proficiency in English. On the contrary, do you think this is not true any more?

Deadline: Saturday 28th

DO SCHOOLS KILL CREATIVITY?

Watch the following video by Sir Ken Robinson where he makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.
I know it's a bit long but before you start complaining, let me tell you why you should listen to him:

"Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating children. He champions a radical rethink of school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence."




If I have convinced you, watch the conference and write a short summary here (100-120 words) and also share your feelings about it. Password: aple1

It would be great if you could have it by Monday 29th before the listening test next Tuesday; otherwise Thursday 2nd will be the final deadline.

What does "TO CODE" mean?

Students, this is the first assignment of the final term and at this point I needn't tell you how important it is to carry out all the tasks suggested. This week I think the subject may be quite interesting for you. Notice this assignment has two different parts. Good luck and enjoy it!

Please watch the full video and then send me a voicemail with your thoughts and answers to the questions below:




1.- What is coding about?

2.- What qualities do you need to be able to code?

3.- Why is learning to code so important and exciting? When should you start learning?

4.- Famous programmers tell us about their experience. Comment on three of them.

7.- What is their job like? What about those cool working spaces?

8.- What are the benefits of learning to code?

9.- What is coding compared to?

10.-  Would you be interested in learning to code if a class were offered in school?


Now listen to the following extract and fill in the blanks. Send me a screenshot with your results.

DEADLINE: Thursday 11th

BLIND LUCK

You are going to hear the audio track from a short film. Listen very carefully and make a note of what you think you hear. Compare your notes with a partner and together construct a narrative to accompany the audio track.
You could use these expressions when sharing your guess:


"It could be..." / "It might be..." / "It can't be..."
"I think) it looks/sounds like ..." / "(I think) it looks/sounds more like ..."

A VIRTUAL TOUR

Choose a trip by clicking on one of the postcards on the first screen, then listen to the SHORT trip diary and click on the notepad page to start writing. Once you've finished, click on "done" so that you can print out your work.
You can change the size of the text. Use the up and down arrows to move through what you write. 
Then go to cover page and design your cover page. 

Bring everything to me by Wedenesday 6th

(Share Clip)

OSCAR PISTORIUS CHARGED WITH MURDER

You were surely surprised when you heard the news about Oscar Pistorius being charged with murder, especially after reading about him in unit 3 in your books, where he was portrayed as an amazing athlete.

South Africans are in shock after their sprinter Oscar Pistorius was charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius competed in the London 2012 Olympics as the first double-amputee track athlete.

Watch the following interview, listen to my questions and answer them orally by sending me a VoiceMail. Try to give as many details as possible.

Deadline: Tuesday 26

Some more information about the social situation in South Africa.

 

LISTENING PRACTICE

You've been doing lots of listening practice by watching videos in English Central, CNN News and other videos we've worked with in class.

I'm going to give you another chance to practice for the hard listening test this term.

Click on the image and go through the test. It can't take you more than 20 minutes. That means listening to each clip no more than twice. When you finish you must email me your results. Don't forget your name and email. 

To be able to interpret your results, you can click here where you'll find a chart with different assessment frameworks.

Good luck!!

(Share Clip)

THE LOVE COMPETITION

How do we feel when we are in love?
What effects does love have in our brain and body?



Discuss the following questions with your partner:

Love Questions by

We are going to watch a short documentary film called "The Love Competition". What could it be about? Do you think some people can love more than others?







The Love Competition from Brent Hoff on Vimeo.

• 1:27': What's the competition about? What are the rules?

• How do you feel when you're in love? Do yo feel more or less...stressed     alert   motivated   sad   attractive   afraid   obsessive   aggressive  anxious    trusting?

• Checkthe brain graphic document which shows the different emotions we feel when we love. Is there anything surprising in the graphic?

 

• 8:04' Write down the following information about the seven contestants.Name/Age/ Type of love/ How they feel after the experiment

• 13:37': Who do you think the winner is?

• Now, how deep is your love?
  
  

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

Valentine's Day is one of the most famous holidays in the world. It is the traditional day for lovers to express their love to each other.

We're going to listen to two different people expressing their opinions about this festivity.
Listen and try to fill in the gaps. Who do you agree with?

SPEAKER 1

SPEAKER 2

Now check the following collocations with the word "love" and try to fill the blanks:

Check more Love Expressions and try this quiz

You'll be posting love messages on the wall during this week. Notice there are different types of love and your messages can be about any of them. They are all welcome as long as you're respectul.

Created with Wallwisher

Finally, look at this nice infographic with 12 love idioms

MARTIN LUTHER KING

As you already know, Dr.King Day was celebrated last Monday. Emir has prepared this lesson about him. Below you have one of his most famous speeches.  Let's watch it and reckon why he was one of the men that made a difference in history:


                 
 

“I Have a Dream” Discussion Questions

1. What is Dr. King’s “dream”? 

2. How will southern states like Mississippi be transformed, according to this speech?

3. How does Dr. King think people should be “judged” or assessed? 

4. Why do you think he mentions “jail” several times in this speech? 

5. In the “let freedom ring” section, he mentions many different places in the U.S. What is the significance of this? 

6. Dr. King was a Baptist minister, a preacher. How is his faith reflected in the speech? 

7. How is this speech relevant today? Would you add anything to it? 

You can read the script for the speech here or watch the video with subtitles here:

OBAMA'S INAUGURATIONAL SPEECH

President Obama has just celebrated his second inauguration ceremony on Monday and this is a major events for American people and also for the rest of the world. It's always held on Janurary 20th unless the date falls on Sunday, in which case it's postponed to Monday.

You know it's his second and last term of office as USA Constitution clearly states. Many people have expressed hope and voiced their expectations for his second term, including moving health care forward and tackling issues like gun control, gay rights, the status of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

There are a lot of cool resources on his second oath but I would like you to have a look at the following.

• Presidential Inauguration Speeches from Nixon to Obama Word Cloud  Browse through it and see how it works and how words connected in different speeches. Choose a word and its connected words and create a short meaningful sentence with them below. Make sure any president could use your sentence in one of his speeches.

Created with Wallwisher

• The oaths from Washington to Obama Choose a couple of presidents and read about the details to their oaths. You also have the script to their speeches, which you will need for the last activity.

• Watch President Obama's inaugurational speech and read the script at the same time. Now read 6 lines out of his speech. Make sure you listen to your partner's reading and continue where he/she left it. Let's see if we can all together read his whole speech. Careful with intonation!

 

 

Check your marks and mistakes here. Highlights pronunciation mistakes whereas highlights intonation and stress mistakes

 Finally, look at these beautiful pictures of different moments of the ceremony.

 

Deadline: Sunday 27th

 

 

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO...

Dear Students,

I don't know if you are a cinema goer and if you love the cinema as much as I do. The nominees for the Oscars 2013 are here!!! The Oscar ceremony will be held next February. There are 9 films nominated, but we cannot choose "Amour" because it isn't in English but French, so there are 8 possible candidates.

Your homework this week is very simple and really interesting. You have to go to the page below, click on the eight films nominated for best picture, read a liitle about the directos, the actors, the plot, etc, and watch the trailer for each one of them (about two minutes). Then you have to send me a voice mail about what you think of each one of the pictures, what kind of picture it is and your expectations about it. Finally you have to tell me which one you would like to watch and why. Don't forget to enter your email account to check my feedback later on.

(Share Clip)

DEADLINE: 19 January

Cast your vote below

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And the winner is...

Les Miserables!