Slang Phrases

This is a new link. Here, you can learn some of the most famous slang phrases in English language.

Slang Phrases

Day 10: journalist

After doing the usual review of vocabulary, we continue with the binomials. One person reads the beginning of the binomial and other has to say the second part to complete the expression:

                                                               Back and - Forth

We continue to work on vocabulary: one person says a word and the other must give the definition of that term.

The dice story: a paper, write six locations, six famous people, six ways to travel, six activities to do on vacation, six things that can go wrong on holiday and six ways to end the holiday. We took the dice and up to six times the number that comes out at a time, will mark the parts of the story that we create. To us, we have the following items:

                      Paris - Beckham - by car - trecking - loose your wallet - Buying souvenirs.

Journalist: we have a peculiar picture one for each group. We are journalists and we have to look for information about the news (6W). We make questions, then we  write them  beside the photo and change them with another group to write the answers.

                                                                    Our story...

In the afternoon, Plenary Talk: Jeremy Harmer and Yes, But Why Do we need teachers at all? Interesting information on these links:

Hole in the wall

SOLE

And then ... Punting on the River Cam!

Comenius 2013: in Cambridge

Now, I am in my new home during these two weeks. Yesterday, we came to London (with kindness of Ryanair, no problems) at seven in the evening and after a short wait, take the train from Stansted towards Cambridge (over thirty minutes ride). On our arrival, we were surprised because when  we said that we are from Galician, everyone cared about the rail crash in Santiago de Compostela.

After this touching welcoming,  we found another student of the course in  Bell Teacher Campus, also Galician and colleague with whom I knew at my first job in the IES Lama das Quendas in Chantada. It is seen that the world is smaller than we think! Inspects the facilities of Homerton College and then we went to sleep because here people usually get up early.

Monday: we had to got up early because they serve breakfast at 7:30 pm. Then, a short presentation of what will be our program activities and meeting with leaders that we have in these two weeks. Our teacher is called Anna Young and was responsible for teaching us the different classes we have, from the library to the computer room.

Our group consists of 20 people from 8 different nationalities (Japanese, Russian, Italian ...) and this first session, the activities were designed to break the ice and introduce. First, we had to sit in alphabetical order by which this activity forced them to ask the names of our colleagues.

The next task was to put an adjective to the person who was beside us who started the first letter of her name. Then, in a sheet we had to write our name and our adjective, we took the folio on our back and the other person had to write him a question about our personal and professional lives to count ten questions. With our answers, we come to make a small group mural. Among four people, we had to write this information in a colorful cardboards and adorn with some designs to put on the wall. These activities appear in the book Being Creative, Chaz Pugliese.

The second part of the class focused on idioms in English. Once explained their meanings, once again we had to search among those attending the course, people who felt identified with these expressions. The phrases we use in this activity are included in the book English Idioms in Use, McCarthy / O'Dell and Check Your Vocabulary for Phrasal Verbs and Idioms, R. Wyatt.

In the afternoon finished our first class. Lunch break and then, at two o'clock we started the class. Hour and a half we did on a test of general culture on the UK (Group work - Intermeditate, Peter Watcyn-Jones) and at the end, we analyze the different activities we did today to be able to adapt to other circumstances. The truth is that the class passed quickly and the course looks like it will be interesting. Try to get the blog up to date but it will be difficult because we will not have much time.

                                                                      Our presentation

To language learners...

Are you thinking about learning a new language? Maybe, you should see this video because you have to know that... you can learn a new language in one year!! 

The Lernen to Talk Show

This is what it looks like to learn a language in one year. from Mickey Mangan on Vimeo.

HyperGrammar

Here's a useful grammar course from the University of Ottawa in Canada. It has useful exercises on building phrases, building clauses, building sentences writing paragraphs as well as lots of general grammar and punctuation activities. If you want to work on your writing, check it out!

 HyperGrammar

 

English pronunciation and sounds

Here you have a new video about the pronunciation of short /I/. It is made by Úrsula Kirsten Torrado (University of Vigo and Centro de Linguas)

Origins of English words

What is the origin of  robot? Try to find the solution with this English language quiz (by The Telegraph).