The ABC

I'm learning the ABC ... again.

The Alphabet 2 from n9ve on Vimeo.

Intensifying Adjectives

I'm a great lover of the intensified utterance, and this article esl.about.com/od/grammarstructures/a/g_intadj.htm can come in handy for those like me.

Songs in Teaching

Guidelines

Pre-Listening Activities

1.Key word discussions : present some key words from the song and ask students to guess what the song is about.
2.Grammar activities: (Can also be used AFTER LISTENING)
- fill the gaps in the song (grammar items, like tense-selecting)
- find a definite number of mistakes (Error - identifying)
- transformation (transform the song entirely: from active to passive, from direct to reported speech)
- sequencing
3.Vocabulary Activities:
- lexical transformation (a copy of the song with words replaced by an antonym)
- search (find related words, find words to describe, give additional info)
- lexical gaps (give ss the song with some missing words and ask them to fill the gaps by looking at the context.)

While Listening

Listening For Gist
1.Note-taking: (ask ss 2 listen to the song and take notes – of key words, main characters or main events)
2.Discourse-type recognition: ask ss 2 listen and identify the kind of discourse in the song: is it a dialogue (monologue in somebody’s mind)? A narrative? Is it addressed to the listener or self-addressed?
3.Function recognition: Is the singer promising, warning, daydreaming, tale-telling, complaining, reminiscing, inviting, requesting?


Listening for Detail
1.Word-spotting (present some keywords from the song along with the words that are not in the song. Students should circle the words they hear and perhaps order them.)
2.Gap-filling (see above)

After Listening:

1.Comprehension Questions
2.True or False Statements.

TOPICAL GAMES

C1 Characters:

1.Role-play the characters from the song.
2.Imagining: (ask ss to extend the characters, imagining what they look like, do in their free time, would do in given situations and so on)

C2 Plot:

1.Summarize the events in the lyric.
2.Continuing (continue the story. Can be versed and sung!)
3.Prior Events: ask ss to imagine how the characters ended up in the situation they’re in.
4.Reporting: ask ss to rewrite the lyric as a newspaper article.
5.Story-telling: ask students to tell the story as a personal anecdote to a classmate. The classmate should respond with appropriate emotion, such as interest or sympathy.

C3 Lyric Poetry

1. Genre-transformation (ask SS to rewrite the lyric in a different genre or register: a dialogue, a speech, very formally, very informally, a TV report, a newspaper report, a passage from a romantic novel)
2. Ambiguity: Discuss alternative interpretations of ambiguous passages from the lyric.

C4 Musical Styles

1. Classification (ask SS to classify the musical style)
2. Culture Reflection (Discuss how culture is reflected in the song. Could this happen in your country? COul the male/female roles in this song be reversed? How old do you think this character must/might be?)

Minimum English

Image via Wikipedia

The following is the list of what Russian school-leavers should have at their fingertips upon graduation (high or secondary school is meant:)

Обязательный минимум содержания образовательных программ основной общеобразовательной школы.
Английский язык.

Произносительная сторона речи
1.    допустима относительная правильность произношения, не нарушающая коммуникацию;
2.    достаточно четное произнесение и различение на слух всех звуков английского языка;
3.    соблюдение долготы и краткости гласных; соблюдение звонкости согласных в конце слов, отсутствие смягчения согласных (палатализации);
4.    слитное произношение служебных слов со знаменательными, произнесение предложений с соблюдением основных типов интонации английского языка, адекватных целям высказывания, соблюдение ударения в словах;
5.    правильное членение предложений на смысловые группы, соблюдение ударения во фразе, отсутствие ударения на служебных словах (артиклях, предлогах, союзах, некоторых местоимениях). 

Графическая сторона речи
1.    буквы алфавита, графика (полупечатный шрифт);
2.    основные правила орфографии;
3.    правила чтения, техника чтения.

Лексическая сторона речи
1.    2300 слов для рецептивного усвоения. Из них 800 слов предназначается для продуктивного усвоения.
2.    Словообразовательные средства для овладения и расширения потенциального словаря
учащихся:
а) производные слова (аффиксация):
- суффиксы существительных: -ег, -ог, itу, -ind, -nеss, -tion, -sion, -ism, -ment;
- приставки и суффиксы прилагательных: -ful, -less, in-, un-, dis-, -у, -al, -ic, -able (- ible),
- приставки и суффиксы глаголов miss-, re-, diss-, оvег-, - ize (-ise), -еn;
- суффикс наречий -lу;
- суффикс порядковых числительных -th,
б) слова английского языка, сходные по звучанию, написанию и значению со словами русского или родного языков:
ргоduction, сulture, есоlogy,
в) конверсия: образование имен существительных от глаголов: to work - his work, to offer - аn оffer.

English Accents

I've just come across this comprehensive article about English accents and remembered I promised to post a cool video of some guys who imitate some of them. So, no or never. Nice girl I should say.

This one is brilliant as well! She looks like a robot though ... in this vid

30 Role Plays

1.Your friend is having a party at the weekend. Ask her how you can help.
2.You are late for your class. Apologise and explain why.
3.You are driving and see a hitchhiker. Offer a lift.
4.You are on a train and don’t know where to get off for the museum. Ask a passenger.
5.You get home and see a package in front of your front door. Ask a neighbour about it.
6.You are on a bus and another passenger has just thrown an empty bottle out of the window. Complain.
7.Your friend has just had her hair cut. Compliment her.
8.You are at the insurance company. The windscreen of your car has been smashed. Tell the clerk how it happened.
9.You are travelling in the USA and realise you have lost your passport. Ask a police officer for help.
10.You are on holiday and stay a tan expensive hotel. The lift is out of order. Complain and ask for information.
11.You are in a shoe shop, but don’t know which shoes to buy. Ask the shop assistant for advice
12.You would like to go to the cinema to see the new James Bond film. Suggest itt o your friend.
13.You meet an old friend of yours int he supermarket. Greet her and ask how she is.
14.You are in a restaurant and the food is tastless. Complain to the manager.
15.You are at the train station struggling with a suitcase. Ask a passer-by to help.
16.You are in a Hungarian restaurant with a friend. Recommend her something to eat.
17.You get lost on your way to the railway station. Ask a passer-by for direction.
18.You have just bought a new pair of trousers. Ask for your friend’s honest opinion.
19.You have bought a new mobile phone, but there is something wrong with it. Go back to the shop and explain your problem.
20.Your friend will have her 18th birthday at the weekend and you don’t know what to buy for her. Ask another friend for ideas.
21.A waiter wants to charge you too much for your meal. Complain.
22.You are driving and knock into a car in front of you. Get out and apologise.
23.Offer your neighbour some grapes from your garden.
24.You want to buy a new bed and offer your old one to a carity. Talk to the person working for the charity.
25.You have forgotten your money. Ask your friend if you can borrow some.
26.You take part in a language course but you are not satisfied with the teacher. Talk to the director of studies and tell her your problems.
27.You are looking for a house to rent. Tell the real estate agent about your needs.
28.You see a tourist on the street looking lost. Ask if you can help.
29.Your cat is ill. Tell itt o the vet and explain what the problem is.
30.Your friends has bought a new shirt. Compliment her.

Taken from Busyteacher.org

Russian Social Customs

SOCIAL CUSTOMS

Warning! This post is full of grammatical mistakes.

1. Babushka’s (Grandmothers) often center of families. Take care of children and are tough. They will take no grief from anyone. They will push you on Metro or out of way at store to get to front of line.

2. Russia is child centered society. Most absolutely love their children. Children become a good discussion point, when you have become friends.

3. The new Russians have different set of values than older Russians. They often are focused upon conspicuous consumption and acquisition.

4. This is difficult period for pensioners. The are often poor, resentful of government inaction and afraid that society has left them behind, and questioning if anyone still appreciates their contributions.

5. Role of “Kitchen Culture” You have been accepted into Russian society, when you can sit late at night in a Russian kitchen with borscht bread, vodka and discuss philosophy. Be prepared for longer and more intense personal discussions than most Americans are accustomed to.

6. You will see war memorials in each city... and veterans with their ribbons. The war killed one of three people in many places and was shaping event for that generation. Russians have great difficulty understanding why we pay so little attention to past wars.

7. If you are invited to homes, bring candy, flowers or a bottle of wine or liquor. Never refuse an invitation to a home or dacha. It is in homes that you really get to know people.

8. Remember March 8th, which is International Women’s Day. You will give gifts to the women in our office. If you are either working in Russia or with them on teams, remember to give gifts or congratulate them on that day.

9. Little business is done in last half of December or first part of January and half of May during holidays. Plan ahead on your projects knowing that many are on holiday or not in office. It is worst time to schedule meetings.

10. Don’t forget thirteen day difference in holidays between Julian and Gregorian calendars... for Russian Christmas.

The Ten Worst Teaching Mistakes

Image via Wikipedia

Like most faculty members, we began our academic careers with zero prior instruction on college teaching and quickly made almost every possible blunder. We’ve also been peer reviewers and mentors to colleagues, and that experience on top of our own early stumbling has given us a good sense of the most common mistakes college teachers make. In this column and one to follow we present our top ten list, in roughly increasing order of badness. Doing some of the things on the list may occasionally be justified, so we’re not telling you to avoid all of them at all costs. We are suggesting that you avoid making a habit of any of them.

Two-Minute Discussions

Image by Nationaal Archief via Flickr

Two-Minute Discussions allows students to activate pre-existing knowledge on a
topic or theme. The quick conversations get the class focused on the topic, thereby
improving receptivity and comprehension of the material. This activity works
especially well as a Warm Up.

Step One: The teacher prepares five questions on a specific topic before the lesson. The
questions should allow quick conversations to ensue between partners, so questions that
are easy to understand and perhaps don't require deep, careful analysis work best.
Remember: Students need to be able to read the question and immediately jump into a
discussion.
Step Two: Students get into pairs for the discussion. The teacher should announce the
topic, again as a step to prepare and focus students, as well as to activate pre-existing
knowledge.
Step Three: The teacher reads aloud the first question. Students then answer the question
in pairs, speaking continuously for two minutes. There should not be a lull in the
conversation, nor should students spend much time forming answers. Two minutes goes
very, very quickly!
Step Four: The teacher says, "Stop!" He then reads a second question, and students begin
their conversations anew.
Step Five: After two minutes, the teacher again stops the students and reads the third
question. This continues until all five questions have been read aloud and discussed.

How to Describe Gibberish

How to Describe Gibberish: "
The recent post on greeking prompted a reader to remark
And, of course, there’s Double Dutch. Where did that come from?
Double Dutch is another expression meaning “incomprehensible speech.” The “Dutch” refers to the idea that a foreign language is incomprehensible to one who hasn’t learned it. The “double” is an intensifier. “Double Dutch” is a language twice as difficult to understand as “plain ‘Dutch’”.
Here are some more nouns to express the idea of unintelligible vocalization that is either entirely unintelligible, or which may be understandable on some level, but makes no sense, or is inconsequential.

My Father

Hi! My name is John and I want to give you some hints on my family. We are five in the family. I've got a father, a mother, a sister and a brother. We live in a large and beautiful house which came down from my great­ grandfather who signed it over to my grandfather and it is going to be handed down to my brother as he is the el­dest of the children. Besides, when my grandfather passed on, we came into a large sum of money, so now we are rather well-off.
My father comes on like a man whom everyone looks up to but not without some shortcomings of his own. A trifle can easily tee him off, he just blows up and you can expect any thing from him: getting after the mess in a room, telling off his kids, blaming someone for nothing, slapping down my mother's cooking, even kicking in a door. Then it's better to leave him alone and wait. Soon he will come down, his anger will cool off because my mother doesn't hold with it when someone's bawling out her cooking — she simply draws herself up and leaves.
All the same, my father is the man who is always ready to stick up for every member of his family though it's better to try out on his mood first. So we give in to it 'cause in the long run he will make it up to everyone he's done wrong to.

Find English equivalents in the text.

Защищать, уступать, помириться, узнать о настроении, обидеться, ругать, успокоиться, выломать дверь, оставить в покое, злить, выходить из себя, казаться (другим людям), уважать, передавать по наследству, умирать, переходить по наследству, вступить во владение.

С. В. Григорьев
PHRASAL VERBS ФРАЗОВЫЕ ГЛАГОЛЫ

English

Image by law_keven via Flickr
English: "WHO SAID ENGLISH WAS EASY?
We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!
Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
Neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England .
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
We find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
Grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and
Get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
Should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a Recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
While a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
In which your house can burn up as it burns down,
In which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
And in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?"

No Scrubs - Link Words

What is a scrub? One of the best songs to be used in teaching slang words.

Insert these link words where necessary: But If also but

A scrub is a guy that thinks he's fly and is
____ known as a buster
always talkin' about what he wants
and just sits on his broke ass
so (no)
I don't want your number
no I don't wanna give you mine
and no I don't wanna meet you nowhere
no I don't want none of your time and no
Chorus:
I don't want no scrub
a scrub is a guy that can't get no love from me
hanging out the passenger side
of his best friend's ride
trying to holler at me
I don't want no scrub
a scrub is a guy that can't get no love from me
hanging out the passenger side
of his best friend's ride
trying to holler at me
___ a scrub's checkin' me
___ his game is kinda weak
and i know that he cannot approach me
cuz I'm lookin' like class and he's looking like trash
can't get wit' a deadbeat ass
So (no)
I don't want your number
no I don't wanna give you mine
and no I don't wanna meet you nowhere
no I don't want none of your time (so no)
Chorus
__ you don't have a car and youre walking
Oh yes son I'm talking to you
__ you live at home wit' your momma
Oh yes son I'm talking to you
__ you have a shorty ___ you don't show love
Oh yes son I'm talking to you
Wanna get with me with no money
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
When the teacher is a bit drunk and wants to blow off steam he can take a guitar and just belt it out like in the video below, ... just to make a complete idiot of himself. And wait, ain't this song about a loser ESL (EFL) teacher? Just get the irony:

"hanging out the passenger side
of his best friend's ride
trying to holler at me"
+
Wanna get with me with no money

Funeral Sounds - Post One

Have you ever wanted to make a list of the songs you'd like to be played at your funeral party? If not, you'd better not be following this Label called "Funeral Sounds". FS is all about the works of art I consider appropriate to be played or performed during or after my funeral. These sounds are represented by my favourite music videos taken from youtube and other major portals. Some of these songs have actually been used by me in teaching EFL students.

Post 1 - The Metro

I'm a great lover of subways (or underground). Maybe it's because we don't have metro here in my hometown. I've used it for like 20 times in my whole life and, every single time I used it I was singing this song! I swear!

Oops! I was actually singing this one, it's one of the rare cases when the cover version is way too better than the original. And being performed by crazy guys of Armenian extraction is an added bonus.

EFL Activity: fill in the spaces using the right preposition: along, for, in, on, over, through, to, with

I'm alone, sitting ____ my broken glass
My four walls follow me _______ my past
I was __ a Paris train
I emerged __ London rain
And you waiting there swimming _______ apologies
I remember searching ___ the perfect words
I was hoping you might change your mind
I remember the soldier standing next __ me
Riding __ the Metro
I was smiling as you took my hand
Saw the mood we spoke __ France
You were passed as shallow word
It isn't passed there's still a hurt
You were passed as shallow word
It isn't passed there's still a hurt
I can see you now smiling as I pulled away..
sorry
I remember the letter wrinkled __ my hand
"'Ill love you always" filled my eyes
I remember the night we walked _____ the Seine
Riding __ the Metro
I remember a feeling coming ____ me
The soldier turned, then walked away
F**k you ___ loving me
Riding __ the Metro

Drunk Vocabulary

Here are a few of the terms, categorized according to degrees of drunkenness. Some are more literary than others.

mildly drunk
tipsy
silly
tight
woozy

drunk
inebriated
intoxicated
tanked
juiced
likkered up

very drunk
smashed
hammered
plastered
shitfaced
soused
sloshed
wasted
zonked
loaded
stinko

idioms
drunk as a lord
in his cups
feeling no pain
drunk as a skunk
three sheets to the wind

Real Estate Vocabulary

Прочитайте предложения 1-8. Что означают выделенные словосочетания?

1. We hired a reputable home inspection company to check on the house. They found some major problems such as a leaking roof and old electrical wiring.
2. The listing price of the house was $370 000. But because many families liked the house, they offered to pay over the asking price. Because of the bidding wars we weren’t able to buy this house.
3. We knew that with renovated bathroom and kitchen the sale value of the house will go up.
4. Andrew is our second real estate agent, The first one was too pushy.
5. The commercial properties owners pay a lot more in taxes than their residential properties counterparts.
6. The open house on our street attracted many people and there was no where to park a car at that time.
7. When Tim and Elen downsized, they gave away all the furniture that wouldn’t fit into their new apartment.
8. They upgraded to a 4 bedroom bungalow last month. The house seemed a castle after their old 2 bedroom townhouse.
Новые словосочетания:
1. home inspection - инспекция дома (проверка систем отопления, канализации; крыши и т.д. перед покупкой недвижимости)
2. listing price - цена недвижимости согласно списку, распечатке, объявлению
3. bidding wars - ставки/многочисленные предложения от покупателей на недвижимость
4. upgrade the house - поменять меньшую площадь дома на большую
5. downsize - поменять большую площадь дома на меньшую
6. sale value - стоимость продажи
7. open house - дом, квартира и т.д. на продажу предоставленный/открытый для посещений/осмотра
8. real estate agent - агент по продаже/покупке недвижимости
9. commercial properties - коммерческая недвижимость
10. residential properties - жилая недвижимость

Subjuctive and Conditional Patterns

1. But for … smb would (could, might) have done / do smth … - без, за исключением, кроме, если бы не …, то …

• But for your help we should not have finished in time. — Без вашей помощи мы не закончили бы вовремя.
• But for that your uncle would have been dead long ago.

If it had not been for (if it was not for)
2. if only smb did (have done) smth … -
3. Suppose smb (do) have done smth … - в повелит. наклонении выражает предложение :

• suppose we go to the cinema! — а не пойти ли нам в кино?
• Moses supposes his toeses are roses, but Moses supposes erroneously. For Moses, he knowses his toeses aren't roses as Moses supposes his toeses to be!

4. I wish smb did (have done) smth – (could, would) didn’t go there tomorrow
5. If smb were to do smth, smb would do smth …  If smb would do smth, smb would do smth …
6. If smb should say smth, smb will do smth … Should smb say smth smb will do smth
7. It looks as if smb did (had done) smth – кажется, что к-т ч-т сделал

• seems
• is, was, will be

8. It’s high time smb did (had done) smth …- давно пора ( что-то сделать )

• It is high time for John Browning to be promoted to full professor; he has written a great deal but his books went unnoticed.

9. It isn’t as if smb did (had done) smth

• wasn’t
• won’t be
• It won’t be as if you were a party of it. – Ведь ты же не будешь участвовать в этом.

10 . To think you should have done this to me !

Modal Patterns

1. Could smb do smth, smb would do smth … -

• Were smb (trait) smb would do smth
• Had smb done smth, somebody would have done smth

2. Smb can’t (couldn’t) but do smth … - не мочь не сделать чего-л.

• You can't do better than study facts — Вы бы лучше изучили факты
• She can't do better than watch her manners — Ей бы не мешало последить за своими манерами

can't go wrong… -

• Carry straight on, you can't go wrong — Идите прямо, не ошибетесь
• You can't go wrong with him — С ним не пропадешь

3. Smb can’t (couldn’t) + infinitive … - не может быть, чтобы
4. Can smb + infinitive (any) – Неужели … ?
5. You really might do smth – Вы право могли бы …
6. Smb might as well do smth … - be somewhat preferable

• We might as well go home now. I don't think he will come.
• You may well say so — Вы совершенно правы

7. Smb might have done smth – к-л чуть-чуть не …
8. Smb must needs do smth … - к-л непременно должен
9. Why should I …? - употребляется со всеми лицами в прямых и косвенных вопросах, начинающихся с "why" и выражающих сильное удивление, недоумение

• Why should you dislike him so much? — Почему вы его так не любите?
• I don't understand why you should be angry with him. — Я не понимаю, почему вы сердитесь на него.

10. Oh, that it should come to this ! – подумать только до чего дошло!
I should think so! – Ещё бы!
11. Smb can’t keep from doing smth … - не удуржаться не сделать
12. There might be but one answer. – был только один ответ

Nothing …

to feel (have) nothing but …- только; ничего кроме, всего лишь, всего только, всего-навсего
have nothing but pity ...
He deserves nothing but sympathy.

• We heard nothing but a slight noise. - Мы слышали только легкий шум.
• He felt nothing but despair. Mary's son gave her nothing but trouble.

The girl did nothing but sing … -Единственное, чем она занималась, так это …

• He does nothing but sit in front of his computer the livelong day.

There was nothing for it but to … - … ничего на оставалось, как …

• There is nothing for it but to go back home and wait for her.
• There is nothing for it but to quicken our steps. Нам ничего не оставалось, как …

It was not for nothing that … - Не случайно ….

• It was not for nothing that he advised us to go home.

There’s nothing like a … - нет ничего лучше, чем …

• There’s nothing like a cup of strong coffee in the morning.

I’ve got nothing to look forward to. (lose)

What is it? Give just one word.

The area to the rear of the human body (sometimes referred to as the gluteus maximus) which lies between 2 imaginary lines running parallel to the ground when a person is standing, the first or top of such line being one-half inch below the top of the vertical cleavage of the nates (i.e., the prominence formed by the muscles running from the back of the hip to the back of the leg) and the second or bottom line being one - half inch above the lowest point of the curvature of the fleshy protuberance ( sometimes referred to as the gluteal fold), and between two imaginary lines, one on each side of the body (the "outside" lines), which outside lines are perpendicular to the ground and to the horizontal lines described above and which perpendicular outside lines pass through the outermost point(s) at which each nate meets the outer side of the leg.