lunes, 26 de marzo de 2012

More on Irish culture and history

As we've seen in class, the Irish home rule was a logstanding movement you all should know more about.

1, 2, 3 ... Can you tell me about more Irish events? For example ... the potatoe famine!

Explain them on posts or write them down and I'll be glad to take them with me next day in class.

Here, a tip:



And here, some exercises to do that would help you with your homework.

See you next day!

domingo, 25 de marzo de 2012

If you were a sailboat (more on dipthongs and conditionals)

The song 'If you were a sailboat' by the  British singer, songwriter and musician  Katie Melua, will help us this time to sail through diphthongs  /aɪ/  /eɪ/  /aʊ/and conditional sentences.




This post has been inspired by the work of the English teacher Ana López Pozo, de la EOI de Carabanchel and her fantastic blog you all should visit when studying phonetic!


Now, do not miss the parody of the song ... and try to spot the differences!

Dipthongs




SIMBOLO
FONETICO
DIPTONGO EN
POSICION FINAL
DIPTONGO DELANTE DE
CONSONANTE SONORA
DIPTONGO DELANTE DE
CONSONANTE SORDA

day
(día)
name
(nombre)
safe
(seguro)
no
(no)
stone
(piedra)
note
(nota)

fly
(mosca)
mine
(mío)
life
(vida)

now
(ahora)
sound
(sonido)
out
(fuera)






sábado, 24 de marzo de 2012

Consumer Society II


Now, answer the questions:
  1. What is ‘downshifting’?
  2. What is the definition of ‘conservers’?
  3. What is the definition of ‘consumers’?
  4. What criteria do we use when we make choices about buying things 
    according to the article?
  5. What are perfumes and creams usually made of?
  6. What will happen to us if we have less money according to the article?
You can also do the activity through here.

Thanks to our friends in the BBC!

Consumer Society I

See the text below:

Consumer society 
By Julie Bray

If we only bought things we needed, there would be enough for everybody. What do we need? What you need depends on how old you are and your way of life. If we don’t need to buy so much, we don’t need to work so much. We can take part-time jobs or reduce our working day from 8 hours to 6 hours. Some people are leaving very well paid jobs to live a healthier life in the countryside or a more exciting life abroad. This is called ‘downshifting’. Parents can spend more time with their children and the unemployed are given more opportunities to work.

If we start to respect saving the earth more than spending money, we will become ‘conservers’. When we are conservers, we try to choose environmentally-friendly products which are durable and last a long time. We may find growing our own vegetables or making our own clothes more rewarding than buying them. What was the best thing you bought last week?

Could you choose from lots of different types? We like having a choice of what to buy. People who buy things are called consumers. Consumers have choices. We usually choose the colour, taste, smell or size of what we buy, but there are other choices we can make.

The following questions will help you to consider these choices.

Where was it made?
If you don’t like the place it was made, you might decide not to buy that particular product. A lot of people don’t buy products from certain countries when they don’t like the way the country is run. Was it made in a factory or on a local farm? If the product was unbelievably cheap, the people who made it might not have been paid much.

Who made it?
Do you know? If a friend made it, you probably like it more and you will want to keep it for a long time. If it was made by somebody who enjoyed making it, the quality and the design are probably better. Or does it look like it might have been assembled in a large factory? There are children in Asia who make Santa Claus dolls for European children to play with. The children who make the toys don’t celebrate Christmas because they are not Christian; they think of the dolls as work. Would it be better if the children in Europe made their own Christmas dolls?

What is it made from?
One of the places where we want to buy expensive luxuries is at the airport’s duty-free shop. Next to the chocolate and cigarettes, there are beautifully-shaped bottles and compact boxes full of perfumes and creams which promise to make you look and feel more beautiful. If you look at the ingredients you will find that the perfumes are mainly alcohol and the creams are mainly made of petroleum!

Almost all products are sold in packaging. Some products have too much packaging, creating more rubbish and using up resources. Some use recycled packaging, which is better for the environment.

Next time you go shopping, think about what you really need to buy. Don’t deprive yourself of things you like, but decide what you should buy before you go out, so that you won’t be influenced by advertisements or promotions. If it is more expensive to buy goods which don’t have much packaging and things which are more durable, buy less. If you can choose to work less, decide which things you would like to make, do or grow yourself. Even though you have less money, your life will become richer!

(To be continued ...)


viernes, 23 de marzo de 2012

When telephoning

Introducing yourself
  • This is Ken.
  • Ken speaking

Asking who is on the telephone
  • Excuse me, who is this?
  • Can I ask who is calling, please?

Asking for Someone
  • Can I have extension 321? (extensions are internal numbers at a company)
  • Could I speak to...? (Can I - more informal / May I - more formal)
  • Is Jack in? (informal idiom meaning: Is Jack in the office?

Connecting Someone
  • I'll put you through (put through - phrasal verb meaning 'connect')
  • Can you hold the line? Can you hold on a moment?

How to reply when someone is not available
  • I'm afraid ... is not available at the moment
  • The line is busy... (when the extension requested is being used)
  • Mr Jackson isn't in... Mr Jackson is out at the moment...

Taking a Message
  • Could (Can, May) I take a message?
  • Could (Can, May) I tell him who is calling?
  • Would you like to leave a message? 

martes, 20 de marzo de 2012