Fun Game for Apostrophe Practice

Do you have difficulty with correct use of apostrophes?

(An apostrophe is the punctuation mark we use in "isn't", "you're", "the student's pen" and so on).

I recommend this really fun and challenging game from the BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/game/en29punc-game-beat-the-clock-apostrophes

Enjoy!

Top Twenty Literary Quote Tattoos

Do you like tattoos? Do you have one or would you consider getting one?

Why do you think some people like to get tattooed?

Here are some interesting tattoos using quotations from English literature:


http://www.flavorwire.com/354261/the-best-literary-quotes-ever-tattooed

The quotation in the image below is from the "Harry Potter" series.

Image from flavorwire.com

What will schools of the future look like?

What does the school of the future look like?

"Teachers seem to agree that "the school of the future will have no walls, be highly tech-infused, and available to more people than ever before".

http://edudemic.com/2012/12/what-schools-will-look-like-in-the-year-2020/


Do you agree? What would the advantages and disadvantages of these developments be?

Christmas Grammar Joke: What do you call Santa's elves?

Get it :) ?

Image from grammarly.com

Experience of Italian Exchange Student in USA: Reading with Questions and Answers

Have you ever lived or studied in another country? Are you hoping or planning to do so?

Luisa, an Italian student, spent one semester studying in the USA.

Read the interesting account of her experience at:

http://nineronline.com/2012/italian-exchange-student-makes-a-queen-city-comeback/


Now see if you can answer these questions (answers below):

1. What did Luisa find different about her classes in the USA (three main points)?

2. How did Luisa cope with being far from her family and friends?

3. What are three lifestyle differences Luisa observed?

4. What main difference between American and Italian food did Luisa note?

Answers:

1. The classes were smaller (about 30 students), the relationship between teachers and students was more personal and participation in class is important.

2. Luisa used technology (such as Skype and Facebook) to communicate with family and friends.

3. Italian students usually live with their families, Italians have fewer house parties than Americans, Italians like to walk around the streets and go to bars, Italians appreciate the "small things" in life, Italians don't like to rush, Italians like to spend time with family, Italians like to dress stylishly. (Any three answers).

4. Americans have much frozen food while Italians eat more fresh foods.

Hope in a Changing Climate: Video with Text

Watch this ten minute documentary which offers hope for restoration of severely damaged ecosystems:

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/whats-on/ou-on-the-bbc-hope-changing-climate

"Success stories from Ethiopia, Rwanda and China prove that bringing large areas back from environmental ruin is possible, and the results are key to stabilising the earth’s climate, eradicating poverty and making sustainable agriculture a reality."

You'll find many more great resources on topics of current interest at the Open University site:

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/whats-on

Stories From Around The World: Listen and Read

"Sacred Stories" is a wonderful site from the British Library featuring beautifully illustrated stories from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism. Go to:

http://bit.ly/ROmhQh

Watch and listen or read with subtitles.

There are many more treasures to explore at the British Library website's "Learning" section. The main page is at:

http://www.bl.uk/learning/

Enjoy!

The 6 Kinds of Presents You Should Never Give

Here's an article about the six types of presents you should never give!

Read the article and discuss the questions.


http://business.time.com/2012/11/30/worst-gift-ever-the-6-kinds-of-presents-you-should-never-give/#ixzz2ESnxrasL


Discussion:

What is the worst gift you have ever received? And the best?

Have you ever given somebody one of these six types of gift? When and why?

If you celebrate Christmas, do you also exchange gifts? With whom?

Why do we give gifts?

Reading: The 10 Smartest Animals

"Scientists may not agree on the best and fullest definition of intelligence — but they generally agree that humans are highly intelligent.

Other members of the animal kingdom exhibit signs of intelligence as well, and some scientists might say the definition of animal vs. human intelligence is merely a matter of degree..."

Do you agree?

Before you read the complete article at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24628983/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/smartest-animals/#.ULUpv4foRrB , make a list of the ten animals -- other than humans -- that you consider the most intelligent.

After reading, look back at your list to see how many of the animals you named are the same as the animals discussed in the article.

Why You Need Good Punctuation and Grammar ;)

Image from Grammarly.com


Vocabulary

to lower the odds (of) - to reduce the likelihood (of)

to be turned off (by) - to be caused to lose interest or attraction (by)

shoddy (adjective) - poor, careless

Video: The Future of Lying - Listening Exercise with Answers

Listen to the talk on “The Future of Lying” by Jeff Hancock at http://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_hancock_3_types_of_digital_lies.html and then answer the questions below.

You may need to listen more than once. The first time, you should listen to the whole talk to get the main ideas. Making some notes while you listen may help you focus. When you listen again, use the pause and transcript buttons to catch details if needed.


Questions

1. About how many times per day do people lie?

2. Is the internet making us more deceptive?

3. Why do we lie less when we write?

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Vocabulary

To lie/to tell a lie – to tell an untruth; a liar (n.) – a person who lies

A fib – a small lie

A white lie – a less serious lie, often told to protect another person from feeling bad

To tell the truth/to be truthful - to be honest; truth (n.), truthful (adj.)

To deceive – to be dishonest; deception (n.), deceit (n.), deceitful (adj.)
__


Answers

1. We all lie once or twice a day.

2. No. (New means of communication have only changed the ways in which we lie. We tell most lies on the phone. We’re more honest online than face to face).

3. With writing, we leave a record (unlike speaking, where there’s no record of what we say).


***On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult did you find this exercise? It's not an easy one -- this is a native speaker, speaking quickly on a complex topic. Hope you could catch some of his main points!

Dogs Learn Language Differently From Humans

Read the report on an interesting study with a border collie dog called Gable at:

http://www.tgdaily.com/general-sciences-features/67658-dogs-learn-language-differently-from-humans .


"The study sheds further light on language abilities in other species and how they communicate with humans. The researchers believe that how word-knowledge is developed in dogs and how it works in reference to objects is fundamentally different to these processes in humans. The idea that dogs learn words in a very different way to us could advance our understanding of how languages first developed in humans."

Can you find the sentence in the text that shows in what way, exactly, dogs seem to learn language differently to humans? (Answer below).

--







Answer: "However, when dogs are learning the name of a new object, researchers found that they associate the word to the object based first on its size and secondly on its texture, rather than on its shape."

"Say Cheese"

"Say cheese" is what photographers sometimes say when they're taking a picture of you. Saying "cheese" makes you appear to be smiling.