D'Amico Shipping B2 Lesson 16

Lesson 16
Input for Presentations:
Preparation & Delivery for notes and listening files go to: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/32233573/Presentations
For extra examples of signposting language see: https://www.englishclub.com/speaking/presentations-lang.htm

Corrections:

• economic/economical  What's the difference?
• difficult (adjective) difficulty (noun)

I have difficult
I have difficulty with this area or It's a difficult area.

• Depends of on 

Homework:

In the last 3 lessons this term (12th/19th/26th November) you will have a chance to give a presentation. Next week we will talk more about the importance of organisation and signposting language and decide when you want to present. In the meantime start thinking about your topic.  It might be helpful to speak about a subject that you know well or that you are used to talking about in your line of work. Also be prepared to answer questions from the group at the end of your talk as this is an important part of giving a presentation. Don’t think of it as a test but an opportunity to get up on your feet and practice your presentation skills. It is also a chance to put into practice all the work we have been doing on pronunciation this term. 

Song of the Week:

Valerio will choose the song for next week. Please post the title and artist in the comment box below.

Post CPE Group Lesson 4

Lesson 4
Thought Experiments - Discussion
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/aug/01/philosophy
Pronunciation continued:
Pronunciation of words & connected speech, stress, intonation, tone.

Corrections:
Proofs Proof  (uncountable)
Think to about (verb structure: verb + preposition)
Distillate Distill (verb forms/suffixes)
Percept Perceive (verb forms/suffixes)
Go back to the nature (zero article)
Operas Works in a gallery (over translation)

Pronunciation: carved (ed ending) figurative (word stress)

Homework:
(1) Find a short extract from a video, podcast, interview or presentation. Listen to it several times and try to identify what words are stressed, what happens to the unstressed words and how the tone changes (rise, rise-fall, fall, fall-rise).
(2) Watch this sketch from The Victoria Wood Show a popular British comedy series from the 1980s. The sketch is a parody of a low budget daytime soap opera complete with bad acting and wobbly sets. What happens at 1:25? What is it about the actress's line reading that causes people to laugh? What does it tell you about tone?

Remember you can always post your comments below.
(3) Next Week is Halloween. Why not mark the occasion and practice your English by watching a scary movie? You'll find some suggestions from previous years here: http://scarybradshaw.blogspot.it/2013/10/scary-bradshaw-on-scary-movies.html?updated-min=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2014-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=42
http://scarybradshaw.blogspot.it/2009/10/horror-horror.html?updated-min=2009-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2010-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=27

Song of the Week #5 - Genesis - Dancing with the Moonlit Knight

Thanks to Luigi for stepping in for Valerio and choosing this week's track, Dancing With The Moonlit Knight from the album, Selling England By The Pound by Genesis. The album was released in 1973 when Peter Gabriel was still in the band. Think about how the song could help you with your English - look at the vocabulary (especially fixed expressions, metaphors, idioms and collocations - note the homophone in the title), the pronunciation (rhythm and rhyme), the meaning, importance, background to the song or what the song means to you personally.



"Can you tell me where my country lies?"

Said the unifaun to his true love's eyes

"It lies with me", cried the Queen of Maybe

For her merchandise, he traded in his prize


"Paper late", cried a voice in the crowd

"Old man dies" the note he left was signed 'Old Father Thames'

It seems he's drowned

Selling England by the pound


Citizens of Hope and Glory

Time goes by it's "the time of your life"

Easy now, sit you down

Chewing through your Wimpy dreams

They eat without a sound

Digesting England by the pound


Young man says, "You are what you eat", eat well

Old man says, "You are what you wear", wear well

You know what you are, you don't give a damn

Bursting your belt that is your homemade sham


The Captain leads his dance right on through the night

Join the dance

Follow on! Till the Grail sun sets in the mold.

Follow on! Till the gold is cold

Dancing out with the moonlit knight

Knights of the Green Shield stamp and shout


There's a fat old lady outside the saloon

Laying out the credit cards she plays Fortune

The deck is uneven right from the start

And all of their hands are playing apart


The Captain leads his dance right on through the night

Join the dance

Follow on! Till the Grail sun sets in the mold

You're the show

Off we go with, you play the hobbyhorse

I'll play the fool, we'll tease the bull

Ringing round and loud, loud and round


Follow on! Till the Grail sun sets in the mold

Follow on! Till the gold is cold

Dancing out with the moonlit knight

Knights of the Green Shield stamp and shout



Songwriters

Banks, Anthony / Collins, Phil / Gabriel, Peter / Hackett, Steven



Published by

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing







Read more: Genesis - Dancing With The Moonlit Knight Lyrics | MetroLyrics

D'Amico Shipping B2 - Revision Answers

As we are coming across an awful lot of new vocabulary and grammatical structures each week, it is important to keep going over what you have learned, so you don't forget it. Two weeks ago, I gave you a revision sheet based on the first chapter of the textbook - Competitive Environment. Once you have completed the exercises, check your answers here (click on the image to enlarge it). Please let me know if you have any doubts or difficulties and we can week out a personal study plan for any particular problems. Next week I'll distribute the revision sheet for Unit 2 - Future Uncertainty.

D'Amico Shipping B2 Lesson 15

Class
Unit 3.1 Reward Strategies p. 28 - 29
Listening Skills
Word Partnerships: reward, incentive.
Vocabulary: Pay, salary, wage, income, reward, remuneration

Homework
Reading - p. 26 - 27 Preparing Presentation Slides
Read through the audio scripts from today's listening exercises (p.149 - 150) to see if there was anything you didn't understand. Check also for new vocabulary, collocations, idioms and fixed phrases - e.g. to lend yourself/itself/oneself to something

Corrections
Irregular verbs: choose, chose, chosen
Zero Article: he is against the society
Verb Structure: make someone want to do something, prefer to do something
Word Forms: So we are agree, He is very critic critical about the situation
Over-translation: According to me In my opinion, In my view, From my point of view

Pronunciation Follow Up - Post CPE & D'Amico Shipping

Click on the link below to watch a series on videos on pronunciation from Adrian Underhill:
http://www.macmillanenglish.com/pronunciation-skills/ In the videos he explains the layout of the phonemic chart,  how pronunciation can be made easier by dividing it into three levels: sounds, words and connected speech, how students can move away from the ‘grip’ of their mother tongue and how dividing the mouth into ‘muscle buttons’ can enable students to discover new sounds in their pronunciation.

On a lighter note, take a look at this sketch from British comedienne, Catherine Tate. Tate plays a typical London school girl called Lauren, how does she pronounce the "th"sounds /θð/?

to be bothered = to be worried,disturbed, upset

POST CPE Group Lesson 3

Pronunciation Workshop Part One

• Places of Articulation
• The Phonemic Chart
• Difficult Sounds

Things to think about:

Consonants:

Closed Vocal Tract - the flow of air is obstructed in some way.

Voiced or Unvoiced?

Place of Articulation - Where do you make the sound?

Mode of Articulation - How do you make the sound?

Vowels:

Open Vocal Tract

Duration: long or short?

Tongue Position: front/central/back

Tongue Height: high (closed)/mid/low (open)

All of these elements are reflected in the organisation of the phonemic chart.

Homework

1. Follow up today's discussion on the Sustainable Development thought experiment by reading the views put forward by Bjorn Lomborg and George Monbiot in the following link: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/aug/01/philosophy
2. Choose another thought experiment from those included in the article to discuss at next week's lesson. 
3. Take a look at the phonemic chart again. Choose 2 - 3 vowel sounds and 2 - 3 consonant sounds which you have trouble distinguishing or articulating. Make a list of words that include these sounds. How many different spellings do they have? 
4. What consonant sounds does Italian have that English doesn't? How & where do you articulate these sounds?

Corrections:

Make/Do Collocations:

do make an investment

do make a choice

Prefixes:

uninexperienced

Noun Forms:

a leaking leak

Modals:

You haven't to do don't have to/mustn't/shouldn't do

Pronunciation:

youth /juːθ/

Song of the Week #4 - No Surprises, Radiohead

Thanks to Andrea for choosing this week's track, No Surprises from the 1997 album, OK Computer by Radiohead, which is ranked 162nd in Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the Top 500 albums of all time. Think about how the song could help you with your English - look at the vocabulary (especially fixed expressions, metaphors, idioms and collocations), the pronunciation (rhythm and rhyme), the meaning, importance, background to the song or what the song means to you personally.







A heart that's full up like a landfill
A job that slowly kills you
Bruises that won't heal

You look so tired and unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us
I'll take a quiet life
A handshake of carbon monoxide

No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
Silent, silent

This is my final fit, my final bellyache with

No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises please

Such a pretty house, such a pretty garden

No alarms and no surprises (let me out of here)
No alarms and no surprises (let me out of here)
No alarms and no surprises please (let me out of here)

D'Amico Shipping B2 Lesson 14

Class
Presentations and Q & A sessions p. 24 - 25
Skills: Listening
Language: Discourse Markers

Corrections - check for collocations and verb structure
listen to something
make ask a question
ask to someone for something

Homework
Read through the audio-script again on p. 149. Make a note of any collocations, fixed phrases and idiomatic expressions, e.g. one fell swoop

Post CPE Saturday Group - Lesson 2

Lesson 2 (11/10/14)

Thinking in English and tense choice.
http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/41658221/English%20Grammar%20and%20Thinking%20in%20English
http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442655/The%20English%20Tense%20System

Homework

• Noticing: Find a short text (written or audio) and highlight the tenses. Concentrate on one aspect - simple, continuous or perfect - and consider why the speaker/writer had made this particular choice. Are there other choices available? If you changed the tense how would it change the meaning or the context? 
• Thought Experiment: Read the thought experiment by Julian Baggini below. What issues does it raise? What real world issues does it refer to? What different viewpoints are there on these issues? How would you resolve these issues?

4. Sustainable development

The Green family realised that their success was exacting a high price. Their country farmhouse included their home and their business premises. But while their enterprise was creating a healthy profit, the vibrations caused by the heavy machinery used on site was destroying the fabric of the building. If they carried on as they were, in five years the building would be unsafe and they would be forced out. Nor were their profits sufficient to fund new premises or undertake the repairs and structural improvements required.

Mr and Mrs Green were determined to preserve their home for their children. And so they decided to slow production and thus the spread of the damage.

Ten years later, the Greens passed away and the children inherited the family estate. The farmhouse was falling to pieces. The builders said it would cost £1m to put right. The youngest of the Greens, who had been the accountant for the business for many years, grimaced and buried his head in his hands. "If we had carried on at full production and not worried about the building, we would have had enough money to put this right five years ago. Now, after 10 years of underperformance, we're broke."

His parents had tried to protect his inheritance. In fact, they had destroyed it.

Post CPE Group Materials For Saturday

This week we will briefly discuss your findings and thoughts about Multiple Intelligence Theory - so have a look at the test and find out what type you are. http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/questions/choose_lang.cfm

We will also talk about vocabulary strategies, the importance of collocation and how you got on with learning 8 new words this week. http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/41184334/Vocabulary

The main focus on the lesson will be on thinking in English and how this effects our choice of tenses.
http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/41658221/English%20Grammar%20and%20Thinking%20in%20English
http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442655/The%20English%20Tense%20System

We will be using material from the links above in the lesson but it's up to you if you want to print off a hardcopy, have it available on your mobile device or lap top, or use it as follow up reading after the lesson.

Song of the Week #3: "Yellow" Coldplay

Thanks to Lavinia for choosing this week's track, Yellow from the 2000 release, Parachutes. Think about how the song could help you with your English - look at the vocabulary (especially fixed expressions, metaphors, idioms and collocations), the pronunciation (rhythm and rhyme), the meaning, importance, background to the song or what the song means to you personally.

Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And everything you do
Yeah they were all yellow

I came along
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called yellow

So then I took my turn
Oh what a thing to have done
And it was all yellow

Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
You know you know I love you so
You know I love you so

I swam across
I jumped across for you
Oh what a thing to do

Cause you were all yellow
I drew a line
I drew a line for you
Oh what a thing to do
And it was all yellow

Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
And you know
For you I'd bleed myself dry
For you I'd bleed myself dry

It's true
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine

Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And all the things that you do

Songwriters: BERRYMAN, GUY RUPERT / BUCKLAND, JONATHAN MARK / CHAMPION, WILLIAM / MARTIN, CHRISTOPHER ANTHONY JOHN
Yellow lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

D'Amico Shipping B2 Lesson 13

Class

Sales Pitch - 3 minute presentations

Vocabulary:
sales pitch
to launch* a product
target market
taste in music
to surf the net
n.b. pronunciation of foreigner

*launch = initiate/start/promote

Homework

Revision - Competitive Environment worksheet - Vocabulary & Grammar

Work your way through the exercises at your own pace. I will post the answers to the exercises on the blog next week.

Listening Practice - Pausa Caffè 7 ottobre

Coffee Break (Pausa Caffè) is a radio show in English and Italian broadcast every Tuesday from 11:30am  on Radio Stella Città



This week's programme is a discussion (starting at 17:20) on local tourism including interviews with the town councillor in charge of tourism (Vincenzo D'Antò) and a tourist from New Zealand (my Mum).

Post CPE Group Lesson 1

Lesson Content

• Goal setting
• Approaches to language learning
• Language and thinking

http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/84924628/Things%20To%20Think%20About%20When%20Starting%20A%20New%20Course

Error Correction

According to me - in my opinion (over translation)

The mistakes I do - the mistakes I make (collocation) 

Word stress: sucCESSful, amBIGuous (but note change in the noun ambiGUity)

Pronunciation of suffixes e.g. researchers (countable plural - the people) research ( uncountable therefore always singular - the work)

Homework

(1) Go to the Birmingham Grid website and take the test to find out what intelligence you are. How could you use this to help your language learning?http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/questions/choose_lang.cfm

(2) New vocabulary - set yourself the goal of learning 8 new words (or fixed expressions, idioms or collocations) this week - remember the 8x8 rule. Have a look at the following link and think about what techniques work best for you. Also consider why collocation is so important when it comes to learning and remembering new vocabulary. 

http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/41184334/Vocabulary

(3) Have a look at the proposed course outline for this term and let me know what you think.
http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/86820556/Post%20CPE

Next week we will continue our discussion on the relationship between language and thinking, this time focussing on how the tenses are organised in English. I will post the links for this lesson closer to the date. Have a good week. 

Post CPE Group - Introduction

Hi Guys,
Have a look at the short video above and tell me what you think tomorrow.
You can also find links to your assigned reading below:

Marco How ‘seeing’ a language can help learners retain it | British Council Voices  http://blog.britishcouncil.org/2013/11/26/how-seeing-a-language-can-help-learners-retain-it/?utm_source=facebook-teachingenglish&utm_medium=wallpost&utm_campaign=bc-teachingenglish-facebook

Lorenzo Relatively speaking: do our words influence how we think? | Education | theguardian.com http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/29/how-words-influence-thought

Paola  A thousand words for death | Books | The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/13/a-thousand-words-for-death-lexicon-dying-david-crystal?CMP=fb_gu

Giulia 10 grammar rules you can forget: how to stop worrying and write proper | Science | The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/sep/30/10-grammar-rules-you-can-forget

Alessandra  Can Your Language Influence Your Spending, Eating, and Smoking Habits? - The Atlantic http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/09/can-your-language-influence-your-spending-eating-and-smoking-habits/279484/

Maria Bianca  The Relationship between Language Learning and Multiple Intelligences http://www.ukessays.com/essays/education/the-relationship-between-language-learning-and-multiple-intelligences-education-essay.php#

Valerio Speaking proper: does it matter if we can't pronounce mispronunciation? | Science | The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/mar/11/speaking-pronounce-mispronunciation-english-elocution-expresso-nucular

Song of the Week #2 "Angie" - The Rolling Stones

Martina has selected Angie by the Rolling Stones to discuss in next week's lesson (8th October).
Angie was released in 1973 and went to No. 1 in the US and top 5 in the UK. The song features on the album Goat's Head Soup, which is now generally considered to have marked the end of the Stones' "golden age".

Goats Head Soup

Think about how the song could help you with your English - look at the vocabulary (especially fixed expressions, metaphors, idioms and collocations), the pronunciation (rhythm and rhyme), the meaning, importance, background to the song or what the song means to you personally.



Angie, Angie, 
when will those clouds all disappear?
Angie, Angie, 
where will it lead us from here?
With no loving in our souls and no money in our coats
You can't say we're satisfied
But Angie, Angie, 
you can't say we never tried
Angie, you're beautiful, 
but ain't it time we said good-bye?
Angie, I still love you, 
remember all those nights we cried?
All the dreams we held so close seemed to all go up in smoke
Let me whisper in your ear:
Angie, Angie, where will it lead us from here?
Oh, Angie, don't you weep, all your kisses still taste sweet
I hate that sadness in your eyes
But Angie, Angie, ain't it time we said good-bye?
With no loving in our souls and no money in our coats
You can't say we're satisfied
But Angie, I still love you, baby
Ev'rywhere I look I see your eyes
There ain't a woman that comes close to you
Come on Baby, dry your eyes
But Angie, Angie, ain't it good to be alive?
Angie, Angie, they can't say we never tried
Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/the-rolling-stones/angie-lyrics/#Qe68OVh1oX3QMDHl.99

D'Amico Shipping B2 Course Lesson 12

Lesson 12
Pronunciation Workshop continued.

Things to think about:
Consonants:

• Closed Vocal Tract - the flow of air is obstructed in some way.
• Voiced or Unvoiced?
• Place of Articulation - Where do you make the sound?
• Mode of Articulation - How do you make the sound?

Vowels:

• Open Vocal Tract
• Duration: long or short?
• Tongue Position: front/central/back
• Tongue Height: high (closed)/ mid /back (open)

All of these elements are reflected in the organisation of the phonemic chart.

(1) Places of Articulation

(2) The Organisation of the Phonemic Chart

(3) Identifying Sounds _ Practice:"Hidden Names" from Pronunciation Games (Hancock, CUP 1995)

(4) Changing Intonation - Changing Meaning