Mayor /meəʳ/ The mayor of a town or city is the person who has been elected to represent it for a fixed period of time or, in some places, to run its government.
Mare /meəʳ/ A mare is an adult female horse.
Mere /mɪəʳ/ You use mere to emphasize how unimportant or inadequate something is, in comparison to the general situation you are describing.
Class Listening Skills - Using Podcasts Losing Friends In A Club - Should you move around or stand still? Listen again or download from here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04hxmrg The relevant story starts at 12:54 and runs until 18:04
Fixed Phrases & Phrasal Verbs to bump into someone/each other to stay put/still to synch up to smooth out to cover (more) ground Synonyms steps/paces friends/chums move/roam around Keep Keep your head Keep straight (ahead) Keep going/walking Keep the change Lexical sets Experiments test a course of action roadtest a theory put in some legwork Clubbing have a night out head to the bar bar, entrance, DJ booth spill a drink (over someone) keep the change a half, a pint e.g. "2 half shandies please." to get chucked out (of the club)
Corrections
Choose (verb) choice (noun)
Homework
1. Listen to the podcast again focussing on an aspect of vocabulary.
2. Think about topics you would like to discuss and skills and language you would like to practice in class time. We can discuss your ideas next week and draw up a course outline tailored to your needs?
Vowel sounds - long/short, position of the tongue, position in the mouth
Advertising Vocabulary
Adjectives
(New Language Leader Intermediate p. 47)
Vocabulary
Attention-grabbing
Read the small print
Catchy (song, jingle)
Eye-catching (visuals)
Can the budget run/stretch to that? = can we afford it?
Sticks in the mind
Homework
Write a paragraph (50 - 80 words) about a commercial that you find misleading. In your opinion why is it misleading?
Going Further
Continue posting links to commercials that you find interesting or have a nostalgic connnection to. Why is the advert so memorable? Why would the commercial for Tabu be unacceptable now?
Pay particular attention to changes in word form (usually signalled by a change in spelling and or pronunciation) e.g. practise/practice, use /s/ and use /z/.
Also consider tranistive and intransitive forms:
Rise/rose/risen versus raise/raised/raised
Lie/lay/lain/lying versus lay/laid/laid/laying
Assume/presume
Both mean to take for granted but you assume without proof and presume based on reasonable grounds, probability or evidence.
Chances/possibilities
There is some overlap in meaning here but be careful when you mean the likelihood of something happening (chances) or the potential for favourable results (possibilities).
Beside - preposition of place meaning next to
Besides - adverb meaning in addition or furthermore
This means that you are unable to the see the whole situation clearly because you are looking too closely at the details. It is also used to describe people who can not understand a situation because they are too involved in it.
I think that this is a good metaphor for the problems of reading in a foreign language. Sometimes we are so confused by words we don't know that we forget to look at the information that the structure of the text gives us to help us work out the meaning. Consider this when you are next reading in English.
This means that you are unable to the see the whole situation clearly because you are looking too closely at the details. It is also used to describe people who can not understand a situation because they are too involved in it.
I think that this is a good metaphor for the problems of reading in a foreign language. Sometimes we are so confused by words we don't know that we forget to look at the information that the structure of the text gives us to help us work out the meaning. Consider this when you are next reading in English.
Advertising executive - the person responsible for advertising contracts and new business.
Advertisement - note the different pronunciations and the different short forms:ad, advert.
Homework
1) Watch the Christmas adverts from John Lewis, Sainsbury's, Heathrow Airport below. In your opinion which is the most effective and why? Who do you think is their target audience/market? Are they trying to sell a product or create goodwill towards their brand?
John Lewis
Heathrow Airport
Sainsbury's
2) Have a look through Youtube to find an advert that you particularly like and/or fondly remember. Explain why you remember it so well or like it so much and post a link to the advert in the comments section below so the rest of the class can see it.
For example - I remember this Kentucky Fried Chicken ad from my childhood mostly because of the style of the animation and the catchy song.
Homework Answers from 12/01
If you haven't written your report yet, please hand it in at our next lesson (26/01), it should only take 15 minutes and counts towards your final assessment.
9a
a uses/speaks English as a second language. b the number of speakers of English as a first
language in Nigeria. c speakers of English as a first language.
d speak English as a first or second language. e is Malaysia. f the population uses/speaks English as a
second language.
g100% of the population uses/speaks English
as a first or second language.
h is just over three quarters of the population.
i the number of speakers of English as a first
language in South Africa.
9b There are several possible ways of putting
these in order, so tell students to make sure they
can explain the logic of their choices.
Accept any answers that are logical.
1d2c3h4e5a6f7i8g9b In addition (adds information) Similarly (introduces similar information) In contrast (introduces opposite or different
information)
However (introduces surprising or different
information)
Draw a mind map or create a lexical set (e.g. A business in trouble: fail, collapse, go bust, go bankrupt, cut jobs, lay people off, make people redundant)
Note word forms e.g redundant (adjective), redundancy (noun)
Test yourself on the new vocabulary from today's lesson e.g. To make someone redundant, turnover, to launch. What words do they collocate with? What are their synonyms and antonyms? Can you write an example sentence or a definition in English?
Vocabulary
turnover - note the two meanings - turnover of a company versus turnover of people. soar rocket plunge plummet
I am a freelance teacher based at the British Council in Rome. This is a Blog for my students, not only to keep up with what we are doing in class but also to ask questions, share ideas and practise English.
