Legal English at Bennett Languages Lesson 19

Class

• Case Law
• Understanding citations and how to read cases.
• How to brief a case http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/24661613/Dealing%20With%20Case%20Law
• Listening - a case brief presentation
• Formulas for writing a case brief. 

Erratum: There was a typo in tonight's notes - the name of the case is Carlill not Carhill

Homework
Go to the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting at http://www.iclr.co.uk and choose a case. Print off the summary and bring it with you to class next week. This case will be the material for your writing and speaking assessment.

Vocabulary and Notes
shrink-wrap or clingfilm
shrink-wrap license/contract
Uniform Commercial Code - The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is a set of laws that provide legal rules and regulations governing commercial or business dealings and transactions in the U.S.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc

Going further

• Listening - Law in Action BBC 4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b074x9pf

• Listening - Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Company

D'Amico Shipping B2 Lesson 16

Class

1. No/Not http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/92776893/No%20versus%20Not
2. BEC Vantage Writing Task - short email. Criteria, analysis and practice, p. 45
3. Unit 8 - Advertising - introduction - vocabulary and discussion pp. 62 - 63

Vocabulary

giving/leading a seminar/workshop

Homework

Find a TV commercial that you particularly like or find memorable. Post a link to it in the comments section below (you will probably need to log on to Google to do this) and tell us why you like this ad. Did the ad make you buy the product or think more favourably about the company it was advertising? 

A recent favourite of mine is "Piggy Sue" from Vodafone New Zealand. As an animal lover I couldn't resist it.  I was already a Vodafone customer in New Zealand (though not in Italy - but that could change soon when I free myself from the contractual obligations of an odious competitor) before seeing the ad but I felt that the commercial enhanced the company's image by showing how Vodafone was keeping people connected especially in isolated rural areas.

The ad campaign was so successful that it produced another commercial especially for the Christmas holidays. 

Commonly confused words: fit versus suit

English Grammar Today provides the following breakdown for the difference between suit and fit :

If something fits you or fits into a place, it is the right size or shape for you or for that place:

These fit perfectly. And I like the colour. I think I’ll buy them. (trying on shoes in a shoe shop)

I’ve put on weight and my trousers don’t fit me anymore!

Will this table fit into the space between the bookshelf and the wall?

If something suits someone or something, it is right for that person or thing or situation, or it makes that person or thing look more attractive.

Wednesday at ten o’clock for the meeting suits me perfectly.

That sofa suits the room really well – the colours match the walls.

Black doesn’t suit me; I look better in lighter colours.

Warning:
We don’t use fit when we mean that something is right for a person or thing or situation:

This restaurant suits people who like simple food.

Not: This restaurant fits people …

However: If you add a preposition into the mix, the distinction is not so clear:
fit with something

• to harmonize with something; to go well with something. 

Do you think that your behavior fits with the occasion? This coat doesn't fit with these slacks.
fit (somebody/something) in with somebody/something

• to belong with something 

We must fit new buildings in with the styles and scale of buildings that have been here for two hundred years. She will fit in well with those high-powered environmental lawyers.

fit in with

• to modify your plans to be compatible with someone else's (especially schedules and timetables)

Don't worry about us, we'll just fit in with you. (A house gusts to their host)
Let's meet on Tuesday if that fits in with you. 

Also when used as a noun,  fit can have the wider meaning of "suitability".

The new position was a good fit for his skill set. 

There is also the expression in statistics goodness of fit which refers to the extent to which observed sample values of a variable approximate to values derived from a theoretical density, often measured by a chi-square test

Song of the Week - Easter - Patti Smith Group

The title track to Patti Smith's 1978 album mixes references to the French poet Arthur Rimbaud with imagery of the crucifixion.

Ester Sunday we were walking
Easter Sunday we were talking
Isabelle, my little one
Take my hand time has come

[Chorus:]
Isabella, all is glowing
Isabella, all is knowing
And my heart, Isabella
And my head, Isabella

[Verse 2:]
Frederic and Vitalie
Savior dwells inside of thee
Oh, the path leads to the sun
Brother sister time has come

[Chorus:]
Isabella, all is glowing
Isabella, all is knowing
Isabella, we are dying
Isabella, we are rising

[Verse 3:]
I am the spring the holy ground
I am the seed of mystery
The thorn the veil the face of grace
The brazen image the thief of sleep
The ambassador of dreams
The prince of peace
I am the sword the wound the stain
Scorned transfigured child of Cain
I rend I end I return again
I am the salt the bitter laugh
I am the gas in a womb of light
The evening star the ball of sight
That bleeds that sheds the tears of Christ
Dying and drying as I rise tonight

[Outro:]
Isabella, we are rising[x2]

For notes on the meaning of the song see: http://genius.com/8458909
For more songs with an Easter theme go to: https://open.spotify.com/user/11142496185/playlist/5DYPxASfdfQw4sAtXQ1AEj
http://scarybradshaw.blogspot.it/2015/04/scary-bradshaws-easter-playlist.html

ANIA C2 Lesson 10

Class

1. Idioms - their use depends on cultural, regional and social factors and sometimes the power relations between the speakers. Reading: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/22/language-idiom-red-herrings-skeletons. Some of the idioms discussed include: a red herring (a misleading clue), skeletons in the closet (a shameful secret), taking the mick(ey out of someone) (to mock/make fun of), Bob's your uncle (a simple way of achieving a successful result). Some idioms can date quickly e.g. martini yodel (a 1950's expression that means getting so drunk that you end up vomiting).
2. Writing Style - participle clauses, register, target reader (adapted from CPE Gold pp. 46 - 47)

Notes

Participle clauses

These can be:

Present (showing) to describe events happening at the same time or in rapid succession.

Past (shown) to describe a condition

Perfect (having shown) to show events separated by a longer time gap or to show cause or reason

Passive (being shown, having been shown)

Homework

Inversion, hardly/no sooner. (p. 48)

There is no lesson next week. See you all again on 7th April.

In the meantime...

Going Further

Why not see a film in English?

Hail Caesar and Brooklyn are currently screening at Nuovo Olimpia.

Watch The Big Short as recommended by Annalaura and then fact check the statistics it quotes with the More or Less podcast. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03kpvk2

If you haven't yet seen Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (which was discussed in the lesson on participles), I would thoroughly recommend you catch up with it on DVD.

D'Amico Shipping B1 Lesson 15

Class

1. Present perfect simple for talking about experience - Have you ever done/been to...?
2. Choosing the right tense present simple/present perfect simple/past simple. Exercises pp. 21, 129, speaking activity pp. 155, 161.
3. Already/before/yet/this week (month etc)/never ever

Notes

What is the difference in meaning between these pairs of sentences?

They’ve been married for 30 years.

They were married for 30 years.

 

I come from Scotland.

I’ve come from Scotland.

 

When I’ve talked to him, I’ll tell you.

When I talk to him, I’ll tell him.

 

Did you ever meet my grandfather?

Have you ever met my grandfather?

 

Corrections

What means "project"? What do you mean by "project"?

Legal English at Bennett Languages Lesson 18

Class

1. Listening skills - the language of negotiations - discourse markers and functional language.
2. Speaking skills - negotiation - contract formation. 

Vocabulary

non-competition clause

arbitration clause

franchise, franchisee, franchisor

to spread payments = to pay in/by instalments

time frame

Corrections

Which What is your budget?

Let's discuss about price.

That's out of over our budget.

Does that fit suit you?

Make Let us know what you want.

Pronunciation

whole 

Collocations with Bring and Take 

"One reason some people are confused about "bring" and "take" is that there are many exceptions to the basic rules. For example, idioms such as "bring someone down a peg" and "take a bath" and phrasal verbs such as "bring up," "bring about," "take down," and "take after" don't comply with the rule that "bring" means to cause something to come to the speaker and "take" means to cause something to go away from the speaker." - See more at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/bring-versus-take?page=1#sthash.2t7EtX9N.dpuf

bring charges/a lawsuit/a court case/a prosecution/a claim (against somebody)

take someone to court

take (legal) action

Going Further

Listening: Law in Action BBC Radio 4 Every Tuesday and Thursday

Legal Highs http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07378d5

Mental health Offenders http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0742d34