D'Amico Shipping B1 Lesson 19

Class
Presentation - Pierluigi
Tutorial - Simonetta G.

Reading Skills (p.64)

• skimming
• scanning
• predicting

Discussion 

Distance Learning

Vocabulary

gain (noun and verb)

lack (noun and verb)

gist (noun)

Click on the word to check meaning, examples and pronunciation. 

Pronunciation - All Students: Radio Days (1987) - Sally and her diction lessons

We have talked a lot about pronunciation this term and how some English accents are considered "better"than others. This hilarious clip from Woody Allen's film Radio Days (1987) reminds us that this prejudice existed in American as well as British broadcasting with typically English R.P. accents being preferred.

D'Amico Shipping B1 Lesson 18

Class

Presentations - Barbara

Tutorial - Pierluigi

Listening skills - listening for opinion, listening for vocabulary (collocation)

(p. 56)

Discussion - attitudes to education

(Question 6, p. 57)

Homework

Question 7, p. 57 - write a short comment (50 - 70 words) for the website.

Teacher's comment

I am really impressed with the high standard of the presentations so far. As Barbara showed today, your English really improves when you want to communicate something that is important to you. 

Our next lesson will be on 27th April.

Happy Easter!
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ANIA B2 Group 8 Lesson 12

Class

Discussion - evaluating success:

• Targets and motivation
• Press conferences and press releases

Our next lesson will be on 11th May.

Happy Easter!
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ANIA C2 Group 6 Lesson 12

Class

Discussion:

• Gender neutral pronouns 
• Problem areas: countability, intonation, word boundaries

Homework

Reading "Thon"

http://www.esocsci.org.nz/merriam-webster-we-added-a-gender-neutral-pronoun-in-1934-why-have-so-few-people-heard-of-it/

Going further

The ambiguity caused by pronunciation is the source of a lot of English language humour as this clip from Ghostbusters (2016) proves.

Obama's Anger Translator

Our next lesson will be on 3rd May.

Happy Easter!
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ANIA C1 Group 5 Lesson 12

Class

Today we looked at how you can structure your CAE preparations around themes. Different issues (and the vocabulary to discuss them) could be tested in writing, reading, listening, speaking or Use of English (now part of the reading paper) tasks.

Today's Theme: Tourism

1. Speaking - What are the pros and cons of tourism?

2. Listening - Barcelona from Inside Europe 30/03/2017 Dw.com

1. Listening for gist

What problems are discussed?

2. Listening for specific information

The population of the city

The number of annual visitors

The percentage of the economy represented by tourism

3. Listening for opinion

What adjectives do the tourists interviewed use to describe Barcelona?

4. Listening for vocabulary

Tick off the following expressions when you hear them. What do they mean?

To slap a fine on someone

To gallivant around

To crack down on someone/something

A mom and pop business

3. Use of English - word formation

Complete CAE (2014) p. 193.

Vocabulary - phrasal verbs and collocations

To declare war on

To stroll down(the street)

To drive up (rents/prices)

To man a stall

To generate income

Bachelor party

Corrections - False Friends

Manifestation or demonstration?

Rumours or noise?

Homework

Choose a theme and find/create your own exercises similar to the ones above. 

Our next lesson will be on 3rd May.

Happy Easter!
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ANIA C1 Group 2 Lesson 12

Class

Drafting laws: discussion and listening skills

Phrases for balancing an argument

Having said that

Whilst accepting

Admittedly

That's all fair enough.

Advanced Language Leader, unit 9.4, pp. 96 - 97

Discussion: The pros and cons of streaming
Interesting artel on streaming in the U.K. Do you agree?
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/sep/25/school-streaming-pupils-english-primaries

Homework

Our next lesson is not scheduled until 8th May which is a long time. Don't let your English get rusty, find a way of practising, especially listening, everyday. Here are some ideas for you to try.

1. Film Project

Select a film to watch in English on dvd. Before watching, read some reviews (e.g. From a site like Empire on line http://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/). Watch the film right through and write down your ideas about the characters, plot etc then a day or so later go back and watch some scenes again (using the subtitles if you need to) focussing on the language and pronunciation. Finish up the project by writing a short (250 words) review on the film. You could discuss your opinion of the film, comparing it to other reviews, or talk about the linguistic features you found interesting (e.g. accents, fast connected speech).

2. Podcasts

Download and listen to podcasts in English. Listening regularly for short periods (5 to 10 minutes) can be a very effective way of maintaining your level. Try some of the podcasts we have used in class e.g.

Law in Action http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tgy1/episodes/downloads

More or Less http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrss1/episodes/downloads

Inside Europe http://www.dw.com/en/media-center/all-media-content/s-100826?filter=inside%20europe&sort=date&results=16

Kermode & Mayo Film Review http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lvdrj/episodes/downloads

3. Reading

Regular reading, like regular listening, not only builds vocabulary but also gives you confidence as you start to notice collocations and structures. If you don't feel up to reading a novel, try a collection of short stories. I would thoroughly recommend Ted Chiang's collection - Stories Of Your Life. One of the stories was adapted into the film Arrival.


Happy Easter!
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