Morning!
Yesterday, because of technical problems, we couldn't listen to this interview with a music historian. You've got the handout, the one with sentences with gaps to fill, so you can read the sentences and then listen twice, as we would have done in class ;-)
The key is in the comments.
30/10/2013
29/10/2013
A message from Leah
Dear All,
in yesterday's class, we were lucky to have Leah, an American Masters student who came to observe the class and talk a bit about California. She has written to me with a couple of recommendations she told you she would give you. So here they are (the following are Leah's words):
El cuentacuentos - this is from this week, but it happens every Tuesday:
in yesterday's class, we were lucky to have Leah, an American Masters student who came to observe the class and talk a bit about California. She has written to me with a couple of recommendations she told you she would give you. So here they are (the following are Leah's words):
El cuentacuentos - this is from this week, but it happens every Tuesday:
CUENTOS DE LAS MIL Y UNA NOCHES
Espectáculo-río de narración oral; noche LVII (57)
Martes, 29 de Octubre
Taberna Alabanda
C/ Miguel Servet, 15 (metro Lavapiés-Embajadores)
21:30 h (30 minutos de duración, aprox.)
Aportación: 3€
Martes, 29 de Octubre
Taberna Alabanda
C/ Miguel Servet, 15 (metro Lavapiés-Embajadores)
21:30 h (30 minutos de duración, aprox.)
Aportación: 3€
El intercambio:
English Unplugged
They have a facebook page: English Unplugged Spain
They meet every other Wednesday night at 8pm at La Taberna Tintorería, around Sol.
I met one of the people who helps to put it on through a friend of a friend. They pick a specific topic to talk about each time they meet to help guide the conversation, and there are people of all levels.
28/10/2013
Review exercises
Hi!
Here's a handout with review exercises that you may need to do. You can correct them yourselves with the key you can find in the document after the exercises, and ask whatever you want to ask in class.
Here's a handout with review exercises that you may need to do. You can correct them yourselves with the key you can find in the document after the exercises, and ask whatever you want to ask in class.
27/10/2013
Top ten 'English' words invented by the Spanish
http://www.thelocal.es/galleries/Culture/twisted_english
Beware of the English words invented by the Spanish...
Beware of the English words invented by the Spanish...
21/10/2013
A virtual visit to the Tate
You are going to listen to the Tate Director, Penelope Curtis, talk about the organisation of works in the gallery. Read the following sentences before you listen, and decide whether they're true or false, according to what you hear.
0. Example. Over the last three
years, the Tate has re-hung its collection to organise the works of art
according to different schools. - F (The collection has been reorganised chronologically)
1. Before the changes, the
sculpture dating from 1908 could be seen together with works from the Victorian
period.
2. The sculpture and the painting of
naked bodies have been put together because they belong to the same artist.
3. According to the Tate Director, the
Gwen John painting makes female viewers think about solitude.
4. The painting by Mona Hatoum speaks
about how politics and democracy make us free.
5. Sonia Boyce’s work deals with the policies made to favour the Church in Britain.
6. The painting by Richard Hamilton
refers to Northern Ireland street protests against the British Government.
You can check your answers in the comments below, and you can read the transcript here
Watch many other wonderful videos from the Tate here!
The Prado Museum, online and in English!
A couple of years ago, I posted this in the blog:
You can enjoy some of the Prado's masterpieces online and in English. You just have to go here, choose a work and click on "listen to the audioguide" to get the story of the painting in English. If you prefer to read, the option also exists.
Enjoy!
Ashes
Remember that you have to invent a (spoken, not written) story for the painting we saw in class, by Edvard Munch. It's called "Ashes". It was assigned as homework for Wednesday and Thursday.
For the Tuesday and Thursday group, this homework is postponed for Tuesday 29th October, since there's a state-wide call for strike to defend public education for Thursday 24th October.
16/10/2013
14/10/2013
Finding stories in paintings
You are going to listen to a talk given by the writer Tracy
Chevalier, about how she finds stories in paintings. The following sentences
with gaps have been created for you to complete them during the first 8 minutes
of the video.
You can check the answers in the comment section or see the
whole video with subtitles in English.
Hope you enjoy this interesting talk!
After 15 or 20 minutes walking in an art gallery,
Tracy Chevalier admits she suffers from _____[1]_____
Instead of paying attention to all the paintings in a
gallery, Chevalier stops at those that _____[2]_____ her like a _____[3]_____
A poster of Girl with
a pearl earring has been hanging in Chevalier’s house since she was
_____[4]_____
Some people have suggested that the girl in the painting is
_____[5]_____, 12 years old at the time of the painting
In Dutch painting of the time, painting a woman’s mouth open
indicated _____[6]_____
In Vermeer’s paintings, women ususally wore sumptuous
materials, like _____[7]_____, silk or _____[8]_____
Catharina’s clothes _____[9]_____ to Vermeer’s models
11/10/2013
More videos
Dear All,
a couple of people in the Mo.&Wed. class have asked me to post the videos we saw in class, so here they are! (The Couch surfing video is no longer online, sorry!)
Singles Cruise
Home exchange or House swap
Woofing
Road trip in a camper van
Volunteering for an NGO (watch up to 2:22)
As with the "Canoeing in Scotland" video, the idea was to provide visual material to create discussion. Think of the advantages and disadvantages of each of these experiences, and you'll see how much vocabulary is activated ;-)
a couple of people in the Mo.&Wed. class have asked me to post the videos we saw in class, so here they are! (The Couch surfing video is no longer online, sorry!)
Singles Cruise
Home exchange or House swap
Woofing
Road trip in a camper van
Volunteering for an NGO (watch up to 2:22)
As with the "Canoeing in Scotland" video, the idea was to provide visual material to create discussion. Think of the advantages and disadvantages of each of these experiences, and you'll see how much vocabulary is activated ;-)
Alice Munro Nobel Prize in Literature 2013
I'm happy to know that one of my favourite writers has just won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Here's some material for you to enjoy reading or listening to a couple of Alice Munro's stories over the weekend:
Free Radicals (audio) - The text can be found here
Some Women (audio) - Sorry I couldn't find the text online (But the collection to which the story belongs is in our library)
Enjoy!!!!
Free Radicals (audio) - The text can be found here
Some Women (audio) - Sorry I couldn't find the text online (But the collection to which the story belongs is in our library)
Enjoy!!!!
08/10/2013
Grammar Review and Key to exercises
Hi!
This is the grammar review worksheet we've done in class. The key is also included. The homework for this weekend is checking the grammar points you had problems with. If you don't have a grammar book, you can always surf the Internet to find online exercises and explanations on those points. (I think it's better to always have a grammar book at hand ;-)
This is the grammar review worksheet we've done in class. The key is also included. The homework for this weekend is checking the grammar points you had problems with. If you don't have a grammar book, you can always surf the Internet to find online exercises and explanations on those points. (I think it's better to always have a grammar book at hand ;-)
Alternative holidays
Hi there!
Here's the video we watched (but could not hear very well) yesterday in class, in case you want to see it again in the quiet of your home. (The Tu.&Thurs. group will see it today, so I guess you can wait until then ;-))
I'm sure you'll notice the Scottish accent of the guy who makes the introduction... Well, you don't have to understand everything; try to understand the main ideas.
If you want to know more about this remote part of Britain, check this other video out. You'll be longing for your next summer holiday after seeing it ;-)
Here's the video we watched (but could not hear very well) yesterday in class, in case you want to see it again in the quiet of your home. (The Tu.&Thurs. group will see it today, so I guess you can wait until then ;-))
I'm sure you'll notice the Scottish accent of the guy who makes the introduction... Well, you don't have to understand everything; try to understand the main ideas.
If you want to know more about this remote part of Britain, check this other video out. You'll be longing for your next summer holiday after seeing it ;-)
03/10/2013
Reading material for the first semester
Dear NI2,
here's the title of the novel we're going to read in the first semester: The no.1 Ladies Detective Agency, by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith. You're supposed to read it at your own pace at home and we'll do group activities about the book in January and an individual writing activity as well. Don't wait until Christmas to start reading it!!!!
(Since the book was first published in 1998 and became very popular, you will find different editions with different covers. Don't worry as long as you buy the right title)
here's the title of the novel we're going to read in the first semester: The no.1 Ladies Detective Agency, by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith. You're supposed to read it at your own pace at home and we'll do group activities about the book in January and an individual writing activity as well. Don't wait until Christmas to start reading it!!!! (Since the book was first published in 1998 and became very popular, you will find different editions with different covers. Don't worry as long as you buy the right title)
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