British Council - Elementary Podcast 3

TEFL Vocabulary, Grammar and Communicative Skills for Beginners.

If you are a beginner (A2 CEFR level) these British Council Podcasts are excellent for getting you started.  As the week progresses I will post up other related work which will be appropriate for different levels of student ability.  If you are an Intermediate level of student you may want to use this resource to revise and then extend your knowledge.  Advanced students may just want to dip into the additional and other resources added during the week.

Go to: 
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/elementary-podcasts/series-01-episode-03

Find the audio link (MP3) right click and save it so you can listen to it whenever is convenient for you. The podcast comes with a support pack and transcript which is 22 pages long.  Use this link:
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/sites/podcasts/files/learnenglish-podcasts-elementary-01-03-support-pack-transcript.pdf

Download and do the exercises.

Main Contents of Podcast This Week

• Is that a new shirt that you are wearing?
• What famous person would you like to meet and why? Jonathon Ive
• Vocabulary quiz - colours
• South Africa - football matches and the Vuvuzuela
• Expressing an opinion - Why don't more people watch women's football?
• Dialogue of Carolina from Venezuela at lost luggage and in the underground.
• Telling/retelling a joke

Here is a summary of the main language points of the podcast. Try to get more practise with these language points during the week if you can:

1. use of 'could you' to make a request in a more polite way
2. pronunciation - silent letters and linking of sounds
3. friendly gestures from older people - 'love' and 'dear'
4. phrasal verbs - to look at, to look for, to look after, to look forward to
5. use of 'the' with the names of musical instruments

I will follow up with work that is related through the week.  This work will be graded for different levels of student ability.

Don’t Let Perfectionism Silence You!

Don’t Let Perfectionism Silence You!

Very, very good advice for students who worry about perfect pronunciation!

60 Second Word Challenge

60 Second Word Challenge

A great way of expanding your vocabulary whilst on your way to work or college.

can or could

can or could

In the podcast last week the verb 'can' was used in two ways.  

• as a way to express an ability.  For example - I can ride a bicycle.  

and

• to make a request.  For example - can you tell me...?

In this exercise the uses of the verb 'can' are extended.  Read the grammar article and then try the exercise.

Evita

Music Tracks and Lyrics from the film 'Evita'

The story of Eva and Juan Domingo Peron is a huge part of Argentinian history. Here is some footage from You Tube to give you an idea:-

Evita - La Mas Grande

Her life was a huge success story later made into a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice and then a film starring Madonna.  

Go to TEFL Global Resources - Communicative Page to find some music tracks with lyrics from the film where Eva is played by Madonna, Juan Peron by Jonathan Pryce and Che by Antonio Banderas.  The music is fantastic - I believe a fitting tribute to a marvellous woman.

Buenos Aires

Famous Argentinian People, Places and Events

A TEFL Global Resource which allows you to find out about famous Argentinian people. 

Study events and places in Buenos Aires from videos, slideshows, photographs and web pages. Present what you have learnt in a short descriptive piece of writing.

Finally, test your knowledge in a quiz to see how much you have learnt.

TEFL Global Resources - Communicative Page

Some or any? | LearnEnglish | British Council

Some or any? | LearnEnglish | British Council

An explanation of when to use the words 'some' and 'any' with a dialogue to complete.

Further Work
'Some' and 'any' can also be used in larger, compound words.  Make a list of compound words that have 'some' or 'any' in them.  For example - something, somewhere, someone

Complaining

Complaining

Vocabulary work and a reading task are both part of this task.  It is in a business setting so it will be useful if you are learning English for work purposes.

Rustic Civility | Collins, William (RA) | V&A Search the Collections

Rustic Civility | Collins, William (RA) | V&A Search the Collections
Click on the link above and take a look at this English Victorian Painting

'Rustic Civility' by William Collins

Look up the two words in the title of the painting at: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/civility?q=civility

Then look at the picture carefully and try to answer the following questions:-

• What have the children been doing?
• What is the oldest boy doing?
• Who are they looking at? (The painting gives a clue to this)
• What do you think they might be feeling and thinking?
• Do you think the children are rich or poor? How can you tell?
• What does the title mean?
• What do you think the rider's view of the children might be?
• Would the people who owned or looked at the painting in Victorian times be of the same social class as the rider and view the children similarly?
• Do you view the children in a similar way?
• What is the message of this picture?

Questions taken from:-

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/a-teachers-resource-victorian-social-life-from-paintings/

Global Renaissance Woman – Maya Angelou

“A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song”.  
Maya Angelou

And a few words on love:

A truly inspiring woman who has done an amazing number of things in her life. One of which is writing poems. She read one at President Clinton's Inauguration in 1993. Find out about her and her life at http://mayaangelou.com/  An amazing woman.

I have also posted links to her poems with embedded videos of her reciting her poems on the TEFLCommunicative Resources Page.   

Sandra Bullock in 'The Blind Side' 2010

This film starred Sandra Bullock and was released in 2010. It is the story of a young American Football Hero Michael Oher who is fostered when a young boy.  As he grows up he is looked after by a caring woman and her family.


A very good activity sheet to do after you have watched the film can be found here:-

http://busyteacher.org/3269-movie-worksheet-the-blind-side-activities-keys.html

ESL Videos » 60 Minimal Pairs in 4 Minutes (Listen and Repeat)

ESL Videos » 60 Minimal Pairs in 4 Minutes (Listen and Repeat)

Pronunciations is an important issue if you are going to be understood when you speak English. It is also important to tune your ear so that you hear sounds accurately and can then copy them well.

The minimal pair videos above focus on pronouncing words that sound very similar.  For example- ferry and very. There are many others pairs of words that sound similar in English. It may not be the first sound that is similar, it can be any sound within a word.  The videos simply give you a model to base your pronunciation on so all you have to do is tune in your ear or listen carefully and try to copy the sound yourself or repeat.