Hong Kong Bun Festival

Hong Kong Bun Festival

Find out more about this week long festival that occurs in Spring time in Hong Kong.  Follow the link above and read about the history, the culture, the ceremonies and activities that occur for the festival.  It really is very fascinating!

Either click on the PDF document and download or print the lesson. It is a reading comprehension. Enjoy!

Bob Marley

3 Resources to Find Out About the Man Behind the Legend

"He was a musician, a spiritual leader, a ladies' man, a smoker of heroic amounts of ganja, a political force and a religious icon. And, 31 years after his death, Bob Marley is still a chart-topper: His Legends album sells 250,000 copies a year, even now".

source:canada.com

Excerpt: BERLIN - 

• April 2012 saw a film released about him.  Below is a trailer, you can also access the film on demand at:- 

http://www.bobmarley.com/marley_the_movie.php#ondemand

• I also found a transcript of an interview of with his daughter (Cedalla Marley) at:- http://www.bobmarley.com/images_free/bob_marley_booklet_screen.pdf

Students could role play an interview about their father with another student. Students may like to compare their fathers to Bob Marley and discuss the 'role model' of a father. There could be quite different opinions on this and it generates a good opportunity for students to express their opinion about Marley's way of life.  Students will have strong opinions on this and they are likely to vary a lot!

• Finally, his famous song 'One Love'.  The message of his beliefs and philosophy are held within the lyrics of his song.  He was a 'rastafarian' by religion, I personally think there is a lot of truth in what he says in the song!

One thing for sure, he was a very controversial and rebellious character!

As Ravi says in the British Council Podcast if Bob was alive today what question would you like to ask him?

Free E-learning Lesson from Macmillan - Inside Out Series

Two Countries

This is a Macmillan Inside Out Series TEFL learning resource I would suggest is probably at Intermediate level (B1). It may also be suitable for Pre-Intermediate TEFL learners (A2) It contains:-

- A reading gapfill exercise about the country of Bhutan

- Answers requiring questions to be formed for them

- Facts about another unknown country.  Try to guess which country it is.  Remember it begins with 'B'.

Some Additional Websites to Research

Official website of the Bhutan Tourism Corporation, containing interesting facts and photos as well as conveying a sense of the government’s ambivalence towards tourism.

Facts about Bhutan from the US government’s Central Intelligence Agency website.

A guide to B----- from National Geographic, with photos, facts, map and a video

Other Lesson Resources

There is a teachers guide/answer key at:- 
http://www.insideout.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/NIO513T-Two-countries.pdf

And a glossary of useful vocabulary for the exercises at 
http://www.insideout.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/NIO513G-Two-countries.pdf

Charades | Macmillan Readers

Charades | Macmillan Readers

A brilliant resource by Macmillan explaining the game of charades, the rules and what the hand signals mean.  Learn about Shakespeare Plays by trying to guess what the actor is miming in the 3 short videos. Once you get the idea you could play the game with friends/colleagues either sticking to the topic of Shakespeare's work or trying another author perhaps Charles Dickens.

English Slang – FREAK · engVid

English Slang – FREAK · engVid

I heard many people in England call Michael Jackson 'a freak' when he was alive.  

Do you think this was a compliment or an insult?  

Watch this video and become familiar with the uses and meaning of this slang word.




Thinking about Michael Jackson, a great many respects have been paid to him and his music since his death.  With the benefit of hindsight (this means looking back in time with the benefit of what is known today), I wonder what those people would call him now?

A 'freak' or a 'legend'?

Slang in English – SUCK · engVid

Slang in English – SUCK · engVid

Another video with James from engVid similar in format to the last video posted 'blow'.  

James explains the origins of the word 'suck' and it's social history.  The word emerged in the 1920's/1930's  in Jazz Clubs in America.  Jazz instruments need the player to blow into them.  If you have a good blow you tend to be a good player.  

However if you suck the air in instead of blowing it out it doesn't work and the instrument sounds flat and awful.  And so people who are not good at doing things got the nickname 'sucker'.  

What do you think? 

True or false.

Slang & Vocabulary in English – BLOW · engVid

Slang & Vocabulary in English – BLOW · engVid

The presenter maps out and explains the different uses of the verb 'blow' in a spider diagram: a useful technique when exploring a word that has different uses and meanings.

Quick Slang – Talking About Being Excited!

Quick Slang – Talking About Being Excited!

This week the British Council's podcast introduced 'informal language phrases'.  For example - 'What do you fancy?' instead of 'What would you like?' which is more formal. 

Here is another resource that focuses on slang or informal language. There is a quiz at the bottom of the resource to do after you have watched the video. Just click on it and you can test yourself on what you have learnt.

Learning English with the News – Improve your vocabulary and comprehension

Learning English with the News – Improve your Vocabulary and Comprehension

Some very good, practical advice is incorporated in this video from EngVid.  

Reading newspapers online, listening to news reports, buying and reading an English magazine or newspaper are very good ways of expanding your vocabulary. If possible do these activities daily.

When you do this develop your comprehension skills by asking yourself the following questions:-

Who?

What?

When?

Where?

Why?

How?

Inspirational Shakespeare

Speech by King Lear

Listen to a speech from Shakespeare's King Lear and a commentary given by Andrew Marr on why he chose this extract as the piece of Shakespeare that most inspires him.
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/myshakespeare/myshakespeare_20120522-1700a.mp3

Learning English - Words in the News - Stagecoach

Learning English - Words in the News - Stagecoach

What do you think they use old trams for in Mexico City?

A BBC short video that firstly introduces 5 new words, the presenter then makes the video report explaining what the Mexicans use old trams for.  The 5 words are subtitled as they are used.  The video is then replayed with a full transcript which you can read. Finally you have the opportunity to use the 5 words learnt in a new context as a gapfill exercise.

Keep a note of the new vocabulary that you learn in your vocabulary book.

Verb + Preposition (it depends on)

TEFL Global Grammar Resource

Verb + Preposition ('it depends on') Exercise

'What does success depend on?

Grammatical exercise suitable for an Intermediate level of TEFL student.  This exercise looks purely at the verb and prepositional phrase 'it depends on'.  

Match the jumbled up questions and answers.