Hey,

today we dedicated parts of the lesson to revising some important vocabulary. Here are the sentences we translated:

1. This text is about / deals with the death sentence. Sam is a convict / inmate / prisoner who is to be executed soon.
2. At the beginning the two men / both men stay distant / shy ; they seem ill-at-ease and they don’t look at each other / avoid looking at each other.
3. Sam explains to Adam that in the Deep South, a lot of politicians are for / agree with / support / have voted for the death sentence because it’s a good deterrent.
4. Public opinion wants tough sentences so as to deter / which deter criminals from committing crimes.
5. Sam is resigned because he knows that the situation is desperate / hopeless and he is to die soon.

6. Adam is determined to help Sam. He feels pity and sympathy for his grand-father at once and he thinks he doesn’t deserve to die.
7. John Grisham opposes the death penalty. Throughout the text, he seems to say that it’s a kind of lottery.

 

Then we continued the lesson with the listening of an audio recording about people's opinions on the death penalty.

You can listen to it again here:

Here are the arguments we have spotted out:

≠
- A judge cannot decide who may live or die.
- Criminals must go to jail in order to realize the consequences of their crimes.
- There's always a risk / a doubt. If a convict is sentenced to death and he was innocent, it’s too late. There can be judicial mistakes.

+
- Murderers deserve to be executed because their crimes are cruel.
- An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. People want revenge.
- A good deterrent.

HW: for next time, translate the last 2 sentences from your worksheet + learn your lesson and vocabulary as there will be a vocabulary test. On Friday, you will take your final test about Death Penalty (= a letter to write).

Files: Download the worksheet here (translation)

Hey,

today we first did a quick recap of what we had said last time and then we corrected your homework about the functions of the iphone. Here is what we said:

"to be written by Laura"

Then we listened to an audio document and we tried to analyse the advantages and drawbacks of a mobile phone given by the speaker.

You can listen to the document here again:

Here is the list of ideas we began to make:

Advantages:
- call people
- chat with friends
- it's practical / useful / handy
- Her parents don't interfere

Drawbacks:
- embarrasing when in class we forget to switch it off / turn it off because it may ring.
- it enables her parents to trace her.

-> A mobile phone allows her to speak with her friends without her parents interfering.

HW: pour la prochaine fois, connaissez votre leçon et votre nouveau vocabulaire. Apprenez bien comment exprimer la possibilité et l'autorisation.

Hey, 

today we first commented on the text and here is what we said about the characters and their feelings:

At the beginning, the atmosphere is tense. The two characters are ill-at-ease. They don’t look at each other and they don’t know what to say. Adam is under stress / distressed / anxious because he doesn’t want Sam to know they are grand-father and grand-son.

Then we continued to talk about the text and more precisely about the way Sam talked. Here is what we said:

Sam is resigned and desperate. He speaks in a sad and ironic tone. He doesn’t want to die.
He uses colloquial language; he doesn’t care about living or dying.
He calls the politicians “clown”, he thinks very little of them. He despises / scorns them.

Colloquial language:
- “they're killing them like flies”
- “like hell”
- “clowns”
- “I’ll get to sniff the gas.

Methods of execution:

Firing squad ----------- To be shot
Hanging ----------- To be hanged
Electric chair ----------- To be electrocuted

Finally, we corrected the worksheet you had to complete for today. Here is the correction:

"to be written by Quentin"

HW: learn your lesson and get ready to talk.

Hey,

today we first corrected the exercises you had to complete. Here is the correction:

  Prepositions

Ana was born of Mexican parents. As she was fed up with poverty she decided to leave her native country. She was aware of the dangers but very eager for money. She arrived in New York City where she was determined to work hard because she knew that her parents and children relied on her and depended on her money. She was successful in her business dealings and is now able to provide her family with everything they need. She now feels very different from her own people in Mexico but is quite pleased with her new life.

a) She crawled into the United States: Elle est rentrée aux Etats Unis en rampant.
b) She trudged across the Arizona desert: Elle a traversé le désert d'Arizona en marchant péniblement.
c) She climbed through the ranks of the service economy: Elle a réussi à gravir les échelons de l'économie de services.
d) She introduced her to friends: Elle l'a présentée à des amis.
e) The house is filled with sofas: Il y a des canapés partout dans la maison.

Then we continued the class with the translation of some parts of the text from l. 38 to l. 44 ("... food"). Here is the beginning of the translation:

"But back in Ana's hometown of Pueblo, what she earns is pratically a scandal"

Mais de retour à Puebla, la ville d'origine d'Ana, ce qu'elle gagne est quasiment scandaleux. 

HW: finish the translation down to l. 44 ("... food").

Hey,

today we first started a new sequence entitled "Mobile Phones" but as there was a fake fire drill, the class was much interrupted... here is what we said in the end:

 Brainstorming

•   Advantages:

- You can speak more easily to people.
- You can call from anywhere.
- You can call in case of an emergency.

•  
• Disadvantages / Drawbacks :

- You must buy a package
- You must pay for the options
- The mobile phone is a drawback when you drive. You may have an accident.

• Functions:

- Call friends
- Send text messages
- Play games
- Take pictures
- Listen to music
- Surf on / go to the internet (For example: log on to facebook)
- Watch TV
- Download applications

• Grammar

Exprimer la capacité et l’autorisation:
(to) allow / (to) permit / (to) enable someone to do something...

Ex: a mobile phone enables people to watch TV.

HW: don't forget your irregular verbs + answer the question on the worksheet.

Files: Download the worksheet here again.

Hey,

today we first talked about New Year's resolutions as a warm up and here is what we said:

"I will get my A-levels". Will = auxiliaire modal qui exprime à la fois la volonté + futur (cf. a will = une volonté)

Shannon has given up on trying to make her mother quit smoking. She has smoked for a long time and she has never stopped. Even if it bothers her, she has not succeeded in convincing her mum.
As for Thomas, he thinks his parents are too strict. He would suggest them to be less strict in 2011.

Then we continued talking about the text. Here is what we said:

Ana has been in the USA for six years / since she was 29.
She started as an illegal laundry woman. Then she became a maid and finally she was a succesful broker for illegal aliens. She has climbed up the social ladder / the ranks of society.
Now, she has money and she can send gifts to her family who are in Mexico. She must feel both proud and disappointed. She has succeeded but she has become a stranger for her children. She only represents money for them.
She decided to go to New-York city because she had relatives there; she knew they would help her with accomodation, job, and papers. They were also illegal aliens and they know how to by-pass the law.

Finally we began to correct the worksheet you had to complete for today. Here are the first answers:

 
2.
A. Native country : Mexico
B. Hometown : Puebla
C. Year of emigration : 1995
D. Age : Thirthy-five
E. Present job : A broker for illegal cleaning women
F. Income in 2000 : $50 000
G. Children (names and ages) : Angel, 13 years old and Misa, 7 years old

HW: please, complete the two exercises from your worksheet.

Files: download the worksheet here again.

Hey,

today we first talked about new year's resolutions to see if you had any. Here is what we said:

 Marine doesn't have any resolutions; actually she has given up on resolution. When people say they will do something, they don't abide by the rules.

Common resolutions:
I will do / practise sports.
I will stop / quit smoking.
I will become a star student in English.

-> will = à la fois la volonté et le futur.

Then we continued the class with the recap about the text and the reading of it.

Here are the missing words from the text:

1- death row
2- death penalty
3- lethal injection
4- execution
5- victim
6- chamber
7- sentences
8- lethal injection
9 -execution

HW: for tomorrow, you need to prepare yourselves to speak about the feelings and the reactions of the characters in the text (get ready to support your answers with quotations from the text).

Previsional Programme in January:
- correction des lettres le Lu. 10 janv.
- préparation du débat le Mardi 11 janv.
- débat le vendredi 14 janv.
- lettre au prisonier à rendre pour le 17 janv. (possibilité d'envoi de brouillon par mail pour correction / aide pendant le W.E.) = une enveloppe affranchie à 0€87 centimes et comprenant l'adresse du pénitencier.
- final test: C.E. le Lundi 17 janv. également.

Hey,

today we reviewed how to classify your lessons correctly so that you can learn better and when we grade your copybooks you can have good marks.

Hope this will be helpful to you in the future. And keep in mind, you will keep your notes from freshman year to senior year; so it's very important you get used to it NOW!

HW (= homework):

Pour mercredi 05/01/2011, vous devez tous me rendre 9 fiches et votre leçon:

- 3 fiches de vocabulaire (dont une sur "Global Warming", vous devez déterminer le thème des 2 autres fiches).
- 3 fiches de grammaire (dont une sur "Present Perfect", vous devez déterminer le thème des 2 autres fiches).

- 1 tableau de phonétique rempli correctement.
- 1 fiche de civilisation.
- 1 fiche de méthodologie (sur le document visuel).

Pour Vendredi 07/01/2011:

N'oubliez pas les tests de verbes irréguliers.
Les 70 premiers pour ceux qui m'avaient déjà en cours auparavant et les 20 premiers pour les "nouveaux". Reportez-vous à votre BLED pour les apprendre.