English Day by Day

Recap of the text + true or false: justify by quoting from the text

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:31:00 +0100

Hey,

today we did a quick recap of what had said about the text and we said some more about Kevin's vision of life.
Here is what we said about it:

"to be written by Camille"

Then we continued working on the text with a true or false exercise.
Here are the sentences and the correction:

"to be written by Camille"

HW: for next time, you need to learn 10 more irregular verbs + make a summary of the text using the following words:
Kevin - Belfast - ambition: leave school - work for himself - father - brother - unemployed - discrimination against Catholics - go to England - America - never go back - future of Ireland: war, violence - Protestant - disagree - violence - girlfriend

+ write a conversation between Kevin and his girlfriend and their impossible love (100 - 150 words)
Your final test will take place on Thursday 25th.

2nde 5 - Group 2 - Commenting and singing "Bloody Sunday"

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:54:00 +0100

Hey,

here is what we said about the song "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2 and the main differences in the "back-translation" exercises:

"to be written by Félix"

You can watch the video below with the lyrics so that you can train yourself to read and / or sing for next time. You will get a grade for that.

Uniforms + Pronunciation French VS English

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:50:00 +0100

Hey,

today we first listened to an interview, a debate about uniforms at school. Here is what we said about it:

"to be written by Camille"

Then we continued our phonetics activities about the French words used in the English language and vice-versa. Here are some words that we commented on:

"to be written by Camille"

Finally we continued filling in the worksheet with the pronunciation of /ed/ and /-s/ endings.

Anti-tobacco campaign + expressions of shock + Recap of the text + grammar

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:06:00 +0100

Hey,

today we did a long warm up about this advertisement against smoking. You can watch it below:

Here is what we said about it:

The ad is particularly shocking. It's about cigarettes. It couldn't be a French ad because I believe French people are too sensitive.
It's not efficient enough according to me. Only the price of cigarettes will make me want to stop. I believe it's a bad campaign because it's exaggerated. Things like that can't happen in the street. Well, that's what smokers say: they think nothing will happen to them until their bodies are affected and they get a disease / until it's too late.

Then we corrected the homework you had to prepare for today about the teenager who had stashed a gun under his bed. Here is what we said we could tell him:

"For Christ's sake!"*** or "For Jesus' sake"* or "For Pete's sake"*,

"God damn it!"*** or "damn it"** or "damn!"*

"What were you thinking?"
"You are grounded"
"Stop arguing with me!"

Finally we worked a little bit on the text again and we reviewed some basic grammar about figures and statistics. Here is what we said about it:

"to be written by Selma"

HW: don't forget that you'll have two tests next week on both Tuesday (comprehension) and Wednesday (expression).

Anti-smoking ad + picture of the teenager

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:01:00 +0100

Hey,

today we first commented on a very violent British anti-tobacco campaign.
You can watch it here again:

Here is what we said about it:

The document is a video / an advertisement.
It represents the dangers / risks of smoking.
There is a man who is walking in the street.
He is bleeding / There is a lot of blood.
It's a shocking document; the scene is gruesome / very violent.
According to me, cigarettes are not that dangerous.
It's exaggerated. It's not efficient.
However, according to Nadia, cigarettes are highly / very dangerous, they destroy the body like we see in the ad. It's like the ad with crashed cars.

To conclude, I don't believe it will make me change my behaviour / attitude. We can say that shocking people may work sometimes but I think that sensitizing them and helping them is better.

Then we started our new sequence with the description and oral presentation of this picture:
"yet to be uploaded"

Here is what we said about it:

It's an advertisement which depicts / shows a young boy, a teenager.
He looks rebellious.
He is looking / staring directly at the camera.
He looks / seems defiant.
He is wearing "rock clothes", a leather jacket and he has long hair.
Rock is a symbol for rebellion.
However appearances are deceptive.
He may not be violent or rebellious, he may not be an anarchist [k] but he has the looks.

HW : don't forget that next week, you will have to comment on the new French anti-smoking advertisement campaign. You will also have a written expression test. If you want to get ready, have a look at p. 119 in your textbooks.

Saint Patrick's colour + Murals in Ireland

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:02:00 +0100

Hey,

as today was Saint Patrick's Day, I absolutely wanted you to talk about the celebration; we worked on the traditional colour of the saint. It was a "History Channel" document as a warm up.

You can watch the document here again:

Here is what we said about the document:

Today is St Patrick's day, March 17th.

The document is a report about the traditional colour of St Patrick. The colour didn't use to be green. It was actually blue. Green has become the colourof Ireland because of the greenness of the landscapes in Ireland and also because of the symbol of St Patrick.
He used to explain the Holy Trinity with a 3-leaf shamrock/clover
The Trinity = The father, the son and the Holy Spirit.

The tradition has it to pick up a shamrock and put it in your lapel.
On this day, Irish people all around the world party and celebrate Irish culture and traditions.

Grammar: construction des adjectifs composés
-> ne prennent pas de "s" comme tous les adjectifs
-> a 3-leaf clover
a 6-year-old child

Then we finished our video activity about murals in Ireland and you even had the chance to hear some Irish accent! Ain't that awesome?
You can watch the documents down here again:

Here is what we said about them:

This document shows the creative process of the mural with the dove. It was designed by both adults and children.
Children are more innocent and more able to represent a bright future with colours. It's a far cry from / different from the other murals which represent the troubles in Ireland. It's a collective work.

Vocabulary refering to a "collective work": dialogue, debate, discussion, mutual understanding.

HW: next time, we'll start studying the text that goes with the theme; when we finish it, you'll have your test on Ireland. So get prepared for in about 2 weeks.

Smoking or not smoking, that is the question...

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:31:00 +0100

Hey,

today we worked on a new subject which is often given in oral tests: Cigarettes.

We developped some arguments against and we stated some reasons why people start smoking. We saw how stupid it was to start and that the reasons were not grounded.

Here is what we said:

DO YOU SMOKE?

Arguments against:

My parents don't allow me.
I don't like the smell.
It's useless / I'm not interested in cigarettes.
It's bad for health.
It hurts people who don't smoke / passive smokers / secondhand smokers
It may provoke cancer.
Smokers often cough. [f]
When you smoke, you have a bad breath, your teeth become yellow, your skin / complexion is dull.

==> You can't date guys / girls easily.

Smoking is an addiction.
It's a drug.

==> Once you begin, it's difficult to quit.

So, why do people start smoking?

People start smoking because:
- they want to imitate their friends.
- they want to provoke their parents / disobey their parents / contradict their parents.
- they want to try a new experience for pleasure
- they want to lose weight / become thin.
- they feel stressed out and they want to relax / chill out.

However ,

To belong to a group of friends, it's better to have similar ideas and not attitudes.
It's a childish behaviour.
You can have pleasure with other things, it's a bad option.
A diet or sports are better solutions if you want to lose weight.
There are other ways to relax like yoga.

With the 2nd group, we had the help of Kirstie, our language scholar. Wasn't it fun?

HW: Finally I gave you this picture to present, describe, and comment for next time. It is the new French advertisement campaign against tobacco:

2nd Amendment to the US constitution + end of the text

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:24:00 +0100

Hey,

today you first had to quote the 2nd amendment to the US constitution.
Règle de phonétique:
Doublement d'une consonne = impossibilité de voyelle diphtonguée.
Ex: Write [ai] --> written, trigger, thriller [i]

We then continued working on our text entitled "Gun Culture". Here is what we said about it:

- Questions (l. 20 to 25):
The questions reveal that the narrator is in shock. He doesn't understand why parents would give their six-year-old a gun for Christmas. He is both surprised and confused. He is bewildered. He is very critical with his fellow compatriots. He tries to understand the situation but he doesn't.

a fellow (US) / a bloke (UK) = un type, un pote

- Tone of the end of the text:
The tone of the text is critical and accusing. Even though it looks like a newspaper article, it isn't. The author gives his point of view about gun violence in the US and tries to find the culprit. Even though he uses facts and figures/statistics, his demonstration is biaised/not neutral/not unbiaised. He blames the media and video games for the violence in the US. He also blames the lack of gun control.

Vocabulary:

bewildered = confused and surprised
fellow compatriots = compatriotes (terme positif)
accusing = accusateur
even though = même si
culprit = coupable
figures = chiffres, statistiques
biaised = partial
(to) blame ... for = reprocher quelque chose
lack of gun control = manque de contrôle sur les armes (à feu).

HW: I finally told you that next week on Tuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th, you'll have tests (comprehension and expression). Get prepared and know your structure and rich vocabulary.

Kevin's dreams and political opinion about the situtation in Ireland

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:22:00 +0100

Hey,

first you took your irregular verbs tests.
Then we continued working on the text entitled "Kevin Roche, 16". Here is what we added today about 2nd and 3rd paragraph:

"to be written by CAMILLE"

HW: for next time = know your lesson by heart + draw a map of Ireland and the UK symbolizing the problems of territory and religion there.

2nde 5 Group 1 - Annulation d'une heure de cours

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:45:00 +0100

Hey,

je dois malheureusement annuler l'heure de cours du Mardi 16 Mars 2010 de 14h à 15h en raison d'un conseil de classe auquel je dois assister au même moment.
Merci de prévenir vos camarades et de reporter vos devoirs prévus pour ce jour à la semaine suivante.

M. Hattais.