Film, discussion and short assignment

Thanks for your poems and feedback!

This week-end is the last chance to get your Shakespeare assignments in...

In spite of missing a fair number I have to correct the ones I have received.

Today we are going to watch a documentary film together.

It is the story of Rocky from USA and his best friend Steve.

They are blood brothers.

Rocky has made a bold decision - to return to India and continue to work as a volunteer at an orphanage for kids with HIV.

How will things go for him?

You can find the film at the following link:-

http://urplay.se/Produkter/184605-Varlden-Blodsbroder-volontarliv-i-Indien?play_category=dokument%C3%A4r

Afterwards I want you to discuss in small groups Rocky's decision and commitment to the kids in India. 

Could you imagine doing something like this?

How do you think Rocky's decision has affected his relationship with his best friend?

Finally if you were to write a letter (email) to Rocky what would you say?

Have a good weekend. 

On Monday you will get a new assignment for "Letters from the Inside" and time to do it.

Then on Friday and the following week we will work on your report.

Have a good week-end!

Feedback and P-Day!

Today we want to start off by giving a bit of feedback on the interviews from Friday's lesson.

Those of you who participated can write a short comment on today's blog.


Secondly those who missed last Monday's lesson will see that I put out the document we did studying the etymology of words from "Letters from the Inside"

Your task is to find 10 words/phrases from British English, American English and Australian English on pages 60-90.

I will help you today with one of each from page 60....

And now to something completely different- POETRY Day.

You have all probably seen the film "Dead Poets Society" starring the late Robin Williams. The film examines poetry in the light of personal development and growth....

So welcome to P-Day! It would appear that poetry is a very universal means of expression. It appears in every language and culture in one shape or another.

It goes back to the ancient languages of Greece and Rome; yet it is still with us today...



Back to our poetry. The first relevant question must be to ask ourselves is:
"What is the point in studying poetry?"

Check out the following website:
http://www.virtualsalt.com/usefulpoetry.html 

In small groups discuss which of Robert Harris's arguments seem most relevant (if any!).

The second question ought to be:
How can we study poetry?

Have a look at:
http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/ 

Here you will even find my favourite poet- Gerard Manley Hopkins.

Look at any of the poems/poets mentioned.

What aspects of the poems do they concentrate on?
Why do you think this is? 

Your next stage is to look at some poems.

Use the following resource:

http://poetry.about.com/od/poems/u/readpoems.htm 

You can choose 2 different paths-

Decide in your small group if you will:

i) look at one of the theme poem collections

 OR

ii)  choose one of the collections of classic poems.

Read some poems and discuss them.


Finally
Look at some of the poetic forms described on the website and try your hand at writing your own poem.

Hope you have an enjoyable experience!

Don't forget to fill in your Monday journal and keep it up-to-date.

On Friday we will be watching a documentary film and then afterwards there will be an assignment.

J.I.D.- Job interview Day

Welcome to job interview day!

Before we start here is the help document

  
about   the sources (etymology) of the 


words in "Letters from the Inside"



And now to the interviews

Rooms available:

1203

Student Council Room

1223 (Study room)

1206

1225

Social Science study room

(1204)

Start off by getting your documents in order:

You will need:

1. Your CV

2. Cover(ing) letter

3. Copy of the interview questions from  

www.job-interview.net

Make sure your name is on all three.

Print out copies for:

1. Yourself

2. The interview group

3. Mike

 How to carry out the interview

• Start off with introductions and welcome the candidate
• Talk through the CV  "Tell us about yourself/ your education/ your leisure interests/why you think you should get this job"
• Divide up the interview questions
• Finish off by asking " Is there anything we have missed which you would like to talk about?"
• Give the candidate a chance to express himself/herself.

• Final greetings and information about follow-up

Now you're done!!!!! 

Before you finish off.. Take a few minutes to

 discuss what was good and not so good about 

the interview. 

Welcome back after the holiday!

Welcome back after the mid-term break. Hope you all had an enjoyable holiday!

Start off by telling someone you didn't meet during the break about the highs and lows of your holiday.

Today we have two assignments:

1. First language assignment on "Letters from the Inside"

2. Preparations for the job interview on Friday

Let's get down to business!


1. "Letters from the inside" is written in the typical language of young Australians. This version of English is a mixture of  expressions which come from the UK, the US and Australia.

Here is a document to try out for the language study for "Letters from the Inside"

We will go through it together.

Here are some online resources to help you:

www.etymonline.com  (All sources especially UK)
http://www.artistwd.com/joyzine/australia/strine/#.VPRIivmG-E9
Australian English- most complete
http://eleaston.com/aus-eng.html  (Australia)
http://www.fionalake.com.au/other-info/other-references/rural-words/australian-american-words  (Australian slang)
http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html
www15.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/aust-eng.html
www.manythings.org/slang  (slang from US)
www.englishdaily626.com  (from US mainly)
http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/big_list/


The other alternative is to google a word and see where it is mainly used- for example "roll-a-door"

And here is a link for "tat"
http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/slang/history-of-american-slang-words.html


And for "knock off something"
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/knock-sth-off

And finally "goss"
http://www.slang-dictionary.org/Australian-Slang/J/Goss OK! Hope you've got it!

Now here comes the real thing
Use the links suggested in the document as well as your own google searches to find the answers.

You have a couple of weeks to get that done!

2. Job interviews. After the break it's time to get ready for this Friday's job interviews.

I will book rooms and plan times for this. Basically we will meet on Friday in the classroom at 8a.m. SHARP and then divide up the groups to different locations..

Don't forget the preparations...

Start off by getting your documents in order:

You will need:
1. Your CV
2. Cover(ing) letter
3. Copy of the interview questions from  www.job-interview.net
Make sure your name is on all three.

Print out copies for:
1. Yourself
2. The interview group
3. Mike

For the worrying kind...........................

How to carry out the interview

• Start off with introductions and welcome the candidate

• Talk through the CV  "Tell us about yourself/ your education/ your leisure interests/why you think you should get this job? "

• Divide up the interview questions

• Finish off by asking " Is there anything we have missed which you would like to talk about?"

• Give the candidate a chance to express himself/herself.

• Final greetings and information about follow-up

Job interview (ii) and Rounding off Shakespeare

Today we have the following items:

1. Choose a job from www.job-interview.net

2. Print out the interview questions for yourself and other members of your group

3. Write a cover(ing) letter to a suitable firm/organisation. Remember the formal aspects of this kind of letter and send it to me for correction.

4. Start practising your job interviews.

Otherwise TODAY is the final day to hand in your Shakespeare assignments. You have time to get them done..

Finally I will let you know how it went with the CAE Listening test... The results were somehow encouraging.

Groups (known)
1. Vendela, Linn R, Emeli, Isabell

2. Linnea, My, Alma. Andrea

3.  Adrian, Dennis, Eric. Martin 

4. Lovisa, Josefine, Adrian B, Christoffer

5. Axel, James, Anders, Nentan

6. Jesper, Victor, Johanna + 1


Have a good holiday!

CV and covering letter plus instructions for job interview

General information before we start:-
CAE
Those who missed the Listening part of the CAE or had a fail grade on the READING part have a last chance on Wednesday at 14.10 to get it done!

Romeo & Juliet
Both the comparison of the film and play plus the answers  to 10 of 25 questions should be in my inbox by this Friday.


It seems like we think the most important things in life we cannot learn about- like being a good parent or having reasonable relationships with the people around us..
This may be true but at least we can try!!!!

A very important thing in life is getting a job and to reach that goal we often have to go through the process of applying for the job and being called to an interview.

That is what we are going to practice this week and the week after the mid-term break.

Here are the instructions:
As a document 
or as text 

English 7

Job Interviews

The job interview task gives you the opportunity to 

speak English in a more formal setting. Start off by 

getting into a group of three to four students (3-4) To 

prepare for it you will need to do the following:

              

1.    Write your CV-a good resource which is simple is:

http://www.soon.org.uk/cvpage.htm

or http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-write-a-cv-2

 here are some written examples

2.    Surf  onto www.job-interview.net

3.    Click on Mock Job Interviews

4.    Choose a job and prepare your interview (see the general instructions on the above website.

5.    Write a brief covering letter explaining that you have seen the advertisement for the post of…(your chosen area) and you would like to be considered for the job.

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-write-a-cover-letter

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE

6.    Talk to the other people in your group and give them a copy of your interview questions.

7.    Check through the general questions you may be asked at a job interview.

8.    Think about the way you will be dressed ( we will not dress up for this interview)

9.    Think about your body language, your confidence and your eye contact.

10.                  Practise!

See http://www.videojug.com/interview/the-job-interview

11.                  You are now ready to do your interview.

Results of the interview

1. The student interviewers and myself will decide if you should be called back for a second interview or get the job or be thanked for your interest in the post. This is a subjective judgement and not to be taken too seriously!

ON Friday after the break we will do the actual interviews in your small groups. 
You will have about 20-25 minutes per interview.
I will try to get around to as many as possible.
The interview will NOT be graded.
However, the CV/covering letter will be given a pass/non-pass grade  

CAE Listening and follow-up

Today we will be spending the focus on listening..

We start off by doing an example from a CAE test

This was one of the key areas many of you highlighted when planning in groups and is an important part of learning a language.

Then, after the break (around 9 a.m.) you will have an opportunity to deepen your listening knowledge.

Here are some links to help you.

Self-correcting exercises:

www.esl-lab.com (Randall's ESL Lab) 

Do the advanced stuff!!!!! 

Exercises for Cambridge Advanced and other qualifications
www.examenglish.com 

A sample of the CAE test 


Listening to topics  (B2 level to get warmed up with)
http://yourenglishstrategies.wikispaces.com/listening+(B2)

Getting a bit hotter
http://www.talkenglish.com/Listening/ListenAdvanced.aspx 


Finally try to google for C1 level  listening exercises 

Good luck!