This Third quarter research project consisted of talking about Spain, as we did with The USA and Great Britain in the previous quarters.
As usual there were four topics:
1. Spanish National Life
2. Spanish Daily Life
3. Spanish Celebrations
4. Spanish Food
You could choose one of them, investigate and make a short videos with your information.
In this clip of the movie "My Fair Lady" Professor Higgins is teaching Eliza how to pronounce English properly (she has a strong Cockney accent): vowels, /s/ sound and /h/ sound. Funny and educational.
By the way, the sentence: "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" should be translated by "La lluvia en España se queda principalmente en la llanura", although here they use the translation of the original Spanish soundtrack: "La lluvia en Sevilla es una pura maravilla."
En este video de la película "My Fair Lady" el profesor Higgins enseña a Eliza a pronunciar correctamente (ella tiene un terrible acento barriobajero): las vocales, el sonido /s/ y el sonido /h/. Divertido y educativo.
Por cierto, la frase "La lluvia en Sevilla es una pura maravilla" es la traducción que se hizo para los diálogos originales del doblaje al español; en realidad lo que dice es "La lluvia en España se queda principalmente en la llanura".
Feeding two birds with a scone (I prefer this expression to "killing two birds with one stone"): to help you practise listening and present perfect and to pay tribute to Prince who died last Thursday, here is Sinéad O'Connor singing "Nothing Compares 2 U (to you)", a song written by the late Prince.
The clip has English and Spanish subtitles.
As you have to make a short movie for your project this term, here is an overview on how to use Windows Live Movie Maker -the editing program you have on your computer by default, otherwise you can download it for free from Windows Movie Maker official site.
You also have a very interesting summing up of all the resources you can use to make short movies here at Digital Storytelling (both for Windows and Mac users).
This is just one of the thousands of tutorials you can find on YouTube in any language, so you won't have any trouble to solve any issue you can come across when doing your project.
We started to work with modals, so here is a song with Perfect Modals in its lyrics: The Day Before You Came by Abba.
The video is a mix of the official video (1982) and a performance nowadays. Furthermore, the lyrics appear on screen so that you can practise, not only listening but reading too.
A song to practise "enough": Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Ain't No Mountain High Enough with English and Spanish subtitles.
Obviously, the double negation (ain't / is not + no) is very, very colloquial, to say the least. Actually, it is not grammatically correct.
Revising conditional sentences, how can I not share with you this song by Jamie Cullum: If I ruled the World?
I didn't know this artist but it seems to me that he is very talented.
As Fang talked to us about Gaokao in China (their "Selectividad") here is a video where an Amercian student and a Chinese student talk about the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test- US "Selectividad") and the Gaokao.
Weekly essay: "Do you think young people eat too much junk food nowadays? Explain."
This is an opinion essay, so remember:
Plan four or five paragraphs:
- an introduction (saying what the situation is...)
- two or three paragraphs in support of the argument / giving a contrasting or different view (with reasons)
- a conclusion (a summary of your opinion or interpretation of the facts)
To help you, in this video, The Good The Bad and The Ugly Eating Habits, teens from Burbank, Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, talk about their eating habits.
As we are celebrating Father's Day today — here in Spain on March 19th, but in many other countries they celebrate it on other days— let's listen to this classic song by Cat Stevens: "Father and Son" with English and Spanish subtitles.
As we have started revising comparison of adjectives here is a video by Kelly Clarkson, Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) with Spanish and English subtitles.
By the way, this expression in the title of the song is the English equivalent of our "Lo que no mata, engorda".
If you want more songs with comparisons, check out my previous entries.
We can continue revising the conditional tense with this song, "One of Us" by Joan Osborne. Lyrics in English and Spanish will help you practise reading and pronunciation.
Let's keep on revising present perfect tense versus past simple with Michael Bublé's song: "Haven't met you yet", with lyrics on screen. By the way, as a fun fact, the blonde girl on the video is Bublé's actual wife, Luisana Lopilato.
Weekly essay: "Would you like to be famous? Give reasons."
Bear in mind that this is an opinion essay, not an argumentative one. So, there are no pros or cons, nor advantages and disadvantages.
Remember:
Opinion essay Point of view: Because the writer is predominantly concerned with stating his opinion, first-person (i.e., I) is always used. Attitude: Opinion has a single-minded goal—Tell the reader what you think. Perspectives presented: Opinion pieces rely solely on opinion and feelings.
Argumentative essay Point of view: formal writing addresses the multiple sides of an issue using the more objective third-person point of view. Attitude: writers maintain a tone of fairness and reasonableness. Their attitude is respectful, tactful, and formal. Perspectives presented: Argumentative writing acknowledges opposing views within a pro/con piece. This demonstrates the writer as a fair-minded person and gives him the opportunity to counter these perspectives with more logic, reasoning, and proof. (source)
Here is a presentation (in argumentative style, watch out!) to give you some ideas.
Elvis Presley recorded his version of "Always on My Mind" on March 29, 1972, and it is very useful for you to both enjoy a great artist with a great voice and practise the use of adverbs of frequency with the song subtitled in English and Spanish.
Future with be going to ("gonna" is the contraction of "going to" when you speak): Three Little Birds (Every Little Thing is gonna be all right)a song by Bob Marley and the Wailers. It is the fourth track on side two of their 1977 album Exodus and was released as a single in 1980.
"How Long" is a 1974 song by the British group Ace from their album Five-A-Side. Lead singer Paul Carrack composed the song upon discovering that bassist Terry Comer had been secretly working with other bands.
To keep on with the passive voice here is a song by Chely Wright - "Till I Was Loved By You" with lyrics in English. It's not a HQ video but it is fun.
Weekly essay: "Which are your favourite TV programmes? Describe them and explain why you like them."
It is a descriptive essay so in your introduction, you might be permitted to make general, abstract statements (tell about) your subject or supply background information, as long as you demonstrate these points concretely later in the body of your essay.
Use vivid nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and appropriate metaphors, similes, comparisons, and contrasts. Avoid clichés.
Like the introduction, the conclusion is another place you can get away with reflecting about your subject, summing up your feelings about it.
In these video interviews around Britain, some British young people talk about their favourite TV shows.
This week we are revising the modal verb "can", so this song by Blue -"I can"- is an obvious choice. This song This song was the United Kingdom's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 and scored 100 points.
The Eagles were one of the most successful bands of the 1970s, with multiple hit singles, including Hotel California in 1976.
One of my students was wearing a T-shirt with the cover of the album but they didn't know who this band was. Let me introduce them to you.
May be this song sounds familiar to you, here are the actual authors: Creedence Clearwater Revival: "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" with English and Spanish subtitles so that you can revise the present perfect tense and "ever".
Weekly essay: "Should teenagers decide about their own future alone or guided by their parents? Explain."
All children think about their future. To know what it is that they think about, a social experiment was conducted asking children to send a message to their future selves. And while they spoke to their future selves, their parents watched.
As we have been working on Simple past tense and "used to", here is a song by Gotye with Kimbra: "Somebody that I Used to Know" with English subtitles to practise.
Weekly essay: "Do you think women and men have the same opportunities in life?"
Here are some facts to support your argument. Breaking down barriers to gender equality in education, employment and entrepreneurship would create new sources of economic growth.
As you must know, David Bowie passed away last Sunday, so as a tribute to this unique artist let me introduce you one of his best songs, The Man Who Sold The World. This song is the title track of his third album (1970) and it has been covered by other artists ( Lulu in 1974, and Nirvana in 1993), although I prefer the original writer/singer.
We passed upon the stair, we spoke of was and when
Although I wasn't there, he said I was his friend
Which came as some surprise I spoke into his eyes
I thought you died alone, a long long time ago
Oh no, not me
I never lost control
You're face to face
With The Man Who Sold The World
I laughed and shook his hand, and made my way back home
I searched for form and land, for years and years I roamed
I gazed a gazely stare at all the millions here
We must have died alone, a long long time ago
Who knows? not me
We never lost control
You're face to face
With the Man who Sold the World
To revise conditionals, "If I were a boy" by Beyoncé.
I've chosen the video for its lyrics on screen and its quality. Don't worry about the Vietnamese captions.
Happy New Year to all of you.
Back to our weekly essay, and this week's topic is: "Would you like to take part in the Erasmus Programme in the future? Give reasons."
To help you with some ideas, here is a video telling you about young people's experiences on Erasmus Programme at the University of Greenwich (UK).
