English word for word

Irregular Verbs

2010-11-03T08:53:00.002+02:00

List of Irregular verbs.

For your information and to be learned by heart.

Also, a new word list for year 10 is available, and a new list is in progress for year 11. Expect that during today.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T00:45:00.002+02:00

And a nice trailer of a classic Halloween tale.

Times Final

2010-10-25T08:56:00.001+03:00

Dear All,

I will be waiting for you on Thursday, 28th October, from 10:00 to 14:00.
Room 221 or 202.

Picture Descriptions

2010-10-04T11:18:00.001+03:00

Image one
Image two

Look at each picture and think of the following:
1. What is the person's appearance like?
2. Based on that, what could be their character?
3. What kind of lifestyle could they be leading?

Does any kind of story that would best describe the events in the photo come to your mind? Spend 5-10 minutes on writing / speaking.

For Fun :)

2010-10-03T23:37:00.002+03:00

We're having some English lessons devoted to Psychology and personality (and life-styles).
Here are two links that could be both interesting and fun:

Personality Tests Online - short quizzes that could help tell you something about yourself.
Picture Test - scroll down a bit, then just click on the picture that is most appealing to you.

Maybe you know some other psychological tests that could be interesting for others? ((short, long, easy, complicated, funny - anything you think of in English))

Word list reminders

2010-09-29T21:22:00.003+03:00

The new Word Lists have been uploaded for Form 10 and 11. You can find them on the left, just below the labels' cloud.

For the people of form 11 who cannot open .xls files, please follow this link here to get the the google document.

P.S.: prepare for a word test :)

Articles, Essays, Reports - general guidelines

2010-09-21T15:12:00.002+03:00

This is a presentation that could give you some ideas that stand behind the creation of essays and articles.

Follow the link to view the presentation.

Cyber Crime

2010-09-16T22:01:00.002+03:00

Before you listen, think of the following:

1. Do you know what scamming and phishing is?
2. Have you ever received scamming / phishing letters or e-mails? What was your reaction?
3. What do you think: is this a serious offence? Why? / Why not?
4. What punishment should such thieves receive?

Watch, listen, and try to answer the following questions:
- What happened to the woman’s bank account?
- What do phishers do with your computer?
- Where would clicking a link lead you to?
- What does the new type of phishing scam do?

Word Lists as Google Docs

2010-09-16T21:56:00.003+03:00

For those of you who suddenly have no means of opening .xls files, here's the open source version of the word list Follow the Link

Discussion questions

2010-09-13T23:33:00.003+03:00

With the development of technology, phishing and scamming has become a widely spread kind of crime. The results can range from a mild prank to a life-threatening disaster.
In pairs or in groups, discuss the following questions:

1. Do you know what scamming and phishing is?
2. Have you ever received scamming / phishing letters or e-mails? How did you react to them?
3. What do you think: is this a serious offence? Why? / Why not?
4. What punishment should such thieves receive?

Memory

2010-09-01T20:29:00.002+03:00

Listen to the performance.
1. What is it about?
2. Do you know where the performance comes from?
3. Do you know who the original author of the lyrics is?

(If you don't know the answers to Qs 2 and 3, do a quick search)

Information

2010-08-31T18:52:00.002+03:00

Dear all,

The new school year approaches and currently the situation is as follows: I will be taking only two forms this year, meaning that I will not be at school that often.

You can find me on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday in room 221 or in the methodical cabinet. I'm not sure about the consultation hours yet, but definitely in the morning.
I will be adding them to the menu on the right for your convenience.

Wishing you all a happy start of the season and hope we will be able to improve our level of language knowledge :)

Summer

2010-07-21T16:11:00.003+03:00

These are chocolate muffins and herb tea (with a bit of English Breakfast tea added for color and flavor).

And what do you have at five o'clock?

New Zealand Photography

2010-03-01T09:07:00.002+02:00

Christchurch, New Zealand

Auckland

New Zealand - all over the place

Prepositions of Place

2010-02-26T10:27:00.001+02:00

Just two web-sites you could use as a grammar reference.

Locators: Time and Space
At, In, On - place

Essay Writing

2010-02-21T10:17:00.001+02:00

Hi everyone and sorry for the delay. Here is the file I promised you on Thursday.

The Rules of Writing Essays

BBC - Wild China

2010-02-17T00:28:00.003+02:00

A short list of comprehension questions + one Question for discussion
Up until 2:11.

Coffee cake

2010-02-16T11:31:00.001+02:00

Follow the link to the Russian version of the "Coffee cake" Scenario

Evergreen of Life

2010-02-12T21:08:00.000+02:00

A beautiful animation on ecological issues.

Valentine's Day: Eco issues

2010-02-11T22:47:00.001+02:00

- What is said about the roses imported from Kenya?
- How many roses were bought last year?
- Why could the roses grown in Holland be worse than those from Kenya?

What counts in the end? What had more weight for you?

Cultural mistakes II

2010-02-11T20:29:00.002+02:00

1. When you travel in a compartment with an Englishman, what are you expected to say?
2. And with an American?
3. Is it OK to ask about religion in the US?
4. There is a phrase in Americam English "it's sitting..." what does it denote?

Continue to find the answers to the previous quiz.

1. Only when you are introduced to a new person. You should reply with "how do you do?"
2. "Sorry" is actually a very... tricky word, not to be used in any situations that require politeness. To put it simple: you could use "sorry" when you tread on somebody's leg, but definitely not when you have caused a car crash.
3. Diminishing the compliment would be the most appropriate.
4. It' considered "barging in" on one's privacy to repeat the offer if a negative answer is received.

Video about palace cats

2010-02-09T20:25:00.001+02:00

Watch the video about palace cats and try to understand what it is about

P.S.: palace cat = манул :)

CAAP: Animal therapy

2010-02-09T00:32:00.001+02:00

- Which organization started the CAAP?
- What do you need to join the program?
- Why are dogs brought into the hospitals?

Questionnaire for my Students

2010-02-08T09:00:00.001+02:00

Questionnaire regarding the study of culture at the lessons of English

To be filled out.

Cultural Competence I

2010-02-05T14:18:00.002+02:00

Every week I will be posting 4 statements or situations that are often confusing for the EFL students, but typical for the Anglophone world.
With each next set, I will be posting the answers to the previous one, so those of you who teach English as a foreign language (and perhaps as a second language) can make a sort of a weekly game for your classes.

1. When do you use the phrase "how do you do?" and what should you answer if someone addresses you like that?
2. In what type of situations should you use "sorry"?
3. What should be a typical reply to a compliment?
4. Why is everything offered just once in an English-speaking (especially the USA) country?

How well do you spell?

2010-01-28T23:05:00.000+02:00

A game for the classroom (intermediate - advanced)

2010-01-09T21:39:00.003+02:00

There's an interesting thing I accidentally stumbled upon while completing an assignment on culture last year. This game could help enhance reading, critical thinking, strengthen the relationships between different fields, and help students realize that a dictionary might have more use than just looking up meanings of words.

Take a word that could be (or was) the topic of one of your lessons. Lets say that we have a text on boredom - and we know that modernity has just been covered during the arts / history classes.
We can give a statement for home discussion, e.g. "boredom is the plague of modernity. Does this mean that it did not exist before that?" And give students hints on where they can find evidence supporting or negating the statement:
- history books (to learn what modernity is and what period it covers)
- articles (if you have any)
- the dictionary (see date of first use in English and where the word came from)

If there is enough time, you can also prepare worksheets with all this data for the students to read and work through during the lesson, individually or in groups (e.g. jigsaw activities and "missing link" exercises).
I'm not sure it could work on the lower intermediate level, but if made simple enough (e.g. in form of a quiz rather than a worksheet) something fun might come out of it.

Amazing Grace

2010-01-09T21:33:00.003+02:00

What do you think the song is about? (answers can easily be found on the web)

Thoughts for discussion

2009-10-31T17:18:00.002+02:00

1. The law is made for the fools to follow, and for the smart ones to use.
2. The law is the basis for the society. Without it, no culture could exist as such.

Which one do you support and why?

The Amish Way of Life

2009-10-21T22:26:00.000+03:00

Different Lifestyles, different people.

What do you see?

2009-10-20T21:32:00.000+03:00

halloween by *cuson on deviant ART

The velotaxi

2009-10-19T23:44:00.002+03:00

The Tallinn Velotaxi Photo Gallery

2009-10-18T22:39:00.001+03:00

Mini Meteor by *ethe on deviant ART

A possible warm-up (can be done in groups of 4, in pairs, or individually, if the group is sufficiently small):
Take a frame each, and try to think of 2-3 sentences that would make up a story.

Group Work Tasks

2009-10-16T10:56:00.001+03:00

Follow the link

A reminder.

Present tenses

2009-10-15T14:13:00.000+03:00

Click here to see the present tenses table

Active Reading

2009-10-13T23:31:00.000+03:00

Wolstencroft the Bear

Exercises will be added shortly.

Tag questions

2009-10-13T16:36:00.001+03:00

Follow this link to see the tag questions rule

По ссылке вверху вы найдете правило для формирования tag questions.

Beginnings and Endings for a Letter of Support

2009-10-13T16:22:00.000+03:00

How to begin and conclude the letter of support.
Follow the link

A Very Different Fairytale

2009-10-13T00:02:00.000+03:00

Cinderella

It was raining heavily, and large drops of water were flowing down the window glass. Sometimes, a lightning could be seen, and after a while, thunder could be heard.

Cinderella was glumly watching the fire, and mumbling under her nose: “to the ball they went, huh? And they left me alone – what nonsense. Where’s that damn kettle, anyway?”

Suddenly, a bright light shone behind her, and a soft voice said: Read on...

Cities, Towns, Places: Vocabulary (6th A)

2009-10-12T21:24:00.000+03:00

The presentation - guessing game we played last week.

Follow the link

Yankee Doodle

2009-10-12T20:46:00.001+03:00

So, as I promised, I am uploading the text for you. Apologies for doing it so late: I just came home from my main job.

Follow this link

Красным выделен припев, который необходимо выучить к концу этой недели.

Vancouver Aquarium

2009-10-12T12:10:00.000+03:00

Watch the video and find out:
1. Who is speaking?
2. What animals are most commonly rescued?

Grammar: The Past Tense

2009-10-12T10:00:00.000+03:00

The table I was displaying today. I will also upload another one for Present tenses.

Click here to see the table

Grammar lessons for YouTubers

2009-10-11T20:08:00.000+03:00

And for all those who have trouble differentiating between there and their, whose and who's.

The Dodo Bird

2009-10-06T17:57:00.000+03:00

The dodo was a large bird which used to live on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. It had a large beak, short, thick yellow legs and very small wings. Read on...

Entertainment

2009-10-05T22:18:00.000+03:00

The next topic we are going to cover is Entertainment.
I have my own plans for it, but I would also like to propose you something... maybe connected to being a teacher, or playing a teacher.

At the end of the lessons (starting Friday) each desk will present their common favorite English or American singer, saying 1-2 sentences about their career and biography (e.g. where born, when began to sing, best known singles).
This will allow you both practice a bit of reading, speaking, and presenting, but will also bring a bit of entertainment into the classroom.

I would need to know what you think of it until the end of Wednesday (at least 6 positive comments = song at the end of the lesson).

Wildlife and Captivity

2009-10-05T22:15:00.000+03:00

Zoos often upload videos to YouTube - some funny, some boring, some almost crazy.

This is a short (46 sec.) clip of an otter playing with pebbles (little stones). Watch it and think how it could be used in connection with the topic stated.

Grammar Explanations: PrP vs PrPC

2009-10-03T22:44:00.000+03:00

A link to an easy and helpful explanation of the difference between the Present Perfect and the Present Perfect Continuous (Progressive)

MANY, MUCH, A LOT OF / LOTS

2009-09-28T20:47:00.000+03:00

GRAMMAR REVIEW:

MANY
Many is used with plural countable nouns, and often with negative sentences.
- There are many trees in the park.
- There are not many wolves left in Europe.

MUCH
Much is used with uncountable nouns, and mostly in negative sentences. You will rarely find it in positive statements
- There is not much sugar left.
- Not much work is done.

A LOT OF / LOTS
A lot of, or lots, is used both with countable and uncountable nouns, mostly in positive statements.
- I have a lot of work to do.
- I have a lot of books.
- I have lots of friends.
Pay attention!
- There are lots of trees.
- There are a lot of trees.

- There is a lot of sugar.

A word of welcome

2009-09-21T21:09:00.000+03:00

Hello and welcome!

The current blog has been created with three ideas in mind:
- to put together all the tasks that I am compiling or finding on the web under the creative commons license;
- to make the tasks available both for me and for those teachers who find something interesting in my works;
- to get feedback and suggestions on individual tasks.

Most of the tasks will go under the category of critical reading and thinking, but also group activities and grammar.