The Legend of Narcissus

(A story to retell)

Narcissus was a youth who knelt daily beside a lake to contemplate his own beauty. He was so fascinated by himself that, one morning, he fell into the lake and drowned. At the spot where he fell, a flower was born, which was called narcissus.
      When Narcissus died, the goddesses of the forest appeared and found that the lake, which had been fresh water, transformed into a lake of salty tears.
            “Why do you weep?” the goddesses asked.
            “I weep for Narcissus,” the lake replied.
            “Ah, it is no surprise that you weep for Narcissus,” they said, “for though we always pursued him in the forest, you alone could contemplate his beauty close at hand.”
            “But… was Narcissus beautiful?” the lake asked.
            “Who better than you to know that?” the goddesses said in wonder. “After all, it was by your banks that he knelt each day to contemplate himself!”
      The lake was silent for some time. Finally, it said:
            “I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depth of his eyes, my own beauty reflected.” (Paulo Coelho)

Globalization

Dictation - Upper-intermediate/ Advanced

         The backlash against globalization is a broad phenomenon that is fed by many different specific emotions and anxieties. This backlash expresses itself in different forms, through different characters in different countries. This is not surprising. Markets generate both capital and chaos; the more powerful markets become as a result of globalization, the more widespread and diverse their disruptions.
         Beyond this general sense of disruption and dislocation, the opponents of globalization resent it because they feel that as their countries have plugged in the globalization system, they have been forced into a golden cage. Some don't like the golden cage because they feel economically pinched by it. Some worry that they don't have the knowledge, skills or resources to enlarge the cage and ever really get the gold out of it. Some don't like it because they resent the widening income gaps that the cage produces or the way it squeezes jobs from higher-wage countries to lower-wage ones.
         Some don't like it because it seems to put a higher priority on laws to promote free trade than it does on laws to protect turtles and dolphins, water and trees. Some don't like it because they feel they have no say in its design or that getting their countries up to the standards is just too hard.

Why we shouldn't grumble about Eglish spelling

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy.

The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and key boards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with " f ". This will make words like fotograf 20%
shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing " th" with "z" and "w" with "v".

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensi bl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, v e vil al be speking Jerman like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

Think green

     Raising environmental awareness is becoming more and more important and urgent each day. By incorporating environmental learning into education, teachers help students understand the natural world and their personal connection to it. In this way the young learners will be able to make informed decisions to protect the environment at school, at home and in the community.
     The good news is that a lot of materials have been prepared for the introduction of nature conservation into the school curriculum. Textbooks and teaching resources abound in texts, activities and practical advice on what people can do to help protect the environment thus establishing an attitude towards nature.

While browsing the net I came upon these surveys which I believe will help the students to find out what they can do to improve their environmental behaviour.

Think Earth Environmental Surveys

Another useful link, one of the oldest, and most unbiased sources of online environmental news on the web: http://www.enn.com/

 All the images shown here belong to respected owners and are shared here for appreciation purpose.

The Rila Monastery in Bulgaria

Read the text and mark the sentences True, False or No information in the text        

          The Rila Monastery is an architectural work of enormous dimensions, an apogee of the work of the Renaissance craftsmen, icon-painters, wood-carvers, artisans in the artistic area where architecture and the decorative and monumental painting of stone, wood and metal are combined.
          The Rila Monastery was founded in the l0th century by the Bulgarian monk St. John of Rila and was rebuilt in the l3th -l4th century. From that time date the fortress tower, the bishop's throne, richly carved doors and some manuscripts, icon paintings and church plates.
         Situated high up in the Rila Mountains, the monastery is not easy to reach. From the town of Rila, the monastery is still some 25km away. Access is difficult but the experience is well worth the effort.
         The building has four levels of colorful balconies with some 300 cells, kitchens, guard rooms, a hospital, chapels and even a winery. From the top balcony you have splendid views of the surrounding Rila Mountains. In the center of the courtyard, there is a beautiful church with amazing frescos. The best time to visit the monastery is weekdays (far fewer tourists) and during the early morning or sunset.

1. The Rila Monastery is a modernistic building, designed by contemporary architects. ..............
2. The Rila Monastery was established about 11 centuries ago. ...........
3. It is not a good idea to visit the monastery as it is difficult to access. ...............
4. There are four chapels in the monastery. .............
5. The best time to visit the monastery is the summer. ..............

Find words in the text which mean the following:
1. painting on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling (n.) - ................................
2. the most successful, popular or powerful point(n.) - ............................
3. a large strong building which can be defended from attack (n.) - ............................
4. an old document or book written by hand in the times before printing was invented (n.) - .........................
5. the method or possibility of getting near to a place or person (n.) - ..........................

You will find the Key in the first comment.

Language pyramids

         The following activity is suitable for elementary students of English as a foreign language, especially those who are slow, unmotivated, unfocused, immature or unapt. It will not only boost memory and practise stress variation in word linking, but will also sensitise learners to the mechanisms of word order and structure building.

How to do it?

1. Write a sentence pyramid on the board.

Example:                                      weather
                                                 the weather
                                              the weather can
                                            the weather can be
                                        the weather can be cold
                                   the weather can be pretty cold
                            In Scotland the weather can be pretty cold.
                     In northern Scotland the weather can be pretty cold.

2. Read each line out loud and ask the students to repeat in chorus.
3. If you have time you can ask individual students to repeat as well or read the pyramid by themselves.
4. The last task is the most challenging and creative - given a pilot word ( e.g. box, summer, bottle ..., etc.), the students build their own language pyramids.

Landing on Mars (Word formation)

Read the text and fill in the gaps with the correct form of the words in brackets.

Late Sunday evening, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, a group of scientists 1. (breathe) ………………… monitored the progress of a robotic explorer named Curiosity that was quickly descended toward the surface of Mars. When it landed 2. (safe) ……………. inside a crater on the Red Planet the scientists erupted with joy. It was 3. (just)……………. excitement.

Curiosity, in so many ways, represents the future of space 4. (explore) ……………….. for the United States and the world and, despite the 5. (perceive) …………………. that space travel and exploration is a dead or dying industry, Curiosity's landing indicates the exact opposite notion.

Over the next two years Curiosity will use its 6. (high) …………… sophisticated equipment to analyze Mars and attempt to determine whether or not life may have ever existed on our closest neighbor. It's all a part of an increased, 7. (nation) ……………… focused effort on exploring -  and 8. (event) …………………..  sending humans to - Mars. In fact, in 2010, President Obama made a promise in a speech at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida 8. (suggest)……………… that astronauts would reach Mars' orbit by the 2030s. That's just two decades away but there's no reason to believe that the goal is 9. (attain) ……………….  . After all, it's been more than four decades since astronauts walked on the moon and returned safely back to earth. And human space travel has little to show over that time period. (Greg Houle)

You will find the key in the first comment. 

How to use difficult English words in class to boost writing skills

       The English language abounds in difficult words, which you can use to make a fun activity in class and at the same time develop the students skills for writing clearly and accurately. 
       Choose several words ( there's a sample list below), write them on the board and ask the students to write definitions for all of them. They can work individually, in pairs or in groups. After the students have finished, they read the definitions and choose the one which is closest to the original meaning of the word.

Sample word list:
maconochie - n. army tinned stew 
demonolatry - n. worship of demons, and good and evil spirits 
hydropathy- n. medical treatment by baths and mineral waters 
novolescence - n. state of being new or up to date 
paucity - n. scarcity 
bucolic - adj. charmingly rural; rustic; country like 
chicanery -  n. trickery; deceitfulness; artifice, especially legal or political 
obfuscate - v. to darken, to confuse, to make confusing 
penchant - n. strong inclination, a liking
latibule - n. hiding place

For a detailed list of difficult English words go to 
http://www.english-for-students.com/Difficult-Words.html

Writing with style - Parallelism

      In an interview a TV presenter once said that he preferred reading texts which were "melodious" and balanced. One technique that students can use to make their writing melodious, stylish and graceful is called Parallelism or also parallel structure or parallel construction. 
      Let's consider the following sentences:
                
1. The old woman was smart, polite and gave money to the poor.
2. She was beautiful but a spoilt child.

    Something is wrong with them, right? - They aren't very easy to read because the rhythm is broken. Now let's change them:

 1. The old woman was smart, polite and generous.
 2. The child was beautiful but spoilt.
   The tone of the second pair of sentences is different - they are easier to read, smoother, more melodious and more balanced.
So parallelism takes place when expressions that are similar in content are similar in function. 

Here are some more examples of parallel constructions: 

This animated film is full of fun, adventure and comedy.

At night you could hear voices chatting in the darkness and insects buzzing in the tress. 

As he worked overtime and because he came up with innovative ideas, they gave him a promotion. 

This product is cheap to buy and easy to use. 

He spoke slowly and confidently.

I felt that this was just one more in a very long series of fundamentally cheerful, well-ordered, pleasantly uneventful days. ( Bill Bryson) 

With life as short as it is, with so many pressing demands on our time, with so many books of information waiting to be read, why should we spend precious time on works of imagination? (L. Perrine, Story and Structure)

On the one hand, they may want schemes and intrigues, mixed identities, disguises, secret letters, hidden passages and similar paraphernalia. On the other hand, they may demand fights by land and sea, dangerous missions, hazardous journeys, hair-breadth escapes. (L. Perrine, Story and Structure)


For exercises on parallelism, go to:  http://grammar.about.com/od/grammarexercises/a/completionparallelism.htm

Ending a Myth with a Bang

      When I was little, my two cousins and I usually spent the holidays with each other's families in turn. The three of us slept in one big bed. We kept each other awake most of the night, talking about the mysteries and wonders of Christmas morning. Our stockings were always huge and in the morning when we woke, the first thing we did was check what was inside. 
      One Christmas Eve I woke at the critical moment, and saw, not Santa Claus, but three familiar figures hissing from the doorway 'Hurry up - don't wake them!' I lay as still as death. Next morning I shattered the already somewhat shaky illusions of my two cousins. We told no one what we knew, and kept our secret for a year. 
      The following Christmas Eve we laid a Santatrap. This consisted of a collection of kitchen utensils - saucepans laid in strategic positions on the floor, a baking tin filled with forks and spoons balanced on the top of the floor, kettles hung from the ceiling. We kept awake until at last we heard the sound of footsteps from the stairs, accompanied by 'shushes' from the aunts. The trap worked beautifully. The uncles and my father, merry and unsuspecting, after an evening's celebration, were approaching with their sacks of presents. As they pushed the door open, the tins and cutlery crashed round their ears. Pushed forward by the screaming aunts, they fell over the pots and pans and bumped into the hanging kettles. The lights went on. We leapt up and jumped on them, screaming in triumph, ending the happy myth with a bang.

(based on The L-shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks)

Describing shapes

Here's another activity to eliminate boredom in the classroom and enhance speaking and listening comprehension.

1.Prepare a sheet of paper with different shapes on it (like the one shown above).
2. Make several copies ( the number will depend on the number of students in class - the students may work in groups or in pairs)
3. Cut the sheets of paper along the lines so you now have sets of shape cards.
4. Divide the students into groups or pairs and give each group/pair a set of shape cards, which they spread on the desks.
5. Ask a volunteer student to be the speaker and give him/her a sheet of paper with the original arrangement of the shapes.
6. The speaker then describes each shape so that all other students can arrange the shapes in their original order.
7. At the end of the activity the students compare their arrangements with the original one.

Can you spell correctly?

Every line contains one word which is not spelled correctly. Which is it?

1. ceiling, deceive, recieve, correspondence, clique
2. bravado, chasm, ambassador, feign, acquital
3. malicious, irelevant, interrogative, martyr, indisputable
4. hindrance, gruesome, etiqette, expedient, curriculum
5. embroidery, benevolent, elimination, primitive, vulnarable
6. undoutedly, versatile, unanimous, respite, retrieve
7. prejudice, poignancy, mallicious, monotony, maintenance
8. apology, applicant, arrangement, astma, apostrophe
9. chaufeur, consequence, aerial, adolescence, abstain
10. colonel, envious, existance, legitimate, fashionable
11. insufficient, internally, inept, forgery, headquaters 
12. dilema, frivolous, council, bachelor, asphalt
13. dialogue, hospitality, crypt, coleague, dominance
14. melodious, obsolete,  prefarably, perceive, sophomore
15. predecessor, sieve, rehearsal, genious, suburban

You will find the Key in the first comment.

What is the English Gerund?

 The English gerund is a noun formed from a verb. Watch this video from About.com to learn more about the English gerund and its uses.

http://video.about.com/esl/Learn-ESL--What-Is-the-English-Gerund-.htm

and here's an exercise on gerund:

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund/exercises?21

Using songs in the English classroom

An excellent way to make learning enjoyable and motivating is to use music in the classroom. Here are some of the benefits of songs - they:  

• increase motivation - there's hardly anyone who doesn't like music
• increase vocabulary and phonemic awareness - they are authentic material
• improve memory and concentration - students learn through repetition
• provide meaningful context to encourage fluency
• relax stress or change the mood

Here is a list of songs I have used and intend to use in class to make learning grammar fun:

Present simple - Celine Dion "I'm alive"
                                          Devotchka "Till the end of time"
Present continuous -  Keane "Everybody's changing"
                                   One Republic "Stop and Stare"
                                   The Arcade fire "My body is a cage"
                                   ABBA "One of us"
Present perfect simple - U2 "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
                                         Matchbox 20 "How far we've come" 
                                         Rod Steward "Have I told you lately"
Present perfect continuous  - Anastacia "Left outside alone"
Past Simple - The Beatles "Yellow Submarine"
                      A-ha "Did anyone approach you"
Past continuous - Aerosmith "Crying"
Future Simple - Zucchero "Diamante"
                           A-ha  "Crying in the ran"
Imperative; modal verbs (could) - A-ha "Foot of the mountain"
Subjunctive - Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash "If I Were A Carpenter"
Modals (could), Past Simple, too+adjective+to-infinitive, obligation in the past (should have stopped) - Snow Patrol "You could be happy" 
Modal verbs (must) - Queen "Show must go on"
1st Conditional - Simply Red "If you don't know me by now"
2nd Conditional - ABBA "Money, money, money"
                               Lisa Stansfield "Change"
3rd conditional - Taylor Swift "You're not sorry"
Wishes - Joni Mitchell "I wish I had a river  "
               The Arcade Fire " City with no children" 
               Blackmore's Night "Wish you were here"
Modals for the past - Adam Lambert "Better Than I Know Myself"
Used to - Gotye "Somebody that I used to know"
                The Arcade Fire "Used to wait"
Too+adjective+to-infinitive - OneRepublic "Apologize"
Make/Let+bare infinitive - Madonna "Love makes the world go round"
                                             The Beatles "Let it be"
Comparatives - Kaiser Chiefs "Every day I love you less and less"
Reported speech - The Killers "Somebody told me"
                                Nina Simone "If he changed my name"
                                 Holly Cole  "I Told Him That My Dog Wouldn't Run" 
Phrasal verbs  - James "Getting away with it"
                           Lily Allen "The Fear"
                           Devotchka "The last beat of my heart"

Defining relative clauses - Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta "You're The One That I Want "

                        
There are numerous ideas of how to use songs in the classroom. Here are some: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/using-songs-classroom

 If you feel that I should add other songs to this list, feel free to share.