For those of you who have been following my tweets, you may have read that I promised 2 new blogs. The first promise was fulfilled yesterday with the publishing of Exclusive Interviews. Today, I unleashed the second, The Dogme Diaries! Here's hoping you'll enjoy them!
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
New Blog: exclusive interviews
As if I didn't have enough work with this blog, I've started up another. This one's dedicated to exclusive interviews with teaching professionals whom I consider important to us all. I hope the interviews will be a source of inspiration to everyone. The first one is with none other than the great Scott Thornbury.
The blog's called IAskU. All the names I wanted had been taken, so I settled with this.
Monday, 6 June 2011
Wagging the question, tagging the dog
You can tag the dog, but can you wag the question? Watch these two hilarious videos, and my question may become a little clearer. Reading Idioms Part 12 may also help.
UK version:
US version:
The main issue, as you've probably noticed, is that of question tags (in both versions). In the US version, one of the girls constantly mixes up idioms - this is difficult to understand if you don't know the idioms to begin with!
Either or both of these videos can be used with intermediate level upwards (even up to non-native teacher level) - you know your students, you judge. What I'd normally do is to play the video once. Hand out the script. Play the video again. Then, ask them to find and correct the mistakes. Check and explain. Later, discuss the making and correction of mistakes. Are they afraid/embarrassed to make mistakes? Do they feel people might laugh at them? Do they like being corrected by their teachers/peers? What are their most common errors? Why do they keep making them even though they realise it? Elicit methods from the class of 'tricks' they use to help them remember.
A quick explanation on question tags
We add these at the end of sentences to confirm what we are saying; it's like saying, 'Do you agree?' or 'Don't you think so?'. They're the equivalent of, for example, n'est-ce pas? in French and verdad? in Spanish.
The tag comprises of an auxiliary verb (or the verb 'be') and a pronoun:
We've met before, haven't we?
She's really gorgeous, isn't she?
Usually, a positive tag follows a negative sentence, and a negative tag follows a positive sentence:
You don't know where I can find a locksmith, do you?
You were supposed to be here at five o'clock, weren't you?
Notice that the tag agrees with the verb in the preceding sentence:
She won't do it, will she? (modal auxiliary 'will')
They were singing really well, weren't they? (past continuous with the past form of 'be' as a tag)
The verb 'have' sometimes causes confusion. As you may know, the British usually use 'have got' to talk about possession:
Janet's got a really stunning voice.
We can only use the verb 'have' as a tag in this case.
Janet's got a really stunning voice, hasn't she?
However, if we use 'have' as the main verb, both 'have' and 'do' are acceptable as tags:
Janet has a really stunning voice, hasn't she?
Janet has a really stunning voice, doesn't she?
Note the tag we usually use with 'I am':
I'm clever, aren't I?
Or you may hear
I'm clever, ain't I? (non-standard)
SCRIPT (UK VERSION)
Hi! Are we all on the same English course?
Oh yeah, how's it going?
Not bad, but sometimes I have trouble with grammar, isn't it?
Really?
Sometimes I spot on and other times I don't, aren't they?
I'm all right with my grammar; my problem is spilling.
Can't spill to save my loaf!
I have to rely on my spill chock on my compluter!
Well, don't worry about it too much.
I'm sure you'll be treated with a lot of understanding and COMPASSION!
All right!
I've got problems with my spilling not my herring!
She's got trouble with her punctuation, isn't it?
Yeah, sorry.
I sometimes put an explanation mark at the end by MISTAKE!
It's all right for you lot; I've got a very small vocabulary.
What's that like?
It's all right for you lot; I've got a very small vocabulary.
Sometimes I have trouble with my emphaasis.
Your emphaasis?
Yes. In variious different parts of my senteences.
In my job that can cause a lot of awkwordness.
What do you do?
I'm a speech theraapist.
A speech therapist who can't spike prifferly!
I'm surprised your boss hasn't sucked you!
It's all right for you lot; I've got a very small vocabulary.
Can I make a suurgestion?
Why don't you purchaase a dictionary? You'll save yourself a lot of embarraasment.
I know! We could all try studying together, isn't it?
How doesn't next week sounds?
GOOD IDEA!
It's all right for you lot...
SHUT UP!
SCRIPT (US VERSION)
Hey! Aren't we all on the same English course?
Oh yeah, how's it going?
Er, not bad, except that I sometimes have trouble with my grammar, isn't it?
I mean sometimes I perfect but other times I don't, won't they?
You see, I'm all right with my grammar; my problem is spelling.
I can't spell to save my loaf!
Yeah?
Yeah, I have to rely on my spell chock on my compluter!
Well, you know, look at it this way. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't eat it, too. You know what I'm saying?
No, no, not really.
Er...I think that she sometimes has trouble mixing metaphors, aren't she?
Yeah.
Sorry, guys. I'm always crying over spilt chickens before they're hatched.
It's all right for you all; I've got a very small vocabulary.
What's that like?
It's all right for you all; I've got a very small vocabulary.
That's ok. I have problems with my emphaasis.
Your emphaasis?
Yes. My emphaasis. On different parts of the sentances.
In my job that can cause a lot of awkwordness.
What do you do?
I'm a speech theraapist.
A peach therapist that can't spike prifferly!
I'm surprised your boss hasn't sucked you!
It's all right for you all; I've got a very small vocabulary.
Can I make a suurgestion?
Why don't you purchaase a dictionery? You'll save yourself a lot of embarraasment.
I'll tell you what. Why doesn't we all try studying together, isn't it?
How does next week sound, didn't we?
Brave idea!
Fabuulous!
Yeah, You give 'em an inch, it's worth two in the bush.
It's all right for you all...
SHUT UP! Isn't it?
The correct idioms are:
You can give someone the opportunity, but you can't force him to take it.
To want to have two things which are incompatible.
It's no good/use crying over spilt milk or There's no point crying over spilt milk:
It's no use getting upset over something that had happened but that cannot be undone.
Count one's chickens before they hatch:
To imagine what you'd do with the results of something that hasn't been accomplished yet.
give someone an inch (and they’ll take a mile/yard):
This refers to people who wants more and more of what is given to them.
a bird in the hand (is worth two in the bush):
What you definitely have is far better than something which, although it could be better, is not guaranteed.
Related posts:
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Top 5 posts of May 2011
According to Google Analytics, here are the top 5 posts for May:
Photos + Mind Map = Ideas on a Silver Platter (201 Page views)
The top three traffic sources (apart from Google) were:
Thank you all!
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Guesting on Teaching Village
Read my analysis of emergent language based on lessons using the above image in my guest post for Barbara Sakamoto's Teaching Village. Thanks, Barb, for the invite.
Related posts:
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Fantastic new tool for annotating web pages
Scrible (with one 'b') is a fantastic tool for both students and teachers, fantastic if you surf the Net a lot, especially for research. Imagine if you could do to the web page that you're reading what you do to your research material. Well, with Scrible, you can. It's a great piece of online software which allows you to scribble notes onto the web page itself, highlight sections, save the edited page in your library for use later, and share it with your friends. They'd need to sign in first, though. (And, no, I don't get paid for saying all this, in case you're wondering).
Your annotations are automatically added to a table of keys (legends), to which you can add your own descriptions, for example, you could assign red notes as URGENT, blue notes as INTERESTING, yellow highlights as NEEDS CHECKING, etc.
The free version of Scrible, at the moment, gives you 125 megabytes of space for you to save your files.
If you'd like to see an example of an annotated page, I've been testing it on this blog itself, providing instructions on how to navigate around it. You can see it here. (You'll have to sign up first - it's free). You can move the notes around simply by clicking and dragging (in case there are overlapping notes). Be warned that the notes are sometimes moved a little after saving, so they may not be exactly where you had them originally.
To start using it is really easy. No installation is required. Go to https://www.scrible.com/tools. You can add the Scrible toolbar as a "bookmarklet". Just click and drag the button which says "scrible Toolbar" to your bookmarks bar as shown in the image below.
If you have done it successfully, you should now be able to see "scrible Toolbar" on your bookmarks bar. You can click and drag it to wherever you want on the bar.
To begin, click on this, and after a few seconds you'll see a floating Scrible (I wish they'd spelt it with 2 b's!) toolbar.
You're now ready to start using it.
To add notes, just click on the notes icon, and you'll see the icon following your mouse. You'll find that Scrible starts to highlight the texts where your mouse moves to. Click again when the text you want your notes to refer to is highlighted. A text box should appear near your selection. Write your notes, and repeat process to add more notes.
The other features, such as highlighting, changing fonts, etc. work the same way. Your files are saved automatically, but you can save it under a different name - just click on the floppy drive icon as shown in the image below. To share the annotated file with your friends, click on the envelope icon.
Since Scrible saves your work automatically, check your library often to make sure there are only stuff that you want, and delete the rest.
Scrible is in public beta stage, so if you find problems, or have any suggestions for improvement, just let them know.
What do you think of Scrible? Please leave your comments below.
Related posts:
Friday, 20 May 2011
Time to vote! – Lexiophiles Top 100 Language Lovers 2011
Each year, Lexiophiles hold a competition for the top 100 language lovers based on user votes (50%) and their own ranking criteria (50%).
This year, they're hosting their fourth edition, and are looking for the best in four categories: Language Learning Blogs, Language Professionals Blogs, Language Facebook Pages and Language Twitterers.
Once again, a cLiL to cLiMB has been nominated, and this year, it's in the Language Learning category. The voting period ends on 29th May. Results will be made known on 1st June.
Each person is allowed one vote, so, please ask your friends, family, students, neighbours, etc to vote for me! Your vote counts!
To vote, click on my voting button. You can see it at the top of the home page, at the top of this post, and also on the right, under AWARDS. When you click on this button, it will bring you to Lexiophiles' voting page, and, easy for voters, a cLiL to cLiMB is the first on the list. Check the circle to its left, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on VOTE.
Each person is allowed to vote once. But if you're sharing one computer, you'd need to clear your cookies to be able to vote again, or use a different browser. Don't cheat, as Lexiophiles will remove any votes they consider fraudulent.
Thank you kindly!
If you wish to know how the competition works, go here.
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