ACCIDENTAL VOCABULARY (6) 


a "bicycle/bike/cycle lane" is in an urban setting and is a separate lane (carril) on a street that also carries cars, buses, etc., whereas a "bicycle/bike/cycle path" tends to be a completely independent road specifically for use by cyclists, often in the countryside.


SOURCE: http://forum.wordreference.com/

ACCIDENTAL VOCABULARY (5)


golddigger: Any woman whose primary interest in a relationship is material benefits. A woman who cares more about a man's bank account than she does about the man. 

The closest male equivalent is a gigolo or boytoy.

"That golddigging tramp was never in love with him; she was in love with his money."

SOURCE: http://www.urbandictionary.com/

FINAL EXAM DATES

Friday, July 6th "Reading and Writing Sections"

Tuesday, July 10th "Grammar Section"

Friday, July 13th - Feedback 

QUOTES

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.

Groucho Marx

Listening Logs

Source: Adapted from Tapestry 4

Ø       What is a Listening Log?

It is like a journal. It is a small booklet or section of your notebook in which you write information and your thoughts about what you listened to on TV or the radio. At least twice a month (to agree in class), you will watch or listen to programs and take notes. You will put your notes into your log and then write a short summary of what you saw and heard. After that, you will write your reaction to the program in a short paragraph.

Ø       What should go into my log?

§         The name of the program

§         The date of broadcast

§         Your notes, in list form

§         A short summary in your own words- no more than one paragraph. Just main idea and a few details

§         Your personal opinion of the program in a separate paragraph

Ø       Why should we keep listening logs?

§         Listening outside of class helps you to learn English and understand other cultures.

§         You practice the important skills of note taking, summarizing, and writing down your reactions. Then, in class you have opportunities to express your ideas orally in a small group.

§         It encourages you to be aware of good programs, to search them and listen to them regularly.

Ø       How often should I turn in my log?

It depends on your course, needs and possibilities. You will decide together with your teacher. In our case, it would just be once for our OOA #2

Ø       What should I do if I don’t understand what I’m listening to?

You should write a note to your teacher in your log that you didn’t understand a particular program. Then try to find something else to listen to.

Log Example

General Information:

NPR

April 27, 1993, 5:30-6:00 p.m.

Denmark’s child care system

Notes / Expressions (words / phrases) to share in class

Careers and Motherhood:

Denmark’s second largest city

Nursery –elementary school

Rich- pay on-third of operating cost

Poor –pay nothing

Summary:

Denmark’s second largest city has a wonderful child care system. Mothers who juggle careers and motherhood really love this system. The program is subsidized by the ministry policies. These child-care centers are no different from regular kindergartens. They take care of children from the age of three months, and will even care for elementary schoolers after school. The only difference is that better-off families pay one third of operating cost and less well-off families pay nothing.

Personal Reaction:

Many women have to struggle to keep their jobs while raising children at the same time. The government or individual communities in the U.S. should develop a program like the one in Denmark. This would help reduce the hardship of balancing working with parenting

Debate Question/s:  Should mothers work when their children are so young?

Log Template

Student’s Name:

Course:

General Information:

Name of the program:

Date:

Time:

About:

Notes / Expressions (words / phrases) to share in class:

Summary:

Personal Reaction:

Debate Question/s: 

Implications of being in a classmate reunion  - Gisela Algaze

When you finish school, you only wish you would not loose touch your best friends. However, new duties (e.g.: University, work) appear in our life and time to meet our friends from school is less than ever. Thanks that our school organizes every 2 years a classmate reunion I am able to catch on them time to time. It is an idea that I really take to.

I participated in the last reunion. It really was an interesting experience because we met again after 2 years without seeing each other; the meeting brought plenty of surprises. Many of my friends were married, some of them had kids and others were divorced. I came down to my friends’ lives changed a lot and I was still the only one that continued with the same one. I am a single woman with no kids, who is working every day in the same company for about 10 years; I can say that I can get by, but I am not millionaire. To be honest, I was a little sad by putting my life together with the others.

However, I came across to the most beautiful girl in the school of that time. She did the reunion living up. She is 1 or 2 years younger than me and I was surprised that she looked like a woman of 40. I felt a little more comfortable by watching that my life was not so bad! I can say that I felt that I get thought something.

FAMOUS HOAXES

For more examples see museum of hoaxes