Some or any? | LearnEnglish | British Council

Some or any? | LearnEnglish | British Council

An explanation of when to use the words 'some' and 'any' with a dialogue to complete.

Further Work
'Some' and 'any' can also be used in larger, compound words.  Make a list of compound words that have 'some' or 'any' in them.  For example - something, somewhere, someone

Complaining

Complaining

Vocabulary work and a reading task are both part of this task.  It is in a business setting so it will be useful if you are learning English for work purposes.

Rustic Civility | Collins, William (RA) | V&A Search the Collections

Rustic Civility | Collins, William (RA) | V&A Search the Collections
Click on the link above and take a look at this English Victorian Painting

'Rustic Civility' by William Collins

Look up the two words in the title of the painting at: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/civility?q=civility

Then look at the picture carefully and try to answer the following questions:-

• What have the children been doing?
• What is the oldest boy doing?
• Who are they looking at? (The painting gives a clue to this)
• What do you think they might be feeling and thinking?
• Do you think the children are rich or poor? How can you tell?
• What does the title mean?
• What do you think the rider's view of the children might be?
• Would the people who owned or looked at the painting in Victorian times be of the same social class as the rider and view the children similarly?
• Do you view the children in a similar way?
• What is the message of this picture?

Questions taken from:-

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/a-teachers-resource-victorian-social-life-from-paintings/

Global Renaissance Woman – Maya Angelou

“A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song”.  
Maya Angelou

And a few words on love:

A truly inspiring woman who has done an amazing number of things in her life. One of which is writing poems. She read one at President Clinton's Inauguration in 1993. Find out about her and her life at http://mayaangelou.com/  An amazing woman.

I have also posted links to her poems with embedded videos of her reciting her poems on the TEFLCommunicative Resources Page.   

Sandra Bullock in 'The Blind Side' 2010

This film starred Sandra Bullock and was released in 2010. It is the story of a young American Football Hero Michael Oher who is fostered when a young boy.  As he grows up he is looked after by a caring woman and her family.


A very good activity sheet to do after you have watched the film can be found here:-

http://busyteacher.org/3269-movie-worksheet-the-blind-side-activities-keys.html

ESL Videos » 60 Minimal Pairs in 4 Minutes (Listen and Repeat)

ESL Videos » 60 Minimal Pairs in 4 Minutes (Listen and Repeat)

Pronunciations is an important issue if you are going to be understood when you speak English. It is also important to tune your ear so that you hear sounds accurately and can then copy them well.

The minimal pair videos above focus on pronouncing words that sound very similar.  For example- ferry and very. There are many others pairs of words that sound similar in English. It may not be the first sound that is similar, it can be any sound within a word.  The videos simply give you a model to base your pronunciation on so all you have to do is tune in your ear or listen carefully and try to copy the sound yourself or repeat.

Forming the plural with es

Forming the plural with es

Useful web page to check out your spelling of nouns when they become plural.  This pages focuses on nouns that have 'es' added to the end for example fishes, watches etc.  Also, there are links to other nouns that end in f, fe, ff,  i, o, and y. Click the links and find out how the noun plurals are spelt. Irregular nouns are also noted.

Buenos Aires - La Boca and the Argentinian Tango

I have developed and am in the process of  publishing  TEFL Global Resources based on 'La Boca' neighbourhood, Buenos Aires.  

Today, here is some basic information about the region, the origins of the Argentinian Tango and the Festival of Tango currently occurring.  There are reading, writing, speaking and listening activities to do; you can also learn the dance with a friend and there is also some information about choosing a piece of music suitable for the dance.

Enjoy!

TEFL Global Resources Communication Activities

Question tags

Question tags

This exercise is based on statements which are finished with a question tag at the end.

Revise your knowledge of what you should do with various verbs by clicking on the grammar support button in the right hand side column.

Question forms & subject/object questions

Question forms & subject/object questions

Practise using the correct question word when forming your own questions?

Who? Where? What? When? Why?

Common and Proper Nouns

Last week we studied 'countable and uncountable nouns' and 'singular and plural nouns'. Today we are focusing on the difference between 'proper and common nouns'.   Basically, common nouns are everyday objects and not the names of people, places etc.

I have posted up a couple of extra links to help you learn the difference between proper and common nouns in more detail. If I find anymore, I will add them to the list. 

TEFL Global Resources Grammar Page

Challenging Perceptions on Disability

Life Rolls On 

Event at Venice Beach in 2011

I have come acrross some very good video resources from a website called www.explore.org.  With the soon to start ParaOlympic Games in London I thought they were rather topical.  They will cover a variety of different issues and are referred to on the website as 'The Differently Abled Series'.

The first resource relates to young people with spinal injuries and an organisation called 'Life Rolls On'. 
                           
A PDF document with resource links to download is on the TEFL Global Resources Communication Page. 

I truly believe this organisation is really challenging people's perceptions of 'disability' and that is excellent news.