Watch, listen and compare the two perfomances of the same song by two radically different artists, Elvis Presley and el Príncipe Gitano. Can you spot any differences? ;-)
a) How important is an accurate English pronunciation? Why?
b) Is your pronuciation more similar to Elvis's or El Prícipe Gitano's?
Wednesday 18 December 2013
Monday 16 December 2013
Thursday 12 December 2013
Halloween Short Film: Friends 4 Ever
Friends 4 Ever is a 2011 horror-comedy short film written and directed by Shane Dawson. The movie was released on October 29th, 2011. The main story is about a teenage girl named Amy Johnson, (played by Shane), having a sleep-over. During it, an unexpected guest arrives.
PRE-WATCHING
PRE-WATCHING
The film you are going to watch is
about some teenagers at Halloween. Get into groups and brainstorm all the ideas
dealing with such films. For example: a killer.
WHILE-WATCHING
1. What do the friends eventually do to have fun on Halloween’s Eve?
a) pee on homeless people.
b) prank somebody (is
a mischievous trick or joke played on someone, generally causing the victim to
experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort)
c) go skinny dipping (swimming nude)
AFTER-WATCHING
3. What happens in the end?
On October thirty-first, a teenage girl named Amy Johnson has a sleep-over with her
best friends Brenda, Kiki, Lori Beth, Lisa, and Brit. When they get bored, they
decide to get on Twitter. Amy then decides to prank a boy who she calls
"Danny Dandruff". She posts his address online. A few seconds later,
a Twit-Pic appears on his Twitter, showing his severed head. The girls scream,
and fear that a serial killer went to his house after Amy posted his address.
The girls then hear someone at the door. Lori Beth is picked by Amy to go to
it. She opens it, and it turns out that it is just a pizza delivery boy. As the
pizza boy is taking, he is impaled in the stomach by a huge knife. He falls
down, and it is revealed that someone dressed in a black clothing wearing a mask
was behind him, and committed the murder. Lori Beth shuts the door, and the
power goes out. Amy tries to use her back-up lights, but they fail. They run
into the living room, and Amy gets into an argument with Brenda. Brenda calls
Amy a cold-hearted evil bitch, and Amy gets pissed off. She tries to tackle
Brenda but Brenda dodges. Amy falls into a table. Brenda talks to everyone, and
finally gets everyone to team up and try to defeat the killer. After her speech
although, the killer appears from behind her and tries to stab her. The other
girls run away. Brenda and the killer struggle, and she finally gets the killer
off of her and runs to the door. She opens it, and the killer is standing
there... the killer stabs Brenda in the stomach. She falls to the ground, and
the killer stabs her in the back two times. Brenda is dead. The killer gets to
Kiki and Lisa, and they run into Amy's bedroom, locking the door behind them.
The killer breaks down the door. Lisa hides behind the curtains, and she finds
Lori Beth hiding there too. The killer opens the curtains and grabs Lori Beth.
Lisa and Kiki, however, escape. The killer flicks a condom at Lori Beth, and
the impact of it makes her fall off the balcony. She is dead. Kiki and Lisa get
downstairs, and Lisa runs out into the backyard, Kiki gets to the door, but
before she has a chance to get out, the killer grabs her, and kills her. Lisa
tries to get away and runs toward the pool. She stands by it, and the killer
pops out of the water and kills Lisa. Meanwhile, Amy and Brit look for a gun in
her bathroom, claiming that her dad keeps one behind the toilet. Amy can't seem
to find it, and Brit is shot in the head. The killer had taken it, and was
hiding in the shower. Amy runs from the killer and gets to the kitchen. The
killer takes off his mask, and it is revealed that the murderer is Danny
Dandruff, the guy she pranked. Brenda appears from behind Amy, and it is
revealed that no one was actually murdered, and the whole night was a prank to
get Amy to be nice to people. Amy, however, reveals that she is going to never
stop being mean to people, and insults everyone there. Danny, Brenda, Kiki,
Lisa, Lori Beth, and Brit get pissed off, and they all stab Amy with real
knives, killing her.
4. Retell the film. Select some sentences of the plot below and use them as captions of some screen captures. Have a look at the example provided
On October thirty-first, a teenage girl named Amy Johnson has a sleep-over with her best friends Brenda, Kiki, Lori Beth, Lisa, and Brit.
Wednesday 11 December 2013
Third Conditional
With the third conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a condition in the past that did not happen. That is why there is no possibility for this condition. The third conditional is also like a dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.
Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you did not win. :-(
| condition | result | |
| Past Perfect | WOULD HAVE + Past Participle | |
| If | I had won the lottery | I would have bought a car. |
Notice that we are thinking about an impossible past condition. You did not win the lottery. So the condition was not true, and that particular condition can never be true because it is finished. We use the past perfect tense to talk about the impossible past condition. We use WOULD HAVE + past participle to talk about the impossible past result. The important thing about the third conditional is that both the condition and result are impossible now.
Sometimes, we use should have, could have,
might have instead of would have, for example:
If you had bought a lottery ticket,
you might have won.
might have instead of would have, for example:
If you had bought a lottery ticket,
you might have won.
Look at some more examples in the tables below:
| IF | condition | result |
| past perfect | WOULD HAVE + past participle | |
| If | I had seen Mary | I would have told her. |
| If | Tara had been free yesterday | I would have invited her. |
| If | they had not passed their exam | their teacher would have been sad. |
| If | it had rained yesterday | would you have stayed at home? |
| If | it had rained yesterday | what would you have done? |
| result | IF | condition |
| WOULD HAVE + past participle | past perfect | |
| I would have told Mary | if | I had seen her. |
| I would have invited Tara | if | she had been free yesterday. |
| Their teacher would have been sad | if | they had not passed their exam. |
| Would you have stayed at home | if | it had rained yesterday? |
| What would you have done | if | it had rained yesterday? |
Online practice:
Tuesday 10 December 2013
Present Perfect Simple versus Present Perfect Continuous
Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous
We use the present perfect tense to talk about things where there is a connection between the past and the present.
- He’s written 16 books.
He started writing books at some time in the past. So far, he has written 16 books. He may write more books.
As well as the present perfect simple, we can use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about events with a connection to the present.
1 Look at these 2 sentences:
As well as the present perfect simple, we can use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about events with a connection to the present.
1 Look at these 2 sentences:
- I’ve been decorating the house this summer. The focus is on the action – decorating – and the action is unfinished.
- I’ve painted the living room blue. The focus is on the finished result. The activity is finished but we can see the result now.
We use the present perfect continuous when the focus is on an activity that is unfinished.
2 Look at these two sentences.
2 Look at these two sentences.
- I’ve read that book you lent me. I finished it yesterday.
- I’ve been reading that book you lent me. I’ve got another 50 pages to read.
The present perfect simple (I’ve read) gives the idea of completion while the present perfect continuous (I’ve been reading) suggests that something is unfinished.
3 Look at these two sentences.
3 Look at these two sentences.
- She’s been writing emails for 3 hours.
- She’s written 10 messages.
The present perfect continuous (has been writing) talks about how long something has been happening. The present perfect simple (has written) talks about how much/how many have been completed.
4 Look at these two sentences.
4 Look at these two sentences.
- I’ve worked here for thirty years.
- I usually work in London but I’ve been working in Birmingham for the last 3 weeks.
We can use the present perfect simple to talk about how long when we view something as permanent. But thepresent perfect continuous is often used to show that something is temporary.
Wednesday 4 December 2013
Have gone to vs. Have been to
The present perfect forms 'have gone to' and 'have been to' are commonly used to refer to movement. There are slight differences in these two forms when speaking in relation to the present moment. Notice the differences in the examples below.
Have gone to vs. Have been to
... has/have gone to ... refers to someone who has gone to a place but has not yet returned.
Examples:
He's gone to the bank. He should be back soon.
Where has Tom gone?
Where has Tom gone?
... has/have been to ... refers to a place which someone has visited sometime in his life. In other words, "has been to" refers to an experience.
Examples:
Do you understand the rules? Test your knowledge with this has gone vs. has been quiz.
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