28.12.14
25.11.14
Ugly words...
To do:
- Find appropriate adjectives to describe non-standard fruit and vegetables !
- As your contribution to 2014: European Year against food waste, design a great POSTER to encourage your schoolmates to WASTE NOT WANT NOT at your school canteen!
- Do you agree that it is not "politically correct" to use pejorative terms to describe non-standard foods?
4.10.14
A good egg
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- Describe what happened next (cf. the above poster)!
- List English expressions and idioms to do with eggs (for example: “easy over or sunny-side up?”)!
- Design your own poster for World Egg Day (second Friday of October) using an "egg" idiom!
- What is the etymology of the word "egg"?
- Who do you know who is "a good egg" and who do you know who is "a bad egg"?
- Which famous nursery rhyme has an egg-shaped character in it (here's a clue: look on the other side of the mirror!)?
2.10.14
24.9.14
26 September is European Day of Languages!
Twenty questions (most of the answers can be found in the above website!):
- What is a mother tongue?
- What word means “the love of long words”?
- How many people in the world speak two or more languages?
- About how many languages are spoken in the world’s 189 countries?
- How many indigenous languages are spoken in Europe?
- Which language contains the most words?
- Is there one universal sign language?
- What sound does an English frog make!?
- What does “higgledy-piggledy” mean?
- What does “yaourt” also mean in French?
- From what language does the word “plubairnigh” come from?
- How many languages does Natalie Portman speak?
- Which is the longest word in the English language?
- What is your favourite word?
- How do you say “talk to me!” in sign language?
- Are you able to say "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed" without making a pronunciation mistake?
- Who initiated the European Day of Languages?
- What is the purpose of the European Day of Languages?
- How many languages do you speak?
- Which foreign languages would you like to master (better) and why?
29.8.14
Expression of approval...
Questions & things to do:
- What does the TED speaker list as not awesome?
- What does she list as truly awesome?
- What would you add to her list of awesome places, people, things or events?
- What point is the speaker making?
- What does "awesome" actually mean?
- List and learn words that use the prefix "awe-" and the suffix "-some".
- List and learn other words that are used a lot to express approval (which words did your parents and your grandparents tend to use?).
- What words of approval do you tend to overuse?
- Do you think Americans are "too positive" in the way they express themselves?
- Do you think your teachers should be more positive in their appraisal of pupils' work?
Short essay:
Young people are incapable of describing their experiences because their
linguistic skills are inadequate and their vocabulary insufficient (that is why
they overuse expressions like “awesome”). Is this the result of our conformist and
unimaginative education system? Is it due to our consumerist, apathetic and
shallow culture?
Homework assignment:
Spend the week trying to make popular among your friends a word or interjection (of your choosing or invention) you will use to express approval !
Homework assignment:
Spend the week trying to make popular among your friends a word or interjection (of your choosing or invention) you will use to express approval !
21.6.14
20.6.14
19.6.14
17.2.14
Fàilte!
Scots Gaelic was introduced from Ireland into Scotland in about AD 500. It developed into a distinct dialect by the 13th century. A common Gaelic literary language was used in Ireland and Scotland until the 15th century, by which time Scottish had diverged to such a degree from Irish that mutual intelligibility was difficult, and Scots Gaelic could be considered a separate language from Irish.
In some communities it is primarily used in the home, in church, and for social purposes. Books and journals are produced on various topics. Today the Scots Gaelic is spoken in the north and central counties of Ross, and the Islands of Hebrides and Skye, but also in Australia, Canada and USA.
Resurgence of interest in Scots Gaelic in the 1990s was given a boost by the establishment of Scotland’s own Parliament, for the first time in 300 years.
21 February every year is UNESCO International Mother Language Day
What does the acronym "UNESCO" stand for?
When was UNESCO set up and what does it do?
Why is learning the local language important?
In what year was International Mother Language Day launched?
What is the purpose of International Mother Language Day?
What is this year's "spotlight"?
Using three languages is "the norm" today; why is that a good thing?
What does the acronym "UNESCO" stand for?
When was UNESCO set up and what does it do?
What is the purpose of International Mother Language Day?
What is this year's "spotlight"?
Using three languages is "the norm" today; why is that a good thing?
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