History Goes To the Movies

Modern history lecturer Dr Marnie Hughes-Warrington talks about her latest book History goes to the movies: studying history on film...

Listen to the first part (0'00" to 1'36") and answer the following questions:

• How many books has she so far published?
• What’s her opinion on film (general view)?
• What’s her opinion on historical film (as a historian)?
• What’s the point she wants to make in her latest book?
• Why are history films particularly valuable?

It's pretty difficult... so blame me if you have a hard time with that! (at least it sounds much better here than in the classroom)

Mid-Term Examinations

I'm doing my best to get all the results this very week. Not the very first day, though.

Overall impression:

• LISTENING: Pretty good results.
• READING: Average. Some did very well while other did poorly... the rest stood around the pass mark (either above or below).
• SPEAKING: As with Listening, your performance was quite acceptable, especially for those many who usually stay silent... and can do rather well.
• WRITING: Probably the weakest skill.

Book Fair

As I told you late in January, there's a book fair in the Pit (EOI's big hole leading to cafeteria and auditorium). It's bigger than I expected, with quite a load of books, both for adults and children. If you feel like it, just pop in and have a look... there might be something that catches you eye and gets you reading, right?

They'll be here for two days, Feb 8 & 9, and depending on how well they do, may come back again in a near future.

Do women really want to marry for money?

"A woman tries to get all she can out of a man. A man tries to get all he can into a woman." (popular quotation)

Personally, I absolutely disagree with this stereotypical view of women. However, recent research seems to support this idea... So, is it true that smart girls get minks, the way minks get minks.

The following article may be a challenging reading, as it contains many cultural references that you must work out, but it could be a subject for reflection:

  Want to read the entire article?         The Telegraph

Marry for money...

Marry for money, you can always learn to love.

Trace Adkins sings a song that really matches this topic. Added value: the video is amusing, indeed. 

She was pretty, she was smart
she was witty, Yeah, she had charm
Cupid shot me
that's what got me down the aisle. 

But that match made in heaven went straight to hell

split up our possessions, put the house up for sale

and I learned a lesson I won't be forgetting
the next time around.

 

I'm gonna marry for money I'll be so damn rich it ain't funny I'm gonna have me a trust fund, yacht club, hot tub piece of the pie

Find me a sweet sugar mama With a whole lot of zeros and commas Don't really care if she loves me She can even be ugly I'm gonna marry for money

I won't have to love her family
I won't have to like her friends
and if it works out like I planned it,
I won't ever have to work again

[Repeat Chorus]

Y'all I'm gonna fly to Hawaii

On a Lear Jet the old lady buys me
I'll call her sweet heart & honey

if she's a hundred and twenty

I'm gonna marry for money...

I dont care if she loves me
She can be really ugly
I'm gonna marry for money

Oh, cha-ching mucho dinero


Come over here you good lookin' thing, you
There's your walker in the corner
Over over...

ON COUNTRY MUSIC

By the way, how do you like country music? In a way, country music is often seen as a portrait of American culture... Is it truly so?  Does country music really offer a comprehensive picture of the average American? Consider for a moment the keywords for most country songs:

Backwoods, cowboy hats, rednecks, momma, trucks, dirtroad, love lost, love gain, someone died, someone's dog died, patriotic fight for our rights, religious theme, tractors, farm, farming, Dixie, the South, hunting, fishing, partying, boots, jeans, rough, honkytonk, beer, whiskey, did I mention momma? 

As someone stated, country music is a way of life with the songs chronicalizing the journey of the path we lead. If the song touches you, then you know it.


Reflection: If you had to select a music style that represents the average Spaniard, what would you pick?

Affluenza

Affluenza - Keeping up with the Joneses.

Af-flu-en-za n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth. 

1. Introduction to the topic (Australian video): A satirical presentation of affluenza, focusing on the hardships of an Australian teenage... 

 2. Oliver James, psychologist and writer, Talks about affluenza and puts it in a nutshell: most folks are about as happy as they make their minds to be (not his own words, though).

Now, please consider how much you fall into this pattern of behaviour. Food for thought! 

English Conversation Club

English Conversation Club

The ECC has been designed by the Department of English. It is run as an off-the-school activity, though. The goal is to offer a wide range of speaking sessions in a schedule that fits each and everyone. We made an effort to provide different times, so we got to offer four NA2 groups with this distribution:

• Mondays 10-11am
• Tuesdays 1-2pm
• Tuesdays 8-9pm
• Wednesdays 6-7pm

Sessions start on Feb 1st, one session a week.

The groups are limited to 12 people plus a native language assistant. Participants will be given an identification card to take part in the activities. The language assistant will care to keep the conversation or debate going, to monitor the students' performance and to provide topics for each session (unless you come up with something worth debating)-

Being an off-the-school program, payment is required. However, we managed to keep the price to the minimum operative fee. If you pay by the month, it will be 6.00€ (four sessions); if you pay by the term (4 months, Feb-May/16 sessions) it will be 20.00€ in a total down payment.

If you want to enroll, send an email to englishclub*@*eoimurcia.org (omitting the *'s) providing the following information: 

• Name + family name
• Level ((NI1/NI2/NA1/NA2)
• Schedule (e.g., MAR/13-14, etc)
• Term (either 1 month / 4 months)

Don't forget that openings are limited (just 48 seats!), so we'll have to go for a raffle again (no trip to Dublin this time).

If you have any doubt, feel free to write and ask.

3A - INVERSION

As promised, some exercises on INVERSION.

HO: INVERSION

English Conversation Club

After the failure to have both Steven and Anthony as language assistants and the coming of Philip, the assistant, we've been fighting hard to keep them here and to design something useful for the students. As a result, the English Coffee Hour is now reshaped, redefined and renamed as the new English Conversation Club. 

The aim is to have a flexible timetable with at least four hours (different times) devoted to conversation for NA2 in small groups monitored by either Steven or Anthony. Registration will be compulsory to attend the club and a minimum fee has been set for that purpose (after all, this is an off-the-schedule thing). Should you be interested, please let me know in class a.s.a.p.

English Book Fair

An independent book retailer will be holding a stand in the Pit (next to the cafeteria) on Feb 8-9 from 10:30 to 20:15 with all kind of English books and discounts up to 50%. Literature, reference (dictionaries, etc), children's, general fiction and the like.

It may be interesting for you (after all, on you way in or out of your lessons, you can just pop in and see if there's anything worth reading. 

See the poster: English Book Fair 

THERE'S STILL SOME HOPE...

After much work, there seems to be a light. 

We've been confirmed a new assistant is coming. That's good, so far, but we believe it's been unfair to Steven and Anthony. That's why we'll fight hard to get them here to stay for the rest of the year. 

Stay tuned... Out from the dark, the English Coffee Hour may come back to life!

WARNING!!!

THE ENGLISH COFFEE HOUR IS CANCELLED.

AND SO ARE THE LESSONS WITH STEVEN AND ANTHONY, THE LANGUAGE ASSISTANTS. THEY ARE PACKING...

After so much talking and working on it, it seems that the education authority is not supporting their enrollment in the school. Hence, once again, we are at a loss for language assistants. And this time without further hope.

I understand these days are difficult and there's pressure to make ends meet... but it seems we are always the ones to suffer.

I'm really sorry to see Steven and Anthony go, as they were really keen on working at the school. Indeed, they started last week even though they hadn't signed up their contract yet. Now it's quite clear they will never do.

We can't do anything else now. You may be able to do something about it, though...

Reading Suggestion

If you are looking for a book that is entertaining, inspiring, and curious at a time, and not too hard for a reading, this could be a choice (8€):

Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

PLOT: January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

Short video where one of the authors speaks about the book: VIDEO.

You can also read part of chapter one and value how hard you find its reading: EXCERPT

Deduction

Due to my own mistake, I forgot uploading the handout on Deduction... but here it is at last. I doesn't really add up anything new, but it may help organise ideas and clear out any doubt. Use it as a stepping stone to revise this grammar field and to add any further information that suits your needs.  

HO - Deduction

Free Conversation Club for Advanced level

As I've already told you, we are quite lucky to have two language assisstants to take up the gap created by Dave. Now, two Americans are joining the school. Steven will take care of morning classes and Anthony will come in the evenings. I'll supply details about their schedule in class.

Then, as a free, extra issue, there'll be a English Coffee Hour (well, two hours, in fact). You can join in the Pit (the core gap in the heart of the school) in the tables next to the Cafeteria, and have a drink or eat a snack as you relax and spend some time talking in English with Steven, with your classmates or with other NA students. The idea is to talk about current events or topics of your own interest in a pleasant, friendly environment.

This English Coffee Hour will take place every other week, starting on Tuesday, January 17, from 11:30 to 13:30. I understand that holding this event in the morning could make it difficult for those of you who work in the morning. Unfortunately, the range of hours to choose from was very limited and that was all I could make of it.

Have a try. It's just a late morning coffee... with a zest of English practice!!