Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was the 32nd President of the USA, is frequently cited as being among the country’s best leaders. Born in 1882 in New York, FDR was a Democrat who became President in 1933. The USA and the world was suffering economic disaster following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression. Unemployment in the States was estimated to be 13 million, many banks were still closed.
To alleviate the situation, FDR inaugurated a series of reforms and aid programs known as ‘The New Deal’. These included construction programs and work in the national forests.
During the annual State of the Union address on January 11th 1944 FDR, speaking on the radio, proposed a second Bill of Rights to address the problems and inequalities facing the USA in the mid Twentieth Century. Part of this speech can be watched online, and the link follows the text:
We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race, or creed.
Among these are:
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation;
The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
The right of every family to a decent home;
The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.
America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.
FDR who had contracted a paralytic illness in 1921 and was unable to walk unaided, died on April 12th 1945, less than a month before the complete surrender of Germany. The second Bill of Rights was not introduced.
“My favourite thing? Does my cat count as a thing? She’s not really a thing, but anyway. She’s a really beautiful little cat. I’ve had her since she was four months old. You know how some cats are really independent and hardly talk to you? I know cats don’t really talk, but you know what I mean. Well, she’s not like that at all. She’s really affectionate and comes up to me as soon as I get home, purring away like mad. She makes a lot of noise for a tiny thing. She loves being stroked and comes and curls up next to me when I’m on the sofa. She’s great company.”
Questions:
1 What is her favourite thing ? Her cat
2 How old was the cat when the girl got her. Four months old
3 Is the cat friendly ? Yes, ‘she’s really affectionate.’
4 What does the cat like ? Being stroked
5 How is the cat described as being ? Good company
Computer terms
Do you use a computer at work ? Is it essential or just useful ?
How old is St (Saint) Stephan’s Cathedral ? How many stairs does it have ?
When was the Ferris Wheel built ? Which is the tallest structure in the city ?
New York City guide
Listen for short periods (10 – 15 seconds). Answer questions about the dialogue. Can watch again with captions. Make a note of any new phrases or interesting words.
Answer the following questions:
How many people live in NYC ? 8 million
What do New Yorkers think their home is ? Centre of the world
What two adjectives describe NYC ? Loud and fast
What is the collocation with ‘energy’ ? Pulsates
Visitors can find the city … ? overwhelming
Manhattan is the … heart and soul of the Big Apple
What is in Lower Manhattan ? Financial district
Where is Central Park ? Upper East and West sides
Working life in Germany:
(01.26 – 02.07)
How long do they work in Germany ? How many breaks does the man have ?
What do you think about his situation ? How does it compare with VN ?
Listening
1 The Queen
When was their first meeting? During the G20 conference in London 2009.
Who came with President Obama ? Wife and two daughters.
When did they last meet ? Almost two years ago.
IELTS student (0:46 – )
Does she work ? No, she’s a student Where ? Manchester / Studies ? Business
Some notes I found as I was cleaning my old Apple Mac. I’m not sure where they are from; a book, website or centre notes. I thought they may be of some use to teachers of IELTS.
IELTS Listening
Before I do a listening practice, I tell my students to R.U.P.
read, underline key words and predict the answer.
TOP-DOWN LISTENING
(Going from meaning to language, using background knowledge to understand the meaning of a message).
Activities:
Students generate a list of things they already know about a topic and things they would like to learn more about, then listen and compare.
Students generate a set of questions they expect to hear about a topic, then listen to see if they are answered.
Students look at the question sheet and identify its structure before listening.
Students read a list of key points to be covered in a talk, then listen to see which ones are mentioned.
BOTTOM-UP LISTENING
(Going from language to meaning, using linguistic knowledge clues to understand the message).
Activities:
Students listen and distinguish between positive and negative statements.
Students listen and identify key words that occur in a spoken text.
Students listen to a conservation and complete a form.
Students use stress and intonation to identify word and sentence functions.
SOME EXAMPLES OF MICRO LISTENING SKILLS:
Discriminate among the distinctive sounds
Recognize the functions of stress patterns, intonation contours
Recognize reduced forms of words (contractions)
Recognize grammatical word classes (noun, verb, etc.), systems (tense, agreement, pluralization), patterns, rules and elliptical forms
Recognize that a particular meaning may be expressed in different grammatical forms
Recognize cohesive devices in spoken discourse
So, I made a lesson plan for teaching section 4 of the listening test like this.
Pre-listening:
1. read the instructions carefully to see what they are expected to do (especially the number of words they can write for each answer) R.U.P.
2. identify the topic of the lecture. Teacher can activate their background knowledge by asking them what they know about it, maybe showing a short video clip
3. identify the structure of the test (how many parts, key words) so that students do not get lost in the middle of the listening
4. pair a weak student and a strong student so that they can help each other in predicting the answers
a. part of speech (e.g. expressions or idioms)
b. collocations
c. meaning (make a list of guesses to help the weaker students)
While-listening:
1. Students listen to the recording and do the task individually.
2. Peer check
3. Task correction (the teacher then plays the recording again bit by bit to check the answers)
Post-listening:
1. Students work in group to share their experience after doing the task. What difficulties they had or how they could recognize the answers. (5minutes).
To build confidence, I often play a recording up to three times, highlighting new vocabulary or expressions. I then let the students write the answer on the board, so everyone can see, correcting if necessary.
2. sharpening the macro skils:
Activity to help students recognize paraphrases:
Students stand in 2 lines. There are 2 circles in front. The teacher shows 1 word (e.g crowded) and plays the recording. When the students hear the paraphrase of that word (e.g a lot of people), the first pair jump into the circle. Who can do that first gets 1 point for his team. The first pair then go the back and the procedure is repeated with another word. This can be adapted for older and adult students.
Activity to teach new vocabulary after listening:
The teacher can choose 5 or 6 words that he would like to teach and print them out. Then, put students into groups with a set of words for each group and play the recording. When students hear the word from that set, they have to quickly knock on their desk and take that piece of paper. Who gets the most words wins. The students in group read the words and explain the meaning. Teacher checks the pronunciation and meaning as a class.
The Teacher may wish to set a speaking task related to the topic as a post-listening activity
I believe the students can do better if they are well-prepared in ‘pre-listening’, and for ‘post-listening’, if we can make use of the recording to teach them some skills in doing the task, they will perform better the next time.
The Bash Street Kids … from ‘The Beano’ which is a famous comic from the UK, first issued in 1938.
Tonight we have a listening lesson which, although tremendously important, not to say imperative, can be somewhat tedious for the students.
One factor is the vocabulary. If students don’t know some of the words, they will not be able to answer some of the questions; that stands to reason.
that stands to reason = it is obvious, it is common sense, it can be understood. I live in Vietnam but only speak a little Vietnamese. It stands to reason that if I spoke Vietnamese, I would be more independent.
Therefore, allow me to explain a little about the UK educational system while, at the same time, pre-teaching some new vocabulary.
First up, we have Kindergarten or nursery:
As you can see, the age for Kindergarten is 3 – 5. It can be free, or parents can choose to send their children to a private Kindergarten or nursery.
Maybe the word Kindergarten looks a little strange in an English lesson – quite right, it is, in fact, a borrowed word from German. If you have seen my other IELTS posts, you may have come across ‘prima donna‘, which is a borrowed word from Italian. If you can use borrowed words in your IELTS tests, it will surely impress the examiner.
Next, we have primary school for children of 5 to 11. When I was at school, it was broken down into Infants and Juniors. Infants school was two years, then we moved up into a new building, attending four years of Junior school. This was a mixed school by which I mean boys and girls were in the same class.
Woodside Primary school in north-east London
Following on from Primary school we have, quite logically, Secondary school:
A typical class photo from the late 1970s. As you can clearly see, this is a single-sex school. Furthermore, the pupils had to wear school uniform of trousers, blazer and school tie.
Pupils spent three years here, from ages 11 – 14 at Junior High, after which they progressed to Senior High:
Pupils have to attend school until they are 16; it is compulsory.
You must then do one of the following until you’re 18:
stay in full-time education, for example at a college
Pupils can either stay at school and enter the VI (Sixth) Form, or go to a Further Education College which differ in that they offer a much wider selection of options such as vocational courses which are more practical and can help students train for a specific job. VI Forms, on the other hand, are academic (theory), preparing students for university.
The VI Form is usually in the same building as the Senior High, so pupils are familiar with the teachers and students. Going to a new college, meeting new staff and students means that time is needed to settle in or settle down.
Qualifications are imperative these days, so many students want to go to University.
Finally, we have Adult Education which, as the name implies, is for adults who wish to further their job prospects, or simply learn for their own pleasure. As many people are working, these type of education often takes place in the evening or at weekends.
New Vocabulary:
term – part of the teaching year for example First Term is from September to December
it’s a pity – it is sad or it is unfortunate
Fresher’s Week – a week for new students (Freshmen in USA) to get to know what their college has to offer, such as clubs and events.
GCSEexams – tremendously important exams taken at age 15 or 16. Good results mean the student can to VI Form or have to re-sit the exam.
tertiary – means the third – after Primary (first) & Secondary (second), tertiary refers to Higher Education, taken after the age of 18.
NVQ National Vocational Qualification – this is more practical as opposed to academic, designed to teach skills needed for a particular job:
An NVQ card stating that the holder has passed exams to work in the construction industry
BA or BSc – (Bachelor of Art or Science) degrees in the arts or science. Usually attained after a three-year course. The next step is a MA (Master’s Degree) and then a PhD.
internship – gaining real-life experience by working for a company, often for low or even no pay.
Graduate Fair – a chance for students to think about what career to follow, or what company to join. They can speak to people who represent organisations:
