End of Time … Zones

20th March 2025

Just two more lessons and we have finished the textbook … and then you have the tests.

Don’t worry, let’s have a warm up to prepare for the BIG ONE.

So, Whop bop b-luma b-lop bam bom, let’s Rock ‘n’ Roll

1) FREE TIME: draw a mind map about free time.

2) What is a prodigy ?

3) What do you need to be a prodigy ? I want two answers.

4) Describe one of your classmates. I want appearance and personality … and be polite.

5) What can you see at a Madame Tussauds museum ?

6) Tell me three accessories people wear.

7) What is your favourite colour and why ? How do you feel when you wear this colour ?

8) What do these words mean:

a] Five days in a row b] rural c] try on

9) What is the superlative of

a] big b] famous c] less

10) Tell me three interesting facts about the Amazon Rainforest.

11) Give me synonyms for

a] search b] amazing c] fast

12) What is your favourite type of music. Tell me as much as you can, give examples.

13) “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach.” What does that idiom mean ?

14) Food can taste … give me four adjectives.

15) How can we prevent the flu and being ill ?

16) Tell me where you would most like to visit. Tell me why, how you can get there, what would yo do ?

Remember, tell me more, higher score

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Some or Any ? Young Learners, Level 2

2nd December 2024

We use ‘some’ for a statement

There are some great websites for learning English.

[websites are plural and countable]

There is some ice-cream at VinMart.

[ice-cream is uncountable]

We use ‘any’ for a negative or a question

There aren’t any parks near my home.

There isn’t any French cheese.

Are they any good films playing?

Do you have any English tea?

NOW … YOUR TURN

1 Do you have ______ questions about the new project?

2 Let me give you _______ advice.

3 You don’t need to bring ____ paper. There will be ______ print-outs available.

4 There will be _____ visitors from Germany coming. Do you know ____ German?

For Top Cats

Speaking practice:

Jim I can’t wait for Tet. Do you have any plans?

Ann Of course! I’m going to watch some films and get some rest.

Jim Have you bought any special food?

Ann I don’t have any time for shopping. I’ve still got some juice. How about you?

Jim I need to buy some fruit, some biscuits, and do I need any special food for Tet?

Ann Absolutely ! You must buy some cakes and some sweets.

Jim Anything else? I need some advise.

Ann Just make sure you have some beer. A LOT of beer. Cheers!

Young Learners, pre-teens: introduction lesson.

2nd April 2024

I begin by eliciting class rules then a good old STB, replacing ‘bus’ with ‘taxi’. What do they know about UK ?

This leads to …

Try the birthday horseshoe game: here, one part of the room represents January, the opposite, December. The students must stand in a horse-shoe shape, according to when their birthday falls.

This leads to …

A run & write activity. I write incorrect sentences on the board. Split class into teams), and one member must rewrite the sentence correctly:

What are your name ?

I eats fruit

How old is you ?

What is your hobbies

He like swim

What you do think

There isn’t a chocolate

Why is your friend

Today’s theme is Free Time. The warm-ups should review previous lessons and

This lead to …

Word Bomb – Hobbies – what do they do in their free time ?

Listen out for mistakes, encourage full sentences and drill collocations

(Play sports / do homework / make models / go swimming)

Students can mime an activity, and drill full collocation:

play piano play table tennis listen to music read a book go swimming

Then use the Mingle – interview sheet. This will get the class up and active before break time, and after sitting through book work and listening exercises. The exercise can also encourage students to introduce themselves:

Find 3 people who:

Name

Hobby

Play an instrument
Draw or paint
Read books
Watch films
Learn English
Have a pet What pet ?

Pronunciation – phonemes

ɑ ɔː əʊ

Point to the correct phoneme

In teams, read out:

model disco show on door go walk

Players must identify the correct phoneme

Pre-teaching: Match the words with the meanings

describe planned, in order, not a mess

imagine having to do too many things

typical feeling you have too much work

pressure normal, usual

organised to tell what something looks or like

community to think about something

stressed the place or area where you live

Adult Class level 3: introduction lesson

22nd March 2024

Let us start with a quick welcome; students can be put in pairs and spend 3 or 4 minutes asking each other questions (names, age, likes and dislikes). Then they introduce their partners to the class.

I follow by asking the students where they think I am from, and in one class I heard, “Australia.” Couldn’t be further away. Sounds of laughter and of ice-breaking. One of the younger students recognised the British accent, then London was pinpointed as my hometown.

This leads to …

First activity: stop the bus (STB) about the UK.

What is the second biggest city ?

Name of the famous clock. Name of our King.

Name of 007 (also a way to drill the notoriously absent final-s of James),

Traditional food (“fish & chips,”; again -s drill).

This combines ice-breaking games with some pronunciation and grammar drills.

This lead to …

Partner work. I show four different examples of British food and four titles. Students had to match the title and image, with some pre-teaching. The activity:

English food

Toad in the hole Sunday roast

Full English breakfast Fish and chips

Describing the food: can they name the dishes ?

What do they think of them ? (elicit adjectives)

Are they healthy ? if not, why not ?

Encourage all students to contribute, feel relaxed and comfortable, and confident to demonstrate their knowledge.

Phrasal verbs pertaining to eating

eating out

dig in

check out or check it out

pick up the cheque / bill

Vocabulary

unusual for instance partly attracted ingredients typical

Then using these in sentences:

What do you need to make pho ? (noodles, meat, vegetables, stock, herbs)

Those are the ingredients.

What do you do every day ? (go to school or work, exercise, do homework, clean the house)

That is a typical day.

Viet Nam has great food, for instance pho, bun bo Hue, Mi Quang. What is the most unusual food you know ?

Today will be partly cloudy. The smell of the cooking attracted the young lady.

There has to be a lot of time for the students to speak with each other. Sometimes working in pairs, sometimes in small groups. Make sure the students have the vocabulary to do the activity, know what they have to do and feel motivated.

Grammar: present simple and present continuous

I live in HCM or I am living in HCM

What is the difference ? Why do we use one but not the other ? (This will be covered in other blogs)

Pronunciation: the stress on negative words

I like tea, she doesn’t like coffee.

Intonation: rising voice on questions

Does she like tea ? Do you like British food ?

And finally ... students can ask their partner about things that they like: food, music, films, places etc

Butterfly Decal: ‘Lavender Girl’ – demo version.

17th November 2022

A low-fi home recording of a new song with the working title of ‘Lavender Girl’.

Special thanks to Ms Huong for making the unbearable bearable.

Thanks to the friends in the video

Butterfly Decal are Niall Keohane and Paul Pacifico

Thank you very much for listening

Jingo Harleyman – ‘Hari Karachi & the Durango 4’ OST (Part 2)

22nd September 2022

from the ‘Hall of Yama’ sequence, an underground Berlin dance club.

Part 2 of the OST (original soundtrack)

‘Hari Karachi & the Durango 4’

The music was composed and performed by Jingo Harleyman, and is royalty-free; anyone may download the music or use it for non-profit purposes.

Furthermore, all the music is free to use for no-budget or low-budget projects. Please credit the composer:

Hari Karachi is a cybertective, notable for wearing crocodile boots.

In Part 2 Karachi, acting on a tip-off from Tiger Girl, flies to Berlin to meet an old accomplice, Seymore (sic) Green. The two talk in a pulsating, deafening underground nightclub, and Green organises a nightdrive to a safehouse … but for how long will the safehouse remain safe ?

The Durango 4 are approaching.

Now, without further ado, the video:

The story (spoiler-free) will continue in the next blog post, Part 3 of the OST.

Part 2 is dedicated to the memory of the British actor Seymour Green (1912 – 1998)

Butterfly Decal: ‘Red Ribbon in Long Hair’ EP Part 2

5th July 2022

On June 12th, I blogged about the ‘release’ of our first set of recordings, a Jazz-influenced quartet of tracks called ‘Red Ribbon in Long Hair’. That blog may be accessed here: https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2022/06/12/butterfly-decal-red-ribbon-in-long-hair-ep/

I previously linked two tracks, ‘Red Ribbon: A Short Story‘ & ‘Miles et Juliette.’ Today I have the YouTube links for the two remaining instrumental tracks. The full EP listing:

1) Red Ribbon: A Short Story

2) Red Ribbon Suite

3) Swing, Princess, Swing

4) Miles et Juliette

First, track 2, ‘Red Ribbon Suite’ a piece in three distinct movements:

Photography by Niall Keohane & Paul Pacifico

Track 3 is based around a simple guitar pattern, with Niall adding piano, strings and harmonies:

All music written by Keohane & Pacifico.

Production by Niall Keohane.

Thank you for visiting this blog page. If you like the music, we would really appreciate it if you could give us a ‘Like’, and pass on to your friends. The ‘visits’ and ‘likes’ really help new bands to get attention.

IELTS: hometowns & neighbourhoods. Speaking Test Part Two practice.

4th April 2022

Some London neighbourhoods

A typical, run of the mill IELTS question will be about your hometown or about your neighbourhood.

N.B. neighbourhood means the area in which you live; neighbours are the people living next or close to you.

First, some new vocabulary. I will expect you to learn these, to have them down pat:

gritty / industrial

quite / safe / residential

boring / peaceful / suburban

bustling / vibrant / city centre / lively / a happening place

apparently – something you believe to be true

conversely – the opposite, on the other hand, however

actually – saying something that is surprising or is the truth

New idioms

bear with me – please wait a very short time

bit of a sore point – something that makes you sad or angry

like a madhouse – a place or area that is crazy, too noisy, too busy etc

run of the mill – ordinary, typical, unusual, boring

you take your life in your hands – doing something that is extremely dangerous

NOW … your turn

Tell me about your neighbourhood

Remember, give me a great introduction, have a positive point, a negative point and a short conclusion. You should be able to speak for two minutes without pause or repetition

Tips: Use some of the adjectives listed above to describe the area.

Say what amenities you have close by; shops, restaurants, entertainment, transport links etc.

Try to tell an anecdote – a short true story about something that happened to you.

Real estate news: Outstanding Housing Projects Of Kien A Investors — An apartment block in the Cat Lai area of Sai Gon. Artist’s impression.

HCM city aims to reduce seaport traffic jams — The reality of living in Cat Lai, one of the busiest ports in south east Asia

Well, that question is a bit of a sore point with me because I live in a terribly noisy gritty industrial area. My apartment is near the Cat Lai port which is one of the busiest in Vietnam. Consequently, we have containers driving past, day and night which, as you can imagine, creates so much pollution.

However, allow me to talk about the good points. Firstly, it is significantly cheaper than, say, District 1 or 3, as it is quite far from the centre. The shops also tend to be on the cheap side. Additionally we have some street markets where I can pick up some very cheap food and fresh fish. We are well-served with several convenience stores although, in my opinion, Family Mart charges an arm and a leg.

Conversely, my friends avoid visiting me because it is so dangerous to ride a motorbike here, we really take our lives in our hands every time we go out. Furthermore, I love fresh air so I open my windows, but I have to dust and clean every day because so much dirt accumulates. Finally, we have open-air karaoke nearly every night and street wedding parties most weekends which means loud and terrible singing. It’s like a madhouse, I really detest this horrible noise.

I am lucky with my neighbours, who are all so friendly, and the apartment is really spacious. Having said that, the area is so bad that as soon as possible, I will leave and find somewhere cleaner and safer.

IELTS: Relatively speaking

16th February 2022

A collection of exercises to prepare students, who need practice, for IELTS speaking which tests the use of grammatical range and accuracy.

The aim is to get students forming complex sentences naturally in order to pass with flying colours.

So, without further ado, let’s go to London which is my hometown as well as being the capital of the UK.

Exercise 1 A day in London. The aim is to introduce aspects of London in the form of complex sentences, using

who where which whose

EXAMPLE

Please allow me to introduce you to London, where I was born, so you can experience first hand what it is like to live in this incredible historic city.

Firstly, we can visit the British Museum, which is a must-see sight, as it contains some of the world’s most amazing treasures such as a giant stone figure from Easter Island, Egyptian mummies and the unique Rosetta Stone.

The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, London

Secondly, I would be pleased to introduce you to the buskers and street performers at Covent Garden. These artists, who work for tips, really lend the area a bustling, friendly atmosphere. In my opinion this area, which is close to many sights, is not to be missed although prices can be sky-high.

Things to do in Covent Garden: The best restaurants, bars, pubs and more | London Evening Standard | Evening Standard

No trip to London would be complete without sampling fish and chips which, along with shepherd’s pie and the Sunday roast, is traditional British food.

We have a variety of ways to get around. The famous black London taxis are ubiquitous in central London however, they cost an arm and a leg. Most Londoners use the Tube, which is the subway system, as it connects most areas of the city. Having said that, avoid using at rush hour, because it will be chockablock.

In the example I mentioned one famous sight, some people, some food and how to get around.

Now … your turn

Work in small groups and plan a day for me in your hometown. Assign one paragraph to each student so that everybody prepares work and speaks.

Remember, the aim of the exercise is for you to use relative pronouns.

The formula

An introduction

First paragraph a famous sight

Second paragraph about some people

Third paragraph about local food

Finally, how to get around.