Young Learners: Amazing Adjectives

9th August 2021

Movie and TV Cast Screencaps: Maggie Cheung as Flying Snow / Hero (2002) /  32 Screencaps
The amazing Asian actress Maggie Cheung in the famous film ‘Hero’.
The brilliant breathtaking Blues musician Robert Johnson

Adjective Game 1

Let’s start with ‘A’, the first letter. Who knows these adjectives ?

Am__________ (This word means very good, wonderful)

What other adjectives can you think of beginning with ‘a’ ?

Be___________ // (This word means very pretty)

What other adjectives can you think of beginning with ‘b’ ?

Cu__ // Dan______ // ele_____ // fan_______ (very good) // gr_______

// he________ // int_________ // Ja____ (from an Asian country) // ki___ //

la__ // me____ (not clean. Also the name of a talented footballer) //

ner___ // outg______ (opposite of shy) // pop_____ // qui__ // ru__

// sel____ // tal________ // unu_____ // valu____ (costs a lot of money)

Here Are 10 Of The Most Expensive Paintings In The World Right Now

// wea______ (if you can buy the Mona Lisa, you must be extremely wea_____) // Xenop_______ (do not like people from other countries) // ye__ – _____ (lasts for 12 months) // Zamb___ (person from Zambia)

Zambia
Zambia country profile - BBC News

Suitable answers: amazing / beautiful / cute / dangerous / electric / fantastic / greedy, great, Greek / healthy / intelligent / Japanese / kind / lazy / messy / nervous / outgoing /popular / quick / rude / selfish / talkative / unusual / valuable / wealthy / xenophobic / year-long / Zambian

Adjective Game 2

Sentence building using adjectives is very easy. Even using basic adjectives can improve your English. Colours, sizes and where someone is from are all easy adjectives. Look at this example:

The flag is very large and is white with a red circle in the middle. The flag is Japanese.

Look at these flags. Choose one and describe it to the class. Points for the students who guess which flag. Extra points if they know the country.

Adjective Game 3

Describe these people:

Albert Einstein, born in Germany
Usain Bolt, born in Jamaica
Park Soyeon - T-Ara - Posts | Facebook
Park Soyeon from Korea
Omar Sharif born in Egypt
Dr. Vandana Shiva DS.jpg
Vandana Shive from India

Listening Skills: websites & resources

9th June 2021

Listening Skills

The following websites are good for listening practice.

What are the pros and cons of each one ?

What do you like or dislike about them ?

How helpful do you find them ?

Try to use complex sentences in forming your answers, giving reasons and your thoughts.

Example: For me, the best site was (Speakgood.com) because it was well designed, easy to use and extremely helpful. I especially appreciated the subtitles which enabled me to understand what was being said.

Fitness is a way of life: Actor Asha Bhat | Hindustan Times

British Council (LearnEnglish Teens). Home – skills – listening: https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening

Newsinlevels.com: https://www.newsinlevels.com/

This was recommended to me by my Brazilian friend, Ana (also a ESL teacher). Small news stories are told at three levels of English, and you can listen first, then read the text. Also a good way to learn new vocabulary. Having said that, the speaking is rather flat and lacking in intonation.

BBC Learning English (for pronunciation): http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/pronunciation

Small videos focusing on individual sounds and letters.

Learn English with Emma

https://www.youtube.com/user/EnglishTeacherEmma

Mad English TV: https://www.youtube.com/c/MadEnglishTV/videos

A YouTube channel for learning. I’ve used some of these videos for adult classes.

TOEIC Channel: https://www.youtube.com/embed/SJlu–hdFQU?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&listType=playlist&list=PL4IJAxR6Bqq8vP0kEeQRgU6lUe4s4u2DW

Many videos with large text, for beginners. Over twenty dialogues for you to listen to and repeat.

English Class 101: https://www.youtube.com/embed/XtEixjKMPfM?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&start=307&wmode=transparent

Perfect for Lockdown, a 90 minute lesson featuring British English. If you are unable to attend a physical class, this could be a useful refresher.

Pronunciation – plosives (b / d / g / k / p / t) (0.39 – end) http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/pronunciation/tims-pronunciation-workshop-ep-17

Also listen to music (with lyrics)

Films (short clips – 30 seconds to 1 minute)

TV shows with subtitles.

Try these:

Music and what better than The Beatles (‘Help’): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po5ti70U0bc

Any English song with lyrics (words) will be a great way to learn, and fun as well.

Film ‘King’s Speech’, an Oscar-winning film from 2010: https://www.youtube.com/embed/3oFmeT1RVQs?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

TV show – ‘Eastenders’

This is a ‘soap opera’ – a TV drama that is shown two or three times a week. Each episode last 30 minutes and has many different characters. This drama is set in east London, so many people have an accent typical of that area. See how much you understand: https://www.youtube.com/embed/qgUf9hlTnnU?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent