St. Patrick's Day

Blimey, the luck o' the Irish is upon us!

The 17th March is St. Patrick's Day, so you'd better wear something green or else you'll get pinched! Do you want to know why we celebrate St. Patrick's Day in the United States? Well, see below (unfortunately, I could't get the video itself on the blog).

Watch the history of St. Patrick's Day here

But, wait, there's more! you can find out a lot of information here.

And once you've read about the history, what all can you remember? Try out the quiz.

(photos from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilja/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/torugatoru/ )

Lucky Jim tasks

Everyone should have finished Lucky Jim by now, so here are a couple of things you can do.

One is to take the twitter challenge. Describe the plot of the story in 144 spaces (NOT letters). You can send them to me and I'll put them on my twitter stream so they can be seen here on the blog, or you can join twitter and give my your name (or become my follower :-) ) This will really get you thinking about what is relevant and what isn't!

Two is to take the Lucky Jim quiz here.
Leave a comment and tell us how you did.

And since all good things come in threes, here's one more.

Three is to write either to a question from another person from class (you can leave them as comments to this post or add a new post), or choose one of the topics from here to respond to.

And since I'm already giving you homework here, choose an English in Use part 1 task and do some practice like in class (since this has been written before the lesson, I'm assuming we'll get that far).

Have fun!

A bad start to an even longer holiday

Seattle skyline from the ferry in the Puget Sound



Well, I tried to get on the plane today, but between fresh snow on the roads and a rule I didn't know about, it looks like I'm going to have to enjoy myself even longer here. Ahhh ;-)

Apparently, I should have taken my Swiss ID with me even though I was told not to, so they aren't letting me out of the country. After the first shock, I decided to go with the flow and join the happy spirit my mother was engaging in.

So you will have a rather jet-lagged lesson on Tuesday. I'll give you the whole story then, but until then, why don't you get back into the swing of things and leave your story of what might have happened to me and how I intend to get back here on the blog.

In the meanwhile, here are a few more pictures for you to enjoy.
This is the view taken from our balcony. This is the house mountain of Seattle - Mount Rainier.

Hi everybody

As I had time to finish the "Lucky Jim"-book (what I found at the beginning very boring and then in the end more interesting!) I could go to the Chrienser & the Lucerne carnival. Lucky Jim's face was wreathed in smiles like this Chrienser witch.




Hopefully, after having passed my terrible flu, next Sunday I'll be able to make my curves into the light powder snow.

Furthermore, I wish Illya a safe flight back to Switzerland!
See you soon
Annelise

Alligators

I missed the White House since we weren't given permission to fly over the area, let alone make a short landing to say hi, but I did manage to get a couple of pictures of alligators. They run around here freely and are protected. Since the winter is only just over, they aren't out much yet, but the temperatures have risen to 20 degrees and so we did manage to see 2!
One was pretty big and the other was just a baby. You have to look for the little one below!

Preview of things to come

Coming soon at a blog near you:

You can expect brilliant close-up photographs of alligators in the swamps of South Carolina
Stunning aerial pictures of the White House and the new President with rolled-up sleeves riding his mower over the lawn
exciting films of ferry rides across the Puget Sound
and touching moments of long lost friends reunited.

Stay tuned!

Are you jealous Mr. Bond?

Article written by Jeannette Schilliger

Are you jealous Mr. Bond?
The legendary James Bond had so many different cars. He could do all kinds of fancy things with his cars, therefore almost everything was possible.
But now Mr. Bond, Mr. James Bond, somebody else has the most fascinating and most wanted car in the world, sorry. The new President of the United States proudly presented his presidential Cadillac with the unbelievable nickname ‘The Beast’ at the inauguration parade.
You’re wondering ‘Cadillac and Beast’- do these expressions really fit? Why is the world interested in a car that doesn’t belong to James Bond ? What is so special about a car, if there are some more important problems to solve in this world?
The car is a secret. Photographers were allowed to take shots only from the outside, which makes it even more interesting to have a look at the interior. The maker of the car doesn’t want to talk about the inside. It’s probably the most secure and the most heavily armoured car that was ever built.
Wouldn’t it be nice to glance at the inside of the car and to see how it looks? I wouldn’t concentrate on security details but all the other wonderful items.
We’re only allowed to guess about the conveniences in the new presidential car. Use your fantasy and imagine what you would want to have in a Cadillac like the President’s. I’m sure there are a lot of ideas out there!

The 56th Presidential Inauguration

Here are some of the links I used in preparing the lesson. You may want to browse or play after the lesson is over:

Helping out with the speech generator
The official site to follow, and learn more about the history of the Presidential Inauguration.

And now for our speech...

(soon to come)

gingerbread fruit cake

dear cake lovers

To have the gingerbread-fruit-cake- feeling once (or even more) again
I involve you in my secret receipe ideas:

The ingredients you need:

200g soft butter or margarine (take it out of the fridge half an hour befor using)
200g brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon cinammon
1 tablespoon gingerbread spice
100g finley ground hazelnuts, almonds or coconut
250g wholemeal flour
200g frozen plums, berries or fresh apples

do it yourself now...

* put butter and sugar in a bowl and mix well
* add brown sugar and mix
* add eggs and mix
* add cinammon and gingerbread spice and mix
* add hazelnuts/ almonds or coconut and mix
* add wholemeals flour and mix

* prepare a round baking tin (30 cm diameter) and a round baking paper

* put the whole mixture regularly on the round baking tin (with a knife)
* distribute the halfes of frozen plums (cut them once again)/ berries or fresh apple pieces on the mixture (press a little bit or else they get black in the ofen)

* put the cake in the middle of the 180°C hot ofen
* bake during 40 - 50 minutes

* enjoy (but not allone...sharing is allowed)

Further speaking tools

This is been a long string of posts, but I hope you will find something useful in all of it. I decided to split things up so that you can follow the topics better.

As you can see on the side bar, I've illustrated a way to practice speaking with voicethread a nice easy and many-sided tool. If you agree, I can add pictures and tasks for you to practice together.

I also made another place for speaking for the last course. It never got used, so I hope you will find it valuable: Chinswing . Here you can comment on a topic for about a minute or two.

Other tools include simply recording your voice using Audacity , which lets you make recordings and then change them to MP3 or wav format. You can then send it to me via e-mail. A further idea is to use skype and practice the sections where you talk to each other. There is a recording tool attached and you can record and send it.

Well, if you would like to try anything out and want help, let me know. We can devote time in class, since ultimately, it means more speaking practice for you.

IELTS speaking exams

THere are several youtube videos that you will find useful and a site you can sign up for in order to get more information.

Here is the link for an example of the IELTS speaking part 1

This is from a site similar to that of flo-joe for CAE: http://www.ipass.uk.net/
. Like flo-joe, there is a free section and one with more possibilities for pay.


and here is a link with advice on how to take notes for IELTS speaking part 2

and finally a description of IELTS speaking part 3

There is more out there, so if you're interested in seeing more, put IELTS speaking into the search box in YOutube, or if you want some advice on paper, you can google IELTS as well.

Speaking practice - splendid speaking

I promised you quite a lot for your speaking, so I hope I can fulfil my promise here.

First, there are a couple of videos for you.
The first is from the makers of flo-joe. They have a site where you can watch speaking practice: http://www.splendid-speaking.com/

And below is a video showing how it works.

Happy New Year!!!

A very HAPPY 2009 to you all!!!

Christmas caroling

Fredy and I were singing Christmas Carols on Monday with the kids, now here's a Christmas greeting from me.

I hope you all have warm and cheerful days with family and friends.

A very merry Christmas and a great start in the new year!!!

An advice because of Christmas surprise

Hello CAE- mates!

I just wanted to give you an advice for next Tuesday:
It would be better not to eat a lot before lesson 12.
Otherwise there wouldn't be enough space in your stommy for...

° an old Thanksgiving Turkey ?
° a Cappucino from the selecta box ?
° an original flabby Christmas pudding ?
° Jasmins special, healthy fruit-pie with a living cookie tase (receipe from Betty B.)
° big Chocolate Chip cookies ?
° Coca Cola Muffins ?
° a Berner Roesti ?

I will bring with me.

Who will find out first what it is?

Greetings from Betty B.

The big Santa Claus Myth

Here's a text related to the latest writing topic that I thought you might enjoy.

I think Santa Claus is a woman ... I hate to be the one to defy sacred myth, but I believe he's a she.

Think about it. Christmas is a big, organized, warm, fuzzy, nurturing social deal, and I have a tough time believing a guy could possibly pull it all off!

For starters, the vast majority of men don't even think about selecting gifts until Christmas Eve. It's as if they are all frozen in some kind of Ebenezerian Time Warp until 3 p.m. on Dec. 24th, when they - with amazing calm - call other errant men and plan for a last-minute shopping spree.

Once at the mall, they always seem surprised to find only Ronco products, socket wrench sets, and mood rings left on the shelves. (You might think this would send them into a fit of panic and guilt, but my husband tells me it's an enormous relief because it lessens the 11th hour decision-making burden.) On this count alone, I'm convinced Santa is a woman. Surely, if he were a man, everyone in the universe would wake up Christmas morning to find a rotating musical Chia Pet under the tree, still in the bag.

Another problem for a he-Santa would be getting there. First of all, there would be no reindeer because they would all be dead, gutted and strapped on to the rear bumper of the sleigh amid wide-eyed, desperate claims that buck season had been extended. Blitzen's rack would already be on the way to the taxidermist.

Even if the male Santa DID have reindeer, he'd still have transportation problems because he would inevitably get lost up there in the snow and clouds and then refuse to stop and ask for directions.

Add to this the fact that there would be unavoidable delays in the chimney, where the Bob Vila-like Santa would stop to inspect and repoint bricks in the flue. He would also need to check for carbon monoxide fumes in every gas fireplace, and get under every Christmas tree that is crooked to straighten it to a perfectly upright 90-degree angle.

Other reasons why Santa can't possibly be a man:

• Men can't pack a bag.
• Men would rather be dead than caught wearing red velvet.
• Men would feel their masculinity is threatened ... having to be seen with all those elves.
• Men don't answer their mail.
• Men would refuse to allow their physique to be described even in jest as anything remotely resembling a "bowlful of jelly."
• Men aren't interested in stockings unless somebody's wearing them.
• Having to do the "Ho Ho Ho" thing would seriously inhibit their ability to pick up women.
• Finally, being responsible for Christmas would require a commitment.

I can buy the fact that other mythical characters are men ...

• Father Time shows up once a year unshaven and looking ominous.
  Definite guy.

• Cupid flies around carrying weapons.
  Guy

• Uncle Sam is a politician who likes to point fingers.
  Ditto

Any one of these individuals could pass the testosterone screening test. But not St. Nick. Not a chance. As long as we have each other, good will, peace on earth, faith and Nat King Cole's version of "The Christmas Song," it probably makes little difference what gender Santa is.

I just wish she'd quit dressing like a guy!!!

Author unknown

Now for those men out there that beg to disagree, click here to find out why Santa Claus can never be a woman

I hope you've enjoyed this post! :-D

Practice tests

For those who couldn't come to the lesson and for those who want a bit more practice, I have a site from the IETLS where you can see, hear and do the different types of listening tasks.

You can click on each individual task and then you will find the task itself and the audio to go along with it (isn't the internet great?!)

Feel free to try out the other things there as well.

You can also see other parts of the exam such as the writing tasks.

Now I don't want to be biased, so I'll include the same information about the CAE.
There are two main places where you can see CAE materials. One is on the side bar called flo-joe and is full of practice materials, for example, the word bank.
The official site for the CAE is here.
You will see that the reading exam is there for you (including the answers) as well as the listening exam you have already taken (again, including the answers), so you can go back and do it again if you want.
The writing section begins on page 8. Have a look, compare it with the IELTS, and then I think we should begin a discussion here about which test you want to prepare for.

If you want to sign up for the CAE, you will need to know fairly soon. In fact, you should inform me by the end of January, if possible. If you aren't sure, then you can always take the IELTS as it is offered twice monthly (but only in Berne).

Parallel expressions

I here have some parallel expressions from the listening-text, we worked with last Tuesday Paper 4 Listening part 2 about the marine wildlife photographer. I promised Marina, to put these on the Wiki but unfortunatelly I didn't find out, how to do that (Illya, could you please do that for me? Thanks!) - that's why I write them down here.

most important aspect = the key to my work
right = appropriate
choose = position to select
disagrees = not everybody goes about / the opposite is true
creative = depict something new
important to find out = need to check
seas are often protected = particular place
ruined = spoiled
promising shots = potentially great photos / the photos you want
pleased = really delighted

Thanks (for) giving that movie

Great movie from a gorgeous actor indeed. A pretty sad theme, brilliant performed by Chaplin, and with almost no single word – I love such English tasks – Have you got more?
highly topical in the current (w)holesale money market and the anticipated economy crisis. And last but not least actually referring to the nineteen-thirties, when people hardly suffered under the depression.
I've got a movie too. It's about English learning, not as far as good as the Chaplin's is, but pretty nice as well. Have a look!




Oh, by the way, as regards the use of the metaphor "parasitic", I can only say, have a closer look at the bankers and traders which greatly succeeded in driving the whole world economy at the edge of its ruin, or maybe not only at the edge, but beyond the edge, who knows that yet.

Hoping my sad perspectives may not be worth the paper, where they are written on. O.k. there isn't any paper actually, but splitting hairs won't help make things better.

Greetings

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!