Tuesday, 26 April 2016

Saturday, 23 April 2016

Shakespeare's The Complete Walk

 37 Plays,  37 Films, 37 Screens...
Saturday 23 April, 10am – 10pm | Sunday 24 April, 10am – 8pm 2016

2.5 mile route from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge

37 specially-made 10 minute films will be screened along the iconic 2.5 mile stretch between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge.
Each film explores one of Shakespeare’s plays and includes scenes shot in the locations Shakespeare imagined when he wrote them. Picture Cleopatra in front of the Pyramids, Shylock in Venice’s former Jewish Ghetto, Hamlet on the rocks of Elsinore and much more.

Plan your route. View the Map
The Complete  Walk. Credits and Synopsis.

 Join The Complete Walk.

Sunday, 17 April 2016

Saturday, 16 April 2016

IATEFL 2016- FORUM ON TECHNOLOGY - Part 1

Bringing English to Life: practical classroom activities using technology

Being born in a digital world, students will appreciate having the opportunity to use different apps, mobiles, laptops, etc. Of course, using technologies for designing classroom activities sometimes may seem a challenging task. But the truth is that interacting with technology and having well-designed activities can result in a rewarding and enriching experience.

Now, I would like to introduce Laura Laubacher and Sarah  Wakefield who talk about how to integrate technology into their classrooms activities such as pronunciation, drilling etc., that is, using apps and websites to improve students' language skills. So, in this Forum they are going to share the ones they found the most useful.

Overview
Why using technology in the classroom
-    Engaging
-    Motivating
-    Entertaining and fun
-    Relevant and useful
-    Encourages pair work and interaction
-    Memorable

Apps and Websites
1.    Recorded Speaking

Fotobabble
- Easy to use. Assigned as homework

Movenote

- For group work.
-Practice target language.
-Reporting news. Using the passive
-Useful for language acquisition process

Useful tips
-     Make a model sample. In this way you may obtain better results.
-    Guide students through the site, that is, how to use it.
-    Allow them time to write, practice and complete the task.
-    Be aware of sound issues, such as poor mic quality.

2.    For vocabulary revision and activation
 Dvolver movie maker
Useful tips:
-    Choose vocabulary students have used in class
-    Flash and internet connection

3.    Quizzes and Feedback
Socrative
-    To collect students feedback
-    For students quizzes

Useful tips
-Make a test quiz first to test the app.
- Teachers should familiarize to see how it works first.

By the end of the talk Laura and Sarah provided useful tips regarding the use of techies in the classroom, for instance: never miss the focus, which is always "communication", allow students enough time to get familiarized and solve the activities, provide a model to minimize the negative impact of having students frustrated if they do not know how to use the app properly, and last but not least: always have a Plan B!


http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2016/session/forum-technology-classroom




Friday, 15 April 2016

IATEFL 2016- SESSIONS 15th April

Thursday, 14 April 2016

IATEFL 2016 SUMMING UP DAY 2- Sessions and Interviews

Here we are again. What can I say! Simply fantastic DAY 2 at IATEFL Conference 2016!
2 good 2 be forgotten. Memorable Sessions and Teaching Experiences, Projects and more shared  by the most amazing people.

I'd like to present Carol Reed's Interview talking about her experience with IATEFL as well as her work as a Vice-President. She also talks about the cicle of renewal, the creation of a new role: the International IATEFL Goodwill Embassador and more.

http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2016/interview/interview-carol-read




For all the other interviews listed below just go to Video Interviews

16:20     Interview with Amadeu Marin

16:00     Interview with Neil McLaren

15:50     Interview with Harisimran Sandhu

15:30     Interview with Ben Gray & Seamus Harkin

15:20     Interview with Judy Boyle

15:00     Interview with Melanie Aplin

14:50     Interview with Sandy Millin, Chia Suan Chong (and Natalie)

14:30     Interview with Kieran Donaghy and Lizzie Pinard

14:20     Interview with Thorsten Merse

14:00     Interview with Larissa Goulart da Silva & Maria Soledad Loutayf & Praphatsorn Wongchaiwa (Hornby scholars)

12:50     Interview with Roohi Malik

12:30     Interview with Carol Read

12:20     Interview with Vuyokazi Makubalo & Pipit Suharto & Urmila Khaled (Hornby scholar)

12:00     Interview with Adrian Underhill

11:50     Interview with Alireza Safar (Hornby scholar)

11:30     Interview with Shaike Francis Sefalane (Hornby scholar)

11:20     Interview with Andrew Foster

11:00     Interview with Nick Bilbrough

10:50     Interview with Wendy Arnold & Coralyn Bradshaw


As for Sessions, here is the list:

14:20        Day-to-day English: subject teachers' voices from Kenya, Nigeria and Malaysia   
12:30        Creating a Pan-African network of teacher associations in Sub-Saharan Africa   
10:20        Forum on encouraging teacher reflection   
14:20        ELTJ Signature Event - This house believes that teacher training is a waste of time 
 12:30       Ten great educators and their legacy   
9:00          Plenary by Silvana Richardson

So , happy watching!

IATEFL 2016 Sessions April 13th

Sharing David Crystal's full Plenary Session, in case you've missed it live!

David clearly remarks on how the English language has been changing in the last fifty years and draws a comparison on how language is likely to be change in the upcoming fifty years.
He also provides plenty of examples in the use of words, and discusses  the main shifts in pronunciation, grammar, orthography as well as the central factors in social mobility, globalization and Internet.


illustrates the main changes in pronunciation, orthography, grammar, and vocabulary, discusses the chief factors involved - social mobility, globalization, and the Internet - See more at: http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2016/session/plenary-david-crystal#sthash.yimOQDpn.dpuf

http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2016/session/plenary-david-crystal


Here are some of the words in use in the 60's:
D-day (for Decimalisation Day in UK and  the replacement of pounds shillings and pence with decimal currency.)
new-penny
beautiful people, flower people, peacenicks (for hippies)
yippies (for ically active hippies)
dolly girl (wearing a mini-skirt)

And many more...


To watch the full list of interviews April 13th, visit Sessions-IATEFL Online Coverage

Wednesday, 13 April 2016

IATEFL 2016 WRAPPING UP-DAY 1

Amazing Day 1 at IATEFL 2016!
How can I start describing all the events!
Opening the day with David Crystal's Plenary Session where he reflects upon the constant change and evolution of the English language, describing his research projects, writing and upcoming books. Just a must watch!
So if you didn't have the chance to do it live, simply watch this video where Nick interviews David.

http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2016/interview/interview-david-crystal

Also worth watching Rob and Nick reflecting on David's Plenary Session. Just click Live Studio Starts

If you feel like you need to experience more, don't miss it.  Browse through all this first day interviews. Here is the complete list:

16:50     End of day round up

16:10     Interview with Tim Phillips

16:00     Interview with Alan Maley

15:30     Interview with Hornby scholars Parwiz Hossain and Shoaib Jawad

15:10     Interview with Gail Ellis

15:00     Interview with Hornby scholars: Mohammed Bashir and Abdallah Yousif

14:20     Interview with Tessa Woodward

14:40     Interview with Hornby scholars: Allwyn D'costa and Erkin Mukhammedor

14:30     Interview with David Crystal

14:00     Interview with Hugh Dellar

12:50     Interview with George Pickering

12:30     Interview with Gavin Dudeney

12:10     Interview with Jim Scrivener

12:00     Interview with Silvana Richardson

11:40     Interview with Zeynep Urkun

11:30     Interview with Adam Kightley

11:10     Interview with Pete Sharma

10:50     Interview with Nicky Hockly

All the interview videos available at  IATEFL Online Interviews April 13th


Stay tune for more! Getting ready for  Day 2, and counting...

Tuesday, 12 April 2016

IATFEL 2016 Online Conference Q & A


Q&A with Rob and Kirsteen

This video provides useful info for those who would like to attend the Conference Online. Here  Rob explains how videos will be available not only in YouTube but also on the IATEFL site for viewers to watch. Also he states that there will be summaries available after the Pre-Conference events.

So if you are looking for more answers about the IATEFL Online Coverage,  you'd like to watch this video... 

 
http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2016/interview/qa-rob-and-kirsteen

IATEFL 2016 ONLINE Tune in for Live Coverage Plenay Sessions

IATEFL Online Banner 2016 Live Schedule
On each day of the conference you will be able to watch plenary sessions, interviews and over 40 conference sessions live from the Brimingham IATEFL Online Studio.

Here is the list of Plenary Sessions:

Wednesday 13th April
9.15-10.25 David Crystal

Thursday 14th April
09.00 - 10.10 Silvana Richardson

Friday 15th April
09.00 - 10.10 Diana Larsen Freeman

Saturday 16th April
09.00-10.10 Scott Thornbury

Saturday 16th April
13.15- 14-15 Closing Plenary Jane Blake

For more details, visit  https://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2016/live-schedule
Wednesday 13th April
0915-1025 Opening Plenary by David Crystal - See more at: https://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2016/live-schedule#sthash.MIXHKuk9.dpuf

Sunday, 10 April 2016

Live the IATEFL 2016 Conference with Mobile Apps

IATEFL 2016 offers the great opportunity of a free mobile app which will let you browse and search the conference programme, put together your own personalised conference planner, share your experiences via social media channels and view IATEFL Online content.

The app is available for iOS and Android devices; to download the relevant version please follow the links in Conference Mobile Application







Live outside of the UK?
Download and install the app you leave your home country in order to reduce potential download costs.  The app will be created nearer to conference time, and we will send an eBulletin when it is available.

To Learn more about it, visit Conference Mobile Application

IATEFL After Hours Webinar

If you are not able to live the Conference in Birmingham, the After Hours Webinar provide a great oportunity to share your experiences as a face to face or online participant.

So, let's meet on Thursday 14th April 2016 at 18:00 BST.  Delegates from Birmingham and online participants from all over the world are meeting to discuss and exchange views of different talks, workshops, plenaries and interviews. Some special guests will also be joining us to interact with the online audience and we hope you will be there too.

To join this interactive webinar live:
1.  click on the link
2. select "enter as guest",
3. type in your name and country
4. "enter room".
 See this sample screenshot.

If you are from Argentina



Or find out what time this airs in your location here


Friday, 8 April 2016

UPDATES IATEFL 2016 Birmingham - Meet our Online Presenters

Pleased to introduce  Kirsteen Donaghy, Nik  Peachy and Rob  Lewis IATEFL Online presenters, who  will be doing live interviews from the IATEFL Online studio - starting at around 10.00am (UK time) on each day of the conference.
Say tuned Tuesday 12 April for the start of live coverage from Birmingham.



For more details about the presenters: http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2016/meet-our-online-presenters

Kirsteen, Nik and Rob for another IATEFL Online. Our presenters will be doing live interviews from the IATEFL Online studio - starting at around 10.00am (UK time) on each day of the conference. Tune in on Tuesday 12 April for the start of our live coverage from Birmingham. - See more at: http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2016/meet-our-online-presenters#sthash.qyNjmLFA.dpuf
Kirsteen, Nik and Rob for another IATEFL Online. Our presenters will be doing live interviews from the IATEFL Online studio - starting at around 10.00am (UK time) on each day of the conference. Tune in on Tuesday 12 April for the start of our live coverage from Birmingham. - See more at: http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2016/meet-our-online-presenters#sthash.qyNjmLFA.dpuf
Kirsteen, Nik and Rob for another IATEFL Online. Our presenters will be doing live interviews from the IATEFL Online studio - starting at around 10.00am (UK time) on each day of the conference. Tune in on Tuesday 12 April for the start of our live coverage from Birmingham. - See more at: http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2016/meet-our-online-presenters#sthash.qyNjmLFA.dpuf

Wednesday, 6 April 2016

Money issues: prices, prices…

As it’s known, there are certain words that collocate with others. When talking about bigger or smaller, increase and decrease in prices, we can use the following verbs: cut, freeze, raise, hike, and slash. See the examples below:

The Ministry of Economy decided to cut prices, due to the crisis.

Prices have been frozen for the current year. Here you can also say salaries have been frozen.

We were forced to raise the price.

The government hiked [1]  up the price of oil by over 20%.

Prices have been slashed.[2]

In combination with adjectives:
You can talk about falling prices, plunging[3]  prices, rising prices, soaring prices and stable prices.
When talking about profits, we can say modest, huge, reasonable, record profits. Or for losses we can hear someone saying that the company suffered slight losses or heavy losses.

Notes:

[1] to increase prices, taxes, fares, etc. suddenly by large amounts

[2] informal; often used in newspapers, to reduce sharply
[3] (syn) plummetin; to fall or drop sharply, abruptly

Reference:
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Merriam Webster Dictionary
Cambridge Online Dictionary
Oxford Dictionary of Finance and Banking
   

Tuesday, 5 April 2016

Monday, 4 April 2016

Confusing and Not So Confusing Words: All right or alright?

Are you all right or alright?
In this post, I’d like to talk about common usage errors. In English, whether it is American or British, there some words, even constructions that call for our attention, in the written mode.
Some terms are pairs of words that are quite different in meaning yet similar in spelling to be confused. Take, for instance, the pair principal, principle or the terms alright which denotes some nonstandard usages. Also there are informal constructions such as being as instead of the term because, which are not acceptable in formal writing.
Today I found myself explaining the terms “advice, advise” to one of my students. We came up with the different ways you can use them. Probably, you have noticed that there is a change in spelling, which sets the first difference, being the first one a noun and the second one a verb. In the first case it means a suggestion or opinion you give to someone in a particular situation. You might say “Follow your doctor’s advice” or “Take my advice. Just don’t go”. As for the second entry, one of the meanings is to tell someone what you think they should do: “They advise that the passport should be carried with you all the time”, or give some help or information: “We’ve hired an expert to advise on new technology.”
Now, if we keep on analyzing language usage, we can find more pairs. Check out the following “altogether, all together”.  Again you can notice that they are spelled differently. Needless to say the meaning is not the same. Altogether means ‘in total’ or (in British English) ‘completely’: “They’ve invited twenty people altogether to the farewell party” or “I am not altogether happy about my decision”. On the other hand, all together means ‘all in one place’ or ‘at the same time’: “Let’s sing ‘Happy Birthday’. All together now!”
“Beside or Besides?”  Well, beside means “next to”, at the side: “In the literature class, he sits beside me.” What about besides, then? Well, as a preposition, it means ‘in addition to’: “There are some other issues to solve besides the tight budget”. As an adverb, besides is used to give reason: “Susan is not coming to the party on Saturday. She has a lot of work to do. Besides, she doesn’t like parties.”
Last, but not least, “Are you all right? or “Are you alright?” In both cases, it means acceptable or in good manner, but some may consider the second term too informal and it shouldn’t be used in formal writing, obviously.

Quote of the Day


“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all."
J.K. Rowling
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