UK goes online shopping

You are going to

• listen to a a radio interview about a report on commercial use of the internet
• do a gap fill exercise
• do a crossword based on the vocabulary used in the inteview

Note; the crossword can be done before or after the gap-fill

1) Discuss

• Do you use the internet for shopping or business?
• What kind of business can be done online?
• What are the advantages of using the internet for shopping and business?
• Do you think online shopping and e-commerce are trends that will grow in the future?

2) Vocabulary

Check you know these words
benefits      combination    consumption     contribution     development      downside      e-commerce     exports      GDP     household     incentives      infrastructure      investment      lead    locate     net     skills      workforce




3) Listen

A new study shows that the UK appears to be leading the world in the commercial use of the internet. The Boston Consulting Group's Paul Swillenberg, who wrote the report, explains why this is the case.
From BBC Radio 4 Today




Listen to the interview

• How much of the British economy is online?
• Why do people shop online?
• What recommendations are given to further support commercial use of the internet?

listen to ‘UK a 'world leader' in internet shopping’ on Audioboo

4) Gap-fill

Listen again and fill in the gaps

5) Do the crossword.

All vocabulary is from the listening

6) Discuss / Write

"We should also make sure people are not left behind. 10% of (UK) population is still not online and there are tremendous benefits if they were"
In what ways does having a large number of people with internet access benefit society and business? Do you agree that it is a positive development?

7) More

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17405016

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9706000/9706944.stm
 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/9151934/UK-most-web-connected-economy.html

Printable versions of gap-fill here
crossword here

Why did the mushroom go to the party?

You are going to

• look at homonyms and homophones and similarly pronounced words
• look at words in English which have more than one meaning (homonyms)
• look at the way differently spelt words can have the same pronunciation (homophones)
• look at how these words are used to make jokes in English
• look at some puns, bad puns and jokes in English
• practise some English jokes and be the life of the party!

1) Discuss

• Do you know any jokes?
• Do you know any jokes in English?
• Do you like jokes?
• Do you tell a lot of jokes?
• How do we make jokes?

2) Watch

Watch this clip from a quiz program called QI.

Fungi

They are talking about fungi when one of the contestants, comedian Alan Davies, starts making jokes...

• What are the jokes? 
• Can you understand them? 
• Do you think they are funny?
• Why did the mushroom go to the party?

Here are jokes again. Highlight for the answers

Why did the mushroom go to the party?
Answer = He was a fungi 

What's brown and sticky?
Answer = A stick

What do you call a boomerang that won't come back?
Answer = A stick

What's orange and sounds like a parrot?
Answer = A carrot

What's red and silly?
Answer = A blood clot

What's red and sits in the corner?
Answer = A naughty strawberry

What's green and sings?
Answer = Elvis Parsley







3) Puns, jokes, homonyms and homophones
The first joke in the clip is a pun 
"fungi" sounds like "fun guy"


pun (n.) A play on words, sometimes on different meanings of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.

Puns are everywhere in English; newspaper headlines, adverts, shops... and especially in jokes. English speakers love playing with words.

 


Presentation
Before you watch
Check. What do these words mean? How many of them have more than one meaning?

horns, boot, keyboard, sole, flies, hoarse, like, tense, pullover, dig up, tack, intense, well, fan, tow, paw, assault, bright

Now look at the presentation below and answer

• Which words are homonyms?
• Which words are homophones?
• What are homonyms and homophones?

Click to see.

Puns - Homophones and Homonyms from David Mainwood

Do you get spam?

4) Practise homonyms

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings.

A) Can you match the meanings to the words?

B) Now fill in the gaps with the right word. Do you understand the jokes?

Let's hope the food isn't as disastrous as the ship

.

5) Practise homophones

Words with different spelling and different meanings but the same pronunciation.

Match the homophones in this exercise

Printable version here

Not a homophone and a terrible pun, but a clever name!

Let's hope the job is better than the pun.

6) Practise

1. Write out some of your favourite jokes. Do you have any jokes in your language which you can translate into English? Find some pictures to illustrate the jokes and make a powerpoint presentation.
2. Record or film yourself telling some jokes. Be careful you get the pronunciation right or the jokes won't be funny.

7) More

Homonyms and homophones  http://www.firstschoolyears.com/literacy/word/other/homonyms/homonyms.htm

Homophones list http://www.bifroest.demon.co.uk/misc/homophones-list.html

Activity and game  http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/Phase2delivery/Wales/Literacy/Keystage2/Writing/Homophones/Introduction/activity1pop.htm

Homophones game

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/game/en21watc-game-paris-word

More puns

http://iteslj.org/c/jokes-puns.html

http://puns.icanhascheezburger.com/

Miss Devine

You are going to

• look at language for describing people
• watch a video and do a listening comprehension quiz
• write a description of someone you know

1) Discuss

• How many words do you know to describe someone?
• How many can you think of in one minute?

2) Vocabulary match

Look the words below. Can you match them?
Drag and drop each word on the right to its nearest opposite on the left.

3) Discuss

Most of the words in the exercise are adjectives.
How many are nouns?
How many are verbs?
Answers - highlight below

nouns = a pensioner, a toddler, a party animal, a loner

verbs = to fit in, to stand out

4) Watch

Miss Devine

You are going to listen to cousins Cherrie Johnson and James Ransom who spent many weekends at their grandparents house in Florida. During these visits they attended the local methodist Church Sunday school. They now remember their neighbour and Sunday school teacher, Miss Lizzie Devine.


Look at the photo.
Describe the photo.
What kind of person do you think she is?
Kind, generous, short-tempered?




Watch the clip and answer.

• How do they describe Miss Devine's appearance? What did she look like?
• How do they describe her character or personality? What was she like?
• What stories do they tell about her?
• Do you think they like or admire her?
• Did they learn anything from her?

5) Gap-fill

How much do you remember?
Here is a summary of the clip. Fill in the blanks.

Printable versions here

6) Write

Write about someone special you know or remember.

1. Introduce him / her. Who is he / she? Your brother, sister, best friend, teacher, colleague...?
2. Describe his / her appearance.
3. Describe his / her personality.
4. Tell one or two stories about him / her to illustrate his / her character
5. Explain why you like or admire him / her?
6. Did you learn anything from him / her?
7. Conclude. Say why the person is special to you.

More posts about describing people here

http://efllecturer.blogspot.com/2012/01/achievements-laura-dekker-heroine-for.html

http://efllecturer.blogspot.com/2012/02/inspiring-people.html

http://efllecturer.blogspot.com/2011/10/shakira-and-beyonce-contrasting-writing.html




More from StoryCorps here http://www.youtube.com/storycorps
and here http://storycorps.org/

Does more technology mean more communication?

You are going to

• discuss technology and communication
• listen to a short radio program about technology and communication
• do a sentence ordering exercise
• discuss, plan and write an IELTS style argument essay on the question
• practise some information and communication technology (ICT) vocabulary with a crossword

1) Discuss

• What kinds of technology do we communicate with?
• Is it easier to communicate now than 50 years ago? Why?
• How has technology affected communication and relationships?
• What are the good and bad things about modern forms of communicating?
• Do you use social network sites? Do you agree with any of the comments below?

2) Listen

You are going to listen to Rory Cellan-Jones, the technology correspondent of the BBC. He is going to find out whether more technology means more or better communication.
Look at these questions.

• What examples of information and communications technology (ICT) does he give?
• What disadvantages are mentioned?
• What advantages are given?
• What do you think is the Rory's opinion?

 

http://audioboo.fm/boos/605372-does-more-tech-more-communication-from-bbcr4today




3) Read
Look at the sentences below. You are going to put them in the right order to make a written summary of the program but before you do...
Read quickly and answer.

• Which sentence makes the best introduction? Why?
• Which sentence makes the best conclusion? Why?
• Which sentences can be seen as disadvantages?
• Which comments can be seen as advantages?

Now put the sentences in order. You can listen again to check.

4) Discuss

Look at the sentences again.

• How does Rory introduce the topic he is going to examine?
• How many examples of it does he give?
• How does he introduce the argument?
• How does he give a conclusion / sum up? Does he recognise more than one point of view?

What do you think?

• Does more technology mean more communication?
• Does more technology mean better communication?
• Do you agree that "technology is an addition, not a replacement" for face-to-face socialising and communication?

5) Write

Look at this IELTS question

Nowadays the way many people interact with each other has changed because of technology.

In what ways has technology affected the types of relationships that people make? Has this been a positive or negative development?

Plan your essay.
How many paragraphs are you going to write?
1. Write an introduction
  a) Introduce the topic to be discussed.
  b) Explain it and give a few examples.
  c) Introduce the argument. Restate the question in your own words.

2. Give examples of how technology is changing relationships. State some advantages and disadvantages of these changes. Support your ideas - give some specific examples of the positive or negative effects of these changes.

3. Write a conclusion. Sum up what you have discussed.

6) Vocabulary - Crossword

How much vocabulary can you remember? 
All the answers in the crossword are from the radio clip.

Printable version of crossword here
Printable reading exercise  here

STaRt!