Languagelab.com Blog

Hi English City Students,

I hope you received my invitation about the Eye of Providence Exhibition opening on the 29th of June.  If you want to attend you need to RSVP to the invitation and you will get a ticket to come.

To help you prepare for the exhibition I have put together some vocabulary and suggested questions you could ask the artist.

Going to an exhibition opening:

Have you ever been to an exhibition opening before? It is a very interesting and fun activity where you get to meet the artist, gallery owners, art buyers and collectors and friends.

Here are some things to think about:

• What are you going to wear to the event – smart or casual?

Go to Donatella’s shop and get something for the occasion.

Saturday 26th class

Sunday 27th class

• Is it important to be punctual?

Ask Millie about etiquette and punctuality.

Millie is in Conversations Café every day 7am-9am PDT (3pm-5pm UK time)

• Do you need to research the artist before you go to the opening?

Look online and see if you can find any of the artist’s work.

• What kind of questions do you want to ask the artist or other people?

Talk to other students in English City and prepare some questions together.

Questions to ask other students:

• Have you ever been to an exhibition opening before?

• Do you know any art galleries? Are there any in your city?

• Were you interested in photography when you were young?

• In your opinion, is photography an important part of culture?

• Can you tell me the name of a photographer you know?

• Is photography a great importance in your daily life?

Questions to ask the artist:

• What inspires you?

• How long have you been an artist?

• What country are you from and what languages can you speak?

• Do you think your cultural background influences your work?

• You can visit this link for more ideas on photography questions

Asking open ended questions:

To keep the conversation going longer you can ask other students an ‘open ended question’. This is the opposite of a ‘Yes or No’ question.

• “Why did………”

• “Can you explain…….”

• “How does……..”

• “Please describe ………”

• “Tell me about a time when……”

Vocabulary to help you:

• Abstract– art that is not realistic, though it can be based on

• something real.

• Composition – the arrangement of the elements in a work of art. More simply, where an artist arranges things in their photographs.

• Docent – a museum guide who usually works for free.

• Frame – the support element that surrounds a work of art usually made of wood or metal.

• Portrait – any form of art expression that features an animal or a person as its main subject matter.

• Realistic– a style of art that shows places, events, people or objects as the eye sees them.

• Still life – a composition featuring inanimate objects such as flowers or food or vases. Objects in a still life cannot get up and walk away by themselves.

• Two dimensional – artwork that is flat and measured only by height and width. Two-dimensional art is sometimes called “2-D.”

• Three dimensional- artwork measured by height, width and depth. Three-dimensional art is sometimes called “3-D.”

You can visit this link for more detailed vocabulary on describing photographs:

http://nuovo.com/southern-images/analyses.html

There is also a lot of vocabulary here and it is translated into French.

We hope to see you at the exhibition on Tuesday 29th June, please rsvp to me if you want a ticket for the exhibition.

Jessie Teacher

Dusan Kochol, 'Eye of Providence' Photographic Exhibition

Languagelab is delighted to invite you to the opening of Dusan Kochol’s photographic exhibition ‘Eye of Providence’ in English City on 29th June at 4pm UK time.

Please see the attached invitation. Eye of Providence is currently showing in Warsaw and Kochol also has an exhibition in Oxford. The event will be held in English City.

Guests will include artists, art collectors, gallery owners and the academic staff and students of English City. This is a unique opportunity to take part in a cultural event, meet the artist and discover how using technology can bring an artist’s work to a wider and more diverse audience.

If you would like to attend the opening exhibition please RSVP by email, and I will give you further instructions on how to get online and attend.

We look forward to seeing you in English City for this unique and special event.

The students had great fun in Jazz’s Business English classes at the bank. The students were asking a bank teller for money and a bank manger for a loan. Check out the pictures!

Hi Languagelab students,

This week we are talking about different cultures and crocodiles.

Watch this video below and answer the following questions:

Questions:

1. What countries does the speaker mention?

2. What is the system for streets in your country?

3. What do you think is the most unique thing about your culture?

4. Which cultures are most similar and most different to your own?

Shaun the crocodile man.

Shaun, 30, keeps 24 crocodiles and alligators in the semi-detached home in Oxford he shares with fiancée Lisa Green, 29, and children Billy, six, Louie, four, and eight-month-old Shania.

Joiner Shaun has even erected a purpose-built enclosure for his unique pets which include endangered Black Caymans, Cuban crocodiles and a Chinese alligator to keep the reptiles at a constant 25 degrees.

Shaun has now raised £100,000 in just two years to create Britains first crocodile zoo so his house can be restored to normality.

Shaun is still hunting for a 5,000 sq ft location big enough to house all his prehistoric beasts but in the meantime, his family home retains a tropical feel.

“They are amazing animals but not cheap to keep as pets. Just feeding them with rodents and fish costs £8,000 a year,” Shaun said.
“I have been interested in crocodiles since I was a little kid and once I started reptiles at 17 it just snowballed.

By the time I was 25 I had my dangerous animals licence and I was looking after crocodiles and alligators.”

All of Shauns children have grown up surrounded by snappy brothers and sisters and have inherited Shaun’s fascination and fiancée Lisa has also adapted to life in the wild.

Shaun added: “The crocodiles have always been around since before the children were born, so it is very normal to them.”The children like to go in and look at them and they have no fear at all.

“Lisa helps out with the crocodiles which is great.”

“They are part of the family and she has known about my love of reptiles since day one, so she wasn’t shocked.” But despite the animals being very well behaved, Shaun’s neighbours have still yet to pop round for a peek but are pleased to have their very own predatory neighbourhood watch. Shaun added: “The neighbours all know the crocodiles are there, but they have never wanted to come around and see them.

“People think these animals lie in rivers waiting to attack the next human walking past, but there is a lot more to them.”

Questions:

1. How long has Shaun kept crocodiles?

2. What types of crocodiles does Shaun keep?

3. How much does it cost per year to feed them?

4. What do they eat ?

5. What is Shaun looking for?

6. What do you think of keeping crocodiles as pets?

See you next week and don’t forget to come to our event tomorrow evening at 6:30pm UK time (10:30am PST), Jeremy Harmer will be talking to our students.

Bye bye,

Jessie Teacher

BESIG, the Business English Special Interest Group of IATEFL are having a conference this week in Poland and our own Shiv Rajendran is there representing Languagelab.com.

He is going to talk about Business English in English City, have you ever been to a Business English class with Jazz Quinzet or Alastair Twine?

The conference is in Poznan and Shiv has told me it’s a nice city and he is looking forward to meeting all the people he has met already through Twitter!  He will also be meeting some of our students who live in Poznan for the first time.

There is some information on one of our Business English City People below, Jazz Quinzet.  If you would like to meet her come and visit her in English City.

See you soon !

Jessie Teacher

Last week we looked at AND, BUT, BECAUSE, OR, SO, THEN and a few more.

This week I want to move the discussion a little further by talking about grammar called ’subordination.’  In conjunctions for ’subordination’ we also link parts of sentences together but they work a little differently.  I’ll give you some examples of conjunctions for subordination and then next week, after you’ve had a think about them, we’ll look at examples of this type of conjunction.

*  place

where, wherever

* time

when, whenever, while, after, before, since, till, until, once, now

as soon as, as long as

* reason

because, as, since, for, although, though, to, in order to, so as to

* similarity and contrast

as, than, whereas, while

* condition

if, unless, provided

Hope that was helpful !

See you next week !

Grammar Girl in English City :-)

On December 25th you are invited to a float making session with Lowri Mills as part of a seasonal skills class. The float making is at 4am-5am PDT and (12 noon UK) at the Hotel.

The main parade is on from 8am-9am PDT (4pm UK ) starting outside the Grammar House.

You will learn how to make a Christmas float which will involve being able to listen to instructions.
To continue the theme of making things and instructions, here is a great video on how to make an origami Santa Claus !

Key vocabulary:

to fold       to measure

Origami Santa Claus! Marry Christmas!! – More free videos are here

“Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose….”

This is the start of a popular Christmas carol about one of Santa Claus reindeers.

When you go and visit Bonnie go ahead and ask her who the other reindeers are, there a quite a few to guess.

The last Christmas Eve activity at English City is watching the movie Rudolf the Rednose reindeer, sometimes if I watch movies in a language that is not my own I get confused and want to ask someone for help with vocabulary or the story, well if you watch with Bonnie you will be able to ask her for help when you need it.

The film starts at the Cinema in English City at 1pm PDT (9pm UK) and lasts for around an hour.

Have fun see you at the movie !

A good way to practice English is to listen to new words and hear people with different accents speaking and then you can learn how to improve your pronunciation and intonation.

On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, Judith Triellis will be reading the famous poem, ‘Twas the Night before Christmas’ at the Manor in English City at 12-1pm PDT (8-9pm UK)

Be prepared to tell your own holiday season stories and to share your tales with other students, great practice for listening and speaking.

Here is a little background information on the author of the poem.

Clement Clarke Moore (1779 – 1863) wrote the poem Twas the night before Christmas also called “A Visit from St. Nicholas” in 1822. It is now the tradition in many American families to read the poem every Christmas Eve. The poem Twas the night before Christmas has redefined our image of Christmas and Santa Claus. Prior to the creation of the story of Twas the night before Christmas St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, had never been associated with a sleigh or reindeers!

The first publication date was 23rd December 1823 and it was an immediate success. Moore was the Bishop of New York who was famous for officiating at the inauguration of George Washington. The tradition of reading Twas the night before Christmas poem on Christmas Eve is now a Worldwide institution.

Go and join the Christmas Parties on Wednesday 25th December at English City.

Christmas is an annual holiday celebrated on 24th-25th December. Traditionally it is  Christian festival held to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ who was born in Bethlehem.

Customs vary from country to country but the celebration usually centres around spending time with family and friends and eating a lot of food, and perhaps going to a Church service on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Houses are decorated with a Christmas tree and lights and presents are placed under the tree.

In most European countries Christmas Eve is celebrated on the 24th but in the UK and USA it is celebrated on Christmas Day, with turkey being the traditional Christmas Dinner.

However, each country has different traditional food and drink, in the Czech Reupblic they eat carp,  a freshwater fish and in Poland there are 12 different courses to eat on Christmas Eve !

Christmas began as a Christian festival but is also celebrated by many non-Christians as a secular, cultural festival. The holiday is celebrated all over the world.

Go and join the Christmas Party on Wednesday 25th December at English City.
Times are:
7am-9am      PDT  (3pm-5pm UK)  With Kent
9am – 10am  PDT  (5pm-6pm UK)  With Phillip
10am-12pm  PDT  (6pm-8pm UK)  With Pebbles
Click here to check schedule.

You can pick up your present, talk to your friends and have a happy and fun experience while practicing new vocabulary and learning new Christmas words.

See you there !

Jessie Teacher