A blog to help secondary school students improve English. You can find mind maps, worksheets, videos and songs as well as some of the project works and activities done by the students.
Hello! My name's Liliana. I'm a teacher of English (Language and Literature) to Italian teenage stu
Sunday, December 19, 2021
Thursday, December 9, 2021
The British Goverment-video+questions
1. What TV show does the speaker quote
at the beginning of the video?
2. Who’s the head of State in the UK?
3. Who’s the head of the government?
4. What about the USA-who’s the head of
state and the head of government?
5. Why is the Government called her Majesty’s
government?
6. How often a week do the queen and
the Prime Minister meet?
7. Their meetings are confidential.
What does it mean?
8. What does the Cabinet consist of?
9. What’s a Cabinet reshuffle?
10. Where does the Prime Minister live?
11. Which are the three parts of Parliament?
12. How many members sit at the House of
Commons?
13. What does quite a few mean?
14. Who becomes the Prime Minister?
15. What does walk of life mean?
16. Which fields do the members of the House
of Lords belong to?
17. Who makes the laws in the UK?
Monday, December 6, 2021
How to learn the adverbs of manner with an amazing song-
After having seen the video and listened to the song students change the adverbs into adjectives so that they can grasp how an adjective may be changed into an adverb and the opposite.
joyfully -joyful
playfully-playful
happily -happy
sensible-sensibly
logical-logically
responsible-responsibly
practical-practically
dependable-dependably
clinical-clinically
intellectual-intellectually
cynical-cynically
deep-deeply
simple-simply
radical-radically
liberal-liberally
fanatical-fanatically
criminal-criminally
acceptable-acceptably
respectable-respectably
presentable-presentably
logical-logically
Sunday, December 5, 2021
JUST THE WAY YOU ARE AND THE SONNET 130
Just the Way You Are
Oh, her eyes, her eyes
Make the stars look like they're not shinin'
Her hair, her hair
Falls perfectly without her tryin'
She's so beautiful and I tell her everyday
Yeah, I know, I know
When I compliment her, she won't believe me
And it's so, it's so
Sad to think that she don't see what I see
But every time she asks me, "Do I look okay?"
I say
When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
'Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile
The whole world stops and stares for a while
'Cause girl, you're amazing
Just the way you are
Yeah
Her lips, her lips
I could kiss them all day if she'd let me
Her laugh, her laugh
She hates, but I think it's so sexy
She's so beautiful and I tell her everyday
Oh, you know, you know
You know I'd never ask you to change
If perfect's what you're searchin' for, then just stay the same
So don't even bother askin' if you look okay
You know I'll say
When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
'Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile
The whole world stops and stares for a while
'Cause girl, you're amazing
Just the way you are
The way you are
The way you are
Girl, you're amazing
Just the way you are
When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
'Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile
The whole world stops and stares for a while
'Cause girl, you're amazing
Just the way you are
Yeah
My mistress’ eyes SONNET 130
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red,
than her lips red:
If snow be white, why then
her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black
wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses
damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in
her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is
there more delight
Than in the breath that
from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak,
yet well I know
That music hath a far more
pleasing sound:
I grant I never saw a
goddess go,
My mistress, when she
walks, treads on the ground:
And yet by heaven, I think
my love as rare,
As any she belied with
false compare.
MODERN VERSION
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; coral is far more than her lips are. If snow is white, all I can say is that her breasts are a brownish grey colour.
If hairs can be compared with wires then black hairs grow on her head. I know what pink, red and white roses look like but I don’t see any roses in her cheeks.
And there’s more
pleasure in some perfumes than there is in my mistress’ reeking breath! I love
her voice although I know that music is more pleasing to the ear. I admit I’ve never seen a goddess walking;
when my mistress walks she treads firmly on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think that my love is as unique as any woman who is the subject of a romantic poem.
1. What words does the speaker of the
song by Bruno Mars use to describe his lover? Make a list
2. What are the words of that song that
you can find in Shakespeare’s sonnet?
3. The girl described by Bruno Mars is
perfect. Could you say the same thing for the woman described by Shakespeare?
What about that woman?
4. Do you think that Bruno Mars is
using some cliché to describe his lover. Give some examples
5. What does sonnet 130 tell us about
the way we describe beauty? Do you agree or disagree?
6. Would you be more flattered to be
described in the way that Shakespeare is doing or in the way that Bruno Mars is
doing. Why?
A A comment on SONNET 130
T This sonnet makes fun of the conventions of love poetry common to Shakespeare's day.
M Most sonnets were modeled after Petrarch's ones.
In his sonnets Petrarch praises Laura's beauty, her worth, her perfection using a lot of metaphors based largely on natural beauties.
T The result was that poems by Petrarch make highly idealizing comparisons between nature and the poet's lover, which, if taken literally, are completely ridiculous.
My mistress' eyes are like the sun
h Her lips are red as coral
Her cheeks are like roses
Her breasts are white as snow
Her voice is like music..................She's a goddesss
T This sonnet marks the typical Petrarchan metaphors. In a sense, he decides to tell the truth......so my mistress' eyes aren't at all like the sun. In other words, he insists that love doesn't need these conceits in order to be real, and women do not need to look like flowers or the sun in order to be beautiful.
Though the sonnet may appear to be negative, it has positive words towards the end. Although reality can be quite different from our dreams, the poet knows that his love for his mistress is great. He describes it as rare and makes it clear that he doesn't need to make false comparisons about her to know that in his heart he feels love for her.Some men may say false words, but he doesn't need to because he accepts her as she is and is truly in love with her.
A