6 posts tagged “english”
Here is a film with no dialogue. It should be easy to talk about this film in class.
Suggested themes: Education. Children growing up. How should educators teach children right from wrong?
This film is directed by Abbas Kiarostami.
Kiarostami is an Iranian film maker, photographer, poet, screenwriter, painter, illustrator and graphic designer.
This video appears in the VEOH ESL video channel
Here are some questions for you to answer.
The film is about a musical genius (prodigy) who grows up in an orphanage in New York City (north-east coast of the USA).
The boy changes his name from "Evan" to __. (What is the boy's new name?)
Who helps him choose his new name?
Where does he get the idea for this new name?
The great English novelist Charles Dickens chose names for his characters that had special meaning. Describe the character of the man named "Wizard"?
This film follows Dickens' style in many ways. Dickens made use of vivid settings. Also, fate and birth (social class) are significant in Dickens' novels, as they are in this story. Advanced students:: Are these things important in this film?
Comments: This film is different from many other films on the movie circuit and his highly recommended for positive child and adult spiritual education. Films and books that parents should avoid exposing their children to are all in the Harry Potter series and the latest film, The Golden Compass.
- Director: Kirsten Sheridan
- Stars: Keri Russell, Freddie Highmore, Robin Williams
- Year: 2007
- Country of origin: US
Parents and Teachers:
August Rush Student Film Project [pdf]
Christian perspectives - Harry Potter [1] [2]
Islamic perspective - Harry Potter [1]
We watched this video today. First we checked to see if any of the students could find Korea on the world map. We made the quiz really difficult by showing students some maps where Korea was not even shown, and students quickly picked out the trick maps, and even paged through the atlas to find Korea. Then, we took the time to consider two points.
1. Why some people cannot find their own country on the world map.
Students mentioned many points in the discussion. High school students aged between 13 and 20 years noted some of the following reasons people may be unable to find their own country on a map:
- Maybe they don't study.
- Maybe they are not smart.
- Maybe they don't think about other countries.
- Maybe they think they are the only important country.
- Maybe they don't have any interest in the rest of the world.
- Maybe they are only taught about their local state or city in school.
2. We asked the question "Are beauty pageants good or bad?" Students from different classes gave these answers:
Pageants are bad because
- some people feel inferior and they may try and change their appearance through plastic surgery or unhealthy diets
- pageants are not about skill and intelligence which are more important than external beauty
- some people may neglect their studies if they worry about pageants too much
- Pageants make people try to improve their appearance
- Winners will feel better.
- boys like to look at beautiful women
- women like to imagine they are the winners
What language do these actors USUALLY speak? Give two reasons for your answer.
Here's a thank you for being so good in the demo lesson today
A Nice Comedy (as promised)
This is a a kind of Chate Melon. It is sometimes incorrectly called the muskmelon. The muskmelon (scientific name, cucumis melo) is also known as the cantaloupe. The melon in this picture really has no English name (it's scientific name being cucumis melo, var. makuwa). It is sometimes called the Japanese Cantaloupe. It's Korean name is Chameo (참 외)
What are the differences? While muskmelons (cantaloupes ) have the distinctive rough net-textured skin, this has a hard outer peel (similar to a watermelon) and the inside of it is hard (similar to a cucumber). You can read more about muskmelons and cantaloupes at plant answers.
There are many mistaken translations from Korean into English, and you can read about some of them at Korean Food Translated.
In any case, have you tried this fruit before? I had my first bite just two weeks ago. It has the inside texture of a cucumber, and the taste is similar to that of a pear. It's really delicious.
This is an amazing image taken by a photographer I found on flicker while I was trying to respond to the question, "What do you call this fruit in English?".
We watched a movie based on a Canadian short story last week. Students are writing their comments about their experience and we look forward to their posts soon. For some background of the movie, you can see the Snow Walker - Quipster's review
The author Farley Mowat is credited with many things, both literary and otherwise. He is a conservationist and patron of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Mowat has a real (once outlawed) pirate ship named after him. The RV Farley Mowat sails the oceans doing the dangerous job of trying to stop ships from whale hunting.
The Sea Shepherd News site lists the dangerous adventures related to this ship and the rest of the conservation work done by the society. Here is an exciting detailed report of a chase "on the High Seas" Cowardly Pirate Whalers Flee
In another report about the Farley Mowat ship (dated June 1st, 2007) the Captain Paul Watson writes:
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society flagship, Farley Mowat, is now officially a pirate vessel. We are at sea without a flag, in search of illegal whaling operations in hostile and remote waters at the bottom of the world.