Homework - consonants

"Hurt" performed by Nine Inch Nails, with lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prDoGmY5kj8

This clip features Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt". Some of you may not like it, as the transcription of the recording was unfortunately enriched by a German version of the lyrics. Still, if you don't mind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIbepKZC7Po&feature=related

... if you DO mind, you can watch the official Johnny Cash video (no lyrics, however; you have to google them):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go&feature=related

Your job is to listen to the song co-articulating every word Trent Renzon (NIN)/Johnny Cash sings. If you can sing, you can knock yourself out at home; if you were not blessed with this rare talent, do it silently just moving your articulators as if you were singing. You will show me what you learned next class :-)

All best.

If you don't know how to pronounce a word...

...go to this website and listen to a native speaker say it for you:
http://www.oddcast.com/home/demos/tts/tts_example.php?sitepal

Thanks to Beata Mikołajewska! :o)

How to learn a foreign accent

Some useful tips on how to acquire foreign accents:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJyTA4VlZus&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUx2T7gWCCA&feature=channel

In my point of view, there's more than just a grain of truth to what she says. Hope you find time to watch it and pick up some useful advice on how to improve your pronunciation.

Ma certo che parlo l'inglese! (an Italian man who went to Malta)

This is the clip we watched in class (in case you want to watch it once again):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GpQfss0Sko

GRAMMAR REVISION

Now to revise the section of grammar you have problems with, you can just click on the link of your choice and test yourself:

Present Tenses
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/upperint/a_grammar/file01/nef_upperint_grammar01_a02/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/upp_intermediate/a_grammar/unit02/hwy_upp_unit02_1/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/advanced/a_grammar/unit02/hwy_adv_unit02_3/

Narrative Tenses
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/upperint/a_grammar/file02/nef_upperint_grammar02_b01/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/upp_intermediate/a_grammar/unit03/hwy_upp_unit03_1/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/upp_intermediate/a_grammar/unit03/hwy_upp_unit03_2/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/advanced/a_grammar/unit02/hwy_adv_unit02_1/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/advanced/a_grammar/unit06/hwy_adv_unit06_1/

Futurity
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/intermediate/a_grammar/file01/nef_int_grammar01_c02/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/upperint/a_grammar/file03/nef_upperint_grammar03_a02/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/upperint/a_grammar/file03/nef_upperint_grammar03_b01

http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/advanced/a_grammar/file06/nef_int_grammar_6_01/

http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/upp_intermediate/a_grammar/unit05/hwy_upp_unit05_2/

The Passive

http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/upperint/a_grammar/file03/nef_upperint_grammar03_a01/

http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/upp_intermediate/a_grammar/unit01/hwy_upp_unit01_1/

Conditionals

http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/intermediate/a_grammar/file04/nef_int_grammar04_b02/

http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/upperint/a_grammar/file03/nef_upperint_grammar03_b01/

http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/upperint/a_grammar/file04/nef_upperint_grammar04_01a/

Verb Patterns
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/intermediate/a_grammar/file05/nef_int_grammar05_c02/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/upperint/a_grammar/file05/nef_upperint_grammar05_a01/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/advanced/a_grammar/file05/nef_int_grammar_5_03/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/advanced/a_grammar/unit09/hwy_adv_unit09_3/

Reported Speech
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/intermediate/a_grammar/file06/nef_int_grammar06_ai01/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/intermediate/a_grammar/file06/nef_int_grammar06_ai02/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/intermediate/a_grammar/file06/nef_int_grammar06_aii02/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/upperint/a_grammar/file05/nef_upperint_grammar05_b01/

Inversion
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/advanced/a_grammar/file03/nef_int_grammar_3_02/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/advanced/a_grammar/unit05/hwy_adv_unit05_3/

others:
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/upperint/a_grammar/file04/nef_upperint_grammar04_b02/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/upperint/a_grammar/file05/nef_upperint_grammar05_a02/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/upperint/a_grammar/file07/nef_upperint_grammar07_a02/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/advanced/a_grammar/file02/nef_int_grammar_2_03/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/advanced/a_grammar/file03/nef_int_grammar_3_03/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/advanced/a_grammar/file04/nef_int_grammar_4_01/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/advanced/a_grammar/file05/nef_int_grammar_5_02/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/advanced/a_grammar/file07/nef_int_grammar_7_02/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/advanced/a_grammar/file07/nef_int_grammar_7_03/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/advanced/a_grammar/unit08/hwy_adv_unit08_1/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/advanced/a_grammar/unit12/hwy_adv_unit12_1/

narrative tenses - revision

Since most of you did not do astonishingly well in your final tests when it came to using present and narrative tenses, I suggest you revise this topic at home before we do it altogether in class.

To jog your memory on when to use narrative tenses watch this slideshow:
http://www.slideshare.net/eoialcala/narrative-tenses-presentation

...and do a few exercises:
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/upp_intermediate/a_grammar/unit03/hwy_upp_unit03_1/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/advanced/a_grammar/unit02/hwy_adv_unit02_1/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/upperint/a_grammar/file02/nef_upperint_grammar02_b01/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/advanced/a_grammar/file02/nef_int_grammar_2_01/

Dictionaries

Here are the links to the most reliable dictionaries online (as far as transcription goes, at least):

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ (British & American English)
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/ (go to "options" for American transcription)
http://www.merriam-webster.com/ (American English)
http://oxforddictionaries.com/ (British English)
 http://wordreference.com/ (English vis-a-vis other languages)

English in 24 accents

Have a look at this undeniably talented young lady. At first she seems to be a bit of a weirdo, but eventually she blows your socks off.

That's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0PtmfZ5p4I&feature=channel

Enjoy!

fainting goats and walruses which work out to stay in shape :-)

My dear Matura Students,

if you want to enrich your vocabulary on nature and geography, don't hesitate to visit the National Geographic website! I highly recommend the weird & wacky videos in the "Kid Videos" section, but there are also other amazing clips in there, such as "Bodies Make Up Fake Coral Reef". And that's just for starters. :-)

Here is the link to their homepage: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

Description of a sports event

Click on the following link and watch the clip. Afterwards, write a description of the event presented in the clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iROsDCzDRRI&feature=related

To get an idea of what it feels like to take part in this kind of competition, you can have a look at a clip presenting triathlon enthusiasts talking about this sport:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EokseUskyDI

Enjoy :-)