Friday 28 August 2009

interesting website

Hello!
I m going to write you an interesting English website for English teachers in which you can find different ideas, activities and games to play in the class:

www.eslcafe.com

"click on idea cookbook"

Friday 21 August 2009

Hi! I am going to tell you some things I discovered yesterday about entertainment in Norwich. At the beginnig of our tour, we discovered the library and the BBC radio inside the Forum. Then, we went to Chapelfield Park where you can do a lot of activities: reading, walking or just relax yourself on the grass. We also visited a builiding called Country and Eastern that was a role-skating ring in 1876. It was also a theatre and it is a forniture shop at the moment.After going to Nile offices, we discovered much more places where you can go in your free time. We went to Norwich Arts centre where they have information about all the cultural events in the city, we went to "Inspire Discovery centre" (a special play where children and adults can play) and to Norwich Playhouse ( a kind of cultural centre with a curiuous pub inside). After visiting the cinema city we went to the Royal Arcade and finally we went to a pub where we rested after a hard day. We were HAPPY but a bit tired. There so many enterntainments in Norwich... !!! Enjoy the city!!!! Gema Miguez, Sandra and Fernando.

The 'green man' in the cloisters.

Hi! I would like to give you an amusing place to visit in Norwich. One of the most famous Norwich's landmark is the Cathedral. In the 'Dark Entry' you can walk around the cloisters, and if you look up the cloisters you will find 'green man', It is fun if you find it! -- Manu --
Hi I'm Gema,

I chose the history.

Norwich was conquered by Romans and French, so do by Normans and Viking.

It's brevery tipical industry, wearing industry, shoes and mustard.

There is a Castle and it was built by normans in 1607. It was made wood at them day rebuilt using stone from France

The museun about Norwich history is closed because trere's some tuilding works.

Gema

Food and Drinks in Norwich

Like in the rest of the country, you can find every kind of food and drink, in supermarkets like Tesco, Sainsbury etc. Also in markets: Norwich has a traditional market in the center of the city where you can buy meat, fish, vegetables etc. The prices in the supermarket are quite similiar to the Spanish supermarkets. Anyway in the market the meat and fish the prices are more expensive.

In front of the market there's an Arcade similiar to Burlington Arcade in London, there you can find one of the best chocolate shops in the city.

You should try the English traditional meal in the Pub. The word pub (meaning Public House), most Spanish people think that the pubs are bars where you can drink a typical pint of beer, but usually they don't eat inside.
The typical meal in England you can eat in the pubs are: Fish and Chips, Cottage Pie, Toad in the hole, Yorkshire Pudding and the Sunday Roast. Batter, very typical in English cooking, is a liquid mixture, usually based on one or more flours combined with liquids such as water, milk or beer. They usually cover the meals with this, like the famous fish and chips.

About drinks, the beer is the most typical drink in the pubs, there's a measure (The pint) if it's too much for you, you can order a half pint. You can find three kinds of beer: Lager, stout and Ale, this two latter are more typically, specially the Ale because they must pull three times to fill a glass of beer.

In Norwich there're very interesting pub like a Black Horse, Unthanks Arms, Gardeners Arms and the probably oldest pub in Norwich called Adam and Eve.

The Norwich accent

Hi every body,
Yesterday, our group were talking with Norwich people and asking them about their accent. We asked them how the people of Norwich speak, and the answered that they speak than Nortfolk people. Nortfolk it's a county in England and people who were talking with us told that it's a usual accent in this city.
Their accent isn't hard, I think you can understand them easy if they don't speak vere quickly.
I thinkin the same way that the accent depends of the people that you're talking with. Coneccted with their social class or their culture level.
I hope you to understand everyone in Norwich. Try it!

Shopping in Norwich

SHOPPING:
Norwich have a lot of places to shopping and do the shopping. Usually the shops and the Shopping Centers open between 9 and 9:30 in the morning and the time of closing depend on the day of week. Most of shops (principally big shops) close between 17 and 18 in the afternoon but on thursday are closed around 20 pm. At weekend there are different times to close. Some shops close around 14 or 15 pm and other shops close around 17 or 18 pm.
The main shops and stores are in the town centre such as Marks and Spencer, John Lewis, Debenhams, House of Fraiser, Primark, Jarrold, etc.
An special place to shopping is Royal Arcade. It is one of the places older to buy some things you need. It ownes several small shops along a corridor. It is in front of the Town Hall. If you past along the corridor you got another street.
Foreing people (particullarly spanish people) think that do the shopping and shopping in Norwich is more expensive than other countries of the European Union. For example, buy coffee, flowers and tomatoes are more expensive than in Spain. But when you talk about important brands and labels like Nike, Levers, Clarks, etc. are not so expensive as in Spain.
When young people are answered about customs the say that prefer shopping in big areas like mall and Shopping center rather than small shops.
Now you decide. It is up to you.
Fernando.

Buildings in Norwich

I just got some information about some of the most important buildings with historical connotations.

*Guildhall
This building made of flint was built to be the prison of the city of Norwich. It is located near to the market and now it is used as a shopping mall.

*The Anglican Cathedral
I only got a curiosity about it. There's a sculture of a green man in the cloister but I couldn't guess its real meaning.

*The Assambly House.
Located in Theater Street, this is a typical georgian house built in the nineteen century that now is used as social building. It is also interesting to have a look to their nice rooms and take a break into its restaurant.

JuanMa

SHOPPING IN NORWICH

There are be a lot of places where you can go shopping in Norwich. You can go to the City Hall Market and you can buy differents kinds of things, for example you can buy books, clothes, soaps, shoes, cheese, meat, greeting cards, gift grap, wool, button, thread... It's a cheap place. Near it, you can go along the Royal Arcade where you can buy something "hot" as a tea or a coffee in Slurp and buy something healthy as a smoothy in the same place and dry fruit in Julian Graves.
Near the Castle you can find the Castle Mall, this is the shopping center where you can go shopping but, there aren't a lot of shops, there are cinemas, the post office, the phone mobile shops but if you want go shoping you should go to the Chaperfield Mall, this is bigger than Castle Mall and it has a lot of shops where you can buy clothes, shoes... This Mall is more modern than the Castle Mall and the people are younger. In this shopping center you can find "Zara", but the prices are more expensive than the Spanish Zara.

If you want to buy books, you should go to "The Works" is a bookshop with very cheap prices, in front of WH Smith, specially infant books, pop - up books, stories...

WHERE TO RELAX IN NORWICH?

Norwich is a city with lots of places to visit and relax. I think that one of the most important places to go for a walk and release oneself is the river side, specially if you go when the sun sets. It's a lovely place and you can take photos because it is worth it. Besides, there are lots of parks where you can go to read a book, to talk to friends and to do lots of things to relax, such as the park next to the Cathedral, where you can always see people sitting on the grass (when the weather is nice). Moreover, there is a wonderful place called "Herb Garden" near that park where you can breath deeply because the smell is really good. There are lots of gardens in Norwich, such as the Castle Gardens or the Chapefield Gardens next to The Forum. You can also go to the Library to read a nice book and switch off.

Finally, why not relax by drinking a beer in the oldest public house in Norwich? It is a pub called "Adam and Eve" and the building is very beautiful.

Go Shopping in Norwich

Nowadays one of the most important aspects of our life is going shopping. So I'm going to tell you something about that in Norwich.
Traditionally Norwich was a town connected with shoe industry, for that reason you can find many differents shoe shops. Usually placed in the middle of the town, central shopping...etc
Shops are grouped in the centre of the town around the main buildings such as: the Forum, city Hall, the market Gentleman's Walk. In Gentlemans Walk you can find the Royal Arcade, this is a shopping centre were shops sell: chocolate, tea, fruit...
Other important shopping centre here is the Mall and you can find inside: sport shops, tecnology shops, clothes shops...
Finally I'll write about Timberhill which is other central shopping street and you can buy whatever you imagine even there is Zara ( it is one of the most important trade marks from Spain)

Entertainment in Norwich

Hello friends! I will tell you some words about the entertainment in this fantastic city...

There are a lot of pubs and restaurants with great food and drinks, and good music. You canalso find a lot of cinemas and theatres with famous films like in Spain, such as "Broken embraces" by Penelope Cruz. And finally for children in St Michael's Church there is a science centre where children can play games and practice things related to science, at the same time . They play, learn and have fun at the same time, so it's very interesting.

Kisses and have fun!

Norwich people

I would like to speak about people from Norwich. In general they are lovely and friendly. They prefer living in this city than in London, because Norwich is more quiet. Norwich people have a special accent, from Norfolk.
They use the buses to go to the beach, The Great Yarthmouth, in the East Coast.
In their free time , young people like going to the shopping centers, because there are cinemas, shops, restaurants, cafes...
Adults prefer going to the pubs to drink something...

Raquel
SOME THINGS ABOUT NORWICH HISTORY (that i have learnt)
The castle was built by the Normans, and the beautiful cathedral was made of only one style as a distinguished English man told us.In London Street there was an arch that today has desappeared. I was in the (probably) the first pub in Norwich, that it's an ideal place to sit ans have a rest, and a pint.
By the riverside walk there were losts of wooden blocks with engraved iron bands that represente the packages discharged from banges, and thats a wondderful place to have a walk. You can also see old and pretty new houses along the both sides of the river. the buildings made of flint, that is so nice to touch and beautiful to see. And one of the most curious and beautiful thing of this is all the houses around the city with its gardens and windows, and doors : and the people so nice.

Food and Drink in Norwich

Hi this is David and I'm going to talk about food and drink in Norwich.

This is a tough topic for me because I am not really into the food and drink British culture.
To be honest although I love food and trying different kinds of cuisine I'm use to a really different kind o flavours so to me the British food is not very appealing.

The Spanish way of drinking beer is completely different and we don't use so many sauces and fat. But maybe I didn’t try the proper courses and the right places either. So I'll keep on trying things until I find something good. Because there is always something you must try in every gastronomic culture.

What I like the best is the pub's atmosphere. There are many charming places to discover with authentic English people enjoying their time. And it’s nice to see how the people spend their time at their leisure.

Thanks I'm going to have lunch.

Take care.

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Hi this is David

I've been checking the "Words in the News" BBC Learning English section where you can find several articles about current issues, and at the same time you can also learn a lot of new words and listen to their spoken form.
And now I'm going to eat something so forgiveme I can't continue typing.

Bye, take care.

What people are able to do!!!

http://www.ted.com/talks/willard_wigan_hold_your_breath_for_micro_sculpture.html


This is a very interesting talk about a man called William Willard who has an amazing skill. He's able to sculp very very little things on a pin head!! He talks about his works, such as a microscopic house, the famous Liberty Statue, some characters of The Simpsons, etc.... and everything on the head of a pin. It must be really difficult to do that.
I' ve been visiting some free videos, recordings and quizzes to help you learn about English pronunciation. It was on the BBC page.http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/
Gema.

the mind of the killers

Hello friends!

I have watched an interesting video called "exploring the mind of the killers". It talks about why they do terrible things and the reason this person explains are.. "genetic heritage" between others... really interesting..do u want to see it???


http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jim_fallon_exploring_the_mind_of_a_killer.html
We are Group number 4, we are Rachel, Gema and Ferdinand.
We have been investigated next web sites:
-http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page . Its like the spanish Wikipedia but in english and easier.
-http://www.googlefight.com/ You can use it to compares dates.
-http://www.howjsay.com/ It,s a translation and pronunciation tool.

VoiceThread as a tool for English learning

Hi Jo:

I've never watched the web VoiceThread but I liked very much. People use this page to describe their pictures or videos and other persons can comment on about the photo or video. At the same time you can doodle the photo while you are talking about. You can recorded your voice or you can write.

I think it could be useful for practising English. For example in a classroom the teacher can upload a photo and the students describe in English what they think about, writing and speaking.
They can read or listen their voices. At the same time this photo could be show in other school country, for example in a primary school in UK and the studends of this school make their comments writing or speaking in their correct English.

I think is a good tool to practice languages
We are group 2, Miguel, Guiomar and Sandra(MSG), we were making a movie, a great movie!!!
Roasted Turkey is a 2009 film directed by Guiomar, writing by Sandra and co-directed by Miguel.
This movie was nominated for 30 academics awards 2009 and won the best director-Guiomar, the best writer Sandra and the best co-director Miguel
If you want to view this amazing film, click here and enjoy!!!
http://s3.amazonaws.com/dv_assets/plot_template_lang3.swf?movie_id=295179">It's a Courtesy of MSG productions.

Voicethread

As Jo asked this morning in the blog, we, Jorge and me, were having a look to this interensting, and I would like to add amazing, tool called VoiceThread (http://voicethread.com/). VoiceThread is a fantastic website by which you can share your pictures (you need to be registered before) and, at the same time, you can add comments to the picture you uploaded in four different ways, by phone, video recording, microphone, or writing.

When you access to the website you have the possibility to watch a presentation tour to see how does the tool work. You can also create your own account to upload your photos and to include your comments to the pictures you share.

I think this an interesting tool to improve my english because you can practise the 4 skills integrated in the same activity.

JuanMa

THE LIFE SAVER BOTTLE

Hello! I visited tead page, is a page about ideas worth spreading.
Michael Pritchard is an inventor. He invented the life saver bottle.
He was watching the devasting News of the Asian Tsunami and then de Hurricane Katrina when he thought that he had to do something, because the water was contaminated and if the people drink it, they will die. He invented this bottle that permit filter dirty water in seconds.

Some useful websites and tools for you to explore

Group 1. Explore these: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/

and

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/index.html


Write about theses two sites on our blog. Describe and compare them. Which do you think is more useful to help your colleagues improve their English? Why?





Group 2. Explore this site:

http://www.dfilm.com/live/moviemaker.html

You can make a movie here. To save it you need to register.


Write about the site on our blog. And if possible embed your movie. Say how difficult it was to make. How do you think this could be useful to help your colleagues improve their English?





Group 3. Look at this site and choose one talk to watch that interests you :

http://www.ted.com/


Write a short summary of the talk you watched. What other types of talks were available that might interest your colleagues? Write about it on our blog.





Group 4. Look at these three sites:

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

How is this different from the normal English Wikipedia site? How useful is it?

http://www.googlefight.com/ Describe what Googlefight does? In what situations could it be useful for you and your colleagues?

http://www.howjsay.com/ How useful do you think this site is? Do you know any other tools that are useful for language learners? Write about all these questions on our blog.


Group 5. Spend a bit of time exploring this site:
www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/index.html


Then write about it on our blog. Describe the site and say what it does. Did you find any interesting information on it?





Group 6. Look at this site:


http://voicethread.com/

Spend a bit of time exploring and, if you want to, you can leave some comments or even register and make your own Voicethread (you will need some photos – ask Jo if you haven’t got any).


Then write about Voicethread on our blog. Describe it and say how people use it. How do you think it could be useful for practising your English? Put in links to interesting examples.

Monday 17 August 2009

Welcome to our blog!

This blog is a place where you can post your writing so other people in the group can read it too.

We can also use it to share interesting ideas, links, photos, videos, etc.

And the great thing is that when the course finishes, the blog doesn't! You can continue using it to keep in touch and share. Or perhaps just to refer to when you want to remember something from the course.

Jo