Friday, December 9, 2016

ESL Christmas Listening and Speaking Activities

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Thursday, December 8, 2016

Christmas Vocabulary, Games and Reading Quizzes


Understanding some of the most common vocabulary will help you enjoy the Christmas carols you listen to and sing along to during the holidays.

Here are a few vocabulary flashcards, quizzes, games and activities to help you learn and remember some of the important Christmas words you should know. 

This first item is actually a reading, but it is an interesting one that I hope you will enjoy. 

Mistletoe, the kiss of Christmas“It’s a vintage year for the legendary mistletoe berries.” In Britain’s mistletoe-growing regions, a branch would be brought in to protect the house.any woman walking underneath could not refuse to be kissed, or she would remain an old maid.“ " (telegraph.co.uk) continue reading





    Advent Calendars 







      Easy Vocabulary Quizzes 

      Christmas vocabulary  (learningchocolate.com)


      More Difficult Vocabulary and Quizzes 

      ( by learningenglishwithmichelle)







      MORE DIFFICULT VOCABULARY 
       

      Christmas and New Year’s Vocabulary Vocabulary ( BBC) A  lot of Christmas vocabulary can be used with or without the word ‘Christmas’ in front of it. For example we can talk about ‘Christmas crackers’ or just ‘crackers’:   lot of Christmas vocabulary can be used with or without the word ‘Christmas’ in front of it. For example we can talk about ‘Christmas crackers’ or just ‘crackers’: 
      - with a QUIZ

      Christmas Expressions 
      INTERACTIVE games : 
      Christmas Crossword #1 
      "Click here to download a PDF version with solution, and here for an interactive web version which should work on smartphones and tablets. Have fun!”(englishblog.com)

      A Christmas Crossword - interactive or printable (englishblog.com)
      Christmas hangman - "Explore the picture and play the hangman game…“Created by Renée Maufroid. (Ac. Lille)
      Presents for Xmas (and the rest of the year!)

      Matching - Flashcards (Java / non-Java) - Concentration - Word Search- with a list of terms used in these activities (with pictures)Activities created by: Renée Maufroid



          Holidays from Different  Cultures  at Christ Time 

          Christmas Around the World (New)
          Christmas in Italy                            Christmas in Ireland
          Christmas in Japan                         Mexican Christmas  
          Christmas in  Netherlands             Christmas in Poland                     
          Christmas in Russia                     Christmas ion Scotland
          Christrmas in Spain                      Christmas in Sweden 

          Christmas in Ukraine                   Christmas in the U.S.

          Christmas in the U.K.                   Christmas in Wales




          Christmas Short Stories  New

            Read and Listen Short Stories  from, Story Nory  New 
            Story Nory is a website where actors read famous stories and myths  You can rerad and listen to the story at the same time or download the story to listen to as an mp3 file. 

            from Learning English with Michelle http://learningenglishwithmichelle.blogspot.com/2016/12/christmas-vocabulary-games-and-reading.html
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            Wednesday, November 9, 2016

            ESL Remembrance Day Song Gap Fills

            Enjoy the following Remembrance Day Songs.

            A Pittance of Time 

            On November 11, 1999 Terry Kelly was in a drug store in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. At 10:55 AM an announcement came over the stores PA asking customers who would still be on the premises at 11:00 AM to give two minutes of silence in respect to the veterans who have sacrificed so much for us.

            Terry was impressed with the stores leadership role in adopting the Legions two minutes of silence initiative. He felt that the stores contribution of educating the public to the importance of remembering was commendable.

            When eleven oclock arrived on that day, an announcement was again made asking for the two minutes of silence to commence. All customers, with the exception of a man who was accompanied by his young child, showed their respect.

            Terry’s anger towards the father for trying to engage the stores clerk in conversation and for setting a bad example for his child was channeled into the following song called  work called, A Pittance of Time. 

            from Learning English with Michelle http://learningenglishwithmichelle.blogspot.com/2016/11/esl-remembrance-day-song-gap-fills.html
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            Friday, November 4, 2016

            ESL Remembrance Day: Why the Poppy?


            In Flanders Field 

            by John McCrae

            In Flanders fields the poppies blow
            between the crosses, row on row  

            that mark our places, and in the sky 
            the larks, still bravely singing, fly
            Scarce heard  amid the guns below.

            We are the Dead. Short days ago 
            we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
            loved and were loved, and now we lie
            in Flanders fields .  


            Take up our quarrel with the foe:
            To you from failing hands we throw
            the torch; be yours to hold it high.
            If ye break faith with us who die.
            we shall not sleep 
              though poppies grow 
            in Flanders fields.

            Why the Poppy? 
            For almost 100 years, people from Canada, Britain, France, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth countries have worn the red poppy as a symbol of Remembrance Day.

            This simple red flower continues to be one of most visible ways  people can show that they remember and thank the millions of men and women who gave up their lives for their countries in World War 1, World War 11 and all other wars. 

            The association between the poppy and war dead goes back to the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s  when  soldiers noticed that poppies seemed to thrive on the graves of soldiers who had died in battle in Flanders, a region of northern France and Belgium.

            In 1915, Colonel John McCrae, a medical officer serving in Belgium, made the same connection between the fields of poppies and  the young soldiers who had been killed in battle.  This inspired him to write In Flanders Field during a break from working with the wounded. 

            The poem, one that almost every Canadian, British, Australian and New Zealand  child can recite from memory, reflects what McCrae saw and heard while working to save dying and injured soldiers during a deadly battle. 

            The Story Behind the Poem 

            On April 22, 1915, the Germans used deadly chlorine gas against Allied troops  in a desperate attempt to create movement on one side or the other. Although they were suffering from the terrible effects of gas, the Canadian soldiers continued to fight and hold the line for another 16 days.
                
            In the trenches where he was caring for hundreds of wounded and dying soldiers, McCrae was so deeply affected that  wrote a letter to his mother. 

            The letter to his mother 
            “The general impression in my mind is a nightmare. We have been in the most bitter of fights. For seventeen days and seventeen nights none of us have had our clothes off, nor our boots, except occasionally. 

            "In all that time while I was awake, gunfire and rifle fire never ceased for sixty seconds…And behind if all was the constant background of the sights of the dead, the wounded, the maimed, and a terrible anxiety lest the line should give way,” he wrote. 

            The day before he wrote the poem, one of McCrae’s best friends was killed in the fighting and buried in a grave with a simple wooden cross. 

            Wild poppies were already beginning to bloom between the crosses  marking the many graves. Although he couldn’t help his friend, or any of the others who had died, McCrae spoke for them in this poem.  It was the second last poem he was to write. 


            Listen to In Flanders Field being read out loud. Follow along, or read it at the same time - slowly and solemnly as it is meant to be read



            How the Poppy Became an Official Symbol 

            In November 1918 as the armistice ended World War 1, Moina Michael, an American teacher working at the YMCA Overseas War Headquarters read McCrae’s appeal   "to keep faith with the dead" and vowed that she would always wear a poppy as a sign of  remembrance. Following her two year campaign to have the United States adopt the poppy as a national symbol, the U.S proclaimed it as its national emblem of Remembrance. 

            The following year, Anna Guerin,  a Frenchwoman, sold millions of poppies  to raise funds for rehabilitation in areas of France. She also sent women to London to sell poppies and persuaded Earl Haig to adopt  it as a memorial symbol for the British Legion.

            In 1921 the Canadian Legion joined its British counterpart and officially adapted the poppy as its symbol of Remembrance. 

            Why Should You Wear A Poppy? 

            First, wearing a poppy is one very visible way to show respect and admiration for the men and women who  sacrificed their lives in order to help us retain the freedom and rights we take for granted.

            Also  when you buy and wear a poppy, you will be helping military families, and veterans in need and their families. 

            Where does the money go in Britain? 

            Last year the poppy campaign in Britain raised more than  £40 m ( that’s about about $70 million Canadian).  The Royal British Legion said it spends £1.7m a week on care and support for military families, including grants, employment advice and funding, emotional support, tribunal and inquest advice, care homes and family breaks. This includes  the families of veterans returning from Afghanistan. or any other area of conflict.

            Where does the money go in Canada? 


            Last year, the sale of poppies raised about $16.5 million in Canada. 
              
            The legion distributes about 18 million poppies a year via its members, veterans, military cadets and through direct mailings. Assuming all are given out to Canadians, it amounts to average donations of less than a dollar per available poppy.

            The basic purpose of Poppy Funds is to provide immediate assistance to ex-servicemen and women in need. This may include food, shelter or medical attention for them or their families. Also, education bursaries are granted to children and grandchildren of ex-service personnel.  

            Poppy funds can be used for low-rental housing and care facilities, community medical appliances and medical research, drop-in centres, meals-on-wheels, transportation and related services for veterans their dependents. Facilities and services are often extended to the elderly or disabled in the community as may be available. 


            Write your answer in he comment box below 

            1.   Do YOU think it is still important to wear a poppy?  Why or why not? 
            2.   What else should people do instead?  Explain 




            from Learning English with Michelle http://learningenglishwithmichelle.blogspot.com/2016/11/esl-remembrance-day-why-poppy.html
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            Saturday, October 29, 2016

            4 more Halloween Listening Quizzes with Friends etc.

            Here are four more quizzes to help you practice your Halloween listening . Three are from television comedy shows. One is a trailer for a scary movie that is  often shown on Halloween.  


            Friends: Trick or Treat 

            Big Bang Theory: Halloween Prank




            Big Bang Theory: Halloween Costumes


            The Other: A Movie

            from Learning English with Michelle http://learningenglishwithmichelle.blogspot.com/2016/10/4-more-halloween-listening-quizzes-with.html
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            Friday, October 28, 2016

            Five TV Comedy Halloween Listening Quizzes

            The Big Bang Theory characters wearing “Flash” costumes.
            Many regular television situation comedies  have a complete Halloween episode where the whole story revolves around some kind of Halloween theme. Sometimes they are funny. Sometimes they are meant to be spooky, but they are usually entertaining . 

            Thanks to the existence of long running TV series you can watch, enjoy and and practice your English with listening quizzes from The Big Bang Theory , Modern Family , How I Met Your Mother,    Friends and Frasier . 

             All of these TV shows have something to offer in helping you to improve your listening skills - especially if you watch short clips several times to get used to “fast English” English speaker.   

            Tune in tomorrow for more clips from another Friends episode, the Simpsons, Glee, Family Guy and Buffy. 

            Watch as often as you need to. Then try the quizzes to see how well you understood.  


            The Big Bang Theory 
            The characters in the Big Bang Theory love Halloween because of the parties, the “tricks” they can play on each other, and simply because it is an excuse for “dressing up. One of the most popular television situation comedies in the U.S. The Big Bang Theory is a pleasure to watch because even if you don’t understand everything, you understand enough to have a good laugh.  For more information on the what the show is about, and its characters go to The Big Bang Theory  
             

             Modern Family 
            In this Modern Family episode, the whole family plans to frighten children who come
             trick or treating with many creatures. Watch and see how much you understand. For more information on  the show and its characters go to Modern Family 




















            Big Bang Theory
            Back at The Big Bang Theory, the boys are planning to go to a costume party, but they have a dilemma. Watch and answer the questions.



            How I Met Your Mother  
            On the popular situation comedy How I Met Your Mother "How I Met Your Mother,” the boys have a lot to say about Halloween. Watch and answer the questions.  For more information on the show and the characters go to  How I Met Your Mother   

            Friends
            One of the most famous Halloween episodes happened in the TV show “ Friends”, which millions of people still watch on DVD or cable channels. For more information on the show and characters go to  Friends  





            from Learning English with Michelle http://learningenglishwithmichelle.blogspot.com/2016/10/five-tv-comedy-halloween-listening.html
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