First off, I feel that I owe you an apology for the long silence. I’ve been busy with a million other things.
Avanzado 1. Those of you who have not turned in their assignment remember you can still do so. The task is quite simple: just record yourselves on video for 60 seconds discussing any of the topics we have touched on in class and bring me the file on a USB drive.
Avanzado 2. I would like you all to write a 200-word essay giving advice to a sixteen-year-old person. Just remember what you were like at that age and try and bear in mind everything you have learnt ever since.
In these past two weeks we have been working in several interesting areas. Avanzado 1 students have been dealing with verb patterns (Sean regrets saying those things, She refused to acknowledge the problem, I deluded myself into believing it, etc). We have all brushed up on the use of modals to express uncertainty. We should try and fight that impulse to settle for Spanish-sounding expressions such as Perhaps I will go or Maybe he was Dutch because, even though they are grammatically okay they prevent us from ever producing more natural sentences like I might go or He must have been Dutch.
A second reminder has to do with fixed expressions that you may plug into any conversation. How about I don’t remember all the details but I think he said… or The thing is… I think I’m in love with her. A third point to consider is that of lexical chunks like, for instance, I walked up to him or He ended up working in a soup kitchen. Ideally, the words in bold type should somehow “flow out of you”.
The funny thing is that we have all discussed the hilarious case of Guy Goma. Bizarrely enough, it features in coursebooks. Avanzado 1 students check out your workbook. Avanzado 2 please take a gander at page 70 of your textbook. It seems that both Pearson and Oxford University Press think of it as a memorable blunder. I think you will enjoy the video below. In a very entertaining way it sums up the unforgettable BBC interview which turned the charming Guy Goma into an internet celebrity.
N.B. After the exam week I will return ALL essays.
Does he have a French accent??
ReplyDeleteHi M.A.
DeleteYes. He does. Mr. Goma comes from the Republic of the Congo, where most English speakers have a pronounced French accent.