Category: Intermediate

Facebook vocabulary
Facebook vocabulary

Facebook is the most popular social network in the world. Many of our students spend hours on it every day. But have you ever given them a chance to speak about Facebook in an English lesson?

In this post I would like to bridge this gap and give you a chance to teach some words connected with Facebook. Once the students know the words they will be able to talk about Facebook and what they do there. To teach the vocabulary, there is an infographic, a quiz and several speaking activities.
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Facebook vocabulary – infographic

Go through the following infographic with your students and ask them to translate the words if you teach a monolingual group.

Facebook infographic vocabulary

Facebook vocabulary – online quiz

In the following quiz your students can practise the vocabulary taught in the infographic. The quiz consists of two parts. It is in HTML5 and it will play on mobile devices and desktop computers.

Facebook vocabulary quiz

Facebook vocabulary – speaking

The following section contains several speaking activities to give your students a chance to practise the new words in a meaningful way.
The first activity works very well with students who are 15 or older. Hand out the following questions and ask your students to choose three questions they would like to ask you.

a) What was the last post you put on your timeline?
b) Do you share your photos on Facebook?
c) What was your last comment?
d) How often do you comment?
e) How often do you write a status on your timeline?
f) What was the last post you liked?
g) How many friends do you have on Facebook? Do you know your friends personally?
h) Do you ever message anyone? How often and why?
i) What is in your cover photo?
j) What was the last thing you shared on Facebook? How often do you share things?
k) Do you use news feed or any apps on Facebook?
l) Are you a member of any groups? Why?

Answer the questions as best as you can and demonstrate the way you would like your students to discuss the questions.

Then ask your students to choose 7 questions they would like to ask their partner. Ask them to work in pairs and discuss the questions.

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The second speaking activity is called ranking. The students should rank the following Facebook features from the most useful and interesting to the least.

GROUPS, BOOST POST, STATUS, MESSAGE, COVER PHOTO, LIKE, SHARE, PROFILE, COMMENT, EVENT

If you have never done a ranking activity with your students before, it is a good idea to teach the phrases first. Teach phrases like: “I think …. is the most useful…,” “I think …. is the least useful …,” etc. If your students are not able to use these phrases, their discussion will not be very interesting or long.

How to teach collocations with HAVE # 2
How to teach collocations with HAVE # 2

This is the second post in which engames.eu has joined forces with Fluency MC to provide materials for teaching collocations with the verb HAVE. In this post we teach the collocations from the second part of Jasonโ€™s rap song.
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[showmyads] In this post you will find the song, an infographic, two interactive quizzes and a game. We hope you will find the post interesting and useful. If you have any suggestions about how we can improve our effort, please leave a comment.

Collocations with HAVE – song

Ask your students to listen to the following song and complete the second part of the lyrics (the third verse starts at 1:30.)

Listen and complete the lyrics:

Have collocations lyrics 2

If you dare, you can sing along with Jason ๐Ÿ™‚

Collocations with HAVE – infographic

Display the following infographics and go through the information to clarify the meaning of the more difficult phrases. If you teach a monolingual class, translate the phrases into your students’ mother tongue.

have collocations 2 full web

Once the students understand the collocations ask them to work in pairs and ask and answer the questions in the outside circle. In this way they can practise the collocations in a communicative way.

Collocations with HAVE – online quizzes

Both of the quizzes are made in HTML5 so they will play on computers and all mobile devices. In the first quiz, you have to drag the correct words into the correct places. If you pass the test, you can play the game Angry Farmer as a reward.

In the second quiz you should match the collocations and their definitions and then write the collocations. Once again, if you pass the test, you can play a game.

To play on the full screen, click here:
Quiz – full screen

The game contains questions from the first post on collocations with HAVE and this post. You can practise all the collocations with HAVE here.
Click the dice in the right hand corner and then move your counter. If you step on a question mark, you have to answer a question. If you answer correctly, you will move forward. If not, you will move back.
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To play on the full screen, click here:

Quiz – full screen

Fluency MC – videos

If you like Jason’s song, have a look at some more by him:

Collocations with HAVE – download

You can download the quiz here:

Have collocations 2 (Web)

Learn the collocations with have
Learn the collocations with have

Jason R. Levine produces some of the best videos for teaching and learning English online. You probably know his super famous rap on irregular verbs. However, for this post we agreed to create materials for another one of his videos. You will find materials here for his video on collocations with the verb HAVE.

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In the post you can find the following activities: a video with the song (by Jason), the lyrics worksheet, an infographic with all the collocations, an interactive quiz and a game. If you go through all the activities I am sure that you will know most of the collocations.

Have collocations – video

Watch the video and complete the following worksheet with the lyrics.

This post covers only the first two verses of the song so stop the video after the two verses.
Have collocations song

Have collocations – infographic

Go through the following infographic. If you have a monolingual class, ask them to translate the collocations. If you teach an international group, explain only the more difficult phrases.
Have collocations full

Then ask the students to work in pairs or small groups and to ask and answer the questions in the outer circles.

Have collocations – interactive quizzes

Both of the following games are created in HTML5, so they will play on all mobile devices.
The first game is called Quiz Goose Science, and your task is to click on the dice in the upper right hand corner. When you do, your avatar moves. If you finish your move on a question mark, you will be given a question. If you answer correctly, you will move ahead. If not, you will be moved backwards.
You can play against either the computer or other people.

To play on the full screen click the button:
Game – full screen

The second game is an interactive quiz. Your task is to answer all the questions as well as you can. If you pass the quiz you will be rewarded with a game.

To play on the full screen click the button:
Quiz – full screen

Links

I would like to thank Jason for his cooperation, and I hope we will publish many other posts together. In the meantime, you should check out the following videos by Fluency MC:

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Town vocabulary
Town vocabulary

Vocabulary is the most important part of language. Without grammar you can communicate with difficulty, but without vocabulary you cannot say anything.
In this post, I would like to teach nearly 30 vocabulary items for different town facilities. I have included an infographic, an online quiz and a worksheet with several vocabulary activities. There is also a video where all the words are pronounced by a native speaker.
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Town vocabulary – infographic

The following map shows a town with all the buildings labeled in English. First, ask your students to have a look at the map and try to understand the meaning of the words. If you donยดt understand any of the words, check their meanings below:
Town facilities vocabulary
Here are all the words and their definitions:

  • bank – a place where you keep your money
  • airport – a place where planes start and finish their journey
  • warehouse – a place where companies keep their goods until they need them
  • hotel – a place where you can stay for a night or longer
  • wood – a place with a lot of trees
  • traffic lights – a set of red, yellow and green lights that shows you whether you can go or you have to stop
  • school – a place where you can learn a lot of new things
  • train station – a place where trains start and finish their journeys
  • apartment house – a building with a lot of apartments
  • house -a place where people live
  • skyscraper – a very high building
  • city centre – the buildings in the middle of a town or a city
  • church – a place where people worship
  • fire station – a place where firemen keep their equipment
  • shopping centre – a place where there are a lot of shops
  • park – a place with grass, trees and benches. You can relax there.
  • bridge – a structure across a river or a deep valley
  • police station – a place where the police are headquartered
  • stadium – a place where football or rugby matches are played
  • petrol station – a place where you can buy petrol
  • hospital – a place where you go when you are really sick
  • factory – a place where they make new things
  • wharf – a place where they move goods from ships to trucks or warehouses

 

To learn the correct pronunciation of these words, watch the following video and repeat the words you hear.

Once you feel that you know the vocabulary, it is time to move to the quizzes.

Town vocabulary – online quiz

Here you can choose between two options. You can either print out the worksheet and practise the vocabulary on the paper or you can do it on your computer or mobile phone.

Town vocabulary worksheet

Town vocabulary key

ONLINE QUIZ:


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Town vocabulary online quiz

Town vocabulary – share

More often than not I teach in classrooms with no internet connection, so I realize that it is important to be able to use the activities offline too. You can download the online quiz, the game, and the picture and use them offline:
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Town

Weather vocabulary
Weather vocabulary

Weather is one of the most common conversational topics in Britain. Therefore, if you know the basic vocabulary, you can talk to 60 million people. With 60 million conversation opportunities, it is well worth the little effort you need to put in.
To make it as enjoyable as possible, there are several activities to help you learn all the words: a pictionary, a worksheet, a video and an interactive test.
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Weather – infographic


You can learn the vocabulary using the following infographic or pictionary:

Weather forecast vocabulary

To get the pronunciation right, listen and repeat the words in the following video:

After you learn the words, it is time to practise using the new vocabulary. First, you can try the following worksheet. Try to solve all of the puzzles.

Weather vocabulary – quiz


The following interactive quiz is made in HTML5, so it will play on all mobile devices. Therefore, you can practise all of the words wherever you are.

If you would like to display the quiz on the entire screen, click the button below:

Weather vocabulary – further resources


You can find a lot of information about weather at British Council site.

I like the following songs about weather:

Learn 10 words in twenty minutes
Learn 10 words in twenty minutes

This is the third post which contains ten new words for intermediate students. The words are among the 4,000 most frequent words in English. This selection of words is based on Paul Nation’s list of words. If you have missed the first post on vocabulary, you can find it here. The second post Learn 10 words in 21 minutes is here.
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I hope you will find it useful and that you will learn the new vocabulary. To achieve this, there are a worksheet, a mind map with the words, an interactive exercise and a video with the correct pronunciation.

Vocabulary Lesson 3 – infographic

First, you should study the words in the following infographic. I try to give the definition of the word, a clue to remember the word quicker, and some example sentences. Be careful with the memory aids, though. They work perfectly for me, but it does not mean that they will work for you. If you feel they are unhelpful, just skip them. I honestly hope these will help you learn the vocabulary better and quicker.
Vocabulary 4000 mind map

To get the pronunciation right, listen and repeat the words with the native speaker.

Vocabulary Lesson 3 – interactive quiz

You can practise the vocabulary now in the following interactive quiz. The quiz is in HTML5 and it will play on all mobile devices. If you pass the quiz you can play the game Indiara as a reward.


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Interactive quiz – full screen

If you cannot do the quiz above or you prefer working on a paper, you can print out the following document and practise the vocabulary there.

Vocabulary part 4_ws

Vocabulary part 4_key

Office equipment vocabulary
Office equipment vocabulary

Most of the people who learn English spend their life in an office. Therefore it is neccessary for them to learn the names of the equipment there.
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In this post I introduce 25 office vocabulary items in an infographic and a video. You can then practise all the words in interactive quizzes (over 70 quiz questions) and in a paper worksheet. Moreover, if you have your own blog, you can share the activities.

Office Equipment – infographic


The following infographic contains 25 vocabulary items. Students should first study the picture and try to remember the meaning of the words.

Office vocabulary infographic

You can practise or learn the correct pronunciation of the words in the following video. Simply, listen and repeat:

Office Equipment – quizzes


The activities above are ideal to introduce the words and their meaning. However, to really learn the words, you have to use them and practise them. In the following quizzes you have to produce the words and thus there is a bigger chance that you will remember them.
The first quiz is interactive and as it is in HTML 5, it will play on any mobile device.

Office equipment – full screen quiz

If you do not like doing quizzes on the screen, you can print out the following pdf files and use them instead. There are several tasks to practise all the words.

Office vocabulary worksheet

Office vocabulary key

Office vocabulary – share

If you like the quiz above and you would like to share it on your blog or use it in a classroom without an internet connection, you can do this. You can download all the files here and upload them to your site just unpack the files and use them in the classroom:
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Office Vocabulary

Kitchen tools and equipment
Kitchen tools and equipment

It is very popular to teach vocabulary in lexical sets. It is easier to explain the meaning and you can present quite a few items at one time. Moreover, the presentation can look good and induce the students to study the words.
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Surprisingly, research shows that it is not so effective as teaching unrelated items. But you still can learn and teach quite a lot of words if you want to. In this post I am going to teach 26 items you can find in a kitchen. There are kitchen tools and other equipment.

Kitchen Equipment – infographics


The following infographic contains 26 vocabulary items. Students should first study the picture and try to remember the meaning of the words.

kitchen tools and equipment
ยฉ Macrovector | Dreamstime.com

You can practise or learn the correct pronunciation of the words in the following video. Simply, listen and repeat:

Kitchen Equipment – quizzes


The methods above are fine to introduce the words and their meaning. However, to really learn the words, you have to use them. In the following quizzes you have to produce the words and thus there is a bigger that you will remember them.
The first quiz is interactive and as it is in HTML 5, it will play on any mobile device.

Kitchen equipment – full screen quiz

If you do not like doing quizzes on the screen, you can print out the following pdf files and use them instead. There are several tasks to practise all the words.

Kitchen words_key

Kitchen words_ws

If you would like to have all the exercises in one file, download the following file. Moreover, there is the picture with blank gaps and thus it can serve as an ideal exercise to practise the vocabulary.

kitchen and tools vocabulary_full

Kitchen vocabulary – share

If you like the quiz above and you would like to share it on your blog or use it in a classroom without an internet connection, you can do this. You can download all the files here and upload them to your site just unpack the files and use them in the classroom:
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KITCHEN EQUIPMENT (Web)

Learn 10 words in 21 minutes

This is the second post which contains ten new words for intermediate students. The words are among the 4,000 most frequent words in English. This selection of words is based on Paul Nation’s list of words. If you have missed the first post on vocabulary, you can find it here.
I hope you will find it useful and that you will learn the new words. This time it will take a bit longer as there are more exercises in the print version and there is the video with the pronunciation of the words.
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Vocabulary Lesson 2 – infographic

First, you should study the words in the following infographic. I try to give the definition of the word, a clue to remember the word quicker, and some example sentences. I honestly hope these will help you learn the vocabulary better and quicker.
Vocabulary infographic 03

To get the pronunciation right, listen and repeat the words with the native speaker.

Vocabulary Lesson 2 – interactive quiz

You can practise the vocabulary now in the following interactive quiz. The quiz is in HTML5 and it will play on all mobile devices. If you pass the quiz you can play a game as a reward.


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Interactive quiz – full screen

If you cannot do the quiz above or you prefer working on a paper, you can print out the following document and practise the vocabulary there.

Vocabulary_4000_set003_ws
Vocabulary_4000_set003_key

Learn 10 new words in 16 minutes
Learn 10 new words in 16 minutes

There is the famous quote which says that you can say very little without grammar but you can say nothing without vocabulary. I completely agree, and that is why I have created the following post. I aim to teach intermediate students 10 new words.
In this post I am going to teach the words that are among the 4,000 most frequent words. This selection of words is based on Paul Nationยดs list of words.
I hope you will find it useful and that you will learn the new words quickly.
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Vocabulary Lesson 1 – mind map

First, you should study the words in the following infographic. I try to give the definition of the word, a clue to remember the word quicker, and some example sentences. I honestly hope these will help you learn the vocabulary better and quicker.
Vocabulary infographics 02

Vocabulary Lesson 1 – interactive quiz

You can practise the vocabulary now in the following interactive quiz. The quiz is in HTML5 and it will play on all mobile devices.


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Interactive quiz – full screen

If you cannot do the quiz above, you can print out the following document and practise the vocabulary there.

Vocabulary_4000_02 worksheet
vocabulary_4000_02_key

Will for the future
Will for the future

There are many different ways to speak about the future in English. You can find all of them in the previous posts on future tenses at Will or be going to or at Be going to post. In this post I would like to explain and teach the usage of WILL for speaking about the future. You are going to find a mind map, a story about WILL and several interactive exercises here. I hope you will find this post useful.

Will for the future – mind map


First study the form of WILL in the following mind map:
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Will mind map

Once you present the form of the verb WILL it is time to explain the usage. I prefer using stories when explaining the grammar. I do it this way because stories are more memorable than just a simple explanation. You can create your own story or you can use mine. If you are afraid that your studentsยด English is not good enough you can tell the story in their Mother tongue.

The story about WILL


Ever since Will was born he was strange.
He looked like a normal boy but he wasnโ€™t. He irritated people with his behaviour. He simply talked too much
For example when he was at school he always wanted to help other people. But while other children helped without any words WILL always spoke.
โ€œI, Will, help you, sir,โ€ he shouted when he saw the teacher carrying a lot of things.
โ€œI, Will, clean the board,โ€ he jumped up another time.
Of course, his friends did not like it and soon they started to say ironically.
โ€œI will do it.โ€ or โ€œShe will do it.โ€
As I say, Will talked too much. And he liked talking about his opinions.
โ€œI think โ€ฆโ€ were his favourite words. And as children did not like him they soon parroted.
โ€œHe thinks it WILL rain.โ€ โ€œI think I WILL earn a lot of money.โ€œ
And one day another strange thing happened. Willโ€™s eyes went big and he started to predict the future.
โ€œThere be people on the Moon. We fly to Mars.โ€
But children did not believe him and they laughed even more.
โ€œThere WILL BE people on the Moon. We WILL fly to Mars,โ€ they screamed all over the school.
Nowadays no one remembers Will or his behaviour at school but ever since people still say โ€œI will do it,โ€ when they decide at the moment of speaking to help anyone.
We still say โ€œI think she will fail.โ€ when we express our opinions about the future.

And when we predict something we say โ€œPeople will not use tablets in 10 years time.โ€

No one remembers the nerd WILL but his name is there in the sentences.

WILL for the future – practice

You can watch a bit different video explanation the usage of the will form here:

Once you think your students understand the grammar you can try the following quiz:


WILL – full screen quiz

WILL for the future – leave a comment and learn

WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE YEAR 2015.

Write your opinions into the comments and I will correct them and inform you about your grammar.

WILL for the future – share

If you do not have the internet connection in the classroom you can download the quiz and presentation here. Moreover, you can place these at your blog or website ๐Ÿ™‚
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Will explanation

Please rate this post below. Our previous post on adverbs of Frequency scored 4.49 stars. Do you think this one is better?

Christmas activities
Christmas activities

Christmas is coming and it is always a good idea to have several Christmas activities up your sleeve. Here are the things I love to do when I teach the Christmas lesson.

Christmas – song


There are many different Christmas songs. I always play three or four traditional English carols, but I always prepare an original song the students have never heard before. This year I have prepared the following song.
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I ask my students to listen and complete the following lyrics:
Christmas time song
If you are looking for more Christmas songs, there is a nice one on British Council page.

Christmas – song


Once I we are over the song I love to present Christmas in Great Britain. I use the following mind map.
Christmas mind map vocabulary better
I print out the mind map and then I display it on the IWB. I start from the top and explain that 24th December is called Christmas eve and that people in Britain and America get ready for the Christmas day. I present each vocabulary item and explain it to my students or elicit their knowledge.
I go like this till the 26th December.
Once you have presented the vocabulary, you can test your students’ knowledge in the following game:

Christmas vocabulary quiz

Christmas – Czech Traditions


Of course it is great if students can speak about the British or American Christmas traditions but the foreigners are always interested in your own traditions. That is why it is necessary to be able to speak about the local traditions.
As I teach in the Czech Republic, I have prepared a short text about the Czech traditions. You can find the text, recording and several quizzes over here:

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Czech Christmas traditions

Christmas – Download


Would you like to download the song and use it in offline? As we cannot distribute more than 10,000 copies you have to complete the following form and we will send the video and MP3 file ASAP.
Please note, that you cannot distribute the song further!!!

So, merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Common mistakes – holidays
Common mistakes – holidays

The mistakes students make are ideal for learning. They are much more complicated than any mistakes in textbooks and it is more motivating to correct your own mistakes. Moreover, students often make mistakes in areas not covered by textbooks or covered on a place which is remote from the time when the student makes the mistake. That is why I collect my students’ mistakes and try to deal with them.
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This collection of mistakes comes from my studentsยด essays about their last holidays. I hope that they will help you or your students avoid these mistakes in the future.

Common mistakes – mind map


There is the collection of the mistakes in a mind map. In the first column there are the wrong sentences. In the second column there are the corrected versions of the sentences. The third column contains the explanations.
Common mistakes connected with holiday

If you use this mind map in a classroom it might be a good idea to explain the mistake yourself and ask the students to fill in the explanations in their own words into the mind map below.
Common mistakes connected with holidays with empty gaps

Common mistakes – games


I have produced two games to practise the correct versions of the wrong sentences. The first game is called Basketball and your task is to choose the correct answer and then stop the sliders in the middle of the basket. Can you score ten time?
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Common Mistakes Basketball

The second games is a simple quiz. Answer the questions correctly and then play the game called Word boggle. All the answers are based on the mistakes from the mind maps above.

Common Mistakes Quiz

Common mistakes – Classroom ideas


I love using the following activity with my classrooms. It comes from the book Teaching Unplugged by Scott Thornbury and Medding. Before the lesson I write each sentence on a separate slip of paper and I hang them around the classroom (do not forget to number the slips). Then I ask my students to take a piece of paper and write the correct versions of the sentences on the paper. They can help each other as much as they feel necessary.
Once most of the class have finished, I elicit the correct version of each sentence. It is a nice and really useful activity.

You can find some interesting activities connected to holidays at British Council pages.
If you prefer a game-like activities, there are several at British Council pages again.

Common mistakes – Share


It is a common problem that many teachers have interactive whiteboards but no internet connection. You can download the games here and use them offline or on your webpages. However, you are not allowed to sell any of the activities on this site.

Common mistakes holiday

Go and do something phrases
Go and do something phrases

In the last half a year I have taught this, in my opinion easy, piece of language and I have failed miserably in both cases. And on the basis of this failure I built this post. It contains a clear explanation in the form of a mind map, a worksheet and two games to practise the phrase.

Go and do something – mind map


The phrase I’ll go and do something is used when we want to express that our willingness or intention to do something. The students have to memorize the following phrase and try to use it creatively.
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Go and do something mind map

Go and do something – games


Once the students master the phrase, it is time to test their knowledge. Here there are two games to practise the phrase.
The first game is in HTML5 and it will play on all mobile devices. Your task is to place the words into the correct gaps. If you pass the test, you can play the game called Make them Fall. Good luck ๐Ÿ™‚

Go and do something – Make them fall game

The second game is in Flash and it will play just on your desktop. Your task is to click on the correct answer and then try to stop the circle in the middle of the basket.

Go and do something – Hoopshoot

Go and do something – Share

If you like the games you can use them on your website or offline in your classroom. You can download the files here:

Go and get_quiz (Web)

And the flash game is here:

go_and_do_flash

If you share the files on your website, please, could you provide a link to this site? Thank you ๐Ÿ™‚

Jack the Giant Killer – part 2
Jack the Giant Killer – part 2

Jack the Giant Killer_img2In the first part of the comic story we met Jack and we learnt about 30 new vocabulary item. Now, it is time to finish the story and learn some more vocabulary. In this post there are several activities to learn or teach the new vocabulary, two games to check your vocabulary knowledge and comprehension and a video with the story. I hope you will find all the activities interesting.

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Extensive reading – video


All the activities in this post are connected with the following video:

If you like the story below there are several activities to exploit it and to learn or teach a bit of English.

Extensive reading – vocabulary


To be able to understand the video well, you need to know a lot of vocabulary. The following file contains 30 words and their definitions.

Vocabulary for Jack the Giant Killer part 2

You can print out the file and use the free spaces either to write your own sentences, or your translations of the words or associations to remember the words better.

If you want to practise the vocabulary, try the following file. It contains 4 crosswords and word puzzles to practise the target vocabulary.

Vocabulary_worksheet

There are many people who prefer learning online. For those there is a HTML5 quiz:

If you like playing it on the whole screen, click on the button below:

Vocabulary quiz

Extensive reading – comprehension


If you are going to play the video in your class the following mind map might come handy. Print it out and students should complete it.
Mind map_Jack the giant Killer_comprehension

Start with the section PART 1 which students should complete before they watch Part 2. (If you did not see part one, you can find it here). Then watch the video of part 2 and complete the rest of the mind map. Check the answers together and then the students can use the worksheet to retell the story.
I have included vocabulary section there, even though I deal with vocabulary above. However, I feel that if students choose vocabulary which they consider useful, they will remember it better.

Once again, if you prefer online activities, here is a game to check your comprehension. It is called on Target and your task is to answer the questions and shoot as many bad ducks as possible. You can get a bonus if you shoot one of the bottles on the sides.

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If you want to play the game on the full screen click the button:
Comprehension game – On target

Vocabulary placement test – intermediate students
Vocabulary placement test – intermediate students

Have you tried our vocabulary placement test for elementary students, and it was too easy for you? Have you scored close to 2000? Then this is the vocabulary test you should take. Here we test the words which belong between 2,000 and 5,000 most frequent words in English.
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There are 60 questions and the score at the end tells you how many words from the 3,000 words you know. If you add this score to the score from the test for elementary students, you will know how many words from the five thousand most frequent words in English you know.

Vocabulary placement test – test


Give a try to the following test. The score at the end of the test tells you how many words you know. So if it tells you that your Score is: 2,350 points it means that you know 2,350 out of the 3,000 words which belong into the group of 2,000 to 5,000 most frequent words in English.

If you want to do the test on the full screen, click the button below. The test is made in HTML5 so it will play on your mobile phones as well:
Vocabulary placement test – full screen

If you want to know the total number of English words that you know among the 5,000 most frequent words in English take the Vocabulary test for elementary students and then add the score to the score from the test above. Thus if you score here 1,750 and in the elementary test 1,800, you know 3,550 words from the 5,000 most frequent words in English.

Remember, THE MORE ENGLISH WORDS YOU KNOW THE BETTER YOUR ENGLISH IS!!!!

Vocabulary placement test – comment


Please, if you spot a mistake, or you come up with a better definition, please leave a comment. We are trying to improve each activity, and your comments help us a lot.
Thank you.

Jack the Giant Killer – comic story part 1
Jack the Giant Killer – comic story part 1

Students like reading comics. Comics are often the only thing students read. When I started an extensive reading project last year, students did not mind reading comics, however when we moved to short stories, more than half of them stopped reading and started to hate the programme. On the basis of this experience I have prepared a fairy tale comic for students to read.

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To be able to read a text and understand it, it is essential that you know the words. The more words you know the more you can enjoy the text. That is why I have so many materials dealing with the vocabulary here. First, learn the vocabulary with our associative method and then play the games. Once you know the words, watch the video and answer the comprehension questions.

Jack the Giant killer – vocabulary


First, learn the vocabulary using our associative learning method.

Associative learning method


When I study vocabulary, I am able to learn about 50 words a day. And here is how I do it.

The Associative learning method.
Take each word and find in your mother tongue or any other language you know some words it reminds you of. Thus for example, when I see the word GIANT I come up with these associations: Gigantic, Gigi (my former studentยดs nickname, antรฉna (antenae). When I create these associations I move to another word. I go on like this with four words. Then I cover the English words and I see just their translations and I recall them.
In this way I go on for as long as I feel like it and my vocabulary grows.

Vocabulary activities


Here are the words and materials to learn them using the associative method. You can verify your knowledge of the words at the end where there are two quizzes. If you pass the test you can play a game. All of the activities are in HTML 5 so you can learn using your mobile whereever you are.

For a better mobile experience it is better to click over here and see the activity full screen.
Vocabulary – associative method

If you prefer doing these activities offline, you can print out the following worksheets and try them out:
Word games_part01_giant

Word games_part01_key

Giant_page_pdf – associative method worksheet

If you like crosswords on your computer, you can try the following one. It is in HTML5 so it will play on all mobile devices too:
Jack the Giant killer – crossword

Jack the Giant Killer – video

Now, that you know the vocabulary, you can watch the first part of the video and enjoy it.

And now try the comprehension quiz. If you pass the quiz you can play the game called HOT RACE. The quiz is in HTML 5 so it will play on any mobile device. However, the game is only in Flash and it will play on your desktop only.

If you want to play the quiz on full screen, click the following button:
Comprehension questions – part 1

Associative learning method – comments

  • How did the method work for you?
  • How many words were you able to learn this way?
  • What problems did you encounter?
  • Is there anything more you would like to tell us?

Do not hasitate and comment below. Thank you ๐Ÿ™‚

Confusing words: BIG or LARGE, HIGH or TALL
Confusing words: BIG or LARGE, HIGH or TALL

For many learners of English the slight differences between the words BIG vs. LARGE and HIGH vs. TALL are very difficult to understand. In this post I will try to make the differences clearer and easy to remember. To achieve this, I have come up with two videos, two quizzes and two mind maps. I hope you will undestand the differences now.
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Confusing words – High and Tall video


The following video has been created by Australia + Learning English. This video clearly explains the differences in the usage of the words TALL and HIGH. Watch it and then complete the mind map below.

Once you have watched the video, try to complete the following mind map. Of course you can watch it several times if you need. Keep the completed mind map for your future reference.
Confusing words tall and high mind map

Confusing words – BIG and LARGE video


BBC learning English produced a great explanation of the differences between the two words on their pages. I have just turned it into an interactive video, which you can see below. At the end of the video there is a quiz to check whether you remember the most important facts.


The sound track comes from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1837_aae/page24.shtml
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To watch it full screen, click on the following button:
BIG and LARGE – video explanation

Once again it would be ideal if you completed the following mind map to remember all the facts about the usage of the two words.
confusing words big and large mind map

Confusing words – revision


Now it is high time to practise all that you have learnt so far. In the following quiz you have to answer more than 70% of all the questions correctly to be able to play the game Angry Finches. Of course you can use all the materials from this post. All games and videos here are in HTML5 so they should play on your mobile devices.

If you want to see the quiz on the full screen, click the following button:
Confusing words – final quiz

The Kiss story by Kate Chopin
The Kiss story by Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin was an American author from the end of the 19th century and she wrote very interesting stories. I have taken one of the shorter ones and simplified it for pre-intermediate students.

The Kiss is a story about love and money. It is about a girl who has to choose between real love and a lot of money. What will she choose?
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The Kiss – mind map

Even though the story has been simplified there are still some words that may cause problems. The words are listed in the following mind map which can (and should) serve as a worksheet. Print out the pdf worksheet file or the picture and translate the vocabulary into your MT.
The Kiss by Kate Chopin mind map extensive reading

The Kiss Kate Chopin mind map.pdf

The Kiss – story


Now, that there are no unknown words it is time to read and listen to the story. Take the mind map, listen and answer the comprehension questions. It would be best to listen to the story at least twice.

The Kiss – games


Now there are several games and activities to check your knowledge and understanding of the Kiss story.

First, you can try two dictation activities. Listen and click on the sentences you hear.
The Kiss – Dictation 1

The Kiss – Dictation 2

Now you can play several comprehension games. First, you could try the Hoopshoot game. (This game is in Flash and might not play on your mobile device).

The Kiss – Basketball game

The second game is called Penalty Shoot out. Answer the questions and score! (This game is in Flash and might not play on your mobile device).

The Kiss – Penalty game

The third game is the most difficult one. It is called Fling the teacher and you have to answer all 15 questions correctly to win the game. (This game is in Flash and might not play on your mobile device).

The Kiss – Fling the teacher game

The last activity is called Storyboard and your task is to reconstruct the original text. This one is really difficult!!! Are you up to the challenge???

The Kiss – Storyboard

Other stories


If you like the Kiss, you might like the following stories too:
Two dates chapter 1

Two dates chapter 2

Two dates chapter 3

Two dates chapter 4

There are several short articles and activities at www.englishlearningmagazine.com:
Amelia Earhart story

Prague story

There are two more stories with vocabulary at our sister site:
Flatmates vocabulary 1

Flatmates vocabulary 2

Maths in English
Maths in English

“What does maths have to do with learning English?” you might ask. Many people believe that nothing. In fact many wrongly believe that you can be good either at maths or at English.

However, I think that mathematics and English have more in common than it might seem at the first sight. To be good at both of them you have to practise a lot. And to be able to solve the mathematical problem you have to understand it. And to understand the mathematics you need to understand the English first. Thus English and algebra have a lot in common.
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Mathematics problems – vocabulary


As I write above, to get to the algebra you need to understand the English first. Learn the following vocabulary using the mind map. All the words are explained and demonstrated. Print out the mind map and write the translation of the words into the empty boxes.

maths-ing-english

Vocabulary – quiz


Now it is time to practise the vocabulary you have learnt in the mind map. If you pass the vocabulary quiz you can play the game Tic_Tac_Toe. Both of the activities are in HTML 5 so you can try them out on your mobile phone or tablet. There is just one way to win the Tic Tac Toe game. Can you find it? Good luck.

Mathematic problems – vocabulary

Mathematics – problems


Now that you know all the vocabulary it is the time for the algebra. Can you solve these problems?

1. There is a big container full of lemonade. You can fill 114 bottles from this container. Each of these contains 0.7 litre. How many 0.3 litre bottles can you fill from the same container?

2. A restaurant bought 6.4 kilogrammes of pork, 3.5 kilogrammes of beef and 4.2 kilogrammes of ham. One kilo of pork costs 123 crowns, one kilo of beef costs 245 crowns, and one kilo of ham costs 156 crowns. How much did the restaurant pay?

3. Peter measured temperature during the day. He measured these temperatures: -2.0 degrees Celsius, 0.1 degrees Celsius, 3.4 degrees Celsius, 3.9 degrees Celsius, 0.5 degrees Celsius, -1.7 degrees Celsius and -3.5 degrees Celsius. What was the average temperature?

4. A pump delivers 50 litres per minute. How long will it take till a 10.2 cubic meter pool becomes full?

5. When James went to school he had $28.75 in his wallet. His friend gave him back $12.84. He then bought a burger for $3.86 and two books for $9.30. In the evening his father gave him $2.70 and he returned $5.00 to his mother. How much money did he have at the end of the day? Did he have more or less money and by how much?

Mathematics solution – mind map


Here you can see the graphical explanation how to solve the mathematical problems.
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maths-in-english

Mathematics – solution


Still not sure whether you have counted correctly? Insert your answers into the following quiz and see how many answers you got correct. If you manage to solve 4 or five problems you can play the game Angry Finches. Good luck.

Mathematic problems – solutions