Category: Intermediate

Some posts take quite a long time to produce, but this one was an extreme case. Four people participated on it and I think we have produced a great material to teach vocabulary connected with sports.

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[showmyads] In my opinion there is everything. There is a video to help students with the pronunciation of the words. There are two mind maps to help you organise the new vocabulary in a way that will be easy to remember. And at the end of the post there are several activities to help the students learn all the words.

Watch the video. Listen to the American pronunciation of the words and repeat.

In the following mind map you can see all the words and phrases clearly organised.

The second mind map can serve as a worksheet. Your task is to complete it with the right words.
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This time all the quizzes are in HTML5 so they will play on your mobile devices.

The first quiz is a way to learn the words. Listen and repeat the words. Then complete the quiz and go on. There will appear another set of words and a quiz. And so on.

Learn Sports vocabulary

The second game is called Kim’s game. You will see a set of pictures and then three of them will vanish. Your task is to write the words for the given missing words. However, you have just one minute to remember. And then three more pictures will vanish. Are you able to recall all the words?

Kims game – sports vocabulary

The third quiz is a dictation. In the first phase you will listen to several sentences and you have to click on the words you hear in the sentences. In the second phase you have to listen to the sentences and write them. Good luck.

Sport – dictation and listening

The environment is one of the most frequently discussed topics in the world. However, to be able to speak about this topic you need some basic vocabulary. In this post I try to introduce some words related to the topic of Environment. Later you can practise the new words in games.

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In this post on you can find a video presentation of all the words given here:

Here is a video presentation of the vocabulary connected with the environment.

Once you know the words, try to divide them into the following mind map.

As it is holiday over here, I have had a lot of time and I have created several games to practise the vocabulary.
The first game is a simple quiz. Your task is to match the words and definitions, and then complete the sentences with the new words. If you pass the quiz you can play the game called Angry Finches as long as you like.
Environment vocabulary – quiz

The second game is called Reaction and your task is to complete the sentences with the missing words and then click on the ugly frog as quickly as possible.

Environment vocabulary – Reaction game

The third game is a dictation game. Listen to the sentences and if you write them correctly you will be given a chance to play the game called Hot race.

Environment vocabulary – Dictation

The last game is just loosely connected to the topic. It is called Reaction and your task is to write the adjectives of the given words. If you create the adjectives correctly you will play the game Reaction. Wait till the ugly frog appears and then click on it as quickly as you can.

Environment vocabulary – Adjectives

Finally, Easter is here. I have been looking for this holiday for weeks and it has arrived. I am really happy.

Last year I and Lynne Blackburn devoted a lot of time to our project called ELM (English Learning Magazine.) We created a full 14 page long magazine about Easter.

The magazine contains two articles about Easter traditions in Great Britain and in the Czech Republic, two stories for elementary students to practise past simple tense, two comics and several puzzles for fun.

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You can download the file here:

ELM – Easter

Here we go at last! This is the last chapter of the story Two Dates. Are you curious what will happen to Alan, Martha and Bruce. I hope that the ending of the story will surprise you at least a bit and that you will like it.
So, what are you waiting for? Start with the mind map and revive what happened in the previous parts of the story Two Dates. Then translate the vocabulary on the vocabulary branch. This time some of the words are pretty challenging. And once you know the new words start the story video.
In the end answer the comprehension questions in the mind map and discuss your opinions with a partner. Good luck and enjoy the story.

Here is the mind map which serves as a worksheet. Complete first the What happened and Vocabulary sections.
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Once you have check up all the new vocabulary, it is time to watch the final chapter of the story Two Dates:

Now that you know the ending of the story it is time to concentrate on the language. There are two games here to practise the new words. The first one is a Hot Spot quiz and your task is to click on the word whose definition you can see at the top of the page. As the game is in HTML5 it should be viewable on all devices. Enjoy and I hope you will score 100%.

Two Dates – hot spot Html5 quiz

If you are using a mobile phone or an iPad you might be interested in another HTML5 game, you can go to Two Dates Chapter 3 where there is the memory game in HTML5.
The last game is in Flash and it is called Half a minute. Your task is to unjumble the words in 30 seconds. Good luck 🙂

Click Here to play the game – Two Dates – Half a minute

If you prefer reading the story, here is the text of the fourth chapter:

Alan decided to hide out in the library where it was quiet, and he knew most people would not be able to find him. He knew he was not a bad kid. True, he might not have the best qualities, or he might not be the best student, but he knew he was a pretty nice guy. He loved animals, and he loved helping people out. He did not deserve such a cruel treatment, so why were they so mean to him?

The sound of footsteps coming up towards him made Alan look up. Susan stood in front of him, with her arms across her chest.

Alan frowned. “What do you want from me?” he said rudely. “Haven’t you guys had enough?”

The look on Susan’s face softened. “I did not laugh at you Alan. That was mean of Martha.” She smiled gently at him and asked him if she could sit next to him. Alan grudgingly agreed. He was wary. Susan could pretend to be nice and then humiliate him again in front of the whole class just like Martha had.

“Why did she do that?” Alan asked Susan. “What did I do wrong?”

Susan shrugged. “Kids do stupid things. Kids can be mean. Martha is just being immature. Forget about her.”

Alan groaned and hid his face into his hands. “I’ll just switch schools. I can never go back to class again.”

Susan hit Alan lightly on the hand. “You can’t give up just like that!”

Alan sighed. “You don’t understand! Everyone laughs at me. I’ll never be able to go to the dance. I’ll be at home alone again, this year.”

Susan smiled, a little shyly. “Guess what,” she said. Alan looked at her. Susan was beautiful too, in a different way. She had a kind face, and a very sweet smile. “I could be your date for the dance.”

Alan stared at her in shock. After a while, he started laughing. “I won’t fall for that again. You’ll humiliate me too, like Martha did.”

Susan rolled her eyes. “Sure Alan. I skipped class, argued with Bruce in front of the whole class, let Martha yell at me too, defended you and looked for you all over the school, just so that I could humiliate you.”

Susan smiled at him. “C’mon, you can’t let bullies ruin your day. Chin up! The day isn’t over. So will you come to the dance with me?”

Alan hesitated for just a moment, enough for Susan to say, “What? Do you think Martha is prettier than me? Is that why you don’t want to come with me?”

“No!” Alan protested, and before he could even think, he grabbed Susan’s hand tightly. “I will come with you,” Susan smiled and kissed him lightly on his lips.

“See you in the class,” she said and walked away.

Alan smiled.

It was going to be a very different year indeed.

Have you been wondering what the big shock for Alan was? The story continues here. Once again you can learn 16 new words and practise them in a game. Then you can check your comprehension with a mind map which once again serves as a worksheet too.
The next chapter of the story Two Dates will be the last one, so do not miss it. It will be published on Wednesday 2nd April 2014.
If you have missed the previous chapters of this story for teenagers, you can find Chapter 1 here and Chapter 2 here.

Here is a mind map which should serve as a worksheet too. First answer the questions about what happened in the previous chapters and then find the new words. Use a dictionary to complete the section.
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I hope you like the story and that you will come back for the last chapter of Two Dates.

Once you know all the words it is time to go to the next section.

Watch the video and complete another part of the mind map (PLOT). You can make this part more difficult for you and switch off the screen and just listen to the story. It is up to you 🙂

This part of our post nearly always contains several games to practise what you have learnt in the post. This time there is just one game. Your task is to practise all the new vocabulary from the story.

Click Here to play the game – Two Dates – Half a minute

 

The first chapter of the story Two Dates proved to be quite popular. The story will have 4 chapters in all. Here is the second one.

Here is a mind map for the second chapter of the story Two Dates. In my opinion the ideal way to proceed with this post is to learn the vocabulary first. Print out the mind map and then complete the Vocabulary branch.
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Once you have studied the vocabulary from the mind map, it is useful to practise the words in the following games. The first one is called simply Memory Game and your task is to remember the words that appear in the center of the screen and then click on them. This game is in HTML 5 so it will play on your mobile phone too. I have managed to get to level 14. Will you be better?

Click Here to play the game – Two Dates – Memory game

The second game is called Half a minute and your task is to put the words into the correct order in half a minute. By playing these games you should learn the vocabulary from the story Two Dates. Enjoy:

Click Here to play the game – Two Dates – Half a minute Once you know the vocabulary watch the video here and try to undestand it. Once you finish the video answer the questions in the mind map.

If you prefer reading the story as a text, you can read it here:

“Y…yes of course!” He smiled shyly at Martha.

“Great!” Martha flashed another one of her perfect smiles and turned around, returning back to her seat beside Susan. Susan looked back at Alan and smiled, waving at him.

He waved back. He could not believe his luck!

Bruce saw the whole exchange and left Alan alone.

Alan waited nervously for Martha after school, by the gates. He kept a look out for her, and scanned the crowd for a pretty girl in a yellow floral dress. To his surprise, Martha met him in a completely different outfit. She must have changed before meeting him. Yet again, she showed off her perfect figure in skin-tight jeans and a white t-shirt.

“Ready?” Martha held out her hand, waiting for Alan to take it.

He took it without a moment’s hesitation.

They spent the afternoon at the ice cream shop in town. Martha wanted Alan to buy her ice cream, which he did. He did not have much money on him that day, only enough for a single ice cream cone, so he let Martha have it. He watched her polishing off the chocolate-flavored ice cream.

“Alan, how can you not have money with you?” Martha asked surprised and shocked. She rolled her eyes as she took another lick off her ice cream.

Alan blushed. He was not expecting to go out at all, so of course he did not have much money on him.

“That’s okay, I’m not hungry,” he told Martha, watching her eat.

“Okay,” said Martha.

After their ice cream date, Alan walked her home. She did not bother saying goodbye as she walked into the driveway of her house, but Alan waved anyway. He was in love.

He could not stop thinking about her even at home. Alan decided to write Martha a poem. Running eagerly to his computer, he started the word processor and typed.

I never knew about happiness;
I didn’t think dreams
came true;
I couldn’t believe in love,
Until I finally met you.

Alan decided to send it to Martha’s email.

He fell asleep with a bright smile on his face, feeling certain that his fortune had changed at last…

Alan woke up the next morning, happy and cheery that that morning would be the first day to a whole new different Alan. He wondered if Martha had seen his email yet.

When he turned on his computer, he had the biggest shock of his life.

In my opinion Plants are one of the worst covered vocabulary topics in ELT. That is why, I have created the following post. There is a pictionary with all the words, a mind map, a video and four games to practise the vocabulary. I hope you will find these words useful.

Plants – vocabulary video

Here is a video with the words and their pronunciation.
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Plants – pictionary

Here are all the words in a pictionary. You can print this material out (as long as you do not try to profit financially from this.)

Plants – mind map

This mind map tries to divide the vocabulary into three categories: Deciduous trees (those that have leaves), coniferous trees and flowers. Some students find these divisions useful.

Watch and practise

Watch the pictures and say the words in English.

Plants – games

Here are four games to practise the vocabulary. Give them a try:

Flashcards

Click Here to play the game

Pick a letter

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Click Here to play the game

Matching

Click Here to play the game

Crosswords

Click Here to play the game

Many people think that the topic animals is suitable only for children. Thus the learners learn the names of twenty animals when they are young and they think it is enough. However, intermediate students need to know more animals than the twenty they learnt as children. That is why I have created the following post. Here the intermediate students can practise what they learnt a long time ago and add some more new words.

Animals – pictionary

Here is a beautiful pictionary with all the animals which will be dealt with in this post.
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Animals – video

Watch the video and repeat the names of the animals. Each word is pronounced twice.

Animals – mind map

For many people it is much easier to remember new vocabulary if it is organised. Here is a mind map which tries to do this.

Animals – games

There are three games here. The first one is a classical wordsearch. Find the word, click on the first letter and then on the last one. Your task is to find all the animals there.

Animals Penalty game

The second game is called Penalty. Read the definitions and choose the correct animal.

Teacher invaders game

The last game is called Teacher invaders. Your task is to shoot all the invaders and write the names of the animals.

Half a minute game

And here is a bonus game. As some people do not like Teacher invaders here are the same words with the same definitions in a much quiter game:

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Scientists claim that the center for rythm is located next to the long-term memory in our brain. Knowing this, we could exploit it to the students’ benefit and teach them vocabulary through rhymes or raps. So, I tried to create the following rap to teach the students the following words: beach, prefer, rhyme, crazy, bone, railway, clothes, lots, fun, sand and shower.

Crazy Vocabulary Rap -video

First listen to the following rap and answer the comprehension questions under the video.
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Now check your comprehension by playing the following game:

Crazy vocabulary rap – Hoop shoot

Crazy Vocabulary Rap – mind map

Now that you met the vocabulary it is time to introduce it. I love introducing new things using mind maps, so here is another one. Each word contains a definition and three examples.

Crazy Vocabulary Rap – Vocabulary games

Once you think you know all the words it is time to test your knowledge. There are three games to check whether you really know the words. In the first two your task is to complete each sentence with the best option. If you answer correctly you will get to play a game.

Crazy Vocabulary Rap – Hoopshoot game
Crazy Vocabulary Rap – Fling the teacher game

The last game is a bit different. You will see a definition and then you have to write the word. Do not forget to shoot the invaders, though 🙂

Crazy Vocabulary Rap – Teacher invaders game.

Crazy Vocabulary Rap – Lyrics

You might want to learn the whole text, so here you are:

I’m going somewhere on this train
I’m going somewhere fun
A place that has a beach and sand
Railway take me to that sun….

I prefer to go somewhere out west
But any beach will do
Before I go I need a shower
I have no water, what to do….

I need a beach where clothes aren’t needed
Cuz mine I do not have
They got destroyed by a beast
Doing something reasonably bad….

He was drinking lots of milk he was
This milk I wanted some
Cuz in my youth I want strong bones
To stay in shape and have some fun

This rhyme is really crazy
This I really know
Time for me to say bye bye
It’s time for me to go….

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The whole planet is following the Winter Olympic games in Sochi. And as this site has got the word “games” in its name I think it will be appropriate to make a post on winter olympic sports.

Winter Olympic sports – video

Here you should listen and repeat the words.

Winter Olympic sports – interactive mind map

This mind map contains all the sports and the less typical ones contain a link to a Youtube video where you can see the sport.
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Winter Olympic sports – Mind map

Here you can see the mind map with all the sports.

Winter Olympic sports – Games

There are two games to practise the winter olympic sports. The first one is called On target. Your task is to read the definition and then choose the best option. If you answer correctly you will get a chance to shoot the Evil ducks. Do not forget that you can get a Bottle Bonus if you shoot a bottle.

Winter Olympic sports – On target game

The second game is called Half a minute and your task is to put the letters in the correct order. However, you have only 30 seconds to do this.

Winter Olympic sports – Half a minute game

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Negative prefixes are very productive. It seems that if you learn these then you might be able to create countless English words. However, it is not enough to learn only the prefixes. As each word has its own prefix and there are just a few rules you have to learn the whole words.
Knowing this, I took 4,000 most frequent words in English and I looked for the words with negative prefixes among them. Once I found them I created the following mind map:

Negative prefixes – a mind map

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Go through the mind map above and use a dictionary if you do not know any of the words.

Negative prefixes – games

Once you think that you know the words with negative prefixes I believe it is time to test your knowledge in games. This time there are 4 games. The first two (En Garde and On Target) contain the same tasks in different games. Choose the one you like better and plaaaaaay!!!

Negative prefixes – En Garde
Negative prefixes – On target

In the game called Half a minute your task is to put the jumbled word into the correct order. It is not easy but if you know the words you should manage to do this.

Negative prefixes – Half a minute

The last game is called Teacher invaders. Your task is to shoot all the invaders and write the words with negative prefixes. I believe this is the most difficult game, so give it a try!!!

Negative prefixes – Teacher invaders

Negative prefixes – a blind mind map

Have you played all the games and they were a piece of cake? Let’s try something more challenging. Print the following mind map and complete it with the missing words:

 

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Phrasal verbs are always difficult to learn. Even though they consist of two or three tiny words, which are easy to remember themselves, they can create so many different combinations that students quickly become totally confused. Moreover, the meaning of the phrasal verb cannot be deduced from its parts. Therefore the students do not know the verbs and refuse to use them.

I really like the programmes which BBC produced some time ago. They are called Face up to phrasals and they are several short, entertaining stories introducing 12 phrasal verbs each. However, they created nice stories and wonderful explanations and that was it. There were no activities to help you really learn the phrasal verbs. And here I stepped in and I created a mind map and several games to help your learn the 12 phrasal verbs.

Fred and Betty – the video

You can watch the video here

Phrasal verbs – mind map

Here you can see all 12 phrasal verbs in a mind map. Each verb contains a definition and examples of its usage.

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Phrasal verbs – games

I have prepared 3 games for you to practise the phrasal verbs. First of them is called hoop shoot and your task is to choose the correct phrasal verb which best fits into the gap.

Phrasal verbs – hoop shoot game.

The second game is slightly more difficult. You have to read the tasks carefully, as here you have to choose the wrong or correct option.

Phrasal verbs – penalty game.

The last game is called invaders and it is the most difficult game. Your task is to shoot all the aliens and in the meantime complete each sentence with the correct preposition.

Phrasal verbs – invaders game.

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Phrases to ask for advice and for giving advice are incredibly useful for normal life. Students should be able to express their needs and I believe this post will help them with this.

If you go through all the activities here, I am sure that you will learn these phrases in twenty minutes. However, to make this knowledge permanent it is necessary to practise the phrases for asking and giving advice at least once in the following week.

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Here you can see a mind map which should help you remember the phrases better.

 

And to practise all the phrases there is the storyboard game:

 

Advice – storyboard game

 

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Students often find the vocabulary for personal qualities really difficult to learn and understand. Here I try to present the vocabulary in a slightly different way and give the students a chance to practise the personal qualities in games.

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Start your learning with this video. Repeat the words with a native (American) speaker and read the definitions of the words.

Here is a mind map where I tried to organise the personal qualities into reasonable and memorable categories.

And now it is high time to practise the new vocabulary in games.

To play the En Garde game, download the file and open it in Adobe Reader. Then click the picture and the game will start.  Your task is to choose the correct answer and then stop the target as close to the centre as possible. Hopefully, you will be faster and more accurate then your opponent. The game is in Flash and will play only on desktops:

Personal qualities Wordsearch.

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