What is the real cost of travel?

Everybody likes travelling. The excitement it brings about, the unforgettable moments of exploring the unexplored, a spellbinding sense of novelty. There are myriad of other nice expressions to describe how wonderful it is to travel ;) Yet, many of us tend to forget that the ideal tourist destinations we visit are home not only to other people, but also many unique animal and plant species. Probably you never ask yourself the question – what is the real cost of travel? Some people did, hence a short text under the very same title. Let’s help our students perceive travelling from a slightly different perspective, making them aware of the dangers to the environment our journeys may pose. 

 

Food-related speaking games and activities

As an extremely talkative person, I am also a teacher who provides a great deal of space for speaking activities. And don't worry - it doesn't mean that I talk all the time :) I just make sure that every learner has plenty of possibilities to develop speaking skills. 

What is more, as I mentioned in one of the posts - any opportunity to practice speaking cannot be wasted! Thus, every subject introduced to the class can serve as a base for further speaking tasks. 

One may ask: how is it possible? How long can you talk about food?? Basing on my own teaching experience, I can guarantee that it is possible to create various questions using only a few words. Working with the use of direct method has taught me that every word can be a basis for both easy and complicated questions for learners of all levels. For instance a simple word 'apple' can generate the following questions:

http://thaom.blogspot.com/2012/11/apple-znowu-pozywa.htm

What is this? [pointing at the apple or at its picture] 

What colour is the apple?

Is the apple red or green?

What colour can the apple have?

Do you like apples?

Does your mum/dad/etc. like apples?

What can you make from apples?

Is an apple a fruit or a vegetable?

Can you imagine not eating apples?

Do you remember what happened with the apple in the Bible?

How can you interpret the picture on the right?

What does an apple symbolize?

Do you have Adam's apple? Can you show it?

What does it mean to be the apple of sb's eye?

COMPETITION – can you lose the game?

Competition is an inevitable part of sport. I bet that almost all of our readers (and bloggers too) are keen on winning! But who doesn’t like that? J

However, when there is a winner, there also has to be a loser, which is especially painful when you play for a high stake. 

And how about you? How do you cope with losing?

Look at the words below – which of them collocate with play (P) and which with go (G)?

SURFING      BASKETBALL         RUNNING    BADMINTON          HORSE RACING JOGGING            RUGBY         CRICKET      CYCLING     VOLLEYBALL       SWIMMING SQUASH            ROLLERBADING   FOOTBALL  SKIING      WINDSURFING  TENNIS

Read the information about the video:

"TWO RONNIES - SQUASH GAME" presents the story of two friends Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker. In this episode both Ronnies have just had a game of squash. Barker has never played before but Corbett is the local squash champion. After the game Ronnie Corbett is a little bit nervous.

Why do you think he is finding it difficult to keep calm?

Vocabulary - sport

Sport is a universal topic to discuss. Surely all students will be eager to learn some new vocabulary which they need to talk about their favourite sport disciplines.

1. Match equipments with their names:

net        helmet     cap     racket     club      shin pads

Equipment pictures

2. Guess from the context what the underlined words mean. Write their Polish equivalents:

• We all cheered as the team came on to the field.
• He played well in the team’s 2–2 draw with Southampton.
• There were more skiers further up the slope.
• He missed a penalty in the last minute of the game.  (in soccer)
• The new football stadium will hold 75 000 spectators.
• He has knocked out 15 opponents in 20 fights.

Let's get the ball rolling! Let's talk sports!

Today we are going to move our students from their comfortable sofas and do some speaking push ups :) But don't worry, even if you are out of shape, you'll catch up with our pace easily.

Actually, no serious workout today (I hate push ups, what about you?). Let's start with some warming up activities that will encourage our students to use sport-related vocabulary in speaking. Besides, it is said that a good warm-up is the most important part of your workout and the key to success. I bet it is the same with speaking!

Time for some practice ;)

I have prepared some exercises which can be used for practising vocabulary, warm-up or revision. English does not have to be boring ;)

Speaking exercise

Work in pairs. Choose a quotation and tell your partner how you understand it and whether you agree with it or not.

Is your lifestyle healthy?

For a few years now, it has been one of the most popular trends in Western societies.
It is something that the majority of people dream about, many of them work hard to achieve  but only some of them can be proud of .

What is it?? Yes, you've guessed!

It's a HEALTHY LIFESTYLE.

Although I am not in favour of promoting fading trends that, eventually, will disappear, I strongly believe that a helathy lifestyle is a thing worth clinging on to for the whole life.

However, being surrounded by countless experts in the area of health and overwhelmed with the information from all sorts of media, it is sometimes difficult to judge what a healhy lifestyle really is.
Let's do it together!

This lesson is going to make students familiar with the subject of a healthy lifestyle and allow them to decide what a healthy lifestyle means to them.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-presentation-healthy-lifestyle-concept-female-doctor-drawing-marker-glass-wall-image44761307

The lesson should be conducted after reading the text titled Turn off TV, Turn on a Healthier Lifestyle 

based on the website www.tvturnoff.org 

The original text has been changed to make it suitable for pre-intermediate students.

TEXT TURN OFF TV, TURN ON A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE

Below you will find pre-, while- and post-reading tasks specially designed on the basis of abovementioned text.