Skip to main content

Keskiviikko 🇫🇮 Szerda 🇭🇺 Wednesday 🇬🇧

Back on track


After a fairly good night's sleep - both of us had to powder our noses at 4 a.m. - we woke up with a start at 7 a.m., and things sped up afterwards. Completing the morning routines meant I could buckle down and study at last. I did till 11:30 a:m., then I prepared lunch - rice with tomato, cucumber, and parsley - had a coffee and took Abby for her afternoon walk.


When we returned from the walk, I sat down to study again. I started to complete my homework, which was even more difficult than the previous one. I have to watch a video about Russell Brand and Jon Snow having a debate about the UK Drug Policy and: 

  • how the interlocutors address one another (formally, informally, respectfully, disrespectfully, etc.
  • how the power dynamics work within the conversation (at what point is Jon Snow in control, at what point does Russell Brand take control?) and what the result is
  • from a linguistic perspective, how strong the arguments are that each of them raise:
  • the expressions they use (can a crass way of speaking also be considered effective to persuade an audience?)
  • the use of rhetorical questions, body language
  • who has come out of the debate as "the winner"?
  • Please jot down any expressions that you find impactful when gaining control in a debate and persuading others of your opinion.

I love this task, but it is challenging, and I have to spend more time on it to complete it.


Anyway, when my head was full of homework I decided to practice the tai chi set - initially, I'd wanted to go out for a walk, but seeing the dark grey clouds in the sky had indicated another type of activity. After finishing the set and devouring my dinner, I pored over some of the previous lessons' vocabulary and the one I'd seen this morning on YouTube by Ben Gil, a brilliant English teacher. I watched two of his videos containing interesting phrasal verbs and adjectives one is supposed to use during a CPE exam:

FICKLE

changes their opinion easily and suddenly


LAMBAST

heavily criticise; to attack or criticise somebody/something very severely, especially in public


GULLIBLE

easily tricked/believes everything


CANTANKEROUS (for older people)

difficult to deal with, argumentative, complain a lot


DOWNRIGHT

used to emphasise the next/following word; used as a way of emphasising something negative or unpleasant


PLUCKY (for younger people)

brave, courageous, spirited


QUIRKY

weird/different in a fun way


UNCOUTH

lacking class or grace


UNFLAPPABLE

calm under pressure


ALOOF

emotionally distant (in a cool way)


VERBOSE

uses too many words - he's such a bore at parties. he's always so verbose.


HAPLESS

unlucky


BUOY UP

to make someone feel happier / more positive


STAVE OFF

to stop (or delay) something bad from happening


TO WHILE AWAY

to spend time doing something nice, pleasant and easy


PIPE DOWN

to stop speaking or making noise


PIPE UP

to suddenly start speaking, to say something suddenly


CLAW BACK

to recuperate something with difficulty (often referring to money)



Well, I think this will do as my next entry, so bye all...

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The final plan

I have a plan, so crazy that it might just work. I checked my books and tried to estimate how to proceed with my preparation, i.e which books should be the first and how to process the units, so the devised schedule is the following: Completing the 'Straight to advanced' and 'Ready for Advanced' books. They consist of 10 lessons and 5 review units each, so if I study intensively, I can finish these books in three-four weeks. Learning by heart the advanced phrasal verbs, idioms, and collocation books. (Plus the 'Don't get me wrong' pocketbook that contains brilliant idioms and collocations.) These books consist of 60 units each, so if I take three lessons per week, I can finish them by the end of August. Completing the 'Destination C1-C2' book. This is the toughest of all the previously listed books, including word formation, idioms, phrasal verbs, grammar, etc. I could go through this book while dealing with the 'Straight to advanced' book si...
Post a Comment
Read more

53 is the new 35

Nah, I'm just kidding, 53 cannot be 35 in any way. When I first heard this term, fifty is the new forty, I thought something was wrong with my ears. Even the explanation of this locution seemed dodgy. I'm pretty sure that this is a kind of self-hypnosis technique used by those who are unable to accept their age and refuse to take notice of the natural order of things. (It's always weird to see the results of what the scalpel of cosmetic surgeons did to some poor, deluded individuals.) Anyway, I found the tail of the mojo and tried to get it back completely. I completed the homework Charlette had given me a month ago - it wasn't easy to complete, though - and booked some lessons as well. I'm looking forward to these classes. Nevertheless, my mind was struggling tremendously with the homework. My brain is still not as fresh as it used to be, so I won't be surprised if it turns out to be a balderdash. The weather turned freezing. Well, it's not as cold as it is...
Post a Comment
Read more

Keskiviikko 🇫🇮 Miðvikudagur 🇮🇸

Well, my students seemed to enjoy the class today. After carefully planning the lesson, I came up with a fairly good syllabus about giving directions. I started the class with the previously discussed review section, during which we reviewed some of the vocabulary from the previous lessons. They did a fantastic job translating the Hungarian words into English and vice versa.  We moved on to the new vocabulary section when we completed the list. I brought seven new words - I know I'm supposed to focus on four or five new words, but this is what they'd asked me to do, so I kept my promises - and besides, they knew some of them, the context I provided them with helped them a lot - as well as the eliciting questions - to find out the meaning of each unknown words. Once we completed this section, we moved on to the next chapter: checking the previously learned vocabulary. I created a list with the essential words and expressions and asked them to check the items and tell me what the...
Post a Comment
Read more