Tag Archives: Culture

Amanda Gorman’s Poem for Inauguration Day

I. Who is Amanda Gorman, and what has she been asked to do? 

II. Watch the video about Amanda Gorman and answer the following questions with one word.

  1. How old is Amanda Gorman?
  2. What topics does Amanda Gorman explore in her poetry? R_______________, m_______________, A______________ H_______________.
  3. At what age was she named the nation’s first youth laureate poet?
  4. When did she start to write the inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb”?
  5. Where is she from?
  6. What impediment did she have as a child?
  7. Who had this impediment too?
  8. What is the power of poetry for her? Poetry is a w_______________
  9. What university did she recently graduate from?
  10. What are her political aspirations?

Transcript

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Daylight Saving Time

Source: needpix.com

Source: needpix.com

I. What do you know about the daylight saving time? How long have we been shifting our clocks? Do you know why?

II. Match the following words with the definitions:

a. to come up with 1. an important subject or problem that people are talking about.
 b. shift  2.  to (cause to) be used or exercised
 c. to catch on  3. to think of; to produce
 d. issue  4. to change (the) position or direction (of)
 e. to enact  5. to become popular
 f. to cut down on 6. to put something into action, especially to make something law 
g. to come into play to reduce the consumption of something

III. Watch the video about the story of the daylight saving time and do the activity below.

Fill in the gap with the missing word(s):

  1. The idea of shifting time dates back to __________________ ago.
  2. In 1895 George Hudson proposed a time shift. The idea was well received but it didn’t _______________.
  3. In 1905 William Willet developed the idea independently of Hudson. He brought the idea to the Parliament until ______________ in 1915.
  4. During WWI the Germans were looking for ways to ____________________  and decided that ____________________ was the answer.
  5. Today ____________ countries around the world practise daylight saving time.
  6. Critics today say it no longer ___________________.
  7. An etimated __________ of the global population does not use it.
  8. In Australia __________ states and territories do not practise daylight saving time.
  9. In the United States _____________ and most of __________ do not bother with daylight saving time.
  10. The shift to and from daylight saving time has been linked to the increase risk in _______________________ and automobile _________________.

IV. Comment on the following questions:

  • Does the daylight saving time affect you? How? 
  • Do you really think it saves energy?
  • If you were asked to vote for or against keeping daylight saving time, what would you do?

WORKSHEET

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What do you consider polite and rude?

What is local etiquette? All countries have cultural differences, so when you travel to a different country you need to learn how people behave there.

I. Can you think of any cultural differences between Spain/Catalonia and English speaking countries like the UK, the USA, Canada?

II. Watch the video and note down what things are different. Then, think about two more situations.

What differences have you seen?

III. Work in groups of three. Use the information from the video to ask Tammy how do people behave in Canada. Explain her how it is in Barcelona.

Example: Do people kiss each other on the cheek when they meet?

STUDENT’S WORKSHEET

Source: https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-culture-questions/
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British currency

I. The pound sterling is the oldest currency in the world that is still in use. What do you know about the money used in the UK?

II. Watch the video from the British Council and do the exercises?

III. How much is a pound in euros? Use this converter to know how much you will be paying in London.

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Kit survival in England (1)

TIME TO USE YOUR ENGLISH!

These are expressions you may need during your trip:

ALWAYS BE EXTREMELY POLITE AND THEY WILL LOVE YOU!
  • Please / Thank you (very much)
  • To accept: Yes, please
  • To refuse: No, thank you
  • After hearing ‘thank you’: You’re welcome! / Don’t mention it! / It’s all right! / That’s okay!
  • Hello / Good morning / Good afternoon / Good evening / Good night /Goodbye
  • Excuse me (before) / I’m sorry (after)

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Australia (film)

Australian promotional poster

Pre-viewing activities

I. What do you know about Australia? Brainstorm your ideas and share with the class.

II. Baz Luhrmann’s film Australia is set in the 1940’s. Look at these pictures.

scenes

What do you think are the main themes of the film? Refer to the timeline below.timeline1 timeline2 timeline3

II. What do you know about Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman?

III. Match the words to the definitions (worksheet)

Post-viewing activities

I. Write about 2 of these topics (about 100 words each writing assignment). We will discuss orally all the other questions in class after the Christmas break.

  1. Both Lady Ashely and Drover change a lot during the film. Describe both characters from when they first meet to the end of the movie.
  2. Love epics are romantic films done on a large scale, usually in a historical setting. Do you think Australia is a good example of a love epic. Why (not)?
  3. What is the relationship between Lady Sarah Ashley and Nullah?
  4. In most films we can easily pick out the star. However, who do you think is the real star in Australia: Lady Sarah Ashley, the Drover or Nullah? Why?
  5. Describe King George under the following headings:
    1. Appearance
    2. Character
    3. Role
  6. What do the Indigenous Australian traditions in the film tell you about the Indigenous’ way of life?
  7. Who is Australia’s narrator? Why do you think the story is narrated by this character?
  8. In the film Lady Sarah Ashley tells Nullah the story of The Wizard of Oz to comfort him when his mother dies. He later sees the film at an open air cinema. What song does Lady Sarah Ashley sing to Nullah? When does the song appear again in the film? What do you think is the significance of this?
  9. Look at the film poster designed to promote the film Australia. What does it tell you about the film? Do you think it’s an effective design? Why/not? Which element in particular might influence audiences?
  10. For exteriors, the director relied on the beauty of the Australian landscape as a backdrop for his epic tale. Do you think the use of these stunning landscapes would attract people to Australia? Why/not?

II. Did you like the movie? Submit your opinion in a comment to this post.

III. What is “The Stolen Generation”? Find out about it.

IV. The ‘Outback’, ‘bush’, ‘never never land’ and ‘big backyard’ are all names which refer to remote dry areas of Australia. Why do you think one of the names for the Outback is ‘never never’? What kind of landscape is this?

outback

[Thanks to the Irish Film Institute and to Mireia Xortó for sharing these activities and creating the post]

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