The making of our Student Video Project, part 1: Tongue Twisters

How does a pronunciation activity morph into a class project for a short film? Every trimester our Conversation Class students develop an original script for either a radio show or short film, which they practice and act out themselves. The material for the this audio-visual project is taken from the topics and activities that they have worked on in class throughout the semester. 

This trimester our Conversation Class students decided to do a three part short film film. Part one and two are focused on mastering some very tough pronunciation by reciting tongue-twisters. Part two was a student hosted quiz show which includes vocabulary, grammar and listening comprehension trivia from topics seen throughout the course.

Last week students saw the the tongue-twisters that they would be reciting for the first time, and trust me, they weren't the easiest. They decided to do a short performance of this one:

"A tree-toad loved a she-toad

who lived up in a tree.

He was a two-toed tree-toad,

but a three-toad toad was she.

The two-toed tree-toad tried to win

the three-toed she toad's heart,

For the two-toed tree-toad loved the ground

that the three toed tree-toad trod.

But the two-toad tree-toad tried in vain;

he couldn't please her whim.

From her tree-toad bower,

with her tree-toad power,

the she-toad vetoed him."

Bea, Cristina and Elvira (from left to right) with their first encounter tackling this tough tongue-twister.  Luckily their pronunciation was even better than their drawing!

The girls split the tongue-twister into three parts, practiced and memorized it. This week we filmed their short performance as the opening scene of the video project. 

Stay tuned for more information about part two of the video project and for the finished product.

Touchable Memories and Story Telling

Last week in our conversation class students watched this beautiful film and spoke about memories, technology and telling stories. 

Personally, I thought this short film was poignant and inspiring. It demonstrates how innovation and thinking outside the box can have a huge effect and how technology can be used for truly positive ends. 

Since the lovely Ms. Tasha Camarata was here as a guest teacher to lead last week's discussion, I missed your feedback and thoughts about "Touchable Memories". Please let me know what you thought in the comments section below.

Talk about odd jobs!

I came across this news story today in the New York Times about e-cigarettes and the booming e-cigarette industry in China. It reminded me of a previous entry on Shanglish about odd jobs. Speaking of odd jobs, how would you like to be an e-cigarette tester?

After watching the e-cigarettes video, discuss the following questions with a partner. Then share your opinions with the class as a whole.

• What is your opinion about e-cigarettes? Do they do more harm than good?
• Do you think it should be legal to smoke e-cigarettes indoors?
• Do you think e-cigarettes are a good alternative to regular cigarettes?
• After watching the video, what are your opinions about the manufacturing process?
• Do you think the e-cigarette industry is a good source of new jobs?

Korma Chicken

For his oral presentation this week German took us step by step through what looks like a delicious Korma Chicken Recipe.

For some useful culinary vocabulary, check out German's oral presentation.

Epiphany Listening Activities

Happy King’s Day everyone!

Our last class before Christmas we did quite a few challenging listening activities based on the official Cambridge Exams, both the First and the Advanced.

Based on the official Common European Framework, the First Certificate is the equivalent of a B2, or upper intermediate level and the Advanced Certificate is equivalent to a C1. To read more about this scale of language proficiency, click here.

As a King’s Day gift to our lovely students, here are the answers to the listening activities you completed last class. Please bear in mind that we will take a closer look at the audio scripts and the Advanced Certificate listening activities together in our next class.

Here is the answer key for the Cambridge First listening activities:

Unit 1, page 8
1 a 12, b six years, c one, d none
2 1 B, 2 B, 3 A, 4 C, 5 A, 6 B, 7 C

Unit 2, page 14
1 a T, b F, c T
2 1 southwest, 2 fourth, 3 May, 4 team, 5 tents, 6 read a map,
   7 rivers, 8 backpack, 9 high winds, 10 achievement

Unit 3, page 20
1 1 B, 2 A, 3 A, 4 A, 5 B, 6 B, 7 A, 8 C
2 1 expensive, 2 chapters, guests, 4 portions,
5 angry, 6 laugh, 7 possessions, 8 significant

Unit 4, page 28
1 1 a b, 2 a c, 3 a c, 4 a b, 5 b c, 6 a c, 7 a b, 8 a c
2 1 B, 2 C, 3 A, 4 C, 5 B, 6 B, 7 C, 8 C

Unit 5, page 34
1 c
2 B, 2 A, 3 C, 4 C, 5 A, 6 A, 7 B

Unit 6
1 a 4, b 2, c 6, d 3, e 8, f 1, g 7, h 5
2 1 B, 2 B, 3 C, 4 A, 5 B, 6 C, 7 B, 8 A

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions in the comments section.

The Results

Did you see the previous Holiday Experiment blog post? If not, click here to watch the video.

Ondas conversation class students tried their hand at this fun holiday experiment, but the results weren't quite as impressive as the video we watched. 

Well, at least we had some great oral presentations and some challenging listening activities to get ready for the holiday season. And students left feeling happy, just look!

By the way, the answers and audioscripts for the listening activities will be in the next post. Call it a pre-three-kings-day gift. 

Best wishes to all and a very happy New Year 2015!

Happy Holiday Experiment

Happy Holidays from Ondas Idiomas! Inspired by the spirit of the season, we wanted to try this fun flying tinsel experiment in conversation class. Check out the results in the next post.