More on Reported Speech

Thursday 19^th February

Hello everybody!

How’s everything? How are your exams?

What did we do yesterday?

We continued talking about direct and reported speech. I can see you have some problems. Especially when we change the other way round, that is, changing from reported speech into direct speech.

Look at how the verb tenses change:

Reported	Statements: affirmative or negative sentences		Direct
Past simple He said he got up at eight every day. Past continuous He said he was seeing his friends the following day. Past perfect He said he had lived in Madrid for 15 years. Past perfect He said he had seen him the day before. Present Conditional He said he would travel all over the world.		Present simple He said, “I get up at eight every day.” Present continuous He said, “I’m seeing my friends tomorrow.” Present Perfect “I’ve lived in Madrid for 15 years.” Past simple “I saw him yesterday.” Future simple “I’ll travel all over the world.”

Not only the verb but also the pronouns and the time expressions change.

yesterday	The day before, the previous day
today	That day
tomorrow	The following day, the day after
this	that
these	those
next	The following

We role-played some dialogues in pairs. During our conversation, the rest of the classmates took some notes to report what we had been talking about, so as to practise reported speech.

Andrea and Pilar role-played a dialogue at the cinema. Pilar was the customer and Andrea the assistant.

Jorge and Alex, role-played a dialogue between two friends talking about their future trips.

And Óscar and I role-played a job interview for the position of a counsellor  at a kids summer camp.

Homework: go on (continue) practising reported speech by doing the exercises 1a and b on page 54. Change sentences 1-5 from exercise a, from reported to direct speech.

Then, we did a listening exercise on the new topic we’re starting: public figures.

We had the photos of some public figures: a politician, a sports person – a female tennis player, an actor, a singer, an artist – a Spanish painter – and a singer.

 They talked about the advantages and disadvantages of being famous.

We learnt expressions like:

·         The price of fame.

·         To be in front of the camera.

·         To be under pressure.

·         To get someone’s autograph.

·         Personal life.

·         To escape the attention.

Finally, we continued with our project.

Although there are many things you said you don’t like; for instance, the government, the teacher
s in your high schools, the director of your high school, politicians … there’s nothing you can do about it; at least, not yet. You’ll have to wait until you’re 18 and then, you’ll be able to vote and decide whatever you think is the best.

You also suggested other topics such as pollution and rubbish and dirt on the streets.

Pilar suggested a possible way to improve the environment and fight against pollution: planting trees. In the end, Alex’s suggestion about avoiding sunflower seeds shells on the streets was the most voted idea. And it seems that’s going to be your project. Start thinking how you are going to split (divide) the work and what your objective will be.

And with this last discussion, the class was over.

GAME 6

Player 1	6
Player 2	4
Player 3	9
Player 4	---
Player 5	7
Player 6	8
Player 7	8

See you on Thursday!

Have a nice weekend!

VSO - Volunteering Services Overseas and Flipped Class

Thursday 12^th February

Hi everybody! How are you?

I hope Alex is better because he was starting to feel ill last Thursday. Yeah! It seems there’s a virus around…and I don’t mean in our computers!

I’m sure Jorge will be having fun with his Italian friends. Did you enjoy Carnival? Sure it’s not the same as in Venice, but we also have important Carnival celebrations in Spain. (Cádiz & the Canary Islands, for instance)

As for Andrea & Pilar, I don’t know what to make of their absence. They may have been studying for exams or they could be ill. I hope it isn’t the last thing. Anyway, I hope to see all of you – except Jorge, who is going away – next class.

 You can read more about Carnival here

We started the class correcting the homework that we hadn’t checked yet. I’m glad (happy) to say that you DID homework.

We read about a charity called VSO. VSO stands for Volunteering Services Overseas.

 It struck (surprised) me that you said you might not (it’s possible that you didn’t) find anything difficult if you became a volunteer. That made me thinks that I’m a bit too materialistic! I’d find difficult not having running tap water, electricity a place to buy food, phone or internet connection so as to communicate with my family and friends … a lot of things. On the other hand, you said you would find the language difficult and maybe, access to healthcare and medical treatment!

I agree with you with the things you thought are the best about volunteering; sharing skills, that is, teaching and learning; getting out from our routines and getting to know different cultures and lifestyles; feeling well with ourselves because of our contribution and help.

Then, I told you about ‘The Gap Year’ that young British have before starting university. In many cases, these youngsters spend their ‘Gap Year’ volunteering.

 After that, we checked the materials you brought for ‘Flipped Class’. David was the one who took it more seriously. He prepared a couple of songs and took the time to take some words out for the students to fill in the gaps. The words he took out were rather easy for the kids and age appropriate. That’s why he deserves 10 points!

 And we finished the first half of our class starting with our personal project. We went through the first stage: Feel. We’ll have to discuss the issues that were brought up (mentioned) in depth (deeply) because I can’t see how we can change something like ‘the end of life’ or ‘the teachers at your high school’! You must come up with realistic, possible ideas!

Then, we had ‘Flipped Class’…and that was it!

                 GAME 5

Player 1	---
Player 2	6
Player 3	---
Player 4	10
Player 5	6
Player 6	---
Player 7	5

Guess what…?

No homework this week!

C.U. on Thursday!

Reported Speech - Statements

Thursday 5^th February, 2015

Hi guys! How are you?

 

So, the only one who did homework was Pilar! That’s why she got a ‘10’, straight away.

Well, you are right. Talking so much about charities is getting a bit too boring. That’s why we changed the issue of our class. We read about ‘love’.

We used a love story called ‘Love in the supermarket’ to revise reported speech.

They met next to the washing powder. By the cereals they got to know to each other (started to know themselves better). They fell in love (had a crush) at the vegetables section. He proposed (asked her to marry him) in front of the frozen food. But, at the chocolates he said something inconvenient and …it was over (it finished)!’

  Direct speech: it’s when somebody uses the same words to tell what the other person said. He said, "I can’t come tomorrow."

(Punctuation: in direct speech, a comma is used not a colon. He said: ‘I can’t come tomorrow’)

Reported speech: it’s when somebody uses his/her own words to tell what the other person said. He said (that) he couldn’t come the following day.

Look at how the verb tenses change:

Direct	Statements: affirmative or negative sentences		Reported
Present simple		Past simple
He said, "I get up at eight every day."		He said he got up at eight every day.
Present continuous		Past continuous
He said, "I’m seeing my friends tomorrow."		He said he was seeing his friends the following day.
Present Perfect		Past perfect
"I’ve lived in Madrid for 15 years."		He said he had lived in Madrid for 15 years.
Past simple		Past perfect
"I saw him yesterday."		He said he had seen him the day before.
Future simple		Present Conditional
"I’ll travel all over the world."		He said he would travel all over the world.

Not only the verb tense changes, also the pronouns and the time expressions.

yesterday	The day before, the previous day
today	That day
tomorrow	The following day, the day after
this	that
these	those
next	The following

We practised pronunciation. We practised the sounds /g/, /ʤ/, /k/, /ʃ/ and /ʧ/

GAME 4

Player 1	5
Player 2	5
Player 3	6
Player 4	9
Player 5	5
Player 6	15
Player 7	5

For homework, do the exercise you were supposed to have done for last Thursday and don’t forget to prepare ‘Flipped Class’

And we finished the class listening to Jorge’s favourite song: ‘Frozen’.

C.U. on Thursday!