Women in Art

Hi there,

The Official School of Languages, as you already know, is organising a challenging cultural contest to commemorate the International Women's Day, on the eighth of March. 

You are asked to guess the title of the paintings as well as the name of the artists. As you can learn different languages at school, not only English but also German, French, Italian and Spanish in case you are a foreign student, the variety of artists and paintings is huge. 

Here are the paintings you should guess.

These paintings are from two artists who spoke German as their native language.

Picture 1

Picture 2

These two other paintings are from Spanish-speaking artists. Can you guess who they were?

Picture 3

Picture 4

Two more works of art. This time from artists who spoke French while drawing these women.

Picture 5

Picture 6

Whereas these paintings belong to two English artists. I encourage you to guess who they were.

Picture 7

Picture 8

And finally, two Italian-speaking artists.

Picture 9

Picture 10

You can check as many books as you want, surf the Net and visit the most famous museums worldwide. You can ask a friend who happens to be an expert in art, or simply you can have seen these paintings before and know the answer straightaway. But the most important thing here is to participate. I'm sure you will learn a lot while doing your research.

Well, let's say that you have another week to participate. If you have guessed any of the paintings and artists, write your answers on a piece of paper and give it to any of your teachers. I would like to inform you that the prize could be a weekend for two in an European city and some free tickets to the most prestigious museums and be able to see those works of art in situ, but I'm afraid that's impossible with the budget we have. What I'm completely sure about is that you will get a nice gift for your research.

So, common guys!!! Start researching and win your prize!!!

Good luck!!!

Another vs. Other

The difference between these two words is really simple, however hard it seems to be for you all. Let’s see if this entry can help you with it.

ANOTHER is normally followed by a singular noun. Look at the photos.

I've got a grammar book, which I highly recommend.

I've got another grammar book to recommend.

However, another can be followed by a number with a plural noun or by few.

For example,

-         You will find another three examples in the exercise below. (= You will find three more examples in the exercise below.)

-         You can do another few exercises from the grammar book English Grammar in Use.

OTHER is followed by a plural noun. 

For example,

But I've got other grammar books with lots of activities to  do.

Other can also be used as an adjective, it has no plural form. OTHERS is a pronoun, which means other ones or other people.

For example,

-         Where are the other grammar books?

-         Can you tell the others that I’ll be spending the weekend here?

Let’s consider some sentences!

1. (In a clothes shop) I love that sweater. Have you got any _____ colours?
2. (At the restaurant) Can I have _____ bottle of water, please?
3. (A pupil at the school) I wish I had _____ few weeks to study before doing the final test.
4. (In our classroom) We need _____ chair here.
5. (At the garage) I’m afraid you will have to buy _____ car. This is very old.
6. (At the office) Some employees are working hard these weeks, _____ aren’t.
7. (At the travel agent’s) We can offer you _____ destinations, which I’m completely sure you’ll love.
8. (The teacher) We can continue practising _____ day if you need it.

The key is on the first comment. How well did you do it?

The Importance of Punctuation

Hi everyone,

Have you realised the importance of punctuation when writing a composition? Sometimes you complain about it but punctuating correctly gives meaning to your writings. Here’s an example taken from an old magazine, whose reference I don't remember.

 

I want to rub all your mistakes out with my (c)Factis rubber

  Version 1:

Dear John, 

I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy -will you let me be yours? 

Gloria

Version 2:

Dear John,

I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy.

 Will you let me be? 

Yours,

Gloria 

Is this a love letter in both cases or not?

Leave your comments and tell me the differences you spot in both versions.

For vs. During

 Do you remember the difference between "for" and "during"? Look at the examples below.

englishandpractice.blogspot.com.es

- You have been using this blog for a few months now.

- You will be able to use this blog during this academic year.

For is used to say how long an action or a situation lasts. It can be used to talk about the past, present or future.

-         I once went to New York for a week.

-         Those mountains have been covered in snow for months.

-         My brother will be away for the next ten days.

When For is used to talk about a period of time continuing up to the present, it is used with the present perfect tense. For example:

-         I’ve known you for five months.

The question we would make to get an answer is How long …?

During is used to say when something happened.

-         There was a snowstorm during the night.

-         Peter had incredible experiences during his childhood.

The question we would make to get an answer is When …?

Let’s practise with some sentences. 
Click on the first comment to get the answers then.

1. I’ve always wanted to teach abroad _____ a few months.
2. I haven’t sent an email to my pupils _____ a while.
3. Some pupils fell asleep _____ the class. It was so boring!
4. Mary hasn’t done a sudoku _____ years but they say it’s good for your brain.
5. I promise I will eat very healthy food _____ the summer.
6. People didn’t stop shouting _____ the football match.
7. We visited both Rome and Naples _____ our business trip in Italy.
8. I’ve been watching videos on YouTube _____ two hours now!
9. The candidates were answering a lot of difficult questions _____ the interview.
10. I’ve had this laptop _____ about four years.

Exam Hangover

Hi guys,

After all these days doing, correcting, discussing and complaining about exams, it's high time all of us start thinking about how to improve our exam results. 

Let's start with pronunciation!

I've been surfing the Net. Obviously there's a great deal of good stuff but as I had to opt for something to involve you all in your own autonomous learning, here's a link to 50 Difficult Words to Pronounce. You can listen to the words, you have an example and you can repeat it as many times as you want, trying to utter it as accurately as possible.

Source: malayaIamteacher.com

If you want to improve your oral skills, you should be aware of the difficulty of producing some sounds and the need to know how to pronounce them in different words in order to understand what is said to you and be understood in your turn. Then we need to know which part of that word should receive the heaviest emphasis because stress can change the meaning of phrases, sentences and questions with terrible results in the process of communication. Finally, you mustn't forget that intonation is clearly important as well.

Well, I really hope you find it useful and start practising straight away.

Leave your comments if you found it helpful or not.

American zero, South African hero

Last Friday we saw a really interesting film or better said, documentary Searching for Sugar Man. Although we were supposed to be a larger number of pupils, we all enjoyed it and as other extra-curricular activities at the EOI it was worth.

 

Some pupils at the EOI

Needless to say, this is a must-see film which tells the story of the life of Sixto Rodriguez, an absolutely brilliant and talented singer-songwriter whose career wasn’t as successful as it had been expected, at least it wasn’t in the United States. While he sold like six copies of his album Cold Fact in USA, in South Africa he sold millions of records. He became a hero there and his songs national anthems.

Listen to this song I Wonder. Catchy, isn't it? 

                                     

                                                                I Wonder (1970)

Rodriguez’s story is too strange to be true. He comes from a blue-collar family from Mexico who moved to the States in order to have a better life. However, I’m not going to give you more details about him.

Listen to another song from his first album Cold Fact which got people free their minds.

                                                               Forget it (1970)

 And let's finish this entry with Rodriguez's words. One of his best moments of his life was the concert that took place in Cape Town on 6th March 1998 -he was back and said:

"Thank you for keeping me alive"

 

A meaningful sentence but if you want to find out why, just watch the film.

 

If you attended school on Friday and saw the film, did you like it? What do you think of this singer? Do you like his songs? Had you heard of him and his amazing life before?

Leave your comments. They’re always welcomed.

A Life Skill

Hi there,

For the first entry in this new year, and on a special day for me, let's review one of the topics we have been dealing with: success and its secrets. We've talked about what makes the most successful people on the planet different from the rest of us. We all agreed with the fact that practice, hard work and a bit of natural talent are key factors to be high achievers.

In this entry, we are going to listen to Chris Hadfield, the former commander of the International Space Station, talking about his experiences and what life skills have been essential for him to survive both up in space and back down here on Earth. 

For those who haven't heard of Chris Hadfield, I must say that there has been no other astronaut quite like him. Along these years, we have been learning how life in space is like. He has managed to teach us several facts about gravity and answer many of our questions. He has shown us how to shave or brush one's teeth in zero gravity; he was able to make a burrito or a peanut butter sandwich. We didn't know how astronauts sleep until he showed it and he even performed David Bowie's Space Oddity out there. Undoubtedly, he's a skilful man.

He has also written about his experience in his book, an Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth. 

I'm eager to read your comments on this topic. Try to leave your comment if you haven't done it before and you'll succeed in your English.