2017.03.15 - Class 20

Reading and vocabulary work (continued)

We began class by continuing with The Price of Freedom interactive fiction piece at chooseyourstory.com . Or, if you preferred, you could read 50 Ways to be killed by zombies, which we read once a couple months ago.

This time, however, I asked you to copy 10 vocabulary units into an email as you worked -- I explained a specific method I wanted you to use.

• As you read, copy and paste words and phrases (especially phrases) into an email in another window. 
• Copy the whole sentence they are found in. 
• You should copy at least 3 per page that you read.
• After about 30 minutes of reading, you will have time to choose the 12-15 that you think are most important.
• Then use one of the dictionaries (see the links on the top right of the blog) to define the phrases. Use the sentence you found it in as an example.
• Email me your list with the names of your and your partner.

Example:

'Your father had already woken you up in the middle of the night to meet some creepy old man that claimed he was an old friend of the family, despite the fact you'd never seen him before in your life.' 

despite the fact (that) - even though, a pesar de que, aunque

http://www.wordreference.com/es/translation.asp?tranword=despite%20the%20fact%20that

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/despite

'I still enjoyed the week despite the weather.'
'He managed to eat a big lunch despite having eaten an enormous breakfast.'

Book / FCE exercise preparation

We reviewed the word pairs you studied last week, plus some others.

We also worked on some of the Review exercises on p.104 in your book.

We then began Unit 12 Make a difference by listening to and thinking about a true story told by an American man named Julio Díaz, who lives in the Bronx (New York City).

His story was gathered as a part of the StoryCorps project, in which ordinary people are asked questions about their life.

Before we listened to his story, I asked you to imagine what you would do in the situation he found himself in:

'You are coming home after a hard day when you are held up at knifepoint by a teenager.'

• Where was Julio?
• What did he offer the other guy?
• Where did they go?
• Who came to talk to Julio?
• What did Julio and the teenager exchange?

After listening to his story, comparing what you understood and talking about what was unusual about his reaction, we watched an animated version of it available on vimeo to help understand it better.

Julio Diaz from StoryCorps on Vimeo.

Homework

• Spend 20 minutes studying vocabulary from our class in Quizlet.
• Finish the Unit 8 Test paper we started in class.