Welcome back!
I hope everyone had a good break and feels ready to tackle the last term of ESOL 3.Today's Work
This week I won't make you work as hard. Some students are staying behind and need to catch up, so I just want you to do a few small tasks and then work on what you haven't finished.
A. Irene gave you a text on Guy Sebastian yesterday. Using the internet, try to find his official website (or another site about him) and answer these questions:
- What's the name of his new single?
- What type of rhythms/music is in it?
- What do you think flava means?
- When is he coming to Sydney?
- Where was he born?
- When was he born?
- When did he come to Australia?
- Why is he so famous in Australia?
- Do you know anything interesting about him?
B. Go to How was your break? and answer the questions about Arancia. Do not answer in point form, but in a paragraph or two. Write them in your blog.
C. Go back to previous posts and do any work that you have missed. Remember that everything I ask you to write is part of your learning and will be assessed.
How was your break?
Did you all have a good holiday? I know Rita was planning to go to the South Coast. Read Rita and Ismat's blogs for information on good holiday houses.
My break was good. We managed to go away for three days. We went to Orange and stayed in a very nice B & B called Arancia. When you look and book a place for your holidays it's a good idea to read about it on the net. You can find information that the owners of the place write themselves (like the above link to Arancia) and you can also find reviews that other people, usually travel journalists, write about it. It's always a good idea to check what others think! I found this review from the SMH about Arancia: Arancia Bed & Breakfast.
Read both the owners website and the review and tell me (in your blog ) if there are any differences. Are there any bad comments on the review? Do the owners omit anything from it when they iclude it in their website?To help you read it, answer these questions:- How long does it take to get there?
- What's the meaning of Arancia?
- How high is Mount Canobolas?
- Are children welcome?
- Can you smoke inside?
- What are its pluses (good characteristics)
- Are there any minuses (bad characteristics)
- Notice the language used in the review: what adjectives are used for autumn day, highlands air, cows, reward, hills, hint of Lake Canobolas, dry plains, ....Find more and tell me if they are positive adjectives or not. Do they affect the way the reader is going to see the place reviewed? Do you feel like going there?
- Was it a good review?
- Write a paragraph using descriptive positive adjectives about a place (real or imagined) you would like to stay in.
sunset Have a good Autumn break everybody! Don't forget to go out and enjoy Sydney...
Beach versus Mountains
Thanks to everyone who participated in our forum this week.
I was surprised at the fact that the majority of you said you'd rather go to the mountains for a holiday. This is what Jie wrote:
I'd prefer to go to mountains on my holiday, because I think now it's nearly winter, the weather's is cold. If I'm going to go to the beach, the water is too cold, so I won't go swimming. So I'm going to go to the mountains. In there, I can climb the mountain, have a BBQ, etc. The view at the end of autumn is spectacular! In Beijing, China, the best season is autumn. I found that in Australia it is too. Jie
These are the good points you highlighted for the beach and mountains:
BEACHGood when the weather is too hot.
At night very much when there is a full moon.
I like the ocean. If the day is hot we stay in a park under the trees. We read books, study English or listen to the relaxing ocean sound. If the day is cool, we walk along the ocean and enjoy its different colours, the fresh air and the strength of the ocean.
We can swim, go fishing.
I can go shopping at Manly's plaza.
MOUNTAINS
You can hear birds singing, look at flowers and different plants.
You can find medicinal plants.
The fresh air is very good for us.
You can go buswalking.
The grass is very green.
You can have a picnic or a BBQ.
You can climb. Climbing is hard,but when I reach the top of the mountain,I feel very excited
There are beautiful views, bush, stone walls, rivers and forests.
Nature shakes my heart, the fragrance of the flowers makes me relaxed and happy, I could forget all the worries.
You can feel relaxed and carefree.
This weeks' Work
- This week is our last week of class before the holiday break. You will have 2 weeks of holiday. Why don't you try to explore our beautiful city? Go to our blog post Sydney Excursions and do the webquest exercise of the same name Sydney excursions. You can plan 1 or 2 excursions for your family. If you haven't done it before, do the webquest on Sydney.
- Go to Time4English, Intermediate 6A to listen to Grammar Lady. In your blog write a post explaining the difference between too and very and give examples.
- Go to Intermediate 2K and read about Natural Phenomena in Australia. Do the writing task in your blog.
- Forum topic for this week: What type of holiday do you prefer, going to the beach or going to the mountains? Tell us why.
- Go to Booking a Holiday house. Do this during the holidays.
- We have a message from a previous student. Go to Student Recipes and read the message in comments. Does anyone know who this person is? She/he forgot to sing!
- Last week's topic summary: Thanks everybody! It is very interesting to read about all the different traditions surrounidn birth in your different countries. Most of you believe not all advice given by old people is true. This is what Silvia wrote:
I don't have babies but I don't believe in superstitions. In my country somethings old people tell us are very good advice for example what Rosa says about keeping babies nice and tight. Other things are silly. They are not true, for example: Don't take cold showers while you are breasfeeding; if you want to eat something and you don't eat it, you can't touch your body because the baby will be born with the mark of what you didn't eat in the body, if your baby has a hiccups you have to put something red on his/her forhead, if your baby doesn't sleep well you have to put his/her dressing gown inside-out.
Silvia
Booking a Holiday House
We are practising how to book a holiday house in English. One of the ways to find one is on the internet. My husband and I have been doing it online for a while now and we've always found very nice places. Last year we went to a cute beach house in Currarong, called Sirena (mermaid in Italian or Spanish).
Have a look at their website South Coast Escapes.
This summer we went to a farm instead. We stayed in Granny's Cottage. Have a look at their houses:
Parma FarmYou can also find other accommodation using the internet. Go to a browser (Google, yahoo, altavista)... and write something like holiday houses. Click the Australia button. You'll get lots of websites with houses for renting.
Compare some of the houses to rent: style of house, furniture, kitchen appliances, etc ..... and chose one. Tell us in comments (or create a new post called Holiday Houses) and tell us why you've chosen that particular house.
Photo Challenge
This week you have to try to post a photo in your blog. We already tried it on Thursday and most of you managed to do it. Let's see if you can do it at home. I've posted the photos taken in the computer room (see previous entries). Choose your own and post it!
Remember:
- Right click on the photo and save in your C: drive (your computer hard disc) or memory stick
- Go to flickr ( Hello or Picasa2) and upload it
- Check the size and blog it!
Once you put them in your blog, I'll delete them from this blog.
Thanks to Jessica, Rita and Grace for letting me know in their blogs that the 
weather was going to be fine for my picnic on the long weekend!
It was very sunny, as you can see from the photos, but later in the afternoon it became so windy that my husband was terribly cold and we had to go home. He was the only one amongst all of us (12 people) who forgot to get a jumper...
Anyway, if you want to know a very nice place for a picnic, with water vews and a view of the Harbour Bridge, go to Clarkes Point in Hunters Hill. There are BBQs with timber, tables, toilets, parking, the lot!
RitaWei
JieGrace
Ivy
Silvia & Jessica
Silvia & Jessica
LilyBingbing
Lily
