A running commentary

This is a fun way to practise using the Present Continuous:

First, watch the video and write a list of actions you see in the video.

For example: Chewing, walking, looking, watching, etc.

Next, watch the video again and describe what is happening?

Can all the verbs be used in the continuous form? Watch out, some verbs cannot!

Now, do the same with this next video:

Now that you have had some practice... 

Try describing the video to a friend (who has a higher level of English than you do) but don't let your friend see the video. 

After you have described the video, show it to your friend.

Ask them if your description was accurate or; if they could have done it better than you?

Take it in turns to describe the videos and have fun!

Loves Learning languages!

Loves learning to sing...

"Educate the nation with a song and a vision."

Make yourself a promise that you'll eat better food...

Please watch this superb video about food revolution;

1. Name the actors, singers and people you recognise.

2. Listen to the lyrics and summarise the song.

3. How can this video help people to eat better food?  
Well, in my opinion it won't, but it will raise awareness, which in turn will encourage people to make better decisions about the food they eat. 

iFriendly Tip: Learn the lyrics, sing the song. This way you can learn new vocabulary through singing.

Over the next few weeks iFriendly will look at a series of songs and videos to help you learn from songs in English.

Loves learning languages!

Learn the iFriendly way...

What is the best way to learn a language?

Sorry, but there is no easy way to answer this...

However, I do believe that finding out what makes a student tick, what sparks an interest in them, is the key to helping them learn.

From my experience a good way of finding out what pushes their buttons is to give them a projects instead of a text books.  Sometimes a book can offer lots of different subject matters that could appeal to a wide range of students, but will that small section of the text book capture their imagination? I seriously doubt it. Text books have a place, they live in the classroom.  I rarely come across a student who reads their text books for fun.  I don't argue the fact that they are a good learning tool, but they belong in the classroom. iFriendly believes that project work is the best way to learn outside the school as an extra-curricular activity.

From my experience project work has the ability to bring out the best (strengths) in people and the worst (weaknesses). If you can identify your strengths early on in life then that will be a  fantastic advantage in many aspects of your life. The same goes for your weaknesses, if we can identify our weaknesses early on we can try and improve on them. iFriendly believes that if we don't improve on our weaknesses then they could turn into fears. 

When we start work on a project, we must think of;

How to go about it?

Where to start?

What tools are needed?

These questions alone give us the motivation to start work on the project and discover what we are good at along the way. As an individual working on a project, we could discover that we are good at prioritising, organization, research, etc.  As part of a team we could discover if we have leadership skills, or if we are good at building rapport.

During the chosen project you will find that you learn English in a natural way, not because you have to fill in the gaps or answer a difficult grammar question about the 3rd conditional, but because you have had to read about the given subject, research and investigate the ideas in order to complete the project. The end result is a finished piece of work that you have learnt from and above all you are proud of your effort.

I recently watched a video about an educational programme in the United Kingdom, which has been an inspiration to this iFriendly project... 

Please click on the link below:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2015/apr/08/time-to-rewild-your-child-george-monbiot-video?CMP=fb_gu

I do believe that taking anyone out into the wilds or countryside could have a tremendous affect on their self esteem. Learning out in the open through project work could bring out other qualities you didn't know existed! Whether you or your children are learning a language... iFriendly wants to help you find out how you can learn and enjoy learning. 

iFriendly tour Kayaking and bird watching

Ratanui, Kayaking and bird watching...

Ratanui, Kayaking, bird watching and home grown mussels! (That's right, mussells grown on an underwater farm...)

Ratanui Lodge...  (A.k.a Ratatui lodge, which is what I kept calling it!)
http://ratanuilodge.com/

So far the most luxurious place iFriendly has stayed in so far...

A short walk across the road to the nearest beach and a short drive to Golden Bay Kayak, where you are greeted in the Kiwi way (super friendly way) and given instructions on how to manoeuver the kayak, given a spray skirt (this is the coolest most useful invention I have seen in the world of Kayaking) which is essentially a skirt. it grips on to kayak preventing you from getting wet or burnt by the sun.. GENIUS!

We steered around the coves, between the rocks and got some superb shots of the birds and seals in the area. Shag birds and sea gulls were the predominant and we saw two seals enjoying the sun.  They do smell a bit, but that is because they are in the sea a long time and because they eat octopus, which they tear apart... leaving the leftovers to rot in the sun... Nice!

In the evening we checked out a place just outside of Takaka, called the Mussel inn... Delicious big fat juicy mussels.. Yummy!

http://www.musselinn.co.nz/









Homework: 

B1/ B2/ C1 Write a letter to a friend describing a place you have been recently ...
Include an interesting fact about the place.
Advise your friend to visit the place, suggest what they should do whist they are there.

B1 - 70 words

B2/ C1 200 -250 words. For extra reading, click on the links in the texts.

iFriendly visit to Hobbiton - B1 B2 C1

The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movie trilogies

iFriendly visit to Hobbiton

Our visit to The Shire was much better than we had ever imagined... It was awesome... Far out! (as they like to say in New Zealand).

(Far out: Sounds American if you ask me, but pronounced with a New Zealand accent!)

Apparently, when film scouts found the Alexanders' sheep and beef farm just outside of Matamata, they knew it would be the perfect setting for Sir Peter Jackson's adaptation of the classic works of J.R.R Tolkien.  The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movie trilogies.

For those of you who are fans of the book or the movie, it is an amazing experience...

The coach picks you up and drives you straight to the film set, then it drops you off so that you can walk around.  A guide walks around with you and tells you the best place to take a photo.

Walking around was a very cool experience... You could probably imagine how I felt when we went to see the third part of the Hobbit Trilogy in Wellington.... a mere two days later! Very exciting, and seeing the movie set on the big screen was thrilling! To think I had actually walked around there and sat outside Bilbo Baggin's house...

Here are some shots from our visit...

Hobbit house... Did you know that this is just a facade??  There is actually nothing behind the door but earth.

 Knock knock!  Who's there? iFriendly.  iFriendly who?  iFriendly teacher!

 Peter Jackson employed staff to walk around the village everyday... to wash clothes, do some gardening etc... To make it look like people actually lived there.

 The Honey Maker's house...

Bilbo Baggin's house... Bag End!

Homework:

B1:  Underline all the vocabulary that you do not understand and look up the words in a dictionary.

B2 / C1:  Have you had the opportunity to visit a movie set?  Why don't you tell me about it?
or; find out about a movie set near you and write about it.