30 November 2011 / by Radmila Gurkova

EU and US Summit. Listen to our leaders speak english...

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We-eNqzmtEw

"Talks of a joint working group to explore how to enhance “untapped potential” of a ‘Transatlantic economic co-operation’ were high on the agenda this week as both US and EU leader’s held a bi-lateral trade talk at the White House with President Obama."


DEBATE



  • Are you concerned about the debt crisis or do you find it tiresome listening to people talk continually about Spain's debt and Europe's issues?

  • Are we to blame for overspending?

  • Would you accept help from other nations, such as the United States?


KEYWORDS





























































Word Image Definition Example Listen
Summit the highest level of
diplomatic or other
governmental officials.
A summit conference.
Neighbour a person or thing that
is near another
one of our
neighbour nations.
Eurozone another name for Euroland All European countries Listen
Encourage to inspire with courage,
spirit, or confidence
One of the chief
duties of a teacher is
to encourage students.
Treaty the formal document
embodying such an
international agreement.
The two tribes formed a treaty
Transatlantic on or from the other side of the Atlantic The boat sailed from the USA to the UK Listen
Globalisation worldwide integration
and development
Globablization has resulted in the loss of some
individual cultural identities.

EASY GRAMMAR

Topic: Formal Expressions Used in Meetings

Level: Easy to Medium

Task: Can you complete the expressions below with texts from the video?





























Introducing a subject



Transition between elements



Concluding


Good morning, everybody.

 
Let me make two points: one on … and one on ...

 
Finally, I hope you (have a good visit).

 
I am very pleased to welcome  you to ...

 
My first point regards…

My second point regards …

 
Let me conclude…

 
Let me first thank you for your hospitality.

 
With regard to …

 
Thank you very much, everybody.

 
I very much appreciated our discussion here at the White House today.

 
I am happy to say that …

 
 

 

Topic: Word Formation

Level: Medium to Advanced

Task: Can you identify which words appear in the video? Can you extract more examples  from the text?






































Root Prefix Suffix 1 Suffix 2 Prefix and suffix
Sustain   sustainable Sustainability  
Like Dislike Likely Likelihood Unlikely
Think       Unthinkable
Accept   Acceptable   Unacceptable

 

Level: Advanced

Topic: Inversion

In formal language we often want to emphasize one idea over the rest in a sentence. We do it by placing the idea to emphasize first in the sentence.

Have a look at two possible ways of achieving this.

  1. Using  WHAT


What hasn’t  changed though is the fundamental bonds that exist between the European union and the United States.

2.  Using NOT SINCE

Not since the end of the Cold War has the world seen such a degree of transformation in global affairs.

14

November 2011
English Tip #4 - False Friends
by Radmila Gurkova
False friends are words that look and sound similar but have different meanings. When we are learning a language, we tend to subconsciously  use familiar-words... There are many wo...

11

November 2011
Oxbridge TEFL: Job Vacancy - English Teacher in Córdoba
by Radmila Gurkova
We have been contacted by an English academy that is looking for a d...

11

November 2011
Oxbridge and Ciball host first teacher's meeting
by Radmila Gurkova
On the 3rd of November Oxbridge joined forces with CIBALL – A centre in Madrid developed as a meeting place for innovators associated with the network o...

11

November 2011
Asteroid - Near miss in collision with Earth
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GuRj1ve1M An Asteroid on a flyby this month will have a 'near-miss' collision with Earth. The asteroid, the size of an aircraft carrier is being tracked by NASA and is reported to orbit the Earth much closer than the Moon's on November 8th. Nasa has been tracking the asteroid over a period of days to gather...

11

November 2011
English Tips #3 - Ziggurat
by Radmila Gurkova
What is a Ziggurat? Noun - an ancient Mesopotamian temple tower consisting of a lofty pyramidal structure built in successive stages with out...

10

November 2011
Would you fire someone for 'planking'?
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRHnTFesv7c "Police take offence to new planking craze after one was done on an officers vehicle." Planking is an online craze - started in Australia and New Zealand —where people post pictures of themselves laying flat as a board on ...

10

November 2011
English Tips #2 - it's vs. its
by Radmila Gurkova
So, it's vs. its.....which one???? it's and its cause all sorts of problems. Take a minute to understand the difference between the two. IT'S is a co...

09

November 2011
English Tips #1 - For and Since (Time)
by Radmila Gurkova
We often use for...

08

November 2011
Michael Jackson Doctor Found Guilty
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=944iHM4A8Lw&feature=related "Jurors find Dr. Conrad Murray guilty of involuntary manslaughter." Michael Jackson can now rest in peace after a jury of seven men and five women found his personal physician guilty of involuntary manslaughter, after a long two and a half years wait. The "Doctor" will remain o...

04

November 2011
Friday Meeting 4/11/2011
by Radmila Gurkova
How can we effectively teach Business English? We have been debating for a while about the difference between General English and Business English. The structures that business...