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.

06

March 2015
Tiers for fears & choosing words to teach
by Vincent Chieppa
Any conscientious teacher knows that choosing words to teach is not as easy as it seems.  Sure you can deal out words left, right & center.  However, would your students understand, grow & be empowered?  Fortunately, there is a nifty little 3 tier model that helps teachers enable their students to broaden their language capacity. &...

03

March 2015
Dealing with disruptive or difficult students
by Elena Riches
Whatever kind of teacher you are, be it a maths teacher, an art teacher or a teacher of karate, there will come a time when you will have problems managing your class/group of students and if you cannot find a way to do it effectively your students can become uninterested, unmotivated or quiet, and will seldom reach your desired goal...

27

February 2015
How to... use emails for ESL teaching
by Vincent Chieppa
In this day & age paperless teaching is the future.   Seeing that this is the case it should be no surprise that the next step should be using emails for ESL teaching.  How emails are incorporated in the out-of-class learning experience depends of course on the nature...

24

February 2015
Teacher student interaction: teachers are learners too!
by Elena Riches
So, you've completed your TEFL course, gained your certificate and procured a job. The next part is, how do you do it vs how do you do it well. I personally don't think there is a wrong and right way of teaching as everyone has their own way and each way works for them; providing the students are learning what they've set out to learn then...

20

February 2015
Teaching new vocabulary: 7 fail-safe strategies
by Vincent Chieppa
If teaching grammar forms the frame for language acquisition, teaching new vocabulary provides students with the building blocks. It is therefore the teacher's responsibility to bring home the value of these building blocks by presenting them in perspective - that is, in a way that is relevant and useful for the students. In order to do th...

18

February 2015
The trials and tribulations of being a TEFL teacher
by Elena Riches
If you're thinking of becoming a TEFL teacher you might want some information of what you get out of it from someone who has firsthand experience of being one. ...

13

February 2015
ESL error correction techniques for the classroom
by Vincent Chieppa
As any experienced ESL teacher knows, the type of language errors students make are as diverse as the students themselves & their attitude toward learning.  This in turn will dictate which of th...

10

February 2015
TEFL teacher: What does it take to become one?
by Elena Riches
For those already familiar with the term 'TEFL' (an explanation of the various terms can be found here) you will know that it means teaching English as a foreign language but, what do...

10

February 2015
ESL teaching through the eyes of Cynthia Amuneke from Nigeria
by Radmila Gurkova
My name is ...

06

February 2015
Setting effective boundaries in the classroom
by Vincent Chieppa
ESL teachers could face disruptive behaviour from their students on a daily basis and this can lead to distress, tension and/or anxiety.  For this reason it is important for teachers to take charge to ensure that they are setting effective boundaries because by sim...