Wednesday, June 9th
Farewell speech and a look at next year’s syllabus.
The Handmaid’s Tale
- Epub File
- Epub file of the French translation
- PDF file
- Audiobook part 1 (read by Claire Danes)
- Audiobook part 2 (read by Claire Danes)
- The very good TV series which was adapted from the book (Season 1)
- Infographics from SparkNotes
- Study Guide from SparkNotes
- Study Guide from CliffNotes
Death of a Salesman
- Epub File
- PDF file
- The first 10 pages translated in French PDF
- film adaptation from 1965, old but quite true to the original play, Act 1 and Act 2
- Study Guide from SparkNotes
- Study Guide from CliffNotes
Tuesday, June 1st and Wednesday 2nd
Follow-up on the work of the previous week, oral account of the work done so far on the stories by the groups.
Tuesday, May 25th
Writing a story using a worksheet to collect all the useful elements and following the traditional pattern (12 stages) presented in the video below:
Wednesday, May 19th
A collaborative pad to work on a film review about Moxie.
Tuesday, May 18th
Moxie (download the film and the subtitles)
Tuesday, May 11th & Wednesday 12th
Lockdown
Complete this exercise: Find a text/poem/monologue in English that you would like to be able to read and deliver in the best way possible. Record yourself and send me the file using Vocaroo as soon as possible.
Then you have until after the holidays to watch and read all this:
Tuesday, March 30th
1. Into The Wild – author’s note & chapter 1
3. Into The Wild (The book) on Wikipedia
(and for those who may want to go further the whole book: Into The Wild or here in French in the Epub format, there are some free apps for phones or extensions for web browsers on computers to read this format)
Wednesday, March 24th
explore LearnEnglishTeens on the website of the British Council and choose 2 activities.
Wednesday, March 17th
Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
They have their exits and entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then, the whining schoolboy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice
In fair round belly, with good capon lin’d,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws, and modern instances,
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well sav’d, a world too wide,
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again towards childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
part of the play “As You Like It”, where Jacques makes a dramatic speech in the presence of the
Duke in Act II, Scene VII.
a random joke sent by a friend of mine.
A dictation in English: Airpods by Jony Ive, the exercise is here and if you need to view the video separately it is here.
Tuesday, March 16th
Find a text/poem/monologue in English that you would like to be able to read and deliver in the best way possible.
Record yourself and send me the file using Vocaroo by April 6th
https://eduscol.education.fr/cid144068/specialite-llcer-bac-2021.html
- Œuvres littéraires :
- – Haddon Mark, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, 2003 ;
- – Lee Harper, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960 ;
- – Orwell George, Animal Farm, 1945 ;
- – Poe Edgar Allan, The Fall of the House of Usher, 1839 – The Tell-Tale Heart, 1843 (les deux nouvelles comptent pour une œuvre) ;
- – Steinbeck John, Of Mice and Men, 1937 ;
- – Wilde Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895.
- Œuvres filmiques :
- – Nolan Christopher, Interstellar, 2014 ;
- – Wise Robert, West Side Story, 1961.
Wednesday, March 10th
An introduction to Shakespeare : Shakespeare in Love
Tuesday, March 2nd and Tuesday 9th
To watch the complete film : West Side Story
West Side Story, a presentation by Charlotte
Romeo and Juliet
PROLOGUE
The Chorus, often played by a single narrator, opens Romeo and Juliet with a brief summary of what’s to come on stage. Just as the Chorus in ancient Greek tragedies provided a commentary on events in the play for the audience, so Shakespeare’s Chorus sets the scene for tragedy by presenting his two young protagonists as the victims of fate whose lives are marred from the outset by the feud between their families: “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes / A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.” Any lack of suspense as to the outcome of the play serves to emphasize the major theme of fate — an omnipresent force looming over Romeo and Juliet’s “death-marked” love.
The prologue is also a sonnet, a popular form of 16th-century love poem that often explored such themes as love in conflict. Shakespeare chooses this poetic form to outline the play’s main issues of love and feuding and to present another major theme: how true love ultimately triumphs because the deaths of Romeo and Juliet end the feud between their families.
West Side Story, a presentation by Charlotte
Wednesday, February 24th
Record a podcast (audio only) about:
- something you like
- something you know about
- something which can be talked about in English
- => search the web IN ENGLISH for information and vocabulary, (use another search engine (such as Duckduckgo) to get results in English)
- => compile a long list of elements (nouns, adjectives, VERBS, phrases, sentences etc. Store this list ONLINE.
- => prepare your presentation using the collected material
- => you need to be able to talk for a few minutes.
- => talk, don’t read!
Use Vocaroo to record the podcast and send the link to me via my contact page or my email (pierre@acobas.net), or even Eclat, by Sunday March 14th.
Tuesday, February 23rd
Wednesday, February 3rd
Finish the exercise about Reported Speech, then check your answers.
Download V for Vendetta, the Comic Book, and upload the CBR file here to be able to view it online.
Tuesday, February 2nd
Wednesday, January 20th and 27th
V for Vendetta: links to download the film and the English subtitles
Tuesday, January 19th and 26th
Grammar and style:
Wednesday, January 6th and 13th
Choose a subject for an oral personal presentation :
- something you like
- something you know about
- something which can be talked about in English
- => search the web IN ENGLISH for information and vocabulary, (use another search engine (such as Duckduckgo) to get results in English)
- => compile a long list of elements (nouns, adjectives, VERBS, phrases, sentences etc. Store this list ONLINE.
- => prepare your presentation using the collected material
- => you may add some pictures or a bit of sound (but no video) to help your audience focus and understand
- => you need to be able to talk for a few minutes.
- => talk, don’t read!
keep on reading Animal Farm
The work about Carrie Reichardt is to be handed in by Monday, December 21st at the latest
Wednesday, December 2nd and 9th
axe art et pouvoir
Carrie Reichardt, street-artist and more.
Tuesday, December 1st and 8th
Conversation class in small groups with Charlotte Armstrong and the teacher.
Wednesday, November 18th and 25th
you need to work with 2 windows side-by-side (one for the sound, the other for the exercise, or you may listen to the sound file on your smartphone)
The Bear and The Dragon by Tom Clancy – American accent + extract from a spy novel – you may download the mp3 file or listen to it directly below.
and/or
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling – British accent – extract from the first chapter of the first volume – you may download the mp3 file or listen to it directly below.
Very detailed study guide about Animal Farm
Tuesday, November 17th and 24th
Tuesday, November 10th
Introducing Charlotte, our new English Language Assistant from California.
Chapter 1, 2 and 3 of Animal Farm.
Wednesday, November 4th
use this pad to make a list of characters.
Mr Jones and his wife are humans obviously and the farmers at Manor Farms. .
Old Major the boar, the prize middle white boar, aka Willingdon Beauty.
Clover & Boxer are the cart horses, Clover is a stout motherly mare and Boxer is an enormous stupid-looking beast.
Muriel the white goat.
Benjamin the donkey, the oldest animal. He’s the worst tempered animal.
Bluebell, Jessie and Pincher, the three dogs.
Mollie the white mare.
Moses the tame raven.
There are also the ducklings.
Chapter 1, 2 and 3 of Animal Farm.
Tuesday, November 3rd
Election Day in the United States of America is the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. It can fall on or between November 2 and November 8. It is the day when popular ballots are held to select public officials. These include national, state, and local government representatives at all levels up to the president.
Latest Daily Show episode with Trevor Noah.
Chapter 1, 2 and 3 of Animal Farm.
Wednesday, October 14th
Fill in this form to write a presentation of the film Enola Holmes (2020).
Start in class and finish at home during the holidays: read and listen to Chapter 1, 2 and 3 of Animal Farm.
Tuesday, October 13th
at home: Enola Holmes with English and/or French Subtitles, click here.
Wednesday, October 7th
Take a first look at Animal Farm
Oral Presentations
(1) Biographical elements
Novels
(2) 1934 – Burmese Days
(3) 1935 – A Clergyman’s Daughter
(4) 1936 – Keep the Aspidistra Flying
(5) 1939 – Coming Up for Air
(1945 – Animal Farm)
(6) 1949 – Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nonfiction
(7) 1933 – Down and Out in Paris and London
(8) 1937 – The Road to Wigan Pier
(9) 1938 – Homage to Catalonia
Tuesday, October 6th
Get ready for your oral presentations tomorrow.
On the website george-orwell.org you may find the complete texts of his books.
Wednesday, September 30th
Work in pairs to prepare presentations about Georges Orwell, each pair gets a number from 1 to 9. You will find some resources below.
(1) Biographical elements
Novels
(2) 1934 – Burmese Days
(3) 1935 – A Clergyman’s Daughter
(4) 1936 – Keep the Aspidistra Flying
(5) 1939 – Coming Up for Air
(1945 – Animal Farm)
(6) 1949 – Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nonfiction
(7) 1933 – Down and Out in Paris and London
(8) 1937 – The Road to Wigan Pier
(9) 1938 – Homage to Catalonia
To search the web in English do not use Google which is mainly going to give you results in French, but try another search engine called Duckduckgo which can be easily switched to another language and location => https://duckduckgo.com/settings
Tuesday, September 29th
Working backwards! Look at these comprehension questions and use them to create a story. Then give your story a title.
- Where did Tony first meet Sandra?
- How old was he? How old was she?
- Did Tony know how to dance?
- Who taught him?
- What was Sandra wearing at the dance?
- Who was she talking to in a dark corner of the disco?
- Who took Sandra home after the dance?
- Where did Tony and Sandra meet again two days later?
- How often did they see each other?
- What was Sandra’s father job?
- What was his attitude to Tony?
- How long was it before Tony and Sandra saw each other again?
- How was their meeting arranged?
- Why was Tony surprised when he saw Sandra?
- Did Sandra’s father change his mind in the end? Why?
Wednesday, September 23rd
Re-write the story using Morag’s point of view, and write it in the first person (350 words +/-10%)
- put yourself in her shoes an visualize the landscape (see photos below) and the scene (the Vikings coming ashore)
- collect vocabulary and information in the short-story which you are going to recycle in your own version.
- email your short-story to pierre@acobas.net by Friday, October 2nd.
Tuesday, September 22nd
Reading Tartan together.
Wednesday, September 16th
Reading Tartan together.
Tuesday, September 15th
Wednesday, September 9th
Tuesday, September 8th
“That willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Reading Tartan, a short-story by George Mackay Brown.
Visualizing the scene by drawing elements. The scene takes place in the north of Scotland, near Durness and it looks like this when the weather is good!
Wednesday, September 2nd
General introduction and a short history of the English Language.
=> homework: watch the video
