Christmas is coming to town !!

Some Christmas songs , an ad with a cute cat and some film clips to spread the Christmas spirit

Cracking a Joke and a Dialogue

As Alex says in the YouTube video, understanding jokes is the last barrier for learners of English to break through. Jokes usually play with double meanings of words and that's the main reason why they are hard to understand. However, another important aspect lies in the cultural background which differs from one country to another. 

So, let's have some practice on double meanings. Why do you think this joke is funny?Please , send me your comments ;)

One of your last tasks this term is podcasting a joke which may be either a translation from a Catalan joke or an English one. Be careful when translating since the meaning might be lost! 

Watch Alex' video to learn more about English jokes. 


Along with the joke, you should podcast a dialogue with a classmate in which you discuss about some adverts of your choice. Upload the photographs you talk about in your post. 
(Note: follow the guidelines on page 29 in your Student Book.Don't forget to use the phrases and target vocabulary from the Speaking section.)

Vicky Pollard and the chavs

In the first unit we tackled the topic of the registers in English. Language register is the level and style of your spoken or written English. Different situations require appropriate registers. You wouldn't speak to the Queen of England the same way you would talk to your friend!!

 

You ain't believe but he party was awesome and Mary was chuffed to bits with the grub.

 Good morning, Your Majesty. We appreciate your visit.

There are three main registers in English:

• Formal
• Informal
• Neutral

 Within the informal group, there is an even more  informal adaptation of the informal language itself known as slang. Slang is common to certain geographical locations , groups of people or social classes. Perhaps, one of the best examples of slang sub-culture is the fictional character Vicky Pollard in the comedy series Little Britain. Vicky stands out as the representation of teenagers and chavs.

Check out these two videos on Vicky's stay at the boot camp in Utah . Pay attention to the way she speaks, her vocabulary and accent.
Click HERE for the first video when she arrives to the boot camp or correctional. Then HERE for the second when she is in a counselling session with the other camp inmmates . 

• Now, write a post in your blog discussing this question: Is there a tribe in Catalonia or Spain similar to the chavs? Remember, use 100 words minimum and reason your answer.

DEPECHE MODE IN SIMLISH

Not only artificial people such as The Sims use Simlish to communicate, the British band Depeche Mode translated one of his songs into this artificial language. This happened in 2006 and below you can read what The Guardian wrote about the experiment. 

Transcribed from The Guardian newspaper, 4th March , 2006
Depeche Mode try a new style: en dough cheeky-a-vunch

"Deh dah do. Misbalah. Que-moh-nuzhnee? Esta booka-dee schvallow en dough cheeky-a-vunch."*

Don't quite recognise it? It's Simlish, allegedly a combination of fractured Ukrainian and Tagalog, the language of the Philippines, and it could help 80s icons Depeche Mode appeal to a new audience.

The Mode, as they are known to fans, have re-recorded one of their singles in the so-called language used by characters in the hugely popular computer game series The Sims, which allows people to build their own cities and worlds.

Although no dictionary seems available, the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia has a stab. "Moarsh doove" appears to mean "howdy, neighbour". "Kavaala! Midoo!" has been roughly translated as "Over here! I'm desperate". The phrase "Oh flark" probably needs no translation.

Depeche Mode, pioneers of synthesiser pop are now attempting to take a lead in Simlish, with a re-recording of Suffer Well from the album Playing the Angel.

"Depeche Mode has always been open to new ways of sharing our music," said lead singer David Gahan. "But re-recording a Simlish-language version of Suffer Well just sounded bizarre. Of course, that's why we couldn't resist doing it."

Steve Schnur, an executive at EA, the company behind The Sims, described Simlish as "an emotion-filled language that defies translation. It's a great fit for the music of Depeche Mode which is so focused on creating a mood and appeals to people on an emotional level."

A video of the song can be downloaded from the game's website and features a cartoon version of the band. The film's rollercoaster story, a seemingly tragic one, revolves around a robot who falls in love with a human woman who spurns his advances. The robot gets drunk, fights and then tries to burn the woman alive. It fails but it does get a painting of the woman exhibited at a fancy gallery.

Depeche Mode are following in the footsteps of fellow 80s synthesiser pop act Howard Jones who re-recorded his 1985 hit Things Can Only Get Better in Simlish. In an interview with a cartoon chimpanzee on the game's website, Jones dedicates the reworking to his 11-year-old son Jasper, a big Sims fan. "I did find it very, very challenging. It took me a long time to get my tongue around the words," he said.

*According to Wikipedia, this could mean: "Hello. I'm frustrated. Are you joking? I know exactly where that's going and I couldn't agree more". Alternatively, since it is made up, it could mean anything you want it to mean.

Write a comment. What do you think about this? Do you feel it is right to listen to a song without understanding a word? 

Beckham Goes Undercover

A tongue-in-cheek task !!!

David Beckham, the world-famous footballer, appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show. This is an American talk show, which has been on the US TV since 2003 and whose presenter is Ellen Degeneres. Ellen is a comedian, actress, writer and producer, her name may ring a bell because she hosted the Oscar Academy Awards in 2014. 

This is Ellen!!

Well, in this programme, she invited David Beckham and talked him into going undercover in a supermarket as a cologne salesman.

While David was trying hard to sell his own cologne, Ellen was telling him what to say through an earpiece. The whole prank was being recorded by a hidden camera until the end when David revealed himself as David Beckham. 

This is the video ;)

Watch the video and then complete the tasks in the worksheet below

Welcome all !!!

This is a blog created for 2nd Batxillerat students whose main aim is being a platform to collect your English tasks such as projects, writings, videos, oral presentations, podcasts among others. In one word, this is your DIGITAL PORTFOLIO, a sophisticated version of a common humble paper notebook. 

You might ask why? Easy, to prove your competence in English and keep track of your progress in learning. Most importantly, to make feel you part of a community of bloggers where people write, read, comment and share.

I hope you enjoy the experience!! ;)