camus english corner

Because your first tests were not as good as expected, practice your oral comprehension.

• Visit the Audio-Lingua website
• Choose 3 documents depending on your level of English
• Listen, take notes, sum up in English what you understood
• OR listen, take notes, sum up in French what you understood
• OR write the script of the audio document
• Once your script was checked by your teacher, listen and repeat or read the whole document outloud

These practice exercises are essential for you to improve your oral skills (comprehension and expression).

Good luck !

Today we compared the frontpages of 2 British newspapers :

Today we listened to Mary speaking about the British press.

Listen to her again :

Practice your listening skills for next time. Listen to Helen:

• On the Sun's frontpage, the Queen is sitting at her desk. She is wearing an elegant pink and white dress. It's as if she was having a conversation with the reader. She looks happy and relaxed, as if she were a "normal" person.
• On the contrary, on the Times' frontpage, the Queen is sitting on a chair in a living-room in Buckingham Palace. She is looking away through the open window. She is wearing a beautiful ivory dress and her crown on top of her head. She definitely looks like a queen !
• The Sun is known as a tabloid. They want to attract readers whereas the Times is a broadsheet and their goal is to inform their readers. The tabloid wants to show that the Queen is close to the readers whereas the Times wants to show a traditional image of monarchy.

LET'S RECAP !

• On September, 9th 2015 Elizabeth became the longest-reigning monarch in British history, thus surpassing Queen Victoria. Elizabeth has been the Queen of the UK and the Commonwealth for 63 years, since 1952 when her elder sister Mary I died.
• On this occasion, all the British newspapers – tabloids and broadsheets alike – displayed very different frontpages to honour record-breaking Elizabeth. We had a close look at The Sun and The Times in particular.
• The Sun, which is known as the most popular scandal newspaper in GB, with twice as many readers as The Times, aims at catching the readers’ attention and making as many people as possible buy it, by all means. On the official photo provided by Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth is wearing an elegant but not too formal burgundy dress. She is sitting facing at a slight angle, giving her the image of someone easy to talk to, very close to the people. Anyone who does not know she is the Queen would not necessarily guess she is. This feeling is emphasized by the massive headline : « reigning champion ». Many people would find it inappropriate for so-called journalists to dare address the British Queen in such a familiar way. On the photo Queen Elizabeth is sitting at her desk in front of an open red box, which traditionally contains all the important documents coming from the government for the Queen to study every day. The message is clearly announced in the newspapers headlines or articles : Queen Elizabeth is still as hard working as ever, even though she has been reigning for such a long time.
• The Times, on the contrary, decided to show the Queen in a beautiful golden dress, with her crown on top of her head, looking away through an open window. This artistic photo almost looks like a painting using light and colour in a very subtle way. The news editors also chose to quote the Queen’s coronation speech and publish it on the frontpage. The Queen certainly does not seem very close to the people on The Times’ frontpage. She may also look behind the times and disconnected from everyday life. We could even imagine that this frontpage could be the one announcing the Queen’s death. 
• Between tradition and modernity, sometimes working at her desk sometimes sending the first royal tweet at a high tech conference, multi-faceted Queen Elizabeth - as well as the rest of the Royal family - regularly makes the headlines. We may conclude that the British press plays a major role in the image of the Royal family that is conveyed today.

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COURSE MATERIAL

• 2 frontpages : The Sun and The Times
• 2 audio documents from Audio-Lingua : Mary about the British press and Jenny talking about the Royal Family and the press part 1 & part 2.

NOTIONS

• Forms and places of power
• Myths and heroes
• Idea of progress

ISSUE

• The British Royal Family today: tradition or modernity? How has the Queen become a symbol?
• To what extent does the British press help shape a certain image of monarchy today?
• To what extent has the Queen known how to evolve through time

TO GO FURTHER (click on the links)

• Kellogg’s royal cereal  
• Elizabeth’s first royal tweet
• Elizabeth’s biography
• 3 queens, 3 destinies out of the ordinary : a timeline, Password p.76-77
• Helen : audio document on the press in GB

Match each newspaper with a few words to qualify it.

• The Sun : tabloid / original / scandal / gutter press / useless / sensational / eye-catching / to make money
• The Times : informative / serious / interesting / artistic / intellectual / snobbish / boring / to inform

Listen to Mary again

Remember !

• You will be tested on your pronunciation of If I were... I would be...; on your capacity to give details (beware of the tenses you use), of the questions you ask your partners  and on the rhythm of your spoken English.
• You can hesitate. Feel free to use gap-fillers : anything else ? / so... / right... / well... / probably... / let me think / honestly... / I have no idea... / that's a tough/difficult one
• Be curious : ask your partner details about his / her answers
• French is banned !
• Have fun, be orginal and creative. Surprise your partners :)
• Practice at home over the weekend. Use Acapela text-to-speech.

Today we reflected on how to take notes when we listen to an oral document.

Here's a few pieces of advice.

Write them down in your copybooks for next class

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Let's practice ! Now listen to Candice and take notes. Try to find the method that suits you best.

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Here's what we learnt from each other :

Please write this down in your copybooks for our next lesson. 

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SIMPLE PRESENT (presentation, likes, dislikes, habits)

• Alice B. & Alice C. both live in Bois-Colombes whereas Désirelle lives in St Leu-La-Forêt. It takes 50 min for her to come to school everyday.

• Swelie loves drawing. She also practices the violin 1 hour per day.

• Alice C. absolutely hates spiders. She freaks out when she sees one !

SIMPLE PRETERITE (in the past. finished, dated)

• Agathe went to Lyon and Brittany over the Summer holiday. Violette visited her family in Canada.

• Swelie was impressed by the cruel shooting of Cecil the Lion by an American dentist.

PRETERITE BE+ING

• Last night Anaïs dreamt she was a duck and she was walking down the road :) Even weirder, Melissa dreamt she was at her aunt's. A whale shark was swimming in her aunt's swimming-pool and Melissa had to feed it with insects !!

PRESENT PERFECT (sthg that happened in the past, consequence in the present time)

• Chloé has already been to Australia, Ireland and the UK.

• The most beautiful place Faiza has ever visited is the Maldives. It looks like paradise but it's a long time she's been there. She would like to go again.

PRESENT PERFECT BE+ING

• Alice C. can speak French, English, Italian and a bit of Brazilian. She has been studying Italian for 6 years now.

FUTURE

• One day, Melissa will go to NYC.

CONDITIONAL

• She would also like to visit Australia.

• Chloé wants to be a psychologist when she's older whereas Elise would like to become an artist, just like Eva.

We spent time sharing information about us today. Here's what we learnt :

SIMPLE PRESENT

• Dalia lives in Bois-Colombes, just like Nathan.
• Paloma likes listening to music. (to like + Ving)
• Kany practices classical dance 4 hours a week.(!! practice = US English vs. practise = GB English !!)
• Antoine likes going out with his friends.
• Elyette hates cheese.
• Nathan hates phoney (=fake) people
• Liz doesn't like insects.

SIMPLE PRETERIT

• Over the last Summer Holiday Renaud went to Japan. It is very different from here.
• Mikael went to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. It's the most beautiful place he has ever been to !
• Antoine heard about the French farmers' rebellion which took place over the Summer.

PRETERIT BE+ING

• Last night, Elyette dreamt she was teaching how to surf to her 4-year-old niece.

PRESENT PERFECT

• Paul has already been to San Francisco.
• Paloma has already been to Florida twice. She went there 2 and 6 years ago.
• The most beautiful place Jeremy has ever seen is the beach in the Caribbean Island.

CONDITIONAL

• Kany would like to become a surgeon.

FUTURE

• One day Liz will go to Costa Rica.

Today we worked on Chinese portraits. We made a list of new categories. Here's the result. For Monday, click to spin the wheel and practice at home !