Cliches

Finish these sentences: 

1. Every rose has its___________________
2. Absence makes the heart grow_________
3. You can't have your cake and _________
4. When the going gets tough, the tough ___
5. Where there's smoke, there's __________
6. Better late than ____________________
7. No news is________________________
8. Don't bite the hand that ______________
9. Two's company, three's a _____________
10. Every cloud has a __________________

If you have been speaking English for awhile, you've probably heard these phrases enough times to be able to fill in the blanks with no problem. See how you did (answers below)! For more on Cliches, take a look at the link under "Sites You Might Find Interesting" at the right.

So, what, exactly, is a cliche?
A cliche is a phase that is considered overused (used too often) which can be literal or figurative in meaning. Here are some examples:

• the good old days (literal = in the past when things were better) - I remember my years at college. Yes, those were the good old days.

• tip of the iceberg (figurative = only the beginning, or just a small percentage) - The problems we are seeing    (Source: About.com Popular Cliches Explained by Kenneth Beare)

 This short video will give you some more examples: A Cliche?

Our students had some fun with Cliches by making new ones. Here are some clever examples:

1. Don't worry, be happy-----Don't worry, do something!
2. An apple a day keeps the doctor away----An apple a day isn't a pear.
3. Behind the clouds the sun is shining----Behind the clouds, there's air.
4. All good things come to those who wait-----All good things come to those who are lucky.
5. A penny saved is a penny earned-----A penny saved is a penny not spent.
6. Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today----Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.
7. There's nothing to fear but fear itself----There's nothing to fear but swimming in a Speedo.
8. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again----If at first you don't succeed, reload the WiFi.
9. Don't bite the hand that feeds you----Don't bite me because I'll bite back!
10. Two's company, three's a crowd---Two's company, three's a number.

After each student wrote a number of new cliches, they chose one to illustrate. Here are just a few of the examples:

Inger den Boer

Hannah Willeboordse

Miriam Jaffari

Romy Joziasse

Tara Vlierman

 (Answers for above cliches: 1. thorn, 2. fonder, 3. eat it too, 4. get going, 5. fire, 6. never, 7. good news, 8. feeds you, 9. crowd, 10. silver lining)

More Music & Me Projects

There isn't enough space to show you all of the finished projects from our talented students, but for your viewing pleasure, take a look at these! (The YouTube links have the titles highlighted.)

• What Does the Fox Say by Sem Bode

• Alive by Sander Kloet

• Wake Me Up by Tabitha Wattel

• Somewhere Only We Know by Miriam Jaffari

• La La La by Julian van Grondel

• Hey Brother by Eijse Bokma

• Lemon Tree by Lucas Salomé

• In the Hall of Fame by Hugo Zaaijer

• Wake Me Up by Wanne Aarnoutse

• On Top of the World by Laura van de Kreeke

Finished Projects!

The English Fluency classes have now completed their Music & Me projects and have created some very nice videos combining images and lyrics to the song they chose. Below are three examples. Take a look!

• On top of the World, by Joy Schroevers.

EXTRA INFORMATION for above video:
On the end of the video, there are the words: "thanks to: Solange, Emma, Anouk and Nouria". They are really good friends, even they live completely somewhere else. But they have something special. This song reminded me of them, so I asked them to contribute drawings to my video, which I have included.
 
One more note about the other pictures in the movie:
I made them by myself. Not that I owned that pictures I used, but I mashed them up till I liked it. So I took some pictures, mashed them up and made the lyrics on it. ~ Joy :)

• Diamonds in the Sky, by Tara Vlierman

• Fix You, by Hannah Bijl

 

Creating Videos

 New! Check out our section called "Student Blogs" on the right. More to to come!

We have been hard at work with our Music and Me projects--analyzing our song lyrics in detail and choosing images that best illustrate how we wish to portray those lyrics. The last step is to create a photo montage, bringing together both images and music in a coherent and entertaining way. Below you can see us hard at work with our projects!

Many students have already presented their finished creations to the class. They are being graded on their creativity, choice of images as it relates to the lyrics and music, the flow of the storyboard itself (most students are using iMovie), and their remarks about the video (why they chose the song, what the lyrics mean to them, why they chose their particular images, etc.) In the next post, we'll be sharing some of the videos for you to see!

Music and Me

New Item! Phrase of the Week :
"to pan out"

“"The new job didn't pan out. I had to quit because I couldn't work as many hours as they wanted me to."

The TTO classes have begun a new project drawn from the lesson "Music and Me." Here are the goals:

1. Analyze music and lyrics (English only!) of a song that is meaningful to you.
2. Choose words and photos that relate to the song and have a personal meaning to you
3. Use the text and images to create a movie that expresses how the music makes you feel and what the lyrics make you think about.  

This project will be done in steps. For the first class, the goals were:

1. Make a list of your top ten favorite songs.
2. Narrow down that list, eliminating those with no lyrics, or lyrics in languages other than English.
3.  Now, from your narrowed down list (3 to 5 songs), look up the lyrics to each and read them carefully, evaluating them for content. Eliminate those with inappropriate words or situations. How do you know if something is inappropriate?  If you wouldn't want to sing it to your mother, then it should probably be crossed of the list!
4. Finally, choose the song that fits all the criteria, and begin looking closely at the lyrics for meaning. 

Here's a nice song from Michael Jackson's younger days called "Music and Me." Sing along--the lyrics are below.

 

  "Music & Me"

We've been together for such a long time now
Music, music and me
Don't care whether all our songs rhyme
Now music, music and me

Only know wherever I go
We're as close as two friends can be
There have been others
But never two lovers
Like music, music and me

Grab a song and come along
You can sing your melody
In your mind you will find
A world of sweet harmony

Birds of a feather will fly together
Now music, music and me
Music and me

Are "Selfies" Harmful to Your Friendships?

According to a recent study done in the UK, posting too many selfies on Facebook and other social media may not be so good for your relationships. "Wait", you may ask, "what exactly is a selfie?" A selfie is a photo you take of yourself, simple as that! Read more about it here in this Wikipedia entry.

And for more see"What is a Selfie" explanation here:

For this first part of a 2 part lesson on the above-mentioned UK study on selfies, the students did this exercise below (thanks to Breaking News English for word list!):

See how many of these words you can use in a sentence. Work in pairs.

study / social networks / relationships / photograph / photo sharing / close friends / Wikipedia / popularity / buzzword / shocked / control / flattering / supportive / opposite

After students had time to go through the list with their partner, many students had the opportunity to share a sentence with the rest of the class. Here are few:

1. A study shows that posting too many selfies on Facebook might not be a good thing.
2. Facebook is the social network I use most often.
3. If you post too many selfies, you might hurt your relationships. 
4. Taking a photograph of yourself is called a selfie. 
5. One photo sharing app is Instagram.  
6. I like sharing things with my close friends. 
7. If I want to know something, I sometimes look it up on Wikipedia.
8. I was shocked when I saw Miley Cyrus dancing the other night on TV! 
9. Don't post so many selfies. Try to control yourself! 
10. My parents are very supportive people. 
11. Good is the opposite of bad. Posting too many selfies: bad. Not posting too many selfies: good. 

You may notice there are a few words missing from this list of sentences. The reason is because some of the words proved difficult to make sentences with. Below are those words, with definitions and sentences provided by The Free Dictionary

1. Popularity: the quality of being widely admired or accepted or sought after; "his charm soon won him affection and popularity."
2. Buzzword: A stylish or trendy word or phrase. "[Selfie] is the new buzzword."
3. Flattering: To portray favorably: "That photograph is flattering to you."

For a humorous look at selfies, here's a Selfie Song for you:

Coming up next week: Should there be rules to Social Media? What photos do you think are OK to post on Facebook? Which do you think are not?

Welcome to a new school year!

This was the first week of classes for CSW. It was good to see the returning students after the long summer, taller, rested, and ready for a new school year! We welcomed two new sections of eager TTO students. I caught my first glimpse of them during their lunch break, taking a look at their new iPads, which will be used in most classes (see photo on left).

As an introductory lesson for a new year of English Fluency lessons, the students learned I only have one rule in my class: RESPECT. Respect yourself, each other, and (of course!) the teacher. Respect means to have consideration for. What does respect look like in a classroom setting?
     Here are some words with the root word respect: 
     respected                      
     respecting
     respectful
     respectfully ...
Can you think of others? What is the opposite of respect?

During this first class, we spent time interviewing each other, using a list of some very thought-provoking questions (thanks to Institute for Research and Reform in Education for these suggestions). Here are a few from the list: 

1. What is your favorite thing you did this summer? Why?
2. What books have you read lately? What was something you found particularly interesting in them? 
3. What movies have you seen recently? How do you feel about the level of violence depicted in movies today?
4. What do you like to watch on TV? Is this a show you feel is appropriate for young children to watch? Why or why not?
5. Who are the members of your family? Who are you closest to? Why?
6. Are you the oldest, middle, or youngest child in your family? How do you like that position in the family?
7. What do you look for in a friend? How easy or difficult is it to find these qualities.
8. What is one thing you like about this school?
9. What is one thing you would change about this school?
10. How do you usually act when you're in a new group?

Students were divided in groups of two and spent time interviewing each other and discussing the questions and answers on their own. Then, some of the pairs came up to the front and conducted the interview with the rest of us as the audience in a Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon style!

And to close, just one last word on R-E-S-P-E-C-T by the great Aretha Franklin!