Tag Archives: video

Taking Risks: Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan: Advanced, , , , , , , , , , ,

When last week I asked my students:

Have you ever put your life at risk? or Have you ever done any extreme sports? I began to wonder whether I’ve ever had .
The truth is I’ve never been an adventurous person; maybe I was a bit more in the past when I was younger. I remember I used to like horror films and talking about paranormal phenomena with my friends. I even played the Ouija Board once or twice and went with some peers to visit a mansion ghost, which was said to live in a house in ruins in my own hometown; but I, at least, was pushing the limits of my own courage although I pretended otherwise. I remember the rush of adrenaline I experienced and the feeling of being amazingly brave. But these can be hardly be named extreme sports although some people would say that playing with the unknown is much worse than risking your life doing bungee jumping or sky diving something, I know, I’ll never have the guts to try.

Come to think of it, I’ve sometimes put my life at risk like when I hitchhiked in England being only 19, or refusing to cross the road when seeing a gang of punks drinking and I had to walk past. This counts as risky , doesn’t it?

But the maddest thing I’ve ever done was about 10 years ago in the Wagner Bros Park, in Madrid, when I rode in one of these ride thrill attractions. It was a vertical tower of about 60metres. You are launched up and , believe or not, you take off from your seat and you literally fly before dropping in a breathtaking descent. When I think about it, it still gives me the creeps… Well, I warned you , I’ve never been a thrill seeker!!

And you… Do you live on adrenaline rushes? Are you hooked on the buzz of the extreme?

If you would like to do a lesson on Extreme Sports and Taking Risks , click HERE

Bridget Jones’s New Year’s Resolutions: Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan: Advanced, Listening, , , , , ,

2015  is about to wave goodbye. A new year is starting to blossom and I’m planning to dedicate it my full attention. For a start, I’ve made some New Year’s Resolutions which ,unfortunately, I won’t be sharing with you… I apologize!! …and you, have you made any? Do you want to share them with me or are they too personal, maybe?
Well, for my first class with my advanced students, I’ve thought that a nice way to link last year with this new one would be this video from Bridget Jones’s Diary, one of my favourite chick flicks. If you’ve seen or read Bridget Jones’s Diary, you’ll know it starts out with her New Year’s resolutions: lists of things she will and won’t do. These are some of them
I Will Not
Waste money on exotic underwear since pointless as have no boyfriend.
Fall for any of the following: alcoholics, workaholics, commitment phobics, chauvinists, freeloaders, perverts.
Have crushes on men, but instead form relationships based on mature assessment of character.
I Will
Go to gym three times a week not merely to buy sandwich.
Learn to program video.
Give all clothes which have not worn for two years or more to homeless.
Not go out every night but stay in and read books and listen to classical music.

Watch the video and then if you feel like going for the whole lesson I have prepared for my students,  you’ll find it here . My gratitude to Jeffrey Hill, who gave me the idea.
By the way, the soundtrack is one of my favourites!!

[flashvideo filename=https://www.cristinacabal.com/videos/bridget.flv /]

Related posts:

Food and cooking. Working with Flickr

Having fun with my computer

A book review

Improving your writing skills

Weird Hotels: Lesson Plan

Funny Stuff, Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate, Listening, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Have you planned your summer holidays yet? Are you in the mood for something different? Weird and even wacky? Are you tired of the conventional hotels everybody goes to? Have a look at these photographs.

These are some of the weirdest hotels you will ever see. But don’t hold your breath …some of them are very expensive and most of them are fully booked for this summer; so I guess, it must definitely be an experience for some people  sleeping in one of those but, trust me on this… you won’t find me there!

Given the chance I don’t know whether it‘d be easy to choose one of them to spend a nice relaxing holidays. I guess you think it would be a rush of adrenaline sleeping in a cabin hanging from a slender tree but I know for sure I wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink waiting for the branch to crack.

And an underwater hotel… are they paying me???

In my humble opinion, the Survival Pod Hotel in The Hague, this orange alien-shaped thing, seems to invite people to choose to die if the option is living in these claustrophobic capsules. Can’t imagine having to pay for it!

Some other picturesque pictures show the Das Park Hotel, Ottensheim in Austria and I have to admit that, at least, it has been cheap to build. The idea is that you sleep inside a piece of concrete sewage pipe and guess what?? This is cheap …’cause you pay only what you think they are worth!!

As for me, I’ve always felt an attraction for luxurious hotels where the service is impeccable, the views from the balcony breathtaking, the place a haven of peace and relaxation and the bed as comfortable as a bed should be. I  don’t want to spend the night killing cockroaches or freezing to death just to have the time of my life, thank you very much.

Anway, why this post on Weird hotels?  ’cause my students are about to study this lesson and I came across some of these pictures while looking for different things on the web. I prepared a lesson about hotels this morning, which I thought I’d share with you. So, if you are interested, and you’re not one of my Pre-Intermediate students (we’ll be doing this lesson on Monday, God willing!) Click here .

If you are one of my pre-intermediate students and still want to do something about hotels, you can click here and listen to this postcast about Weird Hotels.

And then watch this video… but don’t expect it to help you with your English!!!



Related Posts:

My Ideal Job

Students' Corner,

Kindly sent by Miguel Raposeiras

I don’t know if you have heard it but, last Monday, the International Labour Organization reported that about 20 million jobs have been destroyed since September 2008. And the day before yesterday, Mr. Obama announced a new plan in order to decrease the unemployment rate.

Why am I telling you this? Because, and this is not a secret, it’s really hard to find a job nowadays. So, it’s a good time to imagine what kind of job we would like to have.

In my case, the first thing I have to say is: ‘I don’t like working’. Working is mundane and usually stressful. But I realize it’s a need. I mean, not only for having a fixed income, but for having your mind occupied and feeling you’re useful. Unemployed people get depressed easier than workers. Despite this, I have it clear that I work for living and not live for working. As you can imagine, I’m an expert waiting until the eleventh hour to do my tasks.

Second, I have to get job satisfaction. A really good job for me would be the one which makes me claim: ‘Oh, man! I would work for free… but don’t tell my boss!’. It doesn’t mind if I’m not good at doing it, I need to be happy doing whatever I have to do. For example, I’ve been said to be good with figures… but I hate numbers!

Third, getting on well with my colleagues is very important for me. If there is a great job atmosphere, you’ll be more comfortable working.

And, finally, it would be important, but not necessary, that my boss were able to get the best out of me. I always need to be motivated. Furthermore, I work better if the tasks are challenging for me. I think it’s a satisfying way to avoid boredom at work.

To sum up, my ideal job must be stimulating and I need to be able to develop my personality and skills in it.

Working with “work”

Lesson Plan: Advanced, Listening, Resources, Students' Corner, The English language, , , , ,

and so that’s it, “literally”. In the advanced level we’ve been working with the semantic field “Work” .

This is the pdf with all the work-related expressions and collocations  you helped me build on the blackboard and also the exercises created with your own contributions. Thanks to you all!!

I also nicked and adapted from the Internet some tips about Job Interviews. I’m afraid I can’t name the source as I did it a long time ago and it was never my intention to get it published. My sincere apology !

There are also two video-based activities. The first one from an outside source www.eslvideo.com, which I highly recommend,  and the second one  created by me.

Related posts