Category Archives: Reading

A poem: Warning

Reading

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Written by  Jenny Joseph (born 7 May 1932), an English poet

Some help with pronunciation

General, In the Computer Room, Listening, Reading, Resources

I know some of you, dear readers, have problems with English pronunciation. No wonder!!! English pronunciation is , arguably, unpredictable. Maybe some of you won’t agree with me that much if you have never experienced the frustration of not being understood but if you don’t believe me , read this article I published last year https://www.cristinacabal.com/?p=295 where I challenged my advanced students to read it without mistakes … the prize? Not taking the final oral test.Actually, the title of the post was I am feeling generous . Only one of them accepted the challenge,( dear Mario I hope you’re reading this ) and I still take my hat off to him (what a hard slog it must’ve been looking up all the words ) but he only managed to read two paragraphs and this, with some mistakes.
Anyway , some of you have been asking me how to improve pronunciation. I advised you to borrow books from the library with audio to listen and read along and here I’m going to show another nice way to improve pronunciation should you get tired of reading in the traditional way. This comes from a well-known site where there are plenty of things to do, should you have some time to spare.

If  you want to do some more go to http://www.manythings.org/listen/ and help yourself.

Related posts:

Halloween: right around the corner!

Cooking, Listening, Reading

I’m not a great fan of Halloween . I don’t like spooky things and I don’t like seeing people ,even kids ,dressed up as witches, skeletons…and all that stuff. But I have to admit that globalization has made it difficult for us, Spaniards, not to get a bit  carried away by the   funny side of this tradition, namely the Jack O’lanterns , the fake dusty cobwebs, the treat or trick stuff  etc, etc…. Thanks God my children are not asking me to dress up the front  of my house with scary skulls and burning skeletons, yet!!

Anyway , on the funny side are these delicious dishes , ranging from gory to creepy, you can surprise your family with.

On the serious side you can also do something. Follow the link below to read and also listen to some facts about Halloween  .

Have a spooky Halloween!!!

Recipes :

A Book Review

Lesson Plan: Advanced, Reading, Resources, Writing, ,

You have been reading your books for a while now and I sincerely hope you are enjoying it. But… hurry up if you haven’t finished because your writing test is coming… sorry to give you bad news. I have already made up my mind to do it on Thursday April 22 in class.
Here are some considerations and tips about writing book reviews. I hope you find them useful.What is the difference between a book report and a book review? A book report is completely factual. It includes information on the author, title, place and year of publication as well as a summary of the content of the book. A book review, on the other hand, is much more personal. It is really an expression of the reader’s opinion of the work, or of specific aspects of the work. The review will probably include much of the same factual content as the report, but it is the reader’s personal opinions that are most important.

You have read your book. Your next step will be to organize what you are going to say about it in your report. Writing the basic elements down in an outline format will help you to organize your thoughts.What will you include in the outline?
The description should include such elements as:

•The setting-where does the story take place?
•The time period-is the story set in the present day or in an earlier time period? Perhaps it is even set in the future!
•The main character(s)-who is the story mostly about? Give a brief description. Often, one character can be singled out as the main character, but some books will have more than one
•The plot-what happens to the main character? WARNING! Be careful here. Do not fall into the boring trap of reporting every single thing that happens in the story. Pick only the most important events. Here are some hints on how to do that. First, explain the situation of the main character as the story opens. Next, identify the basic plot element of the story-is the main character trying to achieve something or overcome a particular problem? Thirdly, describe a few of the more important things that happen to the main character as he/she works toward that goal or solution. Finally, you might hint at the story’s conclusion without completely giving away the ending.

WRITING TIPS

Continue reading A Book Review →

The Paris Review

Audio, Listening, Reading, Resources, , , ,

Probably one of the best literary magazines in time. If you like reading ,this is the place to go if you want to read the best interviews with the cleverest questions made to authors . There is also a very interesting section where you’ll be able to practise your listening skills by listening to the authors describing their work. Very interesting site if you are into books.