Monthly Archives: January 2014

Video: Pickpockets

Are you learning about crime and legal vocabulary? Then, you might be interested in watching this video and seeing how a gang of Romanian pickpockets work in Barcelona.

Task: Watch the video Pickpockets Performing the Ronaldinho and then answer the questions .

Level: Intermediate/upper-intermediate

Anwers here .

1. What do crime statistics say about Barcelona?

2. When the gang commits a crime…

Johnnie is the …..

Danny is the …

Mario is the ….

3. Why have they named this tactic The Ronaldinho?

4. Where do they sell the laptops, cameras and phones?

5. What do they prefer to steal?

6. How does the gang feel about committing this crime?

7. The reporter agreed to be robbed. Why was he surprised?

Speaking: Describing a Dish

Happy New Year to everybody! I am back!!! Hard to get started once again after this longish holiday. It’s been eight days now since we have let 2014 in and it is time we get down to some serious work, don’t you think?

Talking in class about food related things after some huge binge eating and drinking is not precisely what appeals to me most, but unfortunately I cannot choose.
This is an activity I am going to do with my Elementary students after some serious work practising food vocabulary.

The activity is simple. The students are sitting in pairs, one student facing the board and the other with his back to the board. Using the OHP, a picture of a popular dish is displayed. Now, the person seeing the picture has to describe it in as much detail as possible, talking about its ingredients and the way it is cooked and the other person has to guess the dish. Allow them two or three minutes and then display another picture for the other student to do the same. Below are some slides with the  dishes that I am going to use.

Some useful vocab they are likely to use

Nouns: pan, cinnamon, olives, tuna, blood sausage,

Verbs: to beat eggs, to fry, to boil, to add,  to stir with a spoon,to slice (apples)