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6 November 2013

Personality Types

How much does your personality change when you go online participating in various forums and chat rooms? Who are all these people you're involved in a hot debate with? Check this personality guide from Mike Reed, who made a great effort to enlighten us on who is who there.
Here's the foreword from the author:
"Some years ago, a calm and quiet discussion forum that I belonged to erupted into a burning flame war. While the forum burnt, I amused myself by drawing caricatures of the main participants. Over the years, the list of online fighters has grown into the Flame Warriors - the different personalities we become when we go online."


A big thanks to my colleague Sofia (uslteacher) from Eslprintables for putting it up on the forum. Cheers! 

And now it's time to meet your online reflection and that of your opponents



Sincerely Yours, Coffee Clutch!

3 November 2013

The importance of reading books

It's more and more rarely that you come across people who declare reading books as their hobby. On the face of it, there's nothing strange about it - nowadays a great number of people simply don't have any free time for any hobby whatsoever in the attempt to earn money; those who do have some spare time give their preferences to what seems to be more sophisticated hobbies, such as extreme sport, travelling or simply living an active social life whether online or offline. However, this is a very sad fact that reading books for pleasure has stopped to be fun  and an image of a person enjoying a good book curled up in a comfortable  armchair has become obsolete (I can even imagine the perplexed look on the face of some people: "What? Reading books for fun? for pleasure? OMG, how boring").
This is an amazing speech and a script on the importance of reading. Look at an excerpt from the speech:

"Albert Einstein was asked once how we could make our children intelligent. His reply was both simple and wise. "If you want your children to be intelligent," he said, "read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."
 Listen and then ... enjoy your literary trip!  

1 October 2013

Meat vs Vegetarian Diet

There's has been a lot said about the advantages and disadvantages of both diets, so which is healthier?
Can you think of pros and cons of both diets?
Is the word vegetarian tantamount (=equal) to the word healthy eater? 

Watch  the video from http://www.huffingtonpost.com, a website about healthy lifestyle, which will help you answer the questions above

30 September 2013

What is beauty?


They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in other words the perception of beauty is subjective.
Do you agree with it? Can you think of examples?                     



Watch the first video and answer the following questions:

What is a matter of concern for the girls from the video? Why?
Why do they have a low self-esteem?
What can be done to help them?

If your friends tell you you're getting fatter and fatter, would you take it for consideration?  


2.   Watch the next video and answer the following questions:
Who is the man drawing and why is he drawing the women without looking at them?
Who are those women?
How many portraits of the same person did the artist make? Were they the same or different?
Why are the portraits turned out to be different? 

Would you like to try it? Describe the way you look like to yourself and then ask your friend to describe your appearance. Any difference? In what way?

8 September 2013

8 cool websites for the learners at upper-intermediate level and higher



What can be easier than a question of a student who has successfully passed his or her English exam at an upper-intermediate level: “Miss, what shall I do now? Where can I practice my English? Are there any interesting websites out there?” The obvious answer could be: “You speak good English now, there is an indefinite number of websites in English, just choose something”. However, my students were usually less than satisfied with such an indefinite answer. The formula “Just do something” obviously doesn’t work with many of us and we prefer some specific piece of advice from our teachers and trainers. So now I provide them with a list of websites chosen to practice all four language skills in a fun way. Hope your students will also appreciate them and won’t lose touch with such a beautiful English language.    

1.   Interested  in world news? A CNN fan?


That is one of the best sites for English learners to improve their listening skills. It is run by CNN and based on their own news stories, grouped into thematic categories. The site allows visitors to read, listen and view video and do a series of interactive activities to test comprehension.


2.   Enjoy listening to the radio? Ever aspired to make your own radio program?


The site was founded by two experienced English teachers quite a long time ago and has proved to be a truly motivating and educational listening resource since then. It provides students with a vast amount of listening material from different sources, including learners themselves as it enables learners and teachers to make their own radio programs. All listening material is accompanied with a quiz, which makes any listening meaningful.

3.   In need of grammar and vocabulary practice?

While most learners have enough of grammar and vocabulary quizzes at their language schools, amazingly, but there are still quite a few of students who find grammar and vocabulary tests and quizzes exciting. The site provides numerous quizzes and games for learners of different ages and levels and has an impressive section particularly for advanced learners.

4.   Feel insecure about American idiomatic expressions?



Idioms, idioms... a nightmare for a great number of learners of English. However, native speakers do use them in their everyday conversations. Spend just a minute a day and learn the most common idioms used in American English and their origin in a very exciting way and, what is more important, in context. Just a minute and you’ll be able to understand and use frequently used idioms like “dressed to kill”, or “under the weather”.

5.       Fancy uncovering English words in a fun way?

“Find and 'pop' as many words as you can in the letter grid before your time runs out. Create words from groups of eight letters. Test your powers of deduction by uncovering the secret word.”  Word Games is a section of the website, where you are provided with 10 quite challenging but extremely exciting word games, some of which can be launched on an iphone and ipad. The site also offers a variety of short stories, all of which are rated according to the age group and length.
 Personally I absolutely adore this site - challenging but extremely exciting. "Multipopword" (the green one) is my favourite.
6.    Looking for some writing tips?


Whether you like writing or not, you can hardly avoid it in your life. So if you have to deal with it anyway, learn how to do it right. This informative website, made by a groups of professional writers, provides you with smart and useful tips on tricky vocabulary, special expressions, misused words, punctuation, different styles,  grammar etc. You can also subscribe by email and will be daily sent a grammar, punctuation or vocabulary tip.  

7.  Feel like training your logical thinking?


Here you are required to solve real life problems, mathematical puzzles and riddles. The site is not for those who are learning English but for those who think in English. You’ve learned English already – it’s time to have some fun now. 


8.   Dreaming of meeting new friends? Want a SAFE environment?


This website hosts chatrooms on different topics and, what is of vital importance, is constantly moderated to make guests feel safe. Whether you’re a music or a movie fan or just feel like contemplating about philosophical issues, you’re bound to find mates. All you need is to register and … put all you’ve learned into practice.

19 August 2013

The Logical Song

Here is a worksheet I made to help my FCE students revise derivatives.

 A lovely song with exercises aimed at revising adjectives/adverbs, perfect for students preparing for FCE exam. The worksheet includes pre- and post-listening questions (topic:education), vocabulary exercises and detailed teacher´s notes.

You can download it from here

Confusing words


These are commonly confused words, frequently tested in FCE Use of English



You can download it from here

Everything a Mom Says in 24 Hours



Think of everything your mom tells you during a day. 
  • What is your reaction to what she says?
  • Why do you think she says this?
  • Is she right or wrong?
  • Do you usually agree with her? 



 Can you guess what the missing words are?  The first letters are given.


Get ___ now, get _____ now, get ___ out of bed
Wash your f____
Brush your t_____
Comb your sleepy h___
Here’re your clothes, here’s your shoes. Hear the words I said
Get up NOW! Get up and m_____ your bed
Are you hot?
 Are you cold?
 Are you wearing THAT?
Where’re your books and your lunch and your homework at?
G____ your coat and your gloves and your scarf and hat
Don’t f_____! You gotta f_____ the cat

Eat your b________
The experts tell us it’s the most important meal of all
Take your v_______ so you will grow up one day to be big and tall
Please r______ the orthodontists will be seeing you at 3 today
Don’t forget your piano lessons are this afternoon so you must play
Don’t shovel
Chew slowly

But hurry the bus is here
Be careful
Come back here
Did you w_____ behind your ears?

Play outside, don’t be rough
Would you just play fair?

_____ polite
M_____ a friend
Don’t forget to share
Work it out,  wait your turn
Never take a dare,
Get along
Don’t make me come down there
C_____ your room, f_____ your clothes
P___ your stuff away
M____ your bed,  do it now,  do we have all day?

Were you born in a barn would you like some hay?
Can you even hear a word I say?

Answer the phone, get off the phone
Don’t sit so close, turn it down, no texting at the table
No more computer time tonight
Your Ipod’s my Ipods if you don’t listen up

Where are you going? And with w_____?
And w_____ t_____ do you think you’re coming home? 



Saying thank you, please, excuse me makes you welcome everywhere you roam

You’ll appreciate my wisdom someday when you’re o_____ and you’re g______
Can't wait till you have a couple little children of your own

You’ll thank me for the counsel I gave you so willingly
But right now I’ll thank you not roll your eyes at me

C____ your mouth when you chew we’d appreciate
Take a bite maybe two of the stuff you hate
U_____ your fork
Do not burp or I’ll set you straight
E___ your food I put upon your plate

Get an “A”, get the door, don’t get smart with me, get a grip, get in here, I’ll count to 3, get a job, get a life, get a PhD, get a dose of …

I don’t care who started it, you’re grounded until you’re 36
Get your story straight and tell the truth for once for heaven’s sake

And if all your friends jumped of a cliff, would you j______ too?
If I said it once I’ve said it at least a thousand times before that you’re too old to act this way
It must be your father’s DNA
L_____ at me when I am talking
S_____ up straighter when you walk a place for everything and everything must be in place 
Stop crying or I’ll give you something real to cry about

Wash your face
Brush your teeth
Get your PJ’s on
Get in b___, give a h___, say a p____ with mom
Don’t forget I love you
And tomorrow I will do this all again because a mom’s work never ends you don’t need the reason why
Because...
Because...
Because...
Because ...
I said so...
I said so...
I said so...
I said so...
I AM THE MOM!



 Now try to get as much as you can. ENJOY!