What happens next?

What happens next? is a video activity that David Deubel has created. I think that the title is self-explanatory. We are going to watch some video segments. At some stage the picture will freeze, and we have to predict what's going to happen next.

The activity is great to have fun and 'develop' our prediction skills. On the other hand, it can also help us to practise and revise will and going to for prediction and practise our oral English if we have the opportunity to do the activity with a friend or relative who also speaks English.


Find more videos like this on EFL CLASSROOM 2.0

The Eyebrow Story

The Eyebrow Story is an online fable I learnt about through David Deubel.

This is a straightforward reading activity. Simply read the story of Sean and enjoy it. If you are working in class or with a classmate, you can take it in turns to read it aloud, so that you can practise your pronunciation.

If you wish to get more involved in the story and practise your oral skills, stop the story at certain points and predict what will happen next. This might make a nice follow-up to yesterday's post about will and going to.

Grammar clinic: Will vs going to

The internet keep surprising me day after day. A few weeks ago I read an entry post by ESL Chesnut where they have collected a number of resources on the net in which the differences and similarities between will and going to were dealt with.

Watch the choice of videos below. I think the differences between will and going to will be all too obvious after you have watched them all.

If you need further practice and would like to do some online written activities go to ESL Chesnut here, where you will find some other resources Anna Costikoglou has compiled.

New Year Resolutions for Kids

I know you must be a bit fed up by now with so many entries which have to do with Christmas, New Year, reviews of 2010 on this blog. Soon we'll go back to normal but in the mean time let us make use of some interesting stuff that, although Christmas-related, may be beneficial for our English.

I've come across this funny video clip with some kids behaving and talking like adults and on which they make New Year Resolutions. The interesting bit of the video for me has to do with grammar. In this entry
http://mythatsenglish.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-year-resolutions.html we discussed the use of auxiliary will to make promises, and we said this is the right tense to use when making New Year Resolutions, as we are promising we'll be doing some things differently in the new year.

Surprise, surprise! The verb going to comes us several times on this new video clip, which let us conclude, once again, that very often the use of one tense or another in English has to do with the speaker's intention rather than with clear-cut rules about correct/incorrect use of a tense. There are times when we can use different tenses in a sentence, but the meaning will change if we use one or another.

In this video clip some kids use going to (gonna) to express a firmer determination to better some aspect of their life. Others stick to will, just a promise. And a third group resorts to wanna (want to).

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the blanks in the sentences with just one word.



-I wanna stop (1) ______ . / -Did you see what she was wearing? / -I know!
This year, I'm gonna join a (2) ______ gang.
This year, I'm gonna control my (3) ______ .
I'm gonna stop (4) _____ six dollars on a cup of coffee.
I'm gonna control my (5) _____.
What are you doing? Can't you see I'm trying to (6) _____ here?
I wanna find that special (7) ______. How you doing?
This year, I'm gonna (8) ______ my parents more.
This year, I wanna get rid of this pot (9) ______!
I wanna care more about the (10) ______.
I wanna be a better (11) ______.
This year, I'm gonna be my own (12) ______.
I'm gonna tithe 10% of my gross (13) ______.
This year, I will pay off all my (14) ______.
I'm gonna go back to school and get my (15) ______.
I wanna (16) ______ a marathon.
I wanna (17) ______ smoking.
This year, I'll control my road (18) ______.
-I wanna have a daily (19) ______ time. / -"What's your resolution?" -Okay, maybe a monthly (19) ______ time.

Key:
1. gossiping 2. bikers 3. shopping 4. spending 5. anger 6. work 7. girl 8. call 9. belly 10. environment 11. handyman 12. boss 13. pay 14. debts 15. Master's 16. complete 17. quit 18. rage 19. quiet

New Year's Resolution Cartoons

Just to welcome 2011 with a broad smile, go over this slideshow from MSNBC by Daryl Cagle featuring a number of cartoons about New Year's Resolutions.

H/T to Jeffrey Hill  .

Will vs going to

Students sometimes find it difficult to tell the difference between these two forms to express the future. The web English Page offers a very clear explanation of the different uses of will and going to to refer to future actions. It also makes reference to the form of the verbs (contractions, etc.), gives lots of helpful examples, and presents the students with some activities.

However, I don't think they are 100% lucky when they explain the difference between will and going to to make predictions about the future (use 4 in their explanations).

They are absolutely right when they say that when we are making predictions or giving opinions about the future we are guessing about what might happen in the future and we have no control over it. Consequently, both forms can sometimes be used to predict the future:

Barcelona FC is going to win the league.
Barcelona FC will win the league.

The two Barcelona sentences are similar in meaning, although some may argue that in the first one (going to) Barcelona FC leads the table with a big point gap over the second, or is generally believed that they play football better or they clearly have the best players, whereas in the second one (will) it is just a Barcelona supporter who is expressing his/her wish at the beginning of the season.

Most grammar books point out that will is often used with phrases like I'm sure, I think, I don't think before will to express our prediction (which is often a wish): I'm sure you'll feel better soon.

We also use will for facts about the future: My daughter will be 15 next month.

However, we use going to for things that we predict often because the present situation gives us a good reason for our prediction:
She's going to have a baby (we see a pregnant woman).
You're going to fall! (you're standing on a ladder on one foot).
It's going to rain (you can see black clouds on the horizon).

Alex Case presents this Mr Bean activity to help us find the difference between will and going to to make predictions.

Self-study activity:
Watch and enjoy the video, but when it comes to answering the questions below, you must stop the counter at exactly the moment it is said in the question, so that you can make a prediction either with will or with going to.



00:21
What is Mr Bean going to do?
What will the other car’s reaction be?

01:30
What is the man going to say?
What will Mr Bean's answer be?

02:19
What’s Mr Bean going to do?
What will the man’s reaction be?

02:54
What’s Mr Bean going to do?
What will the man’s reaction be?

04:15
What is the teacher going to say?
How will the students react?

04:35
What is Mr Bean going to do after reading the questions?

05:38
What is Mr Bean going to do now?
What will the man's reaction be?

06:14
What is the man going to do now?
What will Mr Bean’s reaction be?

06:48
What is Mr Bean going to do?
What will the reaction be?

07:39
What is Mr Bean going to do?
Will it work?

09:11
What is the teacher going to say?
What will Mr Bean’s reaction be?

You can compare your answers with these suggestions I made, but remember both you and me were just guessing about the future.

Frozen Grand Central

Watch this famous video by Improv Everywhere, a group of people based in New York City who create unusual scenes in public places and film them.



Self-study activity:
1. Complete the words in the text of what the man says at the beginning of the video:

‘All right. Thanks for coming out, everybody. I’m really excited that all you (1) ________ are here. We’ve got a really exciting (2) ________ that we’re going to be doing today. We’re going to be (3) ________ in place (4) ________ at the exact second. We’re going (5) ________ that for five minutes and then we’re going to unfreeze and we’re out.’

2. Choose the correct option.

1 The pre-mission meeting takes place in Bryant / Central Park.
2 107 / 207 undercover agents take part in the mission.
3 The mission starts at 14.30 / 16.30.
4 The man driving the yellow vehicle is / isn’t an agent.
5 One person thinks it’s an acting class / a TV show.
6 At the end of the mission people start clapping / protesting.

3. Watch the video again and note down some of the activities frozen people are doing. Example: someone is talking on the phone, a couple is holding hands.

Key:
1. 1 guys   2 mission   3 freezing  4 on cue   5 to hold
2. 1 Bryant  2 207  3 14:30   4 isn’t   5 an acting class   6 clapping
3. Suggestions: [someone is / people are] drinking a coffee; eating a banana / a yoghurt or ice cream; holding a bottle of water / a cup / holding hands; looking at a map / a train timetable / his/her watch; picking up papers; talking on the phone / to someone; tying his/her shoelaces

This is an activity based on one of Global e-lessons.