Growing up in a very large family, Phillip Vowles learned to appreciate the effort it took to feed all his brothers and sisters. So when he started harvesting his own crop, he decided to supersize his project. As Phillip says, “big vegetables feed big families.” Today, his giant veggies top-out at over 100 pounds and can feed more than just a few families.
Good day!
We grow giant marrows, four foot in a month. 45 inches. These marrows would taste exactly the same as a normal marrow. Nice and tender and lush. Some of them look a bit tough, but once you cut into them, they cut like butter.
My name is Phillip Vowles. I live in Llanharry, Wales and I grow giant vegetables. I've been growing giant vegetables now for the last 30 years.
I come from a very large family. My mother had 17 children. 13 of us survived, and I think, you know, that was something, you know, big vegetables feed big families.
You know, I’m up here every morning, every night, every single day of the week. There's a lot of love and care goes into it. Sometimes I do a bit of talking to them as well to encourage them to grow, which is a bit of, you know, a bit of fun.
I think he's just about finished growing there now.
I got to be very careful the wife is not about when I start talking to my vegetables, but it's all good fun. I broke the world record for the heaviest cucumber what, 25 years ago. It weighed 18 1/2 pound and it was just incredible the way it grew.
When I started, if we had a marrow 20, 30 pound in weight, you had a big marrow. Now, we're up over a 100 pound in weight. A normal cabbage would be two pound in weight, but we're growing 'em 120 pound. You know, you can feed 120, 130, 140 people off one cabbage. This is why I supply the local pub, and they use 'em up for Sunday lunch.
I've developed my own strain, more or less, now. I select my own seed every year, the biggest and the best seed, and it just seems to be improving which is incredible. I grow organically.
I had to think, if I can do it, anybody can do it, and it's a big thrill every day. The wife say, "What am I doing up the lot every day?" And when she comes up she realize.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Hobbies. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Hobbies. Mostrar todas las entradas
jueves, 18 de mayo de 2017
sábado, 30 de julio de 2016
Reading test: What happens when your child’s hobby dictates your holiday
In this week's reading test we are going to use the Telegraph article A power station and a Reading leisure centre- What happens when your child’s hobby dictates your holiday to practise the multiple choice reading comprehension sort of task.
Read the article and choose the option A, B or C which best completes each sentence.
A power station and a Reading leisure centre -What happens when your child’s hobby dictates your holiday
A converted nuclear power station near Düsseldorf isn’t the kind of venue many look for in a family holiday but, as I’ve found out, being the parent of a child in a street dance crew can pitch you up in places you’d never usually visit.
Wunderland - an amusement park on the edge of the River Rhine, built on the site of SNR-300, a nuclear plant that never went online due to protests - is the latest dance competition venue we’ve visited on a family trip.
We travelled there a few weeks ago, via Amsterdam, for the European Street Dance Championships where my son’s group, Defiance, and his hip hop dance school, Streetfunk, were competing.
Last year’s big competition took us to Glasgow; next month it’s a regional qualifier in a leisure centre in Reading – destination wise, competition travelling runs from the surreal and marvellous to the mundane.
As a family, it’s a different kind of travel that has opened us up to new places and new feelings as we ride the emotional rollercoaster of the competition circuit. There’s a solidarity with parents, teachers and children in your group, and it’s a complete change of scene, giving you the opportunity to reconnect – the last competition a refreshing getaway after Y6 SATs week.
The new film, Streetdance Family, explores this life on the journey of one under-16 UK crew from East London all the way to the World Hip Hop Championship in Germany. Made by award-winning documentary filmmakers Debbie Shuter and Adam Tysoe, it brings to life the intense, behind-the-scenes emotions of the trainers, crews and their families in their bid for glory.
It’s a funny, sad and uplifting story that captures individual characters’ quirks well and in its portrayal of commitment, raw highs and lows, anxiety and celebration, is sometimes reminiscent of the seminal 1994 American basketball documentary, Hoop Dreams.
As the competitions begin there’s a lot of running around - to get registered, to get the right wrist band, to get matching crew hoodies, to get hair and make-up done, assess any injuries and hunker down for a final team talk. On the floor, everywhere you look, people from Belarus to the Netherlands are dancing: practicing in corridors, drilling in the hotel lobby, flipping and break dancing in corners. That’s even before the routines and results…
Travelling like this can be invigorating and exhausting but becomes a tight bonding experience as a family, visiting new places that leave a lasting impression. We’d never heard of Kalkar, Rees or Kleve before visiting Germany, and loved exploring these small areas by the bucolic Rhine. I never imagined, either, that we’d be visiting a nuclear museum inside a theme park where, just outside, one of the old cooling towers now painted with a mountain scene, has a swing ride that pops out the top. Planned Plutonium has given way to pony express train rides, flying elephants and a speedy log flume. And the kids love it.
Other destinations such as Glasgow may not seem a big deal, but it’s a city I wouldn’t have got round to visiting if it wasn’t for a competition. Getting there meant being able to escape for a little while to The Glasgow School of Art and take a tour to learn about Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the city’s incredible art movements.
Just as I tapped up an German ex-flatmate for Rhine travel tips, you also find yourself re-connecting with other old friends around the country. In Glasgow, we took on a friend’s restaurant recommendations to eat delicious Haggis Pakora at The Wee Curry Shop and Tuscan and Ligurian food at Fratelli Sarti, both of which we still talk about. It was slightly pre-planned (dancers need fuel, so food becomes a priority) but there still seems a large amount of serendipity on trips like these that add to the excitement.
Travelling for a pastime (such as sport, performance and activity clubs) helps you uncover another corner of the world afresh. And you move as a unit - when we broke down off the M25 on the way to a competition, the other crew parents were there to rescue us faster than the RAC. It may just be street dance, but it’s taken us down new roads. Where have your child's hobbies taken you?
1 Wunderland
A is the place where the writer’s child competed.
B stopped working as a nuclear power station a long time ago.
C used to be a fairground.
2 The writer
A finds it difficult to engage with other parents.
B is fed up with travelling around so much.
C welcomed the last competition.
3 Streetdance Family
A can be described as a road movie.
B is starred by the writer’s son and his team.
C was directed by the writer himself.
4 In Hip Hop competitions
A appearance is as important as performance.
B everybody seems to be rushing about.
C dancing isn’t the main priority.
5 According to the writer,
A Hip Hop competitions bring the family together.
B his family found the Rhine area unpleasant.
C you can see some animals in Wunderland.
6 The writer
A became familiar with Glasgow’s cultural life.
B had always intended to visit Glasgow.
C managed to escape from his busy lifestyle by visiting Glasgow.
7 The writer says they
A ate with a friend in Glasgow.
B enjoy discovering pleasant things by chance.
C visited an old friend in Germany.
8 Travelling for a pastime
A can sometimes be dangerous.
B has made them familiar with a lot of roads.
C promotes solidarity among the families.
KEY:
1A 2C 3A 4B 5A 6A 7B 8C
Read the article and choose the option A, B or C which best completes each sentence.
A power station and a Reading leisure centre -What happens when your child’s hobby dictates your holiday
A converted nuclear power station near Düsseldorf isn’t the kind of venue many look for in a family holiday but, as I’ve found out, being the parent of a child in a street dance crew can pitch you up in places you’d never usually visit.
Wunderland - an amusement park on the edge of the River Rhine, built on the site of SNR-300, a nuclear plant that never went online due to protests - is the latest dance competition venue we’ve visited on a family trip.
We travelled there a few weeks ago, via Amsterdam, for the European Street Dance Championships where my son’s group, Defiance, and his hip hop dance school, Streetfunk, were competing.
Last year’s big competition took us to Glasgow; next month it’s a regional qualifier in a leisure centre in Reading – destination wise, competition travelling runs from the surreal and marvellous to the mundane.
As a family, it’s a different kind of travel that has opened us up to new places and new feelings as we ride the emotional rollercoaster of the competition circuit. There’s a solidarity with parents, teachers and children in your group, and it’s a complete change of scene, giving you the opportunity to reconnect – the last competition a refreshing getaway after Y6 SATs week.
The new film, Streetdance Family, explores this life on the journey of one under-16 UK crew from East London all the way to the World Hip Hop Championship in Germany. Made by award-winning documentary filmmakers Debbie Shuter and Adam Tysoe, it brings to life the intense, behind-the-scenes emotions of the trainers, crews and their families in their bid for glory.
It’s a funny, sad and uplifting story that captures individual characters’ quirks well and in its portrayal of commitment, raw highs and lows, anxiety and celebration, is sometimes reminiscent of the seminal 1994 American basketball documentary, Hoop Dreams.
As the competitions begin there’s a lot of running around - to get registered, to get the right wrist band, to get matching crew hoodies, to get hair and make-up done, assess any injuries and hunker down for a final team talk. On the floor, everywhere you look, people from Belarus to the Netherlands are dancing: practicing in corridors, drilling in the hotel lobby, flipping and break dancing in corners. That’s even before the routines and results…
Travelling like this can be invigorating and exhausting but becomes a tight bonding experience as a family, visiting new places that leave a lasting impression. We’d never heard of Kalkar, Rees or Kleve before visiting Germany, and loved exploring these small areas by the bucolic Rhine. I never imagined, either, that we’d be visiting a nuclear museum inside a theme park where, just outside, one of the old cooling towers now painted with a mountain scene, has a swing ride that pops out the top. Planned Plutonium has given way to pony express train rides, flying elephants and a speedy log flume. And the kids love it.
Other destinations such as Glasgow may not seem a big deal, but it’s a city I wouldn’t have got round to visiting if it wasn’t for a competition. Getting there meant being able to escape for a little while to The Glasgow School of Art and take a tour to learn about Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the city’s incredible art movements.
Just as I tapped up an German ex-flatmate for Rhine travel tips, you also find yourself re-connecting with other old friends around the country. In Glasgow, we took on a friend’s restaurant recommendations to eat delicious Haggis Pakora at The Wee Curry Shop and Tuscan and Ligurian food at Fratelli Sarti, both of which we still talk about. It was slightly pre-planned (dancers need fuel, so food becomes a priority) but there still seems a large amount of serendipity on trips like these that add to the excitement.
Travelling for a pastime (such as sport, performance and activity clubs) helps you uncover another corner of the world afresh. And you move as a unit - when we broke down off the M25 on the way to a competition, the other crew parents were there to rescue us faster than the RAC. It may just be street dance, but it’s taken us down new roads. Where have your child's hobbies taken you?
1 Wunderland
A is the place where the writer’s child competed.
B stopped working as a nuclear power station a long time ago.
C used to be a fairground.
2 The writer
A finds it difficult to engage with other parents.
B is fed up with travelling around so much.
C welcomed the last competition.
3 Streetdance Family
A can be described as a road movie.
B is starred by the writer’s son and his team.
C was directed by the writer himself.
4 In Hip Hop competitions
A appearance is as important as performance.
B everybody seems to be rushing about.
C dancing isn’t the main priority.
5 According to the writer,
A Hip Hop competitions bring the family together.
B his family found the Rhine area unpleasant.
C you can see some animals in Wunderland.
6 The writer
A became familiar with Glasgow’s cultural life.
B had always intended to visit Glasgow.
C managed to escape from his busy lifestyle by visiting Glasgow.
7 The writer says they
A ate with a friend in Glasgow.
B enjoy discovering pleasant things by chance.
C visited an old friend in Germany.
8 Travelling for a pastime
A can sometimes be dangerous.
B has made them familiar with a lot of roads.
C promotes solidarity among the families.
KEY:
1A 2C 3A 4B 5A 6A 7B 8C
lunes, 14 de marzo de 2016
Listening test: Social free time
Listen to two friends talking about the way the spend their free time and choose the option A, B or C which best completes each sentence.
1 Harry
A goes for a swim to clear his head.
B goes for a walk regularly.
C seems to very busy these days.
2 Sandra
A is an avid reader.
B only reads fiction.
C prefers reading to listening to music.
3 Harry can’t give Sandra any advice at that moment because
A he has too much work to do.
B he is in a hurry.
C he is no expert.
4 Sandra
A enjoys being surrounded by people.
B is having a three-day weekend break.
C prefers peace and quiet for her weekend out.
5 Swanage in Dorset
A has attractive buildings.
B has very expensive hotels.
C is not exactly on the coast.
6 For her weekend break in Swanage Sandra
A is considering renting a car.
B thinks travelling by train would be too expensive.
C should allow more than three and a half hours for the journey.
7 Sandra says her boss
A allows them to do the work afterwards if they miss a few hours.
B doesn’t take things easy.
C is very strict.
Sandra: How do you spend your free time?
Harry: I don’t seem to get much of it these days – but when I do, I like to go to the coast and take a long walk. I find that it really clears my head. How about you?
Sandra: I prefer reading or listening to music in my spare time. I find it really relaxing.
Harry: What kind of things do you read?
Sandra: Mostly fictional novels, but sometimes I also read biographies and autobiographies. I’m never happier than when I’ve got my head in a book so I suppose you could say that I’m a bit of a bookworm.
Sandra: You know you were saying yesterday that you often go to the coast in your spare time?
Harry: Yes?
Sandra: Well, could you tell me which part of the coast you usually go to? I’m thinking of getting out of the city myself this weekend, so if you’ve got any recommendations about where to go, I’d really appreciate it.
Harry: I’m in a bit of a rush right now, but I’d be happy to tell you a bit later on.
Sandra: OK, well, maybe we could catch up after work.
Harry: OK, I know this part of England like the back of my hand so I can point you in the right direction.
Harry: You know you wanted me to recommend a good place for you to go to the coast over the weekend?
Sandra: Oh, yes, if you could, that would be great.
Harry: Well, what kind of place are you interested in? I mean, there are so many options, so if you can tell me whether you’d prefer, say, a town or a village...
Sandra: Oh, a village or a small town, definitely. I get enough of larger towns and cities in my day-to-day life and at the moment I’ve really had my fill of the hustle and bustle of London! I’m longing for a couple of days somewhere where the pace of life is gentler.
Harry: Since you’d prefer a village to a town, why don’t you try Swanage in Dorset?
Sandra: Why, what is it like?
Harry: It’s a really picturesque little place, right on the coast, with gorgeous old buildings, some very reasonably priced hotels...
Sandra: Oh, it sounds perfect! How long does it take to get there from London?
Harry: Well, that depends on how you plan to travel.
Sandra: By car, I think. I’d go by train if I were travelling alone but I’m bringing the whole family so it would work out too pricey.
Harry: Yes, if I were you I’d go by car and it will be useful for getting around when you get there.
Harry: To get to Swanage by car should take about three and a half hours tops, I’d say. Mind you, it does depend what time of day you set off.
Sandra: What time would you recommend?
Harry: Well, certainly not in the rush hour, and preferably not on a Saturday morning. If you have to leave on Friday, it would be better to leave about 3 p.m. if you can get the time off work.
Sandra: Oh, thanks for the tip - I’ll ask my boss if I can leave early.
Harry: Mine’s usually pretty flexible about our timetables as long as we make up the hours afterwards.
Sandra: I wish my boss was a bit more easy-going.
KEY:
1C 2A 3B 4C 5A 6B 7B
1 Harry
A goes for a swim to clear his head.
B goes for a walk regularly.
C seems to very busy these days.
2 Sandra
A is an avid reader.
B only reads fiction.
C prefers reading to listening to music.
3 Harry can’t give Sandra any advice at that moment because
A he has too much work to do.
B he is in a hurry.
C he is no expert.
4 Sandra
A enjoys being surrounded by people.
B is having a three-day weekend break.
C prefers peace and quiet for her weekend out.
5 Swanage in Dorset
A has attractive buildings.
B has very expensive hotels.
C is not exactly on the coast.
6 For her weekend break in Swanage Sandra
A is considering renting a car.
B thinks travelling by train would be too expensive.
C should allow more than three and a half hours for the journey.
7 Sandra says her boss
A allows them to do the work afterwards if they miss a few hours.
B doesn’t take things easy.
C is very strict.
Corfe Castle in Dorset. Photo: Alamy
Sandra: How do you spend your free time?
Harry: I don’t seem to get much of it these days – but when I do, I like to go to the coast and take a long walk. I find that it really clears my head. How about you?
Sandra: I prefer reading or listening to music in my spare time. I find it really relaxing.
Harry: What kind of things do you read?
Sandra: Mostly fictional novels, but sometimes I also read biographies and autobiographies. I’m never happier than when I’ve got my head in a book so I suppose you could say that I’m a bit of a bookworm.
Sandra: You know you were saying yesterday that you often go to the coast in your spare time?
Harry: Yes?
Sandra: Well, could you tell me which part of the coast you usually go to? I’m thinking of getting out of the city myself this weekend, so if you’ve got any recommendations about where to go, I’d really appreciate it.
Harry: I’m in a bit of a rush right now, but I’d be happy to tell you a bit later on.
Sandra: OK, well, maybe we could catch up after work.
Harry: OK, I know this part of England like the back of my hand so I can point you in the right direction.
Harry: You know you wanted me to recommend a good place for you to go to the coast over the weekend?
Sandra: Oh, yes, if you could, that would be great.
Harry: Well, what kind of place are you interested in? I mean, there are so many options, so if you can tell me whether you’d prefer, say, a town or a village...
Sandra: Oh, a village or a small town, definitely. I get enough of larger towns and cities in my day-to-day life and at the moment I’ve really had my fill of the hustle and bustle of London! I’m longing for a couple of days somewhere where the pace of life is gentler.
Harry: Since you’d prefer a village to a town, why don’t you try Swanage in Dorset?
Sandra: Why, what is it like?
Harry: It’s a really picturesque little place, right on the coast, with gorgeous old buildings, some very reasonably priced hotels...
Sandra: Oh, it sounds perfect! How long does it take to get there from London?
Harry: Well, that depends on how you plan to travel.
Sandra: By car, I think. I’d go by train if I were travelling alone but I’m bringing the whole family so it would work out too pricey.
Harry: Yes, if I were you I’d go by car and it will be useful for getting around when you get there.
Harry: To get to Swanage by car should take about three and a half hours tops, I’d say. Mind you, it does depend what time of day you set off.
Sandra: What time would you recommend?
Harry: Well, certainly not in the rush hour, and preferably not on a Saturday morning. If you have to leave on Friday, it would be better to leave about 3 p.m. if you can get the time off work.
Sandra: Oh, thanks for the tip - I’ll ask my boss if I can leave early.
Harry: Mine’s usually pretty flexible about our timetables as long as we make up the hours afterwards.
Sandra: I wish my boss was a bit more easy-going.
KEY:
1C 2A 3B 4C 5A 6B 7B
viernes, 12 de febrero de 2016
Teenage boy creates an entire miniature world
What started as a simple project to sharpen his photo editing skills has turned into an online sensation for 15-year old Zev Hoover from Massachusetts.
1. Why did Ed start his project?
2. How did his pictures become popular?
3. What's the main inspiration for his work?
4. Who is the character is his pictures?
5. How tall are the characters in his pictures?
6. What motifs or subjects does he use for his pictures?
7. What feeling does he usually evoke in his pictures?
8. Why does he make the pictures?
9. What does Ed say about his pictures and the internet?
My name is Ed Hoover. I take pictures of miniature people and they sort of exploded online recently. I wanted to improve my photo-shop skill so I started the Little Foot Project which is… started as (1) just a way of getting better at photo-shop. After about a year of doing little folk pictures (2) they got picked up by some design blogs and then they just sort of exploded.
(3) Nature is very important in my work and definitely inspires a lot of it and I think a lot of that comes from living where we do.
(4) Alice, my sister, is very often the character in the pictures.
Yeah, that’s fine. Let me just see what sort of the back on you… it’s going to be on…
I find my inspiration… a lot of the time just in the scenes that I photograph, so just thinking about how sort of fun it would be, how different that would be our experience if we were like (5) one and a half or two inches tall because the world would be an entirely different place.
I certainly put a lot of myself into the characters because they almost always are doing some (6) hobby I’m interested in or somehow related to something I happen to be doing at the time.
One of my most popular photographs is of me piloting a paper airplane. I think it’s a popular picture because people like imagining, I mean, I certainly think about how in the photographs I try to evoke a sort of (7) feeling of loneliness because I feel like there’s something about that feeling that can be really very beautiful.
I think it’s certainly possible that being homeschooled has inspired that because you’re alone more often or with fewer people more often certainly than if you were to go to public school.
Why? (8) I make them for my own pleasure because I, I love making them but at the same the comments and feedback certainly really encourages you to keep going because just knowing that people are passionate about it is incredible that, you know, someone else would care about my little project. But the internet has made the world a lot smaller, so anyone who’s interested in this type of thing can now go on and just find my work that easily, whereas (9) without the internet it would, it would be almost impossible. I’d just be… a kid taking pictures somewhere and nobody will know about it really maybe forever.
1. Why did Ed start his project?
2. How did his pictures become popular?
3. What's the main inspiration for his work?
4. Who is the character is his pictures?
5. How tall are the characters in his pictures?
6. What motifs or subjects does he use for his pictures?
7. What feeling does he usually evoke in his pictures?
8. Why does he make the pictures?
9. What does Ed say about his pictures and the internet?
My name is Ed Hoover. I take pictures of miniature people and they sort of exploded online recently. I wanted to improve my photo-shop skill so I started the Little Foot Project which is… started as (1) just a way of getting better at photo-shop. After about a year of doing little folk pictures (2) they got picked up by some design blogs and then they just sort of exploded.
(3) Nature is very important in my work and definitely inspires a lot of it and I think a lot of that comes from living where we do.
(4) Alice, my sister, is very often the character in the pictures.
Yeah, that’s fine. Let me just see what sort of the back on you… it’s going to be on…
I find my inspiration… a lot of the time just in the scenes that I photograph, so just thinking about how sort of fun it would be, how different that would be our experience if we were like (5) one and a half or two inches tall because the world would be an entirely different place.
I certainly put a lot of myself into the characters because they almost always are doing some (6) hobby I’m interested in or somehow related to something I happen to be doing at the time.
One of my most popular photographs is of me piloting a paper airplane. I think it’s a popular picture because people like imagining, I mean, I certainly think about how in the photographs I try to evoke a sort of (7) feeling of loneliness because I feel like there’s something about that feeling that can be really very beautiful.
I think it’s certainly possible that being homeschooled has inspired that because you’re alone more often or with fewer people more often certainly than if you were to go to public school.
Why? (8) I make them for my own pleasure because I, I love making them but at the same the comments and feedback certainly really encourages you to keep going because just knowing that people are passionate about it is incredible that, you know, someone else would care about my little project. But the internet has made the world a lot smaller, so anyone who’s interested in this type of thing can now go on and just find my work that easily, whereas (9) without the internet it would, it would be almost impossible. I’d just be… a kid taking pictures somewhere and nobody will know about it really maybe forever.
jueves, 29 de octubre de 2015
Creating life in miniature for 40 years
Best friends Caroline and Jane have got dozens of dolls' houses as a result of their passion for creating life in miniature over four decades.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below. The activity is suitable for Intermediate 2 students.
1 How many dolls' houses have Caroline and Jane made?
2 Where did Caroline and Jane meet?
3 When did Caroline start learning about woodwork?
4 Note down two 'jobs' that you need to know how to do to build dolls' houses.
5 Which animal do Caroline and Jane 'argue' about?
6 What idea did Jane have?
There are (1) more than 70 different dolls houses, all of different shapes, sizes, styles and ages in this collection that has been built up over 40 years.
It’s the life’s work of friends Caroline Hamilton and Jane Fiddick, who share a passion for dolls houses and a talent for bringing the miniature world to life.
(2) We were both at university together reading modern languages but I’m a year older than Jane.
Not quite, actually.
By a few days.
(3) When my youngest child turned three and went to playschool I could get out of the house on Monday mornings and go to woodwork for beginners and I started building the house sits behind me now.
The idea that she was building a dolls house made me think, I could have a dolls house again too, and one thing led to another.
We don’t think that many people know just how sophisticated the hobby is. (4) You have to be an upholsterer, a curtain maker, a wallpaperer, painter, electrician, woodworker… and if one of us has made something that we think it’s particularly successful, it’s a question of, oh, one for me and one for her.
Yes, absolutely, very bad form to make something for yourself only.
Oh, yes.
A match made in miniature heaven, or is it?
You’re very rude about (5) my rat.
Yeah, they’re too big and too nasty. I don’t like them.
They are very, very nice rats.
Their creations have been exhibited all around the world and now they are on permanent display at Newby Hall in North Yorkshire.
I’d like to give all the credit for this to Jane, and it was her bright idea (6) that we would suggest to Newby Hall that they could have our dolls house collection as a wet attraction.
It was very nice to think that they are going to be shared and going to be on show.
It’s going to be possible for both of us to pop back and just keep an eye on it from time to time.
But they needn’t think that we’re going to do the dusting every year.
Each tiny room is shown in amazing detail and peopled by characters like real life back stories.
You need to know who lived there. She’s weeping because she’s discovered that her husband has left all his money to his mistress.
Though hugely popular since Victorian times, are they still relevant for children today?
Oh, it’s so hard not to play with them once you see what it is.
I found it interesting like how detailed they are.
Most have taken them a long time for them to do.
With the hare and the tortoise really I leaped ahead and made a mess of things and just botched my way through, and she is the meticulous one and gets everything right.
As I so often say she does talk an awful lot of rubbish.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below. The activity is suitable for Intermediate 2 students.
1 How many dolls' houses have Caroline and Jane made?
2 Where did Caroline and Jane meet?
3 When did Caroline start learning about woodwork?
4 Note down two 'jobs' that you need to know how to do to build dolls' houses.
5 Which animal do Caroline and Jane 'argue' about?
6 What idea did Jane have?
There are (1) more than 70 different dolls houses, all of different shapes, sizes, styles and ages in this collection that has been built up over 40 years.
It’s the life’s work of friends Caroline Hamilton and Jane Fiddick, who share a passion for dolls houses and a talent for bringing the miniature world to life.
(2) We were both at university together reading modern languages but I’m a year older than Jane.
Not quite, actually.
By a few days.
(3) When my youngest child turned three and went to playschool I could get out of the house on Monday mornings and go to woodwork for beginners and I started building the house sits behind me now.
The idea that she was building a dolls house made me think, I could have a dolls house again too, and one thing led to another.
We don’t think that many people know just how sophisticated the hobby is. (4) You have to be an upholsterer, a curtain maker, a wallpaperer, painter, electrician, woodworker… and if one of us has made something that we think it’s particularly successful, it’s a question of, oh, one for me and one for her.
Yes, absolutely, very bad form to make something for yourself only.
Oh, yes.
A match made in miniature heaven, or is it?
You’re very rude about (5) my rat.
Yeah, they’re too big and too nasty. I don’t like them.
They are very, very nice rats.
Their creations have been exhibited all around the world and now they are on permanent display at Newby Hall in North Yorkshire.
I’d like to give all the credit for this to Jane, and it was her bright idea (6) that we would suggest to Newby Hall that they could have our dolls house collection as a wet attraction.
It was very nice to think that they are going to be shared and going to be on show.
It’s going to be possible for both of us to pop back and just keep an eye on it from time to time.
But they needn’t think that we’re going to do the dusting every year.
Each tiny room is shown in amazing detail and peopled by characters like real life back stories.
You need to know who lived there. She’s weeping because she’s discovered that her husband has left all his money to his mistress.
Though hugely popular since Victorian times, are they still relevant for children today?
Oh, it’s so hard not to play with them once you see what it is.
I found it interesting like how detailed they are.
Most have taken them a long time for them to do.
With the hare and the tortoise really I leaped ahead and made a mess of things and just botched my way through, and she is the meticulous one and gets everything right.
As I so often say she does talk an awful lot of rubbish.
miércoles, 20 de agosto de 2014
Talking point: Hobbies and passions
In this week's talking point we are discussing hobbies. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, think about the questions below so that ideas flow more easily when you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary issues beforehand.
Following your favourite football team in their away matches
Collecting autographs from famous people
Fishing
Learning ball dances (salsa, merengue, tango, waltz, cha cha, paso doble, foxtrot)
To illustrate the topic, you can listen to Darren and Dai from Elllo discussing the benefits of fishing as a pastime.
- Do you have an unusual hobby? What does it involve? How often do you do it? What equipment do you need? How did you get interested in it?
- What's the most enjoyable hobby you've ever tried?
- What's the most unusual hobby you have ever heard of?
- Do you know anyone with a strange or unusual hobby?
- Why do some people take up unusual hobbies?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of spending time and money on a hobby?
- Can you imagine any of your hobbies becoming so important that you earn your living from it?
- Do you know anyone who earns their living from their hobby?
- Talk about the hobbies below. Do they appeal to you? Would you like to try them to see what they are like? Try to agree with the members of your conversation group on a hobby to do together.
Following your favourite football team in their away matches
Collecting autographs from famous people
Fishing
Learning ball dances (salsa, merengue, tango, waltz, cha cha, paso doble, foxtrot)
To illustrate the topic, you can listen to Darren and Dai from Elllo discussing the benefits of fishing as a pastime.
jueves, 8 de agosto de 2013
Big cat hunter
Big Cat Hunter is another report in the BBC's Real Time video series. Jonathan McGowan, a naturalist from Bournemouth, tells us about the existence of big cats in the UK.
Self-study activity:
The activity is suitable for strong intermediate students.
Watch the video through. What animals does Jonathan mention?
Watch the video again and answer these questions.
1 When did Jonathan start spotting big cats?
2 What does Jonathan do when the hair he collects?
3 Where do leopards leave their kills?
4 What does Jonathan do with the cameras?
5 What does Jonathan get every week?
6 What's people's reaction when Jonathan tells them about big cats in Britain?
7 Are big cats dangerous for humans?
To check the answers, you can read the transcript below.
We have puma, I can smell cat spray, we have leopards, and we have linx.
Interesting.
The numbers have escalated.
Looks like it.
We have so many. We have thousands of sightings a year by members of the public. This is one of my newest study areas where a lot of people have seen large black cats.
It all started with me in 1984 because I was into watching wildlife. And I got more than I bargained for. Once when I was watching a badger set, saw a puma come along and stalk one of the badgers that I actually knew quite well, and I couldn’t believe it. And so it set me on a sort of a task to find out whether there were any more of these animals in the area. I thought I’ve got to do a proper study about this and so that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 12 years now.
I’ve got some possible leopard scat here. It’s full of hair, that’s a typical find within a leopard territory. I collect lots of evidence in regards to field science, that’s droppings, footprints, scrapes from the ground and claw markings on trees.
You see, claw marks here because when cats often do scraps they often put their claws out to make the ground up.
These are all my hundreds of bags of hair I’ve collected. A very small amount of it has been analysed, yes, and some of it has proven to be puma, leopard hair. I’ve got whiskers as well. That’s possibly a whisker from a large cat. Cats have huge big whiskers like this. We have deer bones that fall out of trees because leopards often take their kills up trees just to prevent foxes from eating them. Big jaws have crunched the bones. This is a leopard skull here, just to show the teeth and how strong those jaws are.
This is one of my many trigger cameras. I’m gonna open it up and see wether there’s actually anything on there. In actual fact, it hasn’t been triggered yet at all, so I’ll put it back and I’ll return in a few weeks time.
This is one of the images I obtained. It was taken about three am, and one can clearly see there’s an animal there which I believe to be the male leopard that will often visit this pond to drink.
Every week I get reports some of which are ‘cat seen by multiple witnesses’ or cat seen by several people in different vehicles, for example in a traffic jam. It’s good just to speak to the witnesses just to relax them and let them know they are not unique, they are not mad.
People are skeptical because big cats are iconic. People think that Britain is so cold and rainy and boring that we couldn’t have big animals like leopards and pumas here.
Once you start looking for the evidence, it all falls into place. This is quite interesting here. They keep themselves to themselves, and they don’t want to touch humans, they just want to get up and get out of the way if they know humans are near.
To me it’s such a wonderful part of nature, and I feel part of nature when I see that shy elusive animal watching me. It does something which is really hard to explain, and it makes it more passionate, and you just want to be part of it.
Self-study activity:
The activity is suitable for strong intermediate students.
Watch the video again and answer these questions.
1 When did Jonathan start spotting big cats?
2 What does Jonathan do when the hair he collects?
3 Where do leopards leave their kills?
4 What does Jonathan do with the cameras?
5 What does Jonathan get every week?
6 What's people's reaction when Jonathan tells them about big cats in Britain?
7 Are big cats dangerous for humans?
To check the answers, you can read the transcript below.
We have puma, I can smell cat spray, we have leopards, and we have linx.
Interesting.
The numbers have escalated.
Looks like it.
We have so many. We have thousands of sightings a year by members of the public. This is one of my newest study areas where a lot of people have seen large black cats.
It all started with me in 1984 because I was into watching wildlife. And I got more than I bargained for. Once when I was watching a badger set, saw a puma come along and stalk one of the badgers that I actually knew quite well, and I couldn’t believe it. And so it set me on a sort of a task to find out whether there were any more of these animals in the area. I thought I’ve got to do a proper study about this and so that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 12 years now.
I’ve got some possible leopard scat here. It’s full of hair, that’s a typical find within a leopard territory. I collect lots of evidence in regards to field science, that’s droppings, footprints, scrapes from the ground and claw markings on trees.
You see, claw marks here because when cats often do scraps they often put their claws out to make the ground up.
These are all my hundreds of bags of hair I’ve collected. A very small amount of it has been analysed, yes, and some of it has proven to be puma, leopard hair. I’ve got whiskers as well. That’s possibly a whisker from a large cat. Cats have huge big whiskers like this. We have deer bones that fall out of trees because leopards often take their kills up trees just to prevent foxes from eating them. Big jaws have crunched the bones. This is a leopard skull here, just to show the teeth and how strong those jaws are.
This is one of my many trigger cameras. I’m gonna open it up and see wether there’s actually anything on there. In actual fact, it hasn’t been triggered yet at all, so I’ll put it back and I’ll return in a few weeks time.
This is one of the images I obtained. It was taken about three am, and one can clearly see there’s an animal there which I believe to be the male leopard that will often visit this pond to drink.
Every week I get reports some of which are ‘cat seen by multiple witnesses’ or cat seen by several people in different vehicles, for example in a traffic jam. It’s good just to speak to the witnesses just to relax them and let them know they are not unique, they are not mad.
People are skeptical because big cats are iconic. People think that Britain is so cold and rainy and boring that we couldn’t have big animals like leopards and pumas here.
Once you start looking for the evidence, it all falls into place. This is quite interesting here. They keep themselves to themselves, and they don’t want to touch humans, they just want to get up and get out of the way if they know humans are near.
To me it’s such a wonderful part of nature, and I feel part of nature when I see that shy elusive animal watching me. It does something which is really hard to explain, and it makes it more passionate, and you just want to be part of it.
miércoles, 20 de marzo de 2013
Talking point: Does your life leave you enough time to relax?
This week's talking point, Does your life leave you enough time to relax?, is taken from The New York Times Learning Network.
In mid February Shannon Doyle compiled a number of questions to jog readers' minds on the topic of today's fast pace of life:
Imagine you have one extra hour every week: your 169th hour. It occurs whenever you want it to, and you can do whatever you want with it. You don’t have to see anyone that you don’t want to see, or write letters to them, or do anything that you’re currently feeling guilty about.
Mull over these ideas before getting together with the members of your conversation group. For background information, you can also read Tony Schwartz's article for The New York Times Relax! You'll be more productive.
In mid February Shannon Doyle compiled a number of questions to jog readers' minds on the topic of today's fast pace of life:
- Imagine your life with more sleep, longer breaks from school/work and all your other obligations, maybe even regular naps. Do these changes appeal to you? Or does the thought of devoting more time to relaxing fill you with stress and worry?
- How do you balance all the things you need to do in an average day with the need to sleep and rest?
- Do you ever feel like being sleep deprived or less than fully rested causes you to make mistakes, take more time to accomplish tasks or otherwise do less than your best?
- If so, how could you change your routine to allow you to have more downtime?
- If you could take more breaks, would you? How would you spend this time?
- Does the idea of working for 90 minutes then having time to relax before resuming seem familiar to you? Possible? Why or why not?
Imagine you have one extra hour every week: your 169th hour. It occurs whenever you want it to, and you can do whatever you want with it. You don’t have to see anyone that you don’t want to see, or write letters to them, or do anything that you’re currently feeling guilty about.
- Write down five things that would make you happy in that hour (don’t give yourself any restrictions or nagging guilt feelings about other jobs to be done).
- Write down five things that would give pleasure to someone else in that hour.
- Finally, write down five important things that you have been putting off, that you could at least start in the hour.
Mull over these ideas before getting together with the members of your conversation group. For background information, you can also read Tony Schwartz's article for The New York Times Relax! You'll be more productive.
photo by Lukey Dargons in Flickr
martes, 12 de febrero de 2013
Real English series: What do you do for fun?
Two more video clips today in our Real English series, which is intended for Básico students.
In the first clip people answer the question What do you do for fun?
You can watch the same video with English subtitles on the Real English site.
The second video is a follow-up to the one before. Passers-by answer two questions this time:
What kind of music do you like?
What kind of films do you like?
You can also watch the same video with English subtitles on the Real English site.
Students at an intermediate level will find two more challenging videos on the topic of free time and hobbies on the Real English site here and here. You will also be able to do some online activities by dropping past the Real English site.
In the first clip people answer the question What do you do for fun?
The second video is a follow-up to the one before. Passers-by answer two questions this time:
What kind of music do you like?
What kind of films do you like?
You can also watch the same video with English subtitles on the Real English site.
Students at an intermediate level will find two more challenging videos on the topic of free time and hobbies on the Real English site here and here. You will also be able to do some online activities by dropping past the Real English site.
miércoles, 26 de diciembre de 2012
Talking point: How musical are you?
This week's talking point derives from a lesson in The New York Times Learning Network, Rocking It Out: Exploring Music Teaching Methods. Get together with the members of your conversation group and answer the questions below. Try to go over the answers in advance so that the conversation is more fluent and you are not at a loss for ideas when you meet your friends.
What types of music do you like?
When do you usually listen to music?
Do you prefer listening to recorded or live music?
Who is your favourite composer or musician? Why?
How did you discover their music?
How do you think the musicians you admire started out learning music?
Does it make a difference to you whether artists you like compose their own songs?
Have you ever had music instruction of any sort? If so, why? If not, why not?
At what age, if any, did you start learning to sing or play a musical instrument?
What instrument(s) do you, or did you, play? (Voice counts as an instrument.)
What genre of music have you learned?
If you don’t play anymore, at what age did you stop? Why?
What, if any, instruments would you like to learn to play?
What, if any, genre of music would you like to learn to perform?
In preparation for your conversation session you can read David Bornstein's article in The New York Times Beyond Baby Mozart, Students Who Rock. The article deals with the way music is taught at schools and specifically focuses on a music programme called Little Kids Rock in which students play their favorite songs, perform in bands, and compose their own music.
You can also watch David Wish's talk in TED We are all Musicians, about the relationship between language acquisition and music.
What types of music do you like?
When do you usually listen to music?
Do you prefer listening to recorded or live music?
Who is your favourite composer or musician? Why?
How did you discover their music?
How do you think the musicians you admire started out learning music?
Does it make a difference to you whether artists you like compose their own songs?
Have you ever had music instruction of any sort? If so, why? If not, why not?
At what age, if any, did you start learning to sing or play a musical instrument?
What instrument(s) do you, or did you, play? (Voice counts as an instrument.)
What genre of music have you learned?
If you don’t play anymore, at what age did you stop? Why?
What, if any, instruments would you like to learn to play?
What, if any, genre of music would you like to learn to perform?
In preparation for your conversation session you can read David Bornstein's article in The New York Times Beyond Baby Mozart, Students Who Rock. The article deals with the way music is taught at schools and specifically focuses on a music programme called Little Kids Rock in which students play their favorite songs, perform in bands, and compose their own music.
You can also watch David Wish's talk in TED We are all Musicians, about the relationship between language acquisition and music.
lunes, 27 de agosto de 2012
Hong Kong series: What's your hobby?
What’s your hobby?
Can you tell us a bit about your hobby?
Why do you like your hobby?
These are the questions three teachers from The British Council in Hong Kong answer in today's videocast.
The activity is suitable for strong Básico 1 students, and for Básico 2 and Intermediate 1 learners.
Self-study activity:
To develop your listening skills, just minimise the computer window and see if you understand the way the teachers answer the questions above.
Then you can check the answers by watching the video in a normal way. Many of the phrases the speakers use are subtitled on the screen.
Finally, you can practise your pronunciation by trying to say some of the phrases on the screen in the same way as the speaker has pronounced them.
As a follow-up you can answer the questions on the video about yourself.
Can you tell us a bit about your hobby?
Why do you like your hobby?
These are the questions three teachers from The British Council in Hong Kong answer in today's videocast.
The activity is suitable for strong Básico 1 students, and for Básico 2 and Intermediate 1 learners.
Self-study activity:
To develop your listening skills, just minimise the computer window and see if you understand the way the teachers answer the questions above.
Then you can check the answers by watching the video in a normal way. Many of the phrases the speakers use are subtitled on the screen.
Finally, you can practise your pronunciation by trying to say some of the phrases on the screen in the same way as the speaker has pronounced them.
As a follow-up you can answer the questions on the video about yourself.
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)