"The Internet" an Episode from the IT Crowd

Wednesday 28^th May

Hello again!

Your essay on Athens, writing about the city and telling why you like it, was very good.

You can go to this website to bring back memories...

Athens - Greece

Together with it and a listening about ‘The World Around’, we finished the module.

·        Where would you go if your ‘golden retriever’ (a breed of dog) had health problems?

·        Where can you buy some glue and a screwdriver?

·        Where can you get rid of newspapers, old furniture and bottles and help the environment?

·        What about having your body decorated?

·        If you want to open a savings account or withdraw some money, which place would you go?

·        What kind of business should you call if you wanted a quotation for moving furniture and staff to your new home?

As we have been working very hard in the last weeks, we needed an entertaining activity. And that’s why we started to see another episode from the TV series “The I.T. Crowd”. It’s called “The Internet”

This time Jen, the IT head of department, had to make a speech for the monthly meeting of the shareholders (people who had invested money in the company) because she had been named ‘employee of the month’. As usual, Moss and Roy are plotting (making plans against somebody) so as to give Jen away. To reveal that Jen doesn’t know anything about computers – not even how to pronounce the word- and even though, she’s been made manager of the IT department!

 The other story concerns ‘The boss’ of the company and a female journalist who is writing a profile on him because he has been chosen “Man of the Month” by her magazine. Soon, they’ll find out (discovered) they have many things in common. A bit too many things in common as he is soon to find out …

…but we ran out of time,(time finished) so we’ll finish seeing the episode in our next class.

Have a nice weekend! See you on Wednesday!

Used to, Get used to, Be used to

Hello! This is what we did in our class.

We talked about habit using the structures we had learnt before.

I never had problems with my brother. I guess that having sisters is a bit more annoying. My friend used to have quite some rows with her sisters when they lived at their parents’. My friend’s sisters were always borrowing her clothes without asking her. One of them would borrow clothes and put them back into my friend’s wardrobe without bothering to wash them or iron them! This infuriated (make my friend very, very angry)

Then we learnt or reviewed adjectives to describe personality.

·         She’s so sensitive! She’ll cry at the end of every film!

·         Dave is the meanest person I’ve ever met. He’d never buy you a drink.

·         She’s a really sensible girl. She’ll always think things through before she acts.

·         I’m really clumsy. I’m always bumping into things.

·         He’d pick a fight with anybody about anything. He’s so argumentative!

·         My sister will leave things everywhere and she won’t be able to get them when she needs them! She’s really absent-minded. Besides, she’ll never admit she’s wrong! She is also stubborn!

We also revised the differences between ‘used to + infinitive’, ‘be / get used to + ing’

I used to go to the cinema every Sunday. (It was a habit; repetitive action that is no longer true. I don’t go to the cinema now).

It was hard to start the new job because I wasn’t used to getting up so early. ( I wasn’t accustomed to it. It was strange for me). After six months I’m getting used to getting up at 6.00a.m.(I’m getting accustomed to it, although it’s still strange)

'Used to' listening

And that was all!

In the First Weeks of May...

Week 7th -14th May

Hello again!

Last month was a bit confusing with having lessons every one week, so let’s get restarted!

What did we do in the first weeks of May?

In the first week of May, we finished the module in the same way we had started it; that is, talking about participles and relative clauses.

We listened and read about ‘Jumbolair’ the only housing estate (residential area) where the super- rich can commute (travel) to work by plane!

But don’t be sad, remember: ‘Money can’t buy happiness’.

Jumbolair’s most famous resident is Hollywood film star John Travolta, whose $3.5 million mansion is big enough to park a row of aeroplanes, including a Gulfstream executive jet, a two-seater jet fighter, and a four-engined Boeing 707.

Travolta holds a commercial pilot’s license, which means he’s qualified to fly passenger jets.

Now that we have finished the module, don’t forget that:

There are two types of relative clauses: defining and non-defining, also called extra information clauses.

Defining relative clauses are essential for the meaning of the whole sentence. Extra information (non-defining), can be omitted without affecting the meaning of the sentence. They just “add” information.

Bear in mind (pay attention to)these differences:

Non-defining relative clauses.

·         They go between commas.

·         The relative pronoun can’t be left out (omitted).

·         “That” can’t be used instead of which or who.

Defining relative clauses.

·           “That” can be used instead of who or which.

·           The relative pronoun can be left out as long as it is the object of the sentence; that is, when it goes after the subject of the sentence.

Compare:

·           The girl who (that) is speaking is my neighbour’s daughter.

·           Is that the dog which (that) your brother gave you at Christmas?

·           Is that the dog your brother gave you at Christmas?

·           (no relative because the subject of the clause is “your brother”)

                   ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­________________________________________

·      Sue, who (that, is not possible) is speaking about the environment, is my neighbour’s daughter.

·      Mike’s new Mercedes, which (that is not possible; nor can it be omitted) he bought last year, is very elegant.

We also spent ‘A Night at the Oscars’

Yes! Your “Thanks, speech” was really moving. Obviously you were absolutely astonished and delighted to receive that wonderful award. And you were really grateful to those wonderful people who had voted for your film.

http://www.tinyteflteacher.co.uk/learning-english/FCE/adverbs-adjectives.html

So, that was about the first week of May, what about the second?

In the second week we started talking about friends, friendship and social networks.

Would you use a social network or a website to get in touch with old friends you haven’t heard about for years? It seems to me you wouldn’t. Neither would I. As you said, if you are really interested in your friendship, you would never lose touch in the first place.

And we learnt how to talk about habit.

PRESENT HABIT	PAST HABIT
A simple fact	A past habit now finished
My sister works in a bank	I used to live in Rome, but now I live in Paris.
My attitude to this habit of hers	A situation which is familiar and no longer strange
She’s always borrowing my clothes without asking me.	I’ve lived next to the airport for years, so I’m used to the noise.
Characteristic behaviour	A situation which is still strange, but becoming easier
She’ll go out on Friday night and won’t be back until morning.	I’m getting used to travelling on the metro.

And this was what we did in the first weeks of May!

See you!