Hi there,
Here goes a nice lil' exercise that I found in a book for the preparation of the CAE exam. It's not too difficult though.
I'll post the solutions next week.
Cheers!
Thou, Thee, and Archaic Grammar
by A. Davies, R. Lipton, D. Richoux et al.
"Thou", "thee", "thine" and "thy" are pronouns that have dropped out of the main dialects of Modern English. During the period of Early Modern English (~1470-1700), they formed the Second Person Singular of the language, and were standardized by the time of the King James Bible as shown below.
| Subjective | Objective | Possessive | Present Tense Verb Ending |
|
| 1st Pers. Sing. | I | me | my/mine[1] | none |
| 2nd Pers. Sing. | thou | thee | thy/thine[1] | -est |
| 3rd Pers. Sing. | he/she/it | him/her/it | his/her/its | -eth |
| 1st Pers. Plural | we | us | our | none |
| 2nd Pers. Plural | ye/you[2] | you | your | none |
| 3rd Pers. Plural | they | them | their | none |
| [1]: "Mine" and "thine" were used before "h" and vowels, much as "an" was. | ||||
| [2]: "You" had replaced "ye" for most plural uses by 1600. | ||||
Here are the conjugations from that era of two common irregular verbs:
to be - Present tense to have - Present tense
I am I have
thou art thou hast
he/she/it is he/she/it hath
we are we have
ye are ye have
they are they have
You may have been told that "thou" and "thee" were for familiar use, and "you" and "ye" were formal. This was not true originally, but it was true for about two centuries, roughly 1450-1650, including Shakespeare's time. The previously plural "you" was used in the singular to signify politeness and respect, which left "thou" and "thee" for all the other singular uses, ranging from endearing intimacy to bitter rudeness. Eventually, the politer "you" drove out nearly all uses of "thee" and "thou"; they survived mostly in poetry and religion.
Several groups continue to use these pronouns today as part of their daily speech (although with different grammar), including residents of Yorkshire, Cumbria, the East Midlands, and some rural areas of Western England. Some Quakers also used their Plain Speech with "thee" and "thy" until the middle of the 20th century.
Would you be able to 'translate' this sonnet by W.Shakespeare into 21st Century English?
Sonnet 51
Thus can my love excuse the slow offence
Of my dull bearer when from thee I speed:
From where thou art why should I haste me thence?
Till I return, of posting is no need.
O! what excuse will my poor beast then find,
When swift extremity can seem but slow?
Then should I spur, though mounted on the wind,
In winged speed no motion shall I know,
Then can no horse with my desire keep pace.
Therefore desire, (of perfect'st love being made)
Shall neigh, no dull flesh, in his fiery race;
But love, for love, thus shall excuse my jade-
Since from thee going, he went wilful-slow,
Towards thee I'll run, and give him leave to go.
If you think you can, please, post the 'translation' as a comment to this post.
Cheers!
Hi there,
Here is a new gap-fill exercise in the form of a cloze text.
http://www.lacoctelera.com/myfiles/4eoialcala/volcano.htm
Please, leave a comment if you liked the exercise!
Cheers!
Did you know about this section on the BBC website? If not, you don't know what you've been missing.
The newest episode is about lying:
My suggestion is to listen carefully to this episode, then try to answer the comprehension question posed (you can use the glossary available on the same webpage to help you better understand what's being said), and finally read along the transcript as you listen to the episode for a second time.
If you don't have much time you could possibly download the episode in mp3 format and send it to your mp3 player for a more convenient listening later, while driving or jogging.
Now, if you would also like to listen to some US English accent, here's a video from Fox News http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/18748077
The suggested comprehension exercise is to listen carefully to this piece of news - only twice -, make a few notes, and then write what Vickie Luhrs (owner of a house which is about to be washed away by the sea due to erosion) has asked the county to be able to do so as to prevent her house to eventually be 'eaten' by the sea, and what the county have finally granted her and why, all as a comment to this post.
Hello,
Even though I am not teaching your level this year, from now on I will continue updating the blog, as it was agreed in our faculty meeting last Friday.
I will upload exercises every week, focusing especially on the reading comprehension skills - as they are the easiest of all four to be implemented online - , not neglecting the other three though.
We will start with a cloze text using an article from the BBC. The article is about a recent finding in the science field.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/lcp/4eoialcala/myfiles/reindeer.htm
After you have finished the exercise you can read the article in its original location here
Best,
Raúl
P.S: for those of you wondering what 'started back ... used to do' means or where the heck I took it from, here is the song where you will find the answer: Maybellene, originally by Chuck Berry.
Lyrics | Chuck Berry Lyrics | Maybellene Lyrics
(tip: there is always a song for every single grammatical issue you would want to study or practise).
Hi there y'all,
Just wanted to welcome you all to the new course we're starting this afternoon, September 16th.
I hope this year will be as productive and fulfilling as last year, and hope we all can achieve the goals to be set out this afternoon in our first meeting session.
Just like last course, this blog alongside the school's website should work as a means of communication among students and the teacher, as well as a place to find useful information which you can use further on in the classroom.
Some assignments will also be set out so as to be fulfilled here. It is advisable to visit this blog once a week at least for that matter, especially if you won't be attending the classes for some time.
Looking forward to meeting you in class in a few hours! Until then, maybe you can start listening to some spoken English in this hilarious episode from Monty Python's Flying Circus
Cheers!
Hi y'all,
FYI, here's the list with the names of the students that must sit for different exams in September. This list has been divided according to the parts of the exam which students failed in June.
I'll get back to you in a few days with the timetable for the oral exams.
Greets!
http://s3.amazonaws.com/lcp/4eoialcala/myfiles/EXAMENES-DE-SEPTIEMBRE.pdf!
American music historian and performer David Holt interviews L.W. Lambert about the Earl Scruggs style or "Bluegrass" banjo.
Transcript:
"In the 1940s the young banjo player from the montains of North Carolina, Earl Scruggs, revolutionized banjo playing with a hard-driving syncopated three-finger banjo style. Now, when Earl Scruggs joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys the music we call Bluegrass was born ..."
Anyone would like to continue...?
