Weaving language and tapestry making

Hi everyone!

I'm very sorry I have been absent for such a long time! But if you know me, you know that this is my usual pattern.

The visit to an exhibition on William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement has inspired me to look for videos that show the beauty of craftmanship. This one, apart from being extraordinarily informative as well as wonderfully produced, is intended to remind you of the metaphors we saw in class not long ago.

The "warp and woof", meaning the foundation of something, is a typical example of a metaphor that alludes to the art of weaving (although the technical terms preferred nowadays are warp and weft), but the most interesting idioms we could see were those in which the background metaphor was "storytelling is weaving": the thread of discourse, the loom of language, to weave a story; as well as those where we understand the metaphor "storytelling is lying": to fabricate, the fabric/tissue of lies, to pull the wool over somebody's eyes, to make up of whole cloth, to spin a yarn. Weaving and language thus become intricately interwoven (see what I did there?) through an underlying metaphor: the storyteller and poet as a weaver of language.

With this in mind, it was only natural that the first video about arts and crafts that I wanted to present to you had to do with weaving: here you have the art of tapestry making at the Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins in Paris.

The activities I propose for this video are fairly open questions, because I don't want to detract from the enjoyment of watching the art that these women (only women in the video!) bring to life. The explanations are so clear that I also wanted you to focus on the accuracy of language in the voiceover without thinking much about exercises.

So, share with us in the comments: which of the jobs carried out at the Gobelins do you think is the hardest, and why? Which one would you rather do if you could work there, and why? Try to use the specific language you can hear in the video.

Optional: note down all instances of the passive voice.

Enjoy!

Movember History

Hi everyone!

This is Movember! I like to send you a Movember video each year since I had a student who took part in it. He told me that he liked being asked about his new moustache, as it gave him the chance to talk about the reason behind it.

I won't tell you much about Movember, because the video explains what this grass roots movement is in great detail. The comprehension questions are easy enough (some collocations and an open question), but... the accent is Australian. Hehe. The open question is right at the end, so that you have time to get used to the accent before transcribing.

Before listening: there is a collocation that you must know, as it is key to comprehension, so check that you know it or look it up in the dictionary. What two things can you raise for a good cause?

Some collocations to complete while listening:

1. The month ________ known as November.
2. Everything comes back _____ _________.
3. The party ended with the _________ ________ bring back moustaches.
4. Becoming a Mo Sista is definitely a way to meet guys. Asking a guy about his moustache is the ultimate ____________ ___________.
5. _________ __________ November 2010... (this discourse marker is borrowed from cinema/TV jargon)

What's the firm belief he expresses at the end of the video?


Enjoy! Share your answers and thoughts in the comments section. Have you every participated in Movember? Would you consider doing so?

Learning Through Art

Hi everyone!

Back here! Finally! The hiatus was worth it, though, now I have a PhD under my arm, and a desire to make this blog active again with lots of comprehension challenges!

This first video has been watched by most of you through the mailing list, so I'm including it here for you to check your answers and to have a permanent link to it. Even if you've replied to it by email, you can still make comments, you know I love to see the comment section alive!

This is an introduction to the learning programme of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. I'm fascinated by the way in which cultural institutions develop or adapt curricula to encourage hands-on learning processes.  These are the comprehension questions I propose:

Watch the first minute of the video and reply to these questions:

1. What is the main question they want to investigate with the Learning Through Art Programme?

2. What does a student have to do to succeed in today's global society?

3. What skills need to be developed for this purpose?


Now watch the rest of the video and complete these sentences:

1. Habits of mind are the _____________ between the classroom and the museum.

2. Students are motivated by _____________  and learn best by _____________ .

3. The abilities strengthened by learning through original works of art are the application of knowledge in a real-world setting, a deeper understanding of content, and the ability to _____________ complex ideas.

4. To implement these ideas in your classroom, all you need is a _____________  rather than a background in Art History.


Key here, as usual, and please share your answers or any ideas in the comment section. What do you think of these educational programmes in museums?

Learning Through Art: Introduction from Museum of Fine Arts, Houston on Vimeo.

Behind the Painting

Hi there everyone!

Again, sorry for the long absences. As some of you already know, I'm working on a PhD and this is the most absorbing thing I've ever done, bar none. Well, maybe except having a newborn baby! But yesterday I was feeling kind of lazy so I looked for a nice video for you all.

This is from a series of videos provided by the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin, which give you a certain background on highlights of their collection. This one is about a very famous painting there, which has been dubbed "the best-loved painting in Ireland": The Meeting on the Turret Stairs. The story behind the scene in the painting is also really moving, if you want to take a look at it. It was inspired by a Danish ballad about an ill-fated love.

So, time for some work! Here I leave you activities in three steps:

1. Check pronunciation and meaning of this art-related vocabulary before you listen:

miniature (portraits)
watercolour
narrative genre scene
oil painting
a gilt frame
glazes


... and non-art-related vocabulary:

he started off as
it was highly regarded
it was snapped up by a dealer
to mistake sth for sth else
to make a pilgrimage


2. Complete these phrases with a maximum of three words.

He was ___________ of his career
He ___________  to copyright
Vulnerable to ___________ 
A balance over ___________  and ___________ 
This is the flexible approach that we've tried to ___________ 


3. Answer these questions:

What did writer George Eliot say about the theme of the painting? And about the knight?
What happened once Burton became director of the National Gallery in London?
Why is it important to protect this painting from light?


This time, I'm going to leave three days before I publish the key. Make sure you leave some comments! I'd love to kear from you and about your answers or doubts!

Enjoy the video and the Irish accent!

Housing options: a "transformer apartment"

Hello everyone!

As you probably know, June is here, and that means more videos to practise for the exam! (Yayyy...!)

This one is to practise two areas: one is vocabulary about space, particularly house space, and their descriptions. The other element is accent... This person is from Hong Kong, so you can guess the accent is going to be challenging!

The format is in fact a presentation, not a video, but it is here because I enjoyed it so much. It consists of 20-second-long slides with a voiceover. The person who speaks is the owner of a 32-square-metre flat who has refurbished it several times throughout the years. The best summary I can make is, in his own words: "The place changes for me, I don't change for the place".

So your task is to find out this information:

1.  How many people have lived in the apartment in the different stages he describes?
2. How has he created a home cinema?
3.  What was his inspiration for the last concept?
4. Which parts of his house are movable? What do they transform into?

Some vocabulary you might need:

partitions
to double as
transient
permutations
Swiss Army (knife)
bathtub
hide-and-seek

I hope you enjoy this transformer apartment! And I'd love to see your answers in the comments section!

Topic: Culture - Broadway Musicals

Hi everyone!

Doing a bit of research for this topic I have found out that there are so many musicals worth watching! And so many we know of because they have been adapted for the silver screen, like Grease, Hair, Mamma Mia, The Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story,... Actually, with some of these I'm not even sure if it was the musical production or the film that came first. Any help?

This is a top ten list that, obviously, will not please everybody, particularly if you're a fan of more classical musicals. I, for one, find that there is one unforgivable absence!. But we have to take into account that the list aims at presenting some of the most successful or critically acclaimed productions. Or... this might one of those cases where a top ten just won't do. A top twenty, maybe?

What I propose is:

1. First, to take a look at compound adjectives with present participles. Remember that they are easy to interpret if you "read them" from right to left forming a relative clause:

e.g. a Tony Award-winning musical would then become a musical that has won a Tony Award... or several! Don't forget that the first part of this adjective is always singular, no matter what.

2. Then, to complete some gapped sentences.

3. To read the full transcript and annotate any interesting collocations (there are soooo many I couldn't make gaps for all of them!)

4. To comment!

So we start with the adjectives. Match the adjectives you're going to hear with the noun they refer to in the video. There may be more than one acceptable match. Then check while you're listening.

history-making                                  characters

attention-grabbing                           numbers (figures)

show-stopping                                   dance numbers

longest-running                                 flick (film)

Oscar-winning                                   twelve Tony Awards

award-winning                                   production

record-breaking                                musical 

And here are the gapped sentences:

1. Wicked will captivate you _______________________ of “The Wizard of Oz” film.

2. The Producers, thanks to its musical numbers, choreography and characters,  _______________________  of classic Broadway shows.

3. RENT is a landmark musical, _______________________  and RENT-heads alike.

4. Oklahoma! is a successful combination of a serious storyline, _______________________  and dance numbers.

5. Oklahoma! is thought to be a musical that  _______________________  the musicals that came after it.

6. A Chorus Line is simple in its concept: a bare stage on which we watch several Broadway dancers _______________________  a musical.

7. Chicago follows two women _______________________ , wealth and “all that jazz”.

8. The Lion King manages to _______________________ universally appealing songs with colorful costumes and impressive puppetry.

9. Even though there is __________________________ in it, Cats is a “purrfect” musical.

10. Cats has vibrant costumes and incredibly complex dance numbers. _______________________  the distinct personalities of the Jellicle cats and_______________________ this is one of Broadway’s most popular shows.

11. Les Miserables is one of the longest-running musicals on Broadway, which the narrator doesn’t hesitate to call “a musical and _______________________.”

12. The Phantom of the Opera counts with detailed costumes, ___________________ and haunting music.

All that is left for you to do now is to read the transcript and annotate your favourite vocabulary.

Oh, I almost forgot... And to comment! Do you agree with the list? Which is your favourite musical? You can also share the vocabulary you found interesting with us.

Enjoy!