Lola's Blog

Poster of film. Wikipedia The set novel for C1 students is " In the heat of the night " by John Ball. You are going to read the novel and then compare it to the 1967 film based on the book. The novel is divided into 15 chapters. Students are required to read relevant chapters and bring the book to class for discussion. As well as reading the book, there will be a final project (oral presentation) and an in class essay. If you haven't ordered your copy of the book yet, you can read the foreword and first chapter here . Click on " look inside ". Reading schedule Read chapters 1-3 by Wednesday 30 November (Group C1B)/ Thursday 1 December (Group C1A) Read Chapters 4-6 by Wednesday 14 December (Group C1B)/ Thursday 15 December (Group C1A) Read chapters 7-9 by Wednesday 21 December  (Group C1B)/ Thursday 22 December (Group C1A) Read chapters 10-15 by Wednesday 11 January   (Group C1B)/ Thursday 12 January (Group C1A)

Evan Amos. Public domain When was the last time you listened to the radio in English? Which website is your favourite for listening? Well, here you have a chance to do some listening practice before the exam. You will hear an interview with Baz Luhrmann, the director of The Great Gatsby. Your task is to complete the gaps wih the word or words that you hear in English. The text is divided into two parts. Listen to Part 1, first, and then Part 2. You can check your answers by reading the transcript. Do not read it until the end, of course. Hope you enjoy this listening exercise. Let me know how you get on with it. Download worksheet.

David Fincher by Elen Nivrae. CC-BY This post is about the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which was directed by American director and producer David Fincher. You are going to learn vocabulary for talking and reviewing a film review. Your last task will be to write a review of about 200-230 words. You should bring to class your student book Global , along with the handout on how to write a book review.   The director and the cast How much do you know about the director, David Fincher? and the cast? Photo by Maggie. CC-BY Photo by Paul Cush. CC-BY Photo by The Heart Truth. Public domain You can follow these links if you would like to learn more about David Fincher, Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Taraji P. Henson . Watch this interview with Taraji P. Henson How many actors played the character of Benjamin Button? Why? How did she establish chemistry with a character played by different people? How did Queenie survive in a h...

Image by Eva Rinaldi. en.wikipedia.org CC BY SA Do you know the man on this photo? Just read the words behind and you'll guess. That's right, it's Baz Luhrmann, the director of The Great Gatsby . This post is about cinema. You will learn vocabulary for talking about and reviewing films. You will also be able to watch an interview with an actor and write a book/film review. Baz Luhrmann How much do you know about this director? What other films has he directed? Where is he from? What awards has he received? Click on this link to find out. Film glossary Do you know the meaning of "blockbuster" or "cameo". How about "props"? This is a sample of the vocabulary that you need to know when talking about films. Visit this Imdb page to learn film-related words. Speaking Think of   a film that you have enjoyed. Make some notes and get ready to talk about it in class. Watch this interview Watch Leonardo DiCaprio talk about...

Photo from flickrcc.net If you would like to learn about Indian writers, a good start is to read Salman Rushdie's biography . He is the author of The Satanic Verses (1988) and the Booker Prize winning novel Midnight's Children (1981), which has recently been made into a feature film by Oscar-nominated film director Deepa Mehta.   Lsten to this radio interview in which Salman Rushdie talks about his book Midnight's Children .

Image by IanMac. Flicr.com We celebrated Women's Day at our school on Wednesday 6th March. There was an interesting talk about female Canadian film directors. You will find some information about  Deepa Mehta at the IMDb site. Although she was born in India, she lives in Toronto. Fascinating, really.  Her latest film, Midnight's Children , is based on one of Salman Rushdie's books.What difficulties did she encounter while shooting the film?  Watch an interview on Ontario TV an answer these questions: 1. Watch the clip of the film. What is the film about? 2. Who is the voice over the clip? Was he happy to do that job? 3. The director tells two stories in the film. Was it difficult to do that? 4. How was the screenplay written? 5. How did the project of the film get off the ground (who approached who)?