TO BE MORE CREATIVE I...

(Since life allows us to show our aliveness, joy and creativity in many different ways I´ve drawn inspiration from the modern chicken soup for the soul stories, which restore our faith in human nature and combat negativity, conformity, prejudice and ignorance.)

         I need......

         inspiration

         time

         more time

         a better time 

         next time

         the right person

         the right of eccentricity

         a better circle of friends

        someone to discover me

        a cure for boredom

        to boost my self-esteem

       to be or feel free 

       Spring and Autumn

       Morning and Night

        Smile and Laugh more

        follow my dreams

        live my dream 

        daydream my dream

        explore new places or old sights with new eyes

        love myself enough

        determination

        YES, WE CAN....

        (Thanks to Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen, whose stories open the heart and rekindle the human spirit)

         

        

       

 

THE "SECRET" LIFE OF WORDS : ANTANACLASIS

(NO connection whatsoever with Isabel Coixet´s film of the same name.Sorry, like two people with the same name and surnames)
Words, like people, have their own stories and histories. They are born, they develop, they change their meanings and eventually may become old-fashioned or even disappear or appear only on the web or some dictionaries....
I´m indebted to Henry Hitchins "The secret life of words or How English became English" who analysed the fascinating stories behind just sixteen words:

ensemble

invade

saffron

volume

bravado

genius

powwow

bonsai

onslaught

connoisseur

teapot

blizzard

ethos

voodoo

angst

shabash

 

1)FIND OUT BOTH THE ORIGIN & MEANING OF EACH ITEM ABOVE

2) WRITE JUST SIX WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE SECRET TO A HAPPY LIFE

3) GOOGLE "SECRET WORDS OF POWER" and see what you find...

4) WHAT "SECRET WORDS" COULD DESCRIBE YOUR LIFE?

5) ANTANACLASIS is a type of verbal play in which one word is used in two contrasting senses:

" And there´s bars on the corner

   And there´s bars on the heart"...Tim Mc Graw  Where the green grass grows..

Find out 5 polysemic words both in Spanish and English...

P.S. Phonetically Silent English

One of the greatest difficulties for Spanish speakers is the nightmarish pronunciation of English, its stress, rhythm and intonation, its lack of consistent rules and the large number of silent letters both vowels and consonants:

silent 

          a : logically (unstressed vowels tend to become schwas)

          b : climber, plumber, debt, thumb, doubt....

          c : muscle, indict,...

          ch : fuchsia, yacht,..

          d : handkerchief, sandwich, Wednesday,...

          e : hate, fate, mate, lake,..

          f : halfpenny, halfpence,..

          g : gnome, physiognomy, foreign, though,...

          h : honest, heir, hour, why, ghost,...

          i  : business,..

          k : know, knight, knee, knife,...

          l : could, would, salmon, almond,halves,...

          m : mnemonics,..

          n : autumn, condemn, column,..

          o : colonel,..

          p : pneumonia, psalm, receipt, cupboard,..

          r : barley, parsley,..

          s : island, isle,...

          t : castle, listen, fasten, often, Christmas,...

          u : guess, guitar, tongue...

          w : answer, sword,..

          x : faux pas

          z : rendezvous

 

Try to find some more examples:

         

LOOPING THE LOOP or POLYPTOTON: Cognate objects or Internal Accusative

 

If you say "he sang a song" or" he slept a troubled sleep" you are using a cognate object: the verb´s noun form which has the same root.

 

In the phrases below find the object etymologically related to the verb. (Both could be the same):

 

TO RUN A ....................

TO DRINK A.................

TO PAINT A................

TO GIVE A ................

TO DIE A...................

TO READ A ..............

TO LAUGH A...........

TO SMILE A...............

TO TALK  A................

TO WRITE A............... 

TO SPEAK A..............

TO DO A.................... 

TO BLEED SOME.........

TO DREAM A .............. 

TO THINK A................

 

 

 

PUZZLE AND PROBLEM PARADISE

Students seem to enjoy brainteasers more than we do and there seems to be no end of books, textbooks and compilations of them, including cryptic crosswords, word searches, optical illusions, mind mazes, riddles and mental meltdowns.


Here´s just a sample of what you can find on the web and in many puzzle compendiums:

"Twenty-questions" riddles are designed for oral practice.In order to solve them students have to ask you 20 questions to which you may only reply "yes" or "no"

A) During an expedition  to the furthest icy reaches of Scandinavia, an archeologist comes across two bodies, entombed in a perfectly preserved state. After examining the bodies, he declares:"These are the corpses of Adam and Eve"  Why is he so sure?

B)A spice merchant enters a tavern in Bordeaux and orders the chef´s special, a cormorant stew. As soon as the dish is served, the merchant takes a mouthful and immediately bursts into tears. Why?

 

C) Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine are in love and have been married for 15 years. However, when Eleanor tells Henry she wants a divorce, Henry is delighted. Why?

 

(From the Big Book of Paradoxes, Puzzles and Problems by Fabrice Mazza Carlton Books2010)

 

D) A carrot, a pile of pebbles, and a pipe are lying together in the middle of a field. Why?

E) How can you prove that a man has three heads?

 

(From The most enormous book of Brainteasers ever. Sevenoaks 2002)

Answer to E:No man has two heads.A man has one head more than no man. Therefore a man has three heads. Remember my name is "heads"

F) Charlie went for a walk without an umbrella. He did not wear a hat and he did not take refuge under a shelter; yet, not one hair on his head got wet. How was this possible?


G) In the "Left" family, each daughter has the same number of brothers as she has sisters.
    Each son has twice as many sisters as he has brothers.
    How many sons and daughters are there in the family?

 

 I could go on and on ad lib and ad infinitum....

For more examples see the Reader´s Digest Compendium of Puzzles and Brain teasers 2000.

SHORT FILM PROJECTS

We have developed numerous film projects in the EFL classroom over the years. In fact, most students have volunteered to take part in these projects, sometimes conducted outside the school timetable.The most significant ones which automatically come to mind and which can be viewed any time are as follows:

DO TEACHERS TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THEIR STUDENTS´ HAPPINESS?(1993)

ONE DAY IN NERJA &  LOCAL SPORTS IN ACTION (1992)

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SPANISH STUDENT (1991)

A CONCERT IN AN ENGLISH LESSON (1994)

NIGHTMARES AND DREAMS ABOUT CLASSROOM LIFE(1995)

ENGLISH TEACHING THROUGH THE AGES: THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF EFL (1996)

SCHOOL TENSIONS AND CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE(1997)

BRITISH EXPO (1998)

LABELS  (1999)

OUR SKETCHES PERFORMED IN DIFFERENT ANDALUSIAN SCHOOLS

AZNAR-ANSAR (2004)

THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS FLOW (2006)

THE WORD SHOP (2008)

A GUIDE TO YOUR TOWN (2009)

OUR MULTICULTURAL SCHOOL (2011)

FACES, PLACES AND SPACES  (2012)

SMILES, MILES & ISLES  (2013)

"! $ % & / ( ) = ? ¿*¨_ @" (2014)

(One day we´ll have a link to see them on the net)

DIFFICULT STUDENTS

Fashions in educational psychology come and go. There was a time when many students were diagnosed as "dyslexic", then ADHD, then "autistic", and more recently as "bipolar"..

I´ve agreed with Carl Rogers on the unconditional acceptance of the worthiness of every human being.
Even when  teachers have found some students as distressing and "potentially dangerous",I´ve seen them just as attention seekers whose families do not allow them to express themselves and that´s why they often need their piercings and tattoos or the latest fashion either showing their underwear or their new accessories...

Teenagers are subjected to the fashions of urban tribes, a question of interest to both Anthropology and Sociology (Neo-hippies, Punks,Gothics, Chavs, Rappers,Retros,Emos, Skaters,Indies,Otakus,Heavies, Rastafarians..) and their unstable minds are slowly getting fixed in these turmoil years.

Our school is all-inclusive, an integration centre and we´ve had SNE  (Special Needs Education) students with serious syndromes:

Anorexia nervosa

Bulimia

Achondroplasia 

S M A (Spinal Muscular Atrophy)

Schizophrenia

I B S

M S

Down Syndrome Trisomy 21

Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne

Addison´s disease

Turner syndrome

Williams syndrome

Prader Willi

Tourette

Asperger

Hallervorden -Spatz

Suicidal

Etc..

 

CLASS TROUBLEMAKERS: (Don´t pigeon-hole them.. I will...)

 

the clown/ joker

the latecomers

the loud mouth

the interrupter

the bully

the griper(ever complaining)

the know-it-all

the drop out

the bragger/ cocky

the hostile

the doubting Thomas 

the perpetually absent-minded

the aggressive

the dictator

the permanently bored

the play boy/ play girl

the beauty queen

the techno addict

the whisperers/talkers/shouters: time wasters

the enigmatic silent type

the teacher´s pet( avoid them) 

 

(See my short film LABELS)

 

APOCOPATIONS, EPIBOLES, APHERESIS, LOGOCLONIAS,etc...

Apocopation is just  cutting off the ends of words.

See if you can find the full form of the following:

PHOTO

SYNC

AB

AD

ADMIN

BIO

BIKE

BIZ

BRA

CAL

CAM

COMBI

In Spanish we have plenty of them:  tele, boli, profe, mates,seño, cole...

EPIBOLE is just beginning several sentences with a similar word.

                  Ex: random repetition. (See alliteration) (Anaphora is       repetition of the same word)

 

APHERESIS is the omission at the beginning of a word: 

Ex: COON instead of RACCOON

TILL        "        "   UNTIL

(Like the next words, it´s also a medical term: Find out its meaning)

LOGOCLONIA is the unusual repetition of the final syllables of words, either in baby talk or in Alzheimer´s disease.

LOGORRHEA is  excessive and rapid speech ( as seen in certain mental disorders) 

BLOGORRHEA  is ..........................................................................?

RHOPALIC: silly verbal tumours

(See Word Pyramids)
 
A rhopalic is a literary phrase( poetry or prose) in which each word has one more letter than the previous word. For example:

I DO NOT KNOW WHICH TURKEY SMELLED

                                 WHERE PHILIP STARTED

I GO AND TAKE LEAVE...

I AM ALL VERY RIGHT THANKS...

AN ICY COLD NIGHT ISABEL VANISHED

 

(THESE ARE  DMITRI BORGMANN´S CLASSIC EXAMPLES) :

 

I do not know where family doctors acquired illegibly perplexing handwriting; nevertheless, extraordinary pharmaceutical intellectuality, counterbalancing indecipherability, transcendentalises intercommunications’ incomprehensibleness!

I am not very happy acting pleased whenever prominent scientists overmagnify intellectual enlightenment, stoutheartedly outvociferating ultrareactionary retrogressionists, characteristically unsupernaturalizing transubstantiatively philosophicoreligious incomprehensiblenesses anthropomorphologically. Pathologicopsychological!

 task:

TRY TO INVENT YOUR OWN RHOPALIC 

(The winner will be the one who makes up the longest meaningful sentence)

 

(Y)OUR MANIAS & (Y)OUR PHOBIAS & (Y)OUR PHILIAS

A mania is an obsession, an intense madness, an abnormal desire or inclination, or an extreme enthusiasm for something. Remember the adjective ending is -manic.Unfortunately, fewer and fewer students choose Greek in their studies, so they will definitely ignore most of the roots of the following manias and phobias...

See if you can identify the following manias:

ABLUTOMANIA

ACRONYMANIA

AILUROMANIA

ARITHMOMANIA

BEATLEMANIA

BIBLIOMANIA

CLEPTOMANIA

DIPSOMANIA

EROTOMANIA

GRAPHOMANIA

HEDONOMANIA

INFOMANIA

MEGALOMANIA

MELOMANIA

MONOMANIA

NECROMANIA

NYMPHOMANIA

PYROMANIA

TRICOTILLOMANIA 

A phobia is an irrational fear, hatred or extreme dislike of something.Remember the adjective ending is -phobic. See if you can guess what the following phobias are about:

ACROPHOBIA

AEROPHOBIA

AGORAPHOBIA   v. CLAUSTROPHOBIA

ARACHNOPHOBIA

BIBLIOPHOBIA

CYBERPHOBIA

DYSMORPHOPHOBIA

ELECTROPHOBIA

ERYTHROPHOBIA

LALIOPHOBIA

MISOPHOBIA

ORNITHOPHOBIA

SATANOPHOBIA

TACHOPHOBIA

THANATOPHOBIA

THEOPHOBIA

TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA

XENOPHOBIA

ZOOPHOBIA

INTRIGUING -OLOGIES

You probably know the difference between Astrology and Astronomy and between Neurology and Urology. I´m positive that you know someone who has studied Psychology, Philology,Biology or even Criminology.
An "ology" is a science from the Greek word "logos" meaning word or reason.
 Students are still  confused over the difference  between Nephrology and Phrenology, the former is a science whereas the latter is not..

See if you can guess what the following sciences will deal with:

WEBOLOGY

AUTOLOGY

CALIOLOGY

CHAOLOGY

CHIROLOGY

CRYPTOLOGY

CRYPTOZOOLOGY

GARBOLOGY

HAGIOLOGY

HELMINTHOLOGY

HYPNOLOGY

ONEIROLOGY

MYCOLOGY

PAROEMIOLOGY

PHYCOLOGY

PSEUDOLOGY

THAUMATOLOGY

UFOLOGY

VEXILLOLOGY

XYLOLOGY

ZYMOLOGY

-I S M S

Most of the abstract nouns included here express beliefs and practices. Some, however, denote aspects of discrimination; these include AGEISM & SEXISM.

 What do the following nouns mean?

WHAT COULD  THEIR ANTONYMS BE?

AGNOSTICISM

ATHEISM

ALTRUISM

ALCOHOLISM

BEHAVIOURISM

CAPITALISM

COMMUNISM

CONSERVATISM

CONSUMERISM

DOGMATISM

ELITISM

EMPIRICISM

ENVIRONMENTALISM

ESCAPISM

FANATICISM

FAVOURITISM

FEMINISM

HEDONISM

HOLISM

HUMANISM

IDEALISM

MASOCHISM (SM)

MATERIALISM

NARCISSISM

NIHILISM

OPTIMISM

PAROCHIALISM

PATRIOTISM

SATANISM

SCEPTICISM

SPIRITUALISM

STOICISM

TOURISM

VANDALISM

VEGETARIANISM

VEGANISM

 

CAN YOU THINK OF ANY OTHER -ISMS RELATED TO ARTS, PHILOSOPHY,ETC..?

 

Google will rule the world or will it?

The idea for this activity came after I google searched "25 hilarious google search suggestions".
It dawned on me that the future will be entirely dominated by Google and other search engine companies which are never completely neutral or unbiased...

Try to understand what´s so funny about the folllowing real google searches and try to google the sentences below by yourselves and see what you can come up with:

DON´T YOU HATE IT WHEN A SENTENCE DOES NOT END THE WAY YOU THINK IT OCTOPUS?

WHY ISN´T 11 PRONOUNCED ONETY-ONE?

WHY IS MY GOLDFISH TURNING BLACK?

WHAT DO I DO IF A GINGER KID BITES ME?

HOW COME WHEN I TALK TO GIRLS ON FACEBOOK THEY DON´T ANSWER BACK?

MY TEETH ARE SEE THROUGH

AMISH ONLINE DATING

WHY CAN´T I OWN A CANADIAN?

DINOSAURS WERE MADE UP BY THE CIA TO DISCOURAGE TIME TRAVEL.

I AM EXTREMELY TERRIFIED OF CHINESE PEOPLE.

OBAMA IS A CACTUS

OUR PETS´ HEADS ARE FALLING OFF.

I´M OUT OF EGGS

I FILLED MY LUGGAGE WITH ORPHAN MEAT.

HOW TO RAISE YOUR I.Q. BY EATING GIFTED CHILDREN

WHAT´S A BOYFRIEND AND WHERE CAN I DOWNLOAD ONE?

SOMETIMES WHEN I´M ALONE I USE.................

GOOGLE WILL NOT SEARCH FOR...............