martes, 1 de marzo de 2016

ADYNATON: IDIOMS of IMPOSSIBILITY

Adynaton or plural Adynata is a figure of speech in the form of a hyperbole taken to such extreme lengths as to create a complete impossibility. Every language has some sort of idiomatic expression of impossibility and my task has been to ask my students to make up original impossible  tasks and realities. It helps to try to see the  world the other way round or from a different perspective. Let´s see some fossilized adynata:

WHEN FROGS GROW HAIR ( Spanish)
   "        PIGS FLY  (ENGLISH)
   "       THE LOUSE SNEEZES(Ukraine)
   "       HELL FREEZES OVER
   "      THE GARDEN IS FULL OF DUCKS HOLDING PASTRY IN THEIR  HANDS(Turkish)
   "     THE WILLOW BEARS GRAPES (Serbian)
   "    THE SUN RISES IN THE WEST(Chinese)
   "    SALT BLOSSOMS (Algeria)
   "    DOGS BARK WITH THEIR TAILS(German)
    "   THE OWL´S TAIL BLOSSOMS  (Latvia)
    "   THERE ARE TWO WEDNESDAYS IN A WEEK(Denmark)
    "   THE PIG CLIMBS THE PEAR TREE IN YELLOW SLIPPERS(Bulgarian)
    "    THE CRAWFISH WHISTLES IN THE MOUNTAIN (Russian)
    "    CHICKENS HAVE TEETH (France)
    ON THE AFTERNOON OF ST. NEVER´S DAY (Portugal)
WHEN THE CROW FLIES UPSIDE DOWN (India)
    "       GYPSY CHILDREN ARE STREAMING FROM THE SKY (Hungary)
    "     ST. JOHN LOWERS A FINGER(Colombia)
    "     GEESE PISS (Italy)
    "  FLAGPOLES BLOSSOM (Finnish)
    "  IT´S SNOWING RED(Hungarian)
    "   CATS GROW HORNS (Malay)
    "    FISH CLIMB POPLAR TREES (Turkish)
    " TWO THURSDAYS IN THE SAME WEEK(Swedish)
    IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND AND NEVER(Seychelles)

REMEMBER IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING.
 WHAT WERE ONCE UTOPIAS ARE REALITIES NOWADAYS....
 USE YOUR IMAGINATION
DRAWING FROM SONGS SUCH AS "AS" by STEVIE WONDER:
UNTIL THE RAINBOW BURNS THE STARS OUT IN THE SKY
             THE OCEAN COVERS EVERY MOUNTAIN
             DOLPHINS FLY AND PARROTS LIVE AT SEA
            WE DREAM OF LIFE AND LIFE BECOMES A DREAM
           THE DAY IS NIGHT AND NIGHT BECOMES THE DAY
                               THE EARTH STARTS TURNING RIGHT TO LEFT.
ONE CAN EXPECT AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN PHILOSOPHERS
SOONER THAN BETWEEN CLOCKS


WHAT MY STUDENTS WROTE:

WHEN MY JUMPER  SHOUTS( Johana Luján)
WHEN TRUE GIRLS  ENJOY FRIED CHICKEN (Teresa Segovia)
WHEN FISH WALK(Thalia Jiménez)
WHEN STUDENTS KEEP MUM AT SCHOOL(Taña Oslikova)
WHEN THE SUN DOES NOT SHINE (Paula Valverde)
  "         FIRE DOES NOT BURN (Iván Pérez Ruiz)
  "         THE TIP OF A PENCIL ERASES INK(Nicolás Gutiérrez Guerreiro)
  "          THE MATHS TEACHERS STOP SHOUTING AT US (C.S.L.)
  "          THERE ARE FREE ELECTIONS IN A DICTATORSHIP(Nicolás Viñolo)
  "         YOU CAN GO UP AND DOWN SIMULTANEUSLY.(Sergio Moreno)
   "         RUCKSACKS SWIM AND CAN FEED IN WATER(Miguel Carlos Galvez)
   "        I GROW GREEN HAIR(Demián Puchol)
    "       THE TEACHERS DO NOT ORDER HOMEWORK( Francisco Ortega Palomas)
    "       FLOWERS SPEAK (Julia S.M.)
    "       SHARKS FLY (Álvaro Gómez)
    "       PABLO IGLESIAS WINS THE ELECTIONS (Iker Velasco Yeo)
    "      BOOKS SPEAK (Natalia López Ortega)
    "       WATER IS GREEN (Mario Rivas)
    "     ..........................................................

    WORD  SEARCH(1º B & D)
R  M  C  L  M  T  C  A  C  J
A  F  M  M  F  M M C  G  A
A  G  C  M G  R   J  L  G  G
N  F  G  G  N  L  O  S  M  C
A  P  R  J   R  T   P  P  M  I
P  R  F  D  P  M  R  Z  T   R
I   C  S  L   P  S   F   T   S  H
J  S  M  P  V  F   N   V  P  O
A G M  T  F  J   L   E  M  M
T  O  F  O P  J  M   I   V   Y   




Think of an advert in which adynaton is used.Make up your own adynaton ad.

lunes, 1 de febrero de 2016

RHYMING REDUPLICATIONS

A reduplication is a process in which the root of a word or the whole word is repeated exactly or with a slight change. It conveys a function such as intensification, plurality, or just to create new words.
This is an inherent part of what makes English such a musical language and apt to have so much fun with words.
We establish different categories: 
a) exact reduplications:bye-bye;pee-pee:no-no;...
b) ablaut reduplications:chit-chat; criss cross;zig zag,...
c) onomatopoetic terms: Ding dong; bow wow; tick tock,...
d) others: helter skelter;walkie-talkie;witching and bitching;..

In the following examples you´ll have to identify the meaning and possible contexts and functions of the rhyming reduplications by providing us with a suitable linguisic context:

Ex: the nitty-gritty details of the murder investigation; incessant chitter chatter at school ;she gave me the heebie-jeebies at  the Halloween party,etc...


POO-POO

CHIT CHAT 

 CRISS CROSS

 DING DONG 

 JIBBER JABBER

 KNICK KNACK  

SPICK& SPAN 

PITTER PATTER

 FLIM FLAM 

FLIP FLOP 

SPLISH SPLASH 

KIT-KAT 

CHAMPS AND CHUMPS 

HUSTLE & BUSTLE

 HUFFING & PUFFING 

BRIC aBRAC 

TING-a LING 

BOOGY WOOGY 

LOVEY-DOVEY 

MUMBO JUMBO

 HURLY BURLY 

HURDY GURDY

 GOODY-GOODY(plural goody_goodies) 

HOITY-TOITY 

SILLY BILLY

  FUDDY-DUDDY

 NAMBY PAMBY 

WISHY WASHY 

 SHILLY SHALLY

 TITTLE-TATTLE 

KILLER DILLER 

WHEELER DEALER 

HOCUS POCUS 

HIGGLEDY-PIGGLEDY 

ARTY- FARTY

 ARTSY FARTSY 

ROLY-POLY 

JEEPERS-CREEPERS 

HIP HOP 

ARGY BARGY 

WILLY NILLY 

HANKY PANKY

 SING SONG 

OKEY DOKEY

 HODGE PODGE 

FUDDY-DUDDY

 GANG BANG

 WEE-WEE

 ROOTY-TOOTY

 FLIP FLOP 

POW WOW 

BLANKETY BLANK

 YAKKETY YAK

 ARTY CRAFTY 

RAGGLE-TAGGLE

 RAZZLE DAZZLE 

RUMBLE-TUMBLE 

LOOSEY-GOOSEY

 SUPER DUPER 

RIFF- RAFF 

TUTTTI- FRUTI

TINKI-WINKI 

CLAP TRAP 

HOBSON-JOBSON 

HARUM SCARUM 

PALL-MALL

 PELL-MELL 

HITHER THITHER

HUGGER-MUGGER

 ITSY BITSY

 TOPSEY-TURVY 

HANDY DANDY  ( a game)

TEENIE-WEENIE 

LARDY DARDY  

WILLY-WILLY (dust devil)

 GLISS GLISS an animal 

BUNGA BUNGA  (Berlusconi´s favourite pastime)

 LINGO BINGO


a)Try to make up your own rhyming reduplications.ex:  chicken licken; buddy-muddy,dusty-busty,
nosey-nosey yummy tummy,etc...

b)Check the list of Irreversible binomials and see which ones could fit into rhyming reduplications.
Ex.. doom and gloom, spick and span.....

c)Identify the childish or naive elements in these creations.

d)Compare with some Spanish duplicates:ping-pong; pim-pam-pum; run-run (for emphasis) café-café;pis pás...
e) Some chldren´s tales´characters use rhyming reduplications, such as: HENNY-PENNY;
    TURKEY-LURKEY; COCKY-LOCKY;GOOSEY-LOOSEY; FOXY-WOXY; DUCKY-LUCKY... Create your own duplicative characters:.......
f) FIND some of the songs WITH DUPLICATED ELEMENTS in their titles: picky-picky; tricky-tricky;hickory,dickory,dock.....See how many more  you can  think of....
g) CHECK WHEN A HYPHEN IS NEEDED in each of the examples above..
h) See duplicates in advertising.Ex: Kit-Kat; Coca-Cola; Colo-Colo;Nooky-Nooky    Try to think of some more examples:..


jueves, 24 de diciembre de 2015

Kangaroo words within words; Worlds within worlds....

Following up from our previous entry KANGAROO WORDS are those which carry within their spellings a smaller word which can be a synonym. They should not be confused with anagrams such as

POOL, LOOP, POLO
FOWL, WOLF, FLOW
DARE, READ, DEAR
LAME, MALE, MEAL
ACRE, RACE, CARE
SEAT, EAST,  SATE
NAME, AMEN, MANE

I´LL GIVE YOU SOME EXAMPLES AND YOU´LL HAVE TO FIND THE HIDDEN KANGAROO WORDS IN THE REMAINING LIST:


DECEASED........................................DEAD

SALVAGE..........................................SAVE

CATACOMB......................................TOMB

EXISTS..............................................IS

ROTUND...........................................ROUND

ILLUMINATED................................LIT

FABRICATION.................................FICTION

REVOLUTION..................................REVOLT

FACADE............................................FACE

RECLINE...........................................LIE

ENGAGED........................................GAG

APPROPRIATE................................

OBSERVE........................................

DELIBERATE................................

PANTALOONS...............................

PRECIPITATION..........................

SUPERVISOR................................

HOSTELRY...................................

PREMATURELY.........................

MASCULINE..............................

PERIMETER.............................

BALSAM...................................

FALSIFIED.............................

FOX.........................................


Which other words can you find embedded in the list below?:

CARPENTER     CARMEN  CARMINATIVE

BUNGALOWS  capital punishment for small cakes

MARGIN spoil the alcoholic drink

CHAMPAGNE (fake an ache)

PILLAGE time for contraception

SUMMERSAULT  seasonal seasoning

LACTOSE  without sth on your feet

CASTRATE  number of attempts made by an angler

FONDANT a loving insect

 ABOMINABLE  a terrorist attack on an animal

ALPHABET gamble on italian car 

PERVERSE poetry for cats

PROPAGANDA genuine goose 

FLATULENT loaned out your apartment 

MOCCASIN   scorn any wrong doing

TANGENT  a sunburn fellow 

ASTEROID   a body-builder from outer space 

BREAKFAST an emergency stop 

MALARIA  a shopping precinct

BULLETIN a container for ammunition 

EXTREMIST  heavy fog

 SANDWICH  a seaside sorceress 

SHAMROCK a false stone 

HURRICANE a stick for quick walkers 

ADAGE a commercial era 

ANALOGY  for example hay fever 

AN UROLOGIST  for your neurons 

INTELLIGENT  fashionable TV personality  

IMMENSITY  huge urban connurbation 

FANATIC circulate air near the roof 

THINKING  a slim monarch 

HORTICULTURE supercilious society 

DOGMATIC  flea on a hound with litter 

continue with any other REBUSES  you may devise: 




See the following list of ANTI-KANGAROO WORDS    WHAT DO THEY STAND FOR?

Find the opposite or complementary in the following

                   anti-kangaroo words.

  1. animosity
  2. bearded
  3. communicative
  4. courteous
  5. covert
  6. effective
  7. exacerbate
  8. fabrication
  9. feasted
  10. female
  11. friend
  12. negligently
  13. pest
  14. prudent
  15. prurient
  16. redoubtable
  17. resigned
  18. revolution
  19. she
  20. there
  21. thoroughly
  22. unruffianly
  23. wonderful
  24. wreckless


miércoles, 2 de diciembre de 2015

How can we get RID of the MAD in MADRID...?

THIS UNIT IS NOT POLITICAL AT ALL. It´s just one good way of enjoying the sheer fun and creativity in the classroom. We started  by giving our students copies of the comedy song  Who put the bricks in Brixton... This song  asks about different places in England ,Scotland and Wales, for instance

Who put the pool in Blackpool?

Who put the bed in Bedford?

Who put the liver in Liverpool?

Who put the scar in Scarborough?

Who put the barn in Barnsley?

Who put the chef in Sheffield?

Who put the udder in Huddersfield?

Who put the car in Cardiff?

Who put the swan in Swansea?

Who put the glass in Glasgow?

Who put the ham in Hamilton?

Who put the mother in Motherwell?


We did this activity both in English and Spanish and this is what our students came up with:...


WHO PUT THE BAR in BARCELONA or BARBADOS?

                              BOMB in BOMBAY?

                               ALTAR in Gibraltar?

                               PEN in COPENHAGEN?

                               JERRY in Jericho?

                                CAN in Canada?

                                TAR in Tarragona?

                                DEN in Denmark?

                                VILLA in SEVILLA?

                                 ROCKS in TORROX?

                                 BOX  in Albox?

                                 PAR in Paris?

                               cow in Moscow?

                                            ........................................................?

                                               Now the Spanish version

                  QUIEN PUSO EL ALMA en LAS PALMAS?   

                                               el   MAL en MÁLAGA?

                                                  la NADA en GRANADA?

                                  EL AJO Y LA HOZ en BADAJOZ?

                                                  MIL en MILÁN?

                                       La muñeca en Almuñécar?

                                           la  sal en Salobreña?

                                            la mar en Marbella?

                                             el can en Canarias?

                                         la uña en Cataluña o la Coruña ?

                                                   la lona en Barcelona?

                                                               la mora en Zamora?

                                                      la liana en Frigiliana?

                                                                    la boa en Lisboa?

                     ¡Por qué no es Oestepona en vez de Estepona, si está situada al Oeste de Málaga?
                                                   ......................................................?                  

sábado, 31 de octubre de 2015

Double trouble or treble trouble....?

(This unit is dedicated to the late Fº S. B. an inspiration to those trying to master the English language)Some former students´initials coincide with the distinguished gentleman´s ....

I am bound to admit that English is

 EASY, FUN(When it´s sung), IMPORTANT,GREAT, CRUCIAL,EXCITING,SURPRISING, AMAZING, FASCINATING, FRUSTRATING,....

AN ADVENTURE, COMMUNICATION, RESEARCH, CULTURE, DRAMA,ACTION, WISDOM, SHAKESPEARE, AMERICAN SLANG,PLAY,FICTION, NON-FICTION, COMEDY, PROSE, A TOOL, A VEHICLE, A LINGUA FRANCA WORLDWIDE, POETRY,THE HOST, THE MILK, EVOLUTION,NOT JUST A SUBJECT, GROWTH, YOUR ATTITUDE TO PEOPLE,TO OBJECTS, TO IDEAS,YOUR RELIGION, YOUR LIFE, EVERYTHING......


Let´s quote Francisco Sánchez Benedito: a term is polysemous when it has two or more meanings.; i.e. PLANE, SPRING, SHARP,etc..

See if you can find different meanings in the following words by using them in suitable contexts:

pitch

ball

top

kite

mole

pike

rook

seal

shark

pretty

skate

light

pin

swift

thrush

pool

oil

odds

slide

bland

chips

foot

pump

pet

tin

point

track

cut

play

run

go

break

hand

plain

plane

beat

lead

bow

row

wind

bob

left

port

close.
                                                                       

jueves, 1 de octubre de 2015

AGAINST black & white THINKING....

We are sons and daughters of structuralism, which has seen life as a series of two mutually exclusive, opposed or contradictory groups. This binary opposition acknowledges the human tendency to think in terms of oppositions. Religions foster this categorization and simplistic view of reality, associated with something positive or negative. Typically RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS will state: "If you are not for me, you are against me"; when in fact, you can be indifferent to both attitudes.

J. Derrida argued that these oppositions were arbitrary and inherently unstable. Deconstruction rejects most of the assumptions of structuralism and especially "binary opposition".


YOUR TASK will be to find an alternative way out of these over forty false dilemmas which binary contrasts create AND ARE PART OF OUR OWN  deeply-rooted CULTURAL HERITAGE:



MOORS- CHRISTIANS

RIGHT- LEFT

RIGHT- WRONG

THOUGHT- ACTION

REASON- PASSION

SPEECH- WRITING

BELIEVER- ATHEIST

THEORY- PRACTICE

 CLASSIC- ROMANTIC

MALE CHAUVINIST- FEMINIST

MALE- FEMALE

 BODY- SOUL

 PACIFIST- BELLICOSE

INSIDE- OUTSIDE

PRESENCE- ABSENCE

MARRIED- SINGLE

EASTERN- WESTERN

INDEPENDENT- CENTRALLY DOMINATED

IRRIGATED COASTAL LANDS- DRY HINTERLANDS

LIFE - DEATH

 SKY- EARTH 

 ABOVE- BELOW

 SOUTH - NORTH

FIRE- DAMP 

 DAY- NIGHT

SPRING- WINTER 

 SUN- MOON 

BLACK- WHITE 

LIGHT- DARKNESS 

 NEAR- FAR

HOME- FOREST

 YOUTH- AGE

SACRED- PROFANE

PAGAN- CHRISTIAN

NATURAL FOOD- COOKED FOOD

PHYSICS- METAPHYSICS

MONARCHY- REPUBLIC

FREEDOM- SLAVERY

ATTACHMENT- REPULSION

LOVE- HATRED

MYTH - REALITY

FORM - CONTENT



martes, 1 de septiembre de 2015

VARIETY´s the spice of LIFE´s.... a BURGER´s

Living to eat or Eating to live? Is food your best medicine? Are you a foodie?
 There´s plenty of toxic food just as there are toxic people, toxic emotions, toxic loves, anxiety, anguish, anger, envy, fear, shame, depression, frustration, mourning, crying, blame, jealousy,etc.. (Bernardo Stamateas)
As a result of the typical summer laziness we are going to deal with such a superficial topic as one of our students´favourite foods: HAMBURGERS. (Once with a group of different ability students we learnt how to make cocktails from Bloody Mary  to Caipirinha or San Francisco and some of these students ended up in the catering business).
By way of definition, a hamburger is a sandwich or sliced bread roll inside which you may find anything from ground meat to all kinds of vegetables as it may be served with anything from raw onions,chilli, ketchup,mustard, tomato, cheese, lettuce, mayonnaise,etc..
(This is such an important element in our students´culture that whenever we take them out on a school trip they are disppointed if they cannot find a McDonald´s, a Burger King´s or a similar burger place).

See if you can tell what the following burger types contain:


vegan burger

soy burger

classic burger

baconburger

barbecueburger

beefburger

cheeseburger

chickenburger

Chineseburger 

Thai burger

clamburger

double-burger

eggburger

fish

glutenburger

garlicburger

horsemeatburger

lamburger

liver-sausage-burger

porkburger

rabbitburger

tomatoburger

Greek burger

California burger

Carolina burger

Curry burger

Hawaii  burger

Naan burger

Pastrami burger

Rice burger

Steak burger

Teriyaki burger

Broccoli burger

Veggie burger

Taco burger

Anchovy pizza burger

Cajun burger

Tex-Mex

Gorgonzola burger

Fajita beef burger

Pesto burger

Brie burger

Nerja burger


1) Check 35 unique burger recipes, 60 top burger recipes and 100 different kinds of burger.

2) Create your own burger; What ingredients would a Frigiliana burger contain? and a Rio de la Miel burger? a Torrox burger? What would make it unique?

3) Write a list of your favourite pizza varieties: 

4) What about types of pasta? How many varieties can you remember?

5) And sandwiches which are your favourite ones?

6) Types of rice?  

7) Name as many fruits and vegetables as you can...

8) What about sausages: How many different types can you think of?

9) Name at least ten meat dishes.

10) Name ten fish dishes.

11) What is "ceviche"? What is "chayote"?

12) Do you watch TV cookery programmes such as Masterchef, Top Chef,etc..?

13) How many different types of sugar or salt do you know?

14) Would you like to try a Japanese Fugu or a Vietnamese Pho?



Some ideas from The Joy of Lex by Gyles Brandreth  & Variety , a workbook for intermediate readers, by Jan Bell, Roy Boardman and Tony Buckby