Hey, what song are you listening to?

People in New York and London went around their cities, asking people with headphones what song they were listening to (you'll find the playlists below).

Watch the following two clips on YouTube. But first, please read the tasks that I want you to do while and after watching them:

1. Is there a song in these lists that you also know and like? Name one (or two), and say why you like it (them).
2. Remember one person in each video clip that you find likable. Make a note of what you like about him or her (at least two details). What would you talk about if you met them?
3. If you compare the New York and the London video, which one do you like better? Why? (4 - 5 sentences)
4. Would you want to do a similar video about the place you come from? Would you like to do it rather in Regensburg, Nuremberg or Munich? (4 - 5 sentences)
5. Bonus task: Which of the songs would you nominate for "most intelligent" and "most stupid"?
   

Hey You! What Song Are You Listening To? (New York) - by Tyler Cullen [TyCullen] (24 May 2011)
http://youtu.be/tvHRUY0tBcs

1 The Bee Gees: More Than A Woman
2 Fenix TX: Abba Zabba
3 Eminem: Not Afraid
4 Keni Burke: Keep Rising to the Top
5 Beyonce: Smash Into You
6 LCD Soundsystem: Dance Yrself Clean
7 The Black Keys: Too Afraid To Love You
8 Kanye West: Blame Game
9 Kinky: Mas
10 Lil Wayne: Lollipop
11 Oasis: What's the Story Morning Glory
12 Frank Sinatra: The Best Is Yet To Come
13 Korn: Counting on Me
14 Britney Spears: How I Roll
15 Panic! At the Disco: From A Mountain In
The Middle Of The Cabins
16 Kid Cudi: Day 'n' Night
17 Bob Marley: Buffalo Solider
18 Wiz Khalifa: Black & Yellow
19 Big Punisher: Still Not A Player
20 NPR2
21 Tub Ring: No One Wants To Play
22 Lady Gaga: Just Dance


Hey London! What Song Are You Listening To? - by Kate [Maasive] (31 May 2011)
http://youtu.be/IQMPR4PNxws

1) Beres Hammond - 'Reggae Calling'
2) RHCP - 'Otherside'
3) BEP - 'Dirty Bit'
4) Turin Breaks - 'Mirror'
5) Kiss - 'Rock n Roll all night!'
6) Mohombi - 'Coconut Tree'
7) The Ramones - 'Psycho Therapy'
8) Miike Snow - 'Animal'
9) Ron Sexsmith - 'The Less I know'
10) The Dandy Warholes - 'Holding me up'
11) Kaah - 'Kaahlla Mej'
12) Chipmunk - 'Champion'
13) The doors - 'The End'
14) Rihanna - 'Umbrella'
15) The Game - 'Dreams'
16) Elvis - 'Shake, Rattle n Roll'
17) Muse - 'Uprising'
18) N Dubz - 'Bad Behaviour'
19) Guttermouth - 'Pee in the Shower'
20) Belle & Sebastian - 'Sleep the Clock Around'
21) The Who - '5:15'
22) The Joy Formidable - 'Whirring'
23) JLo - 'On the Floor'
24) Depeche mode - 'People are People'


picture credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kk/4669106391/sizes/z/in/photostream/
CC by Kris Krüg, Vancouver, Canada (kk+ on flickr.com)

May 2011

Your homework this week consists of two parts.

1. Write a blogpost on what you do to improve your English. Think about it before you write it down. There may be a number of ways that you don't think of at first.
   At the same time - let me tell you that in some cases I'm sort of worried. There are blogs that haven't seen a new post in months. Does that mean those people do a lot of written homework the traditional way, hand-written ... and I just don't get to see it? Why could that be? Do those people think their English will improve by magic?
   
   
2. Have a look at this text plus worksheet: George Mikes, "How to Panic Quietly".
   You can do task 1 for warm-up, but you should write something for tasks 2, 3 and 4.
   Either publish your work on your blog, or send it to me via mail - by Thursday 19th.
   
   

I hope you'll enjoy working on your own. You can ask questions, of course, either here in the comments or via Twitter. See you soon.

Preparing for the Royal Wedding

Please watch this documentary about William and Kate (ZDF Mediathek, 45 minutes).

Also very interesting (and much shorter):

• Royal wedding preparations for Household Cavalry (BBC)
• Couple arrive at Abbey for rehearsal (BBC)

Pygmalion: Performance in Amberg

All the 11th form pupils (who chose English as a foreign language subject) went to see this performance of Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion on 3 Feb.
As usual, the quality of the show was very good. What I liked particularly was the fact that they didn't need any pre-recorded music, but sang themselves, no matter what was needed: Dance music for the ball, a little something to last for the scene changes, a love song. - What did you like or dislike?

Merry Christmas

Grammar - it's good for you

If you want to look something up or do a quick exercise, you can turn to this website:

Grammar Secrets

or there

English Grammar Online - For You (EGO4U).


If you want to take some more time, have a look at these books:

Grammar - no problem

Cornelsen English Grammar - Practice Book 1

Cornelsen English Grammar - Practice Book 2

Second Amendment: The right to bear arms

Here is the link to the website of TIME magazine where you can find the article I told you about today:

The Hunter and the Choir Boy
(It is split up into five pages here - the links to the following page are at the bottom of each text section.)

If you want it all in one document, with line numbers, you can download the article in PDF format here:

Hunter & Choir Boy