Sunday, February 11, 2007

Quickway 3 Listening for Second Year Classes

Languages


Listen to an interview between Mr. McCullogh, an English Professor of Linguistics and two Moroccan teachers, Mrs. Kadiri, and Mr. Dahbi:


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Click here to download the audio file of this interview.

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Quickway 3 Grammar

PHRASAL VERBS
SEPARABLE AND NONSEPERABLE

The term phrasal verb refers to a verb and a preposition which together have a special meaning.
For example, to take off means:
(1) to remove clothing;
(2) to leave on a trip.
Phrasal verbs are also called two-word verbs or three-word verbs.

There are two types of phrasal verbs:
-->Separable.
-->Nonseparable.

With a separable phrasal verb, a noun may come either between the verb and the preposition or after the preposition as in this example:

I put my jacket on or I put on my jacket.

BUT if we replace the noun by a pronoun (me, you, him, her, it, us, them) like in this example:
(my jacket --->it ), the pronoun always comes between the verb and the preposition.

I put it on.
(NOT: I put on it )

With a nonseparable phrasal verb, a noun or pronoun must follow the preposition as in this example:

I always get off the bus near the pharmacy.
(NOT: I always get the bus off or I always get it off)

Practice your phrasal verbs here

For more details, click the relevant link under 'Useful Links'

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

B4Bers, We deserve a Break!

Dear B4Bers,

After 3 weeks of hard work, we surely deserve a 5-minute break. Here is a video about computer jargon.
As a teacher trying to integrate technology in my teaching, I surely recognize myself in this show.
But remember, laughter is the best medicine.
Enjoy it.

Thursday, February 1, 2007

Dear B4Bers

I have created an new weblog, http://b4b07.blogspot.com/, that I will be using to share with you my blogging experience in order to free http://mydearstudents.blogspot.com from the heavy loads of audio and video which are causing trouble for you and for my students as well since most of them have a low speed connection.

You can always visit this blog as it is the mother blog where you can find the links to B4B 07 and all the other blogs on the side bar.

Please accept my apologies if this change causes any inconvenience.
Thank you.

Karim,

Tetuan.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Quickway 3 Grammar

The Relative Clauses


1. The relative Clauses:


Also called Adjective Clauses, they come after nouns and modify them. In other words, they tell the listener or reader more about the person or thing that the noun refers to.

The pronouns that often begin adjective clauses are called relative pronouns ( that, which, who, whom, whose, where ...)

For example:

A person who repairs cars in a workshop is known as a mechanic.
A person who sells vegetables is a greengrocer.
The man who gave you my telephone number is a friend of mine.

2. Reducing Adjective Clauses to Adjective Phrases:

If the subject relative pronoun ( who, which, that ) is followed by the verb be in any tense, both the relative pronoun and the verb be can be omitted.

For example:
The students who are working on the immigration project are absent today .
--> The students working on the immigration project are absent today.

The articles which were published in the school magazine yesterday are about the negative effects of stereotypes.

--> The articles published in the school magazine yesterday are about the negative effects of stereotypes.

3. Relative pronouns as objects:

The object relative pronouns for people are who, whom, that. Whom is more formal than who. The object relative pronouns for things are which, that. It is also possible to omit these pronouns.

For example:

The class leader whom the majority of the students elected became the president of the students' union.

-->The class leader the majority of the students elected became the president of the students' union.

Ahmed is the right person that we need for this position.

--> Ahmed is the right person we need for this position.

4. Restrictive/Nonrestrictive Relative Clauses:

The two main types of adjective clauses are:

Restrictive (or Defining Relative Clause) and Nonrestrictive (or Non-Defining Relative Clause) have distinct meanings and uses.

A restrictive adjective clause gives information that helps to identify the noun that it describes.
For example:

My sister who attends Al-Akhawyn university is very studious. (I have two sisters: One of them attends attends Al-Akhawayn university , the other doesn't).

However, a Nonrestrictive adjective clause, adds additional information about the noun it describes. This information is not necessary to identify the noun.
For example:

Samira, who attends Al-Akhawyn university, is very studious. (She attends Al-Akhawyn university is extra information).

Tetuan, which is located in the north of Morocco, is a World’s Cultural Heritage. (Tetuan is located in the north of Morocco) is not necessary to understand the information in the sentence.

5. The relative pronouns: whose - when - where:


WHOSE replaces the possessive forms of nouns and pronouns. It can refer to people, animals or things. It can be part of a subject or part of an object of a verb or preposition, but it cannot be a complete subject or object. Whose cannot be omitted.
For example:

The man is very thankful. I found the man’s wallet. (His wallet)
-->The man whose wallet I found is very thankful.

The girl is jumping with excitemnt. Her mother won the lottery. (The girl’s mother)
-->The girl whose mother won the lottery is jumping with excitement.

WHEN replaces a time (in + year, in + month, on + day,...). It cannot be a subject. It can be omitted.
For example:

I will never forget the day. I graduated on that day.
-->I will never forget the day when I graduated.

The same meaning can be expressed in other ways:
-->I will never forget the day on which I graduated.
-->I will never forget the day that I graduated.
-->I will never forget the day
I graduated.

WHERE replaces a place (in + country, in + city, at + school,...). It cannot be a subject. It can be omitted but a preposition (at, in, to) usually must be added.
For example:

The building is being reconstructed. Leila works in the building. (there)
-->The building where Leila works is being reconstructed.

The same meaning can be expressed in other ways:

-->The building in which Leila works is being reconstructed.
-->The building which Leila works in is being reconstructed.
-->The building that Leila works in is being reconstructed.
-->The building Leila works in is being reconstructed.

For more details, click the relevant link under 'Useful Links'

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Dear B4Bs, Take a tour around Tetuan.


TETUAN


THE WHITE DOVE



A lovely white Andalusian city set upon the Mediterranean Sea near Tangier, Tetuan traces its origins back to the 3rd century B.C. Then it was a settlement called Tamouda which existed until 42 A. D.. when it was destroyed by Roman armies.

When the Merinid sultan Abu Thabit constructed a kasbah at Tetuan in 1307, the Muslim city began to find its form. However, as a refuge for Barbary pirates, Tetuan drew the wrath of the Castilian king Henry III whose forces overran the city and sacked it in 1399.
For a century thereafter, Tetuan went into a period of decline until coming under the Andalusian influence of refugees from Granada. From 1484 the city took on some of the rich architectural and cultural character of Muslim Spain, traces of which can still be seen today.
In 1913 Tetuan became the capital of Spain's protectorate until independence in 1956.



Located in an agricultural area, modern Tetuan is a market center for the surrounding area where grain, livestock, citrus fruit and handicrafts are traded.
In addition, a variety of goods are manufactured in and around the city, including tobacco, soap, matches, building materials and textiles. The town's principal industries are printing, cabinet making and fish canning.

Tetuan/Asmir Association.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Quickway 3 Listening for Second Year Classes

Unit Two
"I Thought my race was Invisible"
Click here !



Monday, January 1, 2007

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Quickway 3 Reading

What is a Minority Group?

Click here to read about this article.

Monday, December 25, 2006

Quickway 3 Unit 2 Writing

The Supporting Sentences

Consider this short paragraph:

My hometown, Kingston, is famous for several amazing natural features. First, it is noted for the Princeton River, which is very wide and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the town is Queenston Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep.

When you read this topic sentence:

My hometown Kingston, is famous for several amazing natural features.

A question comes to your mind:
What are the natural features that make Kingston famous?
You then expect that the rest of the paragraph will give an answer to this question.
Now look at the sentences after the topic sentence.

First, it is noted for the Princeton River, which is very wide and beautiful.

It gives an answer to this question. That is, the second sentence gives some explanation for the fact that Kingston is a famous town. Similarly, we can see that the third sentence also gives some explanation for the fact that Kingston is famous by giving another example of an "amazing natural feature," in this case, Queenston Hill.

The second and third sentences are called supporting details. They are called "supporting" because they "support," or explain, the idea expressed in the topic sentence. Of course, paragraphs in English often have more than two supporting ideas. The paragraph above is actually a very short paragraph. At minimum, you should have at least five sentences in your paragraph. Here we can see our paragraph about Kingston with a few more supporting sentences:

My hometown Kingston is famous for several amazing natural features. First, it is noted for the Princeton River, which is very wide and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the town is Queenston Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep. The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old.


The Concluding Sentence

It is usually a sentence at the end of the paragraph which summarizes the information that has been presented. You can think of a concluding sentence as a sort of topic sentence in reverse.
The topic sentence and concluding sentence hold the supporting sentences in the paragraph. Look at the concluding sentence in our paragraph about Kingston:

My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features. First, it is noted for the Princeton River, which is very wide and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the town is Queenston Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep. The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old. These three landmarks are truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place.

The concluding sentence,

These three landmarks are truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place,

summarizes the information in the paragraph. It is similar to, but not exactly the same as, the topic sentence.

Details in Paragraphs

Whenever possible, you should include enough details in your paragraph to help your reader understand exactly what you are writing about. In the paragraph about Kingston, three natural landmarks are mentioned, but we do not know very much about them. For example, we could add a sentence or two about Princeton river concerning HOW wide it is or WHY it is beautiful.

Consider this revision:

My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features. First, it is noted for the Princeton River, which is very wide and beautiful. On either side of this river, which is 175 feet wide, are many willow trees which have long branches that can move gracefully in the wind. In autumn the leaves of these trees fall and cover the riverbanks like golden snow. Also, on the other side of the town is Queenston Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep. Even though it is steep, climbing this hill is not dangerous; some firm rocks along the sides can be used as stairs. There are no trees around this hill, so it stands clearly against the sky and can be seen from many miles away. The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old. These three landmarks are truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place.

We can also add more details to the paragraph to describe the third natural feature of the area, the Big Old Tree.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Quickway 3 Unit 2 Writing

The Supporting Details

What are the supporting details?
They come after the topic sentence, making up the body of a paragraph.
What do they do?
They give details to develop and support the main idea of the paragraph.
How do I write them?
You should give supporting facts, details, and examples.
The Closing Sentence

What is the closing sentence?
The closing sentence is the last sentence in a paragraph.
What does it do?
It restates the main idea of your paragraph.
How do I write one?
Restate the main idea of the paragraph using different words.

Example:

There are three reasons why our school Qadi Ayad is considered one of the best high schools in Tetuan. First, Qadi Ayad has a highly qualified faculty. All the teachers have a long experience, rich background knowledge and highly professional skills. Second, Qadi Ayad has a high standard of education. Students obtain high scores in regional and national exams and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally, Qadi Ayad’s administration, faculty and parents all contribute to develop a social and academic climate which gives its students a strong sense of belonging and pride. As a result, a lot of students prefer to come to Qadi Ayad to continue their high school studies.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Quickway 3 Unit 1 Writing

The Topic Sentence

Definitions, descriptions, and examples:


Click here to read about this topic.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Gateway Cultural Awareness

UNIT 1
The World's Cultural Heritage:
1-Machu Picchu:
Old Peak; sometimes called the "Lost City of the Incas" is a well-preserved pre-Columbian Inca ruin located at 2,430 m on a mountain ridge. Machu Picchu is located above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, about 70 km northwest of Cuzco. Forgotten for centuries by the outside world, although not by locals, it was brought back to international attention by Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham who rediscovered it in 1911, and wrote a best-selling work about it.

Here are some pictures about Macho Picchu:











Here are some short videos of Machu Picchu:


Thursday, December 21, 2006

Gateway Cultural Awareness

UNIT 1
The World's Cultural Heritage:
2-Kathmandu:

The Kathmandu Valley, located in the Kingdom of Nepal, lies at the crossroads of ancient civilizations of Asia, and has at least 130 important monuments, including several places of pilgrimage for the Hindus as well as the Buddhists. The cities of Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur, located in this valley, present a high style of Nepalese art and architecture. Kathmandu valley was accorded the status of a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the year 1979. It is rich in culture and the valley itself is and has been the cultural and political hub of Nepal. Other cities in the country include Pokhara, Janakpur, Biratnagar, Birgunj.

Here are some pictures and bout Kathmandu :



















Here are some short videos of Kathmandu:






Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Monday, December 18, 2006