The Xylophone Waiting for You

Hello everybody!

I have great news to share with you: there is finally a place for you to practise your English outside of a classroom in Brussels and an opportunity to meet me!

That's right, I'm launching my little business, organizing conversation tables and private classes. Today is also the day that I'm presenting to the world my little baby: my very own website "The Xylophone Waiting for You"

On this website you'll be able to find out what my project is all about: my concept of conversation tables "English Tea Time" and "English, Cheese and Wine", the private tutorials, how to register, my resume, and also my blog.

That's right, my blog. I've decided to reunite everybody into the same roof...
This means that this blog is going to close in order to be pursued elsewhere.
"But where?!" you wonder. Well, that's right here: The Xylophone Waiting for You.

I invite you to continue following me at this new address and I wish you to continue your progress in English.

Cheers to your success!

Jessica

Buttered Culture - St Patrick's Day

Buttered Culture: Easily learnt, Easily spread

Hello everybody,

Today I thought was the perfect day to tell you all about St Patrick's Day, this wonderful celebration which originates from... Ireland of course! It's only 4 days away (March 17th), so it's high time you understood what's going on, right folks?

Who is this Patrick?

Patrick was born in Britain in the 4th century. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest, so we can say they kind of paved the way for him to become a Saint... When he was 16 years old, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and became a slave to Gaelic Ireland.

He spent 6 years there working as a shepherd and apparently "found God". 

Supposedly , God told Patrick to run away in direction of the coast, where a boat would be waiting for him; and as he indeed reach home again, he became a priest. After a few years, Patrick returned to Ireland to convert those barbarian pagan Irish to Christianity. It is said that evangelized "thousands" of people. 

He died on a 17th of March, and many legends were told about him. For example, it is believed that Patrick used a three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagans. 

That's how he became Ireland's most famous Saint.

But why do people wear green on Patrick's day? Or the fight between green and blue...

Well, first of all because of this "shamrock" story, the shamrock became a symbol of this celebration, and, well, shamrocks are green. 

Second of all, the color green has been associated with Ireland for a long long time, at least since around 1640. That's when the Catholic Confederation used the green harp flag, so the Friendly brothers of St Patrick (an Irish fraternity from the 1750's) adopted green as their color. 

However in 1783, the Order of St Patrick ( an Anglo-Irish chivalric order) was founded and blue was their color, and therefore became associated with St Patrick. 

But not for long. In 1798, the Irish nationalism movement (the United Irishmen) launched a rebellion against British rule singing "The wearing of the green", which supported the Irish who were persecuted for wearing the color green. 

In the 19th and 20th century, green became associated with Ireland and St Patrick.

What do the Irish do on St Patrick's Day?

Well, as you probably already know, they drink. A lot. So much that for some years, there was a law that said that all the bars and pubs had to be closed on that day! Can you imagine? Fortunately, this law was repealed in the 1970s. 

So, they drink, but also, they celebrate with a parade. The first parade was held in Dublin in 1931 and is still organized today in Ireland, where it lasts 5 days and includes concerts, theater performances fireworks. With this festival the Republic of Ireland wants:

• To offer a national festival that ranks amongst all of the greatest celebrations in the world
• To create energy and excitement throughout Ireland via innovation, creativity, grassroots involvement, and marketing activity
• To provide the opportunity and motivation for people of Irish descent (and those who sometimes wish they were Irish) to attend and join in the imaginative and expressive celebrations
• To project, internationally, an accurate image of Ireland as a creative, professional and sophisticated country with wide appeal.

St Patrick's Day is also celebrated in other parts of the world, such as Argentina, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, the United States, Australia, etc; where the festivities are mainly organized by people with Irish heritage. 

Well,  I don't know about you, but I certainly wish I was Irish on that day!






Wait, what about the leprechauns?

Leprechauns? You mean those grumpy greedy little trickster fairies?

Alright, alright! Leprechauns are a kind of fairy. But beware, Irish folklore fairies don't look like the cute little fairies of Disney, such as Tinkerbell. They are nasty, capricious creatures who you should not trust. Leprechauns are often described with a red beard, dressed in green and with buckled shoes. Their job is to make shoes. Each leprechaun has a pot of gold which can be found at the end of a rainbow. According to legend, if you find and capture a leprechaun, you can ask for his treasure in return for his freedom. Normally, they can also grant you three wishes. But be careful what you wish for....

That's it for today! I hope you enjoyed this "Butter Culture" episode. See you next time!

Vocabulary issues? Memrise is there for you!

Hello everybody

Today, I would like to tell you about a great tool I've recently discovered: Memrise.

I don't know about you, but it's always been difficult for me to find the time and motivation to study vocabulary. I am one of those lazy learners who will always choose the easy way; and so far, with vocabulary, the only easy way was to read loads of things and just absorb the words and their meaning from context. It is of course efficient, but not enough.

And then, I discovered Memrise.

Memrise is a website / application to help people memorize their vocabulary in any language that they want to learn. All you have to do is to register for the a "course" that you choose according to your level, and then learn!

The programme teaches you a limited number of words at a time, and then makes you practice them over and over again until they become a part of your long-term memory. After a couple of days, they send you an e-mail to say that it's time now to refresh your memory, or as they put it "to water" your knowledge.

I have tried it myself and followed an advanced course for native speakers, and I must say that it really works. More than an month after having learnt new words, I still remember them. 

And the best part it: it's completely free! Of course you can pay a certain amount of money to access the VIPs, but I didn't find this as absolutely necessary.

Here's the link to the website: https://www.memrise.com

As a teacher, I'm planning to create a course myself soon, and I will keep you posted as to when it's available! Keep posted!

See you soon,

Jessica

Daft Punk - Instant Crush

Dear students, dear followers, dear English learners,

It's been a while that I haven't had the time to feed this blog and I'm sorry. Life is quite hectic and it's sometimes difficult to accomplish everything we would like to. 

But tonight I felt like I could take a couple of minutes to share a song and its meaning with you : Daft Punk with their song "Instant Crush"

Here's what you should do:

1) Listen to the song and try to get an idea of what they're saying (it's difficult and that's perfectly normal)

2) Listen to the song again and try to fill in the blanks in the lyrics below.

3) Check your answers here.

4) Check the vocabulary here - but of course interpretation is up to you!

4) Listen again and sing along!

I didn't want to be the one to __________

I thought of everything I'd never __________

A little __________ with you is all that I get

That’s all we need because it's all we can __________

One thing I never see the same when your 'round

I don’t believe in him—his lips on the __________

I wanna take you to that place in the “Roche”

But no one gives us any __________ anymore

He ask me once if I'd look in on his __________

You made an __________ for it, then you ran off

I got this picture of us kids in my __________

And all I hear is the last__________that you said

[Pre Chorus]

"I listened to your problems

Now listen to __________"

I didn't want to anymore, oh oh oh

[Chorus]

And we will never be __________ again

'Cause it doesn't __________ every day

Kinda counted on you being a f__________

Can I give it up or give it __________

Now I thought about what I wanna say

But I never really __________ where to go

So I chained myself to a __________

'Cause I know it unlocks like a __________

Some more again

[Verse 2]

It didn't matter what they __________ to see

He thought he saw someone that __________ just like me

The summer __________ that just never dies

We worked too long and hard to give it no __________

He sees right through me, it's so easy with __________

Cracks in the road that I would try and __________

He runs his scissor at the seem in the wall

He cannot break it down or else he would __________

One thousand lonely __________ hiding in the cold

Take it, I don't wanna sing anymore

[Pre Chorus]

"I listened to your problems

Now listen to __________"

I didn't want to anymore, oh oh oh

[Chorus]

I don't understand, don't get __________

I'm not with you

We’re swimming around,

It's all I do, when I'm with you

[Chorus]

Michael McIntyre

Dear students and followers,

I have recently discovered this great British comic and decided to share a short video of him, talking about how having children changes your life.

I constantly tell you how it's important to read and to listen to something at the same time. It's especially true with videos, since we are used to reading subtitles so it's almost zero effort and plenty of improvement. Of course, the subtitles should be in English, otherwise, it's completely useless because the brain cannot  link any written word to their pronounced equivalent. It's easy to do with your DVDs at home, or even on the BBC (teletext page 888), but a bit more difficult with youTube videos like this one. I therefore decided to make the subtitles myself. I hope you will enjoy it, and, if you do have children, I'm almost sure you'll get a good laugh!

Something blue...

Listen here: 

"Something old, something new

Something borrowed, something blue

And a silver sixpence in your shoe…"

Here is a poem from the Victorian Era that every English-speaking bride knows by heart: the list of all the things that she needs on her wedding day to follow the tradition and be lucky. And today, we are going to discover what they mean.

There are indeed many interesting facts about weddings that many people don't know about. To have something old on your wedding represents the continuity between the bride and her family and community: her maiden name is going to change but it doesn't mean that she'll lose her identity and family history. There is a variety of objects that could work as her "something old", such as a vintage garter, her grandmother's veil, a locket with a family picture, a brooch, etc.

The "something new" represents the future of the new bride and groom. It symbolizes new beginnings and living together forever happily married. It can be a wedding dress, new makeup, new shoes, fresh flowers, or even the key to a new house.

"Something borrowed" means the everlasting support of family and friends for the new couple. Normally, the borrowing is supposed to be between the bride and a happily married woman. Examples of borrowed things are a grandmother's cake recipe, a sister's shoes, a mother's earrings, etc.

"Something blue" is symbolic of purity, loyalty, faithfulness, everlasting love and fidelity in the new marriage. Traditionally, all English-fashioned wedding dresses have a hidden blue thread. However, it could also be blue flowers, blue polish-nail, blue shoes, a blue garter, blue jewelry or even blue bridesmaids dresses.

Finally, the sixpence in your shoe is a wish for good fortune and prosperity throughout the marriage. This one is mainly a British custom.

That's it: now you know a bit more about English traditions! 

What about you? What are the wedding good luck charms in your country?

Did the Duchess of Cambridge have a blue garter under her  wedding dress? 

Adapted from http://castlecatering.net/vintage-traditions-for-the-modern-wedding-infographic/#.UpO8NKW-z9K

English central

Dear students and followers,

I've recently discovered a website that I think could help you with your English skills. It's called English Central and it publishes short videos, subtitled in English, with vocabulary input, memory training and pronunciation exercises. Yes, pronunciation exercises: you can talk to the program and it gives you a note on how good (or how bad) your were. In a nutshell, everything you need to practise every day.

Here's the link: http://www.englishcentral.com

Enjoy!

REM - Losing my religion

This week, with my afternoon students (pre-intermediate), we were talking about songs and artists we liked and one of them mentioned REM, which reminded me of this great song I wanted to share with you today.

For those of you who don't know REM, they are an American band from Georgia created in 1980 by 4 artists: Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry. Their music was labeled as "alternative rock" and they were one of the firsts in that genre. Today, we are going to study the song "Losing my religion", which is one of my favorite ones.

1) Listen to the song

2) Read the lyrics and listen at the same time to find the missing words.

3) Check your answers here.

4) Check the vocabulary here: REM Losing my religion.pdf

5) Play the song again and sing at the same time. If you don't know why you have to sing, check my previous post on the subject here.

6) Comment with your answer to this question: What is the song about?

Life is ________________
It's ________________
And you, you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The ________________ in your eyes
Oh no, I've said too much
I set it up

That's me in the ________________
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion________________ to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no I've said too much
I haven't said ________________

I thought that I heard you ________________
I thought that I heard you ________________
I think I thought I saw you ________________

Every whisper
Of every waking hour 
I'm choosing my ________________
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt lost and blinded fool
Oh no, I've said too much
I set it up

Consider this
The hint of the________________
Consider this
The slip that brought me
To my knees failed
What if all these ________________
Come flailing around
Now I've said too much

I thought that I heard you ________________
I thought that I heard you ________________
I think I thought I saw you ________________

But that was just a ________________
That was just a ________________

That's me in the ________________
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion________________ to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no I've said too much
I haven't said ________________

I thought that I heard you ________________
I thought that I heard you ________________
I think I thought I saw you ________________

But that was just a dream, try, cry, why, try
That was just a dream, just a dream, just a dream
Dream

Nina Simone

This week, I want to make an article about Nina Simone. I introduced one of her songs in my classes and discovered that she was unknown to my students. It was therefore necessary for me to present her life and work as the legendary artists she was. 

- The "difficult" words are underlined, and you are free to find their meanings in your dictionary (www.wordreference.org) 

- Listen to the podcast here:

- Read the text

- Listen and read at the same time for your brain to develop and improve your listening skills.

Enjoy!

***

Nina Simone was one of the most extraordinary artists of the 20th century and an icon of American music. She used her talent to create a sense of liberation, empowerment, passion and love through wonderful songs. She was nicknamed "High Priestess of Soul" because she could cast a spell on people, and they would lose track of time and space as they became absorbed in the moment. 

Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon. She was born in North Carolina on February 21st, 1933. She started playing the piano by ear at the age of 3. She was raised in a strictly religious family and she played the piano in her mother's church. When she was 12, she made a concert in the local church. Her parents, who were sitting in the front row, were forced to move to the back to leave their seats to white people. She refused to play until her parents moved back to the front. 

After graduating from high school, she wanted to go to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, the school rejected her because of her race. Eunice moved to New York City and studied at the Julliard School of Music.

To survive, she began teaching music to local students. One day, in 1954, she started to sing at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She transformed popular tunes unto a synthesis of jazz, blues and classical music, and people started talking about her. Her rich, deep velvet voice combined with her wonderful keyboard skills soon attracted an audience. Eunice didn't want her mother to know she was singing in bars, she became "Nina Simone", after the actress Simone Signoret.

When she was 24, Nina Simone came to the attention of the record industry and signed a contract with Bethlehem Records, and her interpretation of "I Loves you Porgy" was a big success in 1958. Nina Simone recorded more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974. Her musical style is a mixture between gospel and pop songs, with a bit of classical music and jazz singing. 

In the early 1960s, she became involved in the civil rights movement and that gave a new direction to her life. Her music had a big influence on the fight for equal rights in the United States. Nina Simone always included songs about her African-American origins, but it was the first time she openly sang about the racial inequalities in the United States with "Mississippi Goddam". From then on, there was always a civil rights message in her songs. The most powerful performance, to me, is her interpretation of "Strange Fruit", a song originally by Billie Holiday.

Her last album, A Single Woman, was recorded in 1993. She had suffered from breast cancer for several years when she died in her sleep on April 21st, 2003. Elton John sent flowers with the message "You were the greatest and I love you." Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. She leaves a daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud, actress and singer with the stage name Simone.

Source: the Official Home of Nina Simone and Wikipedia

Here is a documentary about the great Nina Simone; called: Nina Simone, The Legend.

Abercrombie & Fitch CEO's ugly quest for attractive "cool kids"

Hi everyone. This week, I suggest you an adapted news article about the infamous Abercrombie & Fitch brand. Follow the instructions and enjoy!

1) Listen to the podcast   - DON'T READ

2) Listen again and take notes of what you understand.

3) Read the text and look for the underlined words in a dictionary

4) Read again and listen to the podcast at the same time.

5) Answer the questions at the end of this note, as well as the opinion questions. You can comment the article with your answers.

This week, a mother from Washington DC took her three daugthers’ Abercrombie & Fitch clothes and returned them to the firm’s chief executive, Mike Jeffries, with a note explaining that she wouldn’t let her kids shop at his stores anymore.

Why was she so angry?

Last week, Business Insider reported that Abercrombie refuses to make large-sized clothing, because Jeffries wants «thin and beautiful» people shopping in his store. «He doesn’t want his customers to see people who aren’t as hot as them wearing his clothes». «As far as Jeffries is concerned, America’s unattractive, overweight or otherwise undesirable teens can shop elsewhere.»

Jeffries is quoted as saying « In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-America kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong in our clothes, and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody either.»

However, nowadays, fast fashion retailers such as H&M and Forever 21 do a pretty good job of exciting fashion customers of all ages and sizes. And - no big surprise - they have been stealing market share from Abercrombie & Fitch.

From a fashion point of view, Abercrombie is a lame label. Although it sounds vaguely English, Abercrombie is a reinvented hunting and fishing creator based in Ohio. It is not what you can call a design house. It is just a retailer of relatively boring overpriced clothes tarted up for teens.

The company always seems to be in the middle of some scandal or controversy: Its catalog photos are too suggestive, it’s selling thong underwear to pre-teens, and they are in court for forcing less attractive and minority employees to work behind the scenes rather than on the floor.

So, while there is nothing particularly original going on style-wise at Abercrombie, there is a certain genius for developing the anxiety of youngsters who want to be considered cool by their peers.

Supposedly, it’s an anxiety that CEO Jeffries, now in his late 60’s, never outgrew. «Jeffries wants desperately to look like his target customers, and in that pursuit he has aggressively transformed hismelf from a classically handsome man into a cartoonish physical specimen: dyed hair, perfectly white teeth, golden tan, building biceps, wrinkle-free face, and big Angelina Jolie lips.»

Still trying to be one of the cool kids, I guess.

Adapted from L.A. Now, article by Robin Abcarian, May 11th, 2013

Questions:

1) Why was the mother so angry?

2) Why does Abercrombie exclude non-attractive people?

3) Why does the journalist think that Abercrombie is a lame label?

4) What kind of controversy or scandal is the company in the middle of?

5) What does Jeffries look like?

Opinion questions:

1) Did you know Abercrombie & Fitch? Have you ever been to one of their shops?

2) Is this company the reflection of today's world?

Adele - Running in the deep

For my first article in the "music" section, I couldn't not start with Adele!

1) Read the lyrics and see where the gaps are

2) Listen to the music

3) Listen again and try to fill the gaps

4) Listen again to check

5) Check your answers here.

6) Check the meaning of key phrases here.

6) Listen one last time and sing along with the lyrics.

FAQ

Do I have to sing? 

Yes, it's an absolute obligation

How will you know, you can't see me.

Oh, but I can...

Why?

Now, that's the interesting part. Not only is it fun, but it's actually important for your pronunciation and rhythm. It doesn't matter if you have a nice singing voice or the voice of an old and terrible witch. What matters is that as you sing, your pronounce words the way you believe they are pronounced and at the same time, you hear them the way they should be pronounced. So that's a perfect way for your brain to pick up any pronunciation mistake you make, on your own, without me telling you. Isn't that amazing? 

I don't like Adele

I don't believe you. But if it's true then just wait for my next musical article. If you think I have horrible musical tastes, you can suggest songs to me via my contact form :)

Lyrics

There's a fire starting in my heart,
Reaching a fever pitch and it's __________ me out the dark.
Finally, I can see you  __________ clear,
Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your ship bare,

See how I'll leave with __________piece of you,
Don't underestimate the __________ that I will do.

There's a fire starting in my heart,
Reaching a fever pitch and it's bring me out the dark.

The scars of your love __________me of us,
They keep me thinking that we __________ had it all.

The scars of your love, they __________ me breathless,
I can't help feeling,

We could have had it all,
Rolling in the deep,
You had my heart __________ your hand,
And you played it to the beat.

Baby, I have no __________ to be told,
But I've heard one on you and I'm gonna __________ your head burn,
Think of me in the depths of your despair,
Making a home down there as mine sure won't be shared?

The scars of your love __________me of us,
They keep me thinking that we __________ had it all.
The scars of your love, they __________ me breathless,
I can't help feeling,

We could have had it all,
Rolling in the deep.
You had my heart __________ your hand,
And you played it to the beat.

Throw your soul through __________ open door,
Count your blessings to __________ what you look for.
Turn my sorrow into treasured gold,
You'll pay me back in kind and reap just what you've sown.

We could have had it all,
We could have had it all.
It all, it all, it all.

We could have had it all,
Rolling in the deep.
You had my heart __________ of your hand,
And you played it to the beat.

Back to school

September is back and so is school. I don't know about you, but I've always been inspired by September. Autumn is coming, which is one of my favourite seasons ever with its beautiful red-orange leaves falling and the last rays of sunlight shining through them. 

Also, there is something about summer that rhymes with being lazy. I don't know about other teachers, but summer always equates with "I have no energy" for me; which of course bothers me because there are always a million things I would love to do. So, September is always welcome as it gives me that "kick in the pants" that I need at some point. And the result is this blog having a brand new design! Tadaam. I don't know about you guys, but I love it.

So, for those of you who have followed the hesitating debuts of this blog this summer, worry no more, for I will publish one article a week on various subjects according to my inspiration: that is my "september resolution", it's a promise! And to the others, welcome welcome! 

If, like me and the students I am going to meet next week, you are "going back to school", here are a couple of tips to help you manage efficiently and peacefully.

1) Set realistic goals: it's important to have ambition and to know where you want to be next year, but it has to be realistic. Sometimes, I see students who start a level 3 with me and feel discouraged when they learn there are 12 levels in the school system. You don't need to do 12 levels to be able to speak English. I would say that most people speak acceptable English around level 5, which you can reach at your own pace. So, the first thing would be to know what you want and to see in how long that goal is achievable.

2) Make an appointment with yourself to study: If you go to a school, if you come to my classes or if you just follow this blog, it doesn't matter: you need to study. Of course, most of you have a job and lives full of important things and it is sometimes difficult to find the time to do homework. Going to school, to classes or following a blog, is already a good start. Unfortunately, if there is no background work, your new knowledge is not going to last. Pick a day, any day, where you can spend 60 minutes revising what you have learned that week, to make all your efforts worth it.

3) Sleep: yes, sleep. Apprenticeship needs sleep. It is during your sleep that your brain registers what has happened during the day. If you lack sleep, you won't remember as much.

That's it for now! I'm off to work on your next subject, which promises to be... musical! 

Stay tuned!

When the weekending has to stop: crosswords

Here are the answers to the latest article questions as well as the long awaited related crosswords : when the weekending has to stop. The downloadable and printable version of the crossword is available here.

1) Answers

1. Because the last time they left their teenagers at home, it was a disaster and they had to pay an expensive plumber to fix the house.
2. They broke the heated towel rail and tried to repair with Polyfilla.
3. All the teenagers will know that the house is free and they will come and have a party
4. Because she discovered that her sons spent a day sitting on the roof of their house. She thought they were doing dangerous things when they were left alone and needed adult supervision.
5. The boomerang generation is the generation of young people who leave their parents to go live their lives, but then come back after a separation or a divorce or because they don’t find a job after university. Since this is becoming more and more frequent, Michelle thinks she needs to trust them if they are going to stay at her house forever.
6. They were watching TV.
7. Because the tap handle was broken. It means they couldn’t be trusted with the house.

2) Crossword

Across

5. the covering that forms the top of a building

6. to have an argument over something that is not important

11. unwise, stupid or not showing good judgment

12. life at home taking care of your house or family
14. a container for boiling water
15. a strong wish, difficult or impossible to control
16. bad luck
17. a level of building
20. something that makes you feel better or more energetic
22. wauter faucet
24. to make the same journey regularly between work and home
26. to see or become conscious of something or someone
27. a part of an object designed for holding, moving or carrying the object easily
29. having everything ordered and arranged in the right place

Down

1. take hold of something or someone suddenly and roughly

2. to begin a discussion of something difficult

3. to pull and twist something or violently away from a fixed position

4. a party or a meeting
7. recently
8. for a reason that is not clear
9. to fill something in untidy or badly organized way
10. the front part of your leg, between your knee and your foot
12. give all of something, especially your time, effort or love
13. one or more reasons for believing that something is or is not true
17. to laugh at someone or something in a silly and often unkind way
18. to make a sudden, short high sound
19. a complaining noise or phrase
21. to repair
23. shaped into a point
25. to show or experience great surprise or admiration
28. the fact that something is not available or that there is not enough of it
30. silly or stupid