Farewell, everybody!

I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you for being a great class - today was our last day together. Please contribute to our blog if you'd like, or email me at nicolestoupe@hotmail.com - I'd love to hear your news. All the best for your English studies, and I hope to see at least some of you next semester!

From Nicole

Westside Story

We're going to watch Westside Story tomorrow in class. Follow the link below to check out clips of the movie.

Westside Story on Youtube.com

Auckland 1866

We went to Auckland Museum today to visit the exhibition Auckland 1866.
Click here for a full info pack on the 1866 exhibition
Click here for info on the Maori exhibition we saw

ALL shops closed: Easter Friday & Easter Sunday

Check here for Downtown Easter opening hours

All malls and almost all shops will be closed on Friday and Sunday. THIS INCLUDES SUPERMARKETS!

Shops will be open again on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday (10am-6pm).

Service stations (petrol stations) will stay open during this period.

Holidays at ELA

Please don't come to school on Friday, Monday or Tuesday - we have Easter holidays!

The man with the 7 second memory

An online article about Clive Wearing


For wikipedia information on Clive Wearing please click here.

Various parts of the documentary are available at this site (click here)

Similar links:
Clive Wearing on Youtube.com
10 minute clip on Youtube.com
Part 2a
Part 2b
5 minute clip on Youtube.com
10 minute clip on video.google.com

9am = 10am from Monday!

Daylight savings starts on Sunday. Please set your clocks an hour back. This means that you can sleep in an extra hour starting Monday!

WRITING: Tom from Auckland Prison (best 4)

Once upon a time there was a man who lived in Auckland jail. He was called Tom. He stole something. One day when he picked up rubbish, he saw a pretty girl. He married her. At their wedding ceremony, the lights went out because the fuse was broken. Then he began to cry because he disliked dark places. She saw his state and she got tired of him. Then she decided to get divorced. He lived in jail alone.

- by Yoshi

Once upon a time there was a man named Tom. One day, he drove a bus and crashed into a student who was crossing the road. After that, he was accused of driving recklessly nd committing a crime, so he was sent to Auckland jail. Every day he had to pick up some rubbins for his punnishment. He considered that his life in the jail was so boring because he didn't have the internet or even a cellphone to contact his family in Saudi Arabia. Two months later, when his 30th birthday came, he asked permission from a warden to go back to his hometown, since he could not stand missing his wife and his family. However, while he flew back to Saudi Arabia, his lover and his siblings left for NZ to visit him in jail. For this reason, prisioners have been provided the internet access since then.

- by Bee

Once upson a time there was a man, whose name was Tom. He lived in Auckland...

The Garos

As discussed in today's lesson, the Garos are a tribe from Bangladesh.
For more about the Garos, click here.

Ursula le Guin's The Dispossessed is a science fiction book that also featured in today's lesson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPvksvIcIKsFor an interview on Ursula discussing the book, click here. Wikipedia link on The Dispossessed

WRITING HOMEWORK

Watch this space for the story about Tom, the 30 year old who picks up rubbish as a hobby and lives in Auckland Prison. We'll post the best 3 stories here.

Murder Mystery

On Thursday we had a go at solving Alec Crabtree's murder. Who was the murderer? Here's the solution:

Mrs Crabtree was the murderer. She went into the study at just after 11pm, when the maid heard her footsteps in the hall. She left by the window and threw the murder weapon, the vase, into the flowerbed. Then she came back into the house through the front door, made some cocoa in the kitchen and took it inot the study. Her motive was jealousy: she had found a letter from her husband to Alice Fairfax and when she went to talk to him about it, she found him writing a letter telling her that he was leaving her.


We also briefly talked about crime in class, including a famous case where a young man was charged with the murder of his 3 siblings and parents.
For info on alleged NZ murderer, David Bain's case, click here

The Experiment

The Stanford prison experiment (1971)
The Stanford prison experiment was a landmark psychological study of the human response to captivity, in particular, to the real world circumstances of prison life. It was conducted in 1971 by a team of researchers led by Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University. Volunteers played the roles of guard and prisoner, and lived in a mock prison. However, the experiment quickly got out of hand, and was ended early.

It was a variation of the Milgram experiment, which was conducted in 1963 by Zimbardo's former high school friend, Stanley Milgram at Yale University.

Results
The experiment very quickly got out of hand. Prisoners suffered — and accepted — sadistic and humiliating treatment at the hands of the guards, and by the end many showed severe emotional disturbance.

Click here for more information[Apr 2005]

JUSTICE - Lee Jang Rim

More on the preacher who predicted the end of the world:

On November 2, 1992, Korea’s "Mission for the Coming Days" church disbanded. Why? The congregation’s founder, Lee Jang-rim, had promised Jesus would come back on October 28, 1992. Hundreds, maybe thousands of believers sold their property, left their families, quit their jobs, and deserted their military posts. Jang-rim’s prophecies were wrong; his people disappointed and disillusioned. Reverend Jang-rim? Oh, he went to jail. Not because of his prediction, but because he had swindled $4 million in donations and had $380,000 invested in bonds that wouldn’t mature until six months after Jesus' supposed return.

Click here for more on Lee Jang Rim

A different teacher on Wednesday 18/3/09

There will be a different teacher on Wednesday after the ELAB class. "I'm afraid I have to attend a funeral, but will see you all on Thursday." - Nicole

Short (very short) story competition

Closing date: Lunchtime on Wednesday 25 March

We invite entries for the ELA (very) Short Story Competition.
The rules are very simple:

• The title of the story can be up to a maximum of 15 words long.

• The story itself must be exactly 50 words** long. No more, no less.

• The story can be funny, or sad, or profound, or strange …any subject is possible but it must be INTERESTING and ORIGINAL.

• Write your NAME and ID# at the top of the paper with an email address if possible. Hand the story(ies) in to your class teacher or at Reception, or directly to Charlie H (email: chadfield@ela.auckland.ac.nz)

• There will be First, Second, and Third prizes

(** What is a ‘word’ ? dining room / dining-room would count as two, football would count as one. “It is” would count as two, but “it’s” as one.
If in doubt, consult a good dictionary!!

Entries will be read and judged by an independent panel.

Closing date: Lunchtime on WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH

Farewell to our Sophia University students

We will miss you, please stay in touch!

Where is Robin's will hidden?

1 What is the colour of Robin's Porsche?
2 What is the name of his famous London restaurant?
3 Who did Robin's secretary have dinner with on the night of the murder?
4 Where did the Kochs go to a dinner dance?
5 Which university did Leopold Koch teach in?
6 What is Ingrid's job?

Answers:
1 Yellow
2 (the) Restaurant at the End of the Universe
3 Alex Finch
4 (the) Imperial Hotel
5 Vienna University
6 Actress
{ANSWER: The will was hidden in the aviary}

Farewell Didier & Vee

Vee is off to travel the South Island.
Didier will return to Brazil, where he is living.

We wish them both all the best of luck for the future. We'll miss you - keep in touch!

Fashion Show Photos / Ad Awards

Thanks for sharing your photos with us, Hang. Congratulations to you and Haruma for your ad - it won a prize in today's Ad Awards! Special congratulations to ALL involved in the award-winning Sexy Hat & the Dictionary ads from our class.

Fashion show pictures from Hang

For whom that want to see xD I will never forget you guys. I think I missed some face =((

http://flickr.com/photos/44372102@N00/

Farewell to Haruma & Hang

A big farewell to Haruma and Hang - we will miss you both. Please keep in touch via our blog, we'd love to hear your news.

Shimpei on Privacy & the Media

I believe it is fair to sue when the media publishes lies about famous people. Surely, some people may say having pictures taken or having lies published is a part of their job, because famous people earn huge money. But I think famous people have the right to privacy, just as we ordinary people do. For this reason I think it is fair to sue.

Hitomi on Privacy & the Media

I think it is not fair when the media publishes lies about famous people. I think telling lies is bad behavior for all people, so the media should not tell lies either. And if the media tells a lie, they lose their trustworthiness about articles, so I think telling a lie is also not good for the media. Therefore, I think it is not fair.

Rei on Privacy & the Media

I don't think it's fair to publish lies about famous people. The media's work is to report the truth. They should not make up stories just for fun. When this happens, famous people do have rights to sue the media. I think the media should be careful not to step in to their private lives too much.

Vee on Privacy & the Media

I don't think it's fair when the media publishes lies about famous people. Although you can argue that famous people are public personalities, and they should not complain about scrutiny. But even if theyare public personalities, they are still human beings who worry about heir privacy and personal space. No one feels comfortable and welcome when there is someone watching you all the time especially if you are in your own house.

Sayaha on Privacy & the Media

I think that it's not fair the media publishes lies about famous people. The media should let people know facts. They shouldn't tell people lies as if it was true. If the media publishes lies, someone must have their own lives damaged. Some persistent publishers destroy the peace in their lives.

Mei on Privacy & the Media

I think it's unfair that the media publishes lies about famous people. They also have private lives like others. It cannot help what actually happened. When people's honor is invaded, they should sue. However, hurting someone by making untrue stories should not be allowed.

Sophia on Privacy & the Media

Personally, I think it is fair when the media publishes lies about famous people. The reason is, firstly, that it is their job. Secondly, sometimes reporters' speculative articles are true, eventually. If the reporters had to tell the truth, it would restrict their rights.

Yu on Privacy & the Media

I think that famous people are also human beings and also have a right to protect their privacy. What do you think about that? Do you think it's no use complaining because they are famous? I don't think so, because they don't have to expose their privacy in exchange for the fame.

Fumiaki on Privacy & the Media

I think that famous people should always have the right to privacy, so it's not fair to write false articles about famous people. And people should always sue.

Jeong on Privacy & the Media

Sometimes we can see famous people use the media as another way of advertising themselves to stop from losing their fame. If they do like these kind of behaviors, I think they don't have the right to blame the media.

Haruma on Privacy & the Media

Yes, it is. It is far that the media publishes lies about famous people because this is a part of their job. It is also a very important thing for our daily life. Everybody wants to know celebrity's or famous people's lives, for example, how much money they spent in a year, or what their daily life is like. It is so attractive to us that the media has always chased famous people. The journalist's job, I think, is not only to tell the truth but also to satisfy people's greed.

The case of Azaria Chamberlain

For more details on the case of missing baby, Azaria Chamberlain, visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azaria_Chamberlain_disappearance

The sensationalised case of OJ Simpson

OJ Simpson and his partner, who he allegedly murdered.
For more information on OJ Simpson and the role of the media in his case, take a look at these links.

Listening:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4934067
Reading:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/sep2007/simp-s21.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.J._Simpson

ANSWERS: Reading Homework, 23 February

Reading Answers:
1. 1980
2. campsite
3. dingo
4. the mother/ Lindy
5. evidence
6. motive
7. fuelled/ started/ spread
8. exonerated
9. starring
10. gossip

(Also, check your answers from the pre-listening vocabulary we did in pairs in class):

People who work in the media
reporter, journalist, columnist, news hound, correspondent, hack, editor, cameraman, photographer

Types of newspaper
tabloid, daily, national, broadsheet, article, rag, local, quality
Features of a newspaper
headline, supplement, front page, review, caption, editorial, feature

Words to describe news stories
newsworthy, objective, a scoop, sensationalist, exploitative, intrusive, investigative, impartial, crass, biased

Get inspired for Thursday

We've only got until Thursday to create our wearable art hats, so it's time to get cracking. Check out some of these eye-catching designs...





We'll have 30 minutes in class on Thursday to finish off our designer hats.

Failure to Launch

Tripp is now single(unmarried), living with his father and mother. He is 35 years old. So with a great concern about his future and life, his parents decide to hire a private 'special' girlfriend, her name is "Paula". She is a very beautiful, elegant lady. At first he doesn't have an interest in her, but they have several dates, and they get to know each other.
Lovely, sweet, exciting, dramatic tale and also gripping, compelling, charming characters. This film will lead you to its heartbreaking, devastating, ending. What I want to say is just one phrase that is "Simply marvellous."

Wearable Art

On Thursday we'll have a competition - who will produce the winning hat design for our wearable art competition?!

I tend to...

I tend to think everything's so negative.
I tend to say I love you when I meet any ladies.
I tendto think of money first before going traveling.
I tend to enjoy talking with other people.

by Haruma

Jonbenet Ramsey

Jonbenet appeared in beauty pagents from the age of two. She was murdered at the age of six in her home. No one knows who killed her. To watch a four-minute clip about Jonbenet, check out the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H_rjoZxuQM

http://jonbenet-ramsey.com/

Reading Homework Answers: Wed 4/2/09

1.T 2.F 3.F 4.T 5.T 6. F 7.F 8.T 9.F 10.F

Poems

My girlfriend wanted to
go to Italy
but I had to work!
Sorry, my girl!

by Haruma


He wanted to get the power.
So he had to hurt someone.

She wanted to be more attractive.
So she had to backstab other girls.

They wanted to get enough money.
So they had to go against the rules.

I wanted to have these things.
But I'd realised, these things meant less.
So I had to give up these things.

However I know.

Whenever these things come to me
I'll do my best every time.

by Ji Hag Yoo

Who's in the class?

Haruma is from Japan.
Ji Hag is from Korea.
Hang is from Vietnam.
Ikumi is from Japan.
Jeong Eun is from Korea.
Myo Ryeon is from Korea.