People´s lives

Dear students,

In today's session, you'll  read about biographies,look for personal information about different people, and also  collaboratively write about an important person who does not exist... at least not yet.

But first of all ... Let´s read about what a biography is.

A biography or simply bio is a detailed description or account of a person's life. It entails more than basic facts (education, work, relationships, and death) - a biography also portrays a subject's experience of these events. Unlike a profile or résumé, a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of his or her life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality                                                                                      Taken from Wikipedia Activity 1 Answer the following question: What is the difference between a biography and a CV?

There are different kinds of biographies. Graphic biographies use drawings to make the story even more appealing to the reader.

Examples:

Activity 2. Class work. Must be done during the lab

1. Choose one of the people below to write about. Do research into his or her life , use the ideas shown on graphic biographies organizers above, or look for some other you like best to prepare his/her Bio, write it in your notebook.

Remember that it is not a copy-paste activity: you are requested to use your own language.

1. Mother Teresa (1910 – 1997) Catholic missionary nun / charity worker.
2. Bill Gates (1955 – ) American businessman, founder of Microsoft
3. Vincent Van Gogh (1853 – 1890) Dutch artist
4. Carlo de Gavardo ( 1969- 2015) Chilean motorcyclist.

Consider the following aspects among others:

While you're reading, take notes on the following aspects:

a.When/where did this person live?
b. Why is/was this person important  ?
c. Choose one of his/her/its quotes, state it in the form of reported speech and explain why this quote called your attention.

Reported Speech:

For you to have in mind:

If we report what another person has said, we usually do not use the speaker’s exact words (direct speech), but reported (indirect) speech. Therefore, you need to learn how to transform direct speech into reported speech. The structure is a little different depending on whether you want to transform a statement, question or request.

Statements

When transforming statements, check whether you have to change:

• pronouns
• present tense verbs (3rd person singular)
• place and time expressions
• tenses (backshift)

Type	Example
direct speech	“I speak English.”
reported speech (no backshift)	He says that he speaks English.
reported speech (backshift)	He said that he spoke English.

Questions

When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:

• pronouns
• present tense verbs (3rd person singular)
• place and time expressions
• tenses (backshift)

Also note that you have to:

• transform the question into an indirect question
• use the interrogative or if / whether

Type		Example
with interrogative	direct speech	“Why don’t you speak English?”
	reported speech	He asked me why I didn’t speak English.
without interrogative	direct speech	“Do you speak English?”
	reported speech	He asked me whether / if I spoke English.

Requests

When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:

• pronouns
• place and time expressions

Type	Example
direct speech	“Carol, speak English.“
reported speech	He told Carol to speak English.

Optional Personal work: At home, if you want, you can practice a little bit more about reported speech. For that go to: 

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech

Activity 3. Assignment

Team up with two or three other classmates. As a team, you have to undertake a mission: create one person to change the history of our world. This person lived in the past and was able to cause a major impact on mankind history by affecting one of the following cultural areas: education, music, film industry, politics, religion or arts.

First of all, log on your Gmail account and create a document in Google Drive. If you don't have a Gmail account yet, create one. The idea is to share what you do.

Once you have created your account, start working on the mission.  

Instructions:

As a team, write a detailed biography for the person you’ve made up.

Your biography should include the next four elements. While you write them in the biography number them to make it easier for me to grade it, please.

1. a. When/where did this person live?

    b. What was she/he like?

    c. How and when did she/he die?

2. What were the major events in her/his life as a child, teenager and adult?

3. Why was she/he/it  important?

4. What challenges did she/he/it overcome?

Each member of the group should be assigned and be responsible for writing one element AND editing the text. 

The final product should consist of at least 4 paragraphs, one for each element, and each paragraph should have a minimum of 5 sentences. 

Use your compu tools to check orthography and grammar. Also, do proof reading among the members of the group.

Finally, edit the final biography working collaboratively as a group, and then each one of you must write it in his/her own notebook and one of you must email  it to me. In the subject of the email please indicate your names and the Section you belong to. ( Mrs. Vulcano or Mr. Benavides)

 My email address is:

professor.maller.ust@gmail.com

The deadline for this assignment ( the email)is Thursday 27th at 12 noon.

Now... enjoy the following  song.

In your opinion, what is the meaning of the verse  "I was born to stand tall" in the song? Write a brief paragraph about this in your developing notebook in the journal´s part.

Studying abroad

Lab session 2

Hello dear ones!

In today's lab session you'll work on a specific and more formal kind of letter;the request letter . 

By the end of this session, you'll be able to write a letter asking for specific information about a course abroad.

Did you know...?

There are tons of options if you want to study abroad. Have a look at this one:

http://www.studyabroad.com/

And very close, yes...here at the UST we have this option for you:

http://www.santotomas.cl/red/introduccion.html

Asking for information

Activity 1

Have a look at the following words and then complete the email with them . In your notebook only write the numbers and the words you decided for the gaps.

grateful	provided	let	regards	keen
advert	join	experience	forward	confirm

Activity 2

Read the email again and write a tick next to each sentence containing true information about it. In your notebook just write the letter of the true sentences plus the check.

a.......     It’s the first time Richard has written to the organization.  

b.......    He has never been part of a conversation group before.

c......     He wants to find out about a job.

d......     He asks for information about transport.

e......     He asks about equipment.

f......      He tells how he found out about the group.

Language in Use          

How much do you know about indirect questions?

 Let’s see some important aspects:

In writing, we often use this type of questions to sound polite. Indirect questions... Example: Can you tell me what time it is. Use statement word order. Don’t use do/does/did. Use if /whether when there isn’t a question word.  Often use introductory phrases like: I would like to …, Can you...,etc.

Note: Go to intranet and find extra explanations and examples about this. 

Activity 3

Find indirect questions in the email, write them in your notebook  in the order they appear and number them.

Activity 4

Make indirect questions using the introductory phrases. 

Write them down in your notebook with their corresponding number.

Direct questions	Indirect questions
1. Why did she laugh?	Could you tell…?
2. Whose wallet was it?	I would like to know …
3. Where is the nearest post office ?	I wonder…
4. Does Sally have any free tickets for the football match?	Can you tell me …?
5. How much does the FCE course preparation cost?	I’d be grateful if you could tell me …
6. Will I have to take a bus and the subway or just a bus to go to your house ?	I would like you to confirm …

For you to remember:

Form & meaning of indirect questions:

1. If we do not begin a question directly, but begin it with something like: Can you tell me…? Do you know…? I wonder if…? The word order is the same as in an affirmative statement.
   • Direct question: What is he doing?
     Indirect question: Do you know what he is doing?
   • Direct question: Where have they been?
     Indirect question: I wonder where they have been?
2. If the direct question contains the auxiliary DO, we omit it in the indirect question.
   • Direct question: What do you want?
     Indirect question: Can you tell me what you want?
   • Direct question: When did she leave?
     Indirect question: Do you know when she left?
3. In yes/no questions, if or whether is used. The word order is the same as in reported questions.
   • Direct question: Have you seen my dog?
     Indirect question: Could you tell me if you have seen my dog?

For home extra practise go to: http://autoenglish.org/questions/gr.indirect.i.htm

(personal and optional activity for self study)

Task 2

You are going to write an email to a foreign language school asking for information about their courses. To do this, follow the steps below:

Step 1

Browse these links and choose the language school and the city that appeals to you. 

1.http://www.lsi.edu/en/                               

2.http://www.ef.com/cl/ils/

Steps 2 and 3

a. Use the content checklist below to plan your text. 
b. Then use your plan to handwrite your first draft. 

c. Include at least two Indirect questions. Hand in your work to your teacher at the end of the lab session. IN your notebook

TO CONSIDER: All these elements must appear  in your email following the   order below:

• a.Where you heard about and/or got interested in  the course.
• b. Specific skills you want to improve
• c. City you selected and hours a week.
• d. Kind of accommodation
• e.Cost (tuition, lodging,etc)
• f. After-school activities you would like to have.
• g.Trips to other places in the country   
• h.(Your own idea(s))

VERY IMPORTANT!  When your teacher returns you your first draft with his or her comments and suggestions, you MUST type a second improved mail and send your email to the Institution you have chosen. Hopefully you will get an answer, which must be printed and submitted together with your improved email  for correction and marking.

Now. Enjoy a traveling song.