Easy changes - Tips for more sustainable lifestyle

I chose these words by Carl Sagan, a famous American scientist, as an epigraph to our lesson with my second-year students last Wednesday (blended learning design of the lesson is available here). Together we explored the blogs of sustainable influencers in order to make a list of changes that everyone should introduce into their lives to help the environment.

Let's take a closer look at the word "sustainable". It has several meanings and you can read the definitions with examples in Oxford or Cambridge dictionaries. In our context it means "conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources" or "causing little or no damage to the environment, and therefore able to continue for a long time". 

Sustainable lifestyle - стиль життя, що завдає мало шкоди навколишньому середовищу.

Synonyms of sustainable lifestyle - eco-friendly, green-living lifestyle.

Sustainable influencers are bloggers who use social media to promote a sustainable lifestyle.

 Here are my favourites:

1.Trash is Tossers by Lauren Singer from New York who lives a zero waste lifestyle.

2. Use Less by Signe Hansen from Denmark about a simple lifestyle with less waste.

3. Sustainably Chic by Natalie Kay from Florida with tips and tricks for creating an environmentally friendly wardrobe and beauty routine.

4. Sarah Wilson's blog about minimalism.

And here are some of the tips on the eco-friendly lifestyle that we posted on Twitter under hashtags #GoGreenandEcofriendly and #greenlifestyle.

Nursery Rhyme - 1,2,3,4,5 Once I caught a fish alive

Counting rhymes are fun and great for learning and revising numbers. This one will also help to practise the structures with Past Simple.

Lyrics

Conditional I

It's time for grammar practice. Do the exercises below following the rules of Conditional 1

Exercise 1 on IF Clauses Type I
Exercise 2 on IF Clauses Type I

Зверніть увагу на вживання часів у підрядному та головному реченнях:

[If + Present Simple], [Future Simple]

Увага! Після сполучників часу та умови if, when, as soon as, before, after, till, until для вираження майбутньої дії в підрядному реченні вживаємо теперішній час!

If it stops raining, we will go for a walk.
Якщо перестане дощіти, ми підемо на прогулянку.

History of English in brief

In my opinion knowledge of the history of English is a must for an English teacher. You need to know at least the basic facts - what tribes invaded Britain and what impact this had on the development of the language.

I've always found this topic fascinating so I'll try to explain the basics in my own words. 

You all know (I mean all my students, hopefully) that in 5 century A.D. Britain was invaded by the tribes from Germany - the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. It's curious that Old English spoken by them is much closer to German than to Modern English, even English native speakers can't understand it. Here's a short example:

It sounds like an incantation, doesn't it?

1066 was an important turning point in the history of the language as this is the year when William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, defeated the Anglo-Saxons in the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest began. French became the standard language of courts, parliament and society. The Norman dialects of the ruling classes mixed with the Anglo-Saxon of the people and Anglo-Saxon gradually transformed into Middle English. Roughly speaking Middle English (used in 12 - 15 centuries) was created as the mixture of French spoken by the Normans and Old English spoken by the Anglo-Saxons.

Middle English is challenging to read. The early ballads about Robin Hood were written in this form of English. Here you can have a glimpse of a text in Middle English - A Gest of Robin Hood (and maybe even try to plough through it).

In the late 14 century began the Great Vowel Shift, a massive sound change affecting the long vowels of English during 15 to 18 centuries. It was completed in about 1550 and resulted in Modern English. So Shakespeare's works were written in this form of the language which is good news - you'll be able to read his plays in the original with a little bit of effort.

Of course, modern English vocabulary is not just about French borrowings. This video will tell you about the words borrowed from different languages.

  

Traditional British Meals

Here's some help for my first-year students with their speaking practice on the topic "Traditional British Meals".
https://www.slideshare.net/NataliaZavgorodnia/traditional-british-meals-86634588

Traditional British Meals from Natalia Zavgorodnia

British Fairy Tales and Legends - Quiz

1. Цикл британських легенд про короля Артура та лицарів Круглого Столу давно став частиною світової культури і в цьому можна переконатися хоча б познайомившись зі списком творів за його мотивами (See List of works based on Arthurian legends). 

Пропоную загадку для найбільш допитливих студентів. Прослухайте пісню "Сонный рыцарь" та дайте відповіді на питання: 

- За мотивами якої легенди Артуріани написані вірші?

- Як насправді звали лицаря та чарівницю?

2. Перегляньте мультфільм. За мотивами якої англійської казки його створено?

Чекаю на відповіді у коментарях.

Decluttering with Marie Kondo

Following the discussion about decluttering we had yesterday with the girls from my group I want to touch upon this topic in today's post.

Tidying up the shelves in our classroom we all agreed that gathering clutter isn't good so I mentioned Marie Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Kondo's method of organizing is known as the KonMari method, and consists of gathering together all of one's belongings, one category at a time, and then keeping only those things that "spark joy" and choosing a place for everything from then on.

Here's the link to the video I promised and a little vocabulary about decluttering.

Tidy up with KonMari #1 in New York

Vocabulary

stuff - речі

organize - організовувати

clutter - непотріб

declutter - позбуватися непотребу

tidy up - прибирати

pile - стопка

space - простір

storage space - простір для зберігання речей

category - категорія

sort by category - впорядковувати за категоріями

spark joy - викликати радість

drawer - ящик (столу, комоду)

fold - складати (одяг)

papers - папери

get rid of - позбуватися

garbage - сміття

closet - комора

store vertically - зберігати вертикально

put in order - приводити в порядок

Decluttering has become fashionable nowadays as more and more people decide that they need less things in their lives and start practising minimalism as their life philosophy. Minimalist vloggers (and bloggers) are immensely popular. There are lots of videos on Youtube where the concept and advantages of minimalism are explained. If you are interested in this topic, let me know in the comments and I'll guide you through minimalism-related stuff online.