The Theft of Greek Democracy

Posted on 20/02/2012 by argavalaki

Cartoon from The Independent
Click here to read an explanation. (from The English Blog)

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Reuters video: Robot sings, dances and helps with homework

Posted on 18/02/2012 by argavalaki
The upgraded NAO (pronounced: ‘Now’) robot, created by French company Aldebaran Robotics, can sing, dance, take photographs and communicate in nine languages, making it one of the smartest personal automatons around. The company’s business plan is based on the belief that in years to come there will be a robot in every home. Jim Drury reports.

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;Reuters video: Robot sings, dances and helps with homework &amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

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Young Greeks and the Debt Crisis

Posted on 02/02/2012 by argavalaki
I´ve used this worksheet as the basis for a class discussion about my students´ growing concerns regarding their prospects for employment after school or university. The worksheet contains four tasks. As a pre-reading activity the students discuss a few questions about unemployment. Then they scan the article and fill in the missing information in a table. After reading the article in more detail they answer some comprehension questions. Finally, they solve a crossword puzzle to practice some vocabulary from the text.

Download: http://www.scribd.com/doc/80239211/Young-Greeks-and-the-Debt-Crisis

Posted in Debt crisis, Jobs and Occupations, News stories (Reading), Unemployment, Worksheets | Leave a comment

Will the World End in 2012? – 2012 Mayan Doomsday Prediction

Posted on 16/01/2012 by argavalaki
This is a set of two worksheets, which are based on two short videos. Each worksheet contains three tasks. In the first task the students discuss a few general questions about the topic, and do a vocabulary matching exercise. Then they match some questions with the corresponding answers (paragraphs) in the text (video transcript) and finally, after watching each video, they answer some comprehension questions.

WATCH a related video: 
ScienceCasts: Why the World Didn’t End Yesterday
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Happy New Year 2012

Posted on 01/01/2012 by argavalaki

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Test your news knowledge: 2011 End of Year Quiz

Posted on 31/12/2011 by argavalaki
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/11/studentnews/sn-2011-end-of-year-quiz/index.html
How much do you know about the stories that made news in 2011? Take this quiz to test your knowledge of some headlines from 2011.
 

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Bang Bang – My Baby Shot Me Down (song)

Posted on 09/12/2011 by argavalaki
(two versions – three pages) I used this worksheet as a follow up activity after teaching “used to” and “would” for past habits. The students listen to the song once and number the pictures in the correct order. Then they listen again and complete the lyrics with the past simple of the irregular verbs in the song. In the second version they have to sort a number of words into rhyming pairs and then complete the lyrics with these words. I have also included a few comprehension questions.

Posted in Grammar, Irregular Verbs, Past Simple, Songs, used to, Videos, Worksheets, would | Leave a comment

Nov. 17th, 1973: Athens Polytechnic Uprising

Posted on 17/11/2011 by argavalaki
The Athens Polytechnic uprising in 1973 was a massive demonstration of popular rejection of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974. The uprising began on November 14, 1973, escalated to an open anti-junta, anti-US and anti-imperialist revolt and ended in bloodshed in the early morning of November 17 after a series of events starting with a tank crashing through the gates of the Polytechnic. [from Wikipedia]
The Hellenic National AudioVisual Archive in cooperation with the Library of the Hellenic Parliament participates in the celebration of the anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising, presenting the film “Polytechnic 1973″ with rare archival audio and video material.
Polytechnic 1973 (Part A) 
Polytechnic 1973 (Part B) 
You can also watch a BBC documentary called Greece – The Seven Black Years (of the military junta) on Adam Curtis Blog.
Posted in Athens Polytechnic Uprising | 1 Comment

This Day in History: The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Posted on 09/11/2011 by argavalaki
On 9th November 1989 East German officials opened the Berlin Wall, allowing travel from East to West Berlin. The following day, celebrating Germans began to tear the wall down.
Video: Moments in History – The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Watch the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM2qq5J5A1s
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BBC News: The world at seven billion

Posted on 02/11/2011 by argavalaki
The world’s population is expected to hit seven billion in the next few weeks. After growing very slowly for most of human history, the number of people on Earth has more than doubled in the last 50 years. Where do you fit into this story of human life? Fill in your date of birth to find out.

Click on the image below.


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