Words Ending With -ED

Many learners of English have difficulty pronouncing words that end with -ED but there is a simple rule to follow:

Words that end with either -TED or -DED have an extra syllable which is pronounced like "-id". For example: "Test" has one syllable, "Tested" has 2 syllables and is pronounced "Test-id". In the same way "Extend" has 2 syllables "Ex" and "tend", however "Extended" has 3 syllables and is pronounced "Ex-tend-id". This rule is apt for all words that end with either -TED or -DED, all other endings have no extra syllable and the end sounds like a hard "d" sound. So for example: "Stop" has one syllable and "stopped" also has one syllable and this word is pronounced "Stopd". Similarly "Dislike" has two syllables and "Disliked" also has two syllables and is pronounced "Dislikd". The extra syllable "-id" sound is only added to words ending with -TED or -DED, simple!

Now say these words with the extra -id sound at the end: Commanded, hated, handed, stated, relegated, pretended, regulated.
And now these words with the hard -d sound at the end: Guessed, believed, commenced, relaxed, attacked, travelled, banned.

Now read the short story and look at the words which end with -ED and work out which ending they have, then prepare to read the story to your teacher:

James Bond hid behind the curtain, he realised that he would soon be discovered so he tested the safety catch on his pistol, lifted the torch from the floor and decided on his escape plan. Sirco entered the room and switched on the light, he raised his gun, aimed at the curtain and fired. He ran to the curtain and pulled it open but there was no-one there. The window had been opened and Bond had escaped. He followed him out of the window and looked all around for signs of the British agent but could see none. He guessed that Bond would have headed towards the wood store and started to run in that direction. When he got there he kicked the door in and rolled into the middle of the store but he was all alone....

Mad World

Before you watch the video look up these phrasal verbs in the dictionary:

To wear out (past: worn out), to fill up (gerund: filling up).

Now watch the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1NAr5_3luo

1. Do you know this song? Do you like British pop music?
2. What emotions did you feel when you watched the video?
3. Explain the concept of this song - what message does it give?
4. What message does the video give - is it the same message as the song lyrics? Explain your answer.
5. What does your country do to help fight child poverty and aid underprivileged children?
6. What role does the church / religion have in helping poor children? What do you think of their efforts?
7. How does the average person in your country respond to charity appeals? 

8. Do you think your country is a charitable nation? Explain your answer.

MAD WORLD (lyrics)

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you,
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles its a very, very
Mad world, mad world

Every three seconds the world loses a child. Your donation can help to stop this. Visit internationalchildrensfund.com.

Adios siesta?

Before you read the article, look up these words in the dictionary: Prevail, disjointed, counterparts.

It's 10.30am, and Fernando, a civil servant in his late 40s, sits down to a cafe con leche, the sports pages and a cigarette in Madrid's Plaza del Rey. At work since 9am, he is taking his routine morning break. It's a ritual you see everywhere across the capital: friends and colleagues gather in the mid-morning, coffees are ordered, noisy conversation ensues, and 20 minutes later they're back to work. But these leisurely coffee breaks may soon come to an end, following a vote by a parliamentary commission on Thursday recommending that Spain turn its clocks back an hour and introduce more regular working days, starting at 9am and ending at 5pm.

The cliché of Spain's late-rising, long lunches and afternoon siestas may prevail in the mind of foreigners, but the reality for most Spanish workers is a long and disjointed day.

"I'm normally in the office until about 8pm," said Fernando, explaining the long hours worked by the average Spaniard. "I could take two hours for lunch, but mostly I just have an hour, and often eat at my desk. I certainly don't take a siesta."

In part, Spain's chaotic working hours come down to a historical anomaly. In 1942, Spain's dictator, General Francisco Franco, changed the country's time zone to coincide with Germany's in an act of solidarity with his fascist ally. And it has never gone back.

"Because of a great historical error, in Spain we eat at 2pm, and we don't have dinner until 9pm, but according to the position of the sun, we eat at the same time as the rest of Europe: 1pm and 8pm," explained Professor Nuria Chinchilla, director of the International Centre for Work and Family at the IESE Business School. "We are living with 71 years of jet-lag, and it's unsustainable.

"If we eat at 2pm, and dine at 9pm, then logically we ought to start work at 10am. But we don't do that, we start earlier, so our mornings are far too long. That's why people need a coffee break, because they can't wait that long to eat. So we lose time in the morning and have to work even longer in the evening." She believes that changing Spain's time zone, combined with a more rational 9-5 working day, would be of huge benefit, and cost nothing.

"We should be starting between 7.30am and 9am and never finishing work later than 6pm. Half an hour, or an hour, is more than enough to time to eat a healthy lunch, and not as so often happens here in Spain two hours, three hours," said Buqueras. "The siesta has to end! At most, you might need 10 or 12 minutes rest after lunch." And, anyway, most Spaniards don't have a nap after lunch, even if their working day permits them to take one, he said.

Another thing that needs to change is late-night prime-time TV, said Buqueras. "In England, the largest TV audience is at 7 or 8pm, but in Spain, it's 10pm. Because at 8pm in Spain, barely 50% of the population is at home, and you have to wait until 10pm to find that number of people at home, thus guaranteeing the viewing figures needed for prime time. Sometimes football matches don't kick off until 11pm!" he said.

All of this means people go to bed far later than they should and get less sleep than they need. Studies suggest Spaniards sleep an hour less than the rest of Europe, which means more accidents at work, less efficiency, and more children missing school. Additionally they work longer hours than their German and British counterparts, but are much less efficient.

But many believe it will take more than a change of the clock to bring Spain into line with the rest of Europe. Elver Christine Laanen, 24, is from the Netherlands but works at a healthcare company in Madrid. "I've had to get used to eating lunch at 1.30pm, when I would like to eat at 12pm. And now I make sure I don't eat a very big dinner, because I don't think it's that healthy to eat so much just before you go to bed." Prof Chinchilla understands that "change is always hard, because people don't realise the damage they are doing to themselves with their traditions".

In the square, as Fernando finished his coffee and prepared to go back to the office, he agreed that a change of culture would not be easy. "We're Spaniards, and this is how we are. I'm not sure we'll like it if they impose these changes on us from above."

All words from The Guardian newspaper in the UK

Give a short summary of the article.

Is there anything you don't understand in the article?

What is your opinion of the article?
Give a summary of your working day. At what time do you wake up? Start work? Have lunch? Etc

What is the culture in your country?

Do you think the culture in your country is good for productivity?

Is it hard to change culture in society?

The Top 20 Movies of All Time

Here is a list of the top 20 movies of all time by IMDb website:

1.	9.2	The Shawshank Redemption (1994)	1,030,470
2.	9.2	The Godfather (1972)	725,295
3.	9.0	The Godfather: Part II (1974)	469,770
4.	8.9	Pulp Fiction (1994)	797,837
5.	8.9	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)	309,817
6.	8.9	The Dark Knight (2008)	1,005,413
7.	8.9	12 Angry Men (1957)	252,778
8.	8.9	Schindler's List (1993)	523,547
9.	8.8	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)	731,097
10.	8.8	Fight Club (1999)	782,213
11.	8.8	Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)	498,951
12.	8.8	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)	755,220
13.	8.7	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)	428,351
14.	8.7	Inception (2010)	813,539
15.	8.7	Goodfellas (1990)	446,288
16.	8.7	Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)	561,412
17.	8.7	Seven Samurai (1954)	155,816
18.	8.7	Forrest Gump (1994)	681,534
19.	8.7	The Matrix (1999)	738,411
20.	8.7	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)	655,940

How many of the movies have you seen?
How often do you watch movies?
Do you agree with the list?
Why do you think that there are no comedies, war movies and only one western on the list?
What movies do you think should be in the list?
What movie genre is your favourite?
All of the movies except Seven Samurai are English language movies, do you think your country produces movies that should be on this list?

Hell

Before watching the video find out the meaning of these words and phrases: to loot, to pillage, adulterer, nitwit, to spilt (people) up and "I'll catch you later".

Please follow the link and view the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UbqZ_oN5do

Do you find the video funny?
Did you 'get' or understand the jokes?
Do you believe in Hell?
Why do you think the biggest laugh was for "lawyers" and "the French"?