BEING A TEACHER....

BEING A TEACHER IS A DIFFICULT TASK NOWADAYS, SO I DECIDED TO FOLLOW THIS PIECE OF ADVICE BY BRUCE LEE:

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

by Bruce Lee

jueves, 7 de enero de 2016

Far from home (A dream)


Here's an incredible story to read about: FAR FROM HOME 

Can you make a summary of the story or film?



By the way, here are some interesting notes about the CONDITIONAL SENTENCES, If only... & I wish... (for further information visit my site):

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

To begin with, we have to differentiate between the 'IF-CLAUSE' and the 'MAIN CLAUSE'. If we put the IF CLAUSE first, you have to put a comma after it.
If we put the IF CLAUSE first, you have to put a comma after it.  (You have to put a comma after it if we put the...)
           IF CLAUSE                                             MAIN CLAUSE
- There are three main types of conditional sentences:
  1. REAL CONDITIONALS.- You are based on a real situation.
  2. HYPOTHETICAL CONDITIONALS.- You are based on a hypothetical (NOT IMPOSSIBLE) situation.
  3. IMPOSSIBLE or UNREAL CONDITIONALS.- You are based on past facts that cannot be changed at all.

REMEMBER THAT IN THE IF-CLAUSE WE DON'T USUALLY HAVE EITHER 'WILL' OR 'WOULD', WHICH IS A SIMILAR CASE TO THE TIME CLAUSES.

1. REAL CONDITIONALS

They are based on a real situation, so the main clause depends on the if-clause.
If + PRESENT SIMPLE......            >>> Future Simple  (we will have a barbecue in the garden)
If it is sunny,...                                >>> Modal verb (we can have a barbecue in the garden, we must moan the lawn)
                                                            >>> Imperative  (come to my house and we will have a barbecue in the garden)

ZERO CONDITIONALS

They are used when we refer to physical laws, rules.....    If + PRESENT SIMPLE...   >>> PRESENT SIMPLE

Example: Water freezes if it reaches a temperature of 0º C.

Exception number 1

You can have a real conditional in the past. They can be confused with the hypothetical conditionals, but they can be easily recognized when we translate them into Spanish as they don't use the subjunctive in the if-clause. The main clause is usually in the interrogative form.

Example: You had a car accident and someone tells you: 'If you could't drive, why did you take your father's car?'


2. HYPOTHETICAL CONDITIONALS

They are based on a hypothetical situation, which may seem in many cases impossible, so you have to be careful. Just imagine the case of Pau Gasol when he was 4 and said: "I would play in the LA Lakers and the Chicago Bulls if I played in the NBA).
SITUATION: It is raining and the weather forecast is not very optimistic, so it is not very likely that it is sunny.
If + PAST SIMPLE......            >>> Conditional Simple  (we would have a barbecue in the garden)
If it were (was) sunny,...         >>> MIGHT & COULD are also possible
'WERE' used to be the only possible form in the if-clause, although nowadays both forms (was, were) are possible.

3. IMPOSSIBLE or UNREAL CONDITIONALS

They are based on impossible situations which we cannot change at all.
SITUATION: Kennedy was murdered.
If + PAST PERFECT......            >>> CONDITIONAL PERFECT
If John Fitzgerald had not been murdered, he would have been a great president.

Exception number 2

Combination of a past fact that cannot be changed and a quality that you don't have, but that you could have (it is still not impossible)

Example: I would have been a Science teacher if I were better at Physics.

Exception number 3

Combination of a past fact whose effects are still permanent.

Example: If you hadn't drunk so much last night, you wouldn't have a hangover now.


OTHER CONDITIONALS

- UNLESS (= if not) a menos que   I will give a party for my birthday unless I am ill.
- AS LONG AS / PROVIDING (PROVIDED) THAT   (= only if)  con la condición de que, siempre que, siempre y cuando, en tanto, mientras         
I will help you with your English homework as long as / providing that you listen to my explanations
 
WISHES AND REGRETS
- wishes for change in the present  (I wish + PAST SIMPLE / PAST CONTINUOUS)  
I wish I were rich / we were spending our holidays in Honolulu this year.
- regrets about something in the past (I wish + PAST PERFECT)        
I wish At Madrid had defeated Real Madrid in the Champions League Final in 2014.
- complaints about a thing or situation and that you would like it to change in the future.        
I wish my students would listen to me (Actually they don't do it, but I would like them to do it).

Here's a similar structure, although it is a bit stronger:
 
- If only... (si al menos)    to express a strong wish that things could be different. It may be used for past, present and future unreal situations.
We use if only + past verb forms to talk about a wish for the present:
If only he could speak English properly. (he can't, but he wishes he could)
If only there was some snow to ski.
Remember we can use were instead of was in more formal situations:
If only I were (was) in the Alps (when our protagonist was back in Uganda).
To talk about a wish for the future or to show a contrast between how things are and how we would like them to be, we use if only + would + infinitive without to:
If only all the students would follow the teachers' advice.
If only it would rain more during the spring.
We use if only + past perfect to talk about a wish to change something that has already happened:
If only Benitez had kept his position as Real Madrid coach. (but he didn't.)
If only Andrea had come to Chester. (but she didn't come.)
And here's a song to listen to (If only by Dove Cameron):




3 comentarios:

  1. Este comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.

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  2. Born in the Makindye District of Kampala, Uganda, Brolin Mawejje, had a hope and it was to become a snowboarder. His family wanted the best for their child, so when he was only two years old, his mother left the family indefinitely and she reappeared at age 11, arranging him to join her in the USA in Boston’s suburbia. As he was the only African in his school, he was bullied by his American classmates. But the course of his life would change for ever when he joined an after school ski & snowboard program. Brolin discovered a new world. Combined with a drive to excel in his studies, Brolin found a family that helped him to trust the world for the first time.

    This article story shows us that everything can be possible. No matter where we live, no matter how much money we’ve got, because if we have got talent everything can be possible. The most interesting thing is that he’s now going to participate in the next Winter Olympic Games and he’s going to be the first African snowboarder that is going participate in some Winter Olympic Games.

    Another important fact is that he came from a poor family, so his conditions were even more difficult to become successful and it is for that reason that he needed economic support for this incredible project. He’s also going to help in Uganda children that were in the same case as him, so I reckon that it’s going to be a good way to contribute in this world of inequality.

    All in all, I personally think that there should be more cases like this man. Showing us that if we believe in something, even if people tell you that it is impossible, we can achieve them at last.

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  3. First of all, I am going to introduce this boy and his life. He is from Uganda, a city which is in East Africa, and it is also a poor city with lots of problems and without any snow. He spent 12 years there. He was raised by a single father with his other 7 brothers and sisters. He went to a boarding school where he received beatings everyday. His mother lived in America, and one day, he decided to travel and meet her.

    When he arrived, he was bullied because he didn't speak English. He went from house to house, and he lived with 2 fathers in a cancer battle, for this reason, he would became a surgeon.

    When he was 14, he met Phil Hessler, the producer of “Far From Home”, a documentary of his life. Now, he is working on his pre-med studies at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. Snowboard was a great way for escape himself from their problems.

    And eventually, for me this boy is an example of improvement. This boy has worked hard to get his goals. Moreover, who was going to tell him the would became the first Olympic snowboarder from Uganda and he would represent Uganda at the 2018 Olympics?

    For him, snowboard is a way of life, an obsession, a discipline... What a great opportunity was for him!

    María Béjar Rodríguez 4º ESO A

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