My Nightmare Come True

Congratulations to the winning team, Germany. Sadly, England is coming home right now. No need for fancy lesson ideas, no heart for a "guess which adjectives to choose for the England v Germany match", which has just unfolded. My Chronicle of a Nightmare Foretold has come to fruition just now and it has well and truly done me in. Did I tempt fate? I will never know. The pain of being 2-0 down after approximately 30 minutes to a Germany side that were not supposed to be at their best, was awful. The drone of the Vuvuzelas did everything to dampen my growing fear. The 38th minute goal that was disallowed, was a shocker in true horror story fashion. Had the referee not had his eyes checked out before the match??

The Goal that NEVER was but SHOULD have been

This was the goal that went in, but it was disallowed for some unearthly reason. Anyway, I wouldn't like to be accused of sour grapes, so that is it. Job done. No going back. The dream is over for England.


May the very best team win this World Cup 2010.

England Delivers!

Phew! Listening to the match on the radio on my own with the menagerie in tow in the garden was a novel way to pass the time.
England lives to see another day. Onwards to the next stage. Maybe, just maybe, my bad dreams will be over, for now.
How do you think England players and fans feel at this moment? How about Slovenia? Pick from the adjectives below.

A Breaking News English Lesson from Sean Banville on the match here, and a fully comprehensive list of Sue Lyons- Jones collection of top links to World Cup Resources here.

The Highs and Lows of Following Engerland in the World Cup

Well, I knew it wasn't going to be easy following England in the World Cup and of course, I was right. My early rash and utterly optimistic prediction of a 2-0 win for the National team was way off the mark as we had to settle for a mediocre 1-1 draw against USA. The Wordle below gives you the highlights of the match report according to the Telegraph.

Here is a round-up of articles from Yahoo Sport. The Sunday Mirror has rather unkindly labelled Green's blunder as "The Hand of Clod" as opposed to "The Hand of God". A clod refers to an akward or stupid person.

Fan Norris
As you can see below, Norris being an authentic home-grown, free range Italian bird, showed her support for the England team in her own unique way. Photo edited by Picnik Football Fever and idea from Larry Ferlazzo's fabulous Neat World Cup Links.

Fabio:English or Italian Thoughts?

Which language does the England Team coach Fabio Capello shout in when he is not happy with his team? This question fascinates me from a linguistic point of view. Does Fabio revert to Italian or does he get angry in English? I tried my hardest to lip read during the match, but I couldn't work out what he was saying. Any ideas from anyone?

More links to fantastic, topical World Cup resources from:

• The English Blog
• Alex Case
• EFL Classroom
• Taveloteacher Blog-Waka Waka
  
• Breaking News English - England v USA Lesson
• Esolcourses - The Vuvuzela
  

I am really excited about discussing the World Cup and using some of these wonderful resources in July.

Where the Hell is Matt in South Africa?

Have you been to any of the places in South Africa where Matt has done his lovely Diski dance routine? If so, what are your memories? If you are in South Africa now for the World Cup, which places from the video would you like to visit while you are there? To understand the lingo better, here's a handy list from the Macmillan Dictionary Blog of 40 South Africanisms you should know.



Where the Hell is Matt?
I came across the video above via my twitter stream just now. Thank you AnaMaria from LifeFeast blog! I know I have been living in the wilds of Abruzzo the past couple of years, but I have no idea how I have missed the "Where is Matt?" videos and dance routines. It's the first time I have heard of Matt Harding. I love the dance he does with people all over the world!



Possible lesson idea for speaking practice and Present Perfect review is to get students to predict which places the teacher has been to, hasn't been to, would like to go to and why. Play the video above, do general feedback and then students guess for their partner and give feedback in small groups. Extension activity, students do a search on the Internet for one of the places on the video they haven't been to, but would like to visit. Ask them to do a short presentation to the class/small groups, saying why they would like to visit the place chosen.
How would you exploit any of the Matt videos? I would love to hear your ideas! I really must get out more!! I have only been to 12 of the 42 places on the video, and I would really love to go to ...........which places????

How the Hell did Matt Get People to Dance With Him?
I found this video on Youtube and watched Matt explain how he managed to undertake such a huge project. It looks as if everyone had a lot of fun!!

World Cup Footie:The Beautiful Game is Back!

The Beautiful Game has arrived in South Africa and it is raring to go, reaching out to billions of people around the globe. I sat enthralled watching the opening ceremony last night. Shakira shaking her stuff and singing "Waka waka", the World Cup theme song, really stood out. The sheer infectious enthusiasm displayed by all the artists was amazing and I loved it all.

I urge you to go to the fantastic sites below, where you will find a wealth of activities, resources all dealing with South Africa World Cup 2010.

• Kalinago English
• Larry Ferlazzo
• The English Blog
  
• Esol Courses
• Sean Banville
• Bits'n'Bobs
  

Italy or England?

You may be wondering which team I will be supporting. Well, it will be both of them! Having lived in England all my life and now living in Italy for the past 2 years, my heart is divided. I decided I didn't want to break it into 2 pieces, so this seems to be the best option and I feel fine about supporting 2 teams equally. Will the Italian manager Fabio Capello lead England to World Cup glory? Will Marcello Lippi lead Italy to a back-to-back World Cup victory? Holders Italy are ready to regain the trophy, according to this article from the Telegraph.

I'm off to watch the opening game between South Africa and Mexico in a short while. May the best team win!