You have received a letter from your English-speaking pen-friend Adrian who writes:
… Last night I watched a strange television show. It was a kind of race on obstacle courses. Teams from different countries had to run, climb, jump, swim, and perform various crazy tricks, trying to get to the finish line first. Sometimes I laughed, and sometimes it just seemed too silly. Do you have these kinds of shows on Russian television? Do you like watching them? What is the silliest thing you have done in public? My best friend just bought tickets to the theatre for the two of us. I haven’t seen a play in years! ...
Take about twenty minutes to write a letter of 100-140 words to Adrian. Observe the rules of good letter-writing. In your letter: (1) answer his questions; (2) ask 3 questions about Adrian's news concerning his best friend and the theatre tickets.
Please bring your letter to our class next week (October 16 or 17) to give to me. Have fun!
For background, some of you first saw this promotional video for the album Delta Time by Terry Evans and Hans Theessink. Notice how differently they speak and how similarly they sing!
"Shelter from the Storm" (audio only)
Then we listened to this song from the album, "Shelter from the Storm"....
And here's a transcription of the lyrics as sung on this track (Youtube link at right).
"Shelter from the Storm."
When cold raging winds
bring you pain and misery
you're caught in a tempest baby
like a ship that's lost at sea
when the light from the lighthouse
no longer leads you on
let me be your harbor baby
give you shelter from the storm
[chorus:] shelter from the storm
shelter from the storm
let me be your harbor baby
give you shelter from the storm
let me be a shoulder for you to lean on
give you comfort when things go wrong
when your sail is tattered and torn
you're out there all alone
let me be your harbor baby
give you shelter from the storm
when cold raging winds
bring you pain and misery
you're caught in a tempest baby
like a ship out on the sea
when the light from the lighthouse
no longer leads you on
let me be your harbor baby
give you shelter from the storm
Jane McGonigal on The Colbert Report. (Screenshot; source.)
On Wednesday we watched this clip from The Colbert Report, and discussed whether Dr. Jane McGonigal's ideas about video games seemed realistic to us. Was it possible that the skills and self-confidence gained in video games would help us in real life? Most of the class seemed skeptical.
As a way of reviewing the content of the clip, we began our discussion by answering the following multiple-choice questions about the clip itself. If you missed the class, watch the video and then try answering these questions:
Jane McGonigal appeared on this program because she:
1) had just published a book.
2) was researching former players of Dungeons and Dragons.
3) was trying to convince Colbert to become a gamer.
4) was trying to reach her goal of 500 million gamers.
Stephen Colbert wants to know whether McGonigal:
1) is a friend of Bono's.
2) is the actual writer of her book.
3) is an avatar.
4) owns an X-Box.
Jane McGonigal claims that:
1) 94% of gamers are female.
2) 40% of gamers are female.
3) 250,000 gamers are female.
4) we are all gamers.
When McGonigal says that "reality is broken," she is probably referring to:
1) the fact that too many children are addicted to their "funboxes."
2) the belief that real things break, but virtual things don't break.
3) gamers who forget the real world.
4) disease, poverty, hunger.
McGonigal says that it is a misconception that:
1) gamers can't write articles for the journal Nature.
2) playing games is a bad use of time.
3) ten years of research show that game-playing is productive.
4) gamers don't care about real-world problems.
McGonigal wants to reach a goal of
1) 500 million hours of gaming a week.
2) 3 billion (3.000.000.000) hours of gaming a week.
3) 21 billion hours of gaming a week.
4) 3 billion gamers in sub-Saharan Africa.
She wants to increase the number of gamers in the world by:
1) teaching starving children in Sub-Saharan Africa to play Halo 2.
2) changing the rules of the real world to make them more like video games.
3) developing games that link game play to real-life situations.
4) encouraging families of gamers to have more children.
McGonigal has worked on:
1) a project to send X-Boxes to African children.
2) social projects in Africa along with Bono.
3) a version of Dungeons and Dragons for use in Africa.
4) a social-innovation game called Evoke.
The game developed for African players:
1) works on a simplified version of Gamecube for the African market.
2) shows players how to help solve major social problems.
3) helps children forget that they are hungry.
4) shows parents that their children can have an effect in the world.
Playing a game with a powerful avatar for ninety seconds, according to McGonigal:
1) will improve your sense of self-assurance for a whole day.
2) has the same effect as flirting at a bar.
3) is not the same as the rules we have in the real world.
4) does not affect who we are in the real world.
The first step in connecting gaming to real-world situations is:
1) teaching gamers that they are the same person inside and outside the game.
2) teaching gamers that role-playing games are better than first-person shooters.
3) respecting gamers because they are more productive than the average person
realizes.
4) teaching gamers to be resilient in the face of failure.
According to McGonigal, 57,000 gamers co-authored a paper for Nature:
1) because of their intuitive knowledge of biochemistry.
2) by playing a game.
3) because their fathers agreed to give them five more minutes.
4) that described a cure for cancer, gaining them an “epic win.”
Please tell Mark how to get to your home (your real one or a fantasy home!) from the airport. What should he bring to your parents, and what else should he remember to bring for the visit?
Complete instructions in the graphic below. Please bring this letter to class next week (October 9 or 10). Please remember to write the letter on paper that you can give me. Thank you!
Exercise from Olga Afanasyeva, Virginia Evans, Victoria Kopylova, Practice Exam Papers for the Russian State Exam, 2010 Revised Edition, Moscow: Express Publishing/Prosveshchenie Publishers.
You have 20 minutes to do this task. Please write on a separate piece of paper to give me, in case we don't have time to read our letters in class.
Task: You have received a letter from the mother of an English host family you have just stayed with while doing a summer English course. Mrs. Sampson writes:
... We all really enjoyed having you stay with us. How was your journey back home? Do you feel that you improved your English as much as you had hoped? What did you enjoy most about your stay in England?
As for our latest news, we’ve just bought a puppy....
Write a letter of about 100-140 words. Observe the rules of good letter-writing. Answer Mrs. Sampson’s questions and ask three questions about the new dog.
Bring to class next week. (If you have not written to David about school, or your essay about the Internet as a source of information, don't forget to bring those, too!)
Exercise from Olga Afanasyeva, Virginia Evans, Victoria Kopylova, Practice Exam Papers for the Russian State Exam, 2010 Revised Edition, Moscow: Express Publishing/Prosveshchenie Publishers.
Remember the "rules of good letter-writing"... These rules refer to the format expected in the Unified State Exam:
First line, upper right corner: address (city and country are enough).
Second line, upper right corner: date (more about this below).
Intro: an expression of thanks for last letter, of regret for taking such a long time to reply; etc. One or two sentences. ("Thanks so much for your wonderful letter! I'm sorry I took so long to answer, but I had to study for two tests.")
Body: This is the main part of the letter. Respond to the assignment. Usually this means answering the questions in the letter you have "received" and asking questions as directed by the assignment.
Outro: In this last sentence or two, you may ask your correspondent to write again soon or to send you something, or you may explain that you must end the letter now because of another obligation. ("Write again soon--and don't forget to send me pictures from the concert! I have to end my letter here--my mother wants me to help wash the dishes.")
Complimentary close: This word or phrase can be formal ("Yours truly,"), less formal ("Sincerely,"), informal "Best regards," or "All the best!"), or even warmer ("Love," or "Hugs and kisses,").
Signature.
Dates:
You may use the British convention:
21 September 2011 (note: no comma)
21 Sept. 2011
21st September 2011
21st Sept. 2011
... or the American convention:
September 21, 2011
Sept. 21, 2011
But don't use numbers for the month. 21.09.2011 (European) or 9/21/2011 (American).
Length of letters on the Unified State Exam: 100-140 words. Don't write fewer than 90 words or more than 154!
For a chart showing the placement of various elements of the letter, go back to this post.
The Kills are American singer Alison Mosshart and British guitarist Jamie Hince. This song is from their most recent album, Blood Pressures.
"You Don’t Own the Road" Alison Mosshart, Jamie Hince (performed by The Kills)
You don’t own the road boy
Better kick up a storm
You don’t own the big city lights
Better cop out your own
You don’t own the green pines,
The blue sky, or the smoke
You don’t own the dust in your
Big brown eyes when you keep them closed
Yeah, steal them back for me love
Oh yeah, steal them back for me love, oh yeah
You don’t own the road boy
And neither do I
You don’t own the big city lights
That make my eyes cry
You don’t own the green pines
So be careful where you lean
And when you’re lost under the blue sky
Look down and you’ll find me
Yeah, steal it back for me love
Oh yeah steal it back for me love, oh yeah
Come on over
If that’s the way you feel
When you’re lonesome steal it
Back when you’re lonely
Back when you’re lonely, back
You don’t own the sadness son
See the tide just comes in
Guilt is played on the violin
By those who never cared to sing
Yeah, steal it back for me love
Oh yeah, steal it back for me love, back for me love
Oh yeah, steal it back for me love, back for me love
Oh yeah, steal it back for me love, back for me love
Back for me love
Back for me love
An unofficial English-language
