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Check out the following sentences made by Polish students at a recent pre-intermediate spoken English lesson. The students were talking about going on holiday in Poland.

Consider the error(s) in each sentence and suggest corrections:

1. We visited to Mexico City.

2. I was in Olsztyn on the lake.

3. You can visit Ocean Museum in Gdynia.

4. It's a lot of tourists in Zakopane.

5. I was there in the ski.

6. It was three days when we had to hard working.

7. We met some Italish people.

8. It is a difference between a tourist and a traveller.

9. I enjoy driving a bicycle.

10. We go there one time a year.

11. There were too many litter.

12. It was very big problem.

13. I went to the big large park.

14. I was travelling by own.

15. It is more funny when you travel with a friend.

Suggested answers (other ways to correct the sentences exist):

1. We visited Mexico City. [No preposition needed.]

2. I was in Olsztyn by the lake. [Wrong preposition used. Also could be "...at the lake."]

3. You can visit the Ocean Museum in Gdynia. [Article needed for proper noun.]

4. There are a lot of tourists in Zakopane. [Incorrect form.]

5. I went skiing there. [Incorrect verb and missing gerund.]

6. There were three days when we had to work hard. [Incorrect forms.] 

7. We met some Italian people. [Made-up word used; the student guesses the form,  but incorrectly.]

8. There is a difference between a tourist and a traveller. [Incorrect form.]

9. I enjoy riding a bicycle. [Incorrect verb used.]

10. We go there once a year. [Incorrect phrase used.] 

11. There was too much litter. [Confusion with countable/uncountable nouns.] 

12. It was a very big problem. [Missing article.]

13. I went to the big park. [Unnecessary use of two similar adjectives together.] 

14. I was travelling on my own. [Incorrect phrase used.]

15. It is more fun when you travel with a friend. [Confusion between two similar adjectives, with different meanings.]

This is a fun activity that's great for practising vocabulary sets, as well as helping students in a new class get to know each other.

Level: Pre-Intermediate

Time: 50 minutes

Aims: To practise vocabulary, reading, writing, and speaking and listening skills; to get students to think laterally and use their imaginations; great ice-breaker activity

Materials: Board and pens

Procedure:

1. Ask your students: "What would you be if you were a...

a)      colour

b)      food

c)      animal

d)      flower / plant

e)      musical instrument

f)        city

g)      book

h)      car

i)        shape

j)        adjective

"... and why?"

Write the above categories on the board and tell the students to write down the first thing that comes into their heads for each category.

2. Collect in the students' answers and ask ten questions like:

"Who would be RED, if they were a colour?"

"Which student would be SPAGHETTI, if they were a food?"

"Who would be a MONKEY, if they were an animal?"

The students have to write down their guesses. At the end of the quiz, lead feedback. Ask students to justify their answers:

e.g. "OK, but why would Ricardo be SPAGHETTI? What does this tell us about him; about his personality?"

Then reveal the correct answers.

3. Students choose a partner. Ask them: "What would your partner be if he / she was a..." The students write down answers about their partner, without showing them: colour, food, animal, etc. (Or you could get the students to think of some new categories!)

4. Collect in the students' answers and ask ten questions like:

"Who thought that MARIO would be ORANGE, if he was a colour?"

"Which student thought that OLA would be RICE, if she was a food?"

"Who thought that LISA would be a DOLPHIN, if she was an animal?"

The students have to write down their guesses, based on what they already know about their classmates. At the end of the quiz, lead feedback, eliciting the answers from the group. Ask the students who had written the answers to justify them:

e.g. "Why did you think that MARIO would be orange, if he was a colour?"

5. Using the answers given in part 3. above, students write sentences based on their ideas, giving reasons:

e.g. "I think that Ola would be rice if she was a food because she loves Indian food." ... or: "I think that Lisa would be a dolphin because she's a really good swimmer..." and so on.

6. (Optional) If your students are sufficiently artistically-orientated, you could end the lesson by getting them to draw pictures to illustrate their sentences. You could put on the wall a gallery of pictures showing students as different items (e.g. JAN is a red Ferrari), with the whole class guessing who stars in each picture.

[Note: if you try this lesson, do let us know how it goes. Also, let us know if you added something that worked well! Click here to contact us.]

We recently discovered Stickyball.net, which is a fine resource site for teachers that really takes the hassle out of finding original resources for ESL lessons. Why not check it out:

www.stickyball.net

We particularly liked the jokes page: http://www.stickyball.net/jokes.html and the free downloadable alphabet books: http://www.stickyball.net/phonics.html

We asked site owner Brian Giles a few quick questions to find out more about the site!

What is the purpose of your site?
I started my site to share the various teachers' resources and materials that I had made and developed over the years.

What is there for students and teachers on your site?
My site is mainly for teachers; I have several free worksheets in the areas of phonics, grammar, and vocabulary, as well as printable writing activities for advanced students and some simple game ideas that I've used in my classes. I also have two series of ebooks (ESL phonics and ESL dialogues) that can be downloaded through Paypal, and a series for adults coming soon.

How did you come up with the idea for your site?
I often searched the internet for specific worksheets, handouts, or ideas, only to come up empty-handed and write the materials on my own. As such, I decided that the worksheets, ebooks, and handouts that I had developed might be useful to other teachers who may be in a similar situation to me.

Have you got any advice for... a) new teachers of English? b) students of English?
I have some basic teaching tips on my site. The best advice I ever received came from one of my good friends, an experienced ESL children's teacher, as I was a newbie teacher who was getting very frustrated with my classes. We were playing pool and I was complaining, and he looked at me and said, 'Remember. They're just kids.' Later, as I was probably still complaining, he looked at me and said, 'Remember. You're the adult.' Those two pieces of advice, while ridiculously simple, have stuck with me, because it's easy to forget how young your students actually are, and it's important to remember your role as a teacher, mentor, and, well, adult.

Thanks for sharing with us, Brian, and best wishes with Stickyball.net!

(Got a great website that you want to share with English Banana.com viewers? Click here to tell us all about  it!)

Check out the full list here:

http://www.teachingtips.com/blog/2008/06/24/100-best-resources-and-guides-for-esl-teachers/

Viva La Vida - acoustic version by Boyce Avenue

(Songwriters: Berryman, Buckland, Champion, Martin)

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemies' eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs a-singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you'd gone there was never, never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs a-singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs a-singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Watch the video and answer the questions below:

Quiz Questions:

1. 0:10 Which famous landmark can you see and which city is it in?

2. 0:21 What kind of trolley is it?

3. 0:33 What (who?!) is eating the cheese?

4. 0:39 Which room does the rat run into?

5. 0:45 What is the rat running up?

6. 1:02 "I can't help myself. I like ____ ____, OK?"

7. 1:15 He doesn't want to eat... ____.

8. 1:28 How is the name of this film pronounced?

9. 1:43 "It's so easy to find good food in ____. It's just ____."

10. 1:44 When was this film first released?

Answers:

10. Summer 2007

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The triumphant halloo of thirty buckskin lungs was heard, as--much nearer to the ship than the place of the imaginary jet, less than a mile ahead--Moby Dick bodily burst into view!

For not by any calm and indolent spoutings; not by the peaceable gush of that mystic fountain in his head, did the White Whale now reveal his vicinity; but by the far more wondrous phenomenon of breaching. Rising with his utmost velocity from the furthest depths, the Sperm Whale thus booms his entire bulk into the pure element of air, and piling up a mountain of dazzling foam, shows his place to the distance of seven miles and more. In those moments, the torn, enraged waves he shakes off, seem his mane; in some cases, this breaching is his act of defiance.

"There she breaches! there she breaches!" was the cry, as in his immeasurable bravadoes the White Whale tossed himself salmon-like to Heaven. So suddenly seen in the blue plain of the sea, and relieved against the still bluer margin of the sky, the spray that he raised, for the moment, intolerably glittered and glared like a glacier; and stood there gradually fading and fading away from its first sparkling intensity, to the dim mistiness of an advancing shower in a vale.

"Aye, breach your last to the sun, Moby Dick!" cried Ahab, "thy hour and thy harpoon are at hand!--Down! down all of ye, but one man at the fore. The boats!--stand by!" Unmindful of the tedious rope-ladders of the shrouds, the men, like shooting stars, slid to the deck, by the isolated backstays and halyards; while Ahab, less dartingly, but still rapidly was dropped from his perch. "Lower away," he cried, so soon as he had reached his boat--a spare one, rigged the afternoon previous. "Mr. Starbuck, the ship is thine--keep away from the boats, but keep near them. Lower, all!" As if to strike a quick terror into them, by this time being the first assailant himself, Moby Dick had turned, and was now coming for the three crews...

Download the complete text of Moby Dick as a .pdf file here.

Need to know about prepositions? Try this video:

Or this one:

You've gotta love prepositions! ;o)