Fair trade

These are some of the main words from the NZ Trade Aid site from their FAQ (frequently asked questions) page. Fair Trade is something that I feel strongly about - easy for us to do here in NZ and can make a big difference to poverty in developing countries. Check out the website if you are interested...

against aid better buy buyers campaign certification co-operatives coffee costs countries crops developing difference economy encourage example fair farmers food further goods growers however improve label mark market members organisations partners policy practices price producers product quality reach receive retail supply support system trade work world

created at

Mind

Our brains are amazing - all the things that happen without us even thinking about them. Check out the podcasts on Ideas - one talks about our memory and one on sleep. (Beware - these are designed for native speakers!)

Have you heard about the difference between the right and left sides of our brain. The two different sides are supposed to govern different functions.

Left Brain Thinking
Logical Sequential Rational Analytical Objective Looks at parts

Right Brain Thinking
Random Intuitive Holistic Synthesizing Subjective Looks at wholes

Check out the Funderstanding website for more detail on this. Which do you think you identify with? Try out this simple quiz to see which side of the brain you favour. Then answer the quiz in the sidebar.

Work

Most people work somewhere, some time in their lives. It might be paid employment, or you might have your own business or work at home. You might be working part-time while you are studying. For all of us, working is part of our everyday life, and so it is good to focus our language study on this topic.

If you go to Work and beyond on this blog, you can read a bit about my working experiences, But we'd like to hear about your work too.

Tell us about your past work experience and also what you'd like to do in the future. Go to the Work VoiceThread and add your spoken comments next to your photo. If this is too difficult on your computer, you might like to add a comment to this blog, telling us about your work past and future.

Welcome to Oral Skills Semester 2 2008

Welcome to our new class in 2008. Reading this blog is one way that you can get to know me a bit more. You could also take a look at this VoiceThread introduction that uses photos to show my family. And then there is souNZ English, which is my podcast.

By the time you have tried these out, you will know lots about me - and I want to learn about you too. Remember to leave a comment to tell me a little about yourself - differences or similarities to things that I have said online. It would be great if you could join VoiceThread and then you can leave a written or a voice comment, or maybe even create your own VoiceThread, with photos of your holiday or your hometown. Let us all know what the URL is so that we can come and comment...

Puns

A pun is when a joke is based on two different meanings of words that sound the same.

Here are some examples - listen to the jokes that involve these puns at souNZ English

Friday is a weak (ie. not strong) day OR a weekday
it came back to me – I remembered how to do it OR the boomerang curved back to me. (NB. a boomerang is an Aborigine weapon that you throw and it will curve back towards you in a circle)
a Mercedes Benz/bends
it hit me – I understood something OR the baseball actually hit me
a full stop marks the end of a sentence (a sentence in writing OR a prison sentence)
No change yet! Ie. His condition hasn’t changed OR no money has been given in coins
You can’t beat it! – you can’t do anything better OR you can’t hit a drum with a hole in it

Kids in NZ schools

Some classes get to make their own podcasts. Check out two Kiwi kids talking about their survey of the class and what they do in their spare time.
Room 5's podcast

Class parties

What a nice way to spend the afternoon! All the students bought delicious food and we sat round eating and learning about how different nationalities prepare special dishes. We also learned more about each other by talking - we discovered better who likes to make jokes and who is extra helpful in the kitchen and serving people.

We found out that Tony is the champion tabletennis player in 1B and that Nicole loves relaxing in a hanging chair. With 1A we got to meet Jan's husband briefly and enjoyed her amazing house and pets.

Anyone who has photos might like to send them to me to publish here OR create a voice thread with them that we can leave comments at.

What do you say when…

…your mind wanders and you didn’t really hear what somebody said to you. If you were thinking of something else, you were dreaming or day-dreaming.
Last night I was with a group of friends and this happened to me. We were watching a DVD and then having a discussion about the content. Someone was talking and I suddenly realized that my mind had drifted on to something completely different and I had missed what had been said. Then someone asked me a specific question about it!
If you want to be honest, you can admit that you haven’t a clue what they’d been talking about. “Sorry, I was away with the fairies!” is one way of saying this. It means you weren’t paying attention.
Of course, you could hedge a bit and say something vague like “D’you think you could just run over that again? I got the general gist, but I missed the last bit. What exactly were we talking about?” If you’re lucky, someone will fill you in.
If you were listening and you actually didn’t understand something, you might say ‘Come again?’ That just means “Could you say it again please?’ Or you could admit that you didn’t understand. “Sorry, I lost the plot there for a while. Can we start again?”

My mind wandered
My mind drifted (Careful: 'I drifted off' usually means go to sleep)
I haven’t a clue or I haven't got a clue
I was away with the fairies
I got the general gist
Can you fill me in- give you the details
I'll just run over it again - explain it once more
Come again?
I lost the plot (can also mean to be crazy OR to get really angry)

Go to souNZ English to hear the above.

This coming weekend

This weekend I'm off to Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, about 2 1/2 hours south of Auckland. We're going to visit family friends who live there and I'm really looking forward to it. We're leaving early Fri morning. We haven't caught up with them for ages and I expect the guys will go and play golf or tennis. My friend Helen and I will no doubt end up drinking far too much coffee and talking nineteen to the dozen. They live just to the left of this photo and very close to the beach, so I guess we'll also go for some walks along the beach. It should be great.

So what are you planning to do this weekend? Can you leave a comment to tell me?

Oral skills students Diploma 2008

All the lovely students in our oral skills classes so you can check out your classmates. It would be great if you could go to the Oral Skills Voicethread and have a closer look. Record yourself speaking and introduce yourself. This way the other stream gets to know you as well!

Whoops - my apologies. I forgot to make the voicethread public, so noone could access it. Have another go if you tried before - please. Tell us how long you've been in NZ and what you want to do when you finish your English study.

Mark talks about golf

Mark plays golf and describes the game on this podcast. One of his favourite golf courses is at Muriwai beach (picture on right). This course doesn't get too wet in the middle of winter because it is near the beach and the water drains in the sand.

There are lots of golf courses in Auckland and their green fees vary. You can also go to a driving range and practice hitting the ball before you actually try out a game.

Tell me about your golf playing experiences...

Introduction in Voice Thread

Have a look at Jan 08 to see some more of my photos and hear me introducing myself. If you sign up (for free) at Voice Thread you can actually leave a comment on this Voice Thread.

Doorways of Auckland

Doorways of Auckland
Originally uploaded by rob511

Which of these doors would you like to open? What might lie behind?

What doors have opened for you since you came to NZ? Are there doors that you feel have shut?

Aqueous Rogers

Aqueous Rogers
Originally uploaded by khaines

My boys started this band with friends about a year ago. They practise regularly and have had several gigs. Willy (on the right) writes the music on the computer, and then Chris (my son, second from left) puts melody and words over the top. Tim (my younger son is second from the right) plays bass and sings harmony. Chris is the lead singer and also plays guitar.

Their most recent gig was at Parachute - a Christian music festival over Anniversary weekend just out of Hamilton. They played on the Debut stage there and did a really good job. The enthusiastic audience was admittedly made up lof mostly family and friends. They have several more gigs coming up in the next few weeks.

Family

Finally, an update of our family photo.

The sad part is that my daughter is going flatting this weekend for the first time and so she will be leaving home. We will really miss her, but she is so excited about the flatting experience. She is flatting with her two closest friends, who are both lovely girls and they have been looking forward to this for ages. The good news is that she is still in Auckland, so we will get to see her (we hope) frequently.

Our boys are both still at high school - and so on holiday at the moment. This photo was taken on Christmas Day.