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.