Dear Teacher,
I hope you had a relaxing festive season and that twenty twelve (2012) has started well – HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The Tune Into English website is now five years old! Once hosting less than ten pages, the site now features several thousand, including karaoke, worksheets, articles, listening activities and games. To celebrate we have a special online quiz – identify the five songs (with the word ‘five’ in the lyrics) to be in with a chance of winning a Tune Into English t-shirt!
The first of this month’s additions to the Downloadable Worksheets section of the Teachers’ Area of www.tuneintoenglish.com is, appropriately, Five Years by David Bowie (who turns 65 this month). Not actually a celebratory song, this is about the effect of knowing that the world will end in five years and focuses on the Past Simple.
The second addition is our wish for 2012. Patience by Take That was submitted by Maria Gulczynska from Ancona, and looks at personality nouns and adjectives.
The 30th January sees the 40th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, where 26 unarmed protesters were shot by the British Army in Derry, Northern Ireland. Mena Bianco from Naples has contributed a worksheet for Christy Moore’s haunting Minds Locked Shut – this song lists the names of the fourteen people who lost their lives. Prof. Bianco also submitted the worksheet for U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday some years ago.
Thank you to all teachers who have submitted worksheets – I look forward to receiving your contributions in the future.
The Tune Into English Roadshow is about to recommence its tour – I look forward to meeting you and your students in 2012. You can see a large selection of videos and photographs from over five years of the Roadshow on facebook – there is a link on the home page of the Tune Into English website.
You can sing along with the UK Top 10 Charts on the Speak Up site – updated weekly; there is a link on the Tune Home page too. The Karaoke page of Tune Into English now features over 7,600 songs.
Once again thank you to all of you who have helped made Tune Into English a success over the last five year, by hosting the Roadshow or simply visiting the site. I look forward to your continuing support.
Best wishes, and Happy Birthday to Tune Into English!
Fergal Kavanagh
Tune Into English
www.tuneintoenglish.com