Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Do you end your workday at 6:00pm Really? Business English

The French really do end their workday at 6:00pm. They don't look at their business e-mails, and go out and enjoy themselves.  Do you?  Can you?  I know that I can't.  I have to always be on the lookout for a new lesson to confirm.

Read this article and discuss it with your English teacher
http://www.theguardian.com/money/shortcuts/2014/apr/09/french-6pm-labour-agreement-work-emails-out-of-office

Key Terms
clock off
 workers' unions
consultancy sectors
malevolent intrusion
pallid
cowering
scurry about
recession-based
continentals
cowed
staring down the barrel
sipping


Questions
What is the main idea of this text?
How many hours do the French work a week?
What has to happen after 6pm? 
How much power does the boss to get his workers to work overtime? 
What is the minimum work week in your country? 
How do you deal with the pressure to always stay connected to work? 
What type of work-related duties do you do at home? 
How often do you take work home?
Are you as efficient when you take the work home? 
Do you get compensated for the hours that you work at home?
Are you jealous of the French that they have 35 hour work week? 
Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English teacher 

Thursday, March 26, 2015

One good turn deserves another English Conversation Lesson

We all want to do acts of kindness, but how many of us really act on it in a positive way?  I have many people come to my door asking for charity.  Sometimes I give with a smile, but sometimes I have to admit I don't.  This story warmed my heart as I hope that it will warm yours. 


Read this story and discuss it with your English teacher 
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/20/custard-kindness/25077959/

Key Terms
eatery 
dessert
It's on me
gratitude
 brightened it up
gift cards
 franchise

Questions
What did Travis Sattler do that was so unusual?
How did the boy feel? 
How did the cashier feel?
What did the boy do as they were leaving? 
What was wrapped up in the note?
What does the manager of the restaurant want to give the boy's family?
What are they going to give Sattler?
Why is this also unusual?
What does Travis Sattler want to save his tip for? 
Why do you think he might be very good in that future job?
What would you do if you were in a similar situation? 
Would your reaction now change because of reading and seeing this video?



Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English Teacher

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Review Exercise for the Book TEN from Eric Cohen Books

I use this for a review for the test on Unit Reaching for the Stars.  This is for a 5 point English class, I hope that it is helpful for you.






Name________________________________ Date_____________________

Review for the Test: Reaching for the Stars.

Write sentences with the following words:

benefit purchase

encounter colleague issue regular select conversation

 Use connectors such as: although, and, because, but, in order to, moreover, so, thus

yet.

1._______________________________________________________________

2._______________________________________________________________

3._______________________________________________________________

4._______________________________________________________________

5._______________________________________________________________

6._______________________________________________________________







Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English Teacher

Inspriational 570 pound man does a 5K! English Conversation Lesson

We all need to do more exercise, and that's what Derek Mitchell is doing.  He's has a medical condition that causes him to gain weight, but he's not taking it sitting down.  He's going out there every month and doing a 5K race.  It takes a lot of effort for him, but he is determined to show the world!

Read this article and prepare the questions to discuss with your English teacher
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/news/a38160/this-570-pound-man-finished-a-5k/

Key Terms
diagnosed
 benign tumor on his pituitary gland 
 inconvenient
debilitating
taking to the couch
he booked it
finish line
 knock at least five minutes off 
 inspire others
get your butt off the couch

Questions
What is Derek's motivation to start doing 5K races? 
What disease does he have?
What effects does it have on him? 
What is he doing to combat his medical condition?
How long did it take him to complete the race? 
What place did he come in?
Why did he choose to walk a 5K? 
What is inspirational about his accomplishment?
How do you feel about exercise? 
How many times a week do you exercise?
What is the best exercise for you?
What other activities do you do that tire you out? 
Do you count that as exercise?



Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English Teacher  



Tuesday, March 24, 2015

The benefits of Zumba Dancing! - English Conversation Lesson

English conversation lesson about the benefits of Zumba Dancing.

Zumba dancing is more than just a dance.  It is an exercise too!  There are many reasons why you should take Zumba rather than just for the exercise.  This article is on three pages, but don't let that scare you from not reading to the end!  Here is the perfect Zumba song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X8eftN2mv0&spfreload=10

Listen to the song, and then read the article and prepare to talk about with your English Teacher 
http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/zumba-fun-is-secret-ingredient-of-latin-dance-workout

Key Terms
Latin rhythms
 packed 
salsa
meringue
flamenco
aerobic dance class
 everywhere in between
 tends
 recharge
a cha cha
Zumba (Spanish slang for buzz like a bee or move fast)
 ditch the workout
a training manual
to feed the frenzy
born from an accident
 infomercial
geared to 
Barring any doctor's limitations
can be modified
 very low-impact
simplicity
 to forego complex cueing
complicated choreography
freer inhibitions
slimmed down
gym rat
Suduko
therapy
perfect excuse



Questions
What is the orgin of Zumba Dancing? 
How many steps do you have to learn? 
What type of clothes do you have to wear?
How do people feel when they are dancing the Zumba?
Why does Latin Music lend itself to dancing in this way? 
What are the main benefits of Zumba? 
What type of exercise do you like the most? 
How long do you do that exercise? 
What type of musis do you like to listen while you exercise? 
Does the music help you to keep your concentration? 
How long is each of your exercise sessions? 


Conversational English Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English teacher 

Sunday, March 22, 2015

New Age of SEO - English conversation lesson

English Conversation lesson about SEO.

If you have a website or a blog, you have to be concerned about SEO- Search Engine Optimization. This is the main way that you can attract new users to your website.  Which keywords do you use?  Where do you put them?  These were the questions that you had to answer in the past, now, this article gives us new ideas for attracting that all important "traffic."



Read this article and discuss it with your English teacher
http://www.inc.com/adam-heitzman/the-new-age-of-seo-why-your-approach-must-change.html

Key Terms
SEO best practises
current strategy
 evolve
compartmentalizing
 infographic
keywords
 brand's reputation
keyword intent
long tail searches
relevance
white hat rules
 build relationships
 influencer of purchases


Questions

What was the dominant strategy in the past?
Why was focusing on a keyword so important?
How could you build links?
What is the strategy now? 
How can you build more traffic to your website?
How do you know if you have enough visitors?
Why do you need to pay attention to social networks?
How do you make your purchasing decisions?
Where on the page do you put your keywords? 
Try switching them around, do you see a difference?
What type of monitization do  you use on your website? 
Do you see a difference when you change the placement?



English Conversation Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English Teacher 

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Can Microsoft do away with the password? English Conversation Lesson

English Conversation lesson IT English

Passwords.  We love them or we hate them.  How many nonsense words and phrases we have to remember?  They are necessary,, and insecure. Hackers can find out your passwords, and use them to get at your sensitive information.  Well Microsoft has jumped into the Future to do away with passwords.  

Read this article and see for yourself!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2999244/Can-Microsoft-kill-password-Firm-unveils-new-using-face-iris-fingerprint-unlock-Windows-10-phone-computer.html

Key Terms
kill off\
fingerprint
launches
opt-in
biometric authentication
verify
iris
hit out
authenticate 
hackable
lousy odds


Questions 
How many different sites you remember the passwords? 
Do you make your password simple or complicated?
How often do you change your passwords?
What do you do to remember your passwords?
Will this new way of authentication really work? 
Face recognition change the way that we access the Internet? 
How long do you think it will take for hackers to hack this system too? 
Is this an invasion of privacy? 
What other ways can we protect ourselves from hackers? 
Which devices will use this new system? 
How will it prevent cell-phone theft? 




IT English Conversation Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English Teacher 





Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Money Management Unit for 5 point classes High School

Unit on Money Management:


One of the subjects that teens need to learn is money management.  The banks all fall over themselves to offer bank accounts to college students.  They offer credit cards and free mp3’s to teens who open up a bank account.  But do they also offer instruction about sound financial money management?   
This unit will explore how to manage your money, a skill that you will need throughout your life.


Lesson 1


Vocabulary terms:


Goals   Savings Income Expense


Liability Salary Asset Cash Flow

Investing money financial goals down payment earn


Expenditure unplanned expenditures

Money Management  
Your money goals.


In order to learn how to manage your money, you need to have goals.  Write down what your financial goals are.


Weekly  _____________________________


Monthly  ____________________________


Yearly  _____________________________


If you want to save up for a certain financial goal, first find out what the cost is and divide by 12.  Say I want to buy a car.  The down payment for the car is 6,000 NIS.  I divide this by 12 months, and then I will find out how much I need to save per month to be able to afford the down payment.  In this case I need to save 500NIS a month, and after a year I will have saved 6000NIS.  






Expenses


Expenses are items that we buy. This can be food, gas for the car, household expenses such as electricity, your rent, and entertainment.


Write down what your monthly expenses are:  


Food ________________________


Clothing ________________________


Entertainment ________________________


Rent: ________________________


Telephone ________________________


Mobile phone ________________________


Educational ________________________


Electricity ________________________


Gas for Car ________________________


Cooking Gas ________________________


Water bill ________________________


Add up the expenses:   ___________________________


Medical expenses   _________________________


Charity/Tzdaka _________________________


unplanned expenditures  _______________________


This is sum total are your monthly expenses.  


Were the unplanned expenditures a good decision or a bad decision?


Income;  Income is the amount of money you earn from salary and investments, and other sources such as Bituach Leumi


Salary _________________________


Investments _________________________


Other _________________________


Add this up for
Total Income __________________________


Now find out if you manage your money effectively:

Total income   ___________________________


Total expenses ___________________________


Amount  left over
(or minus) ___________________________


Did the unplanned expenditure put you in the Red? Was there a way to prevent it?


________________________________________________________________________


If your income is greater than your expenses, then you have extra money at the end of each month that you can save or not.  


If your expenses are greater than your income that means that you are “In the Red.”  This means that you spend more money than you make.  Examine you expenses, are you spending too much money each month on something?  If your water bill is suddenly too high, maybe you have a water leak somewhere.  Get it fixed.  Spend less money on clothing and entertainment.  Talk less on the phone.  


Write down your actual expenses for each month for a few months and see if you can learn to live within your income.


Find another source of income.(legally!)  Get a part time job, do something to add to your income.


Now that you know what your monthly financial situation is, you can plan for the future.
Make goals for each expense, making sure that the amounts are reasonable, and that you can live within your means.  After a few months, go over your goals once again, making adjustments as necessary.  




Lesson 2


Vocabulary:


Risk medical insurance homeowner insurance Mandatory


Insurance car insurance fire insurance


Cover expenses


Insurance.  Insurance is a way of covering yourself from unplanned risk.  In the United States where there is no nation-wide medical plans, people buy medical insurance to cover medical expenses.  Here in Israel, where the Kupot Cholim covers basic medical costs, you can still buy extra insurance.  This reduces the risk when you get sick and need a medical procedure.  


What are some types of low risk activities?  


Buying a pizza,


CD player  


Name three more: ________________________________________________________________________


________________________________________________________________________


________________________________________________________________________

Insurance:


Car insurance:
There are two types of car insurance in Israel   “Chova” which is  Mandatory and 3rd Side.  


Compare with the help of the Internet the costs of these two types of insurance:


Company 1

Company 2



Company 3


Unit 3 Food expenses 

How much do you pay for food each month? 
For one month, save your receipts;


Add them up here: ______________________________ ______________________________
______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________

Now look at what you bought for the past month. Are there foods that you bought too much of and had to throw away?

List them here: 
______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________

Do you go out to restaurants often? 

List your restaurant expenses 

______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________

Look at all your food expenses and list what is possible to buy less of, or not at all

______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________


How much money can you save?

_____________________________________

Lesson 4

Clothing

For many teens clothes and shoes are a fashion statement. They buy new clothes to keep up with the fashion. But do you really need to?

For one month, keep track of your clothing expenses. Include all clothing and shoes.

______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________


Now look at all your receipts and what you bought. Did you plan your shopping according to your needs, or did you buy some clothes on impulse?

Which clothes did you have "buyer's remorse?

______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________


Which items did you wear? Which items stayed in the closet?

Changing seasons. Do you store your clothes from season to season, or do you buy new clothes every year?

List which clothes that you would put away.

______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________



Which clothes are appropriate to buy new each year?

______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________


How much money can you save if you decide not to buy new year year? Where are you going to store them?


Lesson 5

Money management reflection:

What did you learn during this Unit?

______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________

Which money management techniques were new to you?
______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________

Which ones will you start to do that you didn't do before?
______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________

How did your relationship with money change as a result of learning these techniques?
______________________________ ______________________________  

______________________________ ______________________________

Good luck with managing your money in the future!


Money Money Management Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English teacher

If you have any comments, please feel free to add them in the comment section below.







Common vocabulary words to study for this week's English test!

  Words to learn today!  Many students have English tests coming up this week, so here is a list of common words that might come up on your ...