Exam practice

If you want to test what we have been learning in class, go to 'Exam practice' where you will find more progress tests for you to take. I'm sure you will do great!

The Psychology of supermarkets

We talked about supermarkets and about the way the products, stands and aisles are arranged in order to get more sales without the customer noticing it. That is called 'the psychology of supermarkets'. Not only the supermarkets but also the companies which have their products on sale there spend millions on studying the customer's habits. Everything counts, from the place of the product on the stands, to the colour of their packages to the smell of the aisle or even the music that is playing on, ...

I just found this post on a blog which, I think, is worth reading, so go ahead!!!!

From a consumers point of view, a supermarket is quite simple; Put what you want into your trolley and go through the check-out. Behind the scenes though, psychology is used a lot to define what products and brands you buy in supermarkets. Stands are designed to catch your eye and the store layout is structured to maximise profit.

Through my investigations, I have found the following tactics can be used supermarkets and similar stores.

Eye level marketing

Generally speaking, the most expensive items with high profit margins are placed on shelves that are at shoppers' eye level. This is because you are more likely to see them than the less profitable brands at the very top or near your feet..

Aisle order

Some customers, particularly men, tend to simply shop for what they want, walking down an aisle grabbing what they want, turning back and walking the way they came, this is called the 'Boomerang Effect'.

Go on reading .....

Watch these videos, they talk about the phychology of supermarkets

SPECIALS, PRICING, LABELLING AND PACKAGING



LAYOUT

Writing a review

This is a kind reminder, you have homework, you have to write a book review. 


Remember that a review is usually written for an English-language magazine, newspaper or website. The main purpose is to describe and express a personal opinion about something which the writer has experienced (e.g. a film, a book, a holiday, a product, a website etc.) and to give the reader a clear impression of what the item discussed is like. Description and explanation are key functions for this task, and a review will normally include a recommendation to the reader.

If you need some help, go to 'Writing' where you will find PDF documents with general especification and some models to give you ideas.

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.

BUT HOW DID IT ALL START?

Watch the video to learn a bit of St.Patrick's history.





WHY GREEN?

Originally the colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue however over the years the colour green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew. Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century. He is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day.Then in 1798 in hopes of making a political statement Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching attention with their unusual fashion gimmick.
Even the city of Chicago has developed a unique tradition of colouring the river water green. It started in 1962 when 100 pounds of green vegetable dye were added to its river, enough to keep it green for a week. The tradition has continued till date. Now, 40 pounds of a green food colouring keep the river green for only a few hours.

HOW DO PEOPLE CELEBRATE?

Irish community in various cities celebrate the Day with social and community works. Making charities, attending mass, promoting their own culture, and feasting with their foods.
Despite all these varieties, all are driven by a unique theme: be an Irish day. It's a celebration for being Irish and enjoying things Irish. While it reminds us about St Patrick. It also tells us to be Irish. With shamrocks and the leprechaun. As it tells us to cook and feast the Irish way. To laugh away all worries with Irish jokes. Dance to the tunes of the Irish bands. Try out the Irish words. And with all these the Day lets us know the real fun of being Irish.

Sources: History Channel (St.Patrick's Day)

History Channel (Who was St. Patrick?)

Wikipedia

The Holiday Spot

Describing personality

Given the individual natures of human beings, it's no wonder the English language includes so many personality adjectives. You might not notice it, but people use adjectives to describe each other more than they describe anything else. Personality, the most important thing about a person, has some incredibly fun words to describe it.

Here are some of the most entertainingly interesting personality adjectives to help you better describe the people you know.

PERSONALITY ADJECTIVES TO DESCRIBE YOUR FRIENDS

It's great to expand your vocabulary to more accurately or more creatively describe the people you love most Convivial:

Everyone knows someone who is so full of life that he fills others with zest. Convivial means "with life," so it makes sense that friendly people are called convivial. They make you happy to be alive.

Example: Al's Halloween parties are always the best because his convivial personality puts everyone in a festive spirit.

Amicable: Friendly or apparently good-willed people are called amicable. All of your friends could be described by this personality adjective, or at least they should.

Example: Sam is always smiling and complimenting folks, what an amicable fellow!

Similarly, amiable, literally meaning loveable, is a wonderful way to describe a friend or nice person.

Example: Mary, the amiable lady that she is, always pets stray cats and says hello to everyone she sees in town.

Someone like Mary can also be described as gregarious. A gregarious person enjoys speaking with people and finds herself energized around large groups of people.

Example: I wish I were as gregarious as Mary is; she ends up talking with everyone at the party.

To describe your friend's gentle side, you can call him affable. It means your friend is kind.

Example: Even when Joe's in a rush to work, he stays affable, never raising his temper or his voice at the Amtrak personnel.

DESCRIBING ENEMIES

Sometimes describing your enemies with intelligence and wit is difficult. The times that negative feelings demand description aren't usually conducive to accurate use of vocabulary. Keep these few personality adjectives in mind the next time you have to appear calm and collected when dealing with a difficult person. You might get the upper linguistic hand.

Scrooge in Dickens's A Christmas Carol pinches every penny. That component of his personality, more than any other, has demonized for generations of readers. People like Scrooge are called parsimonious. Parsimonious people are stingy of every petty thing, they horde and refuse to share despite being the position to do so.

Example: John just bought a Bentley but refused to loan me a dollar, parsimonious jerk!

Nonchalant: Someone who is nonchalant is unconcerned or too cool to care. Describing someone as nonchalant is saying that he lacks all the warmth and enthusiasm normally attributed to a member of the human race.

Example: John doesn't know how many homes he has; no wonder he's nonchalant about poverty.

Obtuse: Obtuse people are those who are dull, negligent, or just bored with life. They bore you because they themselves are so bored. They are annoyingly slow to understand even the simplest of ideas.

Example: Chad writes poetry that puts you to sleep; his obtuse view of life tires even the most ardent lovers of verse.

Abecedarian: It might not always be grounds for enemy making, but calling someone abecedarian is certainly useful. Someone who is abecedarian is elementary, a beginner. Temporarily, everyone can be described as abecedarian, e.g., in a new job, but not perpetually. Literally, it means someone who is learning his or her A, B, C's.

Example: Sarah is unfit to lead; though charming, she's inexperienced and abecedarian.

Truculent: A truculent person is a worthy adversary because he is fierce, ferocious, and cruel. You could just say cruel, but that would be obtuse and betray a lack of good words. The only thing worse than truculence is a lack of good words, well that and being pusillanimous.

Example: Truculent old Richard actually cussed at a colleague in front of a hundred other coworkers.

Pusillanimous: Someone who is pusillanimous lacks courage. It's much stronger than timid because it means weak spirit or mind. Latin suggests here that the weaker the mind, the more fearful a person is.

Example: In a pusillanimous move, George pardoned a criminal for fear of what he might say if left in prison.

If someone is parsimonious, truculent, and pusillanimous, one might call that person Machiavellian. Machiavelli was a Florentine renaissance writer who penned The Prince, a book that detailed the most underhanded, scheming way to rule a country. The book outlined the worst characteristics of humanity and suggested that behaving in such a way was the only effective form of leadership. Almost 500 years later, much controversy still surrounds this work. However, the English language has adopted Niccólo Machiavelli's name as the word describing all that is deplorable in a personality.

Example: Carl lies, slanders, cheats, and steals; his "playbook" might be the most Machiavellian thing the world has ever known.

As you can see, it's a lot of fun talking about people with new words. The joy of language is that it allows human beings to describe their environs creatively. The ammunition a large vocabulary affords the speaker is the ability to describe his surroundings more accurately and pointedly, which fuels creativity, too.

Source: yourdictionary.com

12 idioms to talk about personality

Sentence transformation

Transformation of a sentence means changing the form of a sentence without changing its meaning. The transformation can be done in a number of ways, which you find a headache. This kind of exercise tests vocabulary (idioms, phrasal verbs, set phrases...) as well as grammar (unreal past (conditionals and wishes), passives, reported speech, present perfect/ simple past, (past) modals, (not) as…..as, and so/ such).

There are some rules we all know such as not using more than five words, that the word given must be included with no changes at all or that the two sentences must mean exactly the same. But what about the vocabulary or the structure we must use? To help you f'ace them I've uploaded some documents with vocabulary to 'our filing cabinet' section. More documents will be uploaded soon. I hope you find them useful!

CNN Student News

Listening is very important, listening comes before Speaking. You must be able to hear something before you can say it.

CNN Student News is a ten-minute, commercial-free, daily news program produced by the journalists and educators at CNN. This award-winning show and its companion Web site are available free of charge throughout the school year and it includes daily transcripts for each show. You can also turn captions on while you watch the video.

Functional language for speaking

If you need some help with your speaking go to 'our filing cabinet' and download the document there. It is under 'SPEAKING' and it contains useful language you can use. I hope it comes in handy!!!