2 weeks ago, I wrote a post about the collaboration between Nissan and Amazon and how the secret got out before it was due to.

I said I'd keep an eye out for the advert when it came out and share, so here is the link!

Even more teaching material on this story I felt when I saw it!

There is no talking, just images.
You could do an ordering activity - what are the stages of buying something online and then actually getting it and using it?

You could get students to think about what each person in the video is saying or thinking - the man taking the small box out of the mailbox, the woman and the boy watching out of the window, the buyer when he sees the lorry pull up and then when he gets into the car to drive it for the first time.


And then, at the end, there's a brilliant question for discussion:

It'll be interesting to see what suggestions people come up with!

This story and the video provide discussion material about how much our shopping habits have changed and what things you would/wouldn't buy online.


Enjoy!  And enjoy the weekend too!

Anne

Christmas adverts

Today I've been working on some posts for another blog that I sometimes contribute  to (not as often as I'd like!)

Behind the Selfaccessgroup are some very dedicated teachers who want to help students and teachers in their strive to learn English, like English and do well at school and in the PAU.  I've been involved in the group for 6 years now (I've just realised now when I looked at my Documents file that it's been that long!), but the group has been meeting and preparing materials for a LOT longer than that!

One of the posts I'm working on is around the theme of Christmas.  I mentioned a few weeks ago that I really like the Inspiration Room.    When I was preparing that post, I watched the Royal Mail advert that was going to be shown in the lead-up to Christmas on the Inspiration Room website.

I then came across an article in Harpers Bazaar   The article runs through some of the adverts from the biggest firms in the UK, including John Lewis, Marks and Spencers and Debenhams.

For use in class, I'd suggest that you could contrast the Harvey Nichols advert  

'Sorry, I spent it on myself'

with the TK Maxx UK advert 

Our new Christmas '13 campaign is a celebration of that very special moment when you receive a unique gift you know has been chosen with great thought and care.

It'll be Christmas before we know it.  So let's start gearing up by watching some adverts created for this time of the year.

Inspiration from the Inspiration Room

Tomorrow morning, bright and early I'll be heading along the coast again to San Sebastian.

I'm addressing the subject of writing all morning - Developing Writing Skills for B2 & C1 learners and Preparing for Success at Cambridge English: First for Schools writing.


As I know that some people will be attending both sessions, I wanted to make them different.

For the second session, I'll be sharing some websites to use with teenage learners to inspire them for the content of the writing tasks.

One of the sites I'll be mentioning will be the Inspiration Room.

This fantastic site has adverts from around the world.

I thought the Fiat Texting or Driving campaign from Brazil would make great material for use in class

Fiat’s road safety work in Brazil has included Texting or Driving, a print and poster advertising campaign featuring the letters R (Girl), F (Bus), N (Dog), L (Truck) and Z (Cow). “You either see the letter or the bus. Don’t text and drive”. The campaign won Gold for Poster and Bronze for Art Direction in the Design category at the London International Awards.

A new view of those pictures that circulate from time to time where you can see 1 thing or another.

The best job in the world?

Ask students if they know of any incredible jobs.

To help them with this, you could show them photos like these of people with unusual jobs.

http://www.udaipurtimes.com/10-most-unusual-jobs/

http://www.extremecanadiancoupons.com/2012/07/be-walmart-toy-tester.html

http://www.mole.my/content/noses-hone-senses-paris-perfume-school

Then, show students the heading from an advert that went viral back in 2009:

http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2009/best-job-in-the-world-shortlisted/

Ask them to guess what the job might be.  (They may remember the advert, depending on their age).

Show them the newspaper advert for the job:

http://mumbrella.com.au/best-job-in-the-world-ad-voted-best-newspaper-ad-10724

And/or, the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTUUWOV4Vns

There is loads more you can do on this theme.  There are hundreds of videos of Ben Southall, who won the competition for the Best Job in the World.  Ben still works in the Queensland area and has a blog about his continuing adventures.

I'll be writing another post about an unusual job shortly.  In the meantime, I have several jobs to do myself!!!........