The Fonix 2.013: Be Prepared!

The Sixth English Competition for Catalan Schools (THE FONIX 2012), designed to promote the use of English among school students through a fun and educational competition in an informal educational setting, is hereby announced.

The objective of the competition is to select a finalist from each of the first two stages: local, territorial and the winners at the final stage.

The exercises in all the stages of the competition will consist of writing tasks, each based on a different theme (for example: geography, history or music) The written tasks contain a variety of activities on vocabulary, reading and writing.

STAGES OF THE COMPETITION: 

• LOCAL STAGE: The tests will be held at each school between 16th of January and 20th February 2013 inclusive.

• REGIONAL STAGE: The tests during the regional stage will be held on Saturday 2nd March at 12:00 midday, and will last for a maximum of 60 minutes. The location of the examination will be made public well before the test date.

• FINAL STAGE: The tests during the final stage will be held on Saturday 4th Mai at 12:00 midday.

• At the end of May: the FONIX award ceremony of prizes and diplomas will take place.

THE PRIZES:

The following prizes will be awarded to the candidates who classify for the final stage of the competition:

• 4 two-week stays in “English Summer Camps” in Catalonia for the four winners in the 5º pri. to 2nd ESO  categories.

• 4 two-week stays in an English-speaking country for the four winners in the 3rd ESO to 2nd  de Batxillerat/ Grau Superior de Cicles Formatius  categories.

• 8 standard on line English courses and 8 sets of study materials for the runners-up in each of the 8 categories.

• 32 standard on line English courses for the third, fourth, fifth and sixth placed candidates in each of the 8 categories.

• Sets of study materials for the remaining finalists.

If you want to have an eye, watch this video:

Further information about the competition can be found on the official website.  

Who Are "The Fonix"

Did you know that the Fonix comes from the English language phoneme table? have a look at the table below and see if you spot the similarities:

We would like to introduce you to:

Which is pronounced like "TH" as in "THORA"		Which is pronounced like "OO" as in "HOOK"
Which is pronounced like "G" as in "GORDON"		Which is pronounced like "S" as in "ASIA"
Which is pronounced like "TH" as in "HEATHER"		Which is pronounced like "OR" as in "GEORGE"

They are fictional characters which look a little bit like Martians. They are noisy, excitable, adventurous and full of energy. They get on really well with young people. In fact – this is why they are called THE FONIX, because in English SMS messages – this is how we write PHONICS.

Whatever (Reasons to Believe in a Better World)

For the Feast of the Presentation of the Child Mary, next Tuesday the 20th, we all are going to listen to a famous song by Oasis, an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. This song talks about freedom: people are free to decide what to say and what to do.


These are the results of a study conducted by Coca-Cola in 2010 about the real situation of the world and isnspired by this song. 

There are reasons to believe in a better world...

I'm free to be whatever I
Whatever I choose
And I'll sing the blues if I want

I'm free to say whatever I
Whatever I like
If it's wrong or right it's alright

It always seems to me
You only see what people want you to see

How long's it gonna be
Before we get on the bus
And cause no fuss
Get a grip on yourself
It don't cost much

Free to be whatever you
Whatever you say
If it comes my way it's alright (x2)

You're free to be wherever you
Wherever you please
You can shoot the breeze if you want

Whatever you say
If it comes my way it's alright


Here you can see Oasis performing the original song:

 

I Want to Go to the Talk

Students of 4th ESO-A have worked cooperatively to perform the following dialogue:

The Family

 

Marge is Clancy's and Jackie daughter.

Homer is Abraham's and Mona's son.

Abraham is Herb's and Homer's father.

Jackie is Marge's, Patty's and Selma's mother.

Herb and Homer are Abraham's and Mona's children.

Clancy and Jackie are Marge's, Patty's and Selma's  parents.

Marge is Homer's wife.

Homer is Marge's husband.

Patty and Selma are Marge's sisters.

Herb is Homer's brother.

Bart is Ling's cousin.

Bart is Herb's nephew.

Lisa is Patty's niece.

Lisa and Maggie are Abraham's and Mona's granddaughters.

Bart is Clancy's and Jackie's grandson.

Abraham is Bart's grandfather.

Clancy and Jackie are Ling's grandparents.

Bart, Lisa and Maggie are Abraham's and Mona's grandchildren.

Mona is Lisa's grandmother.

Marge is Herb's sister-in-law.

Herb is Marge's brother-in-law.

Clancy is is Homer's father-in-law.

Mona is Marge's mother in law.

Marge is Mr Mona's daughter-in-law.

Homer is Mr Clancy's son-in-law.

Try now this quiz from English Exercises about the Simpson's Family.

And now take a look at this video if you want to listen to this vocabulary:

Activities:

• English Grammar 4 You
• Prof2000
• ESL Tower
• My English Pages

Kim's Party

Students of 3rd ESO-A have worked cooperatively to perform the following dialogue:

Kathy's Got a New Discman

Students of 1rst ESO-A have worked cooperatively to perform the following dialogue:

An Interview on the Radio

Students of 2nd ESO-A have worked cooperatively to perform the following dialogue: