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Lesson of The Week- 

Quote of the Day: 

I am building a fire, and everyday I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match. 

Mia Hamm (American soccer player, 2004 Summer Olympics)

See you all next week!  

Smile, laugh and enjoy your life and learning!

 Aloha-The 2010 Winter Olympics are well under way in Vancouver, Canada and this is a great time to get caught

 up in  Olympic fever.  Let's learn a little more about the Olympics and see if we can improve our English by exploring

 some ideas related to this great event that brings the international community together like no other event in the 

 world.

Theme:  The Olympics

Reading

Writing

Grammar Revisited

Listening

Speaking

The Ancient Olympic Games is a series of competitions held between representatives of several city-states from Ancient Greece, which featured mainly athletic but also combat and chariot racing events. The origin of these Olympics is shrouded in mystery and legend. 

One of the most popular myths identifies Heracles and his father Zeus as the progenitors of the Games.  According to legend, it was Heracles who first called the Games "Olympic" and established the custom of holding them every four years.  A legend persists that after Heracles completed his twelve labors, he built the Olympic stadium as an honor to Zeus. Following its completion, he walked in a straight line for 200 steps and called this distance a "stadion" (Greek: στάδιον, Latin: stadium, "stage"), which later became a unit of distance. 

Another myth associates the first Games with the ancient Greek concept of Olympic truce (ἐκεχειρία, ekecheiria). The most widely accepted date for the inception of the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC; this is based on inscriptions, found at Olympia, of the winners of a footrace held every four years starting in 776 BC. 

 The Ancient Games featured running events, a pentathlon (consisting of a jumping event, discus and javelin throws, a foot race and wrestling), boxing, wrestling, and equestrian events.   Tradition has it that Coroebus, a cook from the city of Elis, was the first Olympic champion.

         -From Wikipedia

Please answer the following questions in your journal.  Try to write in complete sentences and give detailed answers.

1. What does it take to be an Olympic Champion?

2. What memories do you have of the Olympics?

3. What Athlete really inspired you?

4. What is your favorite Olympic Sport and Why?

5. Of all the sports which one do you think is most

    difficult and why?

6. What do the Olympics do for international

    relations?

Imagine that you were going to give the final speech at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games.  What would you say?  How would you say it?  What message would you like to send to the world?

1. Write out a mini speech for the closing of the Olympic Games and

    then practice it outloud until it sounds natural.

2. Ask for feedback from your teacher.

...as soon as.... 

You should go as soon as you can.

As soon as they arrived they started drinking.

As soon as I finish work I am going to eat.

You should call her as soon as possible.

Jane started complaining as soon as she saw the hotel room.

I'll wash the dishes as soon as the Hockey game finishes.

Listen to Taylor Swift talk about her thoughts on the Olympics. 

Olympic English Phrases

To Pass the Torch

To give a responsibility to the next group or generation

Today we pass the torch to the new administration with deep prayers for their success.

A Perfect 10

To be perfect in beauty, style and grace

Wow! She is a perfect 10!

Throw in the towel

To give up

I've tried everything I know how to do but now it's time to throw in the towel.

Olympic Facts

1. Olympic Village athletes do their own laundry.

2. To be included, a sport must be practiced in at least 25 nations.

3. Torch bearers, who paid $350 for the propane devices, were able to keep them when they were done.

4. NBC's coverage of the opening ceremony attracted 67.5 million viewers, 17 million more than the Torino Games four years ago.

5. NBC's Olympic fanfare is called "Bugler's Dream." Its conductor? John Williams. Its composer? Leo Arnaud.

6. Opening ceremony participant and narrator Donald Sutherland, who arrived in Vancouver on Tuesday evening from Los Angeles, is a winner of the Order of Canada, one of the nation's highest honors.

7. Twenty-three U.S. team members are parents -- six moms, 17 dads.

8. Overall, nearly 40 percent of participating athletes are women.

9. Vancouver is sometimes referred to as "Vansterdam" for its live-and-let-live views on marijuana.

10. Squamish Indians still lived in Stanley Park, the city's most prominent landmark, until 1935.