group "english practice"

[Milla]

Hi

here are the text for this week :

The Two Towers

extract from Chapter 2 - the Lord of the rings

The Riders of Rohan

Aragorn the Ranger, Gimli the Dwarf and Legolas the Elf are following a trail left by orcs who, it seems, have captured their hobbit friends. [1 league = 3 miles]

The night grew ever colder. Aragorn and Gimli slept fitfully, and whenever they awoke they saw Legolas standing beside them, or walking to and fro, singing softly to himself in his own tongue, and as he sang the white stars opened in the hard black vault above. So the night passed. Together they watched the dawn grow slowly in the sky, now bare and cloudless, until at last the sunrise came. It was pale and clear. The wind was in the East and all the mists had rolled away; wide lands lay bleak about them in the bitter light.

Ahead and eastward they saw the windy uplands of the Wold of Rohan that they had already glimpsed many days ago from the Great River. North-westward stalked the dark forest of Fangorn; still ten leagues away stood its shadowy eaves, and its further slopes faded into the distant blue. Beyond there glimmered far away, as if floating on a grey cloud, the white head of tall Methedras, the last peak of the Misty Mountains. Out of the forest the Entwash flowed to meet them, its stream now swift and narrow, and its banks deepcloven. The orc-trail turned from the downs towards it.

Following with his keen eyes the trail to the river, and then the river back towards the forest, Aragorn saw a shadow on the distant green, a dark swift-moving blur. He cast himself upon the ground and listened again intently. But Legolas stood beside him, shading his bright elven-eyes with his long slender hand, and he saw not a shadow, nor a blur, but the small figures of horsemen, many horsemen, and the glint of morning on the tips of their spears was like the twinkle of minute stars beyond the edge of mortal sight. Far behind them a dark smoke rose in thin curling threads.

There was a silence in the empty fields, and Gimli could hear the air moving in the grass.

'Riders!' cried Aragorn, springing to his feet. 'Many riders on swift steeds are coming towards us!'

'Yes,' said Legolas, 'there are one hundred and five. Yellow is their hair, and bright are their spears. Their leader is very tall.'

Aragorn smiled. 'Keen are the eyes of the Elves,' he said.

'Nay! The riders are little more than five leagues distant,' said Legolas.

'Five leagues or one,' said Gimli, 'we cannot escape them in this bare land. Shall we wait for them here or go on our way?'

'We will wait,' said Aragorn. 'I am weary, and our hunt has failed. Or at least others were before us; for these horsemen are riding back down the orc-trail we may get news from them.'

'Or spears,' said Gimli.

'There are three empty saddles, but I see no hobbits,' said Legolas.

'I did not say that we should hear good news,' said Aragorn. 'But evil or good we will await it here.'

The three companions now left the hill-top, where they might be an easy mark against the pale sky, and they walked slowly down the northward slope. A little above the hill's foot they halted, and wrapping their cloaks about them, they sat huddled together upon the faded grass. The time passed slowly and heavily. The wind was thin and searching. Gimli was uneasy.

'What do you know of these horsemen, Aragorn?' he said. 'Do we sit here waiting for sudden death?'

'I have been among them,' answered Aragorn. 'They are proud and wilful, but they are true-hearted, generous in thought and deed; bold but not cruel; wise but unlearned, writing no books but singing many songs, after the manner of the children of Men before the Dark Years. But I do not know what has happened here of late, nor in what mind the Rohirrim may now be between the traitor Saruman and the threat of Sauron. They have long been the friends of the people of Gondor, though they are not akin to them. It was in forgotten years long ago that Eorl the Young brought them out of the North, and their kinship is rather with the Bardings of Dale, and with the Beornings of the Wood, among whom may still be seen many men tall and fair, as are the Riders of Rohan. At least they will not love the Orcs.'

'But Gandalf spoke of a rumour that they pay tribute to Mordor,' said Gimli.

'I believe it no more than did Boromir,' answered Aragorn.

'You will soon learn the truth,' said Legolas. 'Already they approach.'

At length even Gimli could hear the distant beat of galloping hoofs. The horsemen, following the trail, had turned from the river, and were drawing near the downs. They were riding like the wind.

Now the cries of clear strong voices came ringing over the fields. Suddenly they swept up with a noise like thunder, and the foremost horseman swerved, passing by the foot of the hill, and leading the host back southward along the western skirts of the downs. After him they rode: a long line of mail-clad men, swift, shining, fell and fair to look upon.

Their horses were of great stature, strong and clean-limbed; their grey coats glistened, their long tails flowed in the wind, their manes were braided on their proud necks. The Men that rode them matched them well: tall and long-limbed; their hair, flaxen-pale, flowed under their light helms, and streamed in long braids behind them; their faces were stern and keen. In their hands were tall spears of ash, painted shields were slung at their backs, long swords were at their belts, their burnished shirts of mail hung down upon their knees.

In pairs they galloped by, and though every now and then one rose in his stirrups and gazed ahead and to either side, they appeared not to perceive the three strangers sitting silently and watching them. The host had almost passed when suddenly Aragorn stood up, and called in a loud voice:

'What news from the North, Riders of Rohan?'

With astonishing speed and skill they checked their steeds, wheeled, and came charging round. Soon the three companions found themselves in a ring of horsemen moving in a running circle, up the hill-slope behind them and down, round and round them, and drawing ever inwards. Aragorn stood silent, and the other two sat without moving, wondering what way things would turn.

Without a word or cry, suddenly, the Riders halted. A thicket of spears were pointed towards the strangers; and some of the horsemen had bows in hand, and their arrows were already fitted to the string. Then one rode forward, a tall man, taller than all the rest; from his helm as a crest a white horsetail flowed. He advanced until the point of his spear was within a foot of Aragorn's breast. Aragorn did not stir.

[teacher]

Hi

here are the text for this week :

The Two Towers

extract from Chapter 2 - the Lord of the rings

The Riders of Rohan

good idea , this text...!

Now remember , on D day ,the text will be about 20 lines long - no more-

;-)

[Milla]

Hi

here is the text for this week :

The Two Towers

extract from Chapter 2 - the Lord of the rings

The Riders of Rohan

good idea , this text...! Thank you Teacher, it's an idea from a person who seems very kind (quand elle n'a pas son fouet :P )

Now remember , on D day ,the text will be about 20 lines long - no more-

;-)

Hi

here are the text for this week : (I just take some lines off)

The Two Towers

extract from Chapter 2 - the Lord of the rings

The Riders of Rohan

Aragorn the Ranger, Gimli the Dwarf and Legolas the Elf are following a trail left by orcs who, it seems, have captured their hobbit friends. [1 league = 3 miles]

The night grew ever colder. Aragorn and Gimli slept fitfully, and whenever they awoke they saw Legolas standing beside them, or walking to and fro, singing softly to himself in his own tongue, and as he sang the white stars opened in the hard black vault above. So the night passed. Together they watched the dawn grow slowly in the sky, now bare and cloudless, until at last the sunrise came. It was pale and clear. The wind was in the East and all the mists had rolled away; wide lands lay bleak about them in the bitter light.

Ahead and eastward they saw the windy uplands of the Wold of Rohan that they had already glimpsed many days ago from the Great River. North-westward stalked the dark forest of Fangorn; still ten leagues away stood its shadowy eaves, and its further slopes faded into the distant blue. Beyond there glimmered far away, as if floating on a grey cloud, the white head of tall Methedras, the last peak of the Misty Mountains. Out of the forest the Entwash flowed to meet them, its stream now swift and narrow, and its banks deepcloven. The orc-trail turned from the downs towards it.

Following with his keen eyes the trail to the river, and then the river back towards the forest, Aragorn saw a shadow on the distant green, a dark swift-moving blur. He cast himself upon the ground and listened again intently. But Legolas stood beside him, shading his bright elven-eyes with his long slender hand, and he saw not a shadow, nor a blur, but the small figures of horsemen, many horsemen, and the glint of morning on the tips of their spears was like the twinkle of minute stars beyond the edge of mortal sight. Far behind them a dark smoke rose in thin curling threads.

There was a silence in the empty fields, and Gimli could hear the air moving in the grass.

'Riders!' cried Aragorn, springing to his feet. 'Many riders on swift steeds are coming towards us!'

'Yes,' said Legolas, 'there are one hundred and five. Yellow is their hair, and bright are their spears. Their leader is very tall.'

Aragorn smiled. 'Keen are the eyes of the Elves,' he said.

'Nay! The riders are little more than five leagues distant,' said Legolas.

'Five leagues or one,' said Gimli, 'we cannot escape them in this bare land. Shall we wait for them here or go on our way?'

'We will wait,' said Aragorn. 'I am weary, and our hunt has failed. Or at least others were before us; for these horsemen are riding back down the orc-trail we may get news from them.'

'Or spears,' said Gimli.

'There are three empty saddles, but I see no hobbits,' said Legolas.

'I did not say that we should hear good news,' said Aragorn. 'But evil or good we will await it here.'

The three companions now left the hill-top, where they might be an easy mark against the pale sky, and they walked slowly down the northward slope. A little above the hill's foot they halted, and wrapping their cloaks about them, they sat huddled together upon the faded grass. The time passed slowly and heavily. The wind was thin and searching. Gimli was uneasy.

[Milla]

Hi

Here is my summary for the text I gave this week.

This passage is taken from the Two towers, the second chapter of The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien.

In that extract, Aragorn the Ranger, Gimli, the Dwarf and Legolas the Elf were looking for their two hobbit friends who had been captured by Orcs. The three caracters were runing all day and night long, the weather was calm but worrying, colors of the sky, of the land seemed to be pale. There were no moves, no noises, just the three of them.

The orctrail runed toward the Ent's forest : Fangorn. Aragorn who was scrutinizing the horizon looking for his friends, noticed a dark blur that was runing fast. While he was trying to listen carrefuly, his ear on the ground, Legolas with his Elf's eyes could see blond horsemen with all their equipment. He could even count them : one hundred and five. Aragorn could not hide his admiration toward his friend's precisions. He decided to wait for them : they could tell what they had seen. Gimli was a little bit afraid by this next meeting. The three companions sat on the dried grass and started to wait.

The trilogy writen by Tolkien is known all over the world. In that passage, we can discover three important characters of this story: Aragorn the Ranger who is also the King of Gondor and his two friends : Legolas and Gimli. They are part of the "the fellowship of the Ring" who count nine companions : four hobbits : Sam, Frodo, Pippin and Merry, Gandalf, the wizard and a man : Boromir.

I really like the three books and I remember being a little bit afraid by the idea of making a movie based on them. Peter Jackson made it, he made three movies, one by chapter and in my opinion they are amazing.

Thanks for reading. I will try, for next week, to look for an extract of Harry Potter.

[teacher]

Hi

Here is my summary for the text I gave this week.

This passage is taken from the Two towers, the second chapter of The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien.

In that extract, Aragorn the Ranger, Gimli, the Dwarf and Legolas the Elf were looking for their two hobbit friends who had been captured by Orcs. The three caracters were runing all day and night long, the weather was calm but worrying, colors of the sky, of the land seemed to be pale. There were no moves, no noises, just the three of them.

The orctrail runed toward the Ent's forest : Fangorn. Aragorn who was scrutinizing the horizon looking for his friends, noticed a dark blur that was runing fast. While he was trying to listen carrefuly, his ear on the ground, Legolas with his Elf's eyes could see blond horsemen with all their equipment. He could even count them : one hundred and five. Aragorn could not hide his admiration toward his friend's precisions. He decided to wait for them : they could tell what they had seen. Gimli was a little bit afraid by this next meeting. The three companions sat on the dried grass and started to wait.

The trilogy writen by Tolkien is known all over the world. In that passage, we can discover three important characters of this story: Aragorn the Ranger who is also the King of Gondor and his two friends : Legolas and Gimli. They are part of " the fellowship of the Ring" whocount nine companions : four hobbits : Sam, Frodo, Pippin and Merry, Gandalf, the wizard and a man : Boromir.

I really like the three books and I remember being a little bit afraid by the idea of making a movie based on them. Peter Jackson made it, he made three movies, one by chapter and in my opinion they are amazing.

Thanks for reading. I will try, for next week, to look for an extract of Harry Potter.

A few errors : vocab + spelling and 2 big verb errors ( underlined in red) : I'll have to get my whip out again ;-)

this text is extracted from...is another way of starting your commentary

For the " amazing " (at the end), I think I would say something like : amazingly good . , as " amazing " does not specify whether you liked them or not, whether you found them good or not . ( breath-taking is another good word/ The films took my breath away as they were so fantastic .....)

You may also want to say WHEN the books were first written , who Tolkien was , and the main topic is ....Remember 5 minutes is a long time !

keep up the good work

[Milla]

Hello

I made some corrections and I hope that my text is now correct (oups "runed" )

I am sorry for this week but I could not work because my son had his adenoids removed so ...

I am going to put an extract from Harry Potter for next week

Have a gook week

Hi

Here is my summary for the text I gave this week.

This passage is taken from the Two towers, the second chapter of The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien.

In that extract, Aragorn the Ranger, Gimli, the Dwarf and Legolas the Elf were looking for their two hobbit friends who had been captured by Orcs. The three characters were running all day and night long, the weather was calm but worrying, colors of the sky, of the land seemed to be pale. There were no movements, no noises, just the three of them.

The orctrail ran toward the Ent's forest : Fangorn. Aragorn who was scrutinizing the horizon looking for his friends, noticed a dark blur that was running fast. While he was trying to listen carefully, his ear on the ground, Legolas with his Elf's eyes could see blond horsemen with all their equipment. He could even count them : one hundred and five. Aragorn could not hide his admiration for his friend's precisions. He decided to wait for them : they could tell what they had seen. Gimli was a little bit afraid by this next meeting. The three companions sat on the dried grass and started to wait.

The trilogy written by Tolkien is known all over the world. In that passage, we can discover three important characters of this story: Aragorn the Ranger who is also the King of Gondor and his two friends : Legolas and Gimli. They are part of " the fellowship of the Ring" whichcounts nine companions : four hobbits : Sam, Frodo, Pippin and Merry, Gandalf, the wizard and a man : Boromir.

I really like the three books and I remember being a little bit afraid by the idea of making a movie based on them. Peter Jackson made it, he made three movies, one by chapter and in my opinion they are amazingly good.

Thanks for reading. I will try, for next week, to look for an extract of Harry Potter.

[teacher]

OK Milla

Well done .

Look after your son . Don't worry about the work just now .

I won't have much time next week anyway .

All the best

[Mazelle]

hello,

I have just seen your work and I think that it is a very good method to progress.

I would like a lot to join your group .

you work a text by week, isn't it ?

if you are agree, is it possible to tell me which text must be make this week ?

And i will try to resume it.

thank you

fanny

for information: I didn't make english since 6 years :o and so sorry for my english !!!

[Milla]

Welcome Fanny

We used to be a group but since the beggining of this year, I work alone (fortunately, Teacher supports me ) so it would be a pleasure to work with you too

I am going to put a link (may be tomorrow) and we have to sum up the text and if we can, comment it.

I just notice :

f you are agree, is it possible to tell me which text must be make this week ?

And i will try to resume it.

You agree

résumer : to sum up

See you then

[Mazelle]

Welcome Fanny

......

Thank you to have answered me Milla.

So , I wait your link !! :P

good night

fanny

ps: and thanks to have corrected my mistakes !!

[Milla]

Hello everybody

Here is the link for the text that we have to sum up this week (do not forget, we have until day )

http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2006-03-10-voa1.cfm

Fanny :

To thank (sb) for + verbe -ing

To wait for sthg

See you

[Mazelle]

hello ,

In a first time , I correct my mistakes :

Thank you for answering me Milla (pas de have ?) .

So , I wait to your link !! :P

good night

fanny

ps: and thanks for correcting my mistakes (pas de have non plus ?)!!

And It's ok for me, i'll try to sum up this text this week ( i hope i 'll remember my english quickly !!).

see later,

fanny

(ps: we have until day = nous avons jusqu'a demain ?)