MYLO is having a small spring clean tomorrow afternoon and will be unavailable after 3pm.
We also have five new challenges going live this week. We'll write with more news on these later, but here is a sneak preview of one of the challenges - "Fairly Grimm part 1".
We have added to the German content on MYLO with two new 'Challenges', Grafitti trail and Riding the giant.
Grafitti Trail
Grafitti trail looks at the rich culture of street art in Berlin. The learner is asked to help Anna Thomas, an English art student specialising in graffiti art. She loves really imaginative street art, "not mindless tags" and is working on an online street art guide for graffiti. Berlin has been called the "Captial of Grafitti". Anna is working on a section of the website dedicated to the city, which she wants to be written in German. She has a collection of photos to begin the task, but wants help in writing reviews about the work. She knows that graffiti can be controversial so wants a range of opinions for her website.
In this Challenge learners choose a piece of graffiti from Anna's photo collection and write about it. They should describe what it looks like, where it is located and why they have chosen it. Anna is looking for strong opinions. (Level 5).
For additional kudos points, the learner could compare use of a range of tenses, including the past, to give some background about the artist of their chosen piece. They could also choose to research graffiti art and add pictures of other examples they like. (Level 6).
This challenge covers topics including: art description and criticism; locations in town; and graffiti positions. Grammar used includes: opinion expressions; connectives (justifying opinions: weil, deshalb); adjectives with prepositions + dative ('beeindruckt von', 'bestehen aus'); prepositions of motion; prepositions of location; perfect tense with 'haben'; and separable verbs.
Chuck Seeger, a theme park enthusiast, is compiling an online guide comparing various rides around the world and reviewing what different theme parks have to offer. His website will have sections in all languages. He needs the learners help to write information for the German section of the website. Learners can write about any theme park they have visited and review it to enthuse a German audience.
In this 'Challenge' learners develop the German section of Chuck's website about theme parks. They should write about a theme park they know and include details about the rides and any special offers the park has. (Level 3)
For additional kudos points, the learner could compare their theme park to ones in Germany and explain to the German audience why their park is better. They could also add pictures of their own and make sure the layout of their section is eye-catching. (Level 4)
The challenge incorporates the topics of leisure activities, theme parks and special offers. The grammar focus is upon: definite and indefinite articles; the accusative case; adjectival agreement in the accusative case; comparatives and superlatives; word order; and expressing opinions.
