Notes from Friday’s class…
Making comparisons
Here are the three statements we discussed in class on Friday. What was your position? Did you agree or disagree with the statement?
- Generally speaking, film adaptations of great books aren’t as good as the original literary text.
- Most musicians go into decline over the years. Their first albums are usually much better than work they produce later on.
- The current FC Barcelona team is the greatest football team in the history of the sport.
A few language points that emerged from the discussions:
During the discussion on the last statement it was necessary for some of the Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid supporters to make concessions before giving their opinion. Here are some examples of phrases that help you do this…
- Although I’m a big Real Madrid fan, I have to / must admit that Barca have a better team at the moment.
- Despite being a Real Madrid fan and although I hate to say it, Barca at the moment are one of the best teams ever.
- I am biased because I’m an Atletico Madrid fan but it has to be said that Barca have a really good team at the moment.
- Putting my Real Madrid bias to one side, I would say that the current Barcelona team would be high up on the list of all-time, great teams.
Comparing teams: There is lots of debate in the sporting press at the moment about whether the current Barça team is the greatest football team of all time:
- Here is a link to a writer called Jonathan Wilson who has created a fantasy tournament between the greatest teams of all time including the Barça of today and Real Madrid of 1960. If you are interested, you can find out how the tournament played out here and here.
- To explore what the English-speaking media thinks of the Barca team and their place in history, here are some links to explore… 1) The Guardian, 2) Champions League Press Reaction, 3) AP, 4) ESPN Editorial, 5) Backpage Football
Here are a few corrections and expressions from the group discussions on the statement about musicians…
- Although older rock stars don’t have as much energy as they used to, in some cases the music improves…for example the
leterslyrics get better… - Sometimes the older musicians get, the more arrogant and big-headed they become.
- To launch / release / put out / come up with a new album / record.
Writing follow-up: Leave a comment in one of the boxes below with your thoughts on one of the topics above. Remember to try to use some of the more complex comparative structures we were looking at in class.
under (re)construction 