Gateway 1 Unit 1 our Cultural Heritage

Wikipedia:

Morocco has a multi-ethnic society and rich culture, civilization, and etiquette. Throughout Moroccan history, Morocco has hosted many people, in addition to the indigenous Berbers, coming from the East (Phoenicians, Arabs), South (Sub-Saharan African), and North (Romans, Vandals, Spanish-Andalusians both Muslims and Jewish). All of these have left an impact on the social structure of Morocco. It has also hosted many beliefs, from Paganism, Judaism, and Christianity to Islam. Each region possesses its uniqueness, contributing to the national culture. Morocco has set among its top priorities the protection of its diversity and the preservation of its cultural heritage.

Vocabulary 

Historical Monuments and Architecture

• Volubilis
• Hassan Tour
• Hercule Cave
• Bab Mansour
• Menara

Food

• Mint tea
• Tagine
• Traditional wear
• Oranges
• Fish
• Couscous

Arts and Crafts

• Carpet Making
• Pottery
• Horse Riding
• Camel Breeding
• Folklore

Geography and Landscape

• Oasis
• Dunes
• Sea Shores
• Ports
• Mountains
• Sand Dunes

Functions/Communication Skills: Expressing Opinions and Beliefs

Asking about Opinions or Beliefs

• In your opinion, what/who/where/why…….?
• What do you think……..?
• What/who do you believe ………?
• What are your views about ………………..?
• Don’t you think that …………….?
• What/who do you think…………..?

Giving Answers about Opinions or Beliefs

• I think that ………………
• In my opinion,
• As far as I am concerned………………………
• To my mind ……………..
• I believe ………………….
• For me,……………………

Grammar

Simple Past Tense 

There are two types of verbs in the simple past: Regular and Irregular

Regular verbs are verbs that take the (ed) when changed to the past simple

Examples:

watch →  watched

Listen → listened

Irregular verbs have no rule

Examples: 

do → did

be → was/were

have → had

speak → spoke 

The use of Simple Past Tense 

We generally use the simple past tense to talk about:‎

‎ 1.‎ something that happened once in the past/ for a finished action in the past‎

• I met my wife in 1983.‎

• We went to Spain for our holidays.‎

• They got home very late last night

Time expressions used with simple past

• Yesterday

• three weeks ago

• last year, month, week, hour ………‎

• in 2002‎

• the previous week, lesson, month…………‎

Articles: A / an / the 

• Indefinite articles: A / An 

“A” and “an” signal that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to any member of a group. For example:

“My daughter wants a dog for Christmas.” This refers to any dog. We don’t know which dog because we haven’t found the dog yet.

• Definite Article: The

When the noun is specific or particular, the definite article is used before singular and plural nouns. The signals that the noun is definite, that it refers to a particular member of a group. For example:

“The dog that bit me ran away.” Here, we’re talking about a specific dog, the dog that bit me.

Writing: Punctuation and Capitalization 

Capitalization

1-‎ Names of people ( Peter – Asmae – Khalid )‎

‎2-‎ Name of places ( Hassan Tower – Jamaa Lfna…)

‎3-‎ Countries and cities ‎(Morocco – Rabat – Kenitra…)

‎4-‎ At the beginning of a sentence.

‎5-‎ Titles in reading texts.

‎6-‎ Days and months ( Monday – Friday – February …..

‎7-‎ Public holidays and feasts ( The Independence Day – The Green March….)

‎8-‎ Languages ( Arabic – English – French ….)

‎9-‎ Titles of books and magazines ‎(La Boîte à Merveilles – Romeo and Juliet…)

Punctuation

‎.‎ Period (or full stop)‎

‎,‎ Comma

‎;‎ Semicolon

‎:‎ Colon

‎‘‎ Apostrophe

‎ “..”‎ Quotation marks 

‎?‎ Question mark (or interrogation point)‎

‎!‎ Exclamation mark

‎-‎ Hyphen

‎ ( )‎ Parentheses (or brackets)‎

‎[ ]‎ Brackets, square (or braces)‎