Today we discussed learning without teachers. How can you do it? Actually it's easier now with your computer than ever before. "The information is not in the books," a famous teacher once said. Well neither are your practice opportunities.
Here are some conversation suggestions:
Get an English speaking boyfriend/girlfriend
Try to run into (meet by chance) native speakers
Organize a reading circle
Make foreign friends
Chat or IMwith old friends on Skype
Here are some things for your pronunciation:
Record your voice
Sing with YouTube
Learn about pronunciation as a subject on davidbrett.uniss.it
Here are some sites for your grammar:
BBC's English Language Learning Site
engvid.com
china232.com
Mr Duncan
To practise your reading and find new vocabulary or practise your grammar through reading:
Use the English menu in restaurants; use the English floorplans and guides in museums etc
Read English language newspapers
Use English websites like the BBC.co.uk
To practise your listening and find new vocabulary or practise your grammar through listening:
ted.com (find the ones with interactive transcripts when you use it online or download them to your media player.)
Search YouTube for popular English language songs with the word "lyrics"
Try LyricsTraining.com
Listen to archived radio programmes in the mp3 format
Probably the best suggestion of the day was to try to learn about new things THROUGH English.
wikipedia.org
So homework:
Try one of these and write a report on it. Then email me the report. Include at least these four things:
What did you manage to learn
Where did you find it? What site?
What is a personal example of what you have learned?
How long did it take you to learn it?
Good luck.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The consonants
http://www.cambridgeenglishonline.com/Phonetics_Focus/
This is a link to a set of games to help you practice associating the sounds of English and the writing patterns of English with the set of symbols used in English phonology.
This is for the app that I have and Khalid downloaded last night. It rocks and sounds a little ...suggestive. (Thanks Kutlu)
http://www.soundspronapp.com/download/
Quiz tomorrow!
I say 5. You write five. The end.
This is a link to a set of games to help you practice associating the sounds of English and the writing patterns of English with the set of symbols used in English phonology.
This is for the app that I have and Khalid downloaded last night. It rocks and sounds a little ...suggestive. (Thanks Kutlu)
http://www.soundspronapp.com/download/
Quiz tomorrow!
I say 5. You write five. The end.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Learner Journal
Your Journal
Your Journal is a distillation of all the new things you learn each day. You list a maximum of three things. Each one needs an example of how you learned to use it. These need to be personal examples which are true from your life. You can note grammar, pronunciation or vocabulary. Every few days hand it in to me for review. I will read through it and clearly point out any mistakes or errors.
How to start--
Put your name on the front and the level and room.
Use the inside cover as a record of any words which are difficult to spell.
Date, Time, Day and Teacher for each lesson's page.
Do's and Don't's
This shows your understanding and is specific enough for me to understand that this is an example from your real life. It is most important to be able to talk about things you know you. They are what you will talk about most often. Write about what you know, what you are learning and what you do.
Use one page for me and one page for Jennifer. These journals cost about 22 cents each. Use them up and buy yourself a present when you get to the end of each one. A coffee costs about the same as ten of them. So go nuts.
If you can't find three new things from your notes, the pages or the homework, it's good feedback for me. If you aren't getting anything new out of the lessons, this is how I will find out.
The last pages of the notebook can be used as writing space for homework and classroom assignments.
Good luck. (And when you get back to your home country you can look over this journal and sell it to a local publisher. Send us a Christmas card when you are rich and famous.)
Your Journal is a distillation of all the new things you learn each day. You list a maximum of three things. Each one needs an example of how you learned to use it. These need to be personal examples which are true from your life. You can note grammar, pronunciation or vocabulary. Every few days hand it in to me for review. I will read through it and clearly point out any mistakes or errors.
How to start--
Put your name on the front and the level and room.
Use the inside cover as a record of any words which are difficult to spell.
Date, Time, Day and Teacher for each lesson's page.
Do's and Don't's
- Don't use this as a notebook.
- Don't write lists of new words. Remember only three things per lesson. It is not supposed to be everything. Everything goes in your notebook. This is three favorites.
- Do write good examples of new words in use.
- Do note things which were not the main point of the day.
- Do write about new things only.
- Don't note things you learned in other lessons. Focus on what you got out of that experience.
- Do be specific.
- Do give real life examples.
- Don't write: "will and going to for future" because you already knew that.
- Don't write: "going to is for future plans" because it's not specific
- Do write: "'(be) going to go to' is used interchangeably with '(be) going to'"
- Don't write: "We are going to go to the park." as an example.
- Do write: For example "We are going to Phoenix Park with Ciara and Oisin, the CES staff, this weekend." = "We are going to go to Phoenix Park with Ciara and Oisin, the CES staff, this weekend."
This shows your understanding and is specific enough for me to understand that this is an example from your real life. It is most important to be able to talk about things you know you. They are what you will talk about most often. Write about what you know, what you are learning and what you do.
Use one page for me and one page for Jennifer. These journals cost about 22 cents each. Use them up and buy yourself a present when you get to the end of each one. A coffee costs about the same as ten of them. So go nuts.
If you can't find three new things from your notes, the pages or the homework, it's good feedback for me. If you aren't getting anything new out of the lessons, this is how I will find out.
The last pages of the notebook can be used as writing space for homework and classroom assignments.
Good luck. (And when you get back to your home country you can look over this journal and sell it to a local publisher. Send us a Christmas card when you are rich and famous.)
Learner Journal
Your Journal
Your Journal is a distillation of all the new things you learn each day. You list a maximum of three things. Each one needs an example of how you learned to use it. These need to be personal examples which are true from your life. You can note grammar, pronunciation or vocabulary. Every few days hand it in to me for review. I will read through it and clearly point out any mistakes or errors.
How to start--
Put your name on the front and the level and room.
Use the inside cover as a record of any words which are difficult to spell.
Date, Time, Day and Teacher for each lesson's page.
Do's and Don't's
This shows your understanding and is specific enough for me to understand that this is an example from your real life. It is most important to be able to talk about things you know you. They are what you will talk about most often. Write about what you know, what you are learning and what you do.
Use one page for me and one page for Jennifer. These journals cost about 22 cents each. Use them up and buy yourself a present when you get to the end of each one. A coffee costs about the same as ten of them. So go nuts.
If you can't find three new things from your notes, the pages or the homework, it's good feedback for me. If you aren't getting anything new out of the lessons, this is how I will find out.
The last pages of the notebook can be used as writing space for homework and classroom assignments.
Good luck. (And when you get back to your home country you can look over this journal and sell it to a local publisher. Send us a Christmas card when you are rich and famous.)
Your Journal is a distillation of all the new things you learn each day. You list a maximum of three things. Each one needs an example of how you learned to use it. These need to be personal examples which are true from your life. You can note grammar, pronunciation or vocabulary. Every few days hand it in to me for review. I will read through it and clearly point out any mistakes or errors.
How to start--
Put your name on the front and the level and room.
Use the inside cover as a record of any words which are difficult to spell.
Date, Time, Day and Teacher for each lesson's page.
Do's and Don't's
- Don't use this as a notebook.
- Don't write lists of new words. Remember only three things per lesson. It is not supposed to be everything. Everything goes in your notebook. This is three favorites.
- Do write good examples of new words in use.
- Do note things which were not the main point of the day.
- Do write about new things only.
- Don't note things you already understood.
- Do be specific.
- Do give real life examples.
- Don't write: "will and going to for future" because you already knew that.
- Don't write: "going to is for future plans" because it's not specific
- Do write: "'(be) going to go to' is used interchangeably with '(be) going to'"
- Don't write: "We are going to go to the park." as an example.
- Do write: For example "We are going to Phoenix Park with Ciara and Oisin, the CES staff, this weekend." = "We are going to go to Phoenix Park with Ciara and Oisin, the CES staff, this weekend."
This shows your understanding and is specific enough for me to understand that this is an example from your real life. It is most important to be able to talk about things you know you. They are what you will talk about most often. Write about what you know, what you are learning and what you do.
Use one page for me and one page for Jennifer. These journals cost about 22 cents each. Use them up and buy yourself a present when you get to the end of each one. A coffee costs about the same as ten of them. So go nuts.
If you can't find three new things from your notes, the pages or the homework, it's good feedback for me. If you aren't getting anything new out of the lessons, this is how I will find out.
The last pages of the notebook can be used as writing space for homework and classroom assignments.
Good luck. (And when you get back to your home country you can look over this journal and sell it to a local publisher. Send us a Christmas card when you are rich and famous.)
Monday, July 11, 2011
Kill your TV? Why?
Today we discussed "telly" and giving it up. Why would anyone do it? You proposed these hypotheses:
- To read more
- They think that TV is a boring way to spend their time
- They have physical problems with their eyes
Your Homework:
QUESTION #1 : What was the purple man's reason? (answer in the comments section below.)
QUESTION #2 : What would you have to do if you had a "no media day"? (one conditional sentence in the comments section below, please.)
*Don't forget to email me your "for/against" essay.*
*Don't forget to answer the questions in Exercise 4 p.130 New Cutting Edge Up. Int.*
The Purple Man found himself less and less devoted to television, but still can't stop watching it completely.
I don't know if the Purple Man is real but the University of Maryland is real. They tried the experiment with 200 students. What happened?
Read the blog about the University of Maryland's A Day Without Media here.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
For and Against/ Brownies and Homework
Do you remember that class we had on Friday? Luigi went home. Elena Kiyomi said goodbye. Bara was absent. And our Yena had a birthday. And brownies...
You Ate My Brownies.
It's payback time. I want some homework. Remember the "For and Against" Essay?
On the right is a screen shot of the assignment from the book which you can find here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2575869/Cutting-Edge-upperintermediate-11
Sunday, July 3, 2011
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