No class on November 15th

Sorry, but there will be no lesson on Monday, November 15th. We will make up the lesson at the end of the course.

Welcome back!

It was great to see all of you again!
For those of you who couldn't come, we did a complete review of the first three units (progress test) and watched a short video called,

"Keep Your Goals to Yourself".

Enjoy it, and see you next week!

Do you like telling stories, or hearing stories? This week, you were asked to write a story, and I am looking forward to reading them....in the meantime, click here to watch a video of Isabella Allende telling some stories of her own.

I haven't finished watching this video yet, but I can't wait to see what happens! It is the story told by a photographer about a special girl in Korea...I hope it has a happy ending!

Finally, another video of a beautiful Nigerian woman (with a beautiful accent) who will tell us about the danger of a single story -
Please let me know which video you liked best, and why. Thanks! See you on Monday!

Great new American site

click here to take a look at a site I discovered just recently. Be sure to listen to and read some stories, and just explore the site. Let me know what you think of it!

Open assignment

This week, you are going to explore a site that you may already be familiar with...The BBC English Language learning site.
You should click on the link and explore the various activities on the site. Then, come back here and tell me what you read, listened to, or watched. Did you find it helpful? Let me know - I look forward to hearing from you!

4th and 5th lessons

We did a lot of speaking activities today, especially focusing on question forms such as embedded questions. (Click here for an overview of embedded questions.) This corresponds to Unit 1A of the textbook (New English File Upper-intermediate).
We also used those questions to simulate a 'speed dating' situation, which is the topic of the reading section of your book on pp. 6 and 7.
(Click here to see the short parody we watched of speed dating).

Apart from all of this reading, I would like you to write some embedded questions that you might honestly ask if you were in a situation like 'speed dating'. What are some questions you would like to be asked? You can post them all on this blog(anonymously, if you are embarrassed!)

In Unit 1B, there is a reading about handwriting. after reading page 8, click here to see a video about one woman's view of what receiving and writing handwritten letters means to her.

The reading exercise in unit 1C is about psychics, and whether they can actually see the future or not...we will talk about that in class, but in the meantime, I have found two videos with something to say about the future: click here to see which news we are hearing today will be important in the future, and here to see how the news is perceived by various people.

Finally, just for fun, watch this silly story that was written entirely using emoticons...do you think it is an effective way to 'write' a story?

See you next week - I am looking forward to reading your 'comments'!

Lesson Three - Consumer Society

This week we read about a girl who was a 'shopaholic'. She spent so much money on extravagant clothes that she ended up owing $20,000 in credit card debt. To save herself, she had a brilliant idea...she created a website and asked for money from perfect strangers!

We also turned the problem around and talked about poverty. We watched a couple of videos and discussed the vocabulary used to describe the conditions in the slums and shanty towns of Kenya.
Here are the links to the videos we watched (turn on the subtitles in English):
The Girl Effect

Jacqueline Novogratz on an escape from poverty

Students should always try to organize the new vocabulary into spider graphs, and this week's topic is MONEY. Look at your notes and put the new words in relation to other words in order to learn them.

Here are two more videos I think you will find interesting - watch one (or both!) of them and write a comment please!

Jacqueline Novogratz on patient capitalism

Hans Rosling's insights on poverty

Lesson 2 - Memory

Today we talked about memory and memories, and made a spider graph of all of the words that are connected to this topic. We also skimmed and scanned three short articles about memory enhancement. One of the articles was called "facts and figures" so as an introduction we watched a video of Arthur Benjamin performing "mathemagic". Below you will find a link to that video as well as to other pages and videos that are related to the topic.

The homework assignment is to write an autobiography after doing some exercises from the photocopies I gave to the class. Even if you weren't at the lesson, you should come to class next week with a written autobiography. It does not have to be long, but it should be well-organized and give details about significant events and periods.

Here are the links: (let me know if you have read this post and tell me what you think about the links!)

http://www.ted.com/talks/arthur_benjamin_does_mathemagic.html
15 min. video about “mathemagic” by Arthur Benjamin
(don't forget to turn on the subtitles!)

http://www.subply.com/en/Video/Improve+your+memory+with+the+POPCORN+method/1bf52548-b753-4b85-bcd1-e89da4dc8738/eng
5 minute video on a method to improve your memory

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-602962800234523793#
Excellent BBC Video on memory (50 min.)

http://www.mindtools.com/memory.html
A whole page of memory improvement techniques and links to similar articles.

Lesson 1 - Laughter + textbooks to buy

What makes you laugh? What TV sitcoms do you like, and why? Do you know any funny jokes that are translatable into English?
The lesson this week focuses on laughter, happiness and smiling, and the benefits that these things can bring to our lives.

Here are some links to articles you may find interesting:
http:/laughlab.co.uk

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200504/laughter-the-best-medicine
http://www.oldfashinedamericanhumor.com/index.html

also, here is the link to the video we watched on ted.com:
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html
(don't forget to turn on the English subtitles!)

I hope you enjoyed the lesson; I would love to read your comments on the reading material, or jokes and ideas - so click on 'comments' below, and let me know what's on your mind!

By the way, the textbooks I have chosen are:
New English File Upper-Intermediate
Student's Book 978-0-19-451842-0
Workbook + KEY + MROM 978-0-19-451846-8
I will be supplementing the textbooks with material online and in class.

About the TOEFL exam

The Test Of English as a Foreign Language (or TOEFL, pronounced "toe-full", or sometimes just "toffle") evaluates the potential success of an individual to use and understand Standard American English at a college level. It is required for non-native applicants at many English-speaking colleges and universities. A TOEFL score is valid for 2 years, and then is deleted from the official database.
Since its introduction in late 2005, the Internet-based test (iBT) has progressively replaced both the computer-based (CBT) and paper-based (PBT) tests. The iBT has been introduced in phases, with the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and Italy in 2005 and the rest of the world in 2006, with test centers added regularly. The demand for test seats remains very high even after almost a year after the introduction of the test, candidates have to wait for months since shortterm test dates are fully booked. The four-hour test consists of four sections, each measuring mainly one of the basic language skills (although some tasks may require multiple skills) and focusing on language used in an academic, higher-education environment. Note-taking is allowed in the iBT.
For more information and practice, click on the links in the right column of this page.

TOEFL-IELTS TUTORIAL

After our meeting last Friday, it seems clear that we will be meeting each Friday from 14.30 to 16.00for speaking practice and writing correction. I look forward to seeing you all. In the meantime, take a look at the links and do some preliminary research and practice. It certainly won't do you any harm!

SUMMERTIME ENGLISH PRACTICE!

Dear Students,
Use this site to find links to all kinds of English practice! It's the only site I will be checking this summer, so if you need to contact me for any reason, or if you simply want to communicate with other students, this is the place to do it!
Let me know where you are, what you are doing, and whatever else you want to communicate. I can't wait to hear from you!

See you again in June

As most of you may know, because of work commitments abroad I will not be available for conversation practice again until the 8th of June. I look forward to seeing you then, and in the meantime, you might want to go to the listening practice site listed in the links section of this page...have fun and speak as much English as possible until I get back!

TOEFL-IELTS meeting next Friday, 27 April

Dear Students,
I think our recent meeting went fairly well, and I am encouraged by your willingness to put yourselves on the line and speak in front of the rest of the class! I would like to encourage all of you to push yourselves to speak more, even though I know it is a bit embarassing for you. It is better for you to make mistakes now, so that I can correct them BEFORE you take the exam, don't you think? Anyway, when you make your reservations for our next meeting, I'd love to know what you think. Take a moment to write your thoughts, suggestions, ideas or whatever else is on your mind. I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Conversation - Correction of written work

I am available, by appointment, each Friday from 12:00 to 2:00 at the Centro Linguistico di via Partenope, for students who are currently studying for the TOEFL or IELTS exams. The first hour is reserved for conversation, while the second will be dedicated to the correction of written work related to those exams.
Want to participate? Click on the word comments, below, and let me know you are coming next Friday, April 20th. You can also ask any questions you may have. See you Friday!

New Hours - more changes

Due to organizational changes at the Centro Linguistico di Ateneo, students interested in the TOEFL or IELTS will need to make an appointment by clicking on 'comments' under this post and requesting a time to see me. As most of you already know, students are encouraged to study at home and I will correct written work either via internet or in person. After reading the previous posts, let me know if you have any questions or comments. I look forward to hearing from you.

NEW HOURS!

I will be available for students every Wednesday from 9.00 to 11.00. This schedule is effective immediately, and will continue until Christmas.
In January, I will be at the Centro Linguistico in via Partenope from 9.00 to 11.00 on Fridays. Let me know if you have problems meeting me at that time, and we can make a special appointment.

Not sure which exam to take?

Have you discovered that some companies or universities accept both exams, but want very high scores, and you are not sure which exam would be most advantageous for you? If you have studied with British teachers most of your life, it may seem easier for you to answer the questions on the IELTS exam, especially on the listening part. If you have more experience with Americans, then you may want to take the TOEFL exam. Then, try your luck at the exam practice links found on the right side of the page. If you get the idea that one exam is easier for you than the other, make an appointment with me by clicking on the 'comments' button under this posting, and I will prepare a mock exam for the one you have chosen. It will give you an idea of the score you would get right now, without studying. If you are not convinced by that score, make another apointment and take a mock exam for the other one. Then we'll make the decision together!

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE TOEFL EXAM:

The Test Of English as a Foreign Language (or TOEFL, pronounced "toe-full", or sometimes just "toffle") evaluates the potential success of an individual to use and understand Standard American English at a college level. It is required for non-native applicants at many English-speaking colleges and universities. A TOEFL score is valid for 2 years, and then is deleted from the official database.
Since its introduction in late 2005, the Internet-based test (iBT) has progressively replaced both the computer-based (CBT) and paper-based (PBT) tests. The iBT has been introduced in phases, with the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and Italy in 2005 and the rest of the world in 2006, with test centers added regularly. The demand for test seats remains very high even after almost a year after the introduction of the test, candidates have to wait for months since shortterm test dates are fully booked. The four-hour test consists of four sections, each measuring mainly one of the basic language skills (although some tasks may require multiple skills) and focusing on language used in an academic, higher-education environment. Note-taking is allowed in the iBT.
For more information and practice, click on the links in the right column of this page, or go to wikipedia and write TOEFL.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE IELTS EXAM:

International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is a test of English language proficiency. It is jointly managed by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, British Council and IDP Education Australia. Candidates may choose either the Academic Module or the General Training Module:
The Academic Module is intended for those who wish to enroll in universities and other institutions of higher education.
The General Training Module is intended for those planning to undertake non-academic training or to gain work experience, or for immigration purposes.
IELTS is accepted by most Australian, British, Canadian, Irish, New Zealand and South African academic institutions, by an increasing number of academic institutions in the USA, and by various professional organisations. It is also a requirement for migration to Canada.
For more information, look at the right column of this blog and click on the links, or go to wikipedia and type IELTS.