Monday, October 15, 2007

Day 1 - The final term


Hello to everyone, including two new students, both of who are interested in preparing for IELTS. Gylchella and maybe one or two others are also interested in that, so when I get the class to do individual work I may get you people to work in a group.

As for our class programme this term, I shall keep it quite simple, but interesting and useful. Everyday we'll be using a different topic. I shall tell you the topic the day before, and I shall also give you a link so that you are able to prepare (homework!) if you wish to.

Each day I shall also tell you about a different website for you to take a look at. Now, it can get rather overwhelming to see so many, so I suggest that you bookmark your favourite site and use it exclusively until such time that you feel like a change.

I shall use three sites: http://breakingnewsenglish.com/ , http://www.cdlponline.org/and http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/webcast/ We will need to check that the listening software to support these is on our class computers.

Mondays we will visit the computer suite for an hour (11-12). Tuesdays (11-12) we will have conversation for those who need to practise that skill. We'll start every day with 'dictation in context' using 'Being More Assertive'. If you arrive late, you'll miss out! We shall practise weekly for our assessment. This term you will read a complex advertisement (assessment 25 October) and listen to a media interview (assessment 8 November). You will have 8 weekly writing assignments, about 15 min per day. If there is time, I'll drag out previous activities that I have used in previous years' classes.

In short, we will be busy, but nicely busy. There will lots of stimulating material, and there will be plenty of opportunity to study English in ways that help you progress towards your goals. It is fitting, therefore that tomorrow we shall consider your hopes and dreams. Please visit the site beforehand.

And finally, today's featured website is called About.com: English as 2nd language. Although it doesn't look very interesting, there is a lot to do. Look at the sidebar on the left to find IELTS amongst the topics.

Remember to use Flickr!


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