Homework

Watch these two talks again (which we'll be watching at the end of class on Tuesday), and note down 6-8 new words. Try to guess their meaning from the context, then check in a good dictionary.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/alain_de_botton_a_kinder_gentler_philosophy_of_success.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/richard_st_john_s_8_secrets_of_success.html

Here is a great collection of Youtube English language videos, recommended by Mehmet and others:

http://www.youtube.com/user/duncaninchina/videos

Grammar and conversation, Tuesday 24th 

Today, we are going to practise some of the grammar that we've been studying in class recently.

Choose from

conditionals:
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-conditional.htm
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/conditionals.html

reported speech:
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/reported-speech.html

phrasal verbs:
See the links in the post below.

or choose another topic from the grammar page: see the link over on the RIGHT.
 
I will come around and see how you are. In particular I'll make a note of which students are really unhappy with using computers for the Kaplan tests.
 
 
 

Vocabulary - Elementary Gold

Spelling flashcards - play games online while you learn important vocabulary from Kaplan Elementary Gold booklet

Spelling Elementary Gold A

Spelling Elementary Gold B

Phrasal Verbs - useful links

Phrasal Verbs - useful links

A video explanation, especially helpful if phrasal verbs are new to you

http://www.phrasalverbdemon.com/index.html

another good explanation, with lots of examples

http://www.englishclub.com/ref/Phrasal_Verbs/index.htm

and another...

http://www.englishpage.com/prepositions/phrasaldictionary.html

and a good dictionary 
http://dictionaries.cambridge.org/default.asp?dict=P 

Please don't try to learn them all at once :D

 These links are also on the main Grammar Links page (see right.)

Translation

I don't recommend using online translation very often - it can be horribly inaccurate.

This is one of the better pages:

http://imtranslator.net/translation/default.asp

Please let me know how you like it, and whether you know any others which you think are better! 

Countable and uncountable nouns

Countable nouns have a singular and a plural form.


You must use a / an / the / one / my/his/her/our/your with singular countable nouns.


You can use other numbers (2+), the, some, many, a lot of, my/his/her/our/your (or nothing) with plural countable nouns.



Uncountable nouns have no plural form.


We can't use a / an or numbers before an uncountable noun.

We use the, my/his/her/our/your, some, much (or nothing) before an uncountable noun.



NOTE: these are general rules.
There are some exceptions (places where these rules can be broken.)

My class in Mcleodganj

Upper Int class, November 2011.

Most of the teachers from Tibet Charity, November 2011.

India

These are a few photos from my trip so far, but I haven't got a photo of my class, yet. I've got a small group of about 8 upper intermediate students, mostly people of Tibetan origin, but who were born locally. Actually, a majority of my class are girls, which is rather different from the classes in Manchester!
Mcleod Ganj is a wonderful little town, on a ridge at about 1700 metres. There are wonderful views from here, both up and down the valleys on either side. It's the base of the Dalai Lama, and as such attracts lots of visitors.
This is, so far, a wonderful trip, better than I could have imagined, and the weather helps, as it's beautiful and warm, even in the evenings. I'll post another bit of news in a week or two, and hopefully a picture of my class!

 A view from Lower Dharamshala.

 Dolls in traditional Tibetan dress.

 My walk home from work!

 The other teachers at Tibet Charity.

 Near Mcleod Ganj.

Don't you love the trousers?

Multimedia room, week 4: blogging

We're going to create a blog on Tumblr - here's my page, to get you started...

http://janederbyshire.tumblr.com/

Multimedia room lesson, week 3

Hi Students,

Today, you'll be looking at a few 'infographics' and summarising their important information. The task is to express, in words, some of their most interesting facts.

(1) How students use technology.

Write 4/5 sentences about the data this graphic presents.

http://holykaw.alltop.com/how-students-use-technology-infographic

(2) Then choose one more infographic and write 4/5 sentences about it.

e.g.

Mortality statistics:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/14/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2009?mobile-redirect=false 

OR

The British in trouble abroad:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/aug/05/fco-trouble-abroad-britons

The interactive map can be viewed full-screen.)

OR

Recent UK riot incidents:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2011/aug/09/uk-riots-incident-map

OR

Media scare stories:

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/mountains-out-of-molehills/

OR

Scientific evidence for health supplements:

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplements/

OR

Types of university degrees earned, by gender (in thousands, in USA):

http://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes/visualizations/degrees-earned-by-gender-over-5-de

EXTRA TASK

Browse the same websites and find another infographic, not listed above.
Make a few notes to explain it to the class. 
Please send a link to the graphic to my email, so we can look at the page together on the SmartBoard.

Goodbye!

Goodbye, this week, to Diego, Carlos and Samira.

Good luck with your future studies and work!

Webquest Monday 8/8/11

Metrolink:
http://www.metrolink.co.uk/tramtimes/
Broadway trams
http://www.metrolink.co.uk/tramtimes/results/


National Express - you'll have to search for the correct route
http://www.nationalexpress.com/coach/index.cfm?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=national%20coaches%20express&utm_campaign=Extended%20Brand 


Northern Rail
You need to search for the journey from Manchester Piccadilly to Disley, at the right time of day.
http://www.northernrail.org/

Lyme Park
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-lymepark

Test yourself

This website is useful if you want general grammar test practice online:

http://elt.oup.com/student/headway/int/c_stopandcheck?cc=gb&selLanguage=en

A few more free online tests:

Written comprehension:  http://www.englishclub.com/esl-exams/levels-test-wc.htm

Cambridge level test:   http://www.cambridgeesol.org/testyourenglish/

A few mock IELTS tests: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/ielts

There are also lots of books available from the Study Centre. I suggest you ask the teacher in there what they can recommend; the stock of books is increasing all the time.

If you know which aspect of grammar you need to revise and practice, you could use:

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-exercises

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/index.html

http://www.englishclub.com/learn-english.htm

English Language Teaching

Hi Students,

I hope you will find the information and web links here useful. Please tell me if there is anything you would like me to post.

Your comments on the blog are very welcome.

Have a look at the other pages, where I will put useful links and a few grammar summaries. Pages can be found on the right.

Regards,

Jane