How can you improve your essay writing skills? Here's a really neat tool for you to try out.
Thesis builder
What it does is show you how to construct an essay.
Thursday 20 May 2010
Some pronunciation practice
In pairs read through the following text and decide where you would pause in speaking this text. There is no “correct” answer here.
The world’s most popular drink is water. You probably knew that already. After all, it’s a basic requirement of life on earth. But did you know that the wolrld’s second most popular drink is coke? And that the human race drinks six hundred million cokes a day? Now, let’s just put that into some kind of perspective. It means that every week of every year people drink enough coke to fill the World Trade Centre.
Now word process the document and press ENTER where you would pause.
Next, read through the text again and decide which words you would stress when you speak it. This time mark in BOLD the stressed words. Where do they come in the language chunks?
Finally, decide which words you would say more slowly and SPACE those words out, just like this.
The world’s most popular drink is water. You probably knew that already. After all, it’s a basic requirement of life on earth. But did you know that the wolrld’s second most popular drink is coke? And that the human race drinks six hundred million cokes a day? Now, let’s just put that into some kind of perspective. It means that every week of every year people drink enough coke to fill the World Trade Centre.
Now word process the document and press ENTER where you would pause.
Next, read through the text again and decide which words you would stress when you speak it. This time mark in BOLD the stressed words. Where do they come in the language chunks?
Finally, decide which words you would say more slowly and SPACE those words out, just like this.
Thursday 13 May 2010
Articles - some practice
Go to BBC Words in the News
Find 3 headlines that look interesting.
Do these headlines contain articles?
Write out the headlines.
Add the articles
Find 3 headlines that look interesting.
Do these headlines contain articles?
Write out the headlines.
Add the articles
Which words matter?
Which are the most important words for you to learn? The answer to this is the words you use most. Here's a good site for you to go and have a look at:
It will show you not just what the words you need are, it will also give you practice in using them.
Wednesday 5 May 2010
The Video Feature
One thing the Internet does really well is video and this is some of the best listening practice you could hope for. If you look on the right hand side you will see a featured video. I'll be changing this each week and giving you a task to do with it.
Vocabulary
This week the video is a promotion for the London Eye. Before you listen, check that you understand these words (all you have to do is click on the links). You may hear some other unfamiliar words but try not to sorry about those and understand the general meaning.
landmark
millennium
feedback
imposing
capsule
General Understanding
Any listening you do, you should do at least twice. The first time around you should try just to get (understand) the general meaning. The question here is:
More specific listening
Another type of listening is trying to listen for detail. Listen again and note down all the numbers you hear. Then talk to your partner and try to remember what those numbers relate to. If you can't remember or disagree, you may need to listen again.
The idea behind this exercise is that it is something you can do for yourselves at home. The advantage of watching videos on the Internet is that it is fairly easy to stop and replay.
Listen then speak or write
Listening is a great way way of learning vocabulary but it is very passive. Passive learning tends to be slow, so what you need to do now is speak or write about what you have listened to. This way you will use some of the words you have heard and begin to learn them.
Vocabulary
This week the video is a promotion for the London Eye. Before you listen, check that you understand these words (all you have to do is click on the links). You may hear some other unfamiliar words but try not to sorry about those and understand the general meaning.
landmark
millennium
feedback
imposing
capsule
General Understanding
Any listening you do, you should do at least twice. The first time around you should try just to get (understand) the general meaning. The question here is:
Give at least 2 reasons for taking a trip on the London Eye
More specific listening
Another type of listening is trying to listen for detail. Listen again and note down all the numbers you hear. Then talk to your partner and try to remember what those numbers relate to. If you can't remember or disagree, you may need to listen again.
The idea behind this exercise is that it is something you can do for yourselves at home. The advantage of watching videos on the Internet is that it is fairly easy to stop and replay.
Listen then speak or write
Listening is a great way way of learning vocabulary but it is very passive. Passive learning tends to be slow, so what you need to do now is speak or write about what you have listened to. This way you will use some of the words you have heard and begin to learn them.
"What other famous landmarks do you know? Why were they built? How do they compare to the London Eye?"
BBC - Words in the News - a daily exercise
Just about my favourite site on the internet is Words in the News from the BBC. It is fantastic practice for reading, listening and especially improving your vocabulary. You will find there a huge archive of news stories written for learners of English about all sorts of topics.
The best part about this site is that it allows you to read and/or listen so you can practise both skills. It also helps you with important vocabulary too.
Your first task
Your second task
Your next task is to help with your grammar and vocabulary.
The best part about this site is that it allows you to read and/or listen so you can practise both skills. It also helps you with important vocabulary too.
Your first task
- Go to BBC Words in the News and find a story that interests you. You will find an archive of past stories on the right hand side under More Reports.
- Read and/or listen to the story and note down 5/6 words or phrases you want to learn.
- Then try to tell your partner what the story was by using those words and phrases
Your second task
Your next task is to help with your grammar and vocabulary.
- Go to Cloze Test Creator
- Paste the text you read in the box
- Choose Interactive and No clues beneath the box
- Select the item of language to be tested from the list on the right
Grammar - past tenses
Here is some grammar exercise for you on the past tenses. Your aim is 100%.
English File - past tenses
Headway - past tenses
Englishpage - past tenses
English File - past tenses
Headway - past tenses
Englishpage - past tenses
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