For better or for worse the course is coming to an end and exams are just here. I can almost see them beckoning me and you. I am ready, the question is … are you?
In the oral exam you’ll have to demonstrate your speaking skills as well as your ability to communicate and for this, it is essential that you practise… a lot.
Here are some Guidelines and Techniques to help you score a high mark in the Picture Description Part of the exam. I hope they are helpful!!
Isn’t that what everybody would like? Isn’t it a good reason to read every day? In this post I am sharing with you a wonderful tool that is basically a newsreader with wonderful customizable features. The idea is to encourage students to read every day the things they like to read about.
The benefits of reading when learning a language are many and nobody can deny that. When you read you:
– acquire new vocabulary in a natural way
-learn to infer meanings
-learn to punctuate
-write better
-speak better
– learn the grammar in context
We, as teachers, tend to ask our students to read mainly graded books or the texts in their textbook. We certainly feel confident our students won’t be struggling to understand or won’t get demotivated because they cannot easily grasp the meaning of the words.
On the other hand, I firmly believe we need to show our students how to develop strategies to encourage autonomous learning. It is essential if we want our students to keep improving when the course finishes.
Whenever a student asks me, “Are there any compulsory books to read this term?” I never fail to remember the 50 or 60 books I had to read if I wanted to have a chance at passing some certain subjects at university. I used to be keen on reading but having to compulsorily read, I would say “swallow” those books chosen by somebody else turned me, for some years, into someone who would refrain from getting close to a bookshop, let alone a library.
For this reason, I never choose the books my students have to read. We go to the school library together and choose the ones they find most appealing from their level section. I encourage them to read regularly, every day if possible, and not to use the dictionary every single time they don’t know a word, as this would discourage them. Instead, I ask them to try to guess the meaning and only use the dictionary if it blocks comprehension or it appears frequently in the book.
Reading books is Ok, but what about magazines, blogs, newspapers… In this post, I would like to share with you a tool to motivate students to read every day and the key to motivation is READING WHAT THEY LIKE.
The tool I use is called FEEDLY . It ‘s for me the best way to organise and read my favourite sites on the Internet. It’s mainly a newsreader and it’s highly addictive. Everything on the same place with a very nice layout. Imagine Feedly as a newspaper with only the news you are interested in. You feed Feedly with online sites that interest you.In this sense I recommend my students to feed it with a variety of sites including news, fashion, cooking, IT, learning languages …etc and why not, gossip.
Feedly is customizable and the only thing you need to do is Click on Add content, paste the url of the blog or site you want to have in your newspaper. Can I suggest you try adding this blogand this other one🙂 to get started?
If you want to know more about how Feedly works, here is a very visual tutorialhere .
Are there any sites or blogs you would recommend? Please, let me know
The Speaking Test is knocking on your door? I have added two more Speaking+Vocabulary Speaking Lessons to the ever-growing list of Discussion Topics( check them out here); this time about Learning English. I hope they’re useful!
Who doesn’t like music? Today I am inviting you to take a glimpse at the Top Ten Musicals in London. Tough job to choose one ! A video-based lesson you’ll positively enjoy!
Level: B1/B2
Skills :listening, writing and vocabulary
Step 1. WARM UP. In pairs, talk about the questions below
♥How important is music in your life?
♥Have you ever been to a musical show? Why(not)?
♥Do you know any famous musicals?
♥There are lots of things to do in London, would you consider going to a musical?
Step 2. Look at the following collage containing pictures of different musicals. In pairs, can you identify any?
Get feedback. Most possibly students won’t be able to come up with the names for all the musicals. If this is the case, show them the options below.
A. The Lion King
B. The Phantom of the Opera
C. Wicked
D. Mamma Mia
E. Thriller
F. Billy Elliot
G. Les Miserables
H. The Book of Mormon
I. The Commitments
J. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Step 3. Play the video for the first time without giving students any task.After watching it , ask them whether they would fancy watching any of these musicals. Students watch the video a second time and fill in the gaps in the exercise below
Number 10. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.Grab your won golden ticket and step inside the ____ (1) and wonderful Wonka Chocolate factory
Number 9. The Commitments.Originally a novel, then a hit movie, this musical is jam ____ (2) with classic soul hits
Number 8. The Book of Mormon.From the ____ (3)of South Park, this outrageously funny musical is not for the faint -hearted
Number 7. Les Miserables.An epic tale of broken dreams, passion, ____ (4) and redemption
Number 6. Billy Elliot.The ____ (5) story of a boy’s struggle against the odds to become a ballet star
Number 5. Thriller Live.The spectacular show takes you on an electrifying journey through Michael Jackson’s musical ____ (6).
Number 4.Mamma Mia. Abba’s timeless songs create the ultimate feel-good tale of love , laughter and ____ (7)
Number 3. Wicked.The untold story of the witches of Oz has won 90 international awards and is loved by ____ (8) and critics.
Number 2.The Phantom of the Opera.Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical ____ (9) continues to captivate audiences
Number 1. The Lion King.Set in the Serengeti, this epic show explodes with glorious colours, stunning effects and ____ (10) music
Step 4.Vocabulary. Find a synonym for the following words in the video
-ageless
-impressive
-strange
-fight
-located
-prize
-full
Step 5. Writing . You’ve been asked to create a poster to advertise your high school end-of-the-term musical.Use postermywall.com to create the poster and think of something to say about the musical to attract an audience . Use some of the adjective+noun combinatios below
In this lesson we talk about mobiles and the Internet, about the use or overuse of this new technology in our lives. The lesson aims at developing their listening and speaking skills and also provides them with the vocabulary and expressions needed to talk about this increasing and, in some cases, worrying phenomenon. This Lesson Plan has two parts. In the first half of the lesson students are presented with two food- for- thought videos related to the use or overuse of mobiles phones. In the second half students are asked to talk about their own experiences using mobiles and the Internet.
Warm up: Do a quick survey to find how many students are carrying their mobile phones. Ask how many have them on their desks.
Video 1. I forgot my phone. (Lasts 2:10) Explain they are going to watch a video and after it, they’ll have to discuss in pairs their feelings and reactions to what they have seen. Get feedback. Follow-up questions: Are mobiles killing conversation? Are they replacing face-face communication?
Video 2. Nomophobia. (lasts 1:00) Ask students if they have ever heard the term nomophobia. Ask them to predict what kind of phobia it might refer to. Play the video and ask students to make a summary of what it says, and encourage students to discuss the question posed in the video: What would you do a week if you didn’t have access to your mobile phone? https://youtu.be/7r343O7LT7k?si=rfH2EM-lsj9IkLbk
PART 2
Working on Vocabulary. Introduce vocabulary by displaying the word cloud and ask students to make sentences with the words displayed. For a more interactive approach, we might want to ask students to first work in pairs, asking them to choose words from the word cloud to make sentences. Get feedback to solve doubts.
Discussion Questions. Handout photocopy with the questions to be discussed. There are quite a number of questions on the hand-out. I’d suggest doing the first part, which is more mobile oriented, on the first session and the second part, which is more computer oriented, on the second session. Hand-out here.
