The Diploma Level 3 Final Test - "To Kill a Mockingbird" Presentations

Yesterday the students did their presentations for the character they had chosen from "To Kill a Mockingbird". I have posted two of the powerpoint presentations below.

I must say that everyone did a fantastic job. I'd like to thank all of my students for their hard work this term. They had to watch a movie and read a novel in English and then prepare their presentations. So, it was a lot to do.

Aw,Fai and Ging got very passionate when talking about the treatment of Tom Robinson in the story. You could feel that they really cared about this character.

Kantong, Earth and Nam introduced us to Scout,the young narrator of the story and even though they hadn't done this sort of thing before they produced a wonderful piece of work.

Ying, Pid and Namcha showed us their powerpoint on Atticus, who was played by Gregory Peck in the movie, and whom they had all fallen in love with. Ying told us a heart-warming story about how she had read the book with her 80 year old neighbor, who had lived in America for 40 years, and remembered it all like yesterday.

And finally, Nu, Jeab and Juice produced a very professional presentation on the character Jem, Atticus's son and Scout's sister.

All in all I was bowled over by how good everybody was and how everybody really took to the book, and found a meaning in it for themselves and for society as we know it. It seems that perhaps we have lost a lot of bad, but we maybe have lost some good as well. Or maybe nothing has changed at all and that's what makes this story a classic for every generation.

The Diploma Level 3 Final Test - Presentation of a character from "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Mockingbird Ying Pid Namcha

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The Diploma Level 3 Final Test - Presentation of a character from "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Mockingbird Nu Jeab Juice

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Success in Learning English

To achieve any sort of fluency in English - to be able to speak smoothly without pauses and with the right tone and inflection - you need to do a lot of listening. You should be listening every day for 30 minutes or more.

However, don't listen to stuff you can't understand. Listen to easy things that are not too long. Movies with English subtitles are good, but don't try to listen to the whole movie. Try one scene or 5 minutes or so. And keep playing it back. Take notes. Look up vocabulary in a dictionary. Write it down. You can also get ebooks with the books read by famous actors. Read the book and listen.

There are lots of videos on the internet you can try, some with English subtitles. I have posted a video below, which has English subtitles. And here is a link to the Voice of America, which also has a weekly video with subtitles for English Learners. 

Enjoy your English and keep practicing every day.

The Learning English Video Project

Mnemonics - The Art of Remembering Vocabulary

 One of the problems for students studying a new language is remembering all the vocabulary. If you don't have enough vocabulary you can't really speak the language. It's pretty essential.

One of my students in the Diploma is trying to also get a good score in the TOEFL. At my suggestion she has started building her vocabulary using flash cards. She cuts out the cards and on one side writes the vocabulary word or phrase in English and on the other side writes the translation in Thai. You can start with about ten words or phrases a day.

On your first morning look at the English language side of each card once. If you know what it means set it down on your right. If you don't know what it means set it down on your left. In the afternoon look at the cards that were in the left hand pile (the ones you didn't know), and if you know them put them on the right again. The cards you know you will look at again after 2 days, 4 days, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months. The cards you don't know - the left pile - you keep following the same procedure, adding to them every day. Look at them in the morning and then the afternoon. Keep a record and build up the number of cards you use. Never think or worry if you don't know a word. Just move on from pile to pile.

The other way to remember vocabulary is to think of a sound and a picture in your head. The funnier and crazier they are the better. Look at the word and think of words that have similar sounds in your own language and then think of a crazy picture that can link the two. For example I met a Chinese teacher with a strange name. Her name was Machoo. What I did was divide the name into two: ma and choo. I then imagined my mother (ma) eating (chewing) a sandwich. And I placed my mother on Machoo's nose, just above her glasses, swinging her legs like a little girl. Having done that I never forgot Machoo's face or name again. 

Linking Ideas

When writing essays for the Diploma or the TOEFL you should try to link your ideas using connecting words or transitions, in order to develop your essay, and give it order and unity.

These words serve different purposes within a sentence.

"Although, but, yet, on the other hand, despite, still" are words that compare and contrast. 

"Further, moreover, in addition, besides" add information or an opinion.

"Because, for, since, due to, as a result of" gives reasons or proof.

And there are many others that can be used to help your essay flow and take shape. In order for the reader of your essay to follow your argument and your ideas, these words are essential. They are like signposts, because without them your reader is driving blind.

Consequently I would suggest that you start using these words in all your written work, because not only will it improve your writing, but also get you a higher grade.

The Dangers of Mobile Phones

As many of you know I'm not a big fan of mobile phones. I can't really see the point of them. They're incredibly annoying and they're dangerous.

When I was young there weren't any mobile phones and not many ordinary phones. They were a luxury and we tended to ignore them. If you wanted to talk or see your friends you went round to their house, and when you were far away you could write a letter. Letters were great. Who ever gets a letter now? If you didn't see your friends for a while you had all the more to talk about. You saved it up. And what do people use mobile phones for? "Hi. What are you doing?" "I'm answering this phone. What are you doing?"

The other thing I can't stand are the stupid ring tones. Who gives you the right to pollute the environment with this awful noise? Do you never think other people have to listen to this? And the most annoying thing of all: when you're deep in conversation with some one and their phone starts ringing, what do they do? They answer the mobile phone!!! And then they turn their back on you and start whispering to someone else. How rude can you be? Now, the mobile phone is more important than the person standing in front of you, or the people you're in company with. So many times I've sat in restaurants watching people at a table not talking to each other, but taking it in turn to talk on their mobile phones. Why did you go out to eat together? Do you not like the people you're with? Why don't you just go home?

Of course, mobile phones, apart from being stupid and annoying, are also proving, like cigarettes and alchohol, not only to be addictive, but dangerous as well. One danger is that they basically send microwaves through the air, so that when you hold one to your ear for long enough, you're cooking your brain. I once sat on a bus from Lamphun to Chiang Mai for over an hour, while the girl sitting next to me chatted nonsense on her mobile phone. She came on to the bus with it glued to her ear and left with it in the same position. She probably complains of headaches and not sleeping at night. I wonder why. The second danger caused by mobile phones is using them while driving. You see this every day in Chiang Mai. People driving one handed, dialling numbers and texting, weaving all over the road. Motorcycle riders are the most obvious idiots, but if you're sitting at the traffic lights you can see an awful lot of car drivers doing the same thing. And of course they're in the right. They're doing nothing wrong. They can do whatever they want. They don't care about you and me.

Watch the video below made by the Welsh police and never use your mobile phone while driving again. Be warned. It contains some shocking scenes. It's time to wake up to this mobile phone stupidity.

Don't Text and Drive