Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Love Listening to English
Today we're starting "Love Listening to English" podcasts. Each podcast will have a story, followed by questions. They are for Diploma students, but anyone can practice listening. If you want to improve your speaking you need to listen a lot. With the technology of the Internet and podcasting we can now listen where and when we want.
This story is for Diploma Level 1B and is called "Peter had a terrible weekend". Use the player below to listen to the story and answer the questions.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Saying of the Week
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS
This is one of my favorite sayings. When people start giving me earache about this or that, I remember that what you do is what matters, not what you say. So many people, today, talk and talk, promise this and that, but they don't follow through. They think if they smile and say sorry that's ok.
For example, my best friend's father never said very much, but his mother talked a lot and no one listened. One evening we came back to my friend's house and started playing music in his living room. His mother kept saying to us to keep the music down, and my friend kept saying ok.
Of course, we didn't and we were quite loud really. After about one hour, the door opened and my friend's father walked in, and without saying a word, he walked over and turned off the electric fire and the music, switched off the light, closed the door and went back to bed.
We all knew what he meant, by his actions, and went home with our tails between our legs. Actions speak louder than words. Or, as the Chinese say: Talk doesn't cook rice!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Watching Music Videos With Lyrics
If you go to Google or Youtube you can search for music videos "WITH LYRICS". There are a lot now on Youtube and other sites. Find the song you like, watch it with lyrics, and then draw a Mind Map of the song.
I've posted a song below by Timbaland, which also contains the lyrics.
I've posted a song below by Timbaland, which also contains the lyrics.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Mind Maps
Both nature and us, including our brains, are not created in straight lines. But, we tend to do a lot of things in straight lines. Language always comes in straight lines. Buildings, rooms, roads, queues, shops, arguments - it all comes in straight lines. Nature doesn't build in straight lines. Look at trees, flowers, rivers, mountains, animals and people - no straight lines.
So, when scientists started examining the design of the human brain and our thought processes, nothing was straight. There were cells in all sorts of curves and circles, connected in many ways, pinging off each other. And then when they looked at the great minds like Leonardo De Vinci, Einstein and Newton they didn't think in straight lines. No, they drew and doodled and added words and thoughts. We should do the same.
This is where Mind Maps come in. Mind maps are a way to create a space like our brain on paper. Mind maps use color and a radial pattern like our brain to mark thoughts and pictures on a sheet of paper. They can be used for decision making, planning, problem solving, self awareness, learning languages, artistically and so on. But, the biggest thing they do, is to get you to use your brain.
As an English language learner you should be using them to remember vocabulary, explore grammar, plan essays and presentations, summarize what you have learnt, and record your progress.
Below Ajaan Jeannette has put together a powerpoint presentation on the benefits of mind mapping, for both teachers and students.
We will start using this tool in future Diploma classes.
Monday, October 5, 2009
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