Reported Speech

When you repeat the stuff that people tell you, it's normal in everyday conversation to keep the tenses the same.

For example: Yesterday I was in the bank. I met an old friend of mine, Alan, who I hadn't seen in ages. Here's part of our conversation:

Me: Hey Alan. I haven't seen you in ages. What have you been doing?

Alan: You wouldn't believe it, man. I lost my job, I broke up with my girlfriend, and my house has been robbed.

The next day I meet a mutual friend of ours, Bill. I want to tell him about Alan. Here's what I say:

Me: Bill, you'll never guess what. I was talking to Alan yesterday and he told me he lost his job, he broke up with his girlfriend, and his house has been robbed.

Bill: You're kidding.

In this example I'm keeping the tenses in the Reported Speech the same. This is done in informal conversation. It gives a sense of immediacy, puts you in the action, dramatizes it. However, I could also say this:

Me: Bill, you've got to hear this. I talked to Alan yesterday and he told me he had lost his job, he had broken up with his girlfriend, and his house had been robbed.

Bill: I don't believe it. That's terrible. Poor Alan.

In this example I have shifted the tenses back. This is more formal and gives the conversation a more serious feeling. When writing you should use the "shift back" approach, but you have an alternative in conversation.

5 Steps to Success in English

1. Write down what motivates you to learn English. Why do you want to learn English? Make a list of all your reasons. Try and be specific. The more specific you are the clearer the picture will be for you.
2. Think about your long term goals - 2 years, 5 years, 10 years - for your English capabilities. See yourself in 10 years time. What will you be able to do? How will English help in your future life; career, friends, communication, understanding, self-fulfillment, travel?
3. Now think of what you can do today to start working towards those long term goals. Be specific. Make a plan for every day of the week. Find time in your schedule - morning, afternoon or evening. Write it down - the exact times you're going to listen, read, speak and write English. It doesn't matter if it's just 10 minutes. Write it down and keep to it. One day at a time.
4. Keep a diary or record of your progress. Set yourself short term goals - I'm going to learn 10 new vocabulary words this week - and give yourself a pat on the back when you achieve your goals. Find a friend and work together. Help each other to stay motivated. Keep it fun and interesting.
5. When you have written out your goals and plans find a quiet time during the day, close your eyes, and see yourself in the future, having achieved your goals. See how happy you feel at doing everything you wanted to do. Keep that picture in your mind and return to it every day. What you see you will follow. 

New Term

Level 3 c having fun

Today is the start of another term and, as you can see, everyone's getting very excited. We have classes at Levels 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2C and 3C.

We welcome all our new students including some English Majors, who have discovered the Diploma, and hope we will all continue to learn and have fun too.

My students in 3C will be doing presentations this term on characters they have chosen from our novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" and I will be giving a prize to the top student.

I hope you all enjoy your time learning English with us this term. 

So and Neither

Students find responses with "So" and "Neither" difficult to understand. I can see why. They are confusing for a non-native speaker.

There are 4 different situations in this type of response.

1. Agree to a positive statement    eg. I love walking in the mountains.  So do I.
2. Disagree with a positive statement   eg.   I didn't like that movie.  Actually, I did.
3. Agree with a negative statement    eg.  I can't stand rude people. Neither can I.
4. Disagree with a negative statement  eg. I've decided I'm not going to India.  Oh, I am.

Notice that whether you agree or disagree we don't use "not".  We also must use the form of the verb used in the first statement. That could be a different tense or using a modal. 

Remember that it's the question form we are using:  "do, did, can and am".

When agreeing we use "so" or "neither", positive or negative, and when disagreeing we can use "oh" or "actually".

So, it's quite easy really.

EXAM DAY

Today is exam day for all our Diploma students. So, good luck to all of you this evening.

I was pretty good at exams when I was young. I don't why. I did all the wrong things. I waited until the last minute and then swatted furiously - staying up late for the week of the tests. Drinking coffee, pacing up and down, not able to concentrate. I hated swatting. It was such a drudge. But, I still managed to do ok in my tests. I had some sort of desire to succeed. 

What advice, if any, can I give you guys studying for your exams?

I think it's all about seeing your goal, your preferred outcome, that is, to achieve your potential. And you're the only one responsible. No one can stop you but yourself. Ask yourself the 3 questions.

Do I want to pass this exam?  Can I pass this exam? Will I pass this exam?

Answer Yes to all 3 truthfully and with conviction and you're nearly there.

Now, you need to see yourself receiving your grade and feel the joy and happiness come over you as you realize you've done it.

Before your exam take some time out. Relax. Don't chatter to all your friends for a while. Get calm. You can listen to some music on your headphones. Close your eyes and see yourself in the future getting your grade and how happy you will feel. Don't look at your books. Breathe deeply and relax. Now, calmly get ready to answer the questions, letting yourself see the answers you already know you've seen before.

The Diploma Level 3b Writing

Thai Family Histories

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Dog Trouble (telling a story using past simple and past perfect) Level 3b

I had seen this cute little dog hanging out near my home at lunch time 2 days ago. Having finished teaching, early in the evening, I came back to find her still there. When I asked my neighbor whose dog it was, I got the full story.

Somebody had dumped her in the morning outside Tesco Lotus, the poor thing, and a lady, who feeds the temple dogs, saw her and felt sorry for her. She brought her up to where I live, thinking somebody might look after her here.

I'm not a big dog lover, but she seemed to take to me, and I shared my pizza and some milk with her. She's only a puppy and it's not nice to be thrown away like a piece of garbage.

Now she stays with me and barks at all the strangers who turn up. I haven't thought of a name for her - some people think Lotus would be a good name - and I don't know what kind of dog she is (maybe you can help me), but she seems happy now. So, we'll start from there.

FREE ENGLISH TEST

Do you want to know your level of English?

Do you have 1 hour free to find out?

Do you want expert advice from a native speaker?

YES?

For the month of August only

Chiang Mai University Language Institute

Will test your English for Free

Yes - FREE!

Written Tests are from 10am. to 12pm.

And Oral Tests from 12pm. to 2pm.

Come to the Diploma Room

And Learn For Free

Or contact Ajaan Paul

at cmudiploma@live.com

TOEFL Integrated Writing Task

Toefl Integrated Writing Task

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Touchstone In Action

This is a funny video from Cambridge University Press, promoting Touchstone, the excellent textbook we use in the Diploma. It highlights the conversation strategies we practice in class.

TOEFL Reading Presentation

Toefl Reading

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Do you like looking at art?

I love looking at paintings. I like to find out about the story behind the painting. At first glance "Bathers at Asnieres" by George Seurat (above) is an idyllic scene of people enjoying a sunny day by the river.

However, if you look closer you start to notice different things. There is a sense of time standing still, of everything in perfect harmony, of serenity, but in the distance behind the bridge is a factory belching out black smoke, staining the sky.

Does this background represent an ugly future, and the foreground our frozen past? Who is the large simple, but dignified figure in the centre, gazing into the river under a thatch of hair? He seems to connect the classical works of Da Vinci to the modernism of Impressionism.

You can now visit these great works of art without leaving home. This painting comes from the National Gallery in London. Here is the link - just click here.

And below, under my picture and profile, you can listen and watch the National Gallery's monthly podcasts.

The Diploma Level 3 Reading Project

Small town America, quiet nothing-to-do Maycomb Alabama in the Deep South, during the Depression years of the early 1930s, is the setting for Harper Lee's Pullitzer Prize winning novel "To Kill A Mockingbird".

A young girl, Scout, is the narrator and the characters and the story all come through her. Her father, the upstanding town lawyer Atticus Finch, teaches both his children and the ignorant about ethics and the art of compromise.

The book is of central importance to American art and culture in the 20th. Century, as is the Oscar winning film, starring Gregory Peck. It's about how hard times can bring out the worst in people, and the best in other people, and through Scout's eyes America woke up to its treatment of African Americans.

It's a sin to kill a mockingbird. All it does is sing and give us pleasure. It doesn't harm anyone.

Watch the introduction below:

The Diploma Level 3 Reading Project

Diploma Level 3 Reading Project

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My Community

This is a great piece of writing from one of my students, 12 year old Kantong, who has yet again come top of the class in the Diploma Level 3a. Congratulations Kantong and everyone else in the class who passed.

My name is Aroonrerm Kittirattanachai. I’m studying in grade six. Today I’m going to talk about My community.

When I was young,my community was very beautiful. It had lots of trees and people were friendly.

But now everything has changed, trees are being cut down to build new houses and buildings. The people who were there moved out and college students moved in. From a quiet community it has turned into a place where the noise never stops. There are sounds of construction, traffic and music till late at night.

The clean air in the past has become dirty with pollution from cars and dust. Since there are less trees, they can’t help the air much. And from a community where almost everyone knew each other and helped each other, it has changed into a community where we don’t even know our neighbours next door.

When I was a little kid, I liked to watch fireflies flying at night but now I can rarely see one. This shows how the pollution, construction and tree cutting has effected the environment.

In my community almost every one used to trust each other but now there are more and more robberies.

But there is not only just bad things happening, good things happen too. For example, there are new opening stores close by so if I want to buy something I don’t have to wait for my father to take me to the store, I can go and buy it by myself. Some of our new neighbors are friendly too. They sometimes share things with us.

Everything keeps changing in real life. You should look for good things in that change, then you will be happy with life. But if you keep thinking that the old things are the best and don’t face the change, you won’t be able to see the good the change brings you.

TOEFL Writing - The Independent Task

Some students like classes where teachers lecture (do all the talking) in class. Other students prefer classes where the students do some of the talking. Which type of class do you prefer? Give specific reasons and details to support your choice.

Every generation is different in important ways. How is your generation different from your parents' generation? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.       

These are 2 examples of the Independent Writing Task on the TOEFL. Here's how to answer them:

      1.  What does the task ask me to do?

• It asks you to state a preference or give your point of view (POV) on a topic
• You should then give reasons, make an argument, about why your preference or POV is correct
• These reasons must then be shown to be correct using evidence: facts, examples, details, personal anecdotes etc.

     

     2.  What do I do first?

• Choose a side or a preference that answers the question – your POV - write a sentence stating your POV - this is your thesis statement OR topic sentence
• Draw a plan
• Think of reasons, keywords or sub-topics to support your point of view
• Think of examples, facts, details, or personal anecdotes to support your reasons

      3.   When I finish "The Plan" how do I organize my essay?

• Use 5 paragraphs
• Paragraph 1 is the Introduction
• Paragraphs 2 to 4 are the Body Paragraphs
• Paragraph 5 is the Conclusion

     4.    The Essay - Paragraphs

           Introduction

• Give some background to the topic – why is it important
• Answer the question using a topic sentence or thesis statement
• Give three reasons, 3 sub-topics, why your point of view is correct
  
  
  

           Body Paragraphs

• Starts with a topic sentence, sub-topic 1, 2, or 3, linking it to your introduction
• Supports your topic sentence using facts, examples and details
• Links back to your thesis statement, showing how this evidence supports your point of view

           Conclusion

• Summarizes what you have written
• Shows how your evidence supports your point of view
• Give a final statement supporting your choice

    And that's all. I hope that helps you with your writing. You should learn the template first, before you start experimenting on your own.

Good luck with your test.

                     

New Diploma Courses at the Language Institute

Hi everybody,

I would first like to congratulate all the students who passed their Diploma Courses last term. Well done to everyone.

Now we have students studying in Levels 1a, 1b, 1c, 2a and 3a.

Levels 1 and 2 are mainly to do with conversation and listening practice, and also with building vocabulary and basic grammar skills.

Levels 3 and 4 have more to do with academic skills as well as speaking and listening. So, there will be more emphasis on reading and writing.

Good Luck to you all as you continue to study the Diploma.

Remember:

If you think you can't, then you are probably right.

However if you think you can, You probably can.

Fear Can Hold You Prisoner, Hope Can Set You Free

The Shawshank Redemption is our next film in the "Read the Book, Watch the Movie' series, and it's one of my all time favorite films. It's from the book "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King - one of my favorite authors and the "Dickens" of the 20th. Century.

It's a story of friendship, loyalty, patience and belief. Andy Dufresne is sent to prison - Shawshank - for murdering his wife and her lover, a crime he says he didn't commit. There he meets Red Redding, the wise old fixer, who can get anything for anyone, and over time they become great friends. They can both get things done for people, but for each other they get respect. One has a price, one is priceless. Prison is tough and the brutality comes from the warders and prisoners alike. And the film doesn't block that out. However, the real story is of good and evil and how they can be reversed in both our minds and in real life. For there is nothing which is good or evil unless we think it. Is it the evil we see, or evil to see it?

The movie will be shown on Saturday 6th. June at 4.30pm. It will change your life.

Click here to watch the movie trailer.

To get the ebook send me an email at cmudiploma@live.com

FREE HUGS

Tonight in The Diploma class (Level 2c) we're studying newspaper stories.

This is a news item from 10 News Australia. It's about an Australian guy who started giving free hugs at a shopping mall once a week. What a wonderful idea! But the local government decided that he needed insurance in case someone got hurt while hugging. How crazy can they be?

So, he started a petition and got 10,000 people to sign up saying "let the love in". And then a band called the Sick Puppies wrote a song about him and posted it on YouTube. It got to be a big story and now Free Hugs is spreading around the world.

Watch the videos by clicking on the links below and give someone a free hug.

Free Hugs News Report

Sick Puppys Free Hugs Song

TOEFL PREPARATION II

Review and Practice

60 hour Syllabus



TOEFL Preparation II is for those students who have completed Preparation I and would like more opportunity to practice.

There will be a short review of techniques, but most of the time will be taken up with classroom and lab practice.

There will be more time spent on the writing and speaking sections with more feedback time from the teacher. Students will also be expected to do homework and a lot more time will be spent in the classroom correcting and perfecting students’ work.

Students will also be able to complete a full test in the lab and obtain a full score from the teacher.