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
Thursday, September 24, 2009
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.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
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.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
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.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
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.
Friday, September 4, 2009
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.
Friday, August 28, 2009
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.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
5 Steps to Success in English
- 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.
- 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?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Monday, August 24, 2009
New Term
Level 3 c having funToday 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.
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