VOCABULARY CHALLENGE

Have you ever wondered how many English words you know? The British Council is looking for English learners whose native tongue is Spanish among other two languages to be part of this Vocabulary Challenge Project. Participating in this project will provide you feedback of the extent of your vocabulary and also you will be supporting UNICEF as the British Council will donate UNICEF on your behalf for every word attempt you make.

So click on the link and give it a try.

http://www.vocabularychallenge.org/

I will also be taking it!

 

Welcome to course February - June 2019!

Some important highlights to take into account:

Students at levels 9 and 10 are expected to achieve a proficiency level in which they can do the following:

Listening and Speaking:

• CAN contribute effectively to meetings and seminars within own area of work or knowledge; keep up a casual conversation with a good degree of fluency, coping with abstract expressions.
• CAN  pick up nuances of meaning/opinion.
• CAN keep up conversations of a casual nature for a period of time and discuss abstract/cultural topics with a good degree of fluency and range of expressions.
• CAN deal with unpredictable questions. 
• CAN make critical remarks/ express disagreement without causing offence.

To achieve proficient Listening and Speaking skills, continuous practise and commitment to eagerly participate in all class activities are required. Students will need to submit evidence of work by completing required tasks during the course. This portfolio of evidence will account for final grade.

Reading and Writing:

• CAN read quickly enough to cope with an academic course, and CAN take reasonably accurate notes in meetings or write a piece of work which shows an ability to communicate.
• CAN understand complex opinions/arguments as expressed in serious newspapers.
• CAN write letters in a way that errors as occur will not prevent understanding of message.
• CAN understand the general meaning of more complex articles without serious misunderstanding.
• CAN, given enough time, write a report that communicates the desired message.
• CAN scan texts for relevant information, and grasp main topic of text. 
• CAN write a piece of work whose message can be followed throughout.

To develop an advanced writing proficiency level, assignments have to go through due process:

1. Prewriting: This is the planning phase of the writing process, often using diagrams for mapping out ideas, topics, thoughts. Audience and purpose should be considered at this point.
2. Drafting: Create an initial composition by writing down all ideas in an organised way to convey a particular idea or present an argument. Audience and purpose need to be finalised.
3. Revising: Students review, modify, and organise their work by rearranging, adding, or deleting content, and by making the tone, style, and content appropriate for the intended audience. The goal of this phase of the writing process is to improve the draft.
4. Editing: At this point in the writing process, writers proofread and correct errors in grammar and mechanics, and edit to improve style and clarity. Having another writer’s feedback in this stage is helpful.
5. Publishing: In this last step of the writing process, the final writing is shared with the group. Sharing can be accomplished in a variety of ways, and with the help of computers, it can even be printed or published on line.

https://www.time4writing.com/writing-resources/writing-process/

Also, please keep in mind that if you want to really achieve the expected writing level, you have to complete all the course assignments following the required steps and taking care of correcting errors, such as grammar, spelling and punctuation.

As part of your evidence portfolio, you will need to get a notebook and write a journal with whatever comes to your mind at the end of the day. You are free to choose the topic and write about anything you want, the important thing is you do it. Challenge yourself to use new vocabulary all the time.


How to improve your vocabulary

One elementary strategy to work vocabulary is to get a notebook to record new  words or create a separate section in your notebook.

To really learn new vocabulary you have to follow these steps:

• Write the new word, pay attention to its correct spelling, pronunciation and stress.
• Write a description of what you think it means.
• Check the different definitions in a dictionary.
• Find out which part of speech it is or if it can be used as different parts, for example: "need" can be a verb or a noun.
• Write sentences using the word.
• Find synonyms and antonyms for the word.
• Play word games such as cross-word puzzles.
• You may also want to search for the origin of the word!
• Any other strategy you can think of.

There is a great variety of online resources  to help you with this task:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/es/diccionario/ingles/

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/

https://www.dictionary.com

Good luck, but remember that good luck is only possible if you work hard!

Improve your Writing

This is an excellent tool to go through the drafting and proofreading of your writing work and get immediate feedback, from other than the teacher. You may register or not, choose a workbook for assignments or create your own workbook. Workbooks provide writing prompts to choose from, write, submit and get feedback, rewrite and improve your work. You can submit your work as many times as you want. I have tried it and I really recommend it. Check the link. It is supported by Cambridge and make sure to choose English as the language to use.

https://writeandimprove.com/

This is a recommended resource in your quest for improving your writing.
You will find original work on different fields by new writers, some published some unknown. Reading the articles will give you a good idea of what original writing is about. Visit the platform!


http://thewritingplatform.com/

Here is another link to a platform to which you can join and upload essays and read and grade other young people essays. Even when this is a platform for native high school writers you will find good examples and observe writing issues such as grammar, vocabulary, style, etc. Check it and join if you feel like doing it:

 http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/13751.html

Strategies to learn new vocabulary.

Learning new words in English and being able to use them increases our ability to understand written and spoken English, and to communicate efficiently, either way orally or in written form.

However, it is not an easy task, we cannot learn something that we do not use. A friend of mine who knows seven languages told me that to add a word to your every-day vocabulary you need to use the word several times.

I think each person has a unique learning style and has developed strategies of his or her own to learn things, but there are some things that can help.

Having a special notebook or a section in your notebook to add new words is very useful. Words are easier to find this way. Whenever you have time, play with the words, observe them, find synonyms and antonyms for the word.

Always try to understand the word definition in English, avoid translating. If you understand the concept, it will be easier for your brain to "absorb" the word. 

Investigate if the word is a verb, or a noun, or an adjective, etc. and use it in a sentence, it could be a funny sentence or a crazy sentence. Use it several times in a paragraph and then try to replace it with different synonyms and observe how much "spicy" your paragraph sounds.

An important resource for new words is reading. There are levelled books with graded vocabulary. Try reading in English. There is a lot of material available in the internet at no cost. Set a time to read in English, at least for 15 minutes during each session. Write down any new words you learn and what you think they mean, then check in a dictionary, you might have guessed them right.

Interesting resources where you will find varied reading materials are:

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/

https://www.theguardian.com/weekly 

Newspapers from around the world:

http://www.thebigproject.co.uk/news/

Remember that Languages are alive and constantly changing, so learning any language is a life-time process.

Being an advanced English student....

Studying and trying to learn a language is not a simple thing. You will hear lots of advertisements offering they can teach you English in only 8 months, even worse, they offer you can learn the language while you sleep!

As an English teacher, I can tell you none of those is true. It depends on the level you want to achieve and the time and effort you are able to put in this goal.

Learning a language involves different mental skills, which include the position of your tongue or lips as you want to pronounce a word correctly. Developing your "listening" ability, which has to do with your ears hearing the correct sounds and then your brain needs to process the information to decode the message. One source of original material to exercise your listening comprehension skills is the BBC News. Here is a link where you will find varied topics:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0299wgd/episodes/downloads

To achieve a real advanced level, you need to work as someone who really means to be an advanced English speaker. You need to think in English, read in English as frequently as possible, listen to English original materials, podcasts, news, songs, films, etc. After you read or listen to something, practice recording your opinion. You will be able to listen to what you said, make corrections, additions, listen again. Speak English with your classmates and teachers at all times.

You need to practice your critical thinking skills. Practice writing essays to develop your personal style and become aware of the power of words. You may even want to learn something in English online, something your really like, it could be how to cook something, build  something, a professional course, just anything. The important thing is that you dare to use the language in a natural, habitual way. Here are some links of prestigious institutions that offer free/low cost learning options:

https://www.edx.org/es

https://www.class-central.com/university/stanford

https://www.coursera.org/courses?query=Free%20certificate%20courses

Remember that phrasal verbs in English are key to English vocabulary. Learn them and practice them.

Be an active participant and comment on your experience while learning English!

Check the link below, it gives 14 steps to become an advanced English speaker.

Enjoy learning and improving your English!

http://www.wikihow.com/Become-an-Advanced-English-Speaker

Personality - Vocabulary and idioms

In orther to review and test your knowledge, I have prepared a vocabulary list, which includes words and idioms that describe personality, in the Cambridge Dictionary. Try it and practise:

 https://dictionary.cambridge.org/mydictionary/wordlist/14939109

For further reading pracitce, here is a link to learn more about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test. 

Here is another article which will provide you with information and description of the types considered in the test:

 https://dictionary.cambridge.org/mydictionary/wordlist/14939109

You can also learn more about the test and how it works by watching this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJGI1sTJ_QE

Use and enjoy these resources! 

 

What is your idea about growing old?

Level 8 Project

Dr. A.L. Vischer, a German physician and gerontologist, medical director of the Old Age Hospital in Basel in Switzerland from 1924 to 1956 and author of "On Growing Old" wrote:

"To prove our worth in old age is a very difficult task indeed. Now we find out what we are really like; we find out whether our insights have been deep enough and our self-discipline strong enough to teach us humility...When we have reached this point, then we may breathe a sigh of relief, then a sense of inner peace and composure and even happiness may enter into us... If it does, then we shall come to know the profound truth..."To be humble is to be invulnerable." 

Watch this video - What makes a good life? take notes to summarize what the video is about and what are the main findings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KkKuTCFvzI  

You will write an informal article (8.2, book page 97) including your personal reflections from the video and the reading of the article by Jamie Ducharme. The article has to be 180 to 220 and it should include your conclusion answering the question: How to live a good life.

You will need to:

• use linkers to help you structure the article: for, so as to, in order to, because, so that, to, however, although, etc. Check this link for help:

       https://www.dropbox.com/s/vg6hkcdvw1ej8fk/TRANSITIONS.docx?dl=0

• remember that the aim of the article is to give advice.
• include the topic sentence at the beginning of each main paragraph.
• give some personal examples. 
• use questions to the reader.
• be authentic.
• remember that proper citation of resources increases the writer's credibility and reliability.

Here is another video you shouldn't miss!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqSxjmvXzzY

As for tips for keeping your brain young and healthy, watch this video. It describes how excersising and learning new things as well as creating pleasant social bonds, keep you up and going for longer. Watch and think about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tcEgqTWbxQ

Use vocabulary, collocations and grammar structures in unit 6.