Week In Review

Last week we:

1. Completed the reading and listening in Unit 11.
2. Worked on the reported speech component of that unit.
3. Did the Exam Folder at the end of the unit, and reviewed ways to improve the sentence transformation task of Use of English. 
4. Reviewed the Progress Exam, focusing on Use of English .

Your homework for this Saturday's class is to:

1. Re-write the writing task from the exam using my comments to help you.
2. Complete ex. 2, p. 72 in your books. In addition to what the book asks you to do, write one sentence for each of the phrases given. 

For this week's blog, I'd like you to comment on last week's blog. Provide me and your classmates with strategies you think will help you improve your score on the Use of English section of the exam. Don't repeat what I've already said. Think creatively, and be honest if you feel unsure about what to do. 

About last week...

Let's start with the good news:

1. This is the pre-CAE class. That means you aren't expected to be able to pass the CAE yet. If you keep coming to class, completing the homework, and working on your progress on your own, you'll be in better shape by the end of the term. Imagine how much you'll improve if you take the CAE class afterwards.

2. The point of the Progress Exam is exactly that: to test your progress. By considering your performance on the exam, what you did well and what you need to improve upon, you'll be better equipped to strategize your studying. That means focusing on specific weaknesses and determining how you can best address them.

3. The same applies to me. After reading your suggestions and marking your exams, I have a clearer idea of what skills we need to emphasize in class.

SO, with that in mind...

TIPS FOR CONQUERING USE OF ENGLISH

I'm not going to go too deep here, since we'll talk about this in class. However, a few things:

• OUTSIDE EFFORT : This is huge guys. No matter how much work we do in class, we will never cover all the possible things you will encounter on the exam, especially in Use of English. Vocabulary and usage issues are a question of exposure and practice; you get both in class, but you need much more to excel on the exam and (let's not lose sight of this) in an English speaking culture. So, what are some ways to improve on your own? Let's hear some ideas. I can offer a few: vocabulary notebooks, word wheels (look in your book, p. 44 if you don't know what I'm talking about), reading English newspapers/magazines/etc., websites like this one...WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO??
• ORGANIZATION: An extension of what I said earlier. Figure out exactly what you need to work on, and, more importantly, WHY. What mistakes do you keep making? This means correcting yourself, which means being your own teacher. 
• USE WHAT YOU HAVE: While it's true that the burden of improvement lies on you, CSIM and I have provided you with a lot of useful resources. The workbook is one example (bring it Saturday!); this blog is another. It's important to bridge the outside learning you do with what we do in class. That's what the blog is for. It's up to all of us to make it serve its purpose.

Lastly: English is hard. It's hard to become competent, and exponentially more difficult to be become proficient. It's important to stay positive and keep working regardless of "setbacks," since there's really no such thing in language learning. It's all an opportunity to improve. 

Maybe you've seen this poem before. It sums up pretty well some of the frustrations English learners have...and it doesn't even touch on phrasal verbs. See you Saturday. 

Study Tips and Request

This Saturday you will take the Pre-CAE Mock Exam. 

Here are a few tips for you to consider as you study:

1. Revisit the strategies we studied for each exam task. For example: for the listening section, try to anticipate what you will hear before you hear it; for the writing task, make sure your sentences are clear and concise, and not overly complex; for reading, use context clues to help you understand the meaning of words you don't know. Refer back to the Use of English exam we did at the beginning of the year for help with that section, and consult the Exam Folders in your book for techniques to use for each task.
2. Determine what exam task is the most difficult for you, and practice that task. The Workbook is an excellent resource for this, especially if you need help with listening. 
3. Review the writing activities we've done in class, and try to anticipate mistakes you could make. Many times we commit the same writing errors; hopefully you should be able to identify your particular problems by now. 
4. Try and get a good night's sleep on Friday!

One more thing:

Before we begin the exam on Saturday, I will ask you to submit to me, on a piece of paper,

Two things about the class you like 

and

Two things about the class you think could be improved

These opinions are to be given to me 

ANONYMOUSLY

so DON'T write your name on your paper!

(If you want to type up and print out your opinions before class, even better!)

I will use your responses to plan for the rest of the year, so give this some serious thought!

GOOD LUCK!