Tuesday 8 June 2010

END OF FIRST YEAR


We are at the end of our class blog activities:
CONGRATULATIONS to THE 128 MEMBERS OF OUR CLASS BLOG and to constant bloggers! Thank you to intermittent bloggers and viewers!
I do hope you have learnt :
- that learning English can be fun and motivating
- that writing in English can be improved through constant writing
- many interesting facts about one another
- how to work in the public space, how to create an account and exploit other platforms (such as Voxopop, yahoogroups)

NEXT YEAR
You will have the chance to create your own blogs. You will be responsible for the posts and invite colleagues and friends to make comments.
All the blogs will be linked to our class wiki. You will also find instructions about requirements, do's and don'ts, there.

Wishing you all a very nice summer holiday and success in the next exams!

Teacher

Tuesday 25 May 2010

The Golf Balls



Read the story entitled The Golf Balls in Your Life on pages 122-123 in your coursebook and then in about 30 words comment on the golf balls in your own life.

MONEY IS/ISN'T EVERYTHING



Money means different things to different people.
It can buy a bed but not sleep.
It can buy a clock but not time.
It can buy you a book but not knowledge.
It can buy you a position but not class and respect.
It can buy you medicine but not health.
It can buy you blood but not life.

What does money mean to you? In up to 30 words, express your opinion about money.

Friday 7 May 2010

What have you done today/this morning?

Listen to the following interview. Different people answer the question What have you done this morning? versus what did you do yesterday.


Now it's your turn to speak.
Go to the following Voxopop discussion and record your answer.

I'VE LEARNT......



In this comment you are supposed to write a sentence beginning: I've learnt... It should be an example of what you have learnt from your own experience. Then explain how you came to this conclusion by giving a few details. Keep it short, don't write more than 50 words.

My example:
I have learnt painfully that even the most precise plans can be ruined by adverse circumstances.
Explanation: My trip to England had been planned in detail two months in advance. However, it was cancelled in the last minute due to volcanic eruption in Iceland. Therefore, I had to travel by coach for a day and two nights instead of two and a half hours to attend the courses in Oxford.

Now, what have you learnt?

Wednesday 28 April 2010

YOU HAVE TO QUEUE: DO'S AND DONT'S


Since I am writing this task from Oxford, UK, I will tell you a few things which you have to do and which you mustn't do when in England. I am sure you may know some of them already:

HAVE TO:
1. You have to drive on the left.
2. You have to queue for the bus, paying at the tills, etc.
3. You have to say 'good morning' and 'thank you' to the bus driver.

MUST NOT
1. You must not jump the queue.
2. You must not smoke in public places.
3. You must not brag.

Your turn:
Write 3 sentences telling foreingers what they Have to do when coming to Romania, and 3 sentences about what they Must not do.

A SENTENCE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN WRITTEN, CANNOT BE REPEATED!

Friday 26 March 2010

ADMINISTRATOR'S COMMENT - PLEASE READ


In this post I will make some observations regarding your posts.
1. Please be more careful at grammar and spelling. Now you are not new to blogging. If your comment has not appeared, it means you need to improve it, so please do so.


2. Don’t use Google translator: “Its major activity is manufacturing and product ditribuirea cosmetice.Printre Avon products”

3. Swot analysis – describe a local company, not an international one
4. Don’t write more than 50-60 words/post.

5. Barcelona post: describe the picture, what you see, guess things. It is important for you to write, not to be right.

6. Conversation e-club: is for speaking, not writing, so read the post carefully

7. What’s going on: use present continuous. You are not supposed to make riddles.

Success.

Wednesday 17 March 2010

MY COMPANY - SWOT ANALYSIS



Choose a local company/factory/business (eg. a restaurant, hotel, shop, etc.).

Select from the following sentences those which are appropriate and write a paragraph about it.
The company I am going to present is.............. . It produces............../Its major activity is................Its headquarters are in................ and it has.................... branches and .............. employees. The annual turnover is................ There are............ products in range, such as..................... These are sold..................(all over the country/abroad). Its current projects include............... The company strengths are........................ Opportunities include............. Its weakness is ...........................Possible threats to this company could be.................
I have chosen to speak about this company because...............

Wednesday 10 March 2010

HELLO FROM BARCELONA


Dear students, I am in Barcelona and can still be in contact to you. I have read all your comments so far (March 11th), therefore those which did not appear need a little improvement (please re-edit) Barcelona is very nice, there are many Erasmus students from all over the world here. I wish you were one of them soon! Teacher

Your task here: Describe the surroundings, guess the time of the day, weather, etc.

Monday 8 March 2010

Talkgroup » CONVERSATION E-CLUB - What are you going to do next weekend?

What are you/your friend/s going to do tomorrow? Next weekend? Next summer? After graduating this university? You can alternatively talk about a trip you are planning to take. THIS IS A SPEAKING TASK! NO WRITTEN COMMENTS TO THIS POST! READ CAREFULLY TILL THE END. GO TO VOXOPOP (http://www.voxopop.com), create an account, find our talkgroup Conversation E-club, join the talk group and wait to be accepted by the administrator and then record your comments!



For example: At the end of April I’m going to Oxford. I’m going to attend a two-weeks course there. I’m going to fly there by Wizzair, which is a low cost company and land at Luton airport. I’m not sure yet how I will travel from Luton to Oxford. I will probably travel by coach. I’m going to stay with an English family, Huw and Clare Morgan who live in a quiet village near Oxford. If I have some spare time over the weekend I will visit Stratford or maybe the Lake District. I’m going to meet other teachers from all over the world. I’m not going to be a teacher there, finally! I’m going to be a student!

How about you?

PAY ATTENTION at the two ways in which you express future actions:
WILL (unplanned, unsure, prediction)
TO BE GOING TO (future plans - intentionez sa...)
With the verbs 'come' and 'go' use: I am going to... Bucharest, he's coming back tomorrow

Go to this talkgroup and record your answers. I will give you instructions in class and on the YG about how to use Voxopop: Conversation E-Club

Wednesday 3 March 2010

What's going on?


Think about a specific place/event in this world and describe what's happening. Use Present Continuous mostly. The other students will have to guess the place/event.

Eg. "He is wearing a black tuxedo with a red carnation and a bow tie and is holding her hand. She's wearing a long, white gown and is smiling because she's very happy. Relatives and friends are throwing rice. Some people are going to make speeches and everyone is going to dance, have cocktails and dinner". - A wedding.

STARTING 2nd SEMESTER

Welcome to the 2nd semester with our Class Blog.
This semester you can also continue commenting on different posts.
However, and this is VERY IMPORTANT, YOU CAN ONLY WORK THROUGHOUT THE SEMESTER. Comments posted in the last week for all the tasks will not be accepted!

So, try to do your best to be in time with the tasks!
And to break the ice, here is a short video:



Guess what's the problem? Do you know some similar examples in the English language?

Monday 4 January 2010

DEADLINE FOR BLOG ACTIVITIES: January 18th AND EVALUATION

Dear Bloggers,
the deadline for completing your class blog activities is January 18th.
Regretfully, activities completed after that date will not be considered.
Please make sure to have at least 7 tasks finished.

In order to be able to evaluate your blog activity, I need to know who is behind the username, WHO YOU ACTUALLY ARE. Therefore, I have created a database in our Yahoo group where you can also self-evaluate your activity.
To do so, follow the steps:
1. Go to: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/EnglishDL
SIGN IN (if you are a member, if not, join the group)
2. Go to the DATABASE (left side menu), CONTACT LIST, and ADD RECORD. There you will see that you have to fill in your real name and your username on the blog, the number of tasks you have completed and your email address.

Let me know by email or by commenting on this post - if you have any problems,
Teacher