Saturday, October 22, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
HOW TO GIVE A KNOCKOUT PRESENTATION!
Are you getting ready?
Have you made up your mind about the topic and organization of your presentation?
This expert gives us some tips:
Thursday, September 8, 2011
TRANSLATION
Have I ever told you that TRADUKKA is the best translator in real time that I have ever experienced?
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
MEN'S BRAIN V. WOMEN'S BRAIN
Watch and listen to the following video and answer the questions below:
- According to Mark, what's the main difference between men's brain and women's brain?
- What's "men's special box"?
- What do women expect from men when they are worried or angry about something?
- Did you enjoy Mark's humour? Why/ why not?
- According to Mark, what's the main difference between men's brain and women's brain?
- What's "men's special box"?
- What do women expect from men when they are worried or angry about something?
- Did you enjoy Mark's humour? Why/ why not?
GIVING PRESENTATIONS! (1)
Don't you think there are similarities between "giving a presentation" and sitting for an "oral exam"?
Let's watch the following video and tell me if you agree with the 1st. tip the speaker gives us...
Let's watch the following video and tell me if you agree with the 1st. tip the speaker gives us...
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
THIRD CONDITIONAL
Friday, May 20, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
MAKE and DO COLLOCATIONS
I would like to share with you my own personal list.
Remember to post a message if you find more collocations. Thanks!
MAKE
A plan
A mistake
A choice
An offer
A noise
Some arrangements
A phone call
A suggestion
Love
A decision
Money
An attempt to do something
A profit in business
A loss in business
An effort
War
Peace
An effort
Sure
An excuse
Progress
An exception
The bed
A list
DO
The washing
Business
The ironing
Your best Better
The shopping
Me a favour
The housework
The homework
Some work
The laundry
Some research
A sport (e.g. yoga)
The boring job
Good
Right
Wrong
Harm
Damage
Remember to post a message if you find more collocations. Thanks!
MAKE
A plan
A mistake
A choice
An offer
A noise
Some arrangements
A phone call
A suggestion
Love
A decision
Money
An attempt to do something
A profit in business
A loss in business
An effort
War
Peace
An effort
Sure
An excuse
Progress
An exception
The bed
A list
DO
The washing
Business
The ironing
Your best Better
The shopping
Me a favour
The housework
The homework
Some work
The laundry
Some research
A sport (e.g. yoga)
The boring job
Good
Right
Wrong
Harm
Damage
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
ASSESSING WRITING AT THE LAB
CRITERIA
TASK FULLFILMENT
Relevance of assigned topics; development of thesis; substantiality; adequecy of content; addressing writing tasks effectively (letter, paraghraph, dialogue writing, etc.), ability to put meaning; through effectively.
ORGANIZATION
Clarity of ideas; fluency of expressions; logical sequencing; cohesion
VOCABULARY
Effective use of vocabulary; idiom choice; vocabulary range
USE OF STRUCTURES
Complexity of constructions; accuracy in the use of tenses, articles, prepositions, etcmastery of conventions: spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing.
Based on Jacobs et al.’s (1981) scoring profile
TASK FULLFILMENT
Relevance of assigned topics; development of thesis; substantiality; adequecy of content; addressing writing tasks effectively (letter, paraghraph, dialogue writing, etc.), ability to put meaning; through effectively.
ORGANIZATION
Clarity of ideas; fluency of expressions; logical sequencing; cohesion
VOCABULARY
Effective use of vocabulary; idiom choice; vocabulary range
USE OF STRUCTURES
Complexity of constructions; accuracy in the use of tenses, articles, prepositions, etcmastery of conventions: spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing.
Based on Jacobs et al.’s (1981) scoring profile
Thursday, April 28, 2011
CONNECTORS
§ Agreeing with facts:
In fact
Actually
As a matter of fact
The fact of the matter is that
The truth of the matter is that
In effect
In practice
In theory
Naturally
Of course
§ Reasons and results
Because of this/that
In this/that way
For this reason
Therefore
As a result
Consequently
So
Thus
Due to
Because
Since
As
(Un)fortunately
Owing to
Such... that
So... that
§ Contrast
In contrast to
However
Whereas
But
Still
Yet
On the other hand
On the contrary
But all the same
§ Concession
Though
Although
Albeit
In spite of this
Despite
However
Nevertheless
All the same
Even if
For all that
At any rate
In any case
Anyway
§ Addition (building up an argument)
As well
Not only but also
Moreover
Both...and
and
Firstly / secondly / thirdly ....
In the first place
First of all
To begin/star with
At first (sight)
In the second place
Apart from that
In addition
What’s more
On top of that
Besides
Furthermore
Moreover
Equally important
Worse still
To make matters worse
On the one hand
On the other hand
On the contrary
Last but not least
To crown it all
Finally
Lastly
In conclusion
Worst of all
§ Parallel
On the one hand..... but on the other
The more.... the less...
.....but at the same time....
§ Condition
If
Unless
Provided (that)
As long as
On condition that
Otherwise
§ Reference
With respect to
As regard to
Regarding
As to
As regards
The former
The latter
§ Enumeration
To begin with
Firstly, secondly, etc
Last but not least
....For a start
Eventually
Finally,
Last / lastly
At last
In the end
In the long run
§ Examples
For example
For instance
As an illustration
In particular
Let’s take the case of
Such as
Say
Like
§ Generalizing
On the whole
All in all
By and large
... as they say
§ Clarifying
In other words
That is to say
To clarify (our ideas)
At this point,
Let me be more specific
§ Purpose
In order to
So as to
So as not to
So that
To
For that purpose
§ Feelings
To my surprise
To my disappointment
To my annoyance
§ Summary
In summary
In conclusion
Therefore
Finally
Consequently
Thus
In short
In brief
To sum up
To round off
In short / in brief
On the whole
Summing up
§ Expressing a personal desire / opinion
In my opinion
In my view
From my point of view
Personally
As I see it
As far as I am concerned
§ Pausing for thought (orally)
Well you know
You see
Let me see
I mean
I mean to say
That is to say
In other words
§ Punctuation
Basically
Fundamentally
Essentially
In essence
Certainly
(Un)doubtedly
No doubt
§ Emphasis
Indeed
Truly
Whatsoever
To say the least
Of course
Remarkably
§ Suggestion
For this purpose
To this end
Honestly
Frankly
To be honest
To tell the truth
§ Asserting a point
Needless to say
It goes without saying
As you can imagine
As a matter of fact
Undoubtedly
§ Introducing a subject
You might define.... as....
Broadly (generally) speaking
It is well known that
It is an accepted fact that
§ Introducing an aspect
... but when it comes to (verb -ing)...
As far as... (be) concerned...
As regards
With reference to
With regard to
Concerning
§ Similarity
Similarly
Likewise
In like manners
Equally important
In the same way
§ Comparison
... than...
as... as
as well as
not as / so .... as
the (lower)… the (better)
§ Time
After
Before
As soon as
Hardly... when
No sooner... than
Since, for, till, until, when
Whenever
Suddenly
§ Miscellaneous
By the way
You never know
At least
Rather than
On the grounds that
To me / if you ask me
..., if I may say so, ...
For all I know,...
§ Discourse Markers
Anyway
At least
Naturally
Still
Obviously
Actually
Apparently
All in all, though
By the way
No doubt
No wonder
So to speak
Guess what?
Mind you
Admittedly
To tell you the truth
I mean
Quite honestly
As a matter of fact
As I was saying
Of course
No way
Let alone
In fact
Actually
As a matter of fact
The fact of the matter is that
The truth of the matter is that
In effect
In practice
In theory
Naturally
Of course
§ Reasons and results
Because of this/that
In this/that way
For this reason
Therefore
As a result
Consequently
So
Thus
Due to
Because
Since
As
(Un)fortunately
Owing to
Such... that
So... that
§ Contrast
In contrast to
However
Whereas
But
Still
Yet
On the other hand
On the contrary
But all the same
§ Concession
Though
Although
Albeit
In spite of this
Despite
However
Nevertheless
All the same
Even if
For all that
At any rate
In any case
Anyway
§ Addition (building up an argument)
As well
Not only but also
Moreover
Both...and
and
Firstly / secondly / thirdly ....
In the first place
First of all
To begin/star with
At first (sight)
In the second place
Apart from that
In addition
What’s more
On top of that
Besides
Furthermore
Moreover
Equally important
Worse still
To make matters worse
On the one hand
On the other hand
On the contrary
Last but not least
To crown it all
Finally
Lastly
In conclusion
Worst of all
§ Parallel
On the one hand..... but on the other
The more.... the less...
.....but at the same time....
§ Condition
If
Unless
Provided (that)
As long as
On condition that
Otherwise
§ Reference
With respect to
As regard to
Regarding
As to
As regards
The former
The latter
§ Enumeration
To begin with
Firstly, secondly, etc
Last but not least
....For a start
Eventually
Finally,
Last / lastly
At last
In the end
In the long run
§ Examples
For example
For instance
As an illustration
In particular
Let’s take the case of
Such as
Say
Like
§ Generalizing
On the whole
All in all
By and large
... as they say
§ Clarifying
In other words
That is to say
To clarify (our ideas)
At this point,
Let me be more specific
§ Purpose
In order to
So as to
So as not to
So that
To
For that purpose
§ Feelings
To my surprise
To my disappointment
To my annoyance
§ Summary
In summary
In conclusion
Therefore
Finally
Consequently
Thus
In short
In brief
To sum up
To round off
In short / in brief
On the whole
Summing up
§ Expressing a personal desire / opinion
In my opinion
In my view
From my point of view
Personally
As I see it
As far as I am concerned
§ Pausing for thought (orally)
Well you know
You see
Let me see
I mean
I mean to say
That is to say
In other words
§ Punctuation
Basically
Fundamentally
Essentially
In essence
Certainly
(Un)doubtedly
No doubt
§ Emphasis
Indeed
Truly
Whatsoever
To say the least
Of course
Remarkably
§ Suggestion
For this purpose
To this end
Honestly
Frankly
To be honest
To tell the truth
§ Asserting a point
Needless to say
It goes without saying
As you can imagine
As a matter of fact
Undoubtedly
§ Introducing a subject
You might define.... as....
Broadly (generally) speaking
It is well known that
It is an accepted fact that
§ Introducing an aspect
... but when it comes to (verb -ing)...
As far as... (be) concerned...
As regards
With reference to
With regard to
Concerning
§ Similarity
Similarly
Likewise
In like manners
Equally important
In the same way
§ Comparison
... than...
as... as
as well as
not as / so .... as
the (lower)… the (better)
§ Time
After
Before
As soon as
Hardly... when
No sooner... than
Since, for, till, until, when
Whenever
Suddenly
§ Miscellaneous
By the way
You never know
At least
Rather than
On the grounds that
To me / if you ask me
..., if I may say so, ...
For all I know,...
§ Discourse Markers
Anyway
At least
Naturally
Still
Obviously
Actually
Apparently
All in all, though
By the way
No doubt
No wonder
So to speak
Guess what?
Mind you
Admittedly
To tell you the truth
I mean
Quite honestly
As a matter of fact
As I was saying
Of course
No way
Let alone
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
LETTER WRITING
Some useful expressions - Openings: Dear Mr. Brown, Dear Ms / Mrs. Black, Dear Sir / Madam, Dear Jim, To whom it may concern, Starting: I’m writing... to confirm (our order for…) to enquire about… to apologize for… to advise you of… Stating a reference: Thank you for your letter of 16 June. With reference to… Further to (our telephone enquiry), Giving good news: I’m delighted to tell you that… You will be pleased to hear that… Giving bad news: Unfortunately,… I’m afraid… We regret to inform you… Making a request: I would be grateful if you could (deliver, send, confirm, etc.) I would appreciate it if you could kindly… Could you…? Will you please…? Making a stronger request: Please replace the faulty goods as soon as possible. We must insist on an immediate replacement/full refund Unless I receive the goods by the end of this week, I will have no choice but to cancel my order. I hope you will deal with this matter promptly as it is causing me considerable inconvenience. Agreeing to requests: I would be delighted to (attend the conference) Offering help: If you wish, we would be happy to… Would you like me to…? Apologizing: I am sorry about the delay in replying. I would like to apologize for (any inconvenience caused) We are sorry for… Complaining: I am writing… … in connection with my order XXX which arrived this morning. … to complain about the quality of a product I bought from your website. … to complain about the poor service we received from your company. …to draw your attention to the negative attitude of some people in your customer services. Our order dated 16 September clearly stated that we wanted 1,000 items, however, you… The goods were faulty/damaged/in poor condition There seems to be an error in the invoice / a misunderstanding The product I received was well below the standard I expected. To make matters worse, when I called the company your staff… Enclosing documents: Please find enclosed (a copy of…) I’m enclosing… I enclose… Closing remarks: Thank you for your help. Please contact us if (you have any further questions / we can help in any way, etc.) Please let me know if (you require any additional information on…) Please don’t hesitate to call us… Future contact: I look forward to... hearing from you soon. Looking forward to... meeting you / seeing you next week. Finishing: Yours sincerely, (if you know the name of the person; eg, Dear Mr Pirelli) Yours faithfully, (if you don’t know the name of the person; eg, Dear Sir / Madam.) Sincerely, Best regards, Regards, Best wishes, Give my regards to… Best wishes to… Speak to you soon See you soon Bye (for now) All the best Some Abbreviations: ASAP (As Soon As Possible) encs (enclosures) incl (including) pp (used before signatures in letters when another person has signed in the writer’s absence) RGDS regards (in e-mails) TKNS thanks (in e-mails) ATTN attention / for the attention of Re with reference to Dept. department PDQ Pretty Damn Quick (informal) PLS please (in e-mails or notes) cc carbon copy (to say that the letter or memo are being sent to other people) bc blind copy
Monday, April 4, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
THE THIRD MAN
In a couple of classes we'll be dealing with The Third Man.
Have you already read it?
Have you seen the movie?
If so, what do you remember about it?
If not, watch the following trailer and speculate about it...
What do you think it will be about?
Please, post your comments
Have you already read it?
Have you seen the movie?
If so, what do you remember about it?
If not, watch the following trailer and speculate about it...
What do you think it will be about?
Please, post your comments
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)