ALL - a little message

Well, the first semester has now finished – it’s been a real pleasure working with all of you! Thanks for the energy and effort (I know that some of you had quite an intense timetable, so on the whole you coped really well!). Now that the semester has finished there’s quite a long time before classes start again. Good luck to everyone who is doing exams next exam session!

Please remember, all of you, that you must keep using and practising your English! Some people have given me quite a lot of written work over the first semester, some people not too much/none …. you must please remember to continue producing written work throughout the year (in semester time and out of semester time). You can even send me your written work to check between the semesters - you have my e-mail address. I’ve set various exercises to do between the two semesters, if you do anything else besides, and you’d like me to check it – fine. E-mail me in English to let me know how you’re keeping! E-mail each other in English! Phone each other in English! Force your family and friends to speak to you in English ALL THE TIME!!! (okay, I’m kidding, not all the time, but sometimes, maybe?...).

And of course, as well as continuing the studies – have fun! I’ll continue posting up from time to time between the two semesters (there’ll be a few recipes coming up next week as well as links to useful websites like the BBC world service site for learners of English) so please do continue to check the blog, and feel free to leave comments.

Bye for now, and season’s greetings.

B1A - weekly summary and inter-semester tasks

Hello there, here’s the final weekly update of the first semester. Last week we focused on exercises with mixed tenses (using all the tenses we’ve been studying so far this semester). We also did quite a lot of general conversation and spoke about the exams.

Please remember that between semester one and semester two it’s essential that you continue to practise and use your English. That means revising what we’ve been doing so far, plus reading, listening, speaking, writing, and doing the exercises I gave last week. Don’t stop practising or it will be harder to start again next semester – remember, a language is something that needs cultivating with enthusiasm, care and interest – like a sport, a musical instrument or a plant! Here are the main exercises which are to be done between the two semesters:

- Here’s a practice past exam paper (the comprehension and composition sections). You can download them – click here.

- English Vocabulary in Use: Units 6, 7, 8, 13, 29, 30, 39, 41, 42

- Any other areas of basic grammar which you should already know and which isn’t specified on the course programme (e.g. comparatives, superlatives, a/an, etc.)

- Phrasal verbs in English Grammar in Use

- Write about a past memory (150-200 words)

- Write about your plans for the future (150-200 words)

- Write about something you're really interested in - and tell me why it interests you so much.

- Continue reading and summarising more of the short stories (you decide which ones at this point, but remember that you continue reading these stories throughout the year without me reminding you).

Next week I will be posting up some English recipes for you to try making over the holidays! So do check back and let me know how they go if you try them!

Have lots of fun, relax as well as study – keep in touch (in English, of course – via e-mail or with comments on the blog) and I look forward to hearing from you soon!

B2C - weekly summary and inter-semester tasks

Hello there, here’s the final weekly update of the first semester. Last week we did a past exam paper (grammar section) in class and looked through the answers together. We also did some general conversation and spoke about the exams.

Please remember that between semester one and semester two it’s essential that you continue to practise and use your English. That means revising what we’ve been doing so far, plus reading, listening, speaking, writing, and doing the exercises I gave last week. Don’t stop practising or it will be harder to start again next semester – remember, a language is something that needs cultivating with enthusiasm, care and interest – like a sport, a musical instrument or a plant! Here are the main exercises which are to be done between the two semesters:

- Here’s a practice past exam paper for you to try.. You can download them – click here for the grammar section and click here for the comprehension/composition.

- Grammar Book units: 6, 7, 12, 20 and 32.

- Revision of areas covered so far in my lessons or in Dott. Dawson’s lessons at the start of the first semester.

- Study those phrasal verbs some more (I’ll try to find some links to some on-line exercises over the next week or two, and if I find something interesting I’ll post it here.

- Summarise one or two newspaper articles you find interesting, also saying why you found them interesting.

- Continue reading more of the short stories (you decide which ones at this point, but remember that you continue reading these stories throughout the year without me reminding you).

- Write about at least 4 (ideally) of these eight themes (I’ve given you general topics rather than exam-style titles in order to give you a little more liberty):

- Sports

- A memory

- An argument you feel strongly about

- New technologies

- Society and television

- Multi-cultural society

- Transport

- Life in 2030

Next week I will be posting up some English recipes for you to try making over the holidays! So do check back and let me know how they go if you try them!

C1A - weekly summary and inter-semester tasks

Hello there, here’s the final weekly update of the first semester. Last week we did a past exam paper (grammar section) in class and looked through the answers together. We also did some general conversation and spoke about the exams.

Please remember that between semester one and semester two it’s essential that you continue to practise and use your English. That means revising what we’ve been doing so far, plus reading, listening, speaking, writing, and doing the exercises I gave last week. Don’t stop practising or it will be harder to start again next semester – remember, a language is something that needs cultivating with enthusiasm, care and interest – like a sport, a musical instrument or a plant! Here are the main exercises which are to be done between the two semesters:

- Here’s a practice past exam paper for you to try..

2nd years - You can download them – click here for the grammar section and click here for the comprehension/composition. 1st years - Here for the grammar and here for the comprehension/composition.

- Grammar Book units: 6, 7, 12, 20 and 32 (NB – first year students, please check the first year grammar programme that I posted up the other week and make certain that you are familiar with the grammar points, perhaps revising points which you find more difficult).

- Revision of areas covered so far in my lessons or in Dott.ssa Carducci’s lessons at the start of the first semester.

- Study those phrasal verbs some more (I’ll try to find some links to some on-line exercises over the next week or two, and if I find something interesting I’ll post it here.

- Continue reading more of the short stories (you decide which ones at this point, but remember that you continue reading these stories throughout the year without me reminding you).

- Choose a newspaper article or two to summarise (ones you're interested in, obviously - and tell me why you find the topic interesting).

- Write about at least 3 (ideally) of these eight themes (I’ve given you general topics rather than exam-style titles in order to give you a little more liberty):

- Sports

- A memory

- An argument you feel strongly about

- New technologies

- Society and television

- Multi-cultural society

- Transport

- Life in 2030

Next week I will be posting up some English recipes for you to try making over the holidays! So do check back and let me know how they go if you try them!

B2D - weekly summary and inter-semester tasks

Hello there, here’s the final weekly update of the first semester. Last week we did a past listening exam and also did a high level listening exercise using a BBC podcast about John Lennon (if anyone is interested in doing it, please e-mail me and I’ll send you the exercises. The link to the podcast is here. We also did some general conversation.

Please remember that between semester one and semester two it’s essential that you continue to practise and use your English. That means revising what we’ve been doing so far, plus reading, listening, speaking, writing, and doing the exercises I gave last week. Don’t stop practising or it will be harder to start again next semester – remember, a language is something that needs cultivating with enthusiasm, care and interest – like a sport, a musical instrument or a plant! Here are the main exercises which are to be done between the two semesters:

- Continue listening. Listen to all sorts – music, radio, podcasts, DVDs, films, programmes, it’s all good! Remember that when CLA is open you can also practise old exams – please start with the oldest ones and leave the four most recent for us to do together in class.

- Please choose at least 3 short podcasts or videos that you find interesting (from the BBC or the Guardian websites, for example) – listen to them and summarise them; at the end you should also say why you found the podcast/video interesting. (Remember to choose something that you really do find interesting or this could be a boring exercise!)

- Continue speaking and practising your English in general – all good help for your listening!

- If you're interested in literature in general, here's a link to the BBC short stories podcasts. This is not obligatory, but may be of interest if you like short stories. Each famous short story is read by a different famous author - at the end of the story the author also explains why he/she chose that particular story.

Next week I will be posting up some English recipes for you to try making over the holidays! So do check back and let me know how they go if you try them!

ALL - Inter-semester 'ricevimento'

Hi there to you all - I hope your winter break has started well! Later this week I will be posting up with information about the main points that we covered in class last week as well as listing some of the work that you should also be doing between the two semesters. I'll also be posting up some English recipes as promised (don't be afraid, we DO have some good food too!).

In the meantime I just wanted to remind you that between semester 1 and semester 2 there will be no set timetable for 'ricevimento' - BUT 'ricevimento' will still exist! From now until the start of the 2nd semester if necessary you can e-mail me to fix an appointment for 'ricevimento' - either at CLA in person or via Messenger/Skype. A new set timetable for 'ricevimento' will be released at the start of the next semester.

I'll post more later in the week.

HAVE FUN!

ALL - written work

As the second semester is drawing to a close, here's just a quick message regarding written work. Lots of you have given me some written work this semester - I'm ever so happy about that. I'm always happy to check your written work and interested to see what you write. A few people, however, still have to show me their written work. Please remember that if I ask you to do written work, it's in your own interest. It's all good preparation for your written exam and it's all good practice for your English in general.

Don't wait until the end of the year to start practising. Studying a language is like doing a sport or playing an instrument - it needs continuous practice, and the more you do the better you get.

Sometimes you may find the composition questions easy to answer because you feel inspired, sometimes they may seem more difficult because you don't have much to say about the subject. In this case it's even more important to try to write something, because in a written exam you have one, maximum two, possible compositions. Sometimes English isn't the problem, but imagination or creativity is just lacking on a particular subject. So the more you practise, the more you also 'ignite' your creativity and imagination!

Remember that you can also send me written work between the two semesters - that would be a great idea! Don't stop practising just because lessons stop (aaagh, that would be terrible!). Next week we'll be looking things you can/should do between the two semesters in order to continue practising your English.

Have a good weekend!

P.S. - here's a song we listened to in the listening lab this week, I like it, so I'm sharing it with ALL of you!

B2D - weekly summary

This week we watched this National Geographic video and spoke about climate change. (If anyone would like the questions, please e-mail me and I'll send you them).

We also did a gap-fill exercise relating to Baz Luhrmann's 'Sunscreen' song. Listen to the song - understand its words - it's fabulous!

If any of you know who did theItalian version, or what it's called in Italian, please let me know - I'm curious to hear the Italian version's advice!

C1A - weekly summary

The main grammar points we've looked at this week have been:

- (I) wish.... structures

- Subjunctive

- Emphatic auxiliaries in affermative sentences

- We've also been speaking about multiculturalism.

Remember that for part of next Tuesday's lesson we'll be doing a past grammar test (1st year for the 1st years and 2nd year for the 2nd years). This is not a scary test, but just a test to see how things are going - to see which points are okay and which points need more attention. It's important for me but it's also important for you, so please try to come if possible.

Next week I'll also be setting the work to do between the two semesters (which I'll also post on the blog.

B2C - weekly summary

The main grammar points that we've been looking at this week have been:

- mixed conditionals

- 'if' and alternatives in conditional sentences

- the unreal past

- (I) wish.... structures

Remember that for part of next Monday's lesson we'll be doing a past 2nd year grammar test. This is not a scary test, but just a test to see how things are going - to see which points are okay and which points need more attention. It's important for me but it's also important for you, so please try to come if possible.

Next week I'll also be setting the work to do between the two semesters (which I'll also post on the blog).

B1a - weekly update

The main points that we've been looking at this week are:

- Future tenses (will, be going to, present continuous and present simple) and structures

- Revision of some past tenses

- I think/I don't think...

- such as/like/for example; as

Remember that for part of next Tuesday's lesson we'll be doing a kind of written grammar test. This is not a scary test, but just a test to see how things are going - to see which points are okay and which points need more attention. It's important for me but it's also important for you, so please try to come if possible.

Next week I'll also be setting the work to do between the two semesters (which I'll also post on the blog.

ALL - ricevimento

My computer is once again working and so 'ricevimento' - 'office hours' should again be functional on both Messenger and Skype as well as 'in person' at CLA. Usual times (Mondays 12.30 - 13.30 & Thursdays 13.00 - 14.00) apply for the remainder of this semester.

Please remember that when the first semester finishes you should contact me to make an appointment to meet up.

When the new timetable is published you can check here for information regarding times for the second semester.

ALL - Ages of English timeline

I just found this interesting little thing on the BBC website and thought that it could be of interest to some of you - the "Ages of English timeline" is a fun way of looking at an introduction to the history of the English language. It's nice to play with too!

C1A - weekly summary and exercises

This week we've been looking at:

- unit 10, conditionals (diagnostic test and review)

- general conversation

- English colloquial idioms (for a copy of the handout, click here)

- the 'unreal' past (unit 11.2, grammar books)

- short stories (1st years - 'The Landlady', 2nd years - 'The Signalman')

First year students: as I mentioned, click this link to download the document of 'The Landlady' useful terminology that I prepared.

It's a little tricky to work on the short stories in class given that there's a mix of first and second year students working on two different books. However, as you said that you'd like to look at the short stories in class, then we will do more work on them in the future. In the meantime please do continue reading the short stories independently, in preparation. Whenever you do any story summaries or exercises then please let me see them. The short story work is quite important and could form the basis of part of your oral exam, so it's important that every member of your work groups gives input in the discussions.

Please do the comprehension and composition which I mentioned in class today. You can either photocopy the test in the faculty office, or download it here.

First years: "Man's Best Friend" - download the text here and the questions here.
Second years: January 2008 - download the text here and the questions here.

B2C - Weekly summary and exercises

This week we've been looking at:

- conditionals

- useful terms and phrases for agreeing / disagreeing / asking and giving an opinion

- 'The Signalman' by Charles Dickens.

From now on we will be looking at the short stories together from time to time, but please read these stories independently. When you do the exercises relating to the stories I'd be happy to check them - you can bring them or e-mail them to me.

At home please finish studying unit 10 (conditional, grammar book) and read (but don't do the exercises) units 9 and 11. If there are any problems with things, remember you can speak with me in 'ricevimento' twice a week - I'm more than happy to see you!

Please do the comprehension and composition for next week. It's from the January 2008 exam and you can either photocopy it in the faculty office or you can download it here. Click here to download the text and click here to download the questions.

Important: B2c students - please try to come to class more regularly - I appreciate that in some cases there may be some timetable clashes, but due to the fact that the whole group missed our first lessons together in the first module, and given that different people are present in each lesson, we are behind on our programme and we must 'change pace' a little, which means more work in class and more at home.

B2D - weekly summary

This week I wanted to listen to a really great song with you, but as not so many people were able to come to class on Wednesday, I'll wait until next week. I hope to see more of you next week so that we can listen to it together!

This week we did a past listening exam (May 2008) and part of a FCE listening test (with extra questions).

B1A - weekly summary and exercises

This week we've been looking at

- 'to be used to VERBing', 'to get used to VERBing' and 'used to VERB' - in Murphy's grammar and applying these rules when speaking about some of the differences between your parents (when they were your age) and you - speaking about clothes, but also other aspects of their lifestyles.

- personal pronouns (subject & object)

- possessive adjectives

- possessive pronouns

- reflexive pronouns

- selected grammar exercises from past 1st year exams

- Roald Dahl short stories ('Dip in the Pool' and 'Man from the South')

We will be continuing to look at the short stories in class from time to time, but please start to read them independently too. If you have any questions to ask, or any summaries to hand in, that's great - I'm here!

To study in more depth at home:
units 18, 61, 81, 102 & 109 in Murphy's Grammar
units 47, 48, 52 &61 in English Vocabulary in Use

Please do the reading comprehension and composition that I gave this week '1st year LOC - 'Man's Best Friend' (you can either photocopy it in the faculty office or download it here. Click here for the text and click here for the questions.

Please remember to check the faculty website for any last-minute news of room changes next week.

B1A - short stories

Dear B1a students - some people seem to be having problems with "A Dip in the Pool" - as an alternative, for this week, feel free to read "Man from the South".

Have a good weekend and see you next week.

B2D - Lesson summary

Here's a list of the main points that we've been doing in class over the past two weeks:

- Listening and conversation exercises about films, film reviews, TV programmes and news headlines

- predicting information, giving a brief summary

- parts of FCE listening test

- conversation - sports, ways of relaxing, places to live at university, the qualities a good boss should have.

Have a good weekend and see you next week!

B2C - Lesson summary

Dear B2c - it's so good to finally see lots of you in class! As you weren't coming to class for a few lessons we are a bit behind schedule and so we do have quite a lot to do, so from here to the end of semester our work could get quite intense - please make sure you're in class whenever possible.

The main points that we've been looking at over the last two weeks are:

- Past paper grammar practice

- Multi-word verbs (phrasal verbs, etc.)

- More phrasal verbs

- Reading comprehension and general conversation about reading and the history of the short story

- Writing a composition

- Environment, recycling, pollution

- 0/1st/2nd/3rd conditionals

For next Thursday's class please finish reading 'The Signalman' from your book of short stories and try to finish the exercises relating to it as well.

Have a good weekend.

C1A - weekly summary

Some of the main points that we've been looking at in class this week have been:

- past and present diagnostic tests from your grammar books

- reading comprehension and conversation about the history of the short story

- cleft sentences

As you have probably noticed, we're mixing easier points with more difficult points in our lessons - that way revising old points and introducing new ones. In fact from reading your written work I can see that you know lots, but also that several of you need to 'dust off' some of the simpler aspects of English too (verb tenses in particular). When we get to a high level it's easy to focus on learning new and difficult things and forget about the 'easier' things we've already studied in the past. Try to keep revising older material so that it stays nice and healthy.

For next Thursday's lesson please try to finish reading the short story I mentioned in class:

1st years - 'The Landlady'

2nd years - 'The Signalman' (and try to do the exercises too)

Have a good weekend, see you next week.

B1A -weekly summary

Here's this week's summary of some of the main points we looked at in class:

- past perfect simple

- past perfect continuous

- how to use your dictionary to help you with the pronunciation of difficult words (a brief introduction to phonetics)

- conjunctions

We looked at some of the common errors which came up in your written summaries of 'The Landlady'. There were generally a lot of common errors, even with simple things like the -s ending of the 3rd person singular, present simple. Don't panic about all the red pen - but do please act - take note of your errors, learn from them. Try not to make the same mistakes in future. Write more! And don't forget that when you finish your written work it's always good to read it through to check for mistakes. Read more too, that also helps your writing. Improvement doesn't happen with the help of magic - it happens with the help of effort.

Please remember that I'm ever so happy to see your written work - the more you practise, the better!

For next Thursday's lesson please try to finish reading the next short story from 'Tales of the Unexpected' as I mentioned in class.

Have a good weekend!

SECOND YEAR - Grammar list

In class this week I mentioned that in the faculty there's a list of grammar points which should be studied for the 2nd year exam (using 'Advanced Learners' Grammar').

Here is a link to the file on-line.

FIRST YEAR - Basic grammar list

In class this week I mentioned which units of Murphy's grammar will be most essential for the first year exam. Here is a link to the list on-line.

NB - C1a 1st year students - I know that you have a different grammar book, and so I've listed the topic of each unit next to the unit number.

ALL - temporary computer problems - 'ricevimento'

Hello there, I hope your weekend was good! As some of you know, I've been having problems with my little old netbook recently. It had to be reformatted and now certain programmes don't run well on it (including Skype and Messenger)...

...unfortunately that means that our 'virtual office hours' are temporarily 'out of order' but I should have everything fixed soon. In the meantime you can still come to 'real office hours' at CLA or send me an e-mail.

I'll let you know when the problem is solved!

B1A - Weekly summary and exercises to do at home

This week we looked at the present perfect simple and the present perfect continuous, examining the structure and the rules connected to both. In my opinion the present perfect is one of the most difficult things to study as far as verb tenses are concerned! So don't worry, but do study your notes and grammar books at home, because there are lots of little rules and small differences to remember.

We also looked very briefly at the conditional 'would' and the use of the modal verb 'should' (Murphy 33.A, 33.B) and compound adjectives (relating to character) (English Vocab. in Use, Units 11 and 49).

In class we worked in groups, looking at various aspects of 'The Landlady' (plot, author, narrator, characters, ending, setting).

Over the weekend please try to do the following reading exercise (click here for the text and here for the questions).

C1A - Short stories and weekly summary

This week we've been looking at direct speech and reported speech in detail. We focused on the format and punctuation used in direct speech which is written in a text. We also looked at the various rules concerning reported speech and a huge variety of reporting verbs (not just say, tell and ask!). Some information can be found in your grammar book, Unit 9.

We also started to listen to some of your news stories in class on Thursday. Please remember that I would really like to see your written article summaries. You can either bring them to class or send them to me via e-mail.

You should now be starting to read the short stories too. Here's where to start:

1st year students
Roald Dahl - 'The Landlady'
If you like you can follow this link to read/listen to this article on-line (thanks to the British Council).

2nd year students
Charles Dickens - 'The Signalman'

Have a good weekend, see you next week.

ALL - Short stories

Here's a link to a document which lists the short stories that are in both the 1st and 2nd year books of short stories.

Please remember that we'll be working on some of these stories together, so it's important to have access to them.

ALL - office hours ('ricevimento') - timetable change

The second module is just starting and hopefully you will have seen that we have a new timetable.

A new timetable for our lessons means that we also have a new timetable for office hours.

New office hours:

Monday

12.30 - 13.30 in CLA staffroom

Thursday

13.00 - 14.00 in CLA staffroom

Unfortunately the Messenger/Skype contact during office hours is temporarily unavailable. I'll let you know as soon as the problem is resolved.

C1A & B2C - URGENT MESSAGE

A quick message because I have just received news of a timetable change affecting my C1a and B2c groups on Monday You will still have lessons on Monday, but at different times. The new timetable should be published this afternoon, so please check the Faculty website for further details. Please tell fellow students from your group.

Thanks, see you on Monday!

C1A - Lessons to date

It’s been good meeting you over the last few weeks!

The timetable has now been modified so please check carefully where/when we have lessons.

Every week or two I’ll be posting a brief overview of some of the main points we’ve covered in class and homework given.

So far we’ve been looking at the language of newspaper headlines, newspaper terminology and various types of UK newspapers (tabloids, broadsheets etc.). If you need a copy of the handouts, please let me know.

At home you should find a newspaper article in English that you find interesting (see the links on the right for help) and write a summary about it – 150 – 200 words. Please bring it to class next week as we’ll be speaking about the articles in one of the lessons.

First year students – we also looked at the past exam paper (grammar paper) from May 2010. Past writing exams can be found in the Language Faculty. Past listening papers can be found at CLA …all very useful practice!

We'll be looking at some grammar points from next week, so if you don't have your grammar book yet, please try to get it as soon as possible.

See you next week!

B2D - Lessons to date

It was good to meet some of you on Monday, when we had an extra lesson to make up the lesson we missed two weeks ago.

Every week or two I’ll be posting a brief overview of some of the main points we’ve covered in class and homework given.

In class we spoke about reading habits, especially about the future of traditional books and e-books.

Here are links to the videos we watched, connected to the same theme:

Stephen King speaking about reading

‘The Future of Reading’

If you would like a copy of the exercises that we did, then please e-mail me and I’ll happily forward them to you.

For next lesson please think about which English speaking groups or singers you like - I'd love to know, that way we can hopefully find some time for some music too!

One final point - the timetable has now been modified so please check carefully where/when we have lessons in the 2nd module of semester one.

B2C - Important message

All students in B2c should please remember that they also have class (‘aula’) with me twice a week. The timetable has now been modified so please check carefully where/when we have lessons. If you regularly have problems attending class it is important that you e-mail me to tell me about the problem. By missing class regularly you are missing vital studies which are essential preparation – not only for your exams but for your English in general.

B1A - Lessons to date

Hello there. First of all, I must say that it’s been nice working together these last two weeks!

The timetable has now been modified (please check on the Faculty website) so I hope to see even more of you next week.

Every week or two I’ll be posting a brief overview of some of the main points we’ve covered in class and homework given.

As regards the grammar – the more you practise, the better. You (should) have your grammar book and so always try to do as many exercises as possible relating to the points that are studied.

Since I started in B1a the main points we’ve looked at so far have been:

adjectives (Murphy – Units 98 and 99, English Vocabulary in Use – Unit 36);

the ‘present perfect simple’ (also together with past simple): form, structure, use, specific rules (since, for, ever, never, just, already, yet, etc.) (Murphy – Units 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13)

expressing opinions (stating your opinion, asking someone for their opinion, agreeing, disagreeing) (English Vocabulary in Use – Units 18, 19);

relative clauses with ‘who’, ‘which’, ‘that’ (Murphy – Unit 92);

writing a summary.

Homework was to read and listen to Roald Dahl’s “The Landlady” and write a summary in your own words (around 200 words) and also to write a brief composition (approx. 200 words) about your experiences of the chaos of big cities and life in provincial towns.

I've also prepared a list of interesting vocabulary from "The Landlady". Click here to see the list in Google Documents (you don't need to log-in). Try looking for these words and terms in a dictionary.

See you next week!

ALL - timetable change

An important message for all students who have class with me: our timetable has been changed considerably. For further details please visit the Faculty website as soon as possible and check the timetable for Module 2, Semester 1.

If you have any serious problems with the new timetable it is essential that you contact Laura Ferrara as soon as possible.

See you next week!

C1A - parallelism in sentence structure (handout)

Dott.ssa Carducci has sent me a copy of the handout relating to parallelism in sentence structure which you looked at together in class. If any of you wish to have a copy of this file then please send me a quick e-mail and I'll forward it on to you.

Later this week I'll be posting up some information about what we've been doing so far in class, so please keep watch.

B1A - Writing a summary 'The Landlady'

Remember that B1A students should be reading and listening to Roald Dahl's 'The Landlady'. Click here for a link to the text and audio file (thanks to the British Council!).

I prepared a list of useful terminology for you, but my netbook has stopped working and the Word document is stuck inside my netbook! Agh! Anyhow, as soon as the technician fixes it then I will post the list for you to download.

Remember that you should try to write a short summary about this short story. Your summary should be 100 - 150 words and you should use your own words. (It sounds obvious, but please don't look for a summary on the internet. I'm interested in your ideas and your English.) Please give me your summary no later than the first week after the inter-module week.

Ten golden rules for writing a summary

1. Read the text with care and try to underline the main points.
2. Underline the main points and information.
3. Take notes of the main ideas/points and try to write them in a different way using your own words.
4. Leave out details.
5. Use linkers to join your notes in order to make paragraphs.
6. Don't write sentences that are excessively long or complicated.
7. When you've finished count how many words you used.
8. If you wrote too much then reduce your text.
9. Check the final version for spelling, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary.
10. Read the final version again before you hand it in.

...please remember to write using 'double-line spacing' (every other line - one line yes, one line no) so that I have space to write comments, notes and corrections.

Thanks.

ALL - timetable problems

I would appreciate it if all students who have timetable problems could please let me know. It's important that I know why you don't/can't come to class so that if/where possible we can try to change the timetable.

If you have a timetable clash with other subjects then please send me a short e-mail to tell me which day/time the problematic lesson is and also which subject and group it clashes with.

Please remember that 'I have no other lessons on Friday afternoon' may be the reason you don't want to come to our class on Friday afternoons, but unfortunately it's not a good reason for missing class on Fridays. We have a lot of work to do this year and it is vital that you come to class as frequently as possible in order to give the maximum effort for your English exams.

Thanks.

ALL - lessons in 'recupero' week

A quick message for all students who have class with me - as well as our normal lessons this week, we will also be having lessons in the inter-module week because we have to make up a few hours of lessons from the first module.

The special timetable for the inter-module week is as follows (lessons at CLA):

Monday
09.00 - 11.00 B2d (laboratorio B)
12.00 - 14.00 B1a (aula 6)
14.00 - 16.00 C1a (aula 6)

Tuesday
09.00 - 11.00 C1a (aula 6)
11.00 - 13.00 B2c (aula 6)

B1A - room change (Tuesdays)

Dear B1A students - a quick message for those of you who don't yet know - we have a room change for our Tuesday class. We will not have any of 'aula' our classes in CLA.

Our new timetable is as follows:

Tuesday 11.00 - 13.00 - Room B, Language Faculty

Friday 14.00 - 16.00 - Room C, Language Faculty

Please remember to bring the exercises that Dott.ssa Carducci gave you, so that we can check them.

See you tomorrow!

B1A - Reading list

Hi guys - it was great to meet you today. I heard that some of you weren't in class because of a timetable clash with Spanish. I'll speak with colleagues and we'll try to resolve this timetable problem if possible.

Today I gave you all some information about our course and we spoke about ways you prefer learning. We also brainstormed lots of ways that you can practise English outside the classroom (and it's essential that you do that). Some examples included: read the newspaper (there are links to on-line English language newspapers on the right), listen to the radio - for example using the BBC iPlayer (link on the right), watch films (in English and with English subtitles), speak to English-speaking friends, relatives etc.), speak with each other in English (why not?! ...even on messenger or facebook!), listen to songs in English, sing songs in English, read the lyrics of the songs you sing! These are just a few of the many ideas you thought of!

The books that we'll be using for B1A 'aula' this year are the following:

- 'English Grammar in Use' (3rd edition), Raymond Murphy, Cambridge University Press.

- 'English Grammar in Use Supplementary Exercises', Louise Hashemi with Raymond Murphy, Cambridge University Press.

- 'English Vocabulary in Use' (2nd edition), Stuart Redman, Cambridge University Press.

N.B. - Throughout the year we will also be looking at a selection of short stories from 'Tales of the Unexpected' by Roald Dahl (Penguin Books). It is not necessary to buy this book, although you can if you wish).

That's all for now - see you in class on Friday - and please remember to bring the completed exercises that Dott.ssa Carducci gave you.

ALL - hello!

Hello to you all, I'll be holding some of the LOC English 'lettorato' courses this year and I'm really looking forward to meeting you all and working well together all year.

This blog is designed to help you with our studies together. It's essential that all of my students, both 'frequentante' and 'non-frequentante' follow the blog regularly all year because it will contain important information about our courses, exams, and also links to articles, podcasts and websites which you'll need to use for the course.

This first post is just to remind you of which groups are with me:

B1A - 1st year ('aula')

B2C - 2nd year ('aula')

B2D - 2nd year ('laboratorio')

C1A - 1st and 2nd year ('aula')

You can check our timetable on the faculty website. Please read carefully where and when we have class, because some of my classes are at CLA and some are in the Language Faculty.

If you need more information about my office hourse ('ricevimento') then please look at my 'office hours' page.

Please remember, all year round, to ask me whenever you need any help, information or explanations, or if there's something you're just not too sure about. Don't be shy or scared - I'm not ferocious - honest!

All 'non-frequentante' students who should be in one of my groups must contact me as soon as possible.

I look forward to meeting you soon in class and to working well together this year!

Bye for now!