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.