Culture Call

It was so good to see all of you today - an interesting, lively conversation! Next week, as you decided, we'll be speaking about religion - a vast topic, with room for lots of different ideas and discussions. See you there!

B1a - Lesson summary

This week we've been working on grammar points from units 26 - 34, looking at exercises from past grammar exams, remembering your first week at university, speaking about asking/giving advice about being a 'fresher'. We focused on some common errors from your written work, and I must remind you that you do need to review some areas of grammar which you should already know at this level (including, for example, units 83, 85, 86, 87, 90, 91). If you have problems - review them.

Please study unit 17 on your own. For next week you should review all basic verb tenses covered so far, as we will be studying the passive of various tenses (if you have chance, read through the grammar units in advance). Please finish exercises 1, 2 and 4 from the grammar test that we started in class (September 2009, in the dispensa).

C1A - weekly summary

This week we worked on a text about democracy and the Internet.

The main points focused in other parts of the lesson were from units 34 and 36 of your grammar books.

Please remember that I really would like to see a completed past exam paper from all students, next week - especially those of you who have never shown me any past papers. Any written work (including comprehensions) you have done to hand in for corrections, please bring it next week.

Please review your verb tenses for next week - if there are any problems with them, do let me know.

B2D - Lesson summary

For those of you wanting to do the further exercises on the photocopy from this week's first listening, click here for the glossary.

The second listening we did was an exercise in note-taking rather than question-answering.

Finally, here is the link to the video I mentioned about the body language of ...feet!

Culture Call

The next Culture Call session will be this Thursday (CLA room 1, 12.00 – 13.00) - "the more, the merrier" as we say in English! Those present at last Thursday's session decided on the theme of gender equality, discrimination, etc. as the theme for the next session – start thinking about your opinions in preparation for next week; I'm looking forward to seeing you on Thursday.

B1a - weekly update

Here are some of the main points from this week. We've been working on the advantages of city life and life in the country (remember – you need to study comparatives and superlatives on your own if you feel you have some problems with them. If there are any difficulties – come to ask in 'ricevimento'.). We worked on the 2^nd and 3^rd conditionals, looking at units 38, 39 and 40 from the grammar book (as always, please finish the exercises and check your answers).

We did some reading work and grammar exercises, focused on linking words for essay writing and also did a written composition. We looked briefly at points from units 84 and 90 in the grammar book, and these should be studied at home. Units 57, 65, 66, 67 & 68 of your vocabulary books should also be useful in writing the essay about life in London that you should hand in this week.

B2c - weekly update

Here are the main points from class this week. We were speaking about how 'Made in Italy' sells products in Britain (Britain being a nation which is pretty much in love with the idea of the Italian lifestyle!) and focused on the passive form of verbs. We also did some comprehension work relating to the book of short stories. We began doing a past exam reading comprehension in class (for those of you who took it home to finish, please remember to send/bring it back to me for correction) and to do one of the composition questions from the same test. For those not present in class on Thursday, please do a past reading/writing test and send/bring it to me for correction.

Remember to finish reading unit 8 in the grammar book (and please do bring your grammar books and 'dispensa' to class next week – we'll finish looking at causatives and get, among other things). Please also continue studying the grammar programme.

I didn't get a chance to give you this composition title in class, but please try to do it for the start of week 6:

“A nation's identity is in large part a result of its traditions, its typical customs and products – which are known around the world. It is said that the characteristics of national identity could be theatened by globalisation and mass production. Express your own opinion on this matter, giving examples regarding your own country.”

Last week we didn't get a chance to look at the newspaper stories that you had prepared, because of the reading comprehension that we did in class – we will, however, be looking at your newspaper stories tomorrow (Monday) – I haven't forgotten.

B2d - weekly update

This week the main theme was work and looking for a job. The first exercise that we did in class this week was a past listening exam, we also worked on this video about a careers fair at Cardiff University in Wales. It was a more difficult listening exercise than usual – but the results were much better than your worried expressions had led me to believe – well done.

C1a - weekly update

Here are some of the main points from this week. We worked on comprehension questions regarding the short stories, we refreshed indirect questions, looked at more complex forms of passives and did some job interview simulations. We also worked on a past exam reading comprehension (for those of you who took it home to finish, please remember to e-mail it to me this week – and also to do, and send me, the written composition of the same test.). For students not present at that lesson, please do one of the past reading comprehensions/compositions and send me it a.s.a.p. (as soon as possible).

Other than your independent study, you should also be looking at units 21 and 24 in the grammar book and in preparation for next week you should also read the Economist Debate article about democracy and the Internet (see 'dispensa'). Highlight the general terms used in this article which you believe would be suitable for essay writing on any theme. Understand the basic argument presented in the for and the against texts for discussion in class.

As promised, I have been in contact with the local newspaper various times, in the hope that we could set up some kind of writing project with them – unfortunately I'm afraid that the outcome is that it won't be possible, as only student-journalists can write for the paper.

B2c - extra lesson

As mentioned in class, we have an extra lesson to make up for the lesson we missed when it snowed a few weeks ago.

Extra lesson:

Friday (1st April), 14.00 - 15.00, room 6 (CLA).

C1a - extra lesson

As mentioned in class, we have an extra lesson this Friday to make up for the lesson we missed when it snowed a few weeks ago.

Extra lesson:

Friday (25th March), 14.00 - 15.00, room 6 (CLA).

'Office hours' - change of time

A quick message to let you know that my office hours have changed slightly.

The new times are:

Mondays, 17.00 - 18.00 (CLA)

Tuesdays, 13.00 - 14.00 (CLA)

All - reminders

Hello to all of you, I hope you're having a good weekend in this spring-time sunshine that is finally appearing! Just a quick reminder of a few important points that have already been mentioned in class over the past few weeks.

As I mentioned in most groups at the start of this semester – this semester we will be focusing a little less on our grammar programme, in order to dedicate necessary time to writing, writing styles, conversation, etc. (which are all essential skills to be acquired for your end of year exam and very importantly for your English in general). As I said at the start of the semester, however, this means that you must continue working on the grammar programme a little more at home. Some grammar points (the more difficult ones) will obviously be covered in class, and some I will assign for homework – but please be certain that, in general, you continue working on the grammar programme independently too. If you have any difficulties or doubts with any of the material you study, let me know as soon as possible.

Please remember, also, that as I've been saying since semester 1, you must continue reading the short stories. They're good reading practice, an excellent source of new terminology, a taster of different English authors and helpful in giving ideas about writing too. Remember that for your oral exam you should choose at least 4 of the short stories ( you may be asked to speak about one or two of them).

The written composition is 25% of your 'written exam' grade but writing skills are obviously important in the reading comprehension too (another 25%), which is why we're giving more attention to writing this semester. Please don't overlook the importance of good writing skills – which come from practising your writing. Some people are handing in lots and lots of written assignements (that's great) but unfortunately in some cases I've seen very little of your written work – don't wait until the end of the year to start practising – using a language well is like playing a musical instrument, driving a car or playing a sport well – we need to practise constantly in order to become really good and obtain positive results. Don't forget that when you hand in written work you should also ask for it back (the corrections and comments are there to help you, not for me).

As always – if you have any doubts, suggestions, comments ...whatever – please let me know – 'I'm all ears' as we say in English! Don't leave problems until the end of the year, when it's difficult to resolve them – if in doubt, give a shout – in class, in the comments section of the blog, via e-mail, in office hours.

Okay – the final point (this post is already getting too long!) - after the poll closed and your votes were registered – we'll be meeting every Thursday this semester from 12.00 – 13.00 in room 1, CLA. All English students from the Language Faculty (whatever level) are welcome – at least until the room is full.

Have a good weekend!

B1a - weekly update

Hi folks, here's your weekly summary. The main points we focused on this week were should, ought to, it's time..., must & can't (to express beliefs about certainties and impossibilities). We also spoke about on-line sales and tried some exercises from the first past exam paper in the 'dispensa' (some grammar exercises and the reading comprehension) and did some comprehension questions relating to the short story 'William and Mary'.

For next week you should also:

• do the composition from the first past exam paper of the 'dispensa';

• do the exercises relating to the units we studied in class;

• study units 37 and 64 of the grammar book independently (if you have any difficulties or doubts, then let me know as soon as possible);

• continue reading the short stories.

B2c - weekly update

Hi folks, here's the week's brief summary. We only had one lesson this week, due to the national holiday on 17^th March. We continued looking at reported speech, we did work relating to the topic of the British Press (newspapers).

For next week, please do (at least) the following:

• Read 'The Country of the Blind' (if you haven't already);

• Find a newspaper article that you're interested in speaking about and be prepared to speak about it in class next week;

• Do the exercises related to reported speech (I'll bring some more to class if anyone wants extra practice);

• Continue reviewing and studying the grammar programme (look especially at unit 8, which is one of the next grammar points we'll be looking at together).

B2d - weekly update

Hi folks, here's the brief weekly summary. As you've been working well, this week we took a break from more standard exercises and watched a film – 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' with Hugh Grant. I hope you enjoyed it (I was happy to hear your laughter in response to our strange English sense of humour!). Remember that watching films in English is another excellent form of listening practice. Perhaps choose films that you've already seen (and enjoyed) in Italian, that way it's easier and more pleasurable to watch them in English.

As promised, I prepared a list of interesting vocabulary taken from the film we watched this week. Click this link to download the pdf.

If you were in class this week, try writing a brief summary of the film plot, and a brief character description of one of the characters in the film that you liked the most. You can e-mail this work to me, or bring it next lesson.

C1a - weekly update

Hi folks, here's your weekly update with work to be done, and information about the extra lesson we have next week.

This week we did some speaking and writing focusing on the Erasmus experience and writing a first draft of an advice letter. We also spoke about metaphors (metaphors, extended metaphors, dead metaphors), similes and personification. Tuesday's lesson was dedicated to group conversation – discussing leadership (necessary qualities, men and women as leaders, memorable leaders from the past and present).

We were meant to work on the short stories that you should have read for last week, but as most students hadn't prepared them, we were unable to do that. No excuses next week – we WILL be working on those short stories, so please prepare them in time for Monday's lesson.

At the start of this semester I mentioned that in semester 2 we will be focusing less on grammar (in class) in order to focus more on other aspects of our course (including conversation, short stories, written work, writing styles etc. which are equally important for the final exam) - the efficiency of this does, however, depend on various factors (as I mentioned at the start of the semester) – you must continue reviewing and studying your course grammar syllabus (given last semester ) independently - you're at a good level, so this shouldn't be a problem – but if there are problems – you MUST let me know immediately (no problem at all); it's important that you prepare work on time (for example, working on the short stories only works if everyone has read them in advance); you really should do the written assignments regularly (working on the quality of your written work is essential preparation both for the end of year exam, and for your English in general). As regards general conversation, I have ideas, but if you have suggestions for other topics, by all means let me know – I welcome all comments and feedback!

The work to be done for next week includes:

• finish reading the short stories that should have been prepared for last week;

• think about your qualities and weaknesses (next week in the conversation section of class we're going to be speaking about job interviews and your CV);

• continue to review the grammar programme;

• do the first past exam that is included in your 'dispensa'

Please remember that next Friday 14.00 – 15.00 we will have an extra lesson (to make up the lesson we missed a couple of weeks ago when there was bad snow). As soon as I know the room, I'll let you know.

Ricevimento - office hours - semester 2, module 1

This module my office hours are as follows:

Mondays, 17.00 - 18.00, CLA staffroom
&
Thursdays, 13.00 - 14.00, CLA staffroom.

Culture Call - fixed time

Okay folks, we finally have a set time for Culture Call - Thursdays from 12.00 to 13.00, room 1 at CLA - the more the merrier! There'll be no group this week as it's 17th March, so our next session will be on 24th March - looking forward to it!

B1a - extra lesson this Friday

Hi guys, a quick message to let you know that this Friday (18th March) we will have an extra lesson at CLA to make up for the lesson we missed when it snowed. Please come along - the lesson will be on Friday from 14.00 to 16.00.

See you in class tomorrow.

C1a - weekly summary (and writing idea)

So far this semester (weeks one and two) the main points we've looked at are:

• Formal writing

• Academic writing (guidelines and useful terminology)

• Essay plans

• For / against essays

• Conversation practice for oral 'accertamento' exam

• Reading and creating summary headings (students wishing to do the comprehension questions relating to the 'Women's Day' article should send me an e-mail.

As I mentioned in class last Tuesday, I'm contacting some local town-based newspapers to ask if we could perhaps publish some of your articles – these would obviously be articles in English written with Erasmus students and the town's international community in mind. I think it would be a great idea because you are all very good English speakers (so you wouldn't have any great difficulty) and you deserve to be able to put such good English to good use in such a way! What do you think? All C1a students who come to class and are interested – please let me know!

For week three you should:

• Read and prepare the following short stories (if you haven't already)

  1^st years – 'William and Mary'

  2^nd years – 'The Country of the Blind'

• Study the units

• Finish the essays that you were working on and hand them in.

• Here are two essay titles based on the article we read in class (and the subsequent discussions we had) - choose one of them to write about (1st years 200 words, 2nd years 250 words):

  a) - In theory modern society treats men and women equally. In reality while some people believe this to be the case, others argue that such equality does not yet exist. Discuss some of these arguments and state your opinion.

  b) - The article speaks about the 'glass ceiling' which women often find in the workplace. Is this the case in Italy? How can such problems be overcome?

Important – please remember that the 'weekly summary' is a brief overview of only some of the main points covered in class and is not to be considered as a way of substituting coming to class. Please remember also that certain materials are covered in class, but you are also responsible for independent study in order to cover all areas of the course programme. Also don't forget that it is essential that you practise your English (reading, writing, speaking and listening) on a regular basis – outside of class as well as in class – in order to aim for good results.

B2d - weekly update

So far this semester (weeks one and two) the main points we've looked at are:

• Listening exercises relating to topics including travel and holidays, voluntary work, The Simpsons, working as a taxi driver in New York.

Elements we have also focused on include:

• American accents

• Ways to interrupt a speaker (formal and informal contexts)

Important – please remember that the 'weekly summary' is a brief overview of only some of the main points covered in class and is not to be considered as a way of substituting coming to class. Please remember also that certain materials are covered in class, but you are also responsible for independent study in order to cover all areas of the course programme. Also don't forget that it is essential that you practise your English (reading, writing, speaking and listening) on a regular basis – outside of class as well as in class – in order to aim for good results.

B2c - weekly update

So far this semester (weeks one and two) the main points we've looked at are:

• Cleft sentences

• Formal writing

• Academic writing

• Essay plans

• New technologies

• Debating (for/against)

• Reported speech

For week three you should:

• Study (again) the units in your grammar book relating to modal verbs

• Study the unit referring to reported speech (including doing the exercises)

• Read and prepare the short story 'The Country of the Blind' (if you haven't already done so)

• Finish (and hand in) the essays that you have been working on

• Bring the new 'dispensa' to class

Important – please remember that the 'weekly summary' is a brief overview of only some of the main points covered in class and is not to be considered as a way of substituting coming to class. Please remember also that certain materials are covered in class, but you are also responsible for independent study in order to cover all areas of the course programme. Also don't forget that it is essential that you practise your English (reading, writing, speaking and listening) on a regular basis – outside of class as well as in class – in order to aim for good results.

B1a - weekly update

So far this semester (weeks one and two) the main points we've looked at are:

• Formal writing

• Academic writing

• Essay plans

• Zero conditionals

• First conditionals

• Should

• Environment/recycling/pollution

For week three you should:

• Read and prepare the short story 'William and Mary ' (if you haven't already)

• Study zero and first conditionals and do at least these exercises

• Study 'should' and do the related exercises

• English Vocabulary in Use – Units 43, 44 & 88

• Finish the essay you began working on in week one and hand it in to me

• Read units 26 and 27 of your grammar book

• Bring the dispensa (as well as your books) to class.

Important – please remember that the 'weekly summary' is a brief overview of only some of the main points covered in class and is not to be considered as a way of substituting coming to class. Please remember also that certain materials are covered in class, but you are also responsible for independent study in order to cover all areas of the course programme. Also don't forget that it is essential that you practise your English (reading, writing, speaking and listening) on a regular basis – outside of class as well as in class – in order to aim for good results.

C1a - timetable problems

Next week the timetable will remain the same as this week because of the problems underlined in my previous post. Please attend class when you can. I will evaluate the situation again next week.

Weekly updates for all levels will follow this weekend.

Culture Call - new timetable?

I'm ever so pleased that Culture Call has finally 'taken off' - today we had our first session and there were 10 of us. It was good to see those of you who came, and it was interesting to hear the ideas you were coming up with - good work! Let's not stop here - Culture Call will be a weekly event this semester.

What are we going to talk about? You gave me lots of suggestions today, but keep the suggestions coming - let me know your ideas (because from now on I won't be suggesting anything - you will be suggesting all our topics).

For next week's session we are going to combine two of the suggestions which were 'love affairs' and 'social networks' ...Yesterday I read in the newspaper that Facebook is now the main cause of divorce in the USA (worrying!) and so let's combine your two suggestions - 'love affairs' and 'social networks' and see what comes out next week. There's no need to do anything specific in preparation, just think about these themes and start pondering your ideas so that you have points of view and opinions to speak about next week.

Unfortunately next week's Culture Call session cannot be on Monday (as most people preferred) because the day before our poll closed the timetable changed and now I have class at that time. So, we'll have a very brief mini-poll - you have until Monday to decide:

Which time would you prefer for Culture Call?

Thursdays from 12.00 - 13.00

or

Thursdays from 1300 - 14.00

...VOTE NOW in the new poll on the left. Updates at the start of next week...

C1a - timetable problems

I did say that I would listen to your requests regarding the C1a timetable and then make a decision about what to do. You wrote your names down in class, telling me which days/times were difficult for you in order for me to choose a time which was suitable for as many people as possible. I trusted that this would be a reliable method for understanding how best to structure the timetable to suit you (and this is why we dedicated 20 minutes of our lesson to trying to sort out this problem).

At this point I must say that I'm rather perplexed. Let me explain:

...several of the students who said they would have trouble coming to class on Tuesdays from 18.00 to 19.00 actually came to yesterday's class (but that's not so terrible, I was very pleased to see those who came);

...several of the students who expressed no difficulties in attending class on Tuesdays from 18.00 to 19.00 didn't come to class yesterday (which is certainly very disappointing).

I'm sure it isn't difficult for you to imagine that given this situation it isn't at all easy for me to understand how best to proceed with the timetable and I will have to ponder this some more before coming to a decision.

Please keep checking for timetable information to be announced by the end of this week.

2ND YEAR - 'dispensa'

A brief 'dispensa' of notes is now available for my 2nd year students. Please click this link to access the pdf file. Alternatively you can obtain a copy at CLA.

1ST YEAR - 'dispensa'

A brief 'dispensa' of notes is now available for my 1st year students. Please click this link to access the pdf file. The dispensa can alternatively be found at CLA.

ALL - 'Ricevimento' (office hours) this week

At the moment there's not a set weekly timetable for 'ricevimento' (office hours) as the timetable may need to be changed. From next week we should have a set time. If you need to come to speak with me this week, I'll be available in the CLA staffroom:

Today (Monday) from 17.00 - 17.45

Tomorrow (Tuesday) from 13.00 - 14.00

ALL - 'Culture Call' - timetable problems

Unfortunately, due to the timetable change, the most popular times for 'Culture Call' have been taken by lessons I have. But 'Culture Call' will still go ahead!

For next week the 'Culture Call' group will meet on Thursday at 12.oo, room 1 at CLA. When we're all together we'll speak about a set time for the following weeks.

If you have any suggestions of topics to speak about in the first session, please leave a comment in the comments section below (or if you're having trouble leaving a comment, then send me an e-mail).

ALL - Weekly summaries and timetable information

As there were problems this week (due to the snow) I'll be adding this week's 'weekly summary' to next week's and publishing it all at the end of next week.

The timetable was modified on Wednesday - this affects some groups, so please check carefully where/when we have class.

If you still have problems with the timetable it is essential that you send an e-mail as soon as possible to both Dott.ssa Ferrara and myself, telling us which lesson clashes with ours, and telling us approximately how many students have the same problem as you.

Please come to class next week, as we will dedicate the first part of our lessons to speaking together to try to find alternative lesson times that can suit as many people as possible.

Thanks, see you next week.

ALL - Written work

A quick message to let you know that I have now begun sending out e-mails with the written work that many students sent me over the inter-semester break. It's taking quite a while, because most people sent me their work in the last week or two before the 2nd semester, so I have a lot to correct. If you don't hear from me immediately - don't worry. I'm sending back your compositions via e-mail, but I'll be printing out your grammar tests, marking them and bringing them back to class.

As I said, many students sent me some of the work that was assigned to do between the two semesters. Many other students, unfortunately, haven't given me any work as yet. As I mentioned in class last week, the deadline for giving me such work was today. Some people haven't given me any work, which is worrying - it's worrying because you have a written English exam to do May, and you need practice - writing well in English is not something that happens with a little magic, but with the necessary preparation and over time. Please remember not to overlook your written work and remember to take responsibility for studying outside the classroom - it's in your own best interests.

Perhaps some of you haven't handed in work because of the snow this week... let's say that the case, and so the deadline for handing in your inter-semester work is therefore extended to next week (week two of the semester). After this time I'm afraid that I will not be accepting work done in that period.

NB - all groups - please bring your grammar books (and essay work from this week) to class next week.

ALL - snow

Have you seen how much snow is falling out there?

For students wanting to know about the University being open or closed due to snow, please check the homepage of the University - www.uniurb.it for further information.

Enjoy the snowball fights and snowman making!