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.