Announcements

Please, find some time to read my global assessment of levels and let me know what you think, if you kindly can.

Next week you will register for the June Orals. I’ll consider your preferences in terms of who with and do my best to make you all happy. The oral will be after the Written Exam and if Jefatura accepts our proposal, the info of the date will be published next Monday, and then when we finish our Registration to Oral sheet next week, they’ll publish the summoning times.

Mario will be summoned in “Convocatoria única” along with other absenteests/absentists unless he comes to class to register for the oral. I can’t accept registrations of people who do not come to me to register.

Remember to bring the Lexical Creativity workshop and the Functional Translation work next week, at least. Your LoM or “In class” list of items would be good for fitting comments here and there at plenary.

Remember to read the Guía before we part, to pose questions in class because I’m a more reliable source for answers than whatsapp groups, particularly if they panic. Don’t feel bad if I mention things like these because they occur. That’s why I mention them! 😀

About the adaptation for the listening exam, Karen, you will be doing your listening test at the same time as your classmates but in a different room, so we make sure have the perfect situation to take your test.

Please, keep practicing mutual support as you do, to help control fear, and overcome this terrible growth-preventer which is Exam Culture. Did you see the news today? About something our methodology works on? About the fact that the future (and this present time) is all about knowing how to learn? I suggested my School to get some of these books to have a look: http://www.arcix.net/tienda In case you’re interested. If you find articles on this topic, please, share.

Remember the C1 Materials blog has articles and stuff, too, posted and on the pages. If you feel insecure with vocabulary in reading materials, use this blogs or any source of articles to do tons of reading (not tons of looking up words, although you can look up some; but find a balance in training for global understanding too)

Next Friday 19 the School will be open and offering all kinds of activities in the different classrooms. When the program is published, please, have a look in case you find any of those interesting. I do hpe that you can have a look at our 25 Anniversary Multimedia Magazine, which will be presented this day or possibly later on. The evening of May 19 we’ll also go out for dinner. I think none of you is coming, but if you were interested, you would have to bring 29 euros on Monday and give them to Ana.

Well, in general, make sure you check out Novedades on the School’s website hereon! There’s tons of info coming!

Have a wonderful ever-learning weekend! ❤

Come on, people, go for it! and some thoughts

Lucía enjoyed this post on the 2015-2016 C1 course year, so I’m reblogging it for you all! Thanks, Lucía!

Michelle Ford's 2015-16 C1 Course Blog - EOI Fuengirola (state-run language education)

Tip about Making your Language Range Richer. I was thinking that the key for identifiying C1’s is not so much we use a specific C1 itembut that we use VARIED language items, that’s why I mentioned varied tenses, varied modals, modifiers, different kinds of clauses, possessives, plurals, all the diversity that C1 users of a language can produce quite naturally. And paraphrasing is typical in natives, right? I mean, we say something and then say it again in a different way. Just notice how you speak Spanish, what you do with language.

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goforitIf you want your certificate this year, don’t fret, just work harder now and go for it! It’s possible for people whose level is not clearly a C1. It’s always possible to achieve something that seems hard to achieve, against all odds, too! As a teacher, I’ve often witnessed that, and knowing…

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On the Tray with your checked work

Today I found C1 checked assignments in the tray for Básico checked assignments, and it seems people or somebody put them there by mistake, but I also presume the students might have understood they had to give it back to me, which is not the case. It’s for you, OK? When I asked you all to bring your “In class” notes I meant, to say out loud in class for plenary commentary, OK? Please, remember the trays are just for me handing you your work back, and that any new work should be left on my desk, not on the tray. Thanks! 🙂

(Edited) Drunk teacher evaluating students! (Demented laughter)

Nobody asked, I know. But a lovely dinner with the one you love and some wine has catapulted me to unknown territories, so I’m about to risk making everybody feel I said too little, or I did not say much, or anything useful, or new. It should not sound new to you, for certain. After all, I’ve been giving you feedback all the way, haven’t I?

Tipsy as I am, let me make a very global assessment of where I think you all stand at the moment. Remember that the truth is that levels can go up and down in amazing ways, all depending on how much we use the language and the range of different kinds of oral and written texts we use. If you feel I should change or delete something, feel free to tell me!

My Evaluation of your English

In my view there’re some people who are clearly in the consolidated C1 level at the speaking level, which is key for me: Dessi, Lucía, Karen, Marta, Sonia, Soluna, Romina, Mario, Cristina R, Isabel. Lucía & Karen, you have made great progress from what I know from your English. Karen I think you learned a lot about academic matters, like textual structure. Keep it up! And thanks for all the work you did to keep us in shape! Lucía has been key for me in the hardest part of the course, when she shared all her love for the language and Ireland, and lighted up our classroom. Isabel you make mistakes at times, but your fluency and relationship to English is so positive and wonderful. Marta, Soluna, Romina, Cristina R speak amazing English and I’m very grateful to the work Soluna, Romina, Sonia and Marta shared with us and particularly touched and encouraged by the fact they found some use in our course here. ❤ Germán’s work throughout the course has been impressive. What I think you can improve is flying, walking those fields you might feel more uncomfortable or insecure in. I think you would grow even more. But it might not be a good idea. I’m not pushing for that, OK? People are a mystery to me! Sergio’s English is amazing, his way of approaching subjects is thorough in different ways. Silences are an area you could work in, though! Because we live in this kind of world. But on the other hand, why should you? It’s nice to hear silence when people speak. And it would be nicer if we were not thinking about time limits! 😀 ❤ Emilia and Lorena are there, too. Emilia you can learn more and more and I’m sure you will. Listen and repeat to useful language so you are more resourceful in conversations. You are! You are! But sometimes you can’t find the words for very everyday messages, and that can be fixed by watching TV series, for instance. I love your pace, and tranquility, your very positive relationship to learning and English. How no exam is going to have an impact on your relationship to English. ❤ Lorena needs to work — and has, and has made progress — on avoiding fossilized mistakes, or pay more attention to grammar in her weak points as she listens, to make her production more regular, because your fluency and resourcefullness is amazing, really. Dolores and María José are there too. Dolores you have made amazing English-speaking progress in your English, you’ve made good progress on structural matters too, you’ve balanced your level in the four skills. You’re so sensitive to noticing language, like Sonia, and your work has been relevant so you’re reaping the fruits now. Maria José has lots of vocabulary and great resourcefulness too. But your risk is too much translating from Spanish at times, which results in not sounding as natural in their use of language. I think you would profit from “copying” English from natives (useful language, so to put it) because your spontaneity and confidence would bloom. Cristina B, you’re there too. I wouldn’t mind having you next year. I think you would love it and learn much more. Because it’s all very recent and if you don’t keep it up you will fall back to the B2 level fast. But I think if you pass, you will keep your level up, because you have experienced the progress your good work help you make, alongside the trip.

Clara hopefully will be passing her tests, but your speaking needs more work to match the quality of her astounding writing. Your work has been wonderful and I hope to find the time to publish what you sent because lots of people will find it useful.

By the way, if you all send me stuff for publication, or better still, post it here, I hope to be publishing it on TP at some point.

I think that Gema, Encarni, Luz and Marina need another year to learn some things I think they can learn and use for making their English much better. But Gema and Luz have good chances to pass and hopefully will. I’m just saying this because your progress is too fresh and as I mentioned above when I spoke to Cristina B, if you don’t continue working, in a different way, too, you could stagnate in a kind of academic approach that would prevent you from learning all you can actually learn. So when you pass, remember you need to work with your English more in the lines I describe in the C1 Resource Pack and not so much doing textbook exercises. Move beyond their learning style and work to enter the arena this course encourages, that allows people to make their use of the language a more natural occurrence, where it’s more important what we learn that the language itself, and draws you away from the “exercise” kind of approach (where the exercise is more important that actual communication), that moves most people at the advanced level away from consolidating their love for the language. In any case, I think you can pass the tests, and Luz you have certainly made progress in your writing! I’m looking forward to hearing you speak!

I don’t know much about Encarni, right? But I think what I say to Gema and Luz might be of use.

And about Marina, well, I’ve already mentioned it in class. I think you’ve learned a lot. You could learn much more, and enjoy your use of English longer, because your approach is evolving and very positive, and you have some more to discover. But again, if you pass, I won’t be any kind of obstacle in your way! 😀

Now — has all this got anything to do with who will pass? Mostly not. Exam taking in societies where people still trust more Exam culture than Lifelong learning is a very destructive thing, like an oracle. You never know what will happen. I’ve seen people with a consolidated advanced level having to come in September to take one part of the exam they failed because they could not control their fear, mostly due to severe traumas at school. And I’ve seen people who did not have an advanced level yet, not a consolidated one, I mean, but who worked really hard, pass with flying colours. When the head of studies asked me what’s your estimate of how many people will take the course again next year? I said 1/3 in C1 and 1/2 in C1 CAL (2 absentists/absenteests, hahaha, in each group), because the statistics in Euskadi, the only ones we have from other schools, say a 17% pass but in our school they’re better, which is not to say anything about anyone because I don’t believe in the exam system, but which explains I have given an estimate which might be totally wrong, because you might all pass, like people last year (between now and September). Last year, from the people following the course, only 1 person failed, and that was because she decided not to take some of the tests.

Well, let me know what you think about this post. Do you think it was a bad idea?

Diary for Wed May 10, & two amazing OPs!

Today more people booked for the speaking test practice:

  • Mon May 15: Germán & Luz (2), Lorena & Soluna (6).
  • Wed May 17: Emilia & Mariajosé (1).
  • Mon May 22: Sergio, Lucía & Karen (8); Marta, Dolores & Cristina (9).

I ran out of tests and Isabel came, so she will be selecting a test on the Junta’s website and next Monday I’ll be asking you all if somebody would like to do it with her. You can also contact her and talk about it. Particularly if you’re someone who wants to practice twice this kind of format.

Transcriptions. We worked on News Extracts #3 and #7. And reviewed some language items. Sonia and Germán kindly took it all down on the whiteboard. Cristina and Marina shared their mistakes. I hope that when you’re lifelong learners you practice this kind of training, to consolidate your level and expand your knowledge of the language. I do it every year. I’ll post my transcript of all next week, in case people want to practice some more. (If I forget let me know.)

OPs. Well, I have to say I was very impressed with Romina’s and Sergio’s work. How wonderful it is when people are not afraid of language, but curious about it! I’m also grateful I was allowed to videoshoot, so we can show the world and share good work.

Here I’d like to do something I never do because students never ask. I always say that when I have enough info on people’s work, I am able to say whether they are in the C1 fringe or not yet, or what kind of consolidation stage they’re in. I’m considering saying it now, because I trust you all. It’s been a wonderful learning year. I know we always feel we could’ve done more, but the truth most of the times, when we care, or love what we choose to do, we do what we can, and as Audre Lorde says, “What else can you ask?” It’s precious. I’m very happy with people’s learning in spite of us all wanting to reach for the moon. One year is far too little, in my view. If we could only spend two years together, what difference it’d make in our learning and lives, and in the transformation of learning patterns! But we must make do. Life’s that way. The most important thing is we don’t waste our lives in negative things, developing, consolidating negative patters; we learn to respect ourselves because this is key to respect others. It’s important to learn to respect learning processes, to learn to grow in positive ways, not destructively, as mainstream society teaches. From my feminist viewpoint, I can’t imagine I would have had greater chances of working on all of this before my time, or in many other places of the world, because women have been locked up with and without their consent, and undervalued & underestimated. Not that men’s lives have been much better, particularly good men. But for women’s case, the oppression has been taken for granted, considered natural, logical, all of that bullshit, and we’re starting to challenge all that from within. To illustrate I know I’m valuable as a thinker, as a teacher, as an activist, but keep considering I’m good for nothing — though time plays in my favor, in our favor. As you grow older you are less easily tricked, even by your own culturally learned traps. I’m saying this because I understand what we tend to feel in the face of exams. But I’m asking you to control your fear and be loyal to a love of learning, to protecting your curiosity and good work. What you learned this year should be evaluated in complex ways, not by an exam mark. And you should protect it and not betray it. Interactive courses are about sharing and communicating, not so much about getting good marks in exercises. Interaction changes our world view and our views of who we are, who people are, and how we can relate. I hope you understand what I mean, and feel free to comment freely. I know I’ve got a strong character and a kind of teacher’s pride that may seem threatening at times, but I’m an extraordinary listener, and treasure what people bring to my life.

In this sense I’d like to comment Romina’s performance. I don’t like the word, but I’m very respectful to the concept, not the religious concept, the human idea of “being humble”. I think we can all learn from this kind of being humble because it’s so constructive, so not typical. It’s the kind of being humble that I have found in life among people I considered very intelligent: empathy and rationality, a love for what one is doing, an interest in it, with some regret but where that regret cannot overshadow the love for learning.

Overshadow is the kind of word we will be considering in our Lexical Creativity workshop next Monday and Wednesday, so please, print the notes if you can.

I just lost my thread. Anyway, I’m kind of tipsy because my sweet love made an Empanada Gallega, a kind of savory pastry from Galicia, and my all-time favs, gambas al ajillo, something like praws with a slight garlic taste, and I had some white wine to go along, so I’m perhaps more than tipsy right now —

Well, I’m happy and proud of the work you did, and the work you shared, and this includes all of you and I’m not lying or exaggerating.

And I’m very grateful for the videos. For me, that’s like the best present I can ever get. I’m shy for other kinds of expressions of affection, or gratitude. Videos are my thing, really! 😀 I think the videos we’re sharing are full of all kinds of things that can help a wide variety of people learn. If we could videoshoot some speaking test practice performances, that’d really be orgasmic, and groundbreaking, I think, because I haven’t found this kind of thing for EEOOII (Spanish public language schools for adults), only for Cambridge tests. And our format and requirements are somewhat different, more demanding in terms of textual structure and, true, we need to change this, grammar accuracy.

You might enjoy watching performances for different levels in Europe and tell me what you think, as compared to the feedback we give you on the same kind of exercise. Here: http://eoifuengirola.es/certificaciones-1. Path: scroll down till you see this text: “Para  consultar vídeos de producciones orales en diferentes idiomas de los niveles del Marco Común de Referencia Europeo: aquí”.

So…

My Evaluation of your English next

Will you share with 2017-18 learners?

Dear all, I’m exploring here. I thought you might want to share something about your experience this year with new students next year. Have a look at this, and tell me what you think. I can change it or delete it, of course, and any posting on your part would be precious, I believe! ❤ If you are interested, if you like, you could post once you finish your exams, but also now, of course. Whatever!

My idea is if you can post things that could help other learners to make the most of this course and their learning year as a whole.

https://c1coursebymf2017.wordpress.com/words-by-2016-17-learners/

Diary for Mon May 8 – wow!

Well, today it was amazing to see everybody in class, almost! It’s true all of the people coming have been following this course this year, some more regularly, some as they managed to fit it into their lives, but I haven’t seen all of you together since the beginning of the course! So thanks for coming! So there might be hope some day. Perhaps some day we’ll manage to have most people coming every day, regular work being fundamental for small groups and workshops and stuff.

So thanks for this present!

Today I finished giving out all the Speaking Tests of that year. And two groups have already booked dates for their performance. Come to me to book, after the lesson. We can have 4 groups every day.

We learned/learnt Mario will join us, and I reminded people we’ll be creating the pairs and groups of three next weekish, I believe, for final registration to the June orals.

When I asked, just 5 people had worked on transcriptions of the news extracts, so we had to make do and exploit the activity some other way. We did the oral transcription of the example (financial crisis) and reviewed some language questions, mostly to make our range richer and consider register.

Then we tackled the functional translation exercise and managed to do quite a few, with language work too as above.

Finally, I BEGGED people to transcribe a news item so that next day small groups can work together and interact on top of everything. After that lesson I’ll publish my transcription of all of the news items, OK?

And we agreed we would HAVE Romina’s OP at about 8.50 next day and Sergio’s would be before that.

I also gave back tons of written checked work and people handed in more work. Remember to check the tray next day.

I also asked for donations for our library, but I think people forgot, so please, remind me next day. I can bring the piggy bank and register next day for you all.

I reminded people to read this year’s Guía, because you would rather ask me than start up panicky messaging on your whatsapp group once the course is over! 😀

In case I forget, if you’ve read my notes on Dialogues, I’d like to do a listening/speaking activity on complaints for dialogues. I’ve got 19 copies, but I’ll risk it. 😀

Oh, I also borrowed Dessi’s mobile phone to take a picture of you all, well, a few, but then 3 more people arrived so we might try again next day. I recommend the two OPs we have, because one is on the language used in the news and the other on storytelling! ❤

See you soon!

Answer Key to 2016 Reading Test

Germán asked me to post the key, so that’s what I am going to do right now, considering we have lots of different things to do next day. If you have questions about the answers, please, post them here, so that everyone can see.

MY REQUEST is that you all tell me in class if you passed the 2016 listening test and the result of this reading too. As I need everybody’s marks and some people might need more time to do the reading, PLEASE, LET’S AGREE EVERYBODY TELLS ME THE TWO MARKS NEXT MON. (Caps for emphasis, not shouting!)

Task 1 1p 2i 3c 4f 5r 6k 7e 8b 9m 10j 11q 12a 13d 14o

Task 2 1c 2b 3b 4c 5a 6c 7a 8c

For Dessi, Lucía & anyone interested!

What a spectacular day today! 🙂 ❤ I keep forgetting to tell you this, so here goes.

If you are wanting to keep in touch with some kind of activity that allows you to use your English in different ways, keeping your level up and furthering your learning, and you know that it’s unlikely you can attend a course regularly, I have two ideas that you might be interested in.

As the School has a Sts’ Association, you could create a C1 Working Group where you would agree on monthly projects (reading club, film club, TV series, documentaries…) and you would meet for instance once a month after having worked on the project, like collecting useful language from a movie, and then when gathering also discussing the movie and whatever! It would be like what we’re trying to do here, but free from pressure!

Then, I need help with Talking People and everything, really. You could also consider doing something like that but with me, for Talking People. I’d need people who could browse a section on the site and tell me what to delete or modify or add, and we could communicate by email and then meet every now and then to design plans. I’m considering developing more projects, publishing more stuff (I published Stories from my Teacher as an ebook) or getting published stuff (with the School, though now I want to take a break and come back to my world because I’ve worked far too many extra hours for this School and I really need to stop that), so it’s a universe!

And we could connect both, too! 😀 (orgasmic!)

Then of course, we could organize the amazing project of Guest Speakers: you could prepare an OP every year to bring to our C1 Course and that could be an excuse to teamwork or stuff.

Then, supposing you wanted to use any of the materials I would interested in exploiting in class, you could be in a project designing listening, reading exercises for C1 students. I mean for free, like I do too, I mean, just for keeping in touch with English and learning!

If you think you would be interested in doing any of this, then my proposal is you take your tests, and if you pass, you’ll always have this! 😀 ❤ A way of keeping learning but independently and keeping in touch with a kind of progressist academic world where the most important thing is actually learning, expanding your world, learning about our world, and using your English in various ways!

This is the 2017-18 blog I’m drafting these days to remember things I need to improve and stuff!

https://c1coursebymf2017.wordpress.com/

If you have any comments or suggestions feel free to post!

Draft on our work on Exam Training – Is this what we did / are doing?

Exam Training Workshops (1 word page)

I haven’t been contacted for the possibility of me playing some past listening exercises in class for people who missed them, so I understand it won’t be today.

Anyway, I’ll be working in the classroom, tons to check and stuff. But if anyone is interested in this and drops by, perhaps we can establish what you want to do, so I can prepare it for another Friday? Or let me know in class next week, OK? Check out the page above!

(Edited) Diary for Wed May 3, C1 Pack Blues, homework & lesson plans

Today people kindly did a questionnaire on the Mediateque for the Head and because the two OPs were postponed, we also gave out some more Speaking Tests, and I explained how we will proceed in mid-May with registration for the Orals. I wonder if somebody knows whether the people not coming will be joining us in June, just for facilitating organization. But don’t worry because it’s OK if people come by surprise. It’s just to save copies and work out the orals (creating groups of three or not).

Then we did the June 2016 Listening test and I gave people the corresponding Reading and Writing Tests. (By the way, this Friday I’ll be in class from 4 to 8, so if people are interested in taking a listening test, you could come. Now, I’d have to look for stuff, or you could drop me a line with the info, cause I can’t remember what you wanted to do.) I thought people would want to evaluate their level, so I said they could do it timing themselves. For people more interested in using these tests for furthering their learning, I suggest the proceed like with the Speaking Tests you are preparing: have a look at the questions, read and listen on those topics, expand your vocabulary, review the theory on those kinds of writing tasks, gather ideas, knowledge, and then take the tests timing yourselves, too. Practice doing outlines too, and proofreading!, the before and after writing.

I forgot to ask you if you had passed this test, so please, let me know next day.

I also forgot to ask if anyone would like to donate 1€ and adopt a book! Incidentally, here is the brochure we’re presenting next Friday morning at the Education Fair (Expoeduca) in Málaga (Port 2, or something!) coed_diptico2017_conemail (4 A5 pages, to be printed in an A4 piece of paper so it looks like a leaflet, “díptico” in Spanish) It’s in Spanish because Coeducación uses this language to address the whole of our community and the general public. If you wish to translate it into English, that’ll be welcome! But first get in touch, because we could be changing the text, as I wrote this one for this ExpoEduca, a one-time thingy.

Last, I mentioned I was surprised by the fact that only 3 people in this course bought a copy of the C1 Resource Pack. I was told you had printed it. Well… I already knew, yes. You did so at the beginning of the course. Anyway, we’re in no economic trouble. So don’t worry.

For next week, we agreed our plans would be the following:

  • People bring their Functional Translation exercise and their transcription of the News Extracts, so that small groups can practice communicating for real purposes.
  • People bring their checked work to voice the “In class” notes I included, so we can review common mistakes to avoid.
  • We’ll have Romina’s and Sergio’s OP, if possible.

And on Wednesday…

  • we would work on morphology: using the Wordformation and Lexical Creativity workshop. Here is the page where you can download for free this amazing workshop: https://c1coursebymf.wordpress.com/creating-words/ Not as amazing as the work you’ll do in small groups. You’ll be surprised of how magical it is to create words together!
  • More on mistakes people made, if Gema and Encarni can make it to class, too. Or any other person’s, of course!
  • I would also like to watch an audiovisual, too, for subsequent discussion, and it could be something you suggested.

Homework:

  • Listen to radio program(me)s and use my podcast to improve your fluency and accuracy in useful language for speaking. I recommend the Communicative Strategies 1-3 episodes and generally speaking all the audios I have for advanced students.
  • Read the C1 Resource Pack, the cards on textual structure in dialogues and all of those on tests.
  • Consider the Writing File and whether you have questions on types of texts.
  • You should also read at some point the Guía PUC for students, the one they just published.

Lesson Plans Today & Your Pending Language Work
  • Two OPs that will be videoshot: Romina, on feminist fairy tales and Sergio (welcome to our blog! Better late than never! 😀 ❤ ) on language in the news
  • People adopting a book in support of our Education for Equality library (1 euro) – voluntary, obviously!
  • Listening PUC exam June 2016 + reading and writing tests too for further practice at home.
  • (After lesson) Pairs or groups of three come to get their Speaking Tests, if they like. I’m moving it here but we could do it in class if time allowed today. Otherwise, we can do it next week.

ABOUT MY CORRECTIONS AND YOUR UL WORK. I have language and textual comments to bring up in class from the pieces I checked this week, so if today we don’t have the time for that, I’m asking people with “In class” scribbled in their work to bring it to class next week. The problem here is when people miss the lesson, so I’d ask them to please post my “In class” points on this blog, so we can all learn about them. For instance, as so many people misused “due to” I suggested they gather useful language on the use of “due to” and related connectors and share that in class or on the blog, moment when I would give a final comment, to help you fix that in your mind, too. At the advanced level it’s best to have students do some work before the teacher repeats the theory, so that is why my work is dependent on your work, OK? But as it is complicated to have people do this (I really need to improve this for next year), I’ll tell you now about this item, but just the theory won’t help you overcome the fossilized mistake, but anyway!: “due to” CANNOT be followed by a Subject and a Verb, only noun phrases and -ing forms: “Due to strong winds” (because of strong winds, “because of” = cause), “Due to underfunding”. Most often, people making this mistake mean “because” (reason, not “because of”), as in “Because the winds were strong”, “Because the sector is underfunded”). Yes, you can say “Due to THE FACT THAT”. Actually, THE FACT THAT is what allows us to add a S + V (“that” introducing a clause with a personal form of the verb).

I thought you would arrange a date for bringing your Language Work of this kind? Well, feel free to do so. I can give you some time for sharing in small groups and listing things, and then we can have a plenary. Please, let me know so I can announce the lesson plan for that, OK? People who know how to use items other people misuse could also practice explaining that, and offering their examples. The more you use your English for different purposes, the better your English will get! 🙂 ❤

 

Instragram using terms

Related to the video “Who owns your data?” I posted yesterday (see Who owns your data?), here you have a pic of some of the using terms of the app Instagram. Please take a look at it. Maybe if we read the terms before accepting them, we won’t use the app!!

It’s got interesting vocabulary about contracts, terms, conditions… as well.

Which one do you think is the less acceptable?

Captura de pantalla 2017-05-01 a las 13.13.20

Who owns your data?

Hi everyone!!! I would like to share with all of you a video I found on Youtube today about our online data. I think it’s really interesting to know this issue, that’s becoming a real one, better. Moreover, it has useful vocabulary and expressions about internet, digital world, digital data, big companies, apps, cookies…

Hope you enjoy it!!!!

PS: on How to use the Oral Exam Assignment

When you get your Speaking Test card (Modelo ___ [un número], Candidata/o ___ [A, B, C]) the idea is that for a week you listen and read on the topic, to gather knowledge, useful language, and expand, thus, your knowledge…

Then, sit and prepare the mon one day, using an outline to complement your speaking test card (you can use both things in the actual exam), and practice speaking while timing yourself. Adjust ideas, wording. Make your range richer. DON’T WRITE DOWN YOUR MONOLOGUE PLEASE! You can only jot down Useful language, not the actual monologue.

For the dialogue, please, consider language functions. Check out my cards where that is explained. Check out my card on Structure in Dialogues, and use my podcast episodes on Communication Strategies too. To expand your knowledge, and train in speaking (being accurate and fluent).

Each speaking test lasts about 15 minutes: two mons + dial. So when you book, we can have 4 groups per lesson, and then a discussion or other activities for the second hour.

By the way, if someone wishes to buy the C1 Resource Pack remember to do so before you leave the School!

Downloadable pack here: https://www.facebook.com/c1resourcepack/

My podcast episodes that can help: Useful Language (Comm. Strats is 3 episodes and way at the back – older posts)

http://www.talkingpeople.net/tppodcast/category/usefullanguage/

In “Categories”, you also have the segment: Everyday Language at

and the segment Travel Phrasebook

Diary for April 26. Fighting Exam Culture, Preparing Oral Exams

Today we started the lesson with me sharing some notions on teacher’s intervention when detecting problematic group dynamics, or people panicking and that panic mounting, which is typical and real when finals approach. You are fortunate to have me as a teacher, because although everybody says it’s useless, I always believe it can help. It can help to use our intelligence to control fears and destroy habits and behaviors that are destructive in terms of making us wiser, freer and all that! 😀

I also spoke about an issue I’ve been observing throughout my life because I’m a pacifist researcher on questions connected to violence. For many years and because I’m a critical thinker, I’ve found how hostile we are, culturally speaking, to questions: we don’t trust questions are just questions, and interpret them as sources of negative things we should avoid. That is why as a thinker I write in favor of people learning to be innocent, i.e., learning to clean their gaze! We have to learn to avoid judging and interpreting, and ask instead, pose clarification questions. Actually, people who have experience on internet communication always recommend that when you find a message that “sounds hostile” or is hostile, you simply take it as a non-hostile message and ask for clarification. Sometimes you realize the person had no bad intention and sometimes your question, your innocent question, which is to say your question refusing taking part in a violent exchange, brings out the best in the receiver, and the reader decides to take a different way, the way of dialogue. Nonviolent communication is a field of study, and by using our intelligence, learning to trust people, learning to know we all might make mistakes, and also that we are all capable of changing our opinions, our believes, and of course, learning to protect ourselves, but in a nonviolent way, not violently, not through that kind of violence we exert with prejudice, with doubting people’s intentions and all that, we can make the world or at least our personal lives a better experience.

So I hope you understand that my words here are not about particular messages we shared, but a long-life kind of analysis by an activist and a teacher.

Don’t be chickens with this absurd thing of exams that do not threaten anything important in your lives. Be loving towards yourself and others. We can change this old-time dynamics.

In case it helps, two practical cases. I told Marina I thought she would learn more if she continued working this year, and took this course again, because I have the feeling that if she could spend more time doing this kind of course, she would enjoy it and improve her English a lot. Of course, I will be happy to see her pass in June if that’s what she wants. Surprisingly, because her level is already advanced, Dessi is considering taking this course again, because she wanted to spend more time discovering things, working on things, developing projects, and this course is that open. Well, I would love to see her again next year, of course, but she’ll mull over this a bit more and finally decide freely. I’m just mentioning this in case it helps you all to take some more pressure off your backs. My frame of mind on this matter would be similar to Dessi’s, because it’s true that reaching a consolidated advanced level takes many years of use of the language and also because it’s hard to find courses offering so much freedom to explore the world and oneself through language. ❤

Finally, if you all pass I’ll be happy. If you all decide to take the course again, I’ll be happy too! (though the authorities will think I’m a hopeless teacher, of course! 😀 )

Well, today we did the C1 listening exercise on friendship, agreed on plans for next day (doing the 2015 June C1 Listening Test after listening to two different OPs and giving these people some feedback) and went through pending things we need to finish so we can work on in class (news extracts and functional translation).

We also devoted some time to your Writing Tests, and I highlighted some ideas for your Proofreading work and LoMs, like working on organizing ideas Before Writing (brainstorming, selecting and ordering ideas, outline), for the sake of textual structure, and checking subjects & verbs first including tenses, and all kinds of agreement (S-V, aux-V, adj-n, including this/these + n, that/those + n.).

A language question that came up was trustworthy / to be worth it / dependable / dependent / dependant.

I have a few other activities for whenever you are ready. Please, let me know. I do hope we can also watch a documentary called How Art Made the World, the episode on how we’ve represented the human body, which is an extraordinary episode. Or a neuroscience documentary on memory.

Finally, I gave out one test for Emilia and María José, and one for Karen, Lucía and Sergio, along with a copy of the test instructions for “parejas and tríos” (Mª José and Emilia, Karen has your copies). Other people need to talk about whether they want to find their partner or me to decide that, so don’t worry if you have no partner.

In the second half of May all of those of you who are sure to come to the Speaking Test in June, will register for this oral. This means, they’ll register in pairs or groups of three, and then I’ll assign a time for whichever date the Head of Studies establishes for the C1 Orals. People who are unsure of wanting to take this exam, shouldn’t register because if they failed to come, that would cause havoc! They won’t lose their right to come to the exam on the date of the oral. It’s just they’ll come at the time non-registered people are summoned (“convocatoria única”, it’s called), usually some time before the registered orals begin. In that moment, if other people come, we’ll form the groups and assign a time, probably after the registered students, or on another day. Another option for the examining board is to add each of the convocatoria única examinees to one of the registered pairs of students, forming groups of three in this way. This would happen if we could not use a second day for orals because our maximum time is four hours of oral exam giving a day (the law establishes we examiners have a half hour break after two hours).

NEXT FRIDAY: At 16.00 Toastmaster, at 18.00 the workshop on Emotional Intelligence. About your E.I. questionnaires: you can give it to Ana, the janitor, if you are not attending the workshop. You can also ask her for the Register for Book Adoptions (1 euro donation).

NEXT MONDAY is a holiday.

Work as hard as you can, and as joyfully as you can, and see you on Friday or next Wednesday! ❤

About yesterday’s talk: I felt priviledged to have the chance to attend a talk by Eulàlia Lledó tailored to what we had suggested.

  • I was really happy to see some of you there. Please, feel free to post about the talk, whatever it is you thought, of course!
  • For those of you who couldn’t make it to this talk, don’t worry! We have the video!
  • For those of you — if anyone is in this case — who did not come probably for being unaware of having an antifeminist prejudice, or a patriarchal heart, which dictates many of our likes and dislikes, and conditions our curiosity, I hope you can watch the video, too, when it’s published! You won’t regret it! 🙂 ❤
  • Some teachers told me how happy they were about my work in Coeducación because they were realizing they were actually developing a feminist intelligence! ❤ ❤ ❤ I couldn’t believe my ears! 😀 So I’m extremely happy because the world needs us all to be feminists, like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote, right? 🙂 ❤

And as I’m on a roll, to celebrate all the good feminism is bringing to the world I’d like to share with you one of my favorite DNVAs (Direct Nonviolent Action), by a German feminist, two years ago on an 8 of March, the Sanitary Pad Street Action…

adnv_pads

(edited) Fighting Pressure: A Rational Approach to Exam Taking

What’s the pressure with the Certificate Exam? Why did you sign up for an advanced course? Do you enjoy learning English? What does this language bring to your life? Can you be kind to yourself? Can you work with your community in mutual support? Are you willing to experience what it is to fight Exam Culture by developing a courageous or constructive approach to the red tape of exams? 🙂

Exams cannot evaluate your knowledge and skills, really. They’re just an exercise we do on a particular moment, and a lot of variables are involved, including concentration and luck. But here are the facts:

Supposing you failed one, two, three or the four parts of the test, what’s the big deal? You’ve got another chance more than two months later, months when you can use your English to keep learning.

Then, supposing you failed some part in September, and you needed the certificate, there are private schools that give these tests for a fee, which means you could take the test somewhere else, a few months later, too. Apart from being able to enjoy another almost-free year of learning in this course.

Consolidating an advanced level takes time and a great deal of effort. What you have before you are OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE, not a nightmare.

Post your fears, if you like. I’ll try to do my best to help you out! ❤

Please, work to take off pressure, not to pile up pressure and suffer for something that with a bit of rationality can be prevented. ❤

Please read: Social responsibility & Self-destructiveness

I’d like to call you to your senses, not to follow the path of panic whose outburst made you think that taking exams in class was a far better option than teamwork designing listening and reading exams, or that what you need to be doing daily: listening/reading and retelling in class! It’s such an uninformed and destructive idea, I haven’t been able to sleep well tonight. And then people say it’s the school system. Well, it seems we help. Turning our back to constructive approaches to learning is not what we want to do in our course/school.

I’m asking people interested in taking exams, with little free time and who in my view underestimate the power of meaningful learning and communicative methodology (because they don’t believe that is as effective) to please stay home and do all the exams they like. Teachers in our School (who, incidentally, offer information people simply don’t read), have put together a page full of links — in case the reason for asking this teacher to give more exams in class is you don’t know how to find exams on the web. The path is eoifuengirola.es – Certificaciones, and here is the link: http://eoifuengirola.es/certificaciones-1 I hope you make good use of it.

Still, I don’t recommend you get obsessed with this. I never recommend taking lots of exams, that’s why exam format training is done in a month. If you do, have a look at the tests but controlling your fear because taking tests gets us nervous and panicky (because we still believe tests are monsters, it’s a trauma, an irrational event in our minds) and we don’t learn English then, we just learn to be victims. If you’ve done what we did in class, you’ll be OK. Put your effort in keeping calm and enjoying your use of English. Consider we are always training too for exams, even if it doesn’t look like it! 🙂

Whatever you do — but please, I appeal to your social responsibility: don’t hurt the group by showing how nervous you are, bby spreading panicky ideas, feelings, etc. — be certain this will not influence my profesional skills when evaluating your work in June or September. I evaluate absentists as I evaluate people who followed the course, because I’m a profesional and my task in PUCs is to determine whether the State can certify that somebody’s exercise has reached an advanced level. The exercise and my evaluation remains filed for everybody’s supervision, so coming to class, doing homework, making progress or a big effort are things I can’t consider when evaluating your performance in PUC exams. Those things are good to help you learn, of course, but not something that counts in the Evaluation Sheets we use to evaluate your performance.

For us, your passing is a consequence of having the level in that particular excercise, not of how much effort you put into it, because this is adult education and we are the public system certifying a level. And I am very scientific in my professional work. You should know. Exams in Avanzado 1 or Básico have nothing to do with this because they are not PUCs, they don’t give people certificates. There teachers can design their own evaluation systems, as I do with my Básico 1’s, and we don’t have exams, we have listening diaries and orals every week. And we have a wonderful Writing File and the Celebration of Learning Orals in May. And we do train in exam format in spring, just for the kicks, not to pass or fail.

When we decide to consider information not in your PUC is only for positive reasons. So I mean, there is no “manía” or negative attitude in examiners when it comes to PUCs because these are certification exams.

It’s April, and we’re having a group panic here, which threatens to destroy all the work we’ve been doing. So please, control your fear, and stop this now, if it is not because you understand learning in this course, be it because you don’t want to harm your classmates, OK? Don’t use the excuse of exams to make up for the work you couldn’t do, because it doesn’t make up for it and you simply harm yourself and others.

As I warned you before, whatsapp groups are not a good to place when adorable students become soldiers of Exam Culture waging a war. They spread panicky feelings. Just remember our mirror neurones. Of course we can fight that with our rationality and empathy. But if you’ve started panicking in April, imagine the whole month of May of panic and destructive approaches to learning! You’ll be worn out before you take your exam. (The good thing of being exhausted is that self-destructive mechanisms don’t work as well!)

As I know well from experience, and from theory, this course prepares people to go to their finals with a positive approach, with resources to control their fear and be confident on their skills. But if you doubt or refuse to do this, please, stay home and do what you consider best. There are zillions of textbooks, with exercises, test books, websites…

If you wish to come to your senses and follow this course, and you want to intensify your use of English, please, do more of what I suggest, don’t feel that taking exams is doing something crucial for your English because it is not. For example, designing a listening exam entails listening to a lot of audios, and then working intensively in some. You cannot design a listening test out of a transcript, even if you use a transcript in the project. Designing a Reading test takes a lot of reading and thinking in English. This Project is not only about you creating an exam: its development involves the use of English in many different levels, and helps you spend more time using your English. Remember the format of the listening of Pets? Or that of part 2 of the PUC we did? Well, teamwork to design that would mean lots of people listening and listening, and lots of exercises designed, out of a same effort.

But we don’t even have to do that Project. If you simply did what I’ve been asking you to do all the way, listen and retell and share in class, read and retell and share in class, along with OPs and (overdue) monthly writing assignments, you would be doing far more for your English than spending time in class taking exams and then me reading out the key and you “failing” or “passing”.

Exam Format training in this course is perfectly enough for allowing people to pass a PUC exam if they have the level. And as I told you, we still have one more Reading and Listening test (apart from the exercise next day), we have to continue training in timed orals and focus on interactions (next day we could form the first speaking test teams), and you’ve got a full C1 PUC on the Junta’s website, to do at home when the exam draws near.

I’m going to have breakfast and stop of feeling so bad. I hope you understand what I mean and feel free to comment, of course. When I say I’m open to feedback or proposals I mean it. But I will certainly contest what I see as unfair feedback (as I did when a 40% of the class evaluated that I didn’t prepare my class that well) or proposals that work against the kind of teaching and learning we pursue in this course in the School.

Tomorrow, at 18.00, at IES Fuengirola number 1!!!

Michelle Ford's Blog for Básico, EOI Fuengirola

Join us! It’s a precious talk!

Yo no saldré de nuestro centro porque tengo que estar a las 5.30 en la sala para probar equipo! Nos vemos allí!

❤

Veníos, recordar! Es una charla valiosa, que puede ayudar a mucha gente a comprender el valor del lenguaje en la construcción de un mundo mejor, el desarrollo de nuestra inteligencia y modos de relación, en fin! ❤ ❤ ❤  Es una oportunidad de lujo para escuchar cosas importantes que no se suelen escuchar!

Presentaré yo, y Juan, del DACE o yo, contaremos algo del resto de celebraciones, porque VA A HABER UNA CENA EN UN SITIO CHULÍSIMO! ❤

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Important: psychological training and plan for Wed

Dear students, please, trust your English, trust your work, trust this course, trust your life knowledge and common sense. Common sense is great when we read exam instructions! ❤ Exams are small matters we amplify absurdly. The important thing is learning, becoming independent and resourceful, enjoying our language life, which is precious.

The idea of doing exams in class for the rest of the course is cowardly and absurd. You can do that at home, if you can’t control your fear. Exam formats don’t need much time to learn. The thing is learning English at the advanced level. Now it’s no time to panic and fret, but to intensify our use of English and make the most of the little time we have together. After that, you’ll be on your own, and if you don’t use your English and keep learning, your level will drop. Don’t underestimate our work together, or the C1 Resource Pack and all of the resources we’ve offered you. They’re precious for your learning. Watch the videos, listen to the radio, listen and repeat for fluency and accuracy, read articles, notice language.

I’ve just come from meeting Eulàlia. I can tell you lots of amazing stories but we don’t have much time. Anyway, I hope you can make it to her talk tomorrow. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! The train is passing by, jump on it! ❤

Next day we can do the listening exercise and you can bring your Writing File and we can continue with that and please your questions and comments on mistakes in your Writing Test or other assignments!

And bring one euro, if you can spare that! I’ll bring the LIBRO DE DONATIVOS for our amazing feminist library. You can go to the second floor and see the exhibition of the books you can be adopting!

Night night

Sleep tight

Don’t let the Exam Culture bite!

Writing File

Today people had to bring their LoMs and questions on their Writing Test, and all of their Writing Work this year, and related resources, so they could share what they learned/learnt and review useful info about writing different kinds of texts. As it seemed far too many people were lost, I printed out examples from my own notes, but people who have been handing in their montly writing assignments also used different (old) textbooks and websites explaining how to write the kind of text they had to put together.

The list of texts we worked on is here on the page called Writing File.

My intro went as follows:

I listed the types of texts that are studied at the advanced level, and Germán noted that the PUC exams are mostly about “essays”, which mostly means “articles” depending on the accompanying tast description.

  • Online forms (notice the difference in structure between a complaint online form, filling out/in boxes sticking to the topic of the box, and a complaint letter or email)
  • Online texts like forum posts (no structure really, because structure is so open: you can simply reply to the previous post, or the opening post, or you can include greetings and jokes and stuff! It all depends on the kind of forum you’re posting on)
  • Articles: in your tests, these are also called “essay”. You need to notice what comes in the task description: is it for a local newspaper? Then it’s an article, right? Use common sense, and your knowledge of the world. We have different kinds of articles. Articles always have a title, and it tries to be gripping, catchy, interesting, or at least descriptive of the topic. Informative articles are usually pieces with headings, too. They’re common in magazine, like women’s mags, and they are typical in travel guides, too. The headings help you visualize the structure and allow you to choose the bits you are interested in reading. Then you have articles of analysis. The analysis can be presented as an essay, like if you are an expert in Science and you write about a topic. They tend to include the present simple tense for general truths, but not only of course. Then you have argumentative texts/essays, where the writer analyzes the topic by examining pros and cons, or different approaches to the matter. The C1 Resource Pack has ideas on different structures for this, and you should consider if your personal viewpoint comes at the end, or if it is everywhere or what. Endings are interesting, they can be final comments pointing to the future, summaries, conclusions… Register should be consistent. I always recommend semiformal language if you are free to choose, but it all depends on the task and what you can do with it!
  • Reviews – I gave out notes on the typical structure of this, because some people had not done this assignment.
  • Letter-writing:
    • You might have to write a letter requesting info or as we did this year, requesting the release of a prisoner of conscience, replying to an ad (here it’s crucial you use the info in the ad in your letter, even as an outline), job or grant-application letters (in response to an ad or unsolicited), making a complaint (I gave out notes on this), you could be writing a Letter to the Editor (I have notes on talkingpeople.net). I also printed some great notes I wrote for business emails and gave them out.
  • I offered an overview on Proposals and Reports, what they share in common (title, headings, structure) and what makes them different at times (proposals tend to be about the present and the future and reports tends to be about the past, but not always, it all depends on the task description). Useful language for these kinds includes things like: This report/proposal is intended to address… I gave out an example of my notes on proposals. There’s more on TP, reports for the police on an accident, for instance.

Last, I mentioned what people should do if given a statement. We don’t use it in our PUCs as an exam or essay question. We use it as an idea on the topic, which means that you need a title if the statement is connected to writing an essay for a magazine. You can use it or not, but it has to be integrated in your text. So — it’s not like an exam question. If it were so, they wouldn’t add “for a local newspaper”. So be careful. Notice what it is connected to. Statements are just intended to help you brainstorm on the topic.

I reviewed what your Writing Files should include:

  • Task descriptions of what we did: type of text, word limit, topic. Your final piece.
  • Notes on how to write that type of text (and attach your sources if you like)
  • Notes on Useful language, particularly for formal and semiformal letter because they have so many fixed expressions in different parts of the structure, like “Looking forward to seeing you”.
  • Then your LoM, so you can review your weaknesses and avoid them!

People told me they had discussed they did not want to design exams, but to take them. I said we have spent the last month doing that (Exam Training is about taking one or two tests to get acquainted with the format — I described , and that they have still two more practice tests to do (another C1 Reading and Listening, and the one they’ll do at home before their own PUC, on the Junta’s website), and that the internet is full of exams. We really need to move on to oral interactions. I consider that you are already aware of the kind of exercises we can be given  in the PUC and that we need to continue learning English, being aware of how much we have improved, and simply continue with our plans for writing and oral training.

 

Romina has booked for a 15-min OP for next Wednesday, May 3, on storytelling. Sergio has booked for the same day to give an OP on the language in the news. Both would take max. 15 mins. and allow me to videoshoot.

World Book Day!

Michelle Ford's Blog for Básico, EOI Fuengirola

Next Week: Donations of 1 euro for our Feminist School Library! ❤

Remember: Choose a book and write your name to adopt it for one euro! ❤

You can see the books on the second floor, in the corridor, or in the Register Book where you write your name and “1€” for each book you want to adopt!

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PUCs. Preparing Oral Work for May & La Guía 2016-17

I made a copy of all the Speaking tests given two years ago (because you’ve got the 2016 speaking tests on the Junta’s website) and I have a table ready for pairs and groups of 3 book a date for their perfomance. I’ll give out the tests next Wednesday to the pairs or groups of three (we need at least one group of three), after you tell me about pairs or teams and dates for your performances in May (so talk about this, please!).

There are 4 people who are not coming to class (ever), and these people could join us in June because absentists don’t lose their right to take the PUC in June and September. If you know any of them, who came at the beginning of he course, Mario and Lourdes, but I don’t know the other two. My guess is that Mario and Lourdes will come in June, but not the other two. It’d be good to know, so if you know them, please, ask! The remaining other two people who dropped out fortunately cancelled their registration, so they won’t be wasting the exam opportunities this year (no les correrá convocatoria, por tanto).

Last, the Guía para PUCs 2016-17 was published two days ago, I think. You should read it all, and ask me any questions you might have before lessons end at the end of May.

At last! Wonderful Presentation on Orange Is the New Black & On Prisons and Learning

This presentation is a great example of what an advanced learner is capable of. I want to thank students who, like Marta and Isabel, have allowed us to record their work because it is truly precious for everybody’s learning! ❤

Although our speakers make some mistakes, it is obvious their relationship to the language is very natural, at the advanced level, too, that they are able to analyze their experience with it, in complex ways. I mean, apart from the interesting points they make, apart from bringing in their worlds to the analysis (this indicates they understood what they were reading beyond “the language problem”), they can explain it all, complex ideas, in a natural way, and when they can’t find the words, they manage to find a way to make their point anyway.*

Use this to learn to listen to yourselves as you speak, so you can fix the mistakes you make which you can actually fix! And enjoy! It’s very enjoyable!

  • (except with one word Isabel utters very quickly and probably makes up! 😀 😀 😛

I’d also like to invite you to listen to some writing by Angela Davis, one of the most brilliant and honest thinkers I have read, socially committed, too, because this philosopher is an expert in the prison system, and also an activist fighting it, to humanize our world.

  • Are Prisons Obsolete? – a collection of essays on the topic. Here is one of the essays
  • Chapter 1 of OITNB, which I recorded, in case you want to see how the memoir starts
  • Also, here is a page where I share my work on language when I read this work by Piper Kerman, and some resource material I created for a workshop on “Crime and Punishment”, one of the topics in C1 tests

Finally, I believe the topic should be called “Crime and Justice”, really, but this is the world we have: we think that if we don’t use violent words or behave violently that means we are not doing anything against violence — a very patriarchal piece of thinking, in my view! Fighting violence and crime is rooted in VALUES and when the values a certain culture chooses are violent, then it’s all about nurturing the same problem. The only “punishment” a prison should offer is privation of freedom, and only for certain crimes, crimes against people (not so much property — if people were not subject to poverty, the only criminals we would have in prison are those corrupt people who steal and never get to prison), not all the other humiliating and terrible things it involves. While preventing those criminals to harm other people, prisons would be places to learn good things, to learn. But then, here and now, many of us would want to go there because of unemployment! 😀

Anyway… I hope some year we can have this workshop in this course. The kind of education based on not seeking becoming independent and resourceful, and absentism* have terrible impact every year, because we cannot count on people’s initiative, work, participation and collaboration. Teamwork is always utopia and there’s like no hope because it’s so justified we don’t have the time to work with others.

*(I do wonder why people think that you can tell people in one course you signed for that you cannot join them because you have to attend another course. I know I get to learn about this reason for them not coming to class only from people who appreciate me and respect my work, but it always hurts to see how anything is more important than learning in a course you wanted to do, right? I mean, if you have enrolled in a course, and don’t find time to follow it, why would you find time to follow another course? It’s funny how we find the most positive things for our learning, the least interesting to pursue, really. It’s like when we learn without suffering: people truly believe in practice that they learn more when they suffer in the process. Well, excuse my sharing this insight. Feel free to disagree! It could bring us hope! 😀

Today and Plans for Monday

Today lots of people came!! And people had done their homework, so it was great. They were able to work in small groups on the gapped tenses exercise and then we had a plenary to doublecheck and answer questions. Keep working on the articles that follow, doing the exercises I suggest, and bring them to class. Use them for retelling, too!

We developed our language awareness on tenses, and modals.

Then we did the B2 listening ex. and discussed some language questions. And left the C1 exercise for next week.

We spent the last minutes talking about telling lies, lying. And Emilia told us a great story on this. And Cristina gave us a key idea about not being able to lie and social skills! I suggested people think (subjunctive, a remain, typical in US English) / people should think (UK) about the issue and put together a 3-min OP, to share in class next week.

Plans for Monday:

  • Small groups will share their transcriptions of the news extracts. Then we’ll have a plenary to answer questions and comment the activity. Was it useful?
  • People should bring their Writing File (all the writing they did, with their work before writing, on type of text and useful language). The idea is that in small groups or at plenary we review the list of writing assignments here, to make sure you know what to keep in mind if you have to write them.
  • We should also review your Writing Test, and it’d be good if you all brought your list of mistakes and notes on how to improve your language range, to keep in mind when you brainstorm on language you can use in a particular assignment.

More things to do next week if you like:

  • Designing Exams. Marta has been looking for materials and wondered if other people had. If anyone wants to take part in this project, please, feel free to discuss it in your whatsapp group, if you like, and present a proposal in class. I can also organize in class with you all. Or just design whatever with Marta! 😀
  • Telling the teacher who is your partner for the Speaking Test Project. We can do this as I call your names when checking the roll.
  • Doing the C1 listening exercise on friendship
  • Checking the gapped text for the Pets listening activity?
  • Listening to people telling stories in the past
  • Listening to people speaking about lies and lying or holding a conversation on this
  • Checking the Functional Translation exercise

UPCOMING VIDEO: I’m still fighting to upload the video on Marta and Isabel’s OP on Orange Is the New Black. You see, I had to empty my computer, clean it, install everything again, and the programs changed, and I’ve been spending a great deal of time on this, not managing to find my way yet! But I will!

DEADLINES. The Writing contest deadline is next Friday. Sergio needs to know which is the word limit, because it didn’t say on the paper I stuck on the door!

BOOKS. Today I got amazing books I bought, and if you want to read more, I’ve got proposals. I cannot donate these last ones to our school because I’ve already donated 300 euros! (12 books). Help me get this money back by taking part in next week’s activities in support of the feminist library we’re putting together. Your contribution could be 1 euro for a book you “adopt”, and your signature in our book on who adopted which book! I’ll post on this next Friday.

(Edited to fix mistakes!) Coordinating efforts. Homework, Lesson Plans & More Stuff!

Today we did some work in language awareness around the use of tenses.

We agreed on the following:

For next day: people will try to solve the gapped text, so that next day you can all work in small groups and reach agreements, and also develop awareness on choices. We will also do the two pending listening texts, on the back of the worksheet for the Richard Burton listening we did last. Then it’d be great to check your work on the Listening on Pets — please, search “pets” here and get the key, but I’d like to listen to you all on this gapped exercise. And we could also check some of the sentences I gave for translation, and/or to listen to people narrating stories in past, where they can use the different tenses and modals in the past!

For next Monday: people agreed they would transcribe the news items we worked on the listening exercise before the spring hols. In this way, you would practice real communication and all that.

About more pending work, it’s up to you what we do in class. It all depends on what you manage to do. If time has passed, perhaps you could agree on your whatsapp group what you want to check the following day and then just send me an email so I know. I’m open to proposals. If there are no proposals, don’t worry, I’ll keep on as usual! Bombing you with activities you could be doing! 😀

I explained that the reason why we have pending stuff is because as I am shy to ask — because I always fear people did not do their homework, which is actually the case most of the time, or at least, nobody tells us in class, Hey, let’s check this or that — then I simply design more activities. But if we did half of what I’ve designed for you (I really need to stop working so hard at home, it’s mostly your turn now), it’d be great and enough, considering I work every week for you but never get to exploit that effort getting your work back! Of course, I’m generalizing, so if you do your homework, please, don’t take it personal.

For the rest of our time together my plans are:

  • Language awareness (doing the Lexical Creativity workshop, too) + Writing feedback and your LoMs or questions or sharing your work on how you worked to overcome fossilized mistakes!
  • Reading some more articles (crowdfunding, the internet, … )
  • Doing another C1 Reading and Listening test (not the one on the Junta’s website, so you can do it in May or June, just before your exams)
  • and Orals: you’ll work in pairs on an exam, and then come to class, do the monologues and the dialogues and getting feedback. I’ll asign a test for each pair. You decide who your partner is. And then we’ll book dates for sharing that work. If anyone had the time to coordinate all this, I could just print the tests and give them to that person. If no one has the time, it’s OK, of course! ❤ Listening to your partners will probably be as valuable as doing the exercise. We learn a lot from watching other perform! then, if any pair is willing to be videoshot, that’d be great for other students! Thanks!

Some tips are: if you feel you are not in the advanced level, now is not the moment to quit or fret. Just keep working, it’ll be good for your English and it’ll increase your chances to pass in June, or in June and September. In my view, to speak a language well takes having developed habits of using the language in various ways, on different kinds of topics. If you have managed to learn to learn, then if you pass and I think you haven’t reached the level, I wouldn’t feel bad, because I’d be sure you would keep the effort up and develop your command over the language. Of course, what I feel is immaterial, I just mean to say that the key to be a competent user of the language is a love for using the language and learning it, and not so much reaching a level. Levels change a lot throughout time depending on this, on use! ❤

And here is Querer a una feminista, in case you are interested! ❤
http://www.mujerpalabra.net/quereraunafeminista/index.html

Talk next Tuesday, April 25: on the importance of naming women too

Dear students,

Considering a high percentage in this C1 group this year has a well development understanding of the importance of developing a feminist intelligence to reduce injustice and violence in the world, and considering we live in a town where both foreigners and locals seem to miss the human rights points, I’d like to request your active support in the task of spreading the word about this conference by Eulàlia Lledó Cunill, a linguist, a researcher, a teacher (+ educator for equality as well) and a feminist. Language is a tool we have at hand to change the world for the better because it is key for enabling us to think and key in helping us relate to people. All teachers should be truly interested in this talk, particularly all language teachers, but as language determines what we can actually think and how we relate, thinking about this huge topic is always healthy for everybody!

At EOIs, as people gradually drop out as a result of zillions of things (finding temporary jobs, not finding time for true language learning, not being able to bear the tension of finals), typical in adults’ lives, when spring comes, groups in general have decreased in size.

In my case, my groups next Tuesday are a semiprencial and because it’s semi, they only come to class on Thursday (from  60, 70 people enrolled, we just have 10 following the course! and just one came to Coral Herrera Gómez’s talk!!). And in my next group, 1ºC, health and work-related problems have taken a toll in an extraordinary group, really: just 6 or 8 people are following the course now. (Knowing who’s following the course is easier at lower levels because they depend more on us for their learning.) So we need you!

If you can spread the word or put up our poster somewhere (we can make a color copy for you — let me know!), we would be grateful! ❤

Here’s the link you can send out or post:

Work in class tomorrow – Exam Training Work + Language Awareness

In case you can print the first 4 pages. Don’t look at the two last ones!

I prepared this language awareness workshop to review the use of tenses for your speaking and writing work and so you can be aware of the mistakes you make and overcome them (remember this needs oral drilling and finding examples in use, sentences, we can repeat out loud, because theory is not enough, you need to automatize accurate production and that’s why we work with lists of useful language too). I hope it’s useful.

We’ll read it out loud at plenary and you’ll discuss the examples and do the language awareness work in small groups, so you can also practice real communication for learning purposes.

C1spring_tenses01_reading (6 word pages)

If people have prepared oral work, they’re welcome to share it in class.

I’ll also bring your Writing Assignments, but my priority is we review these questions before handing them back to you. Then, we we move on to analyzing this work, we’ll continue reviewing language questions you need to master. But tenses comes first.

Diary for April 5 – lots of training!

Then I read out people’s marks for the term. Well, this symbolic thing we do. Without having no one in mind, my guess is that most people will pass, but some might need June and September. In any case, don’t forget to be positive about learning and your learning this year: if you don’t have enough time for your English, don’t evaluate your results as if you had had, OK? It just spoils all the fun! 🙂 ❤ (your relationship to English and to learning). Our guiding star is learning English at the advanced level, not passing exams, right? Becoming competent lifelong learners who love using their English! ❤

  • Today we checked the Ciclo Superior Reading Test 2006 and results were good!

Then I gave out two handouts with exercises:

  • Listening “News Extracts” – we did it and the homework is you try to get the transcription of at least one news item. The audio is here.
  • On the back you have two language exercises. Functional Translation and narratives in the past, I think.
  • Listening. Profiency gapped listening exercise. Richard Burton (list of some of the languages he spoke). We did this one. And I forgot to finish jotting down all the marks, I think!
  • On the back there are two exercises: an FCE (B2) exercise and a Proficiency (C1) exercise, which we will do after the spring hols!

There are spare copies in class, in case any of you wants to drop by to get them: tomorrow I’m there all afternoon, from 4.30 to 9.45 (you can just walk in and take them from the bulletin board) and on Friday plans changed so I’ll be in class from 16.00 to 20.00 checking your writing tests. My ambition is to start and finish (I just read them all) + take notes for language questions. Wish me the best! (The group that wanted to take the missed listening test will have to come on April 28 I think, because after the hols our teachers’ meeting has been moved to the previous Friday.)

If you want to pick up some common vocabulary in the news, check out this BBC website, Words in the News (some are articles, others audio or video)

Listening work – what I say on the TP website

A pacifist Belgian friend of mine (some of you listened to the story I wrote about her and me meeting one day in Madrid, “Dishwashers”) just send me news of a new antiwar network, World Beyond War, have a look at this: debunking myths justifying wars.

I’ll post more tomorrow or on Friday, so you get more ideas about working on your English. I hope you do find the time to do so, while enjoying it, of course!

Nightie night!

Diary for Mon April 3

Previous news: rearranging lesson plans – postponing Writing Sessions for the week after the spring hol, and postponing checking your Reading Test till next Wednesday.

Today we welcomed Cristina B. back,

From here we moved to volunteering projects, too.

Then I was sad to see so few people had read something, or listened to something, so I rearranged the plan and had people just practice talking in pairs, not at plenary so we could all enjoy their stories or retellings and they could get some feedback.

The sunny side of this was that well, we had time for more things, so I explaining the Designing Exams Project and we did two listening exercises, which I hope you can all use:

  • to take them down as dictations
  • and to practice retelling

Here are the links. There are spare paper copies in class.

Lucía talked to me about the Skeleton of Meaning technique, at first I misunderstood, but then I understood: she understood precisely why it can be so helpful, precisely when we don’t understand an particular accent, or when we don’t follow what’s being said well. Yes, precisely. when all is lost, or that’s what it seems, it’s a great resource. And then in matching exercises.

Designing Exams – A teamwork project

Today I presented this new workshop. The class will split up in two groups. Each group will design a minimum of 1 Reading or Listening Task, chosing the format of one of the tasks in your C1 Test.

Everybody should listen to audios and read articles, and then pick one to bring to class on April 24th. Bring the transcript of the few selected audios and the paper copy of the articles, but also remember to keep at hand the links that people could use to check those items.

Groups will gather and after assessing what you have, we’ll have a plenary to make this decision:

Can each group design different tasks, so that we can get a final complete Reading Test and Listening Test? If both groups just want to do the multiple choice format, then it’s OK, but it’d be grand to have a complete test designed by you all.

You would be the first generation of C1’s here to design C1 Exams for future use by other students!

Why design tests?

  • Because walkin in your “enemy’s” shoes is a great source of information.
  • Because this is a great excuse to use your English more at home, because you really need to increase your time with English from now on.
  • Because teamwork is fun and its results are always amazing!
  • Because it’ll be fun to take the test the other half of the group gives you! 😀 Then you can tell me whose is harder: the ones we give or the ones your classmates design!! 😀

To end this first session, groups will decide among of all their materials, agreeing to work on one audio and written text, and what to bring for the second session.

Post your info on team members and your questions here, please. I’ll make it a sticky post!

Lesson Plans for Monday

Dear all,

Just confirm that, yes, I won’t be able to bring your evaluated work + my collection of mistakes you all made for the Monday lesson. I’m doubtful I’ll manage to have it all ready for Wednesday, actually, so it’s likely we hold this Writing Test Workshop after the spring hol, after all!

So — what’s still on is:

Everybody speaks about a piece of news (or analysis) they read or listened to, to practice retelling and also interactions, if we are lucky and people have questions, comments or start up conversations on that news item.

After this, which will take up at least an hour, I suppose, probably more, we’ll do one of the listening tests I designed.

Then on Wednesday we’ll continue with past official exams given here or in other communities.

Remember to listen to English, work on your list of mistakes, your lists of useful language, your writing file, your speaking file, any of the wonderful how-to’s we have to use our English for conscious learning too!

Have a lovely bilingual weekend! ❤

Pronunciation Questions: commonly mispronounced vowels

Son & Sun are pronounced the same; dAUGHTer, like bOUGHT, tAUGHT = OT /dótr/ /bot/ /tot/

Don’t say /o/ in these words, say /a/ – mother, Monday, money

More words, pay attention to where you might mispronounce:

a woman /wuumn/, women are /wimin/

About obesity, I don’t know if you all saw this documentary they showed last week about it. It was about obese kids whose life was at risk, but the kind of obesity that is an illness. And it was not the kids’ fault, really. Their siblings ate the same amount and did not put on that much weight. So it’s a truly complex issue, as anything that’s human, right? 🙂

Proud about this project!

Marianela, the head of studies, put together this video we contributed to! Enjoy!
We are the only ones who re-worded the declaration as it will or should be worded asap!, including women! ❤