Advent calendars

We are right in the middle of the build up to Christmas.   I am running a bit late with my Christmas cards this year.  I may well end up sending more greetings online this year.

Picture from:  blog.cardsdirect.com

I suppose it is a sign of the times.  Although I still love the act of opening a paper envelope to read the card inside (and hopefully a note or a letter too), there are also some fantastic ways of sending messages and greetings to friends and family electronically.

I have just created an advent calendar with photos to send to my friends.  This is the first time I've done this and as usual, although these things take time to master, you always learn something while you're doing it!

I did it using the site:  advientos.com.

And you can see the Cambridge ESOL Spain Advent Calendar here.  This was created using the Advientos website.

And while we are on the subject of technology and advent calendars, I came across this great wix.com advent calendar.  Each day gives you a great link to sites that you can use in or outside class with your students.  I plan to try a few out very soon - watch this space!!


Right - back to those Christmas cards ....... !

Online Cambridge exam style exercises

Picture from: Education week

In almost every class, there will be students who barely have time to make it to class every week and struggle to get their homework done on time.

There will also be other students who have more time on their hands (or maybe they just manage to find more time for English!)

Picture from:  Cortland edu

For both of these types of students, I try to cater for them as well as I can.  I set homework for everybody and tell them that it's really important for them to do it by a set date.  And for those who want and have time for more, I point them in the direction of other things they can be doing.



When a friend mentioned the International House Bristol website and the online practice exercises there for First, Advanced and Proficiency, I looked at it immediately.

I have mentioned it at several Cambridge ESOL seminars and shared it with colleagues and friends.  Now, I'm mentioning it to YOU!

I hope you and your students find it useful and if you know of any other sites like this one, please share them with the rest of us!

English Profile

Today, Monday, as usual, I received an email from English Profile.

I hope that many of you are already familiar with this project and with the website.  If you aren't, I strongly recommend a visit.

Back in 2006, I was in Harrogate for the IATEFL conference, and was present at the cocktail launch to the teaching community of the English Profile project.  I have followed the developments and advances of the project ever since.  Various organisations are involved:  Cambridge ESOL, Cambridge University Press, the British Council, the University of Bedfordshire.


I have been subscribed to the  Word of the Week since it started.  As you can probably tell from my previous entry, I find the way language is used and how it changes fascinating.

Today's email brought an analysis of the word lead.

I always challenge myself to see what I can think of related to the Word of the Week before I click on the hyperlink to read about the word on the English Profile page.

Leap as a verb sprang to mind first - eg  He leapt at the chance to go and study abroad.

Also a noun - as in:  "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." 




As an image, being a dog owner, the following came to mind:



















When I checked and compared, I noticed that I hadn't thought of the adjective.

There was the adjective,  illustrated with both a dictionary example and an example by a student taking the Cambridge English: Preliminary exam.

 Learner example: It was Dave Grohl, the lead singer of Foo Fighters! Preliminary English Test; B1; Spanish




I thoroughly recommend you to subscribe to Word of the Week and to take advantage of this opportunity:

Subscribe for free to the A1-B2 version of the English Vocabulary Profile (for a limited time only)


If you do, you can search the database to find out about lots more words.


Enjoy!

Thank you?

Even after more than twenty years living in Spain, I still get told that I say 'thank you' when I shouldn't and that I say it too often.

Maybe then what appeared last week in several UK newspapers is yet another sign of me losing touch with what's happening in the country where I was born.

Apparently, according to the reports in the newspapers, the average person will say thank you nearly 5,000 times a year.

But not if they are in a bad mood!

1 in 10 people who took part in the survey, carried out by the Food Network UK among 2,000 people, said that being angry made them refuse to say thank you.

And 1 in 20 stated that they did not consider the use of the words 'thank you' necessary in everyday conversation.

Nowadays, people seem to be saying thanks in other ways - texting or emailing their gratitude or via social networks.

But is it the case that people no longer appreciate things other people do for them?

Or is it the case that people are using other terms to express their gratitude?  'Cheers!', 'ta', 'Cool!', 'Fab' are all being used instead of thank you.


And could the fact that 'merci' and 'gracias' were mentioned as preferred choices for some of the people interviewed be a sign that Britons are developing their proficiency in foreign languages?  I hope so!

Well - thanks - I mean fab, cheers, cool, ta - for reading to the end of this!