Interesting Cambridge English webinar

I have just signed up to 'attend' another Cambridge English Language Assessment webinar.

On Monday, 15th or Wednesday 17th April, Jill Buggey will lead a webinar

Practice makes perfect: creating your own exam materials for the classroom

The webinar will begin by identifying the specific skills tested in different exam tasks, such as multiple choice, gap fill and sentence completion. The presenter will show how different types of task are constructed in order to test these skills effectively, using examples from Reading, Listening and Use of English papers.

The presenter will explain how distraction is used in reading and listening tasks, and there will also be examples from Use of English tasks. The strategies students are expected to use in exam tasks are real-life skills, and at this point the presenter will give some practical hints on the most effective strategies for students to use when approaching different types of exam task.

I'm sure the webinar will be enlightening and useful.  I've used materials prepared by Jill Buggey in seminars and they are always very practical.

To find out more, click here:

Online First & Advanced Use of English practice

I am just gearing up for another trip to San Sebastian.  Hopefully, the weather will be just as good as last Friday when I was there too.

This time, we'll be looking at Cambridge English First: Teaching Tips and also Advanced Speaking.

I was looking through the links I have bookmarked for First preparation and revisited a site I discovered back in November.

I thought it was well worth a mention on this blog.

English Revealed has interactive exercises for the Cambridge First and Advanced Use of English papers.  Most of the material on the site is free (you can sign up for 5.99 Euros to get more over the course of 6 months).

I'll be passing on the address to the people who come along on Friday (and am doing the same with you now!)

Yesterday, I was along the coast in San Sebastian (for the second time in a week!).   Beautiful city (in fact, the first city I visited after I first came to Spain all those years ago to work in Madrid!)

Yesterday, I was there to give two seminars:  Teaching Cambridge English: Advanced for the First Time and Teaching Cambridge English: First for the first time.

Many of the participants attended both sessions.  I knew this was going to be the case, so I made sure that the sessions complemented each other and didn't repeat materials or ideas.  I also knew that 95% of the people who were coming WEREN'T new to either of these exams, but rather, had come along for advice and ideas for them to train teachers new to the exams.

Near the end of the second session, on First, I asked different groups to discuss their ideas, tips and advice for each of the five Papers of the Cambridge English: First exam, using this handout.  (I adapted this from a document for IELTS I downloaded from Usingenglish.com here.)  Precisely, I wanted to draw on their experience and expertise (there was a lot of this in the room, believe me!)

What I suggested to the people at the seminar was that I would share this document via the Teaching Together Blog.  Then, I will write up the suggestions that the groups in San Sebastian came up with and consider each of the five Papers in five separate blog posts.

It would be great if readers of this blog could also send in their ideas!  We can learn so much from each other!