Monday 28 February 2011

City Vs Country Life

The good things about city life

You have access to all facilities

Easy shopping

Easy to find a job

Easy to find a good school

Exciting nightlife
Good means of transport

Different cultures live in one city

Easy to make friends

Good universities

Many festivals

Many sports grounds

Different museums and art galaries

Good for business – easy to do business

Strong buildings

Good hospitals available everywhere

Official departments are very close to you

The latest fashion in the world

Lifestyle

Restaurants and hotels

Volunteer oppertunities

Good banks and financial services

Cinemas and movies

You never feel alone

Good things about living in the country

Fresh air

Calm and quiet

Natural food

Natural scenery – natural views

A lot of plants and trees

Cheap food

Many animals to see

No pollution

Not many people

Bigger houses and big land

Less criminals

No pressure of city life

People are so helpful

People feel free

Not traffic jams

No car park tickets

Good for tourisim

Cheaper to buy a house or land

Living a simple life without technology

Living in the city Vs the country

Do you want to live all your life in a city or in the country? Why? List as many reasons as you can and write a text expressing your opinion. Here is a web site that will help you to get some ideas.

http://www.helium.com/debates/81434-is-it-better-to-live-in-the-city-or-the-country

Wednesday 23 February 2011

Child Labour

One of the biggest problems that affect the lives of millions of children is child labour. It is a very big problem in different countries, especially in developing and poor countries in Asia, South America and Africa. Actually, 246 million children are child labourers. Most of them just want to survive or help their families. They do not have any choice. They lose their childhood and never go to school.



According to the International Labour Organization, most of those children who are under 14 work in poor conditions as domestic workers, prostitutes or factory workers. In addition to that, 73 million of them are less than ten years old.


It is a sad fact that 22,000 child labourers die every year in work-related accidents. They don’t have any legal protection at their workplaces. Child labourers work in different industries like agriculture, hunting, fishing and forestry. Reports say that 8% of them work in manufacturing as cheap labour.


Some people believe that childen sometimes need to work because they gain experience and get money to support themselves and their families. They also argue that they learn how to depend on themselves at a very young age.


In my opinion, leaving school to get a job is not good for young children because they destroy their future lives and they can not read or write. It is not good for their health because they badly affect their mental, physical and emotional development.


On the other hand, those children can get sexually abused and get involved in illicit activities like prostitution, slavery and drug trafficing.


All things considered, child labour has to stop and all countries around the world must protect young children and force parents to send them to schools to protect their future.

Child Labour

Many children don’t go to school and they have to do work every day to survive or to support their families. Most of the time, those children have no say in what happens to them. They lose their childhood because they live in poor countries. Write an opinion essay on child Labour. These facts will help you with your writing.



One out of six children in the world today is involved in child labour.

They do work that is damaging to their mental, physical and emotional development.

These children work in a variety of industries, and in many parts of the world.

The vast majority are in the agricultural sector, where they may be exposed to dangerous chemicals and equipment.

Others are street children, doing different jobs to earn a living

Some of these children are domestic workers, prostitutes, or factory workers.

Children work because they want to survive or because they are forced to do so.

246 million children are child labourers.

73 million working children are less than 10 years old.

There are 2.5 million working children in the developing countries.

Every year, 22,000 children die in work-related accidents.

The largest number of working children (127 million – age 14 and under are in the Asia-Pacific region).

Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest proportion of working children: nearly one-third of children age 14 and under (48 million children).

Most children work without legal protection:

70% work in agriculture, hunting and fishing or forestry;

8% work in manufacturing as cheap labour

8% work in wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels;

7% work in houses as servants.

8.4 million children are trapped in slavery, trafficking, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities.

1.2 million of these children have been trafficked.

When you write, think about the following:

Is it a small problem or a big one?
What countries have this problem?
Where do these children work?
Why do young children leave school and become child labourers?
How many child labourers are there around the world?
How many of them die every year?
Have you seen any of these children doing labour work in your country?
How do these children feel when they do work that they don't like?
Does the law in poor countries do anything to stop child labour?
Are there people who make a lot of money by forcing young children to leave school and become child labourers?

Monday 21 February 2011

Pros and Cons of Learning English Online

There are people who like to learn English on the internet only and not go to a normal class for many reasons. In class we discussed these points and this is what my students told me.

What are the pros (advantages) and cons (disadvantages) of learning English on the internet?


Pros

1. You save a lot of time

2. You can learn a lot

3. It will help you gain computer skills

4. You can repeat as many times as you want

5. You can find different web sites to learn

6. You can chat with friends while learning

7. You will get in touch with other students and a teacher online

Cons

1. You pay a lot of money for internet connection

2. You pay a lot of money for online courses

3. It is not good for your eyes

4. It can be a waste of time

5. Your computer can crash any time

6. It is not good for everyone because people learn differently

7. You need to know how to use a computer before you start learning

8. It can make your electricity bill bigger

9. You will be distracted by advertisments on the internet

10. You will have arguments with your wife all the time

11. You need a real teacher to learn a language

12. It is very hard to concentrate

13. You can access bad sites

14. You will spend more time on Youtube than English web sites

Shanghai

I come from Shanghai China. Shanghai is a large city on the east coast of China.There are more than 20 million people who live in Shanghai.

Last year Shanghai held a very big EXPO. Tens of thousands of visitors came to Shanghai.The large EXPO park has attractions which are worth visiting. Almost every other country had an EXPO hall in a large park. One park one world.

There are plenty of places to go shopping in Shanghai. There are a lot of large modern shopping centre on Nanjing West Road. There are a lots of luxurious brands. If you want cheaper things, there are also narrow lanes that are full of lovely fashion shops which are always bustling with tourists.

Nightlife in Shanghai is exciting. There are a lot of music and dance clubs which extremely popular with younger people. The well- know area are call "XinTianDi".The area has a lot of fashionable restaurants, which offer a variety of international cuisines.

Shanghai is an international city. Welcome everybody visiting!

Thailand

When your vacation time comes and you're looking to travel to a special place with a relaxed atmosphere, beautiful food, shopping and cultural beauty, you must consider visiting Thailand.

Thailand is known to tourists as “The Land of Smiles. The term “sawatdee” with your hands together symbolisers respect, warmth and a friendly culture, which cannot be found in any other part of the world. " Sawatdee” can mean hello and goodbye.

If you like to try different foods then Thailand has many exotic styles to choose from. We have hot and spice dashers to sweet and sour dashers. Thailand also has beautiful fruits waiting for you to try.

Thailand has many islands, large and small with beautiful resorts and luxurious spas. Thailand has tropical beachers with white sands and is warm and sunny you can enjoy relaxing along the beach.

For those who like mountains or countryside short stays and want to find out about the Thai traditions, there are ancient historic temples to see and check out. You can also experience the harmony and the hospitality of the locals in the villagers.

For those who like fashion and shopping for bags, shoes, clothes, jewellery, etc. Bangkok has non-stop shopping fun at bargain prices.

It’s always exciting in Bangkok at night with bars, clubs, restaurants and markets that are open till late. You will be sure to enjoy the nightlife.










Thailand is a great place to visit. It's worth traveling to Thailand for your next holiday.




Now pack your bags and get your passport ready and see you in Thailand!

An ideal trip resort

Shanghai is a large city in the south of China, which is the biggest metropolis as well as the economic and cultural center of China. It exists challenges and opportunities every hour and everyday.

Shanghai has several tourist attractions which are worth visiting. Among these is the bund, a popular and beautiful Europe-style palace which was built in the early twentieth century. Around the bund, you can see different banks headquarters located there. At night we can see the beautiful night views of the city when we stand on the bund. Both young and old from different countries can have fun while admiring the spectacular views of Huangpujiang and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.

There are plenty of places to go shopping in Shanghai. But the most famous ones are Yuyuan Garden and Nanjing Road, which is a prosperous commercial street similar to the famous Fifth Avenue of New York City. You can take a walk along Nanjing Road. It will take you a few hours to go shopping there. You can buy high-quality goods there too.

Nightlife in Shanghai is exciting. There are a lot of dance clubs that are extremely popular among younger people. It is also well-known for its fashionable restaurants which offer a variety of international cuisines. During shanghai Expo 2010, huge amounts of tourists tasted the delicious Chinese food that they will remember forever.

Shanghai is a city that has something to offer everyone. Whether you want to spend your time shopping and seeing the Huangpujiang night sight, or simply relaxing. Shanghai is the ideal choice for a few days to traveling.

Thursday 17 February 2011

To My Evening Class at AMES

Please copy this text and send me an email answering these questions


Needs Analysis Survey Certificate III Evening 4



What is your preferred learning style? (Learning by doing things – listening to the teacher explaining things – reading texts and then reading them again – other)



How long have you been in Australia for?



Write about your education in your own country.



What do you need to do to improve your English this term?



Hoe confident do you feel about your grammar and vocabulary and do you still need to work on improving them?



List some of the internet sites that are good for learning English.



Do you have a computer and an internet connection at home?



Would you like to learn to write texts expressing your own opinion this term?



What are your plans for the near future that you think good English will help you achieve?



How many hours can you spend on homework each week?



Do you have any ideas that can make your English class more interesting?



Would you like to get help from volunteer tutors this term?



What are some of the topics that you would like to learn in our English class?

Wednesday 16 February 2011

Write about Your Hometown

I want you to write about your hometown so other students can learn about your culture. You can tell us about the famous attractions there. What is in the city centre. What is the city famous for. Why many people dream of going there.
You can use these openings:

My city is very famous because ................
The reason why many people want to visit my city is that ......................
The history of my city is .......................
People in my city like ...............................
Transport in my city is ......................
People mainly work in ..................................
The most famous attraciton in my city is ............
Nightlife in my city is .................................
Young people in my city ...............................

Make sure you email your text to me before we meet next week. Thank you.

Learing in High Schools in Australia

This is a very good resource to learn about education in high schools in Australia. You can listen to the mp3 files as well and this will help your English.

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/publications/newsinfo/secondaryschool.htm

Monday 14 February 2011

How to Write an Opinion Essay

You will be asked to do a writing task to pass this module. You will be asked to give your opinion on a topic. You may wish to agree or disagree with the suggested topic. To help you give a good piece of writing, you may use some of the connectors and modifiers like the ones given below.


In fact = Actually = As a matter of fact, .................

The fact of the matter is that ............................

It is a well-known fact that ...............................

Naturally, ..................

According to the report, ........... According to the Age Newspaper, ..........

According to recent statistics by the government, ..............

Frankly, ...............

Of course ..............................

Consequently, ................................

When you want to support your opinion, you can use any of the following:

First of all, ..................................

To begin with ..............

To start with ........................

In addition to that ...............

In the same way, .............

On one hand, ................

On the other hand, ...................

In any case, .....................

Here are some of the topics that you can start using these connectors to write about

The government has decided to remove all factories from cities to help clean the air. Agree/Disagree

The government of North Tanta decided to make cigarettes available for children as young as 12.

There will not be cars on the roads in Melbourne for one day a week starting from next month.

Everyone who comes to Australia will be asked to pay one million dollars before arriving here.

We can use some of these lines when we write about banning cars from the city centre in Melbourne for example. Remember that you need to proofread your essay so that you get rid of the mistakes if there are any.


An average of 640,000 people visit the city each weekday, with that number forecast to rise to 1 million by 2014. Almost half of those commuters travel into the city by car.


The government will have to invest heavily in upgrading train and tram services and build tunnels to avoid traffic congestions.


Many of the car parks in the city will go bankrupt and thousands of workers in these companies will lose their jobs.


There are alternative solutions to banning cars from the streets of Melbourne like reducing speed limits.


Car manufacturers will be hit hard as well and a big number of workers will be laid off.

Sunday 13 February 2011

Read English Faster

If you want to read English faster, past any text you like here and start reading at different speeds.


http://www.cueprompter.com/

Wednesday 9 February 2011

Maths and English are More Important than Art and Music

This is a piece of writing that we did in my evening class.

For students to get good jobs in the future, they need to learn many things. They are compulsory subjects in all high schools. We use them in our daily life. Without learning to read and write correctly, people will have many difficulties. Maths and English are more important subjects than any other subjects.


In the first place, people who are good at English have better communication skills than others. Moreover, without maths, you can’t study engineering. In addition to that, maths is the basis to other courses that students can do. Many inventors were good at maths.


Furthermore, studying English and maths can make students smart and have a high IQ. They are important to get good jobs after graduating from university. English and maths are the minimum reqirements to do certain courses.


On the other hand, some people argue that learning music is hard and not everyone can do it. People need to have talent first before learning to play an instrument. Some famous artists and musicians can make a lot of money through their music and art. Music is important because people can feel it around them. It makes you relax and forget about the stresses of life. Music can make people less aggressive.


All things considered, I strongly believe that although music and art are important, learning English and maths is more essential in real life.

Monday 7 February 2011

Junk Food Ads Should be Banned

Many people watch TV for a very long time including young children. Children always like to watch cartoon programs and they spend a long time glued to their TVs. It is also a good time for junk food companies to advertise their products. After watching these advertisements, children go out and buy these products. Junk food ads should be banned on TV.

How Serious the Problem is Worldwide

According to scientific research, there are 155 million children who are obese around the world/globe. The Age Newspaper says that in Australia, two out of three children are overweight and the third is obese.


The risks of eating junk food

Encouraging young children to eat junk food will have bad consequences in the future. They will suffer from heart disease, diabetes, arthrites and high blood pressure when they grow older.


Advertising companies oppose this and they believe that parents can stop their children from buying junk food. On the other hand, TV channels need to make money to run children’s programs.


I stongly believe that junk food advertisements should be banned during children viewing time because they need to be active and take part in sports activities to become healthy.


In conclusion, To sum up, the Australian TV is full of junk food advertisements that try to attract young children to buy their products but this has to stop. (calling for action)

Ban Junk Food Ads

This post is for my students in Certificate III at AMES. You can read this article online to learn about the topic. This will help you in your writing.

http://www.abc.net.au/health/thepulse/stories/2004/11/25/1251181.htm

This one is from the BBC web site

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3586585.stm

And this one too

http://www.news.com.au/parents-want-junk-food-ads-banned/story-e6frfkp9-1111113546659

And this is a debate

http://debatepedia.idebate.org/en/index.php/Debate:_Junk_food_advertising_ban

Wednesday 2 February 2011