Friday 29 April 2011

Online Book

I am sure this book will help you a lot with learning new vocabulary.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/23374926/verbal-reasoning

Wednesday 6 April 2011

People and Work in Australia

Here is a link to a very good resource that you can read online and download if you like to. It gives you a lot of information on your rights at work.

http://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/cl.people_work.pdf

Monday 4 April 2011

Writing Task

This post is for my evening class students. Please write a text of 300 words or more on the following topic:

Do you think that living in the city is better than living in the country?

Email me your work by Wednesday.

Thanks for your help during the term. You are really good students and I enjoy coming to your class.

What you need you to do:

Write an introduction for your text

Write three paragraphs for the body of your text. In the third paragraph, you need to write what other people think (the other point of view) and how they are wrong.

Write a conclusion

If you don't email me by Wednesday, you will need to write the text in class when you come.

You can see samples of good writing tasks by some of the students in class here on this blog. Remember that you need to use the word "because" or "so" when you write.

Here are some transitions for you to use in your writing:

Illustration

Thus, for example, for instance, namely, to illustrate, in other words, in particular, specifically, such as.

Contrast

On the contrary, contrarily, notwithstanding, but, however, nevertheless, in spite of, in contrast, yet, on one hand, on the other hand, rather, or, nor, conversely, at the same time, while this may be true.

Addition

And, in addition to, furthermore, moreover, besides, than, too, also, both-and, another, equally important, first, second, etc., again, further, last, finally, not only-but also, as well as, in the second place, next, likewise, similarly, in fact, as a result, consequently, in the same way, for example, for instance, however, thus, therefore, otherwise.

Time

After, afterward, before, then, once, next, last, at last, at length, first, second, etc., at first, formerly, rarely, usually, another, finally, soon, meanwhile, at the same time, for a minute, hour, day, etc., during the morning, day, week, etc., most important, later, ordinarily, to begin with, afterwards, generally, in order to, subsequently, previously, in the meantime, immediately, eventually, concurrently, simultaneously.

Concession

Although, at any rate, at least, still, thought, even though, granted that, while it may be true, in spite of, of course.

Similarity

Similarly, likewise, in like fashion, in like manner, analogous to.

Details

Specifically, especially, in particular, to explain, to list, to enumerate, in detail, namely, including.

Examples

For example, for instance, to illustrate, thus, in other words, as an illustration, in particular.

Consequence Or Result

So that, with the result that, thus, consequently, hence, accordingly, for this reason, therefore, so, because, since, due to, as a result, in other words, then.

Summary

Therefore, finally, consequently, thus, in short, in conclusion, in brief, as a result, accordingly.

Suggestion

For this purpose, to this end, with this in mind, with this purpose in mind, therefore.

Learning English in Class or at Home

Here is a text on learning English in calss and at home 
by
 Mia ( DINH THI NGOC PHUNG )
Draft
How useful is learning English ?

Why is learning English important ?

How do people learn English ?

Why learning English in class is better than at home ?

What is the opposite point of view of learning English ?
Introduction

Nowadays English is the most popular language spoken around the world. It is a language used for communication among countries. It helps everybody to reach their career in developed societies such America, Britain and Europe, especially for people who want to survive and obtain a good future in Australia. As a new migrant, I recognize that learning English is not only useful but also important for my settlement.

Paragraph 1

First at all, learning English helps you understand and communicate with people better. The more you talk, the more you find opportunities. Besides you can also make friend with people. They may be your neighbor, your classmates even with people you meet on the bus. In fact, you will feel lonely and bored without communication. I strongly believe that learning English is very important for everybody.

Secondly, English is an international communication language used everywhere. People use it to travel, to do business, to study overseas and thousand of reasons to learn English. Of course, the language which you read on Internet is also written in English. Learning English is really important and helpful for everybody.

Paragraph 2

Actually there are many different ways for people to learn English. For example, some people can learn English by coming to class. Others can learn by listening to the tapes or going online. Some people learn English by watching TV,… But I think that learning English by coming to class is better than at home.

Personally, learning English in class can bring you many advantages. For example, you can speak English with your classmates and teacher. It also helps your oral and listening skills improved. More than that, you can receive lot of support and help from your teacher. In addition to that, group work in classroom is the best way to increase your capacity of speaking, thinking and disccussion. It is very useful for you to get any future job because employers also require their staff most of team works. Your confidence is also developed.

It is argued that learning English at home is better than in class because people think that they can save time to do other work instead of spending time in class. At home, they can learn whenever they want and more active than passive in class. I believe that learning English in class is much better than at home because my world and experience will open more. I can learn more from my mistakes I get. The truth that you never know you are wrong until people tell you your mistake.

Conclusion

Consequently, I believe that learning English in class is better than learning English at home. If you start doing that from now, you will see its advantages after a short time.

Lucky Escape

Watch this video and read the news article about this lucky escape. It happened here in Melbourne this morning.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/9128837/car-falls-over-edge-of-melbourne-car-park/

Learning English in Class or at Home

Text by student Yao Ni

Is learning English in class better than that at home?

Introduction

- Why learning English is important for us?

Paragraph 1

- There are many different ways for us to learn English.

- Why learning English in class is better than at home?

Paragraph 2

- Why some people think learning English at home is better than in class?

Conclusion

- Learning English in class is good but we also need to practice at home.
============================
Nowadays, English is becoming more and more important in the world because it is an international language. As far as I know, many official documents and world-famous books are written in English. Thus, we have to learn English in order to be able to communicate with people from different countries whom we meet in our lives. Especially for us living in Australia, if we can speak English well, we can easily fit into the community, hunt for a good job and set up a small business if we want.

In fact, there are many different ways for us to learn English. Such as logging on English websites, watching English news or movies and speaking to natives in English. However, I strongly believe that learning English as a group in class is better than that at home.

First of all, if we attend English class, we can talk to other students from different countries. Through communication in English, we can learn each other and exchange ideas of English learning. Secondly, we can learn how to use grammars and expand vocabularies in class. Thirdly, teachers and tutors can give us more information and rectify our incorrect pronunciation. Finally, we do not feel embarrassed if we have any questions in class and we can discuss them with classmates and teachers as well.

It is argued that some people think learning English at home is better than that in class. On one hand, they think they can arrange their time freely and set out learning schedules suitable for them. On the other hand, they can choose some topics they are interested in. What’s the more, they suppose that learning English at home is better for them to form habits of studying independently.

Generally speaking, I think that learning English in class is an effective and efficient way. But if we want to learn English well, it is not enough for our learning in class. We could do what we can in order to improve our English as soon as possible. Learning English at home is also a good method.

Friday 1 April 2011

Music File




This is a trial to add sound to the lessons on this blog. I will get some lessons ready for the certificate III class so you can spend some time learning at home. This post is not a lesson. It is just a trial to learn how to embed sound into a blog.