CPE looming ahead

I've started to revise for CPE.

What is interesting is that I don't have any other Oxford certificates. Some people say I'd better start with CAE.

What do you think of it?

Well, let's see how I'm doing. The current challenges for me are:

1. Narrative tenses. Let's call it this way. The thing is that sometimes when trying to express my ideas, to write or to tell a story, I have difficulty in choosing the right tense to use. By the way, the choice of tenses is never a problem for me, if I write a kind of very common opinion essay or narration; the challenge comes when I want to say something I feel strongly about, or write a blog entry))

2. Punctuation. Sometimes it is.

3. Spelling. Sometimes.

4. Collocations. Or something like this. By way of example, in English you can say "to spark conversation". In Russian we can only "start or initiate conversations". If you translate literary "to spark conversation" into Russian, it will sound odd.

I am starting blogging about my CPE progress with this entry. You are most welcome to follow and share your ideas about it.

All my best,

Svetlana Putilova.

How to learn English (any language)

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Personal views and thoughts of Irenetrix.

How to learn English (any language)

(User manual)

You will need:

1) Time

If you do not have time, you will not learn English. Such ads like: ”You will learn English, spending only 30 min per day” are a lie. That is not enough.

2) Effort

It is you, who needs knowledge; no one will learn anything instead of you. You have to put efforts into your study. You may have the best teacher in the world, but without your efforts the learning process is a waste of time. There are a lot of methodics, but if you are passive, no one will work.

3) Plan

Believe me as an ex-school teacher, there are TONS of literature written about methodics of foreign language learning. The gallons of ink were spilt on all-enduring paper, describing this subject. One should find one’s own way through the thick forest of language. It greatly depends on your temper and the way your brain works. Find your teacher; try different tasks and practice those, which work for you.

4) Practice

… makes perfect.

You have to speak, write, read, and listen as much as possible. If you are not a genius, you will make mistakes and experience difficulties. Practice. You will realize/correct your mistakes and overcome difficulties. Eventually, you will break so called “language barrier” When could one say so? You will bellyfeel it. Shortly speaking, you will be able to express your thoughts more or less fluently.

5) Information

Find interesting information and make it the basis of your study, i.e. you are fond of cars, kites, bowling or Yuriy Gagarin. Find an article about it in English. It can be a good motivation for you to explore the language and to learn new words.

6) Teacher

Thou shalt always obey your teacher.

Listen up!

I've found a nice site, where people all over the world can record pronunciation of the words from their native languages. So you can hear how different languages and dialects sound! Very exciting!

Here's the link! http://ru.forvo.com

The best way to learn is when having fun!

Enjoy)

American anthem

American anthem is one of my favorite perfomances)

I've chosen for you the two I love most. The two to contrast one another.

Enjoy!

Words I learned today

There is a rewarding and very simple way to learn without a big effort. Truly simple. As day and night. And it is.... to read!

The key to such reading is choosing the right topic. It should be something you are TRULY interested in, which would make for you a great pass-time. Something you would not grudge the time for.

Another crucial thing is choosing the right author. The one you need to look for should have:

- clear statement, which would match your English level and won't be too challenging

- great style, nice sentence flow

- concise, not wordy sentences

When reading you can put down the brightest words and expressions, as well as the most winning grammar patterns.

I like learning about the way people live in other places and there is a blog of one New Yorker which I have followed for quite a long time and have always read with pleasure. Cookies in the Afternoon is his great article about chances to succeed and the tough competition in New York city.

That's what I've learned from the blog entry:

to apportion chances - the meaning is clear, however, hardly would I have thought of such word combination to convey the meaning. So I'm putting down - to apportion chances.

I found this die sitting on a bench, crying out to be photographed. Such a lovely

sentence!! All the words here are obvious to me. In case you've found something new here, don't hesitate to put it down!

I can't resist the temptation to copy the photo from the awesome blog and show it to you.

He was steeped in workshops that promoted the idea of positive thinking...

The new for me is to be steeped in something. Multitran online dictionary gives very many meanings of the word steep and I would not dare to use the world after just picking it up from the dictionary. But now I can do this no problem for I have seen a good example! Knowing the context is THE GREATEST ADVANTAGE of learning words when reading.

very enthusiastic person, tenacious and optimistic. Here I'm interested in tenacious.

The same story - very many meanings in the dictionary. But from the context I understand that

tenacious in the line is a synonym for persistent or stout-hearted.

The road to success is paved with failure. Great saying! Put it down!

insightful conversation - showing great understanding

aversion to risk - reluctance, antipathy

poignant remark - just another good word combination!

high turnover - if you are once to speak about business and profits the expression may be very useful)

I hope you had fun learning with me.

Perhaps, the new for you and for me in the blog entry did not fully match, as well as the entry might have appeared too difficult for you or too easy. Anyway, I hope I was able to demonstrate the GREAT ADVANTAGES of such learning strategy and you will go on with it.

Ahoy, me hearties!

Who is the most favourite character of all kids?

Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?

This makes pirate fancy dress party a good choice for building a creative lesson and letting the kids have some fun.

In advance, ask kids to think of a pirate costume. Let each child choose a character he would like to represent (it can be someone from "Pirates of the Caribbean" or "Treasure Island").

Advice children about their choice.

Schedule the lesson, letting your students know when their costumes will be needed.

The activities and tasks for the lesson will depend on the kids age and English skills.

• It can be discussion about the characters personality, for intermediate and advanced learners; brief introduction of each character, or identifying the key words for describing a character, for beginners and elementary level.

• It can be all kinds of guessing character games, adjusted for each level.

• Treasure hunt map can be used to practise giving directions and instructions.

• It can be group or team discussion about the ways to survive, if having been marooned.

• It can be discussion of the videos from Pirates of the Caribbean movie or any other pirate movie chosen by a teacher.

In other words, there is a vast number of activities which can be made up for the pirate theme by a creative teacher.

However, I'd like to share a couple more things.

First, the funny game based on the fact that pirates often go:"Arrrrrrgh!"

A teacher is to ask questions starting with "What is the pirates' favourite..."

Students need to guess that the words for the right answers are to have AR sound, and then think of such words to answer teacher's questions.

For example:

- What is the pirates' favourite vehicle?

- Carrr or carrrgo!

- What is the pirates' favourite country?

- Arrrgentina!

-What is the pirates' favourite pastime?

-Barrr crawling.

-What is the pirates' favourite way to come to agreement?

-Parrrley!

-What do pirates like counting to fall asleep?

-Starrrs!

Use your imagination to make a list of possible questions, adjusting them to your students level. Students are to use their imagination too; and the answers can vary. A teacher can reward the right answers with bonuses, announce and reward the winner of the game, or point out the funniest and the wittiest answers.

One more thing, the pirates vocabulary. It can be shortened for beginners and is better to be introduced in the beginning or in the middle of the lesson.

____________________________________________________________________

buccaneer, bucko - a pirate

Davy Jones' Locker - sea bottom

skedaddle - to get away

flogging - punishment

swab the deck - wash the deck

Jolly Roger

ahoy - hello

matey - friend

Aye! - Yes!

me - mine

me hearties - my team

scurvy - a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C

scuttlebutt - gossip

Shiver me timbers! - the phrase is based on real nautical slang and is a reference to the timbers, which are the wooden support frames of a sailing ship. In heavy seas, ships would be lifted up and pounded down so hard as to "shiver" the timbers, startling the sailors. Such an exclamation was meant to convey a feeling of fear and awe, similar to, "Well Blow Me Down!", or, "May God Strike Me Dead" (Wikipedia)

seadog - seaman

Walk the plank! - Walking the plank was a form of murder or torture thought to have been practiced by pirates. The victim was forced to walk off the end of a wooden plank or beam extended over the side of a ship, falling into the water to drown, sometimes with bound hands or weighed down, often into the vicinity of sharks (Wikipedia).

plunder - defeat

monkey - small cannon

landlubber - land lover, derogatory name used by pirates to describe all non-seamen

blow the man down! - shoot him!

booty - treasure

avast! - Used by seamen as a warning, literally "look out", but often used by pirates as a greeting e.g. "Avast there ye old seadog".

dead man's chest - coffin

Arrrgh!

swallow the anchor - retire from sea

adrift - loose, not on moorings or towline

Blimey! - interjection expressing anger, surprise, excitement

bounty - award

____________________________________________________________________

Making short skits to introduce each word is an engaging activity based on the vocabulary.

Prepare spreadsheets (matching the number of your students) with the words without their definitions, and a list of the words with definitions. Take two or three words to base the skit on, show the definitions to those who have volunteered to act, telling them to think of a skit to perform in several minutes in front of the class, demonstrating the meaning of each given word. Students with the best guesses can make up a group of actors for a skit to introduce another group of words.

Finally, I'd like to mention some good quotes from Pirates of The Caribbean movie, which can be used to spark conversation. It can as well be another guessing game like"Which character does the phrase belong to?"

If you lock away your heart, you've truly lost, mate.

(Jack Sparrow)

This is a dinghy, not my vessel. My vessel is magnificent, and fierce, and huge-ish, and... gone.

(Jack Sparrow)

What arrrrr you doing?

(Captain Barbossa)

Life is cruel. Why should the afterlife be any different?

(Davy Jones)

Every man has a price which he will willingly accept, even for that which he hopes never to sell.

(Lord Beckett)

You can mistrust me less than you can mistrust him, trust me.

(Jack Sparrow)

No cause is lost if there is but one fool left to fight for it.

(Will Turner)

Aaand, just one more tip - you can use music to set the atmosphere of your lesson. Choose something from Hans Zimmer works e. g. "Drink up, me hearties!"or "Davy Jones".

I hope, you see now that pirate theme is the right one for creating a fantastic lesson!

What is the main problem of advanced English learners?

So, what is it? Sophisticated vocabulary? Grammar? Necessity to sound like native speaker?
I'll tell you - it's a LACK OF CHALLENGE.

Cmon, you know the way it usually starts. During the classes you may transform grammar structures and do some comprehensive reading (all to get ready for your TOEFL or CPE), you may dwell on some specific vocabulary, but you actually never work hard!

Let's admit

- you are by far not so anxious about preparing your speeches: it is never a problem for an advanced English learner to think of something just on the spot
- neither you are anxious about the vocabulary (one can dig into it forever, and your own vocabulary is already pretty rich)
- not that it's difficult for you to transform grammar structures after the examples in the exercises or the way your teacher wants you to.
As a result, you feel stuck at the same level without any progress. You don't see much point in continuing with the classes, but to say hello to the old friends or maintain your level.

Does it mean you've reached perfection? Not really.

Here some TRUE challenges for an advanced learner.

1. Try proofreading and beta-ing. You'll need to demonstrate all your skills there: spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. It is always easy to choose between grammar structures when doing exercises in your course book or correcting a text with mistakes, made on purpose. Trying to correct something written by a native speaker, meant to express his ideas rather than follow some learning patters, is quite different thing.
In order to do it, you'll have to demonstrate good 'feel' of the language and ability to give good advice on sentence flow.

2. Express yourself. Just as I've said, there is a GIANT difference between writing a letter, narrative, article, summary, or whatsoever following the guidelines in your course book, and expressing yourself. Unleash your imagination and create a narrative or even fan fic, write something you feel strongly about, as if it is a blog or personal diary. Convert your thoughts and emotions into words. Do it for the audience of native speakers. There won't be an example to write after and you'll be challenged to convey your idea.

3. Write summaries. Summaries is the best way to push you into using your own words for expressing ideas.
Here you go!

Vorpal (размышление на тему слов)

В английском языке есть слово "Vorpal", перевода которого вы не найдете на lingvo.com, придумал его Льюис Кэрролл (Lewis Carroll). Это слово встречается в "Алисе в Зазеркалье" ("Through the Looking-Glass"), в стихотворении "Бармаглот" ("Jabberwocky") два раза в словосочетаниях "Vorpal Sword" и "Vorpal Blade". Само стихотворение  является, пожалуй, самой известной попыткой ввести в язык несуществующие слова.

С легкой руки английского сказочника во многих компьютерных играх самый-распресамый меч называется "Vorpal Sword".

В компьютерной игре "American McGee's Alice" Алиса орудует "Vorpal Blade".

Вот и он (жмите на картинку, она большая и красивая, это постер к сиквелу "Alice: Madness Returns")

В русской версии игры он переводится как "кухонный", так как Дина Орловская, автор самого известного перевода этого стихотворения на русcкий язык, не дала буквального значения оригинального словосочетания "Vorpal Sword".

Сам Кэрролл говорил, что он не знает, как объяснить этот термин. Традиционно его понимают как "sharp" ("острый") или "deadly" ("бьющий без промаха"). А переводят (в контексте стихотворения) как "меч бурлатный" (Щепкина-Куперник), "бострый меч" (А. Щербаков), "чудо-юдоострый меч" (В. Орел) и т.д. и т.п. в зависимости от воображения переводчика. Из вышеперечисленных переводов "бострый" мне симпатичнее всего, так как в других содержатся аллюзии русских сказок.

Александр Тейлор (Alexander L. Taylor) в своей биографии Кэрролла "Белый рыцарь" ("The White Knight") предположил, что слово могло возникнуть путем поочередной перестановки букв в словах "verbal" (словесный) и "gospel" (евангелие). Если учесть тот факт, что Кэрролл был священником и математиком, любящим лингвистические шарады, то это вполне возможно, так что, на мой взгляд "Vorpal Sword" - это скорее "Sacred Sword".

Ниже картинка сэра Джона Те́нниела (John Tenniel), первого иллюстратора книг об Алисе. Это, собственно говоря, Бармаглот. Кстати, он же "Борморчун" -  "jabber" согласно http://thefreedictionary.com переводится, как "говорить быстро и непонятно", бормотать.

Чей-то сын держит "Vorpal Sword".

При написании статьи использован материал из Википедии и http://centrolit.kulichki.net/centrolit/jabberwocky/index.html

Интервью с Американ МакГи, если кто не в курсе, что за игра такая и любопытно глянуть.

Feels like spring

should I greet you as if we had merely eaten together one night when the white birches dripped wet and lightning etched black trees on your walls? it is not love I am asking love comes from years of breathing skin to skin tangled in each other's dreams until each night weaves another thread in the same web of blood and sleep and I have only passed through you quickly like light and you have only surrounded me suddenly like flame the lake is cold the snows are sudden the wild cherry bends and winter's a burden in your hand I feel spring burn in the bud. Copyright, Mary Mackey 1987 From "The Dear Dance of Eros"

What's wrong with CAE?

By way of example:

In the reading part of CAE test, which was giving an outline of the existing guide books publishers, they were asking: "The guide books of which publisher are least numerous?"

It took me AGES to find the answer. All due to the fact that the key word "few" was buried insіde the longest sentence, describing other features of the publisher.

Well, I guess anyone to pass CAE is likely to be familiar with emphatic structures. Actually, to emphasize on something we need to put it in the beginning or in the end of a sentence. I guess, the authors of the CAE are likely to know this too.

I would say, that writing skills of a person who puts tiny "few" in the middle of a long sentence, and hopes for it to be spotted by a reader right away, ss...suggest of incompetence.

Since the purpose of the test is not to check how attentive someone is, but to monitor his language skills, what is the point of such tasks? Hardly there can be someone wishing to pass CAE test and at the same time wondering what "few" means.

What is more, exactly such tasks give rise to numerous strategies of passing the FCE CAE CPE tests, to the strategies not relevant to having language skills.

My accent

To go on with the story about accents, I add a video to demonstrate a Russian accent.

For me it was of particular interest as my first language is Russian.

Accents:
How To Do A Russian Accent

British vs American

It has been a lot of discussion about British and American English.

Some teachers in my university had the opinion which can be called puristic.

Sally Johnson and Natalie Braber in their book "Exploring the German language" give the perfect description of the phenomenon:

"Linguistic purism can take different forms. Generally, however, it is

concerned with the opposition to changes taking place in a language or the desire
to change something which is already present in the language. This can also
include the preservation of elements which are seen as desirable and very often
involves the ideas of prescriptivism (the laying down of language rules and how
language ‘should’ be spoken or written) and judges the influence of foreign
language elements. Purism and prescriptivism have in common the belief that
linguistic judgements can be made, and that we can contrast ‘good’ versus ‘bad’
usage of language. Both schools of thought generally follow a model of tradition,
i.e. older forms of language are ‘better’ than present-day language and that
changes taking place within the current period are often viewed negatively."

Thus, we were to learn British English, which was under the circumstances a difficult task. We did read authentic books where we could pick up gmammar structures and sentence flow, we could also watch videos, however our communication to the British native speakers was limited.

My ancounters with Americans were, on the contrary, numerous, starting from childhood when several Peace Corps projects were run at my school. This made American English intonations much more familiar to me.

To tell the truth, many British accents, as well as many American ones are stunning.

Go to you tube and you'll understand that I am not the only one who loves parroting accents.

Here are some great tips from Amy Walker:

I can't help showing you the famous "21 accents" by Amy Walker, which I learned about from one of my favourite university teachers:

Two more videos on British and American accent:

Accents:
How To Do A British Accent

Accents:
How To Do An American Accent

So, in your opinion, what makes your accent?

How to learn new words

Yes, you can fall in love ...with words!

One expression I've recently fell for is pockets of the city, which refers to backstreets. Met at New York Daily Photos blog.

It is very often that I discover just awesome words.

And you? Can you share words that impressed you?