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Blog Archive

16/10/2009

Exam preparation/study tips both for written and oral exams!!!!!!

-Make sure you understand what you have studied.
Don’t just try to memorise it.
-Ask your teacher or classmates for help if you find something difficult to understand.
-Look again at what you have studied as soon as possible after class.You are more likely to remember information if you look at it again within 24 hours of first hearing it.
-Organise your study time.A revision timetable will help you make the most of your study time.
-Eat something before you study. Food will give your brain the energy it needs to concentrate for long periods of time. Fruit is a good choice - the sugar in fruit will keep you more awake than coffee.
-Drink plenty of water while you study.Not drinking enough water can make you lose concentration and make it harder for you to remember information. You should drink 250ml of water for every hour of study.
-Choose places to study where you will not be disturbed.
Noise and other distractions make it difficult to concentrate and can affect the amount of information you remember.
-Take regular breaks during study time.Taking a 20 minute break every two hours will give you time to remember what you have already learned and also help you concentrate for the next two hours.
-Take practice tests. There is no better way to prepare for a test than to take regular practice tests. Not only can you learn the language you need to pass the exam, but you can also get to know the style of exam questions and practise good exam techniques.
-Join a study group.Studying with friends and classmates can help motivate you to study more regularly.
-Work out when you study best. Some people work best in the mornings, others at night. Decide when you work at your best and try to study at those times.

from: http://www.itests.com/xg/editorial/customer/links/13

General memory tips and Vocabulary memory tips.

General memory tips:
Concentrate!You need to learn something before you can remember it. So listen in class and choose quiet places to study, where you can concentrate.
Ask yourself questions about what you are studying as you read
You are more likely to remember information if you have a purpose for reading it. Try to remember your lessons without your books
A very good way to remember information is to try to remember it without your books. Test your memory by making notes and then checking them against your books.
Quickly look at the main points of what you have studied at the end of each lesson to help you remember them later.
Summarise your notes using key words
these key words will help improve your memory later on. Look at what you have studied as often as possible
Regular study is a better way of remembering than trying to learn everything at the last minute.
Use different learning techniques
Generally, we remember 20% of what we read; 30 % of what we hear; 40% of what we see; 50% of what we write or say and 60% of what we do. Write material down, say it out loud, draw pictures: try to use all your senses.
Vocabulary memory tips:
Draw pictures of the words.Simple pictures are good enough. Thinking of a way to illustrate new words will help you to remember them later on. Also, pictures are easier to remember than words.
Use new words to write sentences about yourself.Using new words in a personalised way is an excellent way to memorise them. Writing words down and using them in context will help you learn the meanings. Act out words as you learn them.Perform an action which describes the word as you learn it.Say the words out loud as you learn them.
Record yourself saying the words out loud and then listen to the recording.
Look for connections between new words.
You can do this by organising words into groups. For example, by topic, in pairs (with similar or opposite meanings), by word types (verb, noun, adjective etc).
Look and listen for the new words you are learning.Look out and listen for the new words when you are speaking to people, watching TV, or reading books and magazines in English.
Write news words in a notebook.Include an example sentence. Carry the notebook with you and use it to test yourself when you have some spare time: during your lunch break or waiting for the bus.

FROM: http://www.itests.com/xg/editorial/customer/links/45

12/10/2009

THE PLEASURE OF READING.

FROM:
  http://www.englishgateway.com/ArticleVm.aspx?SectionID=d110128e12974f6bb118fcb081764008&ArticleID=
2b90c31e6020490f914a4449d7a92555

Reading for pleasure is often something ESL learners don’t do. Learners will read a book, or newspaper article with a dictionary in their other hand.Reading for pleasure should be about reading for enjoyment. If learners are unable to understand the meaning of a story or book without stopping to look up numerous new words in the dictionary, then the material they’ve chosen to read is too difficult. Learners should be able to read a page of a book without having to look up more than 2-3 words from that page. That is not to say that they will clearly understand every word that they’ve read, but they should be able to understand the general meaning from the context of the sentence.Remember they’re reading to enjoy themselves, not in to study. Encourage learners to choose works that are the appropriate level. Learners may favour novels filled with suspense, action and drama, but these novels may also have difficult vocabulary, complex sentence structure, and topic specific expressions that could leave the reader feeling frustrated and discouraged after reading only a few pages.There are numerous interesting young adult novels and magazines that may be more appropriate for some learners to read. They will enjoy the material, review vocabulary and expressions that are familiar to them, learn a few new words and have a positive reading experience. They will find that reading is a pleasure.

08/10/2009

INFINITIVE VS GERUND.

GERUND OR INFINITIVE? (e.g. working or to work?)
Gap-fill exercise

COCA COLA AND ITS ADVERTISING

Complete the following text using a gerund (e.g. working) or an infinitive (e.g. to work) from the list of verbs for each paragraph.


Paragraph A - [Choose from: build; set up; run; bring; make; transform]

John S. Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886. His partner suggested------------ an advertisement for the drink in the Atlanta Journal that very year. In 1888, Asa Chandler bought the Coca-Cola business and decided------------ the product known through signs, calendars and clocks. The company began---------------- its global network when Robert Woodruff was elected president of the company in 1923. He succeeded in -----------------Coca-Cola into a truly international product by------------------- a foreign department, which exported Coca-Cola to the Olympic Games in Amsterdam in 1928. During World War II, he promised------------------------- Coca-Cola to every soldier in every part of the world.


Paragraph B - [Choose from: decide; reflect; appear; create]

Coca-Cola's advertising has always attempted -----------------changing contemporary lifestyles. ------------------an international advertising campaign requires the talents of professionals in many areas, and extensive testing and research are always done before----------------- which advertisements will finally be used. Celebrity endorsements have featured heavily - Cary Grant, Ray Charles and Whitney Houston are just three of the big name stars who have agreed--------- in Coca-Cola commercials.


Paragraph C - [Choose from: return; change; expand; launch; drink]

After--------------- Diet Coke in 1982, the company saw its sales grow quickly. The drink is now the third most popular in the world. In 1985, the company tried------------- the secret formula of Coca-Cola, but realised that Americans were very attached to the original recipe. The company listened to its consumers and quickly responded by ------------------the original formula to the market as 'Coca-Cola Classic'. Today, people in more than 160 countries around the globe enjoy----------------- Coca-Cola. It is asked for more than 524 million times a day in more than 80 languages. The company intends---------------------- its global presence even further in the twenty-first century, particularly in developing markets.

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