Words don't come easy to me - activity

http://justenglish.me/2014/05/31/another-20-forgotten-words-that-should-be-brought-back/

Here is the video to a song.  Have you heard it before? It was popular when I was in high school. Listen to it and think about the lyrics. What does it say? Is it for a specific person?

Can you think what kind of person you imagine is signing the song? Which words do you think are appropriate and why:

outgoing, shy, dishonest

Can you think of any more?

What kind of words are we trying to find? Nouns , verbs, adjectives,

Think about the person in the song, how many more adjectives can you think of ?



The chorus to the songs repeats the following sentence:

" Words don't come easy to me?"

Do you agree or disagree?

Words equal vocabulary and they are the building blocks of our sentences. The way we use them is governed by grammar rules which cements them together.

So how can we get a nice tall strong wall (sentences /text) in  in good interesting English).

The post box was in the wall.

The  red post box was embeded into the stone wall.




Learning vocabulary is what we are talking about?  Click to go to next post.

Learning Vocabulary

The type of words you use show your level of English. Look at the sentence

Having a good day?  Yes thanks, I'm quite happy.

How many other words for happy are there? Click here and have a look


Finding new words

If you know the word in Catalan but need the English word the best solution is a bilingual dictionary. Here is one 




But do you find that you are using the same words over and over again ?   A thesaurus is a good tool in this case. Here is one




Remembering words you have seen before or should know

Since you started learning English you have been learning new words every year. How do you do it?  Which methods do you use and how much time do you spend doing it?

http://thelearningcoachonline.com/2013/04/how-to-learn-vocabulary-definintions/

The words you will remember are the ones which are important to you or the ones that you have had to use. One strategy for learning new words is to try and find an association with yourself and then it will become part of your personal experience.



If   you are learning character adjectives try to think of people that you know who are like the adjective and you will then feel an association with the word.  Think about why she or he is  like the adjective. The more effort you put into each word the more easily you will be able to remember it.

Starting a new year/course of learning

You have found the right class and are there at the right time. You know who your teacher is. What else is there to learning?

What are you going to learn?

Your course will have a syllabus based on your level (A2, B1, B2) and you will use your language skills and knowledge of use of English (vocabulary and grammar) to show that you can do certain things in English. Can you introduce yourself in English in writing or by speaking?

http://www.vantage-siam.com/

Which is your favourite skill? Do you know which one you do better? Each one can be developed and requires you to do different activities. Working in a different way.

Listening is a skill which is often not easy to improve in a class situation and it is best done at home doing individual practice activitities. A road to improving listening skills is by repeating  an audio  many times. Each time you listen you "hear" or recognize more words. The last step would be to read and listen to the content to make sure you have understood the meaning. Choosing listening material that has a transcript is very important.


How are you going to learn?   As your class teacher I will help you to learn as effectively as possible by going through a series of activities either in class or at home

These will be from the different resources which you have available:

Student book with workbook
Readers
Moodle course
Teacher's Blog
Other online resources from websites

http://sensiblechinese.com

Effective language learners are open to experimenting with the language and are not afraid of making mistakes.


Charactaristics of "the good language learner" 


Listen to a person who has learnt more than one language.









How will you know you have learnt what you should have?   You will have to pass a language test which will be divided between  the four skills and use of English in different proportions! You will find the inforamtion on the school website and I will talk you through your particular evaluation criteria. The higher the level the more equal is

Reading 20%      Listening 20%    Speaking 20%    Writing 20%    Use of English  20%

Hope you have a profitable year and that you learn all that you want to  and need for the next stage in your studies.