Manchester International Society

Hi there,

Here is another way you can speak in English outside school - by joining the International Society! Here is the link - http://www.internationalsociety.org.uk/

They organise really good trips to various places of beauty and/or interest around the UK. There is a trip to Tatton Park (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-tattonpark/) on Sunday 4th November. I am going to go, if any of you would like to join me, please let me know, you don't have to pay anything, it's included in the price of your course fees. Please note, however, that MMU is unable to pay for other family members, but if they want to go they can book with the International Society at the usual rate, it's all on the website.

I will be taking a list of who wants to go on Tuesday 30th so please let me know by then.
This is a great chance to get out of the dirty industrial city and see a greener England!

Free Language Learning websites for grammar

Try these links for on-line help with your tenses. You can find explanations and exercises. If you found any of the links particularly helpful (or unhelpful!) please post comments so that you can help other students:-

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbtenseintro.html

http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar_games_archive_frame.html

http://esl.about.com/blgrammar.htm

Altnerativley you can use your English File Workbook CD-Rom, there are plenty of additional exercises, including listening, on there!

Speak in English please!

Dear Students,

I would like to share a story with you ....

About two years ago I had an exam class, they were about the same level as you are now. Because the students were all highly motivated they were very strict with themselves and only spoke in English in class, and many of them even spoke in English outside the classroom. One evening we had a party to say goodbye to one of the students, and I noticed that two of the men who were both German, speaking to each other in English. I was very surprised and impressed, the atmposhere was very relaxed so it would have been easy for them to slip back into German, but they didn't.

One month later they took their exam ... all the students did well and the two German speakers I mentioned above got VERY good marks.

So, I ask you to consider this story and answer the following questions. Firstly - do you think the fact that these two students were so strict with themselves was helpful in terms of getting a high score in their exam? Secondly, do any of you have any ideas about what we can do to ensure that only English is spoken in our classroom?

I am looking forward to your comments ......

Caroline's email address

c.entwistle@mmu.ac.uk

Spelling

If you have problems with English spelling - you are not alone! It's very common for students to say that their biggest problem with learning English is spelling and pronunciation. Spelling is VERY important in IELTS (for the listening section, if a word is misspelt you get ZERO), therefore it's your responsibility to push yourself to improve your spelling.

But what can you do to improve your spelling? Here's one idea .... log onto this website - http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flash/wordmaster/

Today, I would like you to spend some time on the Wordmaster, and then post a comment on this blog about how useful you found it (remember to check your spelling before you submit your comment!). If you don't have a google blogger account, log on to www.blogspot.com and follow the instructions. Any problems I am here to help you!

Happy blogging and do not forget - YOU MUST WORK HARD ON YOUR SPELLING!!