FCE Course at London School of English

At the moment I am teaching an FCE course at Westcroft Square. The First Certificate of English is one of the Cambridge exams we help students to prepare for at London School of English. It tests speakers of English at an upper intermediate level and if they pass it, they are awarded a certificate which proves their level of English. They can then add this to their CV or use it to show potential employers or universities that they have a good level of English.

The exam tests the four skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. It is quite a tricky exam, so the students on our course do lots of preparation work on their vocabulary and grammar as well as important reading and listening skills. Also, we help our learners with important strategies to help them to deal with the difficult exam tasks they have to complete.

For example, last week in my class the students looked at skimming and scanning as ways of reading texts quickly for general understanding (skimming), and in order to find specific information in a reading text (scanning). We also looked more specifically at the different exam questions and how to deal with them. Multiple choice questions, for example, are often misunderstood by students. They often get distracted by the different answers they can choose from. I taught them that it was much more important to fully understand the questions first, ignore the given options, find the answer to the question in the text, and then pick the option that matches that answer.

For example, here is a typical multiple choice question which tests your understanding of the first paragraph in this blog post.

1. The Cambridge First Certificate of English is an appropriate exam for which type of person?

a. Learners of English at an advanced level

b. People who want some evidence of their English competence

c. Students who want to improve their interview skills to help them get a job

d. Students who study at the London School of English

First you should ignore the four options a-d

Then you should scan-read the first paragraph in order to find the answer to the question.

Then find the answer in the text.

Now read the four options carefully and choose the one that matches the answer you found.

Eliminate any options which are clearly not the correct answer.

Double check your answer carefully, and never leave a question unanswered!

The answer is, of course, b.

So far, I think the course is going well. I'm giving my students feedback when I can. For example, I think they have good written English, but they need to expand their vocabulary and take more initiative in the speaking part of the test. I think they are all capable of passing, and I expect them to.

Changes in GSV visa rules

Some important changes in the General Student Visa (GSV) rules will come into effect in a few weeks. At the moment we send a letter for use when someone applies for a GSV. As from 22 February, visa letters will no longer be valid, and an electronic system will be used instead. This only applies to students coming to study in the UK from outside of the EU or Switzerland. Visit our website to read more.

English for University

We have just started a new course at our Westcroft Square school, English for University. English for University is an intensive course specially designed for motivated adults who need to improve their English language skills in preparation for university study as well as general English skills. The course is fun and lively, but also serious and suitable for people with a real need for results. The emphasis is always on learning in a practical way. This course is not designed to be purely an IELTS preparation course but rather combines an element of IELTS preparation with many other topic areas necessary for students to study successfully in the UK. If you would like to read more about this course, please go to the school site. I've just interviewed Laura, one of our teachers on this course and next week I'll be interviewing one of the students who is on this course.

If you are interested in hearing more about this course, please contact the sales office on +44 20 7605 4142 and http://uk.mc245.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sales@londonschool.com

Glossary
to cope with (phr v) - to succeed in dealing with a difficult situation
overall aim (adj, noun) - main aim
participant (n) - someone who is taking part in an activity or class
long-term (adj) - continuing for a long period of time into the future
to focus on (phr v) - to give attention to something
to pay off (phr v) - to be worth the effort

Social Programme

Conversation in The Grand Union

Last week about 30 students and three teachers from the Westcroft Square School visited some local pubs. We left school at 4.30 and walked through Ravenscourt Park to a pub called, The Grand Union. This pub has recently been refurbished and has modern decoration and some slightly crazy artwork. As we arrived quite early and most people in London hadn’t finished work we were able to take over a large section at the back of the pub. The students were able to relax after school and practise using their English in a more natural setting than the classroom.

Teachers Howard and Raphael

Howard, a teacher from the school, was in charge of the event and I attended to take photos, along with another teacher Raphael. There were students from over 11 different countries and there was a lot of discussion about culture, customs and places from various countries. Sometimes students become a bit more fluent after a couple of drinks but it can mean they lose some accuracy. The important thing is that English is being practised in a relaxed environment.

Students and the pub artwork

After about an hour and a half in this pub Howard and the students moved to another more traditional pub called The Goldhawk on Goldhawk Road. This pub is a little more old fashioned but still has a relatively modern feel. Some of the students tried some traditional English ales, while others drank wine and soft drinks. Some even had a snack or some dinner there. There was a band playing later on in this pub and a few of the students were happy to stay there for the evening although some left to do their homework. Overall it was a successful event, everybody enjoyed themselves and a lot of English was spoken and heard.

Glossary
has recently been refurbished - has been redecorated and modernised

to take over - to take control of something
a more natural setting - a a place and situation which is more normal than the classroom
customs - traditional habits in a country or culture
a relatively modern feel - having modern look compared to siome other pubs

Idiomatic illness part 2

Hello again everybody. So last week I told you all about my miserable Christmas holiday and how ill I felt. You can see the original post here. Well, you'll be pleased to hear that I'm much better now and busy teaching and IELTs course at snowy Westcroft Square. Well it's not too snowy now, but apparently there's more on the way. If you look at Ben's post from last week you'll be able to see what it was like here!

You might remember that my last post was full of idiomatic language. Congratulations to Bahar who managed to guess some of the health idioms from last week's blog. She correctly worked out what to be at death's door and to bounce back meant.

How many did you manage to get right? Have a look below for the answers:

to be/feel under the weather to feel unwell
to be at death's door to be very unwell
to bounce back to recover quickly
to be on the road to recovery to be getting better after an illness
to be chomping at the bit to be very keen to do something
to be right as rain to have recovered
to be over the worst to have overcome the hardest part
to feel full of beans to feel full of energy

That's all for now, thanks for reading.

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow...

Our Westcroft Square centre 06/01/2010

As some of you may know, the UK has been hit by heavy snow this week and on Wednesday it hit London. Snow began to fall around lunchtime and it got heavier in the afternoon. Luckily, there are no General English classes at our Westcroft Square centre on Wednesday afternoons so the majority of students were able to travel home safely before the travel disruption caused by the snow and ice. Most students have made it to class today, although some arrived late as the problems on the roads, buses and tube continued.

Picture of the school from Westcroft Square

The big freeze is set to continue for a few more days and temperatures are not expected to rise much above zero. The overnight temperature was -3 in London and this means the streets and pavements are quite icy today. In fact, it has been so cold that many primary and high schools have had to close because teachers and pupils were unable to get to class and the central heating systems packed up. Fortunately, a lot of the teachers at the London School of English live quite close to the school and because our homestay families are quite near, the students have been able to come and the school has remained open.

The outside area at our Westcroft Square school

Personally, I really enjoy the snow. It makes everything look pretty and adds some excitement to the city because it doesn't snow here very often. It annoys me a bit when the snow begins to thaw though, because it turns to horrible brown slush and then makes the city look dirty. If you're planning to visit London or the school in the near future, make sure you bring some warm clothes and some sensible footwear. Hopefully this will be the last of the really cold winter weather and in a month or so, we can begin to look forward to the spring when the temperature will rise and the daylight hours will get longer.

Glossary

be hit by heavy snow - be affected by lots of snow falling and staying on the ground.

snow began to fall - it stared snowing

travel disruption - problems travelling on buses, trains and roads

the big freeze - a period of extremely cold weather

the central heating systems packed up - the systems that heat houses by using radiators stopped working

the snow begins to thaw - the snow starts to melt and turn to water.

horrible brown slush - partially melted snow that has become dirty and turned brown

sensible footwear - suitable shoes, boots etc to deal with certain conditions

Idiomatic illness

Good afternoon everybody and Happy New Year! How are you? Did you have a peaceful holiday? My Christmas and New year were a bit of a wash out. I'm sorry to say that I've been a bit under the weather. In fact, on New Year's Eve I even felt like I was at death's door! I bounced back though and was on the road the recovery on Saturday, and was chomping at the bit to come back to work yesterday. Although I wouldn't say that I was as right as rain yet, I'm over the worst of it and am feeling full of beans today and raring to go!

Now, how much of my post do you understand? If you know what an idiom is, you've probably realised that I didn't have a very good New Year because I was ill. But what exactly do the idioms in bold mean? What do you think? I'll give you the answers next week!

Image taken from www.hunt.fm

Do it Yourself

The Christmas holidays are a great time for visiting family, going out with friends and eating and drinking more than usual. In between all of that most people like to lie on the sofa, watch films, read the paper or a book and generally take it easy.

Unfortunately this Christmas holiday I have been busy with different pass time, DIY. DIY (said ‘D’ ‘I’ ‘Y’ , not ‘die’) stands for Do it Yourself. It is the term used to describe work you do to your home that you do yourself, for example decorating or putting up shelves. You can pay people to do these jobs for you, but a lot of people prefer to save some money and do it themselves. Like me, most people I know hate doing DIY, but you normally have a huge sense of achievement when you have finished.

This holiday we have been working on our sitting room. First of all we stripped the wallpaper. We used a steamer which makes the job easier and it’s very satisfying to get rid of the wallpaper, but that’s only the beginning. Then we had to prepare the walls by sanding them to make them smooth. Next we painted the skirting boards and the door frames before painting the walls and the ceiling.

Now all of that is finished I can sit down and see what films are on the TV. Then again, the television has been so bad this Christmas I think I’d rather watch paint dry.

The paper – the newspaper
Take it easy – relax, don’t do much
Decorating – paining walls or putting up wallpaper etc.
Sense of achievement – a feeling that you have worked hard at something and feel you have achieved something good
Sitting room – the room where most people go to relax, watch television etc; sometimes called the lounge
Stripped the wallpaper – took wallpaper off the walls
Steamer – a machine to help strip wallpaper; like a big kettle that uses steam to loosen the paper
Skirting boards – the wooden boards that are at the bottom of a wall, next to the floor
I’d rather watch paint dry – an expression that helps you describe that something is/would be very boring
‘Would you like to come to the Natural History Museum to see the new dinosaur exhibition?’
‘No thanks! I’d rather watch paint dry!’

New Year's Resolutions

So Christmas is over and another year begins, what will it bring? The first of January is a time when many people decide to make New Year’s resolutions. These are generally designed to improve our lives or make us better people in some way. Over the years, I’ve made many resolutions and over the years I’ve also broken many of them as they are often very difficult to stick to! The most common ones usually involve giving up something that you really enjoy such as smoking, drinking, biting your nails and chocolate (in fact all delicious food) or starting something new such as getting fit or learning a new language. At the party I went to last night everyone was discussing what resolutions they were going to make. Lynn is giving up smoking (for about the tenth time) so are Mark and Jules however, they said that New Year’s day doesn’t count so are starting on the 2nd!! Harry is giving up drinking for 2 months to prove to his wife that he can! Janice wants to give something back to society so is going to do voluntary work for a local charity, more surprisingly she also said that she’s going to get married...you may not think this is strange however, I do as she currently doesn’t have a boyfriend! Oh well I guess you have to admire her optimism! Steve and Kevin both want to change their jobs as they both hate them (I can highly recommend teaching). Then there’s Chris who says that they are pointless and you should make anti-resolutions like put on weight, start taking drugs and drink more alcohol (quite difficult if you are British!) I really hope that David Beckham has made a resolution to win the World Cup because that would make many Brits very happy, we can dream!! Anyway, this year I’ve made more than anyone I know. Here they are:

1. See my friends and family more.
2. Each month visit somewhere in London that I’ve never been to
3. Be much tidier at home and at work (my desk is always a mess)
4. Laugh more
5. Get fitter
6. Do my Greek homework every week

I’ll let you know how my friends and I get on with these resolutions and if you have any unusual resolutions yourself let me know, I wish you good luck with yours. Hope you have a happy and prosperous 2010!!

Glossary

Resolution - a decision or statement that is agreed by an individual or a group
To stick to (something) - to keep or continue with something
to give up (something) - to quit or stop doing something
to prove - to show something is true by providing facts
Voluntary work - work that you aren't paid for
Charity - an organisation that gives money, goods or help to people who are poor, sick or in need of help
Strange - odd or unusual
Optimism - tendency to believe that good things will happen
to put on - to gain
Brits - British people
Mess - untidy or not neat
Prosperous - rich and successful