If you are looking for more info and details about your exam you can visit this site and find out lots more!!!
If you want to rely on a good online Dictionary you should definitely check this one out!
If you want more practice don't forget to surf here or here.
If you are the one who is always willing to do more and go beyond then go here too!!!
Remember to find your own pride in your studying regardless of what others may say.
Congrats to all who are still willing to be oustanding!!!
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Saturday, 30 July 2011
FCE boosting your vocabulary.
FCE Vocabulary: Natural English or Dictionary English?
After doing a few Use of English past paper tests, you probably wonder how much vocabulary you need to know to pass the FCE –with merit of course!
Let’s consult the FCE Handbook to clarify this point a little. The descriptor of the band 5 (maximum mark) of the FCE written assessment reads:
“Wide range of structure and vocabulary within the task set.”
What does this mean?
It is quality knowledge not quantity of words you should be after. That’s what it means.
Apart from knowing the structure of words; for example, what preposition follows certain verbs or adjectives, Paper 3 Use of English aims at testing set phrases and collocations rather than the meaning of individual words. You need to grasp the whole meaning of the phrase. To gain that knowledge it is important to come across words in context and then consult their dictionary meaning to check structural aspects.
Speak Up Magazine
http://www.speakuponline.it/
This is a magazine I have read and enjoyed a lot while studying English. I still keep my collection of tapes from it. Luckily there is an online version from this Italian site:
http://www.speakuponline.it/archivio.asp
It is probable the best starting point you can find to help you deal with different varieties of English in a number of contexts. Each recorded interview includes information about the nationality and accent of the speakers, which is essential to help you gain that spontaneous knowledge of the language when you haven't travelled much to English speaking countries.
Larry King Live
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/lkl.html
This site lists interviews shown since 2000. Finding out a bit about the interviewee will give you a clue as to their accent. If you are interested in other interviews from CNN go to: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/
The Guardian
http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/
This section of the Guardian newspaper includes talks with celebs and film directors.
Inside the Actors Studio
Pity the official site does not include transcrips! Here is a transcript from Anthony Hopkins interview:
http://www.planethopkins.co.uk/pages/interviews.html.
If you would like to read interviews with your favourite actors, you are most likely to find them at:
BBC film interiews A-Z
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/archive.shtml?interviews
Find an actor on the alphabetical list.
Last but not least....
Remember the purpose of your reading: you aim at collecting different contexts for words you probably know already.
Enjoy your reading!
After doing a few Use of English past paper tests, you probably wonder how much vocabulary you need to know to pass the FCE –with merit of course!
Let’s consult the FCE Handbook to clarify this point a little. The descriptor of the band 5 (maximum mark) of the FCE written assessment reads:
“Wide range of structure and vocabulary within the task set.”
What does this mean?
It is quality knowledge not quantity of words you should be after. That’s what it means.
Apart from knowing the structure of words; for example, what preposition follows certain verbs or adjectives, Paper 3 Use of English aims at testing set phrases and collocations rather than the meaning of individual words. You need to grasp the whole meaning of the phrase. To gain that knowledge it is important to come across words in context and then consult their dictionary meaning to check structural aspects.
Speak Up Magazine
http://www.speakuponline.it/
This is a magazine I have read and enjoyed a lot while studying English. I still keep my collection of tapes from it. Luckily there is an online version from this Italian site:
http://www.speakuponline.it/archivio.asp
It is probable the best starting point you can find to help you deal with different varieties of English in a number of contexts. Each recorded interview includes information about the nationality and accent of the speakers, which is essential to help you gain that spontaneous knowledge of the language when you haven't travelled much to English speaking countries.
Larry King Live
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/lkl.html
This site lists interviews shown since 2000. Finding out a bit about the interviewee will give you a clue as to their accent. If you are interested in other interviews from CNN go to: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/
The Guardian
http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/
This section of the Guardian newspaper includes talks with celebs and film directors.
Inside the Actors Studio
Pity the official site does not include transcrips! Here is a transcript from Anthony Hopkins interview:
http://www.planethopkins.co.uk/pages/interviews.html.
If you would like to read interviews with your favourite actors, you are most likely to find them at:
BBC film interiews A-Z
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/archive.shtml?interviews
Find an actor on the alphabetical list.
Last but not least....
Remember the purpose of your reading: you aim at collecting different contexts for words you probably know already.
Enjoy your reading!
Text X-ray
Essay Reading and Writing
Reading comprehension is quite a challenge for some students. First of all, it is hard to distance yourself from your own culture and the possible interpretations that can force into a foreign text. It can be learnt, though.That's something that takes a lot of reading in original texts or dialogues.
Next, we need to recognize the anatomy of a text. You need to learn to develop an X-ray view of a it. That is to say, learn to see the logical nodes, the progression of ideas, the links. Forget about the details or the specific content. I'm talking about learning how it is that a text flows naturally while making sense.
So the idea is to learn to identify this with the aim of improving our capacity to read and eventually write a sequence of organized paragraphs. This link from Victoria University of Wellington will help you to do just that.
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/llc/academic-writing/
What you will learn:
-Identifying topic sentences
-Rearranging sentences to form a paragraph
-Incorporating sources
-Types of paragraphs: introductory, body, and concluding paragraphs.
This online 'course' might take about two hours of your time to complete. It's simple basic knowledge of how to go about an essay or any article paragraph. This is a recognition exercise before you try your hand at writing. At FCE and BEC Vantage level, I'd say this knowledge is sort of taken for granted.
Make sure you get the basics! Improving reading and writing go hand in hand.
Punctuation
Punctuation matters. Period.
Is that all?
Well, you may say:
Don't stop.
Or
Don't, stop.
There's a difference, right? When I read, I don't like wondering what you meant. I want you to spell it out to me.
Writing is about making it easy and enjoyable for the reader. I usually tell my students that when they plan a paragraph, they are signalling a road for the reader to have a pleasant journey.
Extending this journey metaphor...
"Think of punctuation and mechanics in terms of driving your car. Punctuation and mechanics provide direction and signal the information to which you need to pay attention. Without punctuation and mechanics, phrases and sentences would run into each other and would be unclear, and your writing would go virtually nowhere. The purpose of punctuation and mechanics is to make your meaning clear by telling the reader when to pause, when to stop, when to take notice, etc" (I found it here.)
The power of punctuation is better explained by examples. Then you need some general rules. Above all, you need exercises!
The Purdue University website has a good menu to cover the punctuation you need to know.
If you find that too much, you may wish to do a quick quiz instead.
In the middle of your writing, you may need to consult a guide about specific punctuation marks. This one is quite comprehensive. This one is faster and has exercises.
A quick cheat-sheet to have near you while you write could be this Oxford site.
Last, but not least...
Beware the use of apostrophes and unnecessary quotation marks!
Too much? OK.
Period.
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Cambridge English : First ( FCE)
Cambridge English: First, commonly known as First Certificate in English (FCE) is an exam for people who need to prove they can use everyday written and spoken English at an upper-intermediate level for work or study purposes.
Ready for success in the real world
The Cambridge English: First exam uses real-life situations that are especially designed to help you communicate more effectively and learn the language skills you need.
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