Short week!

Today I will be trying to round off the Speaking exams.

Unfortunately some people who should have done this last Friday didn't show up, so we will be pushed for time today.

I have now marked most of the Cambridge Advanced writing papers.

I won't have a chance to give the results today but by tomorrow they will all be completed.

Please pass by my office and get your result after that...

Those of you who missed the Writing paper (ES students) will have the opportunity to do it on Wednesday afternoon- week 20 and not attend choir that time.

Today it is only to continue with your assignments and preparation for the next part of the Cambridge test.

This is the listening test and will be done in our next class on Friday week 19.

See you then!

Remember- no lessons on Friday and next Monday ( In- service day for the teachers).

Stocktaking

Today we continue with the Speaking part of the Cambridge Advanced Examination.

Hopefully, by the end of the lesson today most of the people in the class will have completed this task.

With about a month left of the course it is truly time to take stock of where you are and ensure that you have done the necessary tasks to get a grade of E or higher.
Here are a list of the graded tasks:

Writing Course

• 5 paragraph essay
• Piece of Formal writing
• Piece of informal writing
•  Translation 

Reading/Literature

Shakespeare

• One page analysis
• Comparison of film and play
• 10 questions ( of 25)

Classic Novel

• Book talk 

Modern Novel

• Language assignment
• Assignment 2 - Worksheet and reflection
• Assignment 3- planned for TODAY

Cambridge Advanced Examination

• Reading
• Speaking
• Writing 
• Listening

Job Interview

• CV
• Covering letter

Speaking

• Oral presentation

Writing

• Final report

So, please don't ask me what assignments you have to do to get your grade!

Here they are!

Take the responsibility to check up on what you have turned in or NOT

speaking- continued

Welcome back to a new week with new opportunities!

This week we will try to get as many speaking tests done as possible.

Today I hope to complete the speaking exam with at least six students..

This Friday we will try to get 12-14 students through the examination.

Today I want to get two groups of three students.

In the meanwhile............................ Back at the Batcave!!!!

It's only to work on your report and your assignments.

If you've completed everything prepare for the remaining parts of the CAE or do other school work.

Seize the day by the teeth and don't let it slip away like water in the hand..

The same procedures apply to this Friday... ( "Same procedure as last year milady?" )

Cambridge Writing

Today is the Cambridge writing examination from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Welcome back yo!

Welcome back!

Today we start the speaking part of the Cambridge test with the ES students and maybe some others... Hopefully 2- 3 groups.

Have a nice chat ( maybe over a cuppa) about your Easter hols and then get down to the nitty gritty of doing your last assignments or preparing for the Cambridge Test.

Have a NICE DAY!

CAE-preparation

Good morning and welcome back after your week-end.

Take a couple of minutes to talk to one of the people sitting behind you or in front of you about your week-end ( at least the parts you remember and cannot be used as evidence against you!)

Now we are going over to the two "production" parts of any language- writing and speaking.

These are the two parts of the Cambridge exam you can best prepare for..


Writing
The writing test consists of two pieces of writing (see the example you have got from a past paper.

In the first section you are given a lot of material which you need to reshuffle into a finished product.. The format of the product can vary but the task is generally very similar.

In the second section you choose one of several topics to write about. 

On page 4 in the "Advanced Gold" book you have the list of the different kind of topics. 

There is also an example of a Part 1 question on page 124 and
an overview of Part 2 on page 186-

However, the best resource I have seen is on the net..

The address is:
http://cae-tips.blogspot.se/

Here you can go through each kind of format and see what is required.

We will try to examine the example questions on the paper you have received today in the light of this...

Today I do not have an online lesson so let's go on to the speaking part.

Today we are going to practice for the speaking part of the CAE.

Here is some general information:
  

www.CambridgeEnglish.org

This document will help you familiarise yourself with theSpeaking
test for  Cambridge English:

Advanced also known as

Certificate in Advanced English(CAE)

How the Cambridge English:

Advanced Speaking test is assessed

Advanced Speaking test

The Speaking test is 15 minutes long and consists of four parts. The standard test 
format is two candidates and two examiners. One examiner (the interlocutor) 
conducts the test, providing you with the necessary materials and explaining 
what you have to do. The other examiner (the assessor) is introduced to you, 
but then takes no further part in the interaction.

Part 1

(3 minutes)

The interlocutor first asks you and your partner a few questions. 
The interlocutor asks candidates for some information about themselves
, then widens the scope of the  questions by  asking about, for example,
 candidates’ leisure activities, studies, travel and daily life.

Candidates are expected to respond to the interlocutor’s questions and listen to
 what their partner has to say.

Part 2

(a one-minute ‘long turn’ for each candidate, plus a 30-second response from the

second candidate)

You are each given the opportunity to talk for about a minute, and 
to comment briefly after your partner has spoken.

The interlocutor gives you a set of pictures and asks you to talk about them for 
about one

minute. It is important to listen carefully to the interlocutor’s instructions. 
The interlocutor then asks your partner a question about your

 pictures and your partner responds briefly. You are then given another 
set of pictures to look at

Your partner talks about these picturesfor about one minute.
 This time the interlocutor asks you a question about your partner’s

pictures and you respond briefly.

Part 3

(approximately 4 minutes)

In this part of the test, you and your partner are asked to talk together. 
The interlocutor places a new set of pictures on the table between you. 
This stimulus provides the basis for a discussion. 
The interlocutor explains what you have to do.

Part 4

(approximately 4 minutes)

The  interlocutor asks some further questions, which leads to a 
more general discussion of what you have talked about in Part 3. 

You may comment on your partner’s answers if you wish

As you do the test, the assessor focuses on these areas of your English;

Grammatical Resource 

Are you using a good range of grammatical structures?

Are you using these structures correctly?

Lexical Resource (vocabulary)

Are you using a good range of vocabulary?Are you using vocabulary which is 
appropriate for the topics you are talking about?

Are you using it correctly?

Are you showing that you can use suitable vocabulary to talk about topics which are 

unfamiliar to you, as well as topics which you are more used to talking about?

Discourse Management

Are you using both long and short answers, depending on the task? 

Is everything you say relevant to the topic of discussion?

Are your ideas expressed in clear and well-organised language?

Are you using a range of language to link and organise your ideas?

Are you able to speak fluently, without too much hesitation?

Pronunciation

You don’t need to have an English accent, but it is important to be clear.

Are you pronouncing individual sounds correctly?

Are you placing stress on the right parts of words and on the right

words in sentences?

Does your voice go up and down at the right times?

Does your pronunciation help you to communicate what you mean?

Interactive Communication

Are you able to interact with the other candidate easily and effectively?

Are you listening to the other candidate and answering in a way that makes sense?

Are you able to start a discussion and help manage the discussion so that 

you and your partner keep it going?

Can you think of new ideas to add to the discussion?

Global Achievement

This is about your general

performance.

How well are you speaking about the topics you are given?

Are your answers clear and fluent?

Are you using language which is right for the

Cambridge English: Advanced level?

When your test is complete, the examiners give you marks for each of these things:

Grammar, Vocabulary, Discourse Management, Pronunciation,

Interactive Communication and Global Achievement.

Here are several examples of the test materials

 Here is an example of the kind of questions used in part 1

Here is another good resource:

issuu.com/iccic/docs/cae34issuu

To see examples of students doing the exam you can google

"cae speaking test video"
here is an excellent resource with comments 
on a pair of candidates:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nGESyDgmdw

Good luck!

Write your reports and catch up on assignments

Today you have the opportunity to get some work done on your report and catch up with any assignments you may not have done.

I thought I might as well put up the final assignment for "Letters from the Inside" for those who want to get it done.

We now come to the final assignment for the modern novel.

As for the Shakespeare there are three assignments- one based on the language (in this case the etymology of words in "Letters from the Inside").

The other two assignments are based on the material in the book and are designed to give you an opportunity to discuss the content of the work.

Assignment 2 was analysing the letter when Mandy revealed the truth to her parents about Tracey and writing "the missing letter" from Tracey showing her reactions to this revelation.

Assignment 3- choose ONE of the following:

1.
Write a newspaper article about Tracey. You are a reporter from a youth magazine who has interviewed Tracey and then decided to write an article about her.

2. Analyse the concepts of freedom and confinement(isolation) presented in the book. Who is free and who is not? What does the ending of the book say about this theme?


3. Write an alternative ending to the book using the same style as the author...

Good luck!

Have a good week-end and I'll see you on Monday when we 

will talk about language work faced with the CAE exam.