Class blog (PI P/L)

Good wishes

2005-07-03T18:18:00.000+12:00

All the best as you are sitting your exams in English this week.

Please feel free to continue to write on your blog over the next few weeks and months. I will leave the class bog in place, and of course you can keep in touch with each other through your own blogs.

Thank you especially to those of you who took part in the questionnaire and the group interview which will help Emily and I with our research. We appreciate your honesty and your time.

If you are around next term, come and say hello some time. If you are moving on from Unitec, good luck with whatever you do in the future.

Vocab answers week 9

2005-06-29T09:05:00.000+12:00

1. If you make a lot of money, what will you do with it? Buying a house is a good investment , but some people prefer to invest in the stockmarket. Investing in a good company might mean that your money makes a profit over a long time. However, if you are in a rush to make money, you could go to the horse racing and bet on the horses. Other people like going to the casino to gamble with their money.

2. Edward Carson was not as honest as people thought. He had not made wise investments and so he lost all his money. In order to get rich he stole money from his clients and wen to the casino to gamble with it. Unfortunately this didn,t work, so he tried to bet on a horse which actually came last in its race. He was not lucky, as a company that he had just invested in collapsed a few days later. Carson decided to kill himself but got stopped by a police officer before he drove off the cliffs. In court the judge said he had suffered quite a lot, but that he should pay back the money that he owed.

3. My brother-in-law had a series of accidents a few years ago. He fell off the roof when he was checking the chimney.Then, a ladder collapsed under him when he was painting the house. Not long after that, he was knocked off his motorbike on the motoroway. He has had three broken bones- both arms and a leg!

Writing for the rest of the term

2005-06-23T08:21:00.000+12:00

Why do people use blogs?

Some of the reasons why people use blogs are to rant and rave, to review, to reflect, and to respond. Suggested topics are in red. Choose something that you WANT to write about.

When you want to tell friends how good something is (rave) or how bad something is (rant) you can put it on your blog. To “rant” is to express an angry/upset opinion and to “rave is to express a good or positive opinion.

Rant
What makes you really annoyed?

Rave
My favourite food
Describe your favourite person

If you read/hear/see something interesting you might want to tell everyone about it. Write about it on your blog. First describe what you are going to review and finish with your opinion. Make sure that you support your opinion by giving examples and explanations for your opinion.

Review
A movie or video that you really like Your favourite website

Publish your thoughts about blogging and learning. Think about what you like or dislike about using blogs. What can you do to improve your learning experience? Did you find anything surprising or unusual while blogging? How do you think blogging can help you to improve your English and communication skills?

Reflect
What I thought about the test in wk 5 How blogs can help you learn?

Have you been asked a question? Post your answer on your blog for everyone to read. You can also use the comment function to tell other people what you think about what they have written. Try to be positive.

Respond
Answer questions on class blog
Read what other people have written and respond to their writing

Designer goods

2005-06-15T14:02:00.000+12:00

Module 12 gives several people's opinions of designer goods. This is a chance for you to tell us your opinion about labels and designer goods.

Comment below to tell us what you think...

The important things in life

2005-06-15T14:01:00.000+12:00

What things do you feel are the most important things in life?

Comment below to tell us what you think...

Class photo

2005-06-11T22:02:00.000+12:00

For some strange 'computer' reason, I couldn't post this on the blog, but this class photo was sent by Ryo. He took it just before he left at the end of week 2.

Week 6 writing

2005-06-11T21:50:00.000+12:00

Tell us about your childhood. What did you use to do? What things did you use to think about?

Week 5 tests

2005-06-02T22:47:00.000+12:00

How do you feel about the tests this week? What did you find easy? Or difficult? Tell us how you feel by adding comments to this post.

How to make a link

2005-05-27T07:46:00.000+12:00

1. Create a new post in your blog. Make sure you are in Edit HTML.
2. Across the top there are six little pictures (icons) that let you put in bold letters or italics etc. Checking your spelling is always a good idea!
3. Click on the picture of the chain link on top of a globe (insert link).
4. Put the URL in the box that appears. Click OK.
5. You will get something like In the space at the end >< you can put the name eg, class blog
class blog
6. Click on Compose to see what the link you have made.

Writing for week 4

2005-05-26T08:27:00.000+12:00

Use the vocabulary that we have discussed this week to write about a place that you have visited. It could be in NZ or in another country. You could write about your own city, or about a holiday that you really enjoyed in a particular place.

Include one or two links to photos or information about the place you have chosen.

Auckland

2005-05-21T08:03:00.000+12:00

Auckland is in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. It has two harbours and lots of beaches. Aucklanders enjoy sailing, and Auckland is sometimes called the ‘City of Sails’. From the Sky Tower you can see some amazing scenery, including extinct volcanoes around the city, some of which are islands like Rangitoto. If you like adventure sports, you can bungy jump off the Sky Tower!

A popular place in summer is the west coast. It is divided from the rest of the Auckland region by the Waitakere mountain range. The beaches on the west coast are quite different to the east coast beaches, with black sand and surf. One of my favourite beaches is Muriwai and the gannet colony there is a pleasant place to visit.

The population of Auckland is about 1.2 million. The climate is warm and the average temperature in summer is around 20 degrees C.

To practice your vocabulary have a look at another paragraph about Auckland city where a lot of the vocab for the week is used.

Week 3 writing

2005-05-20T08:24:00.000+12:00

Blog task for this week is to write about a bad experience you have had. It might be

a bad day
a terrible journey
when you lost something important

Remember to use the vocabulary and collocations that we have practised this week. Also remember that you can email me (Karen) over the weekend if you want to check any language before putting it on your blog.

Vocab for week 3

2005-05-18T08:19:00.000+12:00

Below are the words for week 3. They are in sentences, and any collocations are in bold. Remember that your minidictionary often gives useful sentences for most of these words as well. Practise reading these sentences aloud.

In some countries it is fashionable to have very pale skin.
She was tall and slim, with a gorgeous dress on. He thought she was very attractive.
He is very athletic and loves sports of all kinds.

According to my friend from Christchurch, the South Island has the most beautiful scenery in the world.
There’s an awful lot of sheep in NZ!
We frequently go to the library to borrow new books.
Many countries compete in the Olympic games.

We got some brochures about Thailand so that we could plan our holiday.
The plane was delayed by two hours because of bad weather.
It is dangerous to swim if there are poisonous jellyfish at the beach.
The water in some places was very polluted.
I would like to forget the terrible holiday we had.
The tsunami was a very frightening experience. We were all terrified.

He did an enormous amount of work before the test.
He asked for coffee instead of tea. Without sugar, the coffee tasted horrible.
The most obvious reason for his lateness was that he had missed the bus.

Question

2005-05-13T07:10:00.000+12:00

What helps you to learn vocabulary?

Please add a comment below.

Putting photos on your blog

2005-05-13T07:08:00.000+12:00

If you have photos already on a website, you can just link from your blog to the website page. If you don’t have photos on a website, you’ll need to get some online. One site that I find useful for this (there are lots out there) is Flickr.

Go to http://www.flickr.com/ and create an account. Once you have an account you can upload your photos to Flickr’s website. From here it is easy to put the photos onto your blog. Click on one photo that you have uploaded onto Flickr. Just above the top of the photo is a row of things that you can do with your photo. One of them says Blog this. Of course, you will need to enter your blog URL. It is a very easy way to put pictures on your blog.

Vocab week 2

2005-05-12T14:50:00.000+12:00

Below are the words for week 2. They are in sentences, and any collocations are underlined. Remember that your minidictionary often gives useful sentences for most of these words.

A successful language learner is not afraid to ask questions.
What’s your motivation for learning a language?
I’m not making much progress.
Are you an organised person? Do you like to have control of your life?
Don’t ask me for my opinion. You already know what I think!

I feel frustrated when I can’t find a pen to write down a phone message.
Computers have developed very quickly over the last ten years.
You should pay attention to what the teacher says in class.
It is important to be realistic about how fast your English can improve.
Just imagine his face when he opens my Valentine’s Day card.

I’m not sure of the exact date, but I think it is in December.
I’ll have to check my calendar to see if I am free.
Some people go without food for religious reasons.
Wealthy people can buy new clothes for a festival; poor people wear clothes that are old but clean.
A popular tradition at Christmas time is to give gifts to your friends and family.
People put up decorations in their homes.
My room in my homestay is large and the bed is very comfortable.

Here are some other words from the week that you should study yourself ie. put them in your notebook, find the meaning, check the different forms etc.

My daughter’s graduation was a special occasion.
I had time off work to go to my grandmother’s funeral.
I arranged to go to the beach with my friends.
He recovered from his operation very quickly.

Read about holidays and celebrations round the world

2005-05-11T13:21:00.000+12:00

Go to http://www.topics-mag.com/internatl/holidays/festivals.htm
to read about more festivals. Some might be from your own country, while others may be completely new for you. Click on the comment feature below to tell us which ones you find interesting.

Vocab week 1

2005-05-09T07:48:00.000+12:00

Below are the words for week 1. They are in sentences, and any collocations are underlined. Remember that your minidictionary will also give useful sentences for most of the words.

I had a good idea.
It was great to relax in the weekend.
Asia is the largest continent in the world.
Her passion is dancing.
Do you live close to the shops?
There are different versions of the samba.
Do you live in a city or a village?
I especially enjoyed reading your emails.
He forgot to bring his homework again - typical!
We had a class discussion about an outing.
What's the matter? It really doesn't matter.
I don't feel well, but I don't have a temperature.
Have you been abroad before?
I will continue to study hard.
I nearly forgot to bring my textbook to class.
She suddenly remembered that she had left her library book at home.
I collect my children from school each day.
Finally, he finished all his homework.
I remember clearly my first day at Unitec.
Who is that gorgeous-looking guy?
I was very nervous about going overseas for the first time.
There was silence in the class, as we read the test questions.
Don't be stupid!

Here are some other words from the week that you should study yourself ie. put them in your notebook, find the meaning, check the different forms etc.
I like to spend time with my friends in the weekend.
Unitec is a good place to get an education.
His ambition is to be a top businessman.
What is your occupation? (formal)
What do you do? (informal)
She is in a relationship with someone else at the moment.
He felt guilty that he hadn't phoned his mother every week.

practising collocations

2005-05-09T07:43:00.000+12:00

You might like to try out http://www.englishmaze.com/. Level 2 is a good place to start.

I enjoyed playing on this site, and I'm sure it will help speed up your reading (especially the 'Whack it' premaze activity!). As well, it is very useful practise of collocations as we discussed in class last week.

Add a comment here to tell us what you liked or didn't like about the site.

Our addresses

2005-05-09T07:34:00.000+12:00

Here are our addresses. Click on the name to go to their blog.

Karen
Michelle
Frank
Eugene
Violet
Leo
Jerry
Anny
Cathy
Ana
Ryo
Sabrina
Shawn
Johnson

Remember to tell your friends about your blog, so they can visit your site, read your writing and make comments.

Welcome

2005-05-09T07:25:00.000+12:00

Welcome to our class blog for Term 2 2005.

This is a website for us to use as a class. It will be used for

letting you know everyone's blog URL (web address)
giving homework answers
giving useful links to English practice websites
giving you information about things that are on around Unitec and in Auckland
giving information about the course eg. assessments
putting up vocab lists each week

Email one of the teachers (Polly, Carrie or Karen) if you have a good idea for other things to put on this site.