Moving on

From left to right

George, George, Nefeli, Jim Nikki, Fedora and Louiza

I started my lessons with Proficiency 1e last night and as it was their first one we set up a class blog, proficiency1e2006.blogspot.com. This year I'm going to try and integrate blogging more closely into what we do in class. Also I talked to them about how we can use technology such DVDs, internet and mobile phones help us outside the classroom.

Exam Preparation Tips

This is a list of different things you can do to improve your English outside class.

1 Use the internet - How ?

a Surf the web on a regular basis - 10 to 15 minutes a day is enough.

b Use chat rooms - Mirc or Yahoo have easy to use (and FREE) chat services.

http://www.mirc.co.uk
http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/chat/chatbylycos.html

c Listen to radio or download podcasts from the net.

www.cnn.com/services/podcasting/
www.bbc.co.uk/radio/

Or download a book and listen to it. It costs nothing.

http://freeaudio.org
http://www.scottsigler.net

d Set up your own blog (web page). It's easy and costs nothing. Also it is a great way to practise your writing skills.

www.blogger.com

2 Watch DVD's - without subtitles - at least once a week. This is a great way of preparing for the the listening test.

3 Read something other than your course books. Literature, short stories, magazines, newspapers; In fact just about anything you can find in English. All reading is good practice for the Reading Comprehension part of the Cambridge exams.All these things can be found at the kiosks in Aristotelian square or in central bookshops.

4 Record yourself. If you have a cassette recorder, mobile phone that can record or a microphone for your PC, record yourself speaking. It's a great way of correcting errors in your spoken English.

5 Speak only English in class. This is probably the only chance you'll get to speak English before the exam so make the most of the opportunity.

Nobody expects students to do all of these things but if you try some of them during the course of the year then you'll see a great improvment in your language skills and of course you'll greatly increase your chances of getting a good grade in the exams.