Courses

How to control your IELTS Writing?

The key to delivering an essay is efficient and effective time management. You need time to think, time to create and finally time to package.

If you leave it to the last minute, all of these tasks become necessarily compressed or omitted.

If you have drafted an effective plan (with 3 clear points in the essay body), you should find your paragraphs correlating to the flow of your essay plan. The topic sentence of each paragraph in the body should state one of your points and link the paragraph to the essay question.

If you find the words not reading cohesively, there could be a flaw in the structure of your essay that requires major changing before you can complete your essay. Therefore, think and plan carefully before writing your essay.

Organise your time to systematically to create the content paragraph-by-paragraph.

Schedule your time to tackle each paragraph in about 5 to 7 minutes.

Often the hardest part is the Introduction of the essay, so you should spend at least 5 minutes to write this.

It may seem that the Introduction should be the easiest section to write first. However, it is also the section that the examiner reads first, and therefore forms the first impression.

It is important that the introductory paragraph makes a strong impactful impression.

Often, it is good to take at least a 15 second between paragraphs. When you read your latest paragraph with ‘fresh eyes’, you can be more critical of your own work. This way you can pick up technical, grammatical or spelling errors that you might not have seen in the course of generating the content

Dr. Na Pham  22.11.2012

OET Reading Skill Tips

Often the writing section B can pose a challenge to those who find comprehension difficult.

There are a few hurdles to pass with this section. In this month I will cover the first hurdle. That is the difficulty of the subject matter.

If students are not familiar with the subject matter, it may be very difficult to gage immediately the general nature of the article. In this respect, I advise all my students to familiarise themselves with three common topics that come up.

First is the top causes of morbidity and mortality in Australia. These can include cardiovascular diseases, common cancers and preventable lifestyle diseases like diabetes and injury.

Second is the Australian health system and the current affair issues specific to Australia. This will require looking up of news and health journal articles.

Third is the indigenous and rural health issues in Australia and all the other social challenges that influence their health.

Once a topic is known as is the case in all things, familiar topics are much more easier to comprehend. I also advise that as you are researching these topics, to keep a vocabulary book of all the common terms, names, acronyms that come up repeatedly as you are reading and try to memorise them.

On top of these common topics mentioned above, often latest break throughs in medical research or new discoveries in report form are included in these reading tests.

In our course we also go through some of the common medical study methods, and the advantages and disadvantages of each as a way to familiarise with how journalists analyse or criticise these findings.

Megan Lee

OET Teacher – SLS

Russian Literature

Russian literature is considered to be among the most influential and developed in the world, with some of the most literary works known worldwide. Russia’s literature dates back to the 10th century, but the peak of its development was in the 18th century and was boosted by the works of Mikhail Lomonosov followed by the literature of the 19th century. This period is called “Golden Age of Russian Literature” which began with Alexander Pushkin who is considered to be the founder of the Russian Literature and often called the “Russian Shakespeare” or the “Russian Goethe”.Its fast development continued further in the 19th century with the poetry of Mikhail Lermontov, world-famous dramas of Anton Chekhov, and the prose of such prominent figures in the literature of all times as  Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and many others. Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky in particular are the most eminent writers and often described as the greatest novelists ever.

But this is only one facet of Russian literature. The age of the great novelists was over and short fiction and poetry became the dominant genres of Russian literature for the next several decades. The subsequent era of Russian literature is called “The Silver Age” which began in 1880 and continued till the beginning of the Russian Revolution. Leading writers of this Age include Aleksandr Blok, Anna Akhmatova, Marina Tsvetaeva, Ivan Bunin, Maxim Gorky and many others.

But even after the Revolution, throughout the extremely hard period of Stalin’s regime and after it Russian literature did not cease to develop and flourish. Unfortunately, many of the prominent writers, for instance Vladimir Nabokov had to leave the country. By the 1970s and 1980s restrictions on literature were to some extent eased which provided a favourable base for the emergence of myriad of talented Soviet authors as: Vladimir Mayakovsky, Ilf and Petrov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Boris Pasternak, Mikhail Sholokhov andAleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

Many modern Hollywood and not only films are based on the plots of Russian classical literature such as for example: “Anna Karenina” by Tolstoi, “Crime and Punishment” by Dostoevsky, “Doctor Zhivago” by Pasternak and many others.

 

RussianTeacher, VladKibardin

Some Stories About Our Japanese Course 14

(Blog writing)

Hi everyone, 皆さん、こんにちは。

My Japanese classes and lessons included the usual kinds of activities that aim to develop speaking, reading, listening, writing, constructing and performing dialoguesor speech apart from cultural, society-orientated about Japan.

In terms of script learning, I requested a couple of Beginners 1 classes to make Hiragana-based flash cards. The cards could be each letter based or word based and they could have pictures too, depending on the students’ preferences. Most of the students of one of the classes made flash cards with great creativity, diligence, neatness and beauty on top of linguistic value. That was very appreciated and delightful.

As for singing Japanese songs for language and culture learning and making one’s tongue and mouth getting ready for Japanese (foreign) language learning, I introduced a few new songs in addition to the children’s songs that I had taught in the past this year.

The new songs are (late) Kyuu(or Kyu) Sakamoto’s “Ue –o MuiteArukoo”. Its English translation is “Sukiyaki” that does not have any relation in meaning, according to a website, http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj3zg_kyu-sakamoto-sukiyaki_music. The website has Romaji translation of the famous song, which is internationally very well known, having become a Number 1 music hit on the charts in America many years ago. In Australia too, I occasionally heard it on the major radio station (3MP?, which is the music station) in Melbourne. The website has English translation too.

Also I taught  aboveKyuu Sakamoto’s other song with CD (one from Japan Foundation), “Tomodachi” (“Friends”) with my English translation and word-processed Japanese script version. Kyuu Sakamoto was extremely popular when he was alive and active in singing and performing in entertainment. Sadly, he died due to an aircraft clash in 1985. Above both songs are very compassion and warmth promoting/creating ones for any anyone and esp. for those who are lonely or hurt/sad. The latter one is also very positive, broad visions creating, and enriching humanities.

There are “many” of such songs among Japanese popular songs that always touch and help people’s life, emotions, relationships, positive attitudes, sensitivity toward small ones or fragile ones (including creatures other than humans), and communal attitude and value in Japan.

Pertaining to technology, international relations concerned, I informed my classes about the article, “Japan ties ‘key to growth’” by Rick Wallace, The Australian (8.10.12, pp. 19-20). A very good article to read.Also, with that newspaper’s magazine, “Motor Show”, I talked about Japanese car manufactures’ active participations to the Motor Show at Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre last month (19-28 October). Out of about 24 car makers there, 8 are Japanese companies. Very exciting news.

In the recent Jenta magazine, it says that over 270,000 people climbed Mt Fuji during July and August this year. That was 30,000 more people than last year’s same period.

That is delightful news too.

 

Japanese Teacher, Toshiko Jackson

2.11.12

Hindi Words ….Oxford Dictionary……and beyond

More than 700 Hindi and Sanskrit words have finally wriggled their way in to the Oxford! Indian words have started commanding a presence from a simple ‘curry’ in the kitchen to the ‘sahib’s’ lavish ‘bungalow.

The Oxford dictionary, ceremoniously notes all the Indian words absorbed into the English vocabulary each year. Some of the surprising (shampoo!) and not so surprising (jungle) ones are:

1. Philosophical and Spiritual terms

  • Dharma – moral law.
  • Guru – a teacher, guide or mentor
  • Nirvana – a state of perfect happiness.

2. Social and Religious terms

  • Juggernaut – an overwhelming force that crushes everything in its path.
  • Pundit – a learned person.

3. Terms of Fashion

  • Bandana – a large, handkerchief brightly coloured.
  • Bindi – a dot marked on the forehead by Hindu wives.
  • Bangle – a rigid bracelet or anklet.
  • Dhoti – a loincloth worn by Hindu men in India.
  • Jodhpurs – long riding breeches.
  • Cummerbund – waist binding

4. Culinary Terms

  • Curry – a spicy dish.
  • Basmati – a type of rice.
  • Ghee – clarified butter.
  • Chutney – a side dish for food.

5. Others

  • Bungalow – a small house.
  • Loot – stolen goods.
  • Chit – a note or letter.
  • The Hindu
  • Cheetah – long legged, African or South West Asian wild cat that can run at tremendous speed.
  • Jungle – a wild tangled mass
  • Shampoo – liquid or cream to wash the hair

The latest entrants are words like bhagwan – god, bhakti – devotion, bhajan-devotional song, adda-hang out, parishad-council, dicky (car boot), videshi- foreign, deshi-native. The even more recen ones are words that even an Indian would be surprised to see in the Thesaurus. I definitely was. These are colloquial words like bindaas – carefree and Hinglish – mixture of Hindi and English. Words like Hindutva and Swadeshi with political connotations have also been introduced in everyday English. Whether the Raj likes it or not but more Hindi words are being utilized in every day English lingo than the Queen could have ever thought. Ironic indeed!

Some Stories About Our Japanese Course 13

Hi everyone, 皆さん、こんにちは。

My Japanese classes and lessons included the usual kinds of activities that aim to develop speaking, reading, listening, writing and making and performing dialogues. Apart from the usual course book, Genki 1, I used A First Couse in Japanese (by FudekoReekie),Busy People Book 2 in particular. And I used handouts with use of a such language textbooks and others to teach time, words for days of the week, months, dates, names of the products commonly shown at department stores and other shops, foods etc. That also enforced learning use of Hiragana for all classes, and for Beginners 2, Katakana scripts, and some simple Kanji for Pre-Intermediate 1. For keen and hard working Pre-Intermediate 1 class, we did some pages for Kanji learning with use of “Koko-Seikatsu: Kanji Work Book”.

(As I normally ask nearly every class sometime during the courses,) all classes of group lessons made dialogues by pairs or group later in the 10 weeks’ courses (normally about 8 sentences per person) with use of grammar and vocabulary of the unit(s) taught and language taught from the handouts. That practice was very useful and stimulating for students. Also, that will create new interactions among the students and expressions of their own interest and thoughts while using Japanese language.

I taught/asked classes to sing 4 ~ 5 Japanese songs as before, at the start of each lesson. That seemed creating students’ opening their minds instead of being quiet and helping them/class be better prepared for Japanese language/linguistic learning and cultural experiences. I also regard such activityas experiences of feeling a universal perspective and such value since most of the songs sung have sensitivity and compassion to nature and living things and such positive or common healthy thoughts about human life and function.

One of the recently taught songs, i.e. “Song of Crickets” (Koorogi no uta) is beautiful, relaxingand peaceful in the concepts and onomatopoeia used was distinctive. Its English version and onomatopoeia in English was distinctive too. The music of the song was composed by Yasushi Akutagawa, who is a highly known composer and conductor and the music in the CD was recorded impressively with use of occasional insects (crickets’) sound. Those songs were sung with use of the handout written in Hiragana.

  1. Also, I informed the majority of my students about the following websites related to Japanese culture, Mt Fuji and Hiragana practice. They are the following.
  2. Yomiuri online newspaper shows about 40 video clips with stories about a variety of cute, beautiful animals in Japanese, taken by Japanese animal lovers. Amazing,funny and adorable collection. It is at: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/stream/m_pet/pet021.htm. Titled “BuumuPetto” in Japanese. They can be seen on mobile phones too.
  3. The website, http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/adv/fujisan/gallery.htm shows amazing inspiring collection of Mt Fuji. They are excellent photos taken by brilliant photographers.
  4. The website, http://www.guidetojapanese.org/pdf/hiragana_trace_sheet.pdf was informed by one of my past students. It has the sheet for Hiragana practice etc. It’ll be good to be used by Beginners’ students.

 

Japanese Teacher, Toshiko Jackson

5.10.12

 

 

Advice for the Speaking Test

The IELTS Speaking test is just like a job interview; you enter, exchange pleasantries, have a serious conversation, exchange pleasantries then leave. A job interview is to prove to the employer you deserve the job, a Speaking session is to prove you deserve a certificate. It’s purely business; you are not there to be the listener’s best friend. You need to show them you’re a serious person, you know what you want and you will do your best to win it.

Speaking isn’t just about what you say, it’s also about how you say it. You might get a question on a topic you know a lot about. This is great, but your answer won’t help you at all if people don’t understand what you’re saying. You need to get your voice to volume between whisper and shouting; in other words a moderate level. You need to keep your speed at a moderate pace; no-one (aside from friends and family) can understand you when you speak too fast. This applies to IELTS examiners. It is better to be too slow than too fast, but you will improve your chances if your speed is at a middle rate. Fluency is important; don’t give long pauses, too many pauses, or run the words together. This damages the flow of the speech. Pausing is good when you’re not sure what to say, but the time and amount of the pauses should be as low as possible. Try not to repeat sentences or standout words, this will look unoriginal. When you pronounce words, remember they do not always sound as they look.

“kn”= sounds like “n”

“h”= is silent when next to “o” sometimes. For example hour and honour. Other times it isn’t in words such as “home”, “house” and “horse”.

There is no problem if you want to use big words, fancy words, or academic words, that is a decision for you. Your marks will not go up for the words, the marks will go up because you say the words correctly. However you can still achieve good results if you give a basic answer as long as it is spoken well. Speaking is about QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY.

If you receive a speaking topic you don’t like but know about, give an answer. Don’t ask for a new set of questions just because you don’t like it or you may receive a topic you know nothing about. The test is not a knowledge test, but you will benefit if you have information on the subject. You should only change the questions if they are genuinely difficult. You should have an idea on whether a subject is too hard or not.

A good way to answer each question is to give a statement (“Yes I do”, “I’m not sure” etc) an explanation (“I did it in…”), and maybe an example (“For example when I needed to look for essay information..”). The statement and explanation are the most important parts however an example could help.

It isn’t just about what you know, it’s using what you know. Speaking is also about presenting the words, and managing the words.

-Nicholas John Gysi

The two most important things examiners are looking for for A level writing

In my years of teaching OET, I have marked many referral letters and I have found two key features that distinguishes the truly excellent writers from the not so excellent writers. The two features are 1. CLARITY and 2. ORDER.

When students write legibly, use correct spelling, punctuation, syntax, letter format, paragraphing, grammar and expression of their ideas there is CLARITY. I can not emphasis enough, though these aspects may seem minor and therefore unimportant, they are not. This is what differentiates between a winning writer and a non-A grade. Furthermore, for a marker with hundreds of papers to grade, anything to make it easier for the examiner to read is CONSIDERATE. This in turn will ultimately win the favour of your examiner over the hundreds of candidates who do not take these things into consideration.

Secondly, when students are able to organise the list of patient file information into clear paragraphs, that contain only the most relevant and grouped information, it is ORDERED. Think of it like cleaning. When you clean, you sort the socks into one pile, the shirts in another etc. In the same way, even though there maybe a whole list of medical history or presenting complaints, consider,

– if it is a lengthy chronic disease history, to place the most significant turn of events into each paragraph chronologically,

– if it is multiple disease states, to group their progression, treatment and outcomes in each paragraph per disease.

There are many other ways of ordering the body of the letter, which we teach you at OET because each patient file is so different. All in all, the most sophisticated writings are the ones where there is a logical order in which the patient’s case is depicted.

My last tip for today is that as with anything in life, begin every act with love for the other person in mind. In the case of OET, mindfulness of the circumstances and desires of the examiner. They want to read through a letter quickly and smoothly without having to stop here and there because they can not understand something. So make sure, if you have time at the end, to proof read and check that all the above mentioned is done. Clear understanding, isn’t that the core of communication?

 

Some Stories About Our Japanese Course 12

Hi everyone, 皆さん、こんにちは。

My Japanese classes and lessons include the usual kinds of activities that aim to develop speaking, reading, listening, writing and making and performing dialogues. Apart from the usual course book, Genki 1, I used A First Couse in Japanese (by Fudeko Reekie) and Busy People Book 2 for vocabulary concerned with time, days/dates, months and sentences that have those words. Among those, a couple of pages of Japanese for Busy People, Bk 2, pp. 60-61 are one of my favorite. They list the phrases that are commonly spoken in everyday life with the cute/friendly/neat pictures with. And they have a many different verbs used in the sentences. Their contexts are more of adults’ life, but they can be used for school students too. Especially the phrases such as “Uchi de nonbirishimasu.” (=I’ll have relaxing time at home), “Tomodachi to oshaberi o shimasu.” (=I’ll chat with my friend) are my favorite ones. I used many Japanese textbooks in the past (and did research for my academic study, but it seemed some phrases, which are commonly spoken in Japanese people’s daily life, are not in many textbooks unless the linguistic level is high. I think listing the above phrases is desirable.

Also, some of useful pages used in my classes (including tutorials or class that had students who were going to Japan soon) were: a list of many kinds of products at a department store that was on p. 136, A First Course in Japanese. The names of all sorts of products commonly seen at big department stores in Japan are written in Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. They were very useful that is for making sentences.

Similarly, I taught dialogues at a restaurant, in some classes. That is with p. 158 and 159, of the above mentioned book. They are dialogues between a waitress/waiter and customers who wish to order food and drinks and dialogue that is spoken after the meal and for paying the bill at the restaurant. Those will be useful for people who are going to Japan for trips or for living in Japan.

In addition, I taught how to ask or answer about the departure time and arrival time of trains/bullet trains with use of the Jikoku-hyo (Train-timetable of the JTB).

Magazine Jentahad interesting articles/news and I referred to that in classes. One of them was “Enjoying Mt. Fuji”, 27 July, 12, p. 4. It talked about Mt Fuji, , surrounding of it, well known Fuji-Q Highland where I had worked for part time jobs at the skating centre and swimming pool. The above very big amusement park has fascinating facilities and not far from Tokyo.

I taught 4 ~ 5 Japanese songs to most of classes. Most of them are well known children’s songs and they have many plain forms, “many” word of onomatopoeia, sensitivity and emotions for nature or living things etc. And I think singing such songs in relaxing or uplifting music of cd with use of Hiragana based handouts is useful.

Also, I talked about the famous statue of Chuuken-hachiko that is in front of Shibuya Station, Tokyo. It was reported in The Japan Times (17.6.12, P.11). An “amazing” dog that passed away in 1935 (he saw his statue well before his death.) He was a bit similar to the Red Dog, the famous dog in Australia that was portrayed in the movie.

 

Japanese Teacher, Toshiko Jackson

4.9.12

Relationship talks in Korean

 

Are you interested in going out with Korean boys/ girls? Then read the following expressions!

Today, let’s talk about some expressions regarding relationships.

 

It was love at first sight.                                                우린 서로 첫눈에 반했어요.

Would you like to go out with me?           저랑 사귈래요?/ 나랑 사귈래?

I love you.                                                           사랑합니다/ 사랑해요/ 사랑해

I’m crazy about you.                                       당신에게 반했어요.

We’re a match made in heaven.                                우린 천생연분이야.

We split up.                                                        우린 헤어졌어요.

Would you marry me?                                   저랑 결혼해 줄래요?/ 우리 결혼 하자.

He broke up with me.                                    나는 그에게 차였어요.

 

Good luck!

Written by Eun Kyeong Ashley Jang (Korean Teacher)

 

 

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