Writing Task

AC2.2 students: The next assessed writing task is the task one question on Page 18 of Practice Tests 4, the writing about sports.

Many of you have moaned to me about how boring you find the topics Cambridge set for compositions, so as an alternative, you may answer this question instead:

You are very dissatisfied with the range and interest of the topics of the composition questions set by Cambridge University in paper 2 of the CPE. Write to Cambridge, saying why you are dissatisfied with their composition questions, and proposing changes to the paper and the topics included. Write your letter in 300-350 words.

AC2.1 students who would like to answer the alternative question above may do so. I will correct these letters, and we will send them to Cambridge!

Blog Released as Book!

Anyone think blogging is a waste of time? Well, Sasha Cagen’s To-Do List blog (which you may recognize as a blog of note) has just been released as a book! Both blog and book are collections of, well, to-do lists, mailed or emailed in by people. Watch the trailer, read the blog, buy the book, and make sure that you have an awesome screen name.
(Text from Blogger.com)

CPE Writing Assessment Criteria

Anyone who would like to take a closer look at the CPE General Mark Scheme for writing, on which we base our own internal assessment mark/20 scale, can find it by going to CPE Downloads and downloading the Paper 2 Sample from there. The mark scheme and criteria are on page 8. Essentially Cambridge 5= British Council A, 4=B etc; I'll go over exactly how this relates to our mark/20 in class.

More free coffee and biscuits

Joana, Librarian, and Maria Norton, Senior teacher, will be chairing a second focus group meeting this coming Thursday, November 22, at 6pm in Room 15 in the Rua do Breiner centre. The meeting will last a maximum of 50 minutes. You will be invited to give your views on learning English and the British Council. Another opportunity to meet other students, to get some extra speaking practice, and to get some free British Council coffee and posh British Council biscuits as a reward for your contribution! If you couldn't make Tuesday's focus group meeting, try to come to this one if you can!

Build a Bird

As promised, here are the links to the Environmental Organisations, including the wonderful game from the RSPB, where you can design your own bird. There are also some cool e-cards!

RSPB: http://www.rspb.org/

RSPB Kids: http://www.rspb.org/youth/ Includes the wonderful 'Avian Resurection' bird-designing game. Click on Play and select the game.

WWF: http://www.wwf.org/

WWF International: http://www.panda.org/

WWF-UK Kids: http://www.wwf.org.uk/gowild/index.asp

Friends of the Earth: http://www.foe.org/index.html

Friends of the Earth UK: http://www.foe.org.uk/

That's enough. Have fun!

English Vocabulary in Use

Sorry for the delay in posting this.

AC2.2

Unit 12 Student's Book => EViU Units 59-61 (Technology)
Unit 13 Student's Book => EViU Units 33-38 (The Environment)

AC2.1

Unit 2 Student's Book => EViU Units 33-38 (The Environment)

You might notice that there's an overlap - AC2.1 and 2.2 are currently doing the environment. This is because AC2.1 is using a different coursebook to AC2.2, so the units covered in EViU will be done at different times.

Free Coffee and Biscuits

Rachel Watkinson, Assistant Teaching Centre Manager, and Maria Norton, Senior teacher, will be chairing a focus group meeting this coming Tuesday, November 20, at 6pm in the Rua do Breiner centre. The meeting will last a maximum of 50 minutes. You will be invited to give your views on learning English and the British Council. It is also an opportunity to meet other AC2 students, to get some extra speaking practice, and to get some free British Council coffee and posh British Council biscuits as a reward for your contribution! Do try to come if you can!

Page 97.doc

Dear Students,

While appreciating the speed and ease of emailed homework, I sometimes have to puzzle over who has sent me what. I've had I don't know how many called 'summary.doc' over the last week or so, and the names sometimes go from the sublime to the ridiculous - 'composição para o britânico.doc' and one called 'page 97.doc'. This is particularly difficult when the author's name doesn't appear in the document.
Could I ask everyone to help me here by (1) including your name in the document name (eg Pedro_Silva_summary.doc), and (2) remembering to type your name at the top or end of the piece of writing, as you would if you were writing with a pen. This way, when I print it out, I'll know who it's from, and I can find it easily in my 'Homework from Internet' folder.

Thanks!

Mark

AC2.2 (CPE2) Writing Tasks

For your reference, here are the two part 2 tasks from Past Papers Book 2 which I asked you to choose from and copy down in class, and which I have set for the next assessed piece of writing. Please choose one of these, and hand it in by November 27th at the very latest!

Write an answer to one of these questions. Write your answer in 300-350 words in an appropriate style.

- A company wants to launch a new soft drink onto the market, and is running a competition inviting people to send in proposals for different ways of advertising it. The company wants people to comment on the use of the media, famous personalities, free gifts, and other advertising techniques, and explain why they think their ideas will be particularly effective. You decide to send in a proposal.
Write your proposal.

- Your college is producing a handbook to make new students from abroad feel welcome. The editor has asked you to write a letter for inclusion. The letter should explain how to make the best use of college facilities (eg canteen, library, IT suite, sports hall) and give information and advice on clubs, societies and student services.
Write your letter. Do not write any postal addresses.

Upcoming...

All AC2 students will be doing work related to nature and the environment over the next couple of weeks. You might like to check out these related BBC sites.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/programmes/tv/state_planet/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/7056601.stm

Tests

Just a reminder that all AC2.2 students will have a revision test this coming week on units 9-12 of Objective Proficiency.

The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura

All AC2.1 students will by now have done the texts on tea. Click here to download a version of Kakuzo Okakura's lovely Book of Tea. A simple text version is available here. Several other downloadable versions available on the internet, too.

Stress, schizophrenia, immunity and heart disease

Are we really more vulnerable to colds when we're stressed? Does depression increase your risk of heart disease? Could a bad bout of the flu during pregnancy cause schizophrenia in your child? Science has long struggled with the question of whether states of mind influence the body, and vice versa. But the historic mind-body divide is being challenged as cardiologists, immunologists and neuroscientists meet across the lab bench.

Listen or read why on All In The Mind

Dying Languages

An ex-student sent me these interesting links.

This is a website developed by National Geographic Society in partnership with the Institute for Endangered Languages.

Unfortunately, the so called " developed world", is increasing the rate not only of the endangered Wildlife but also of Endangered Languages.

This is a useful website for anyone who is interested in foreign languages which are at a high risk of disappearing for ever from the face of the Earth.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mission/enduringvoices/

http://www.livingtongues.org/


António

Quiz the New Nobel Laureates!

Want to ask a Nobel Laureate a question? Quiz the New Nobel Laureates!

Kidnapped

I saw this programme today - very worthwhile viewing if you can see one of the repeats. The story of Alan Johnston's 114-day kidnap ordeal in Gaza.

Click Here

"Khamees (one of the guards) said that it was being decided whether I would be put to death, maybe Friday, maybe before Friday, maybe afterwards. I asked him how it would be done? And he said it would be done in 'the Zakawi way'.

"I imagined being put into that red suit that they would make me wear for any video work. I imagined perhaps one of them in a hood, imagined one of them stepping up, imagined having a knee in my back or the back of my neck and then my throat being cut."

It's scary stuff, told in a refreshingly down-to-earth and honest way.