Vocabulary Spot: All Groups, Fixed Expressions - Home & Dry

Home and dry - is an informal expression meaning safe or successfully achieving your goal. There is also a variation used in Australia and New Zealand - home and hosed. 

Example: Just one more exam to go, once we've finished the Listening, we'll be home and dry. 

Vocabulary Spot: All Groups. Fixed Expressions - Leaps & Bounds

(by) Leaps & Bounds 
 To make unexpectedly rapid progess   ⇒ Her condition improved by leaps and bounds. 

Paul Kelly Leaps & Bounds 

LUISS Business School at the British Council Workshop 3

Workshop 3
Friday 19th June 2015
10 am - 1 pm

Covering Letters

Interview Skills

Getting an Internship/First Job
http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/47733197/Getting%20A%20Law%20Job
Functional Language
http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/68873182/Useful%20Phrases%20For%20Covering%20Letters%20and%20Emails
STAR Technique
http://www.theguardian.com/careers/careers-blog/star-technique-competency-based-interview

Marketing & Communications Internship

https://jobs.sap.com/job/London-Marketing-InternStudent-in-London%2C-UK-Job-LND/273654000/?feedId=118200&utm_source=Indeed

Human Resources Internship
http://www.indeed.co.uk/cmp/International-Alert/jobs/Human-Resource-Intern-2e755c36802b92eb

Interviews
Top 10 Interview Questions & Best Answers

Fillers
http://www.ieltsspeaking.co.uk/using-fillers/

LUISS Business School at the British Council - Workshop 2

LUISS Business School at the British Council
Group 2

Workshop 2

Class

• The link between grammar, pronunciation and listening
• Coping with fast connected speech
• The Third Conditional - exercise http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/32174148/Conditionals%20and%20Pronunciation
• Features of English intonation and pronunciation - vowels, voiced and unvoiced sounds http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442648/Pronunciation
• Using film to help with listening and pronunciation http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442630/Film%20Lessons
• The features of natural English - Annie Hall http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442613/Annie%20Hall

Going Further:

• Conditionals overview - http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442621/Conditionals
• Conditionals in song - http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/77337743/Conditionals%20In%20Song
• Conditionals and video listening - Silver Linings Playbook - http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/76748846/Silver%20Linings%20Playbook
• For a copy of the phonemic chart go to http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/phonemic-chart

Homework

Do some research on the internet for an English language position or internship that you may be interested in applying for. You could start with a site like http://www.jobsite.co.uk or the website for a particular company, law firm, N.G.O. or financial/medical/academic institution e.g. http://www.who.int/employment/en/. Print off the details and have the information ready to bring in for our (final) workshop on 19/06. 

British Council at ANIA Lesson 13

Lesson 13 
(Tuesday 9th June 2015)

Group 5 
C2

12:30 pm

Class

1. Commonly Confused Words: foreign/strange, thin/slim, tall/high classic/classical. See also: historic/historical, continuous/continual, childish/childlike, similar/alike, exhibit/exhibition
2. Listening Skills - the features of natural spoken English 

Homework/Holiday Work

1. Grammar Audit: Take a look at the yellow "Corpus" boxes that appear throughout your text book. Which of these areas are you confident with and which do you need more practice on. Which of these would you like us to look at in more depth come September?
2. Exam Listening Practice: have a go at the CPE listening exam in the Youtube video below. Don't treat it as a test but analyse the question and task types, what you need to listen for and possible distractors in the multiple choice questions. Which tasks did you find easiest/hardest? 

You will find an answer key in the notes underneath the video and a link to the audio transcripts. 

For more online tests go to: 

http://www.examenglish.com/cpe/CPE_listening1.htm

CPE Handbook 

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams/proficiency/how-to-prepare/

3. Writing Practice: Take a look at the Writing Folders in your textbook. If you want to practice the exam tasks or preparation exercises, I will be happy to give you feedback. Either email your writing directly to me or leave hard copies with Alessandra on the 4th floor and I will nick them up when I am in during July. 

4. Natural English: Notice the features of natural English in this lesson based on a scene from Woody Allen's Annie Hall. 

Group 7
C1

2:00 pm

Class

1. Vocabulary in context - GET
2. Modals
3. Future Forms

Homework/Holiday Work

Finish reading the notes and complete the exercise on modal auxiliary verbs in the link above. 

Sasha Sandford

It was with great sadness that I learned of the death this week of Sasha Sandford. Sasha will be known to a number of readers of this blog as she taught for many years at the British Council and on the English courses at the LUISS. She made an enormous contribution to the language learning of so many students and cared deeply about their progress. She will be missed.

Post CPE Lesson 29

Class:

Reflection on progress

Telephone Language
http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/32872816/Using%20The%20Telephone

Schemata for phone calls

Skills - Active Listening, Supporting the Speaker (Adapted from Business Advantage Cambridge University Press Unit 13.3

Corrections:

Countable/uncountable

An some advice, another other accommodation

Appropriate greeting

Good Morning, Best Western Termini, who am I speaking to? How can I help you?

Missing preposition

I replied you on 21st May. I replied to you on 21st May. 

Irregular past form

Quitted quit

Vocabulary choice

Yes that could go work.

I'd like to eliminate cancel my booking

Pronouns

I taught me myself what to do

I asked me myself if I really wanted the job. 

Vocabulary:

Undervalued

Supplement (e.g. pay a supplement for an extra service in a hotel)

Exclusive (e.g we have a very exclusive clientele)

Going further:
Telephone Language

For more songs about phones and phoning go to my Spotify Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/user/11142496185/playlist/6r3rJS9Kr5nQWOYoguqBJH

Active Listening
http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/ActiveListening.htm

Summer Reading
Some ideas for summer holiday reading http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150119-the-21st-centurys-12-best-novels

Lillian Hellman
The author of today's short story, Pentimento.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/lillian-hellman/about-lillian-hellman/628/

Bad customer service

The Importance of Punctuation