Future links
Get flash to fully experience Pearltrees
i Rate This Following on from the extensive revision of the Proficiency(CPE) exam in March this year, Cambridge have just released a revised handbook for the changes they’ll be making to the First exam (FCE) from the start of 2015. Similar changes are also likely to take place to the Advanced exam (CAE), though details on this aren’t available yet. The big news is that the Reading and Use of English papers are being squeezed into a single paper.
Changes to FCE in 2015 | teflgeek
The Secret Teacher writes a devastatingly honest letter that can never be posted. Photograph: www.alamy.com Dear Mr and Mrs Parent, I'm sorry I have to write to you, but it is important you know that your daughter is not progressing as well as she could at school.
The Secret Teacher writes an honest letter home | Teacher Network | Guardian Professional
Series exploring the world of words and the ways in which we use them. Academic stand-up and cognitive development Chris Ledgard meets the academics doing stand-up and asks why jokes get the brain going. The Language of Carers Series exploring the world of words. Asking the Right Question Chris Ledgard looks at referendums and the art of asking the right question.
World of words and the ways in which we use them | Linguaphile Apprentice
How did English evolve? - Kate Gardoqui
This is a great story. But really, I made it sound way more simple than it really is. You probably have some questions already, if you’re a critical sort of person.
Origins of English PieChart 2D.svg
Cancel Edit Delete Preview revert Text of the note (may include Wiki markup ) Could not save your note (edit conflict or other problem). Please copy the text in the edit box below and insert it manually by editing this page . Upon submitting the note will be published multi-licensed under the terms of the CC-BY-SA-3.0 license and of the GFDL, versions 1.2 , 1.3 , or any later version.The school where they speak 20 languages: a day at Gladstone Primary | Education
"We're using a thesaurus and finding different words to make 'sad'," explains Rehan, eight. The Year 3 pupil reads from the list his English class has assembled. "Grief-stricken, heartbroken, distressing." "Heartbroken," interjects Christine Parker, the headteacher. "I think that's how I felt in November 2011." That was when Gladstone Primary School in Peterborough was judged "inadequate" by Ofsted, the teaching inspectorate's lowest mark.
Confused? 10 British/American Words That Are Spelled the Same But Pronounced Differently | Keeping the Glass Half Full
As my readers know, I’ve been living in the US for 12 years now and love observing the differences between British English and American English (see posts 10 Silly American Words and 10 British Expressions that Americans Find Amusing .) While there are many words and expressions that differ between our two lovely languages, what actually confuses me the most are the words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently. Here are my top ten: Vitamin – I have to admit that I no longer know which pronunciation is the “correct” one; a long ‘i’ or a short one? Which usually means I’ll say it wrong. Privacy – Ditto.
Ten British English Words That Are Surprisingly Uncommon In The U.S.
A training shoe, or trainer. Not to be used for sneaking. Sometimes, in order to write about something, you have to go on a little voyage of discovery. So, having decided to research some words that are so common to British English it would hard to summon them without a reference point, but basically unknown over where you are, I had a quick squizz at Wikipedia’s list of British English words not widely used in the United States .
After writing about some strange stories I'd come across over the years regarding language learning, I remembered a few more ..... So in the interest of a comprehensive list, here are these additional stories - Strange but supposedly true. 1. Sarah Cowell overnight starts speaking with a Chinese accent. Scott Thornbury commented on the original post about Foreign Accent Syndrome . A definite "strange" thing that is fruitful for all language teachers / researchers to ponder.
Strange But True Stories of Language Learning - Part 2
One of the first steps to learning a language is figuring out where one word ends and the next one begins. Since fluent speakers don’t generally pause between words, it can be a daunting task. We’ve discussed one of the ways people do it in this post — they focus in on consonant sounds. Other researchers have found that we also focus on the statistical properties of language.
Does music help us learn language? – Cognitive Daily
Is everything brilliant? I’m sure that this will ruffle some feathers and perhaps be considered insulting by some. But that is not my aim.
Criticising TEFL - is it allowed, out loud? - Teacher Training Blog
“That really, seriously just happened, like, literally, two minutes ago.” As an English major and an adjunct professor of English/Humanities, many people make some pretty classic assumptions about me: I’m a grammar nerd, I’ve read every classic work of Literature you name from memory, and I detest slang. Well, none of those are true: I haven’t, until recently, paid enough attention to grammar, I read more Said, Marx, and Spivak than Defoe, Shelley, or Austen in my MA program, and I love how slang functions and defines a culture. I want to put this post into context. Over the last one and a half years, I have made three trips to Germany to visit my gf.
Simulacra and Simile: This Post is Really, Like, Super Important | eating the pages
focus on learning
January 22, 2013 by Willy C Cardoso Teaching, in addition to providing opportunities for learners to examine, practice and reflect on language (or subject matters), should also be about finding those opportunities for learners to examine, practice and reflect on learning . Learning as an individual and learning as a group. The implications are manifold; a simple and automatic classroom routine of ‘working in pairs’ for example will acquire a much richer value if teacher and learners are explicitly aware of why they are working in pairs and what kind of learning they can expect from working in pairs; also, what responsibilities they have with each other when working in pairs; and very importantly, learners will also be aware of what the teacher’s responsibility is when they are working in pairs and thus can measure their expectations and performance accordingly.Have you missed me? After convincing myself that my new position as Director of Studies left me “too busy” to write a blog-post, this week’s just underlined for me that, a teacher’s gotta do what a teacher’s gotta do… so I’m back. With a confession-cum-mission statement . I’ve always been sold on Dogme ELT , and I’ve always considered myself a Dogme teacher. But it’s time for the Dogme movement to, well, chill out a bit . Because I don’t think it really serves the students in its current form.