A conversation between a student and a university advisor / TOEFL® listening Dear Friend,if you have any questions or comments regarding this article, please click here: Wanted: Feedback on TOEFL Listening Exercises.TOEFL Listening Comprehension Transcript Narrator Listen to a conversation between a student and a university advisor. The student is trying to decide where to go to school next year. Advisor: Now, then, Mr., uh, Vickstad. Student: Well, I'm thinking about transferring, but I'm, I'm not sure ... A: I'll try. S: Um...I'm thinking of going to Central University, because it's in my hometown. A: I see. S: Yeah, I would. A: May I ask why you chose to come to Kryptos University in the first place? S: Sure. A: You're right, Mr. S: Yeah, I know that. A: You know, freshman year is usually the hardest. S: Really? A: Yes, it did. S: Hmm...I hadn't thought about that. A: You can always move back there after you graduate. S: Thank you for all your help. A: Don't mention it. Excerpt from the TOEFL test listening conversation
Tenses It's all about time. Things can happen now, in the future or in the past. The tenses simply show the time of an action or state of being as shown by a verb. The verb ending is changed (conjugated) to show what time it is referring to. Time can be split into three periods The Present (what you are doing), The Past (what you did) and The Future (what you are going to do, or hope / plan to do ). The tenses we use to show what time we are talking about are split into the Simple, Continuous and Perfect tenses. In English we use two tenses to talk about the present and six tenses to talk about the past. Simple Tenses The simple tenses are used to show permanent characteristics of people and events or what happens regularly, habitually or in a single completed action. Continuous Tenses The continuous tenses are used when talking about a particular point in time. Perfect Tenses The perfect tenses are used when an action or situation in the present is linked to a moment in the past. The Future Tenses
Inappropriate English homonym usage! Inappropriate use of English words, it's uphauling! I'm no homophobe, I especially like people who use funny homonyms: - Respect are Country - I am uphauled - It was offal - The air to the throne - The baby bald for hours and hours - Good Buy to bad rubbish Some people confuse "are" and our": This one is fake, but believeable: Here is one from right up the street from me, get them wild they last: Here is a list of common homonyms, useful to the illiterati:
Anything but PowerPoint: five fresh presentation alternatives What application springs to mind when you think of creating visual aids to accompany your business presentation? For most people, it’s Microsoft’s PowerPoint. But that’s certainly not the only game in town. We’ve rounded up five compelling alternatives to PowerPoint, including Web apps that let you dispense with installing software, and mobile apps that allow for presentation-building (and presenting) on the go. Our goal is to showcase presentation options that will help you get your point across a little differently, so your audience’s eyes don’t glaze over in the middle of your pitch. Haiku Deck (iPad) Haiku Deck for iPad is designed to turn your ideas into beautiful presentations in about the time it takes to ride the train to work. Indeed, half the battle in crafting attractive slides is finding appropriate artwork to go with the text. Let’s say your slide contains the word profits and the phrase 3D printing: You’ll quickly get a list of thumbnails matching those terms. Prezi
Sample Questions The ETS TOEFL® Program provides interactive TOEFL iBT® test sample questions with audio directions that you can download for free. These sample questions can help familiarize you with how the TOEFL iBT test is structured and formatted. The download is a 74MB .EXE file. Download Instructions Check the System Requirements before you download. Operating Systems Windows 2000 Windows NT 4.0 Windows Vista Hardware Pentium II 350 MHz processor 128 MB of RAM 150 MB of free hard disk space Sound playback capability If you are not a Windows user or do not otherwise meet the system requirements, you can download the sample questions: Terms and Conditions Governing Use and Access to ETS Websites ETS.org is an Internet site maintained by Educational Testing Service (ETS) as a service to the Internet community. ETS may terminate, change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of this site, including the availability of any features of the site, at any time. Governing Law and Jurisdiction. See also:
Why History No Longer Guides Us In 1992, Francis Fukuyama published his book, The End of History in which he argued that, with the cold war over and liberal democracy triumphant, the major historical narrative dialectic of history was over. He was, of course, somewhat mistaken. The world today looks much more like Samuel Huntington’s vision of The Clash of Civilizations than anything else. However, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that something has fundamentally changed, albeit the shift is technological rather than cultural (a fact which Fukuyama himself alluded to in a later book ). 1. For most of history, stasis was the rule. That’s changed in a resounding way. The difference lies in accelerating returns. And it’s not just computers either. 2. It used to be that innovation was centered around a certain time and place, like the Florence of the Medici in the 14th and 15th centuries or the Cambridge of the Bloomsbury Group at the beginning of the 20th. 3. 4. Alas, it never came to be. The Poverty of Historicism - Greg
Professionaliseer jezelf als docent via Twitter « Maatschappijleer, ict en meer Twitter? Is dat niet dat gedoe waar mijn leerlingen steeds mee bezig zijn? Ja, misschien wel. Maar dan mis je wel het grote geheel: Twitter is een uitstekend middel om jezelf als docent te professionaliseren. Maar hoe pak je dat dan aan? Heel flauw misschien: begin met het maken van een account op Twitter. Volg je leerlingen Een goede docent weet wat er bij zijn leerlingen speelt. Volg collegae Het zal je verbazen hoeveel van je collega’s op Twitter zitten. #dtv Weet je het antwoord niet op een prangend vraagstuk? Externen Er zijn een heleboel mensen bezig op onderwijsgebied die niet meer direct voor de klas staan, maar wel een schat aan ervaring hebben. Organisaties e.d. Het loont de moeite om allerlei organisaties te volgen die je interesse hebben of op jouw vakgebied actief zijn. Inspiratie John Moravec (@moravec), Ken Robinson (@SirKenRobinson), TED, do I need to say more? Kortom: mis de boot niet en stap in.
TOEFL TSE - Improve your Speaking Skills for the TOEFL iBT! TOEFL Speaking Practice: Our online Practice Tests 1 and 2 contain speaking tests that are similar in format and content to the actual TOEFL examination. Click here for a Free Sample of Practice Test 1 and Practice Test 2 information. In addition, our practice tests provide recorded examples of the spoken English language responses of high-level students. So you can listen to the example spoken response to see what is expected of you on your TOEFL exam day. You may also with to have a look at our free samples of TOEFL grammar and TOEFL essays, as well as our TOEFL iBT Downloads. The iBT TOEFL speaking test contains six separate tasks. You will wear a headset, and you will be asked to speak into the microphone connected to the computer. This way, your spoken English is recorded for the test. For each task, you will speak for 45 to 60 seconds. You will speak in response to something you have read or listened to on the previous screen of the iBT test.
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning: Educators Guide to the use of P No sooner do we finish working a certain guide then the idea for a new one pops up. After published the free Teachers guides on the use of Facebook, social networking,graphic organizers, blogs, QR Codes, and Evernote ( There are many many more guides that I can not mention all of them here but will soon include them in a free ebook ) the turn has come to Pinterest. Outline :1 -What is Pinterest2- How does Pinteres work ?3- Pinterest Tips4- Some suggestions on teachers can use Pinterest5- Pinterest for professional development6- Some prominent educational Pinner to follow7 Pinterest tutorials8- Webliography ( links for further reading ) What is Pinterest ? Pinterest is a free virtual bulletin board where users pin videos and images captured from around the web. How does Pinterest Work ? Pinterest is very easy and simple to use. Pinterest Tips you need to keep in your mind Here are some tips to help better use Pinterest : Make sure you add the " Pin It" bookmarklet to your browser tool bar.
iBT Speaking and Writing: 40 New Practice Topics for iBT TOEFL Speaking Part 1 Here is a list of 40 new topics that you might find useful if you are preparing for Part 1 of the iBT TOEFL Speaking section. These are all Independent topics of the "open choice" / personal experience or opinion type. 1. Who is your best friend? Describe this person and say why he/she is your best friend. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.
100 Ways To Use Twitter In Education, By Degree Of Difficulty Twitter may have started off as a fun social media site for keeping up with friends and sharing updates about daily life, but it’s become much more than that for many users over the past few years as the site has evolved and grown. These days, Twitter is a powerhouse for marketing, communication, business, and even education, letting people from around the world work together, share ideas, and gain exposure. It has become a staple at many online colleges and campuses as well, leaving many academics wondering just how and if they should be using Twitter both in the classroom and in their professional lives. So we’ve revised our our original 2009 list to get you started or up to date. Whether you’re an academic or just interested in building your Twitter profile, keep reading to learn some tips and tricks that can help you take the first steps towards using Twitter for coursework, research, building a professional network, and beyond. The Basics Organize your Twitter. Etiquette Connecting