A great opportunity! Free 5-week online course for IELTS preparation

A great opportunity! Register for a free 5-week online course from the experts who produce the test here at Cambridge English. The course involves 3 hours' work a week and learners can take part in their spare time.

Inside IELTS: Preparing for the Test with the Experts will give test takers a clearer idea of what and how to study, both to prepare for the IELTS test and to develop their academic English skills.

It is especially useful for learners who want to take IELTS Academic and go to university.

Over the 5-week course, participants will find out:
what skills are important for success in the IELTS Academic test
how IELTS examiners assess their level
what they need to do in order to improve their IELTS band score.

Participants can interact with experts and with other learners from around the world, and will also have the chance to try authentic IELTS practice tasks.

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/cambridge-english-ielts

What's your favourite colour?

What's your favourite colour?

My favourite colour is green. I especially like emerald green and some bluish-greens like aquamarine. I've always loved green, in all its shades. Green is vibrant and represents life.

Free resource from Cambridge English: Learn, use & remember vocab for IELTS or academic study

A free resource from Cambridge English: Learn, use and remember vocabulary for your IELTS test or academic study on your computer, tablet or smartphone.

Improve your English through short, frequent activities every day.

Take a look!

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams/ielts/preparation/vocabulary-and-writing/

Topics: Education ~ Creating schools that prepare for the future

Topics: Education ~ Creating schools that prepare for the future


Highly recommended viewing! (1:06) Richard Gerver's an inspiring speaker with great ideas to share. Change doesn't need to be complex or difficult!

Talk by Richard Gerver, former head of Grange primary school, Long Eaton, UK, and an expert in leadership, creativity and organizational change.

https://youtu.be/9mrnhq1uAbA

You can also read about education and change at www.richardgerver.com/

IELTS Speaking Test - Intensive Preparation Package

IELTS Speaking Test - Intensive Preparation Package: A program for candidates aiming to lift their spoken English to the next level in the IELTS test - see more at http://www.englishteachinglive.com/

IELTS Topics: Art ~ Who are your favourite artists?

Who are your favourite artists? What kind of art do you like most?


Today is the birthday of René Magritte, born on this day in Belgium in 1898! Magritte is known and loved for his surrealist art.

“I despise my own past and that of others. I despise resignation, patience, professional heroism and all the obligatory sentiments. I also despise the decorative arts, folklore, advertising, radio announcers' voices, aerodynamics, the Boy Scouts, the smell of naphtha, the news, and drunks.
I like subversive humor, freckles, women's knees and long hair, the laughter of playing children, and a girl running down the street.
I hope for vibrant love, the impossible, the chimerical.
I dread knowing precisely my own limitations.”

― René Magritte



On view: "The Healer," 1967
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washinton DC, USA http://siarchives.si.edu/history/exhibits/pictures/hirshhorn-museum-and-sculpture-garden

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." ~ Arthur Ashe

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." ~ Arthur Ashe

Postcards

Today I received a cool postcard from Hong Kong. If you enjoy writing to others and receiving cards from around the globe, check out https://www.postcrossing.com . It's a great way to learn more about the world and practise your English, too!

Times of the Day

What is your favourite time of day? How do you most like to spend that time?




Many people like the transitional times of day, such as dawn or sunset.

Great short (free) videos for listening practice!

Here's a really excellent selection of short videos on interesting, important and highly current topics. Not only are these excellent for listening practice but also to help you develop ideas for discussion along with the necessary vocabulary:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvhsiQGy_zcNCiSbeXEjhLg .

Don't forget that you can select "subtitles" if you need help while you listen.

The videos are produced by the RSA, a British non-profit organisation."The mission of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) is to enrich society through ideas and action." You can learn more about the work of the RSA at https://www.thersa.org/ .

Enjoy!

IELTS Essay Writing ~ Power Writing Plan

Here's another excellent video from the British Council to help you prepare for the IELTS writing test.

This video shows how to approach the essay in Part 2 of the Writing test:

Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUJV_okEACo to watch the video.

I suggest you watch the video two or three times and make notes. Then, try practising your power writing!

Would you like to live on a dessert island?

(Image from shoebox.com)


English spelling can be a little tricky at times! ;)

Dictionary.com is a great, free online resource for checking spelling and much, much more. Let's see:


dessert
[dih-zurt]

noun
1.
cake, pie, fruit, pudding, ice cream, etc., served as the final course of a meal.
2.
British. a serving of fresh fruit after the main course of a meal.


desert
[dez-ert]

noun
1.
a region so arid because of little rainfall that it supports only sparse and widely spaced vegetation or no vegetation at all:
The Sahara is a vast sandy desert.
Synonyms: waste, wasteland, barren wilderness.
2.
any area in which few forms of life can exist because of lack of water, permanent frost, or absence of soil.
Synonyms: wasteland, barren wilderness.
3.
an area of the ocean in which it is believed no marine life exists.
4.
(formerly) any unsettled area between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains thought to be unsuitable for human habitation.
5.
any place lacking in something:
The town was a cultural desert.
Synonyms: wasteland.
adjective
6.
of, relating to, or like a desert.
Synonyms: desolate; barren, infertile; arid.
7.
occurring, living, or flourishing in the desert:
a desert tribe; a desert palm.
8.
designed or suitable for wear in the desert, as cool, protective clothing:
a big, wide-brimmed desert hat.

desert island
noun
1.
a small remote tropical island

Clear now? :)



Image from shoebox.com

The True Scholar ~ Emerson

“Shall I tell you the secret of the true scholar? It is this: every man I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn of him.”


― Ralph Waldo Emerson (American essayist, poet, and popular philosopher, 1803–1882)