Great Exercise to Improve Performance in Part 2, IELTS Speaking Test

Here's a great exercise from the British Council to help improve your performance in Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test.

http://esol.britishcouncil.org/build-your-speaking-skills/reading-aloud-reading-personal-story-aloud

Why Facebook Makes You Feel Bad About Yourself: Reading Practice with Questions

We log in to Facebook hoping to experience happiness through friendship and support from our social networks. "But skimming through photos of friends’ life successes can trigger feelings of envy, misery and loneliness as well, according to researchers from two German universities.".

To find out more, read the article at

http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/24/why-facebook-makes-you-feel-bad-about-yourself/#ixzz2KcwqTqWp .

Then try to answer the comprehension questions below. You can check your answers with the suggested answers at the bottom of the page.


Questions:

1. How is Facebook supposed to make us feel?

2. According to the researchers, how many people felt bad after looking at Facebook?

3. What effect can looking at Facebook without posting have?

4. What results may feeling envious when looking at Facebook have?

5. What differences can be seen in the way men and women present themselves on Facebook?

6. What are the two most common causes of frustration with Facebook?

7. Overall, do the positive effects of using Facebook seem to outweigh the drawbacks?



Vocabulary:

to skim (v.) - to look through quickly or superficially

envy (n.) - to want something that another person has

misery (n.) - great unhappiness

lousy (adj.) - bad, terrible

to scan (v.) - to look over quickly, sometimes when searching for information

frequenter (n.) - a person who frequents a place (visits a place often)

to post content - to share information online

common (adj.) - usual, frequent

an observation (n.) - something you notice or observe

to portray (v.) - to present, to show

to supersede - to overcome, be stronger than


Suggested answers:

1. happy, warm, loved, supported and important

2. one in three

3. more likelihood of feeling dissatisfied

4. people may use the site less or leave the site

5. men - more likely to post self-promotional content; women - more likely to stress physical attractiveness and sociability

6. a. users comparing themselves socially to friends b. “lack of attention” from fewer comments, likes and general feedback compared to friends

7. yes

Valentine's Day: Short Video plus Quiz with Answers

Valentine's Day is celebrated in different ways by different cultures.

Ready to learn about Valentine's Day around the world while testing your listening skills?

Watch the short video: Celebrating Valentine’s Day around the world (1.54 minutes) at http://www.examiner.com/article/celebrating-valentine-s-day-around-the-world .

Decide if the statements below are True (T) or False (F). Write down your answers.

Watch the video again, if needed.

Check with the Answer Key below.

True/False

1. On Valentine’s Day (February 14th), boys in Korea give candy.
2. In Denmark, it is traditional to send snowdrop flowers to your friends and lover on Valentine’s Day.
3. In China, visit the Temple of Matchmaker on Valentine’s Day.
4. In Spain, wives send beautiful bouquets of roses to their husbands.
5. Chocolate is the most popular Valentine’s gift in Japan.
6. In Australia, over 19 % of people aged between 18 and 24 celebrate Valentine’s Day.
7. The world’s first printed Valentine’s Day card is on display at the British Museum in London.

Answers:

1. F (only girls give candy on February 14th in Korea)
2. T
3. T
4. F (husbands send roses to their wives)
5. T
6. F (over 90%)
7. T

How many corerct answers did you have?

You can find out more about Valentine's Day by reading the article at:http://www.examiner.com/article/celebrating-valentine-s-day-around-the-world .

Excellent English Language Listening Resources from The Guardian

Here's another link to add to your list of favourites for listening practice:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/audio

(If you're not familiar with "The Guardian", it's a very highly regarded UK news publication).

At http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/series/the-guardian-audio-edition you'll find the best of the Guardian's journalism in an easy to digest weekly podcast.

You'll also find podcasts on a range of interesting specialist topics from science, technology and books to music, football and more.

Have fun and expand your mind while improving your English!

How Your Choice of Music Can Improve Your Workout

Are you lazy? Scientists say we are all lazy by nature: " ...like other animals, humans naturally aim to use as little energy as possible during most movement". (well.blogs.nytimes.com)

Researchers have established that when the speed of a treadmill is increased, people very quickly increase the pace of their steps. It seems that the extremely rapid response is made possible by a section of our brains which learns and stores memories of different paces.

Playing uptempo music encourages our bodies to move faster. Just take care not to overdo it!

Read the complete article at:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/getting-into-your-exercise-groove/

Do you like to exercise to music?

Have you experimented with excercising to music of different tempos? Which tempo do you like most? Which do you feel is most beneficial?

Vocabulary:

treadmill (n.)- machine on which people can exercise by walking or running

pace (n.) - speed

rapid (adj.) - fast

uptempo (adj.) - fast or lively pace

What is English Profile?

"English Profile" is for teachers of English but some students may be interested, too.

The Impact of Climate Change on Australia

The ABC has produced an excellent five-part series on the expected impact of climate change on different parts of Australia.

The first topic in the series is rising seas: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-14/how-will-rising-seas-impact-australia/4460688

The next topics are:

Part 2: What effect will climate change have on agriculture and food production? http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-15/climate-change-will-force-farmers-to-adapt-csiro-says/4464506

Part 3: What effect will climate change have on health in the Pacific? http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-16/humans-to-feel-heat-of-warmer-future/4466276

Part 4: How will climate change affect biodiversity and ecosystems? http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-17/global-warming-to-threaten-australian-wildlife/4468026

Part 5: How will climate change affect Australia's oceans and reefs? http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-18/warming-to-put-oceans-and-reefs-in-hot-water/4470104

Following the series is highly recommended for learning about the important issue of climate change and the language needed for spoken or written discussion of this very "hot" (!!) topic.

Announcement: Short Introductory Video Added to EnglishTeachingLive Website

My website, http://www.englishteachinglive.com, now has a short introductory video. Please go to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ge_HGDS3ib0

for a few words about learning with me online.

Extraordinary Dust Storm Hits Coast of Australia

Many people have been noticing strange and unusual weather patterns around the word.

Earlier this week a massive dust storm called a "haboob" collided with the Australian coast.

"The storm stemmed from a surge of high winds over the ocean that stirred up dust and carried it huge distances." (globalpost.com)

"A haboob (Arabic: هَبوب‎ "blasting/drafting") is a type of intense dust storm carried on an atmospheric gravity current. Haboobs occur regularly in arid regions throughout the world." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haboob

More amazing photographs and information here:

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/science/130110/australia-dust-storm-smashes-small-town-near-coast

Free Tool: Make a Website "Speak"

"Select & Speak" is a free extension for Google Chrome. You can select text on a website and the tool will convert it to speech.

There's a choice of 43 different voices and accents and you can change the speed of the speaking.

Give it a try!

Learn English with Australian Radio and Television

All of us should maximise our ability to understand English of many varieties and spoken in a range of different accents.

If you're preparing for the IELTS test or planning to study or live in Australia, exposure to Australian English is particularly important.

ABC Australia Radio and Television offer great resources for language learners.

Please check these pages and explore:

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/tv

Also recommended are:

http://australianetwork.com/learningenglish/

http://www.sbs.com.au/radio/

Avaguddaaaaay! (That's Australian for "Have a good day!")

Is virtual travel the way of the future?

"According to the UN World Tourism Organization, a record one billion people will have travelled abroad for leisure by the end of this year. While Europe remains the most visited region, Asia's tourism industry is the fastest growing.

But the human traffic can cause extensive damage to fragile sites, increasing wear and tear through erosion and light exposure."

For this reason, in future years more of us may make virtual visits to sites of historic, cultural or natural importance.

One example of the success of such 3D technology is the recreation of the Mogau Grottoes of Dunhuang, an oasis on the ancient Silk Road in China's Gobi Desert.

"A flickering torch offers a tantalising glimpse of the exquisite murals painted by Buddhist monks some 1,400 years ago. And then suddenly, the cavern is ablaze with light, its beauty fully revealed in dazzling colour and extraordinary detail."

These virtual recreations not only help preserve the original sites but also offer visitors the opportunity to see and experience far more.

" "You wouldn't be able to see any of this in the real cave because light exposure is so damaging," says Jeffrey Shaw, director of Alive, the Applied Laboratory for Interactive Visualization and Embodiment at the City University of Hong Kong."

Read more at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20802947

What's your opinion?

Can visits to digitised representations replace travel to "the real thing"? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Learning Suggestion:

Re-read the article and underline/highlight useful words related to (1) Travel and (2) Technology.

Add these words to your vocabulary notebook.

How important are spelling and grammar mistakes?

Here's an amusing cartoon about writing a blog from Grammarly.com:

Most of us will have noticed that, especially on the internet, even very minor errors in spelling or grammar can attract a great deal of criticism! At times, this criticism seems greatly out of proportion to the "sin" committed by the writer.

So, what's your view on the importance of spelling and grammar mistakes in writing? Are they important or not? Why or why not?