Eilenburg class

[Torsten]

Hi everyone,

Let's start to share information on the Eilenburg class that has been running for a while. The group consists of about 15 people who are doing a further education program called 'OPS' which stands for 'Logistics Operations Agent' (I must admit I've always used the abbreviation only and I'm not a 100% sure about the defintion.) At any rate, the program runs for one year with the purpose to place the participants in a job at DHL Leipzig.

The program consists of various subjects such as logistics, foreign trade regulations, accounting and of course English.

So far, the following trainers have taught the group: First, I started doing about 5 days throughout May. Then, Raymond Romanos took over and then Roberto did one day with them.

I covered the following:
- International alphabet
- personal pronouns
- Be-verb
- much/many
- basic company structure
- weekdays/months/numbers/time
- present simple
- question words
- basic company structure
- simple past

It would be great if you, Ray and Roberto could post a brief update too so Ralf and Daniel know what to do with the group when they take over.

Many thanks,
Torsten
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[Roberto]

Hi, everybody,

I was just one day in Eilenburg to teach a class consisting of only women. It was also very funny, I enjoyed the day. We introduced ourselves, spoke about own interests, likes and dislikes, origin, some countries, cities. I repeated time expressions, days of the week, months, seasons and explained interesting connections between these words and what we used to associate with them as we, not only in English, but also in German, Swedish, Spanish, French etc. began using them. Just for anyone who is interested, I will expose it here briefly:

Monday refers to the goddess Moon, the same as Montag in German and lundi in French (lune = moon).

Tuesday refers to the God Tiu, similarly to Swedish tisdag and corresponding to French mardi. Roman Mars = Germanic Tiu or Tyr, in this sense Tiu corresponds to the French word Dieu/dieu = god that we find in adieu meaning good-bye.
Wednesday refers to the chief god Woden or Odinn, like in Swedish onsdag, compared with the Roman Mercurius, that is why French uses mercredi.
Thursday refers to the god of thunder, Thor or Donar, German Donnerstag the equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter, Jovis, French, e.g. jeudi.

Friday refers to the goddess of love, beauty and fertility Fre(y)ja, thus Freitag, equivalent of the Roman goddess Venus that we find in French as vendredi too.

Saturday refers to the god of agriculture and harvest Saturnus. Saturnus reminds us of Saat (= seed) in German. And last but not least, Sunday means worshipping the Sun as a pagan god. Actually, I do this to understand better both English and German and perhaps if someone in the class is interested in other languages, this would be a useful help.

As usual, we did grammar exercises: the regular verbs in the simple present form for habitual activities, the use of the auxiliary verb "to do", interrogative and negative sentences. The verb "to like", the use and position of frequency adverbs. I think this should be always be repeated in progressively more complex texts. Spelling vs. pronunciation: typical English sounds: th (voiced and voiceless), r-sounds (rhotic vs. non-rhotic English), no Ü- sound in English, the same as ö-sound (there is a similar one like in purse but it is not the same in my opinion): so I explained this too:
ü-German sounds in English often convert into [i] or [i:]-sounds in English. The result is plausible:
fühlen = feel, grün = green; Füße = feet (t like in the pair: iss and eat)
küssen = kiss, Brücke = bridge (dg like in Hecke and hedge, I like to work with rhyming elements), Mühle = mill, füllen = fill, Sünde = sin.

We read and wrote a lot of useful sentences referring to hobbies, leisure, sport etc.

Regards,
Roberto
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[Rromanos]

Hello All:
In reference to the Eilenburg class I taught on the first of October. I've been spending a lot of time getting the students used to helping themselves by using both dictionaries and Internet. I have taught them how to use the phonetic alphabet located in the books and accent marks to help with pronunciation. We also have been going online and checking out the learning websites i.e. www.english-test.net and bbc world.
I've been using Business English for Beginners and they seem completely happy with it mainly because some of them never had English before and sometimes things go by too fast, so I slowed it down a little bit. We reviewed then the verbs (to be and do) and their conjugations.
For those who are more advanced I chose some exercises from Murphy's English Grammar in Use. But I did not use this for the October 1 class.
That is all.
Raymond

[Torsten]

Hi Roberto, Daniel, Ray and Ralf,

Thanks a lot for your great work. Here is what I've done with the Eilenburg group today:
- reviewing the basics (personal pronouns, BE verb, international alphabet, commonly used verbs, simple past, question words)
- vocab work: directions based on TOEIC Bridge
- listening comprehension: Hueber English Course without book

Ralf, here are my suggestions as for tomorrow:
- review the simple past again
- review the following words: directions, map, straight, corner, intersection, work/walk, signpost, road, curves and turns, short, route, library, lane, direct, short cut, traffic light, entrance, get lost, fast/faster, prepare, construction, exist, traffic light, pass, slow/slowly, train station, northbound, highway, gas station, change, eventually, get a speeding ticket, continue, convenience store.

Also, please try to incorporate some listening comprehension training. See you soon.
Regards,
Torsten
_________________
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TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Rromanos]

Hi Torsten,
Serendipity happened today, I must say. Anyway, Here is what I did: I worked with Business basics chapter 2 and the TOEIC stuff that you left for Ralf. I basically went slow. I wish you luck tomorrow.
As for the future classes in Eilenburg they are: Oct 29, Nov. 13th, Nov 26th. I have to wait and see what the other dates will be.

Later,
Raymond

[Torsten]

Hello Ray, Ralf, Roberto, Daniel and Scott,

Here is what I did with the Eilenburg group last week:
- review of the alphabet (spelling basic verbs, adjectives and nouns)
- review of the simple past (regular/irregular verbs, negative/positive and questions)
- TOEIC Bridge vocabulary building exercises (please see copies I left on the desk)
- listening comprehension: Hueber 'Englisch lernen ohne Buch)

Ray, please review the alphabet again as well as the simple present and the simple past. As for vocabulary, please use some of the TOEIC Bridge words and phrases and try to incorporate some basic logistics terminology.

The attendance last week was about 50% so it makes sense for you to have the group review some of the things I covered with them last week. You can ask them to create a word list that contains vocabulary they wrote down during the three days last week and then work with that material.

Many thanks,
Torsten
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Torsten]

Hi Nadine,

In addition to your own program please incorporate the following ideas tomorrow:
- Have the group work in pairs. Every person has to introduce their neighbor to you. Give them these clues: first name, family name, where from, married/children, job, languages, countries visited, hobbies.

- Have them work in small teams: Everyone creates a word list containing at least 10 key words from their own notes/photocopies. Once everyone has created their list, have them dictate their words to the other team members. Then have them repeat the process within the entire group. Write some of the words on whiteboard and add more examples of how to use them. Have the group use both the NATO alphabet and just letters.

- Review the simple present and the simple past.
- Review the numbers, time, weekdays, etc.
- Review forms of public transport/vehicles, basic logistics vocab.
- Do some listening comprehension (either use an audio recording or read a short text to them, give them comprehension questions)

Please stick to English all the time. Use Mandy, Annie, Tanja, Sylke, Petra and Nicole as your translators -- their listening comprehension is pretty good.
_________________
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[Nade]

Hello All,
i just taught the eilenburg class for 2 days. we reviewed simple present and past, question words, numbers, time, months etc.. i also introduced some helpful vocab. regarding logistics etc..
had a good time, def. enjoyed teaching them

regards,
nadine

[Torsten]

Hello Nadine,

Many thanks for doing such a great job with the Eilenburg group -- they were very happy with your approach and said they learned a lot. Also, thank you for leaving the handouts for me on the desk, they look like EFB LCCI Preliminary Level, prep materials and you chose the right unit which deals with basic logistics and transportation vocabulary. Can you please do me a favor and post the title and possibly the ISBN here on the forum so all of us can use the same materials.

Best regards,
Torsten
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Nade]

hey folks,
the title is: Business English Tests
by Jane Edwards and Thomas Murphy
ISBN: 3- 922514-91x

adios+ have a great day
nade

[Rromanos]

Hi all,
For my class held on Monday Nov. 3, we worked on chapter 5 in Business English for Beginners. Chapter 5 basically introduces the past tense forms was and had. It builds on the daily routine vocabulary esp. prepositions. We also worked on vocabulary. At the end of the we played word Yahtzee. They especially like it and were very interested in trying to beat me by teaming up against me.
I wish you all luck and have fun,
Ray

[Torsten]

Hi Ray,

Thanks a lot for your summary. Could you please tell us what kind of vocabulary you introduced? As you know the group is being prepared to work as 'Operations Agents' DHL. Since the job market has become even more competitive with DHL currently cutting thousands of jobs it's vital that we try to steer the group in a business direction. Also, the Eilenburg group needs a lot listening comprehension practice so it would be great if you could do some listening training with them this Thursday.

Please let me know what you think.
Many thanks,
Torsten
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Roberto]

Hello everyone, dear English trainers,

yesterday I started a new English course for beginners. Only some of the participants of this group of women learnt English at school, but it is still a long time ago. I'll give you a summary of the main aspects I covered on Wednesday 12:

1. Getting to know each other: Names/Surnames, professions.
2. Social expressions in the class: please, thanks, excuse me, God bless you! Can you help me, please?
3. Aim of the course: I asked them to explain the reason why they are sitting in the class. We talked then about their professions and experience. I spoke to them in English and translated my own speech into German, since they are still beginners.
4. Comparison of English and German: Is it easier to learn English than German in the beginning? We had a list of advantages regarding the first approach to the English language:
While in German you have to learn lots of endings and flexions when you start: der, dem den des etc...ich spreche du sprichst, er spricht, wir sprechen etc., das Kind, die Kinder, der Apfel, die Äpfel, der Tisch, die Tische..., in English you don't have to care that much about changing words: you only need to memorize and use one word THE or to add a minimum of changes: e.g. the ending -s or -es for the plural form of nouns (e.g.cat > cats) and for the 3rd. person singular of verbs in Present Simple (to speak: he speaks), the ending -ing for the Present Continuous (speaking). Thus, you don't have to change verbs the way you do in German: the same infinitive "to speak" remains speak in the present simple, excepting the 3rd. person singular where you need the suffix -s/-es: he/she/it speaks. You have to get used to auxiliary verbs such as "to be", "to have", "will", "be going to", "shall". Quite easy, isn't it? But reversely, it might demand more effort.
Admittedly, there are lots of compensatory aspects in the first learning phase of the English language too, such as a complex phonetic and spelling system and the new perspectives of an action in connection with verbs: simple and progressive/continuous tenses. That's why I moved on to these important grammar aspects that need more time and practice in order to learn them correctly.
5. Based on the facts mentioned in 4, we practised then the difference between Present Simple and Present Continuous, also considering such special verbs as "to think", "to like", "to need" etc.
6. The verbs "to be" and "to have" in the Present Simple.
7. The alphabet, spelling English words German people often use: computer, body lotion, software, hardware,walkman, call centre, kids, family, payback, push-up, pullover.
8. Learning techniques regarding the acquisition of new vocab: the choice of a topic wiht its hypernym and hyponyms (thematic vocabulary):
colours- countries - nationalities - languages - classroom.
Linguistic tricks for words, mostly of Germanic descent such as: German z, tz, ss, ß, s > English t: zwanzig > twenty, zwo > two; zehn > ten; zu > to; Zehe > toe; e > i: es > it; Zecke > tick; denken > think; geben > give; leben > live; Leber > liver; d > th: drei > three; der, die, das> the; denken > think; Ding > thing; cht > ght: acht > eight, Nacht > night, Licht > light, leicht > light; -ff-, -f, -pf- > p: offen = open, hoffen> hope, auf > up, Waffe > weapon; b > v: haben > have, sieben > seven, geben> give, leben > live etc.
Other methods: brainstorming, mindmapping, crossword puzzles, games etc. Organizing a vocabulary book.
9. The numbers from 0 to 12. Plural of nouns. Special changes: -y >- ies. I stressed the need to have a good foundation, because we can build on it later finding out analogies: once you are familiar with the rule (consonant) + y changes into -i such in -ies, you can apply the same structure in other language aspects: comparative forms: funny > funnier; verbs: to fly > he/she/it flies etc.
10. Word order: signal words for the Present Simple, e.g. frequency adverbs such as always, often, never, occasionally, sometimes, seldom etc. usually appear before the verb: We often drink black coffee in the morning.
11. Pronominal system: Subject forms (I, you etc..)
12. Brief introduction of the auxiliary DO (questions - negative sentences). They laughed a bit as I said that I sometimes hear German speakers saying, specially when they talk to children: Tust du Mama winken?
We will revise this basic points on Friday (Simple versus Progressive, Plural forms, pronouns, numbers, alphabet (including Nato alphabet), expressions, frequency adverbs, auxiliaries "to be", "to do") and do some online English-test-net exercises

Regards

Roberto
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Learn more about: Roberto Enrique Steffens Villarreal

[Hans_Ulrich]

Hello dear English trainers of the Eilenburg course,
Today we have continued with some grammar repetitions, word formation discussions, personal presentation ( Names/Surnames, professions…personal ideas for the job perspective in a globalised market economy ….) and some audio tests under the english-test.net forum.
The group is very motivated, cooperative and proposes to concentrate in the next classes on exercises in the Business basic text book.., more TOEIC – tests in preparation for the TOEIC test, commercial letters, telephone training in order to be well prepared for the new job challenges.
Please don’t forget to document in writing your daily work in the “Klassenbuch” that is in the classroom.
Best Regards
Uli 11.09.2009 Eilenburg