Nordhausen course

[RimcMullen]

Hi Torsten

On Friday we continued our work with the Telephone Language and Things to Do theme using Talk Time 1 Unit 12 theme.
Grammar focus concentrated on requests with can, could and would & object pronouns.

We did a lot of practice with using the future tense (one of the main differences between speaking English and German) when practicing weekly scheduling and discussing future plans.

We then continued with the practice with the future tense using Jobs and Change Theme, using World Link 1, unit 7 which we had started at the end of the first day (Thursday).
Language focus on future with going to and expressing surprise with sarcasm.

New expressions introduced included: ‘I’m not kidding’, ‘no way’, ‘once’, ‘super’ and ‘yeah right, and it will snow in July too’.

We reviewed the differences between Start and Begin and did some practice alphabet pronunciation and the students spelled their names out loud. We also reviewed proper usage of it’s and its.

The group wrote two on-line tests and two unit tests with me.

We then moved on to Business Basics 4.3 (Describing a Company).
We reviewed titles, such as:
Managing Director
Personal Assistant
Sales Representative
Training Officer
Purchasing Manager
Laboratory Technician and
Quality Control Manager.

The group told me they feel that sometimes too many different areas are covered in one day and they can’t remember everything. I said it is normal for courses with so many hours a day but that I understand how it could be a lot to take in. I said I would try to concentrate on 1 or 2 themes a day along with some testing. They seem to be fine working with a native speaker and they are speaking a lot more English and I can see the confidence rising in all of them.

I did over prepare for my first day (as is usual) and it took longer to get thru what I began than I had expected. I am back to Business Basics (which is very good) and I plan to supplement that material two to three times a week with some interesting ones I brought (Talk Time and World Link which is a video course the students quite like) but only where the grammar focus is linked and the themes are work and business related. I am getting used to the internet forum now the way that the courses can run in so many different places while staying linked on-line. The English-test resources are quite extensive too.

On Monday, we will be reviewing several topics and themes from last week such as
‘it’s and its’, ‘start and begin’, pronouncing the alphabet, ‘listen and hear’ and creating a personal profile.

We will then finish Unit 4.3 from Business Basics Describing a Company and then move on to Talk Time 2, Unit 1 Jobs and Daily Activities which will focus on different types of jobs and daily activities with a grammar focus on Wh questions with the simple past of be.

On Tuesday, I will review the present simple, present continuous and future with going to tenses with them and then review and do the Talk Time unit test from Jobs & Daily Activities and then begin with Business Basics unit 5 Current Activities which will compare the present simple vs. the present continuous. If we finish this unit we will take a look at World Link 2 the World of Work – Jobs and Interviews.

I will be arriving at the Avena at 22:45 and staying until Friday again. Thanks again Torsten and Uli for helping to make my first arrival go so smoothly.

I will have an update again on Tuesday but I don’t have a lap top or a car so my week-day reports may be as little shorter as I have to arrive and leave with the ss.

[Torsten]

Dear Richard,

Many thanks for your excellent job -- you have a very professional approach and it's obvious the group is greatly benefiting from all your experience and ideas. It is especially good that you are sharing your resources and techniques with us so the group sees that we work as a team and we can keep consistency and momentum.

In addition to the materials you mentioned, you might want to take a look at the lessons here on forum as well as on our site. Here are some examples:
possessive 's'
personal profile
simple present I
simple present II

Please let me know what you think.
Have a good weekend,
Torsten
PS: You might also be interested in obtaining a Netbook: NetBooks for English Language Trainers

TOEIC listening, talks: Promoting a theme park

[RimcMullen]

Hi Torsten

On Monday, we reviewed several topics and themes from last week such as
‘it’s and its’, ‘start and begin’, pronouncing the alphabet, ‘listen and hear’ and creating a personal profile. We reviewed some of our scheduling practise including having the students send me an appointment cancellation text in English. We created a personal profile to go on-line, but the students did not feel comfortable putting their information on-line.

We then finished Unit 4.3 from Business Basics Describing a Company and moved on to Talk Time 2, Unit 1 Jobs and Daily Activities which focused on different types of jobs and daily activities with a grammar focus on Wh questions with the simple past of be.

On Tuesday, we reviewed the present simple and then advanced into present continuous and with them using Business Basics Unit 5.2 company Developments finishing that part of the unit. Afterwards we did a little extra present continuous review with Talk Time unit 2 Current Activities. All was well, but it took much longer then I had planned s two students became quite frustrated with the concept of Present Continuous. The other students seemed to have it so it was a hard class for everyone. In the end we did more practice and I think it helped everyone.

On Wednesday, we began with a review of Present Continuous and then comparing Pres C with Present Simple. We agreed that I will post the students results of the tests here so then we then re-did the Must-Have To test and the results were Susanne 9/10; Grit 9/10; Katrin 10/10; Dorina 8/10; Yvonne 6/10; Lars 6/10; Diana 7/10. Katarina had a job interview today but I remember her score from yesterday was 10/10.
I noticed some degree of resistance to the forum from the start; however, when I asked them to make a personal profile the ss thought that it was too public. Then today I realised that hadn’t logged on to write their tests yesterday. I told them it helps to prepare for the TOEIC but they had already decided their stance regarding the issue and talked to Frau Thomas. So… I am sorry about that but we’ll have to work around it. They were quite adamant that it was not part of their contract to do this – it has obviously been a simmering issue for some time. Uli – was this an issue for you?
Other than that there are no problems to speak of.

We did the unit 2 test from Talk Time 2 which was on the use of present continuous. The scores were Susanne 10/10; Grit 9/10; Katrin 10/10; Dorina 9/10; Yvonne 8/10; Lars 10/10; Diana 10/10.

We then started World Link 2 World of Work Unit 9 focusing on the language of Jobs and Interviews.
I received my copy of Inside the New TOEIC from Amazon yesterday and I will be reviewing the test structure along with sample question with them every day.

Frau Thomas has also suggested we do a small daytrip to a local mine next week.

Richard

[Torsten]

Hi Richard,

Thanks a lot for your great work -- I've talked to the management too and everyone is very happy with the way you have been teaching the group. As for the progress reports and/or the forum, of course everyone in the group is free in their choice as to what part of the website they want or don't want to use. The online tests and the forum are an additional free resource the group can use thanks to the fact that the school has been providing the group with laptops and unlimited Internet access.

It's great to hear you have purchased the New TOEIC Prep book as it will help you to expose the group to authentic TOEIC test questions.

Please keep me posted and up to date.
Best regards,
Torsten

TOEIC listening, talks: Announcing flight changes at an airport

[RimcMullen]

Hi Torsten,

Thanks. So far today we finished Jobs & Current Activities from Talk Time 2 which practices present continuous and object pronouns.
Afterwards we completed another Present Simple test (I looked around for some Present Continuous tests but I can't find any). I used some of my own yesterday anyway. If you do have some please send me the link. The results for the present continuous 3 test were Katriona 9/10; Diane 8/10; Lars 7/10; Yvonne 7/10; Dorina 9/10; Katrin 9/10; Grit 9/10 & Susanne 8/10.

We have also finished up The World of Work - The Big Interview which introduces the Present Perfect with for and since and this after. This was followed by a written test out of 25. The results were Katarina 24/25; Diane 23/25; Lars 21/25; Yvonne 21.5/25; Dorina 24.5/25; Katrin 23.5/25; Grit 23.5/25 & Susanne 23.5/25.

This afternoon we will also finish Unit 5 from Business Basic: Personal Developments with descriptive adjectives and then we will focus on the TOEIC test structure at the end of the day.

I am thinking of renting an apartment for a little more room and comfort. It costs about the same as the Avena but that means I would pay myself of course. It gets cheaper the longer it is rented so I am wondering if I am here until just the end of he month or until the end of the course? It’s ok if I’m not but I need to know ASAP as I want to rent this place from Sunday. The link is here: http://www.appart-zentral-nordhausen.de/

The class decided with Frau Thomas that the daytrip will be to Sondershausen to visit the mines and I will lead the tour in English for them.

We will have one mre test today and I will post the results tomorrow.

Richard

[Torsten]

Hi Richard,

Yes please do go ahead and book the room as you will be working with the Nordhausen group until the end of the course. As for the present continuous, here are some tests that contain present continuous questions:
progressive tenses
tenses
tenses 2

You might also want to read this with your students: believe as a stative verb

Thanks a lot for your great work.
Regards,
Torsten

TOEIC listening, talks: Announcing special employee discounts on leisure services

[RimcMullen]

Good morning Torsten,

I booked the room so all is fine there – thanks for your help. I am looking forward to a little more space and a kitchen.

I began TOEIC review with the ss yesterday and I have a couple of questions:
1) Is the listening part done by a live examiner or with a CD recording and, does it play right thru or are there pauses in between the questions?
2) If it is a recording, are the speakers all North American, mixed or all British? The students are hoping for North American accents so that it is more like my accent - that said, being Canadian and Irish I have a mid-Atlantic accent and I feel they are coming along very well with listening. I don't have the grade my language very much any more - they can follow me at my natural speed which is slightly faster than the average North American accent (because I've lived in Ireland where they speak a little faster than in North America) and they are doing very well on all the listening tests I give them.

The other thing is, if it is possible, the students would prefer to take the test as late as they can - Dec. 10 or 11 preferably. They feel it is an important test and they will do better the longer they have to prepare for it. It is not so important for them to have the certificates all at the same time. What do you think?

[Torsten]

Hi Richard,

Thanks a lot for your update. Up until 2007 ETS used only Northern American speakers for the listening comprehension part of the TOEIC. However, since the business world is becoming more and more international, ETS decided to use a variety of speakers including ESL speakers in their exams. So it would be great if you could use authentic audio resources that contain different English accents. Many people from Central Germany are quite familiar with British accents since they learned English for 5 to 6 years at school where they were exposed to British English.

I think it's best if you start using the exercises in your TOEIC prep book. It also contains two full length TOEIC tests along with the audio part. Please prepare the group for a full length TOEIC mock test so they get a better of what the test is all about. Yes, the listening comprehension part of the TOEIC test always comes from a CD, not a live examiner.

As for postponing the exam date, I suggest December 9 which I have already proposed to Frau Thomas.

Best regards,
Torsten

TOEIC listening, talks: Investment advice

[RimcMullen]

Hi Torsten

We began this morning with a comprehension test from Talk Time two focusing on listening and reading with yes, no questions in the Simple Present, Present Continuous, Object pronouns the results were Katarina 20/20; Diane 18/20; Lars 16/20; Yvonne 16/20; Dorina 20/20; Katrin 20/20; Grit 20/20 & Susanne 20/20.
This morning we will finished Unit 5 from Business Basics which we didn’t finish yesterday as we spent a lot of time discussing the TOEIC test: Personal Developments with descriptive adjectives and then we will focus on the TOEIC test structure at the end of the day.

We did role playing for using language for Talk Time 2 extension activity for interviews and Business Basic Unit 5.3 for business trips focusing on the use of past simple and present continuous.

We finished with examples from the TOEIC exam Part 1 Photographs. The students would like to have a mock test the week before – preferably Monday the 1st.

Lars was away at an interview today and Katrin left early (also for an interview) so in the last hour we did tests written and on-line in present continuous. After that we began Unit 6 from Business Basics Dates and Arrangements using present continuous for the future focusing on the vocabulary of dates and ordinal numbers.

On Monday we will continue with and finsh Unit 6 and then began using Talk Time 2 Jobs and Skills Unit 12 using can and know how to for describing ability and could for ability in the past. The vocabulary focuses on abilities and talents needed for different jobs.

Talk to you next week.

[Torsten]

Hi Richard,

Thanks a lot for doing such a terrific job with the group -- I think you are perfectly on track with your preparation program. It's good that you have started using the TOEIC test exercises while continuing working with Business Basics and doing Talk Time role play activities and comprehension/grammar tests. That way the students see that there is consistency as well as dynamics in their program. Yes of course you can give the students the TOEIC mock test whenever you feel is appropriate.

Have a good weekend and talk to you soon.
Best regards,
Torsten

TOEIC listening, talks: Speaker introduction

[RimcMullen]

Hi Torsten,

On Monday, we began with a review of the Present Continuous using English-test. Katarina 8/10; Diane 8/10; Lars 2/10; Yvonne 9/10; Dorina 7/10; Katrin 8/10; Grit 9/10 & Susanne 10/10.

We then reviewed the simple past as well using Talk time Unit 4: On the Weekend to discuss completed action is the past. I had the students make up a trip they took on the weekend and tell the class what they did and saw using past simple.

We then began Unit 6 from Business Basics Arrangements beginning with using Present Continuous for the near future. Unfortunately, not many exercises in this unit match up with the CD which is from the international edition. (Up to unit 5 they were more or less connected or using similar themes but it seems the international edition has an very different selection of material for this unit). I did order the teacher’s book for Bus. Basics as well but I ended up with the international edition as well. So, we did some of the exercises reading the script to ourselves and then concentrating of the written and reading work. They wrote a test on present continuous for actions in the near future. We reviewed the difference between acronyms and abbreviations and for the last hour we reviewed TOEIC test preparation strategies focusing on the first section with photographs.

On Tuesday, we started with a review of the difference between present simple and continuous which is continuing to cause problems for 2-3 students – I am hoping I can soon use the past simple to describe that problem. I used World Link Unit 1 About Me to practice using past simple and the ss wrote 2 tests which I will mark tonight. We continued with Business Basics unit 6.2 which focuses on Telephone Expressions. We did more speaking practices and the students are getting quite good at telephone language which is encouraging.

[Torsten]

Hi Richard,

Thanks a lot for doing such an excellent job especially regarding the tenses as they are always a challenge to German speakers. That's because we have fewer tenses in German. Yes, please do continue to concentrate on the simple past, present progressive/simple present leaving out the present perfect for a while. As for the Business Basics CD, I noticed that some of the audio recordings did not exactly match with the exercises in the book but I was not aware that there is an international as well as German edition of the program. Very interesting...

Please do me a favor and ask the students if they are happy with December 9 for their TOEIC test as I need to book the test session within the next days. Also, it would be great if you could somehow create some kind of presentation describing your field trip on Thursday.

Next week you will be doing Monday, I'll be doing Tuesday and Uli will be working with the group from Wednesday through Friday.

Talk to you soon,
Torsten

TOEIC short conversations: Employee congratulates co-worker on his job promotion.

[RimcMullen]

Many thanks indeed. I will try to stay away from the higher tenses (although a few could move forward) but it is enough for now to concentrate on the simples and the present progressive. Perhaps the past progressive can be introduced next week. If you or Uli do, here is an excellent link to help explain them:


We began today with the On the Phone test and the results were Katarina 9/10; Diane 9/10; Lars 9/10; Yvonne 9/10; Dorina 9/10; Katrin 10/10; Grit 10/10 & Susanne 10/10. The test results from yesterday’s World Link Unit 1 About Me to practice using past simple were Katarina 20/20; Diane 18/20; Lars 19/20; Yvonne 18/20; Dorina 17/20; Katrin 19/20; Grit 20/20 & Susanne 20/20.

We then finished up with Business Basics 6.3 Arranging to Meet using time expressions for appointments and meeting as well as making and changing appointments.

Afterwards we discussed the TOEIC exam again focusing on test taking strategies and then we began Talk Time 2 Unit 12 Jobs and Skills using can and know how to describe ability.
Tomorrow we are off to Sondershausen and I have a lot of material so I will be presenting the material in English.

On Friday I will be introducing Used To using World Link 2 Unit 12 on Technology and Computers and beginning Unit 7 with Business Basics Describing and Comparing Do you have a sample TOEIC test you can send me – the book I have is just a paperback and would require a lot of photocopying. It would be great if I could do it on Monday Dec. 1st or 2nd I think – or you or Uli.

[Torsten]

Good afternoon Richard,

Thank you very much for that YouTube tense tutorial which is really great. I think I might introduce the past progressive next Tuesday using some simple sample sentences and then trying to get the students create their own ones following the same pattern.

As for TOEIC prep materials, you might want to use the pages below which are actually transcripts of part IV listening comprehension questions. You might want to use the tasks for reading comprehension training first and then you can read some of the texts out loud to the group: TOEIC_Part4

Please let me know what you think.
Best regards,
Torsten

TOEIC short conversations: Employee in R&D gives update on new browser development project.

[HansUlrich]

Hi dear Richard and Torsten,
may be it will be ok if I shall do with the students some more reading comprehension training TOEIC tests in preparation for the exam. Please advise me which tests I should do.
Have a nice week.
best regards
Uli.