AFI Eilenburg

[Roberto]

Hi dear trainers,

it was a nice day I spent teaching 14 women at the AFI in Eilenburg. We had a varied and exciting day starting with a personal handout, however, only a part of it:

"Would you do your shopping in a budget supermarket?
I have never been into a budget supermarket but one of my best friends bought a really nice salami sausage from Lidl's it was one of the best I have ever tasted! Usually I shop at Morrison's but I think I could be converted to Lidl's!"
"I love Aldi. It is specially fantastic for jams, cheeses, cold meats and big bags of fresh nuts, all the things that are so expensive everywhere else, And they have some good special offers - one week I bought two running tops from there, and they are great. My only gripe about my branch of Aldi is that there are only ever two checkouts open, and long queues; but having said that, the staff on the tills are very fast. "

I had them read the text carefully first, look up the new words in their dictionaries, translate it and then explain to me what a "budget supermarket" or what they can associate with it (cheap, Aldi, Lidl etc...)

Then we did oral exercises, specially in connection with some of the basic grammar and vocabulary structures found in the handout, e.g.:

- Would you open the window, please? (would you-conditional polite form)
- Have you ever tasted my/this........? (Present perfect with a signal word - ever). I pointed at one of the products they had on their desks: e.g. Ja-milk, candies, saltsticks etc..). And the short answer: Yes, I have/ No, I haven't.
Then we also practised the verb to be with the idiom: to be into:
- I am not into your saltsticks, your Ja-milk, these oranges etc.

We reviewed thus the present perfect and the verbs to be/have, specially in the short answer forms. As usually, I asked them to spell words every now and then. To my mind, Ina has made some progress, although she still needs help. The most important thing here is that she seems to be a bit motivated now and it also concerns other participants in class.

We then moved on to the next exercise in class: game of dice.
We cast the dice and one of the participants should name as many things in connection with a given generic name (hypernym: e.g.: garments, furniture, countries, cities in the USA, UK etc.) according to the number of pips: e.g.:

- Name me five cities in the USA?
- Could you name me three colours that you can see here in class?
- Four months, please etc...

In addition to the oral communication practice inherent in this exercise, it was also intended to review numbers, relevant vocabulary fields and important geographic, historic and cultural aspects of the English-speaking world.

We also revised some of the main parts of the sentence: nouns/verbs/prepositions/adverbs/adjectives. This was done in a written exercise. I split the class in 5 groups and each group was asked to write down respectively ten verbs, ten adjectives etc...
We also did a funny exercise consisting of writing a freely chosen word on the blackboard (one by one). Sense of the exercise: imagination, creativity and last but not least: construction of a short text.

In the afternoon, we did a grammar exercise regarding the usage of some common prepositions: on/at/in. We then went over to the computer room, where they were able to use some of the most known English-German dictionaries and translation tools. I reminded them of our english-test.net exercises again that they can continue reading at home.

Best regards,

Roberto
_________________
Graduate Management Admission Test
GMAT Preparation & GMAT Vocabulary
Learn more about: Roberto Enrique Steffens Villarreal

[Torsten]

Hello Roberto, thank you very much for your detailed and interesting report. It's obvious you have been connecting with the group greatly and they are on the right track. What I like most about your approach is that you are using a variety of different methods making for a good mix of games, exercises, dialogues and grammar. Also, the topics you have selected apparently appeal to the group and they relate to the purpose of their entire training program.

Next time you can incorporate some listening comprehension exercises. Start with this course: Audio English Course for Beginners and have the group take notes. In addition, you can dictate important keywords and have them repeat phrases containing those words. You can use either your netbook with active speakers or the company's CD player. Another thing you should consider doing is recording your own voice here on the forum in advance so you can then replay it to the group later. Please let me know what you think. Many thanks, Torsten

TOEIC short conversations: Preparing for a test

[Roberto]

Hi Torsten,

thanks for calling. I'm glad to hear that the Nordhausen-group enjoyed their short stay here in Leipzig. As for tomorrow in Eilenburg, I have just checked the best departure time from Eilenburg so that I can arrive in Halle right on time for my appointment there. My suggestions: either we have shorter breaks tomorrow or the group keeps sitting in class according to the schedule solving a task I would assign to them. What do you make of it?

This is the best departure time from Eilenburg:

Eilenburg
Di. 13.04.10 ab 14:37
Halle(Saale)Hbf an 15:24

I'll be in Halle today too. If I manage to postpone my appointment (e.g. 5:00 p.m), I'll let you know immediately.

Regards and keep in touch!!

Roberto
_________________
Graduate Management Admission Test
GMAT Preparation & GMAT Vocabulary
Learn more about: Roberto Enrique Steffens Villarreal

[Torsten]

Hi Roberto, thanks a lot for your quick response. It's good to hear you have been able to postpone your Halle assignment.

Good luck tomorrow,
Torsten

TOEIC listening, photographs: At the hospital

[Roberto]

Hi dear trainers,

I'd like to sum up the last English lesson given to the Marketing-class in Eilenburg on Tuesday, April 13:

I assigned a task to groups of two or three participants that consisted in reading through short texts summarizing some essential marketing aspects in simple English. The sentences were first translated and explained with the help of dictionaries and then using the computer. We focused on the most important words and expressions.

Here are some of them:

1.‘Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably’

2. ‘The right product, in the right place, at the right time, and at the right price’
3."Marketing is the human activity directed at satisfying human needs and wants through an exchange process’
4.‘Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others’. Verbs in -tain: obtain, contain, retain, detain etc...(compare German verbs ending in -halten).
5.Implications of marketing:
-Who are our existing / potential customers?
-What are their current / future needs?
-How can we satisfy these needs?
-Can we offer a product/ service that the customer would value?
-Can we communicate with our customers?
-Can we deliver a competitive product of service?
-Why should customers buy from us?
6. The marketing concept:
-choosing and targeting appropriate customers
-positioning your offering
-interacting with those customers
-controlling the marketing effort
-continuity of performance

7.Successful marketing requires:
- Profitable
-Offensive (rather than defensive)
-Integrated
-Strategic (is future orientated)
-Effective (gets results)

8.Marketing management process:
-Analysis/Audit - where are we now?
-Objectives - where do we want to be?
-Strategies - which way is best?
-Tactics - how do we get there?
-(Implementation - Getting there!)
- Control - Ensuring arrival
9.Why is marketing planning necessary?
Systematic futuristic thinking by management
better co-ordination of a company’s efforts
development of performance standards for control
sharpening of objectives and policies
better prepare for sudden developments

In the afternoon, we revised some essential grammar structures (auxiliary verbs, prepositions, present tenses etc..).
We then conversed on different subjects, e.g. Eilenburg, surrounding areas, cities and villages, the weather in Eilenburg, their families, money, pets, children, travelling, living abroad etc...I hinted at the importance of continuing learning English outside the classroom and stressed the great value of our english-test.net links.

Regards,

Roberto
_________________
Graduate Management Admission Test
GMAT Preparation & GMAT Vocabulary
Learn more about: Roberto Enrique Steffens Villarreal