BBC Learning English

BBC Learning English is a great website for learners at an intermediate level and above. If you are interested in improving your English by yourself, go and visit it.

11th February 2014: Mock Exam

On 11th Febuary it is scheduled a mock exam. It is not a real exam ... it is just some practice for the real one.

You are taking the "Use of English" mock exam consisting of 60 questions in multiple choice format that will check your knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary dealt with in the set books and during the course. There will be 30 questions on grammar and 30 questions on vocabulary. Please revise all the topics (grammar + vocabulary) we have discussed so far (Units 1-4).

You are also doing a dictation which will be read three times. The first time it will be read without pauses (you should just listen). The second time it will be dictated with punctuation; after 2 minutes there will be a third and final reading with short pauses at the end of each sentence.

For further information on the 1st Year Lettorato exam programme 2013-2014, click here.

Apps for Learning English

Learner's Dictionaries: Oxford University Press Apps or The Free Dictionary App (free)

Communication Skills: BBC English: Words in the News

Grammar: LearnEnglish Grammar or English Grammar in Use Tests (€ 3.99)

Graded Reading: Oxford Bookworms

Vocabulary Game: Word Challenge (free) or MyWordBook 2

Pronunciation: Pronunroid (free)

Exam Window Winter 2014

There will be NO LESSONS during the exam window. Our first class after the exam break will be Tuesday, February 11th. For further information http://www.dipartimentolingue.unito.it/Contents/os-didattica-calendarioaccademico.asp

Lesson 8 [Tue., 7th Jan. 2014]

Topics discussed UNIT 4
Vocabulary: crime (p46), stranger and foreigner (p47), usual and unusual (p48)
Grammar: modals of deduction (p47, p97), indefinite pronouns (p49)

Homework for Tue., 11th February 2014

• Study your notes.
• Study «Grammar Focus» Unit 4 (page 138) and Unit 8 (page 146) and do #5-6 on page 139 and #5 on page 147 on a separate sheet of paper.
• Do # 1-2 (Vocabulary) on page 53

TIPS on Learning English: Practising Listening!

Each Tuesday, EnglishClub (click here) publishes a short audio news report in easy English from the previous week. With this resource you can practise your listening, reading, writing and even speaking.

1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.

Study the news story each week and watch your English skills grow!