NO LESSONS NEXT WEEK

Dear everyone,

This is just to let you know that there will be no lessons next week because I am away at a conference. Theses lessons will be held in the week from the 11th to the 14th January. The lessons will be held at the usual times: if you normally have a lesson on Monday at 8.30, you will have one at the same time in that week. The classrooms may not be the same, however, so check the "avvisi" on the cla website.

In the meantime you can still do some of the work on the elearning platform.

See you when I return,
Sharon Hartle

Welcome to a new term

Hello everyone,

The summer is finally drawing to a close and our thoughts turn to English again (if you haven't been using it all summer that is!)Just like last year there will be spaces online to help you study and use the language with each other even when you are not in class, because we all know that the lnguage must be used MORE than for the few hours we have available each week.

This year there is a new course: the C2 which will replace the C1 acc and later on also the C2 acc course so look for the description of this course if you think it is the one for you.The books for courses this year have already been decided and you can find them listed in the "Guida Cla"Anyway, I look forward to seeing you all next week in class and I hope we'll have a very fruitful academic year.

Sharon Hartle

New C2 Course

The new C2 course is designed to test students' performance of both written and oral production of academic English.

The Written Work

Candidates will be required to read texts (written and audio visual and both related to general topics and to their areas of study) and to show that they can understand the writer's/speaker's intent (by means of simple discourse analysis) as well as being able to discuss the ideas introduced in the text, where appropriate referring to other references as well.

They will be asked to write about 750-800 words on this text (The texts themselves will be approx. 600-800 words or will be from 15-20 mins in the case of audiovisual texts.) Students should be able to express themselves in formal academic English to do this.

The Oral Work

The final oral exam will consist of two parts: a presentation and discussion of a subject which is closely related to the student's specialised field of study.
Students should be able to present their ideas clearly and then discuss them, giving reasons for their opinions and extending their ideas as is appropriate in an appropriate academic register.

Summer Holidays

Hi everyone,

Well, the big May exams session has now finished and despite the anxiety stress facots etc. a lot of people have done very well. So well done to all of you. I am leaving the Moodle spaces open during the summer so that you can use the materials, forums and chat spaces to use your English during the summer too. If you want to chat in English:

1) send a quickmail to someone else on the course
2) arrange when to meet in the chat space
3) organise something to discuss too ( a questionnaire that you can fill in in advance as cutting and pasting saves time when you're actually in a chat, or an article to read and discuss together etc. It is good to have something specific to chat about.
4) Check that you can get into the chat space from your computer in advance. You simply need to click on the chat icon and enter.
5) Maybe write something on one of the motivation forums about your eperiences to share with other students encouraging them to chat too!

Have a good summer and remember to have fun using your languages :-)

Sharon

BRINGING NATIVE SPEAKER CORPORA INTO THE CLASSROOM

Presentazione in lingua inglese da Sharon Hartle

Il 24 marzo 2009
Presso il Cla, aula S.9
La Presentazione di farà in lingua inglese
Ore 17.00

Away for a Conference

Dear Everyone,

This is just to let you know that I will be asaw for a conference on the following dates:
Monday March 30th,
Tuesday March 31st
Wednesday April 1st
Tuesday April 7th
Wednesday April 8th

LESSONS WILL BE HELD AS USUAL ON MONDAY APRIL 6TH

These lessons will be made up on the following dates:
- livello C1 accademico, gruppo B, martedì 14 aprile dalle ore 09.15 alle ore 11.30 in aula S.4;- livello B1 (Economia Verona), gruppo 2 L-Z, martedì 14 aprile dalle ore 11.30 alle ore 13.00 in aula A (Facoltà di Economia);
- livello C1, gruppo A, giovedì 16 aprile dalle ore 13.00 alle ore 14.30 in aula 1.16;
- livello B1 (Economia Verona), gruppo 2 L-Z, giovedì 16 aprile dalle ore 16.30 alle ore 18.00 in aula 1.10;
- livello B1 (Economia Verona), gruppo 2 L-Z, martedì 21 aprile dalle ore 16.30 alle ore 18.00 in aula S.9;
- livello C1, gruppo A, lunedì 11 maggio dalle ore 13.00 alle ore 14.30 in aula 1.17;
- livello C1 accademico, gruppo A, martedì 12 maggio dalle ore 16.00 alle ore 18.00 in aula S.9

Whilst I am away you can in any case work on the elearning platform, which I will be able to check from time to time.

Second Term 2009

Dear Everyone,

This week we are starting a new term and this is just a note to say hello to new students and to remind you that the photocopies for all courses are at "La Rapida".
The news this term is that there are also e-learning courses which are a back up element to the Face to Face courses we do in class. These are NOT simply a collection of exercises but a part of the course itself.
I hope to see you in class.

Sharon Hartle :)

Message to C1 Lingue A

Hello everyone,
This is just a message to tell you that I'm sorry we missed our lesson today, but I will try to find us a nice, big classrom to make the lesson up later.
The discussion on the wiki is going well and people who want to are taking part. So I'm very pleased to see that. I was going to continue talking about travel and journeys today and then to move on to emotions. We will go on to emotions next week, so if you want to prepare you should revise the adjectives ( + prepositions and collocations etc.) that describe the way people feel.
See you next week. :-)

C1 general cancelled October 29th

Just to let you know that I have decided to cancel tomorrow's C1 Generallesson from 13.00 to 15.15 since the Faculty of Languages has organised a meeting from 14.00 to 16.00.
The C1 Academic English at 8.30 will take place as usual.

Week Two

Hello everyone,
We're now in week two of term, and last week we got off to a good start although the classrooms were too small. We have now managed to change rooms so check the "avvisi" page at the cla to see where your lesson is.
I found an interesting video on "Education" and I would be interested to hear your opinions so I've posted it on the Blog. You can watch it and comment below.
Remember that the more you do for your English, the better it will become.
See you soon,
Sharon hartle

One View of Education

This is one view of edicuation. How closely does it reflect your experiences at university? You might like to post a comment.

New wiki for all levels

Hi Everyone,

This is just to let you know that I am developing a wiki for everyone to use to practise your English and to have discussions with everyone else. The address is:
http://hartledistancelearning.wikispaces.com/

What should you do?

1) go to the wiki and look at the material available for your level.
2) Go to the discussion forum on the home page and introduce yourself.
3) Comment on other people's posts or ask them questions.

Have fun!
Sharon

New Courses 2008-2009: materials for B1, C1 and C1 ACC

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to a new academic year.

I hope you've all had a good summer and are now enthusiastically thinking about your English.

MMATERIALS REMINDER
This is just a reminder to those attending C1 and C1 accedemico that they will need the materials available at "La Rapida". Make sure that you get the materials for THIS YEAR.

B1 The materials will be ready NEXT week, and you also need the Straightforward intermediate study pack

For more information on materials and reference materials see the GUIDA CLA on the CLA site.

Hope to see you all next week,
All the best,
Sharon Hartle

Maximise the Power of Your Brain - Tony Buzan MIND MAPPING

Check out Tony Buzan and how to make mindmaps with this little video.

My cat Haggis

I told some people last week that I live near the university at Porta Vescovo and that I have a cat, so I thought you might like to see her. Here's a short video:

On a more serious note, we have been working on mindmapping as a pre-writing stage of planning or brainstorming your ideas in a more organised way. If you want to find out more google Tony Buzan and check out his website as well as a five minute Youtube video that he has made.

C1 Dispensa

Just to let everyone know that the photocopies for the C1 general composition and speaking course are now ready and available at La Rapida, so you can go along and pick up your copies.
See you soon,
Sharon Hartle

C1 Written test

Some students have been asking for a description of the C1 written test so here it is: In the C1 Composition test you have to answer one question and you have one hour to do so. You have to write a maximum of 250 words. Remember that this is a guide and you can count your words by looking at how many words you usually write per line and then multipling the number of lines you have written. You may use a monolingual English dictionary to do this test. The questions are related to different types of writing you can choose the type you want to do: discursive, narrative, descriptive writing, letter writing or critical writing. Here is an example exam paper for you to look at. You can use it for practice if you like. UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI DI VERONA CLA CI Composition July 2006 A monolingual dictionary may be used in this test Time allowed: one hour. Answer one of the following questions: 1) The Erasmus program has asked you to organize a welcome event for all incoming Erasmus students to the University of Verona in September 2006. What are your ideas for such an event? ( Answer in maximum 250 words ) 2) Divorce rates are at an all time high in the Veneto region. Why do you think this is? ( Answer in maximum 250 words ) 3) “Politics should not be part of the university.” Write an article on this subject for a student newspaper giving your opinion supported with examples. ( Answer in 200 -250 words ) 4) “…and so as she watched the vehicle slowly moved away.” This is the end of a story. Write the story. ( Answer in 200 -250 words ) 5) Write a description of an incident that has had a profound effect on you, explaining what happened and what effect it has had. ( Answer in 200 -250 words ) 6) Write a review of a film OR a short story for publication in the culture page of a newspaper. ( Answer in 200 -250 words ) 7) Write a description of a person you particularly admire or particularly dislike. ( Answer in 200 -250 words )

C1 Accademico Test

C1 ACCADEMICO INGLESE


The English academic C1 written test is based on a study project that each student carries out independently. The candidate should choose a written article, or section from a book, of approx. 800 words ( 2 or 3 pages) (The material must, of course, be in English) The article chosen should reflect the area of study students are specialising in although it may be written with general readers in mind rather than a specialised readership. Those specialising in Economics, for example, may refer to articles from The Economist or similar texts.
In the examination students will be asked to write approx. 500 words about this material. They may be asked to summarise the main ideas and then choose one or two areas of interest to discuss in more detail with reference to other sources. They may also be asked to comment on the way the ideas are presented in their source materials.
Candidates will be allowed two hours time to do this test and will be allowed to refer to a monolingual English dictionary. They must show that they are able to discuss ideas in academic English making reference to the ideas of others, and to draw conclusions from their discussions.

A New Space

Dear Everyone,

Welcome to a new term (I know it already started a few weeks ago, but now you're settling in you may have time to think about things like reading a blog!)

This blog is a spece that will be used to post messages to different groups studying English with me in Verona this year, and it will lso provide other exciting information. Please feel free to comment on whatever you want to, so that this becomes our space rather than simply mine. There is only one important rule: everything must be in English.

Read on to see how to use the blog!