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Sunday 28 March 2010

Καταργούνται τα εξεταστικά κέντρα σε Κέντρα Ξένων Γλωσσών

Μέχρι τώρα επιτρεπόταν η διεξαγωγή εξετάσεων πιστοποίησης γλωσσομάθειας μέσα σε κέντρα ξένων γλωσσών τα οποία λειτουργούσαν ως εξεταστικά κέντρα. Σύμφωνα με ανακοίνωση του Υπουργείου Παιδείας δεν επιτρέπεται η λειτουργία εξεταστικών κέντρων μέσα σε κέντρα ξένων γλωσσών (closed centers). Στην ανακοίνωση αυτή επισημαίνεται ότι οι άδειες ίδρυσης και λειτουργίας των ΚΞΓ χορηγούνται αποκλειστικά για τη διδασκαλία ξένων γλωσσών. Συνεπώς όλοι οι μαθητές θα εξετάζονται στα ίδια εξεταστικά κέντρα ανεξάρτητα από το ΚΞΓ που παρακολουθούν μαθήματα.

Wednesday 24 March 2010

Conditionals

What better way to learn than to create ! The easy way to learn Conditionals


Happy Easter

We wish you all a Happy Easter

Political Correctness Gone Mad?


It's hard to keep up with all the changes in a language, especially when one wants to be politically correct. Being politically correct means avoiding the use of language that could offend certain people. These words often have to do with race, gender, disabilities, religion , sexuality etc.There is a lot of debate about how far one should go when trying to be politically correct. Does being politically correct interfere with freedom of speech? Although intentions may be good, some people tend to get carried away and over do it.

Here are some examples of politically correct words:

handicapped -> disabled
police man -> police officer
fire man -> fire fighter
blind -> visually impaired

Watch this video to learn more about political correctness.


Saturday 20 March 2010

Black Listed Vocabulary !!! Words that are (not) meant to be used

The first step in learning new vocabulary is to be able to recognise a word when you see or hear it. This is the easy part. When it comes to using new words, many students find it difficult. They believe they don't have enough vocabulary to expand on a topic.

One of the main reasons for this is they have never needed to try and think of interesting words to describe something. After learning a few simple words such as good ,bad , thing, beautiful, very and also , they stop trying to use other words because they know enough to get their message across.

After a few years of learning English they realise they need to use more complex vocabulary and simply can't come up with the exact word they need. Everything is either "a good thing" or "a bad thing" . In order to encourage students at B1 - B2 level to actually USE other words (YES!- there are words in the English language apart from good and bad) we came up with the BLACK LIST. Whenever a student uses a word from this list we (teachers and students) point out that this word is not allowed. The student is then encouraged to use a synonym, consulting the respective list when necessary.

If after learning English for so many years, the only word they can come up with is good and bad, this is a sign that there is a missing link in the learning process. We don't learn words just to show our teacher that we know their meaning. Words are meant to be used!







Friday 12 March 2010

Παράταση Προθεσμίας ECCE ECPE May 2010

Ανακοινώθηκε νέα παράταση προθεσμίας υποβολής αιτήσεων για τις εξετάσεις πιστοποίησης γλωσσομάθειας της Ελληνοαμερικανικής Ένωσης (HAU).

Έτσι από 12 Μαρτίου που ήταν η τελευταία μέρα κατάθεσης αιτήσεων, γίνεται 24 Μαρτίου.

Οι εγγραφές γίνονται ηλεκτρονικά στο www.hau.gr

Wednesday 10 March 2010

Do schools kill creativity?



An inspiring presentation by Ken Robinson provoking us to change the way we educate our children. Children need to be motivated to discover their strengths and weaknesses and should not be afraid to make mistakes. We have all been led to believe that holding a diploma of some sort makes you an intelligent person, but what about all the students prevailing in other subjects? Is their intelligence inferior?

Some interesting quotes from the presentation:

"Many talented, creative, brilliant people think they're not!"
"Our body is used as a means of carrying our head"
"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original."

Ken Robinson gives us some food for thought. All over the world education systems have the same hierarchy, math, science and language are of a higher status. I'm sure we've all caught ourselves (myself included) at some point or another, saying that music and art are not so important and that our children should focus on the "important" subjects. "You'll never have job security as a dancer so go to your room and study for your science test!" Some try a more subtle approach, "Acting is a great hobby, but it doesn't pay the bills."

Greece is a typical example of the endless chase for diplomas and certificates. Children are pressured from a very young age not to develop their talents but to acquire as many qualifications as possible and of course gain entrance to a higher education. It's time we saw students for what they really are -students , not walking memories waiting to be stuffed with unimportant facts.

*Στο video υπάρχουν και ελληνικοί υπότιτλοι. (View subtitles-> Greek)

Monday 8 March 2010

Women's Day - Gender Facts

Networking ...
Women use 20,000 words a day while men only use 7,000

Global Issues ...
Females in developing countries on average carry 20 litres of water per day over 6 km
Globally women account for the majority of people aged over 60 and over 80
Pregnant women in Africa are 180 times more likely to die than in Western Europe
530,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth each year
World population hit 6,872,741,131 on 1 January 2009
Of 1.2 billion people living in poverty worldwide, 70% are women
80% of the world's 27 million refugees are women
Women own around only 1% of the world's land
AIDS sees women's life expectancy of 43 in Uganda and Zambia
5 people are added to the world's population every 2 seconds
Women are 2/3 of the 1 billion+ illiterate adults who have no access to basic education

Innovation ...
Globally women comprise 42% internet users (Italy 37% ... US & Canada 51%)
In OECD countries women comrpise only 30 per cent of degrees in science and technology
Women's representation in computer and information sciences workforce is around 30% globally
Female inventors still only account for around 10% of the US inventor population

Business / Finance ...
Women control $14 trillion in assets and this should grow to $22 trillion over next 10 years
Women comprise 21 of the 37 million people living below the poverty line in the US
Only in Japan and Peru are women more active in starting a business than men
Women spend more time researching before they invest than men do

Media / Arts ...
Only 21% of all news subjects (people interviewed or whom the news is about) are female
Women less than 1% department heads, editors, media owners but third of working journalists
80% of UK purchasing decisions are made by women but 83% of 'creatives' are men

Work ...
Women do two-thirds of the world's work but receive only 10% of the world's income
Women's education is the most powerful predictor of lower fertility rates
One year out of college women earn 20% less than men and 10 years later 31% less
Women on average are away from workforce for 14.7 years compared to 1.6 years for men
The biggest EU gender pay gap is in Cyprus and Estonia at 25% then Slovakia at 24%

Government ...
56% of women who voted supported Obama compared to only 49% of men voted for Obama
Until 20 years ago there had never been more than 5% women MPs globally
Benazir Bhutto was the first woman prime minister of a muslim country (assassinated 27/12/07)
From the 27 EU member states, UK ranks 15 for women's representation in national Parliaments
From 1945 to 1995 the percentage of women MPs worldwide increased four-fold

Friday 5 March 2010

CNN Student News


Whether you are a student learning English or just want to brush up on your language skills you will have heard many times that you should read and listen to authentic material. CNN Student NEWS is an excellent resource. Visit the website and find out how you can keep up to date with all current affairs and improve your English.

CNN Student NEWS is a 10-minute daily news program produced for students and teachers. Here is quick tour of everything you can find on this website.

  • 10-minute news program
You can watch this video online as a streamed video or even record it to use in class. The video is also available for download as a podcast, so you can watch it at any time (e.g. on your iPod). Younger students will benefit from the tapescript that accompanies every video.

  • Daily Discussion
Use these questions to make sure you have understood the stories covered in the program. Then read on to learn more about the topic being discussed. There is a short summary of the topic and a list of resources which will provide you with a deeper understanding of what's going on around the world. These resources are especially useful for research.

  • Media Literacy Question
So, you've watched the program, maybe had a discussion about it and think you know what's happening in the news? Answer the Media Literacy Question to see how good you are at reading between the lines.

  • CNN Student Challenge
This is my personal favourite. Answer questions about every month and see how well you did. Then challenge your friends to beat your score. To begin, choose your favourite CNN anchor. You will have to answer some multiple choice questions for the first two rounds. Choose between Who / What / Where / When / Why questions. (e.g. When was the first Oscar Award Ceremony held?) Don't forget, the clock is ticking. You only have 30 seconds to answer each question. The third round is the "lightning round". Type in the answer as fast as you can!



Thursday 4 March 2010

Guess the Google

Guess the Google is a fun game to see how good you are at guessing key words. You will be shown 20 pictures. These pictures are all results of a certain key word. Can you find it?

Στο Guess the Google πρέπει να βρείτε τη λέξη αναζήτησης που έφερε το αποτέλεσμα των 20 εικόνων που σας δείχνει.


Music and Studying

A quick search on Google will give you endless results about research carried out to prove whether listening to music helps you study. Some results are in favour of listening to music when studying while others are not.

I believe that every student (whether a child or an adult) has to discover what suits them. If listening to music helps focus then, why not? I have always listened to music when I need to concentrate on my work. It helps block out external noise and most of the time I find that the playlist has ended without me realising what song was playing.

I have heard many people say that they need absolute silence in order to concentrate. Others need to listen to soft, relaxing music. I, myself prefer something with a fast beat to keep me going.So, I guess everyone should just follow whatever works for them.

EFL Classroom2.0 provides a playlist with relaxing music for you to try out.

Enjoy and ... Keep studying!!

Wednesday 3 March 2010

Letter giving advice - Students' Blog

Write a letter of advice to a friend who wants to have a healthy diet and lose some weight.

Hi Alicia

I'm writing to tell you about healthy food you should eat that is good for you. But I don't want you to tell my secrets about losing kilos to anyone because they might steal them.

In the morning you can eat some cornflakes or 2 weetbix. Then when go home after school you can have a good meal and a salad. Between lunch and dinner you have an apple or some vegetables. At night it will be good for you to have a yoghurt, vegetables or a glass of milk.

That's what I did and I lost 20 kilos within a month! I hope you won't find any trouble losing as many kilos as you want.

With all my love
Toni

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