New Posts on Students' Blog

Don't forget to visit the students' blog. Many new posts displaying the wonderful projects prepared by students.

http://english-grstudents.blogspot.com

TOEFL Vocabulary Practice

Word Dynamo, powered by Dictionary.com, helps you practice your vocabulary. 

Word Dynamo allows you to practice your vocabulary by playing games or studying flashcards. Choose the Word List you wish to learn and then the format. It's a good idea to use the flashcard feature first so that you can study the words. then practice the words by playing a game. 

You can 

• match the word to its definition 
• do a crossword
•  hear the word and select its definition 
• write the word that matches the definition.

Students preparing for the TOEFL can find quizzes here. There are also quizzes for GRE and GMAT exams.If you would like to practice specific words, you can create your own Word List by signing in. Don't forget to play the Word Challenge. Answer 10 questions and you will be given an estimate of how many words you know. Word Dynamo then recommends Word Lists for you according to your vocabulary.  

To learn more about the TOEFL visit the exam pages:

TOEFL Format and Content

TOEFL Writing Topics

NEW : TOEFL Junior

Students' Blog

Οι εργασίες των μαθητών δημοσιεύονται στο ιστολόγιο τους. http://english-grstudents.blogspot.com/

Τα εποικοδομητικά σχόλια είναι ευπρόσδεκτα.

Students' projects are now posted on their own blog. http://english-grstudents.blogspot.com/

Conditionals

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

Happy Easter

We wish you all a Happy Easter

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

Choosing and Using a Dictionary

Why use a dictionary?

Most students complain when they are asked to use a dictionary. They consider it to be a waste of time since they can simply ask a teacher / classmate or even ignore the word and hope it goes away (trust me-that doesn't work!). Apart fom the obvious (finding a definition), a dictionary has numerous uses . Information such as pronunciation , function , part of speech can be found.

Example: take verb (REMOVE)

/teɪk/ (took, taken) (pronunciation , past forms)

•

[T] to remove something, especially without permission (T : transitive verb) (definiton)

Has anything been taken (= stolen)? (examples)

Here's your pen, I took it by mistake.

All possessions had been taken from her.

•

[T] to subtract a number (= remove it from another number) (second definition)

If you take 4 from 12 you get 8.

take time (phrase)

[L only + noun] If something takes a particular time, that period is needed in order to complete it

The cooking process only takes ten minutes.

[+ to infinitive] How long does this paint take to dry? (function)

[+ object + noun] It took us all day to drive home.

from http://dictionary.cambridge.org

Kinds of Dictionaries

EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students will find these kinds of dictionaries useful:

• Learner's
• Advanced Learner's
• Idioms
• Phrasal Verbs
• American / British English
• Thesaurus (a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms)

There are also bilingual dictionaries e.g. English - Greek

E-mail - Daily Routines - Students' Blog

Hello!

My name's Irene. I live in Hermoupolis.

On school days I always get up at eight o'clock. I don't go to school by bike. After school I often meet Peter and Vasiliki and we play games and have fun together.

Bye for now

Irene

Letter to a penfriend - Students' Blog

Dear Mary,

Hello! How are you? Thanks for your letter. It was great to hear from you. I want to tell you about my summer holidays.

During the summer, I went to Athens to a wedding.It was very nice. The next day I went to the Acropolis Museum and saw the Parthenon Marbles. I spent the rest of my summer on Syros. I went to the beach with my friends every day and stayed until 8 o'clock. Sometimes, we went to the cinema in Hermoupolis. The town was crowded. In August, my parents and I went to Tinos. It is a beautiful island.

Well, that's all for now. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

Tom

MYTH or REALITY? ... Did Coca-Cola really invent Santa Claus? - Students' Blog

If you asked someone to describe what Santa Claus looks like, you would get the same answer from practically everyone. He is a jolly man with a white beard, dressed in a red suit and black boots. But that was not always the case. Up until 1931, Santa Claus was depicted in many different ways. Sometimes he was slim, sometimes fat. In England, Father Christmas wore a green suit, whereas Saint Nicholas wore robes. Although it is believed that the modern version of Santa Claus origins from the 1931 Coca Cola advertisement, this is not completely true. Santa's appearance and origin were created and shaped by many people over the years. The poem “The Night Before Christmas” (by Clement Clark Moore ), describing Santa Claus as we know him today , was a great influence. Famous cartoonist Thomas Nast portrayed Santa Claus in “Harper's Weekly” every year, based on that description. In 1931 Haddon Sundblom designed the thirty-five years of Coca-Cola Santa advertisements thus firmly establishing the image we have of Santa up until today.

My favourite animal - Students' Blog

Horse

My favourite animal is the horse. It's brown and big. It's got a long tail and long legs. It can run fast and it can jump, but it can't fly or swim. It eats apples and carrots and drinks water. That's my favourite animal.

Dog

My favourite animal is the dog. Dogs are big or small. I like small dogs and white dogs, too! A dog can be white, black or brown. Dogs are very cute. They can play with teddy bears, swim, run and climb. They've got little ears and cold noses.

Squirrel

My favourite animal is my squirrel. Its name is Loula. It is small. It is grey and brown and it is from Italy. It's got a small nose, small eyes and a big tail. It can climb the house and the stairs. It can't fly, paint, sing or dance. The squirrel is a very beautiful pet.

Film Review - Norbit - Students' Blog

Norbit

Norbit is a hilarious comedy. Norbit is a child who is growing up in an orphanage. He falls in love with a little girl, Kate. But Kate leaves the orphanage because she goes to live with a family. When Norbit becomes an adult, he marries Rasputia. Rasputia has three brothers older than her. She and her three brothers are very bad to him. They hurt him and behave cruelly to him. Suddenly, Kate comes back and they remember all the good times they had together. Will Norbit leave Rasputia to marry Kate?

I think that it is an amazing and entertaining film. I liked the ending very much. I didn't like the brothers' behaviour towards helpless Norbit.

In my opinion, this film is suitable for everyone and should not be missed.