Archive for November, 2009
Want to Fit In? Go Extracurricular!
Just as during your high school years, you don’t learn everything inside a college classroom. In high school, most students learn while doing different activities. Community work taught you about life, a hobby taught you new skills, and taking piano or painting lessons showed you new ways to express yourself. It is exactly the same when you get to college.
Extracurricular activities without a doubt enhance your education and expand your learning capabilities; however, one of the main reasons why students pursue them is because they are an easy way to make new friends. You will meet lots of new people in an environment where you can talk and share experiences without competing against each other.
These activities also strengthen your sense of belonging, because you feel a part of something. Finally you fit in the campus, not just inside a classroom. You will understand the greatest meaning of campus life, allowing you to enjoy your college years much more and thus, contributing to your success.
Extracurricular activities will help you grow. Along with ESL lessons, these help you speak more freely in front of people, teach you how to listen attentively, show you how to value teamwork and group activities, help you get rid of shyness, and increase your communication skills.
Some of these activities will strengthen your resume and your image among future employers. Actually, very commonly, graduates go after their dreams instead of going after a major in a career, because a person excels in what he or she loves.
Through extracurricular activities, you give back to your college and are able to support your friends in what they do. It is a great way to network and gain positive exposure.
When talking about extracurricular activities, there is something for everyone. Most universities offer a wide array of worthy and interesting activities and groups like fraternities, sororities, ski trips, kayaking clubs, athletic teams, tennis, swimming, language clubs, poetry, debates, reading clubs, mountain climbing, chess, volunteer work, study groups, student boards, student government, women’s clubs, international clubs, newspaper, radio station, study abroad programs, drama productions, dance, musical concerts, and comedy, among hundreds of others!
You can start looking for what interests you right after starting college, however, try not to overdo it during your first semester, or until you are certain that you can handle these activities without sacrificing your academic workload. Start with a couple of activities and keep adding others once you feel comfortable and capable of managing everything.
Another good piece of advice is to not close the doors on something without trying it out. You will experience and learn much more if you are open-minded and excited about trying new things. Do not get influenced by those who create stereotypes; if you’ve never seen an opera, a photography exhibit, or a ballet, college years are the time to go and confirm if you like it or not. In the end it is your life and you should live it as you wish to live it.
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How to Write a Killer Admissions Essay
Graduate college applicants must write a relevant admission essay as part of their application process. This essay will be evaluated by an admissions committee; it will set you apart from other students, and will allow them to know you a little better before you start your studies with them.
The admission essay is so crucial that it could mean the difference between you being accepted or rejected by a college. This is why it is imperative that it be interesting, truthful, well-organized, and well- written.
There are students that write essays that are basically beyond understanding for the person reading them. You must do better if you want to be accepted by the university of your dreams.
The organization of your essay plays a vital role in its quality. Organization is the key to create interest in the reader and to show that you are capable of writing great quality material, presenting you thus as a person who thinks with clarity and employs logic.
There are many ways to organize an essay, however, the most used style has an introduction, a body, and a closing argument:
Keys to write a killer introduction:
- The introduction is the essay’s most important part. The first sentence will present your essay, thus, if it is not good, the first impression you have created is less than encouraging.
- The introduction’s job is to keep the reader interested so that he or she keeps on reading until the end, so, put yourself in the reader’s shoes and think: What would make me want to go on?
- Make the first sentence a one of a kind and create emotion, challenge the reader so that he or she finds a worthy contestant in your words.
- The introduction must explain why is it that you want to study law, physics, math, literature, or whatever it is that you feel inclined towards; tell the reader what made you choose this area and make it personal.
- The whole introduction must support your first sentence through a meaningful and short explanation.
Keys to write a killer body:
- The body must be comprised of around three well-written paragraphs with clear details to support the statement you made in the introduction. The writing style has to flow and be pleasant to read, through the use of transitions and resolutions.
- Each paragraph must have a transition and a specific topic. Transitions begin a paragraph by offering affirmation that states the paragraph’s topic, letting the reader know what’s coming. These also connect paragraphs in between to keep the flow smooth.
- Each paragraph must contain a resolution. Resolutions are sentences that end paragraphs and let the reader move to the next one. They must be meaningful phrases that connect facts. Resolutions, along with transitions, make the text clear and understandable.
- Within the body, make sure you include details about your experience and accomplishments; these should support your statements and introduction. Don’t forget to also include your future goals and dreams.
- You can write a little about your educational background at the beginning.
- If you are going to write about your personal experiences and motivations for going to college, do it in the second paragraph.
- Do not repeat yourself by writing what is already clear in your application.
- In the last paragraph of the body, tell the reader why you should be accepted, what the university will gain from having you there, and how you can enrich its history.
Keys to write a killer closing argument:
- The conclusion is the last paragraph of your essay.
- Say why you want to study the subject you selected.
- Quickly remind the reader about the experience and accomplishments that support your choice of subjects.
- Finish with a sentence that catches the attention and produces emotion.
Always ask someone to read your essay once you are done writing it. Someone at your ESL school could help, since they have lots of experience with different students, schools, and fields. Just make sure the person you choose can provide valuable and knowledgeable feedback to really enhance your essay.
The essay must be a personal and detailed statement. Its purpose is to show you as a special person amid all the other applicants, so you should strive to make it interesting and unique in order to convey your passion for the subject of your choice and for the school you are applying to.
However, remember that lots of passion has no meaning if it can’t be communicated effectively, thus, you must organize your ideas in a way that is easy for the reader to grasp what you mean. If you achieve this, you will certainly be accepted.
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The 4 Techniques That Will Perfect Your Reading Skills
Think about it! When you are reading a book, a summary, a paper, or an article in English, most certainly you don’t read every word and understand it in your main language, right?
This is because reading in English is no different from reading in your mother tongue. You know it is not necessary to read and understand all the words to grasp the meaning of what you are reading. The skills you require to read English are exactly the same as the ones you need to read in your native language.
There are four main techniques that will enhance your reading skills no matter the language. Use them and practice them extensively and before you know it, you will be reading in English, or any other language, like a native. Here they are:
1. Skimming
You use skimming to quickly grasp the main idea of the text. What you do is basically run your eyes down the text gathering the important information. This is a great practice when you need to rapidly understand what’s going on at a business meeting, since skimming does not require that you understand every single word that is written. Normally, skimming is a practice that is widely used while reading the newspaper, to get the news fast; magazines, to identify articles that may interest you; or brochures, to grasp the main information quickly.
2. Scanning
You scan a text to find a specific piece of information. The same as when skimming, you must run your eyes down the text to find what specifically interests you. People normally scan schedules and meeting plans, among others, to identify specific information they need. Scanning is also common when watching TV, and train or plane schedules, as well as convention handbooks. While scanning, forget about words or phrases that you don’t get; these don’t matter right away.
3. Broad reading
This aspect of reading is practiced for pleasure and general understanding of the text. You immerse yourself in the extensive reading of long texts as a leisure activity or for professional reasons. Broad reading increases your knowledge on a subject. Business people and students apply this practice when reading books related to their field, interesting novels, or specialized magazines.
4. Thorough reading
This is the concentrated aspect of reading, the one that allows you to understand something in detail. Thorough reading is used in short texts to comprehend very specific information. It requires lots of attention to be able to understand it completely. To grasp every detail, you must understand every single word, phrase, and number, like when reading reports, insurance claims or contracts.
As in any other skill, fast and effective reading is developed with practice. The more you read, the faster and more perceptive you get; words start to become familiar, phrases start to make sense, and you start to feel you are finally mastering the English language, with the help of your ESL program and your determination to make it to the top!
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The Crime of Double Negatives – Revealed!
Among the many challenges learning English as second language poses, an all time classic is a double negative. Since double negatives do exist and in fact are quite correct in other languages, for instance Spanish, many ESL students have to face the fact that in English they are not correct and therefore should not be used. What is a double negative, you might ask. It is is the nonstandard usage of two negatives used in the same construction. In a double negative sentence, they cancel each other and create a positive. Today, they are considered grammar mistakes.
The standard use of negatives in English can be understood from a mathematical concept. If you have two positives, for example + + = +, the result will be another positive. Now take a look at this. If we have two negatives, - - = +, they will equal another positive. In math in order to have a negative you would need to do this - + = - or + - = -. In other words you need a combination of a positive and negative to have a negative. Sounds a bit technical, right? Look at these examples that illustrate this concept. Remembering that two negatives form a positive will help you to avoid the “double negative” grammar problem:
I don’t want no coffee.
So, don’t is clearly negative and so is the word no. Here we have a double negative. The solution to this would be to say something like: I don’t want any coffee.
Since the word any is not negative, your problem is solved. Here is a list that has words that are considered negative. Use them once in your sentences and your statements will be negative.
no, not, none, nothing, nowhere, nobody, no one, hardly, scarcely, barely, neither
Here are some more examples.
I didn’t see nothing. – wrong!; I didn’t see anything. – right!
There wasn’t no one there. – wrong!; There wasn’t anyone there. – right!
I don’t hardly have time. – wrong!; I hardly have any time. – right!
There isn’t nowhere to park. – wrong!; There isn’t anywhere to park. – right!
We didn’t have nobody to help us. – wrong!; We didn’t have anybody to help us. – right!
He can’t barely move. – wrong!; He can barely move. – right!
She didn’t scarcely have anything to eat. – wrong!; She scarcely had anything to eat. – right!
Just keep in mind that nothing is impossible. By learning and practising the correct use of these words in your ESL programs you can avoid problems in the future. And no matter how many times you hear them in rock songs, remember: just say no to the double negative!
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7 Vital Aspects on How to Give a Good Presentation in English
There are many reasons why a person has to speak in front of an audience, but the most common reason during college years or when taking ESL lessons, are presentations.
During a presentation, the student presents something to his or her classmates; it could be an idea, a product, study results, or a project, among many others. The general purpose is to communicate something through informing, training, persuading, or selling.
Presentations are very popular because they are effective in communicating the message, so, if you are in college and learning English, be sure that you will have to give a presentation soon, if you haven’t already.
In order to communicate your message effectively during a presentation, you must have the appropriate knowledge of vocabulary and techniques. Here we present you 7 crucial aspects of good presentations:
1. Be prepared! We cannot stress this enough. Be ready for your presentation! If you are well prepared, you will be confident, and your audience will feel it, putting you in control of the room and making everyone listen attentively.
2. Structure your presentation. A clear structure has an introduction, a main message, and a conclusion.
3. Be equipped. Depending on how you designed your presentation, you may need a whiteboard, a flipchart, an overhead projector, a slide projector of 35mm, or computer graphics. All of these have their good points and bad points, but whatever the case, you must master its functioning in every way, and be prepared for any eventuality.
4. Everything comes through the eyes thus, visual aids are indispensable. You can use photographs, graphs, maps, charts, or tables, for example. However, be careful to not overdo it and cause confusion. Stick to meaningful examples that deliver your message clearly and directly.
5. Learn signposting, because unless you tell them, your audience will not know where they are. ‘Signposting’ is special language that helps locate your listeners, for example: “Let’s begin by…”, “That’s all I have to say in regards to…”, “Let’s move on to…”, “Let’s consider this in more detail…”, “Let me deal with that later, ok?”, “Let’s recap…”, or “To begin with…”.
6. Bond with your audience. The best way to do this is to be happy and enthusiastic, look each person in the eyes, and try to speak so as to make everyone feel you are talking to them specifically.
7. Talk the right body talk. What you are not saying with words you could be saying with your body, thus, make sure you dress and walk appropriately, and that your hair, makeup, expression, and even glasses, impress in the right way as soon as you introduce yourself.
It’s true. Public speaking is a challenge for many people, and even more so if you are not completely fluent in English, because your confidence is not up there and you know the audience may know the language much better than you, however, keep in mind that only you know the topic you will be talking about, and just be prepared!
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Wgtjkcjf lfkldsfk hjtypraa, Got it?!
The key to learning English is to really pay attention when you speak and listen. Sometimes it is hard for ESL students to grasp everything that is being said to them, even during ESL classes, because the other person talks very fast or uses vocabulary they still don’t master. However, this is what it is all about: getting out there, talking and sharing with others, so as to practice and get used to the way people speak in English.
No one should feel ashamed about not understanding or not being clear when they are learning a language. Instead of pretending you got what the others are saying when you really didn’t understand a single word, it could be an address, a question, instructions, or a joke, simply use one of these phrases to ask the others to clarify. This is the only way in which you will really practice and eventually learn the English language:
- Pardon?
- Sorry, what’s your question?
- Can you repeat that?
- Would you mind repeating that?
- Sorry, I didn’t understand
- I missed what you said.
- I don’t get it. (means you don’t understand how to do something, for example, when someone is giving instructions)
- Sorry, I still don’t get it. (when a person has repeated himself or herself to explain)
- Could you run that by me again?
- Can you say that again?
- Could you slow down; I’m learning English.
- Can you spell that, please?
- I’m confused.
- I’m lost. (when you don’t know what someone is talking about because you lost the thread of the conversation)
- You lost me. (same as above, but in an informal setting)
- Say it again? (means repeat, but in an informal setting)
If you want to explain further why you didn’t understand something, you can add:
- I don’t speak English.
- English is my second language.
- I’m not from here.
In the same way, never presume people understood what you said. Talking to others is a great opportunity to ask for help in correcting pronunciation, so, if someone is giving you a puzzled or shocked look, it may be that you just said something that sounded weird, but they are too polite to correct you. If you think you didn’t explain yourself right or that someone didn’t get what you said, here’s the help you need:
- Did you get that?
- Was that clear?
- Did that make sense?
- Let me say it again.
- Let me clarify.
- What I mean is…
- That’s not what I meant.
- Let me put it in a different way.
- Sorry, my pronunciation may be incorrect.
Most people talk through gestures too. Someone can let you know they didn’t get a word of what you said by moving a part of their body, and so can you. These are some typical gestures:
- Shake the head from side to side.
- Lift shoulders up.
- Tip your head a little towards the speaker.
- Wrinkle your forehead.
Try using some of these expressions in your ESL class, and your teacher will be very impressed!
If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.englishlci.com as the original source).
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10 Easy Ways to Practice English Every Day
There is an old expression that says “practice makes perfect.” If you want to perfect a skill of any kind it requires lots of practice and the best way to practice a new language, especially outside of your ESL classes, is to use it as often as possible. Here are 10 of the easiest ways to practice your English reading, speaking and comprehension skills every day.
1. Although it may not blend in with your household decor, a really simple technique for increasing word recognition is to put labels around the rooms of your house. Using sticky notes is an easy way to do this. For example your kitchen can be adorned with multi colored labels that read “cupboard”, “drawer”, “counter”, “table”, “spice rack” etc. Reading the labels on objects you use constantly will reinforce their meaning and get you in the habit of using the correct term for things.
2. Reading daily newspapers, even small local editions or newsletters is another great way to practice the language as it is spoken by the average person. It will also help you understand some of the local terms and expressions from the area you’re in as well.
3. Magazines, like newspapers offer inexpensive and interesting ways to practice reading and comprehension skills while also learning about interesting subject matter. If you have a hobby or interest, you will be even more motivated to read about it and magazines are available on just about every subject imaginable.
4. Everybody has to eat, and if you have the facilities for cooking, reading and following recipes is a super way to study the language. And you get the bonus of some good eating as well!
5. Listen to the radio, especially talk shows or news programs. Listening to others speak the language, is an excellent way to improve pronunciation.
6. Make use of all aspects of the internet. Obviously you will spend a great deal of time reading and writing online during the course of your ESL program, but aside from that, there are also tons of podcasts, videos and audio presentations online that can be both educational and entertaining.
7. Make lists. This is an easy and helpful way to practise spelling and writing. When you have groceries to buy, or errands to run, try writing out a list each time.
8. Do puzzles such as crosswords, word searches, and word match-ups, in your spare time. It will increase your vocabulary as well as help to improve sight recognition of words.
9. Play board games. There are tons of board games that are a lot of fun to play with friends that require reading, writing and listening skills.
10. Try to find some movies in your native language with English subtitles.
These few little tricks will have you reading, speaking and writing English like an expert in no time!
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How to Choose a Good English Dictionary
Having a good English dictionary is important if you want to learn the language well. In fact, it is probably the most valuable tool you have while taking your ESL classes. As well as a definition, a good dictionary will also show you how to pronounce the word and give examples of ways that the word is commonly used. Unfortunately there are quite a number of dictionaries on the market. So how do you choose a good dictionary? Here are some pointers to consider.
Make certain the dictionary offers some examples sentences so you can see different ways that the word is used. This will not only help you to better understand the meaning of the word, but will provide valuable grammar information as well. Most will identify the word as a noun, verb, adjective etc.
A good dictionary will provide more than one definition for a word whenever it has different meanings. This is a common occurrence in the English language, and knowing the right definition of a word is necessary to learn the language properly.
While not essential, a few little extras that may be included are always helpful. Look for a dictionary that also provides synonyms for words, phonetic pronunciations and even photos. Any items that make learning English more fun will help to keep you motivated.
Try to find a dictionary that is comfortable to use. Find one in a size that can be carried with you but still has print that is easy to read. If you prefer to have both a pocket and a desk dictionary, you should buy the same one for both to avoid confusion.
The last item to consider is price. Dictionaries come in a very wide price range so you will have to look for one that best fits your budget. A good dictionary is something that you will use in your studies for a very long time so it is really an important investment.
While online dictionaries can be a useful tool as well, and can provide a quick definition for most words, they are generally not as complete as a book edition. Software dictionaries that you download to your computer are usually better, but it can still take longer to look up a word in the database than it would to look the word up manually. Learning English can be frustrating enough without the added frustrations of a slow dictionary!
One last pointer: you should stick to English only dictionaries. Your teachers in your ESL classes probably don’t speak your native language in class, and they surely don’t translate words. So why should you get a bilingual dictionary? It certainly helps you understand new vocabulary, but it won’t really improve your English. So, get out there and get yourself a good one! But don’t leave it on a shelf to gather dust. Put it to good use!
If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.englishlci.com as the original source).
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