WEEK 2 (22-26 SEPTEMBER)

What we have learnt so far....

Dear All!

I will do my best to give the summary of each week and to help you practice more. You just need to click on the highlighted words or  phrases. You are more than welcome if you post your assignments here.
Best
Hacer Şivil

As you may remember last week we started UNIT 1-ENVIRONMENT. We read a text entitled Climate Change  and learnt some new words:

occur
alter
challange

pattern

major

decade

predict

adapt

costly

 If you need to remember what they mean, You can use Cambridge Free English Dictionary.

You were also requested to introduce yourself, and I gave you the correction codes, which is available here.

This week we also focused on Subject/Verb agreement, Word order, Connecting Words and if you need further practice, please click on the relevant sections.

Adjective Order is important when you are required to you more than one adjective.  We had the chance to expand simple sentences by adding adjectives, adverbs, linking words, and the like.

Let's have a look at the following exercise and try to expand the given sentence 'I made tea'

We may tend to confuse some English words, so click here for further practice.

Writing Assignment 1:

Choose one of the topics below, remember to use at least 5 words from Real Reading 2, on page 21 or 28,  and write a paragraph by September 30, 2014.

*You are expected to use the topic related vocabulary you have learned in the Reading course and to make simple sentences.

• Have you ever given your time or Money to charity? What did you do?
• Why do famous people give Money to charity? Do they really do it to help others?
• Do you think having a Professional sports team is good for a city? Why? 

WEEK 1 (15-19 SEPTEMBER 2014)

Dear A2-02 Students,

Congratulation! Now, you are a member of ITU FamilyJ

After you have proved that your English is proficient enough, you will be able to start the education in your departments, attend student-exchange programs, do research, and the like.  

 

It is great to have lessons with you. It must be a bit confusing for you since you have so many lessons and teachers each week.  What I see is that you are self-motivated, which is curicial while learning English. Since we do not have a class picture, I have not uploaded one yet. but will take your pictures and upload them to our blogWell... Let me explain why I decided to open this blog. To be honest, there are so many reasons:

 

•  Since you are a tech-savvy, I thought you may use interactive tools easily.
• Due to my workload, I have limited time, so this blog may be a great help to stay in touch with you.
• Your strenght: You know grammar by heart. You remember every single rule indeed.Yet, you need  variety and practice. The assignments and suggested activities will help you improve your English.
• I hope by means of the activities on our blog, you will be able see your streghts and weaknesses.
• I have taken some online courses provided by Oregon University, and the British Council. I believe that if I put into practice whahtever I know, it will be helpful to improve your English.  

   

What is our class profile?

As you know your level is Pre-Intermediate, which means you are able to express yourselves  clearly despite the limited lexical knowledge and  minor grammar mistakes. You are almost adults (17+) and eager to start and complete your academic career. There are 28 students in the class, and most of you are not from Istanbul.

What is the setting?

Thank you for choosing Istanbul Technical University (ITU), where we provide a one-year intensive English program for our students before they start their faculty. It is such a crowded school. We run two different preparatory programs; one for the ones who will study at ITU, and the other for the ones who will study both at ITU and a sister school in the USA.

Apart from preparatory programs, we also have English lessons for Continuous Education Program called SEM shortly. Our classrooms are equipped with a projector and sound system. We do have wireless internet in the whole building. You can use our computer lab, writing center, dining hall, medical center, parking lot, service buses, and library whenever you need.  As part of school facilities, you may also use the health club on the main campus.

 You are so lucky to be in the heart of Istanbul. The location is amazing, you can go everywhere easily or enjoy the historic building.

 

What are the course goals?

As we all know you are required to prove that your English level is eligible enough. Thus, we offer you an intensive program till June. That is, in total you have 8 months. At the end, you may take our national exam or an international exam. Your priority might be passing one of the exams, yet remember that you need to use English efficiently in your career and social life.

 

My course is Writing, yet I would like to remind you that writing exists in every skill. Thus, we will do various integrated activities using our knowledge.

The main goal of this course is to help you produce free and academic writing, making use of process approaches, rhetorical devices, and given frameworks

 

What do you need?
We provide all the materials including books and handouts. What you need to do is to follow lessons and complete assignments. If you need additional source, please feel free to use our library or ask for help. I have already provided plenty of activities. If you have not tried them yet, in spite of the deadlines, you can start to explore them. 

Best

Class Teacher Hacer Şivil

PS: Please click on our Wallwisher/Padlet below and write how you feel today. You may upload images, videos or anything else you wish.  
 

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