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41

Most of the morning with today’s Grimma class was dedicated to reviewing the test they had written last week. I gave them a detailed feedback and explained how I got to their marks.
We discussed some aspects of the current situation in the US before I had them summarize the latest VOA report on the economic stimulus package.
After noon we practised writing letters of enquiry and making appointments on the phone.
Ralf, they’re really excited about listening to songs tomorrow. Since IFU would like them to be tested every 40 hours you might want to figure out a test of some oral task that has already been covered.

Regards,
Daniel

42

Hallo Torsten,
BZ Halle today went excellently with selling, marketing, and controlling vocabulary. Now the Karstadt Ladies have a one week holiday interruption. Best regards from Mrs. Arlt , Mrs. Simt and Doreen. Our next BZ Halle date will be in April this year .
Tomorrow I shall be with the BZ Nordhausen Schachtbau group in preparation for your test next Monday. I shall read some texts about the credit crunch crisis, subprime mortgage contradiction etc.pp. Regards Uli

43

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for your update. Next week I’ll have to take the train to Grimma; what trains do you usually take and what ticket(s) do you suggest to buy?

Our class today was a breeze. In the morning, everyone presented a song and we discussed its lyrics. I had the feeling that this was quite a useful exercise to learn new vocab and phrases. In the afternoon, we watched The Green Mile. Nice and easy.

As for the oral test, I’ll think of something. Thanks for letting me know.

44

Hi Ralf,

Thanks a lot for keeping us posted – it’s great that you and Daniel are exchanging all this information because this will give the group a feeling of importance and achievement.
Did you discuss “The Green Mile” after watching it, Ralf? Maybe you, Daniel can refer to the movie next week and take a closer look at some of the vocabulary as well as talk about the story itself. I think using lyrics, songs and movies is very good as it gives the group an idea how they can learn English outside the classroom. It also helps raise their level of self-confidence as they see that they can understand authentic materials.

Speaking of self-confidence, since this is a prep course for the “Fremdsprachenkorrespondent/IHK” exam, please help them prepare for that exam. You can use materials like “Yours faithfully” or “How to pass LCCI”. I’m not sure if there are any prep materials for the “Fremdsprachenkorrespondent/IHK” but any business correspondence exercises will be good training. Please create business letters with them and have them translate different types of business documents. Yes, IFU does want us to give the students a test on a regular basis and I suggest you use TOEIC prep materials for that purpose since they are very transparent and easy to evaluate.

Let me know what you think.
Regards,
Tosten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, question-response: When are the new employees scheduled to start?[YSaerTTEW443543]

45

Hi Ray,

Next week I’ll administer the TOEIC test with the BZ group and you’ll start the SINOI group at BIC. I’ll try to get to the BIC after the TOEIC test so I can take over the bike systems folks.

Most of the SINOI people should be at a pre-intermediate level and they will be quite motivated to improve their English since they are employed by an internationally operating company. You can google “sinoi” to find out more about them. (They have an English version of their website.)

If Uli can take over BZ on Tuesday and Wednesday, I’ll continue with bike systems and you’ll be working with the SINOI folks again. Thursday and Friday will be a bit of a challenge since we’ll have another group in Jena and you’ll be away on Friday.

At any rate, I’m sure we’ll find a solution.
Talk to you soon,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, question-response: What kind of music does Mrs. Simmons like?[YSaerTTEW443543]

46

This is good to know, I’ll check the website to get some background on the company. Thanks.

My past couple days with the BZ group was packed with practice questions and training for the test. We worked on a lot of error recognition problems and reading comprehension. We also did a lot of listening exercises. Some clips from a website (learnenglishfeelgood.com/esl … deos3.html) It is a bit more difficult to listen to movie dialogue than training or testing conversation, but the class did ok. And in a test situation, I am confident they will handle the test scenarios with much more ease.

It was a bit of an emotional farewell as it came a bit unexpectedly, our other friends in Nordhausen have complicated our schedules with last minute bookings. We should be happy for the work, yes? I hope to keep in touch with some of BZ Group and hope they do well on the test.

Today with Bike Systems I was given a group which contained half the people from my old class, and half from the other English Class. The new additions seem to be a bit more advanced than my group. I credit that partly to the fact that their group used to be entirely female. Not at all to any inadequacies on my end. At first I walked into class today wondering: Should I be prepared for a fresh class, or should I be prepared to continue with my old class. I was cursing the lack of information I received until I saw this new class. I had to laugh, always expect the unexpected.

After a very good talk with Torsten on Wednesday (where we reviewed many of Ralf’s points, thank you Ralf) I knew where to hold my expectations, and maintained a heavy routine of repetition. It worked well today, and everyone felt more confidence in speaking and spelling. We played a game of just naming English words, going around the room naming anything that begins with the last letter of the preceding person’s word. Everyone was really into the game.

Although the Bike Systems group is not very advanced, they are hard workers and are willing to apply themselves. It’s still difficult, but it is rewarding to see marked improvement (ever so slight) after a couple weeks of bi-weekly sessions.

Its Friday, I’m going to go smoke a cigar, maybe have a scotch.

Be Good

Ray

47

Hi Torsten,
today our BZ Nordhausen group class with the „Schachtbau“ atmosphere went excellently. We followed your kind advice and concentrated on some basic credit crunch vocabulary such as the subprime mortgage and asset management, hedge fonds deviations etc.pp. in preparation for your TOEIC test next Monday.
The group is very thankful to Ray and invites him to an English spoken Sight seeing tour through Nordhausen next week.
Best wishes Uli

48

Hi Ralf,

it’s easy to get there by train. I usually take the 7:15 destination Nossen on platform 21. When you get there you can just follow the crowd across the bus station and then continue straight ahead. To get back I take the 15:04 from Grimma which means one has to finish a bit early. If you don’t have Bahncard you need a 4-zones MDV-Ticket which is 3.40 € I think.
As for the oral test it would be great if you let me know the general topic before Wednesday so I can announce it.

Daniel

49

Hi Daniel,

Many thanks for your reply; whoever said trains are expensive :!: I don’t think I’ll be driving again.

I will think of something for the oral, no need making it a tag-team effort. I’ll have them discuss an issue and tell them that their participation will count towards their mark.

Thanks again and have fun with them on Wednesday.

50

Today’s Grimma group went okay. We started with a discussion about the role religion plays in society and how it might affect business and work and then translated a magazine article on the way employers should deal with religion and especially with religious diversity.
We practised some more listening comprehension them summarizing a message I had read twice which is an authentic exam question. We went on with writng a confidential enquiry and I explained some basics of kinds of holidays in the US and the UK.
In the afternoon we watched High Fidelity but didn’t have any time left to talk about it. I didn’t annouce anything whatsoever regarding a test.
Ralf, I somewhat mixed up the ticket prices: the 4-Zonen is € 4.50 or € 17.10 for 4-Fahrtenkarte. I hope that doesn’t change much about your newly developed assessment of the financial burden of using public transport.

51

Hi Ray and Torsten,

The Nhs group training went excellently today. Tomorrow I"ll share the BZ and Nhs groups as planned.
Best regards,
Uli

52

hallo Torsten,
1.last Friday I handed over the virtual TOEIC test certificates in Nordhausen BZ. The celebration with two leading Labour Agency representatives went excellently. Also, the boss and his assistant were very happy. Mr B. is very interested in continuing the fruitful cooperation with our English team.
Torsten W. (the very cooperative participant of this group) who has received 580 TOEIC test points was not so very happy with his results. He is asking about the opportunity to repeat this TOEIC test for getting a better result.

  1. the Nhs people were also very active in order to learn English for better communication with the Chinese owners of their rotor blades assembling company and we had a rather constructive atmosphere in our Friday class. We concentrated on mechanic tools, spelling exercises, repeating the numbers, telephoning practices, simple grammar (plural, easy questions, word formation etc.) I think we will have a lot to do to train the Nhs team in English as well as in Leadership management , Documentation and planning, Quality management , Lean management etc. pp.
    It would be very fine if we could use a beamer during these future lectures for more adequate presentations with these Nhs team groups.
    Have a nice weekend
    best regards
    Uli
53

Hi everyone,

Last Thursday and Friday I worked with the Jena group which consisted of only 4 people. We reviewed job interview strategies, went through a number of TOEIC questions and listened to the first part of Earl Nightingale’s “The Strangest Secret”. We also discussed Nokia’s decision to close its Dortmund plant practicing our negotiation skills. On Friday I brought the book “The Magic of Thinking Big” and had Joerg and Andreas give a presentation on the second chapter “Cure Yourself of Excusitis, The Failure Disease” which went down every well as everyone contributed to the ensuing discussion.

Ray, since the purpose of the Jena course is to assist the participants in finding a new job as soon as possible you might want to share some of your work experiences with them. On Wednesday there might be about 8 people in your group - 3 of whom have been in the group for about 2 months now and the rest will be newcomers. They are all university graduates and their English is pretty fluent so you can speak with them at your normal speed. You can practice job interviews again – maybe this time one person will have to “sell” another participant to the potential employer. So instead of answering the job interview questions for themselves, the person will have to answer the questions for somebody else.

Also, please remind the group of the “learning system” which I introduced at the beginning of the course. It consists of four elements:

  • a media library
  • a listening/learning blog or diary
  • a glossary
  • an internet resource index

The major idea of the learning system is make the group listen to English on a daily basis. Especially Andreas will tell you what you has been listening to when you ask him to give a short report on his listening activities.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, question-response: How many days are there in March?[YSaerTTEW443543]

54

Hello,

Thank you for the tips Torsten, I will be sure to remind them of the learning system. I think the idea a “system” is very good. I will focus more on work experience, management styles and most importantly, communication styles. I have always found it very difficult to sell myself in an interview. As I abound with such majestic, saintly, and modest virtues, I find it difficult to boast or brag on my many strengths and talents. Seriously, I think this is a good excercise… discussing other people, not only will it help expand their descriptive vocabulary, but it will also give them the freedom to think its ok to describe themselves in the same way.

My passions tend to lend themselves to international politics, and US politics, but perhaps a discussion on the Microsoft’s current bid for Yahoo and the problem with Google, may be a good discussion topic.

I am also glad to hear that the Nhs group is working out well. I think having a projector in the room would be a great idea, and if possible, a completely different room would be optimal. The tables are attached in such a way that the current “I” formation is the only one possible.

When I was convinced that there would be some consistency with the locations of classes and the frequency of classes, I thought it would be a great idea to tape the used sheets of paper to the wall. I think I write more than other instructors, but when communicating with the class, if I write it down for them, and repeat it with the class 3 or 4 times over the course of the day, then the next day, there is less excuse to make the same mistake more than twice. I have experienced some participants “giving a hard time” to those who are not completely receptive to new vocabulary, and grammar concepts after receiving this type of reinforcement. I envision that at the end of a class, there would be a comprehensive, albeit very general, guide of the class. Just a thought.

Torsten, I know I have told you that I am very flexible for the future, I am willing to work away from Nordhausen, but would prefer to be away only 2-3 days a week.

Here is my busy schedule:

Next Monday I need to be in Dresden.

I hope everyone is well.

-ray

55

hi Torsten and Ray,
many thanks for the good advices to shape the learning process with our classes in a very efficient manner.
As far as my time schedule is concernd : I shall be busy with the SEPT program of Leipzig university always Mondays and Tuesdays and sometimes Wednesday. This way I can participate in our English Team projects during the rest of the week if this is convenient to you.
Many thanks for your cell phone with the good fixed net connections. What is the telephone number of this cell phone ?
Best regards
Uli

56

Hi,

This Thursday and Friday I worked with one of the bs groups and we reviewed the basics as usual: the alphabet, basic personal questions, the personal pronouns, the possessive adjectives and basic vocabulary. We also did a lot of pronunciation work using the Berlitz audio course for adults. It turned out that many folks still have difficulty distinguishing between words like ‘this’ and ‘these’, ‘chip’ and ‘ship’. At any rate the group needs to review everything they have covered so far.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, question-response: How long has Mr. Knudsen been in Singapore?[YSaerTTEW443543]

57

hi Torsten,
fine to hear that you managed well with the BS group.
Repeating the numbers, giving their telephone numbers, spelling exercises, writing down words, simple questions, some grammar exercises etc. pp. are adequate tasks for these colleagues. I wish you a good and relaxing weekend. best regads Uli

58

Hello,
I hope this email finds everyone in good spirits. On Friday I worked with the Jena group, and it went well. The theme for the day was business communication. Although only three of the students had been in the class before, everyone was active in the learning process. I was surprised and encouraged by the level of English held by all of the participants, and their learning discipline (taking notes, asking questions)
We began the day with some simple introductions, a very casual affair. We then moved on to a mock interview which went well. Then, upon Torsten’s recommendation, I created a scenario in which the other participants who did not participate in the interview then had to meet with a manager, and plead the case for the potential new hire. It went well, and everyone enjoyed participating. We then discussed interviews again, mainly the idea of focusing on the positive, demonstrating strengths modestly, and possible interviewer questions. We also discussed “cookie cutter” phrases and adjectives that are useful when creating a resume or a CV. This led on to the use of bland catch words and why, although they do not truly describe a person, that there are necessary in the business world. We then had a role playing exercise in conflict management / mediation. The focus wasn’t really on mediation, more on communication styles, and understanding that though a meeting, or a conflict may appear to be about one event or concept, that there may be other factors involved that complicate the matter, and then all of the various factors may be conflated into an inability to communicate rationally.
All in all it was a very good class, and I look forward to working with them again. We noticed that its very important to treat the interviews very seriously, so good posture, maintaining eye contact, and other interview basics should be practiced, as to make the scenario as real as possible.
One of the participants can speak some Polish and some Italian. She is learning English because its status as a lingua franca, and would be good for her work. She claims to have learned only from books. I found this to be very impressive and encouraging, as I am still trying to focus on learning German.
Torsten, if it is possible, I would like to work in Nordhausen on Wednesday and Thursday, and in Jena on Friday. My only thought is that, if they do agree to once again put me up at the Avena, that they also do so for Thursday night as well. It would hardly make sense for me to return to Dresden, and then head back out to Jena. I am flexible to whatever staffing configurations you may need to make.
That’s all for now.

Thanks,

Ray

59

hi Ray,
congratulations on your excellent work with the different German groups.
I hope to meet you again.
All the best.
Regards Uli

60

Hi Ray,

Do you have any sources on this? You have elaborated this issue precisely in relation to what I usually call the “psychotic female state” I encounter in my everyday domestic life :? Honestly mate, formulating the basic theoretical constructs for a psychoanalytic science of human behaviour while at the same time stimulating eidetic imagery is everything but an easy task. I’d be intrigued to get my hands on something quotable in black and white :idea: