Current projects

Hallo dear Rolf and Torsten,
Today we have managed very well our English beginners’ class in Delitzsch Dübener Street with the Call Centers Ladies group.
The problem in groups like this is always that we have very different levels of qualification as far as the knowledge or “pre-experiences” of English is concerned.
I my understanding it is very important to create, to maintain and to generate permanently an innovative climate of learning, of interest to learn and to assist each other to use the limited time efficiently.
Today the Participants have worked creatively in small groups. Each participant has informed the partners about telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, postal indexes , city codes, postal addresses etc. in order to train numbers and practise spelling exercises like in a real call centre.
Ellen, Manuela, Anke, Franka, Yvonne, Jana were very active . The other Ladies have participated a bit less intensive.
Mrs B and Mrs H were very happy that we managed so well.
Tomorrow we shall repeat some grammar paragraphs (plural, forming adverbs from adjectives, forming questions, negations etc. ).
Best regards Uli

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Hi Torsten,
Today Friday we have managed with the future Call Center Agents planned.
We have reviewed the numbers,
the simple present
(positive,
negative,
questions),
the question words,
how to tell the time,
basic adjectives,
adverbs etc.
And we talked about front office and back office tasks in a call center, as well as about inbound and outbound calls, about payment conditions when selling tickets online etc.
The Ladies were very motivated and cooperative.
Best regards,
Have a great weekend.
Best Regards Uli

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Hello,
Last Thursday the 10th, and Friday the 11th, I in Jena, with the High Potentials group. Very motivated bunch of people. The levels of ubderstand is high amongst the whole group, and when working in smaller groups, the stronger speakers are willing help the weaker ones. We focused on a lot of work related discussion, and a couple mock interviews, mainly for the purpose of practicing English. The entire group utilizes audio libraries, mainly in the form of English DVD’s. We focused mainly on preparing for the job search, I tried to get the group to actualize what type of career they wanted, specifically. I want people to actually work towards getting a job. There is a new addition to the group, who just landed a job and wants to practice his English, he has been a good resource in helping the others plan and focus on a goals. It was fun, and I look forward to another meeting.
-Ray

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Hi Torsten,

I think the test should not contain more than ten multiple choice questions. Here are some suggestions based on what we have covered so far:

What is a swap body?
A tool needed to load and unload containers
An empty container
A type ofcontainer that can easily be transferred from one means of transport to another
A tool to secure cargo during transport

Which of these Incoterms is the most favourable for the buyer?
FOB
DDU
EXW
CPT

How must tank containers for foodstuffs be labelled?
Only for drinks
Potable liquids
Drinks inside
Potable liquids only

Besides we could show them one of the signs for hazardous materials and ask what it stands for.

Let me know what you think and I’ll come up with some more soon.

Kind regards,
Daniel

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Hi Daniel,

Your idea is excellent since the questions you created test both – reading comprehension as well as knowledge of logistics. Maybe we could also include some geographical questions and questions related to logistics companies. For example:
What does DHL stand for?
Deutsche Handels Linie
Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn
Department of High Logistics
Dow Howard Line

Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEFL listening discussions: A conversation between a professor and his student[YSaerTTEW443543]

Hi Torsten,

I discussed the online-test project with Frau R and she was very interested. I’ll be doing the lessons with three groups next Wednesday and Thursday because these were the last dates the computer workstations at BZ were avalable. I’ll probably have laptops to do it with the remaining group some Monday in May.
She’s showing me everything I need to know next Monday and I’d like to give her an idea of what we’re doing that day as well.
In addition I designed some more test questions:

Which of these does not stand for a big logistics company?

TNT
DHL
NBC
UPS

Which of these tasks does a warehouse worker not perform?
pack
tick
check
pick

What does FIFO stand for?
Final Instructions For Others
Find In Forthcoming Order
Fear In Face Of
First In First Out

What does this sign mean?
Oxidizing Material
Highly Inflammable Material
Explosive Material
Extremely Inflammable Material

There should be displayed an icon to label hazardous materials but I could not paste it. Is it possible to include pictures in the test questions at all?
I liked your DHL question (I didn’t know it before I browsed through their textbook) but it might be of more use for them to know a few companies than to know the guys’ names.

Let me know what you think.

Best Regards,
Daniel

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Hi Daniel,

Thanks a lot for your great work. To get an idea of what our online tests can look like please check our first warehouse and logistics test. We can change and improve the questions and answer options any time.

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

TOEIC listening, photographs: The plumber with the spanner[YSaerTTEW443543]

.
My crystal ball is suggesting there is a misspelling of the word ‘potable’, Torsten. :wink:
.

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Hi Amy, your crystal ball is right and I’ve corrected the typo. Many thanks for pointing it out.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: The tiler[YSaerTTEW443543]

Hi Torsten,

The test looks good so far but there seems to be another mistake and something wrong with the registration of the answers:

Question 10 reads: When it lift truck tips over…

Regarding questions 2 and 6 I ticked the correct answers and was shown I had ticked another one. I repeated the test several times and it said I had ticked FOB and packing.

May be we should exchange one of the lift truck questions for something like:
Fragile goods must be handled with
respect
love
care
sympathy

The students at BZ don’t operate lift trucks so this might be more related to them.

Let me know what you think,
Daniel

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Hi Daniel, thanks a lot for your suggestions. I’ve changed the test and if you have more alternatives for the lift truck questions I’ll put them online.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: The shopping centre escalator[YSaerTTEW443543]

Hi Torsten,

I’ve noticed a new mistake in the test: now it says that the correct answer to question no. 1 (the most favourable incoterm for the buyer) is EXW. Actually it’s DDU.

For the lift truck questions I think we should put the CDL question back in and exchange it with one of them. It might be better to keep no. 10 (when it tips over…).

I’m checking out some other things to do with them and I’ll tell you later this afternoon.

Regards,
Daniel

Hi Torsten,

Besides the warehouse test there are of course a few general tests from the site that I’m going to do with them. I found some warehouse work videos on youtube including crazy fork-lift operating takes. Unfortunately these warehouse-related online games I had discovered required downloads or didn’t seem to be properly working. I’ll try some of them again tomorrow while they’ll be doing a test or watching a film. In addition I find it a good idea to have them research information on pay, working conditions etc. of warehouse workers in different countries.

Hi Torsten,

I did the warehouse/logistics test with three of my four groups at BZ and it went quite well. They were happy when they achieved good scores and repeated the test when they weren’t satisfied. This goes for the general tests we did as well. It was harder to get them to discussing their mistakes and many of the students sometimes just guessed an answer. It was even harder to get some of them to try the research task which we didn’t repeat today due to lack of time. Watching videos was also difficult with the number of persons present because of the bandwidth available.
Regarding a test for a certificate ten questions may be quite few contrary to what I had expected. Ticking answers almost at random allows them to complete the test in five minutes. Let’s talk about this some time.
I’ll be out of town the week but wish some pleasant holidays to everyone.

Regards,
Daniel

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I’ll be out of own the weekend, of course.

Hello Torsten,

I wanted to tell you that Karstdat has been going well. All week we have been focusing on Greetings. The focus has been on what to say to customers as they arrive at the store, and then how to gracefully usher the customers to the register, when they are ready to pay. I created a short 3 page document of common phrases, to use to greet customers. I figurethat after a week of this, we can concentrate on what goes on between “May I help you” and “Thank you, have a nice day”.

I also had a thought today during class, that it may be beneficial to create a specialized Forum for your ongoing projects. I noticed that there is already an “English for department store staff” forum, but I was thinking of something more specific, for instance “Karstadt Spring English Training” It would be an area to post Vocab sheets, Questions and answers. I don’t know how many of the people of Karstadt would be willing to go online to use it, but in the very least, it would be helpful for trainers who need to split assignments.

I will send you the word document, and a little bit more about this idea in an email.

As for the Karstadt I have been playing the name game, which I have recently found out is of japanese origin, and is called Shiritori I have done this, a couple rounds of the days of the week, and then greetings.

One thing that I think is always important to emphasize with any group is the difference between “say” and “tell”, and the use of the word “get” instead of “become”. I think in the weeks to come it may also be good to review “bring” and “take” although I haven’t noticed any problems with this as of yet.

Thats all, hope all is well here on The Forum.

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Hi Ray,

Thanks a lot for all your ideas regarding the Karstadt project, I’ll post mine soon. In the meantime, you might want to take a look at our say vs. tell test. If you like, I can give you the PDF version of our tests so you can use some of them with the Karstadt folks.

Talk to you soon,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: The sight test[YSaerTTEW443543]

Hello Torsten,

Karstadt has gone well this week. I have used last week’s printout to review greetings so that everyone is familiar with them, and comfortable saying them. The classes involved vocab practice (going around in a circle) and spelling (with a twist: the person following has to spell the word of the previous person before finding a new word beginning with the last letter of their word). We also reviewed counting, prices, and telling time. Next week I want to return the focus to real situations… the nitty gritty of the sales. I have done some practice this past week, but want to do more of it next week.

I’m not sure what to use for a new handout, except perhaps a revised version of the first one. I can add some vocab, and also vocab from the store directory. I have always been a bit unhappy with the organization of the spreadsheet, but I’m not sure how to fix it. I’ll think of something.

Yes, I can meet you next Monday after the class. Also, are you aware that next week at IBS Jena, in addition to Friday, that there is a Thursday session scheduled?

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hi dear Colleagues teaching in the VMKB Leipzig Geithainer Strasse 7-9,
before I lost my voice I just started in this course with conditions of delivery and conditions of payment, (INCOTERMS) and with business / commercial letters.
I have distributed some materials concerning this matter.

Please continue here because our young learners have to pass an examination in the “Berufsschule” (theoretical Vocational training centre) in this topic.

This way we can assist them to manage this examination with good results and they will appreciate this.

I wish you good results.
Best regards
Uli

Hi Torsten,

Here’s what I designed as test for the shop-assistants at BZ. We’ll be working at the computer next Monday and Friday.

1.) Which of these persons does not work in a shop?
a cashier
a shop-assistant
a window shopper

2.) Which of the folowing is not a good way to greet a customer?
Good afternoon, Sir. May I help you?
Godd morning. What do you want, Madam?
Hello, what can I do for you, Madam?

3.) Excuse me. Could you tell me where the coffee is?
Certainly, it’s in the next aisle opposite of the bread.
Certainly, it’s in the next aisle opposite from the bread.
Certainly, it’s in the next aisle opposite the bread.

4.) Good morning. I need some tissues.
Of course, how many packets would you like?
Of course, how lots of packets would you like?
Of course, how much packets would you like?

5.) If you think this is too big…
we have a littler version too.
we have a more small version too.
we have a smaller version too.

6.) You will find sausages…
by the butcher’s next door.
at the butcher’s next door.
at the baker’s next door.

7.) Which of the following is not a good way to say a product is not there in the shop?
I’m afraid it’s currently out of stock.
We don’t have this.
I’m sorry. It’s not available at the moment.

8.) Excuse me. When will you close today?
We will close 8 o’clock.
We will close to 8 o’clock.
We will close at 8 o’clock.

9.) Would you like to pay cash or ____ credit card?
with
on
by

10.) Thank you, Here is your change and your…
recipe
receipt
recepy

It would be nice if you could put it online if you don’t have any objections regarding style and content. If you do just tell me and I’ll think of changes tomorrow and/or Saturday when I’ll be at home almost all day.

Thanks,
Daniel

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