I’d like to summarize last Friday’s lesson in Eilenburg:
brainstorming exercises regarding basic topics: city/town, weather, classroom etc.
learning techniques: how to memorize these words in an efficient and quick way.
spelling and reading exercises.
I asked the refreshers to help the beginners to structurize their first grammar and vocab skills.
review of the present and past tenses (both simple and progressive/continuous forms). The class was split up into three teams consisting of beginners and refreshers. Each group had to explain the functions of each tense.
review of signal words
oral exercises concerning these tenses. Each team had the task to translate some sentences from German into English and explain the use of the correct tense.
explanation of the new vocabulary in these exercises: the river Nile, the Mediterranean Sea, boil, try, moon, earth, get late, get dark, get on, by car/tram/train etc., hurry up, leave, have got, good at sth., flow, grow (green, growth, grass), vegetables and fruits, improve, at the moment, stay, stop doing something, drive, feel tired, learn, teach, live, be born, birth-growth-health-death (-th words), finish work, until, enjoy, on time…
quiz game in class: General knowledge quiz. Questions were asked on a broad range of subjects, including science, politics, geography, literature, history, entertainment etc. (USA: main rivers, cities, president, Germany: famous poets; Italy: Berlusconi, love affair; Scandinavia: countries, capitals, etc…).
card games (for English learning purpose).
One of my main goals on Friday was to help the students to gain language fluency, be it oral or written. I put emphasis on these words in order to make the participants aware of their learning process: goal/target (why?, what for?, reason), experience/exercises/practice/skills (beginner, refresher, autodidact/self-taught, team/group work etc.), danger/risks, (e.g. traps such as false friends, language interference errors etc…), success/progress etc.
Hi Kathleen and the other members of the Magdeburg English learners group.
I am Uli - your English team trainer / guide on Wednesday, 2nd March.
I am sure we will together shape a very creative motivating learning atmosphere in our class as we have managed in Nordhausen last week with Martina, Jennifer, Guenther, Wolfgang using the good experiences of a mutually inspitaring discussion and peer communication. Many thanks for your friendly cooperation.
I hope to meet you all healthy and strong (mentally and physically).
Best wishes
Uli. 28.02.2011
Today we started with an exercises of the simple past. Then we played a word game. Everyone explained a word in english and the group had to ask questions.
We also heart an interview about Nokia and wrod down importend information.
After that everybody created their own company. We created a list with the most importend verbs.
We practist using the following words:
competitor; advertising; brand; employee; major markets; founder and successfull
During the day we listen to the BBC Worl News. We also celebrated Connys birthday with a song.
Last week we posted a quiz about Magdeburg on the forum. Tomorrow we are going to read the answers from the Eilenburg and Nordhausen groups. On wednesday we want to create another quiz about a new topic together with you.
Do you have any ideas? We look forward to meeting you.
Thank you very mutch.
Dear Magdeburg learners group, 01.03.2011
many thanks for your interesting info.
Yes, tomorrow we can shape a new word game , f.i. hangman …” I spy with my little eyes something beginning with “W”…. etc. pp.
Maybe some telephoning exercises could be a challenging experience combined with spelling and number training.
Also to mention some English or American proverbs should be a good option.
During the day we should listen to the BBC or VOA World News especially to understand a bit better what is going on in the Arab world etc. pp.
I hope to find correctly Magdeburg , Liebknechtstrasse 73 . /Kaemmerschule for being in time with you.
Have a creative day.
Hope to meet you all healthy.
Best wishes Uli.
here is a little report about my evening yesterday :
I went to the supermarket after the course and then I went home.
After that I went outside with my dog for 1 1/2 hour.
So and later I ate dinner and watched TV.
This was my evening
Hi Torsten, Gorgetta and the other Teams ,
we hope you are healthy and strong. Today we discussed about
the current situation in Libya,
the Murder of a Pakistani minister,
then the British position vis-a-vis the Afganistan conflict,
new information about the present cocain trade in Columbia
and also we have talked about the famous Japanese Musical Boy Band “hischitan” wearing black uniforms with red arm belts (especially British tv watchers see a dangerous similarity with German nazi SS Officers in the second world war concentration camps).
We have practiced some telephone training for communicating very creatively with our customers.
Tomorrow we invite our trainer to concentrate on
loud reading English texts / listining comprehensions
listining to the BBC News
to play “Hangman”
spelling words with the normal alphabet etc.
Best wishes to the motivated learners in Eilenburg and Nordhausen and THORSTEN
Bye and warm regards from
Maike, Conny, Ute, Kathleen, Sabine ,Rosy, Viola, Karin, Marion, Philipp, Daniel and the Trainer of the day Uli
we have a very fun day together .
Hi everybody,
Although I don’t have enough time to do my homework here some topics about the hours after the yesterday’s lessons.
As the participants of the “Nordhausen group” know I went to the town hall of Nordhausen where an interesting exhibition was opened. For twenty years or more - I am not quiet sure - the town of Nordhausen went into partnership to the Polish town named Ostrow Wielkopolski. This Polish town is known for its very exciting exhibitions in the cultural field of graphic works, especially posters. Such posters are exhibited in the next weeks. A good friend of mine, the boss of the Kunsthaus, had to deliver the opening speech and my part was to write some paragraphs of this opening address. So I was invited by the mayor and enjoyed these very interesting and exciting posters. Not to forget - there were a glass of sparkling wine and some glasses of orange juice, too …
In the evening I was a guest of an event in the Kunsthaus, where a meeting of the ‘Friends of the Kunsthaus’ took place . The motto was “Die Frau in der Kunst” - women in art -, a very interesting talk about the development of the forms of expression beginning with the first forms of statuettes or figurines through to the forms of contemporary arts we can view in the museums of modern art worldwide.
This exhibition focus on small graphic works which belong to the art form “EX LIBRIS” and is closed on 27th March. We had a discussion about this form in our lesson today and I’ll show the Nordhausen group such an ‘Ex libris’ I have created some years ago as a present to my wife …
So, I want to join my guests and therefore
bye-bye for now
Wolfgang
Hi everybody,
we had a good breakfast break and now? We have to write a short summary about what we did in this week …
Okay, I think writing is a very important part of this course and therefore I will do everything in my power to improve my English skills. So, and because I don’t want to repeat the same contents Jenny had written in the entry above I am writing about some aspects which I am interested in. First, I have showed Jenny and Martina two examples of “EX LIBRIS” which I have brought along with me. The first one was especially designed by myself for my wife. I bought the second one for my wife as well about four or five years ago. I know many people who collect such small graphic arts.
Today we are a very special team of learners, because we are only three learners today. Günther and Antje are sick and so we are learning even more in comparison to the other days and it is more intensive, too. At the moment we are only hearing the sound of the key clicks, because Martina is writing her entry. Jenny is listening to the tests in the English-test.net.
I think we are going to continue with the listening comprehension after we finished writing.
I am redelighted every day that we have the advantage of using these laptops or “digital notebooks”. I don’t want to miss the online dictionary and the possibility to “ask GOOGLE” - and not to loose the connection to the other groups in Mageburg, Eilenburg and wherever.
So, at the close of this small remark I don’t want to forget to send best regards to the other groups. Tomorrow we all have the last working day of this week and so we can look forward to the upcoming weekend. Please enjoy these two days. I hope to hear from you next week.
Bye-bye for now
Wolfgang
Here is my short report about my yesterday evening.
(my-cleaning -day)
After the school I drove to the washing station with my car. I had to clean my car. I wiped the windows and the cockpit. After that I vacuum cleaned the car. After I finished that, I drove home.
Afterwards I did the laundry, and hang it out. Thereafter I bought rolls, butter and fish for our dinner. After the dinner I called my daugther for one hour. Then I went to bed.
Thank you very much for all your information.
We appreciate it that you take the time to write to us. We always read your reports with great interest.
We hope you will answer some of our questions.
First of all we would like to know where you get your laptops from? We in Magdeburg have only one machine it is Sabine´s Aspire one. Which we pass from one person to another when we read your messages. What about you does everyone of you have your own Laptop? If so, you are very lucky. We are interested in your art collection. What kind of art do you collect exactly? How many objects do you have? How much is one item on average? When do you design your objects? When did you start? Maybe can you send a picture? How many objects have you sold so far? Which material do you use? How did you start your hobby ? Now we have questions about your English learning. What level is your group at? Are your experts already? What kind of exercises do you do? What is the name of the test your preparing for? Who is your trainer today? We hope to hear from you soon. Your groupies from Magdeburg : )
Hello ‘Groupies form Magdeburg’ …:-))
Thanks a lot for your message and for your questions. If I would answer of all these questions I would have to write a short story or a book
However I’m going to try.
In our seminar room every course participant can use a note book. These laptops belong to our school of further education. We are always connected to the Internet and so we have the possibility to surf the Internet, to write some notes and messages, too.
And now some comments to the art exhibition and art collection. At the moment you can visit four exhibitions - three in the town of Nordhausen and one in Bad Frankenhausen - here the links www.kunsthaus-meyenburg.de
I think I have to clear up a misunderstanding. You are right I collect graphic arts, but this collecting is not a passion. I worked more than 15 years as a consultant and so I met many colleagues, many people in many towns in Germany and in Middle Europe. In the result I had interesting talks with other art lovers, with artists, but also with people who were painting as a hobby or to overcome mental problems. In total I own approximately 30 or 40 graphic arts, several paintings in oils, aqua tints, water colours and further more. The most of them are less valuable, but rather presents from such friends or acquaintances.
So, and at the end of this message some comments about our group. We are five participants with different age - from 22 years to 62 years. All of us are no experts, but we exert ourselves to achieve progress. We use different teaching aids - Internet, the “dark red book”, from time to time CD’s and we very seldom watch an English movie.
That’s all for now. I’m writing this entry as a sideline … , because I have to concentrate on the “TATORT” and in 45 minutes this thriller will be over.
We all in Nordhausen are looking forward to your reply. Have a good start in the new week and with the same greetings as every time
bye-bye for now
Wolfgang
Hi everybody,
It’s quite late and I’ve forgotten to do my homework, to write an essay about the advantages and disadvantages of online-shopping. Until now I’ve never used ‚ebay‘ for example or other often used online shops. So I think it’s a little bit difficult to write on this subject. Otherwise I have to admit that I often use online banking and I order my books online. In these cases I use „buecher.de“ or „amazon“. Okay, so far, so good.
First some sentences about the positive sides or the advantage of Online shopping. An online shop is usually available 24 hours a day and if I have Internet access both at work and at home I can order when I have time. I don’t need to travel to the department stores or the book shops. I don’t have problems to find a parking lot near the shop. I can take time to read the product information, can take note of the opinions of other consumers and can compare the products of the competitors.
Unfortunately it’s impossible to inspect directly. So I can’t do a test drive for example or can’t try the suit on or check the quality. In some cases I want to touch the surface or want to see the product up close.
One advantage of shopping online is the possibility to quickly seek out deals for items or services with different vendors.
One disadvantage is that I can’t inspect merchandise before purchase. So I have a higher risk than in a physical store. Phishing is another danger, where I think I’m dealing with a reputable retailer. In this case my private information are passed through to a system or a server operated by malicious or criminal forces. In my mind privacy of personal information is a significant issue for me as a consumer. A further disadvantage is the lack of full disclosure with regards to the total cost of purchase, often to find when I want to book flights. Additional fees are often not specified.
Certainly there are more pro’s and con’s. It doesn’t matter whether I’m going for the online shopping or I’m against it. Online shopping, online banking or other forms of Internet purchase will establish themselves more and more.
So, I want to send greetings for the second time - this time as Mister Duncan always says
Ta-ta for now
Wolfgang
Hello everyone,
My weekend was not as good. I was really sick. Now I hope I can return to hang out and do my shopping.
How was it for you? Who was really party?
So do not be afraid, we are waiting for the pictures here!
Guenther
Dear Wolfgang, thank you very much for your detail answer.
We are very impressed by the fact that you write English messages even on Sunday night.
From now on, we will be writing in English 12 hours a day too. Again we have some questions.
For example we would like to know more about the dark red book, some of us think it´s a party memberchip book. Others of us speculate that you are talking about your bank savings book. What kind of book is it and how often do you use it? Also when did you start learning English and why is your English so good? By the way, thanks for the clarifying the point about your art collecting activities. Please also tell us what kind of consultant you are Who are your clients and how do they find you? Do you earn money with your consultancy? Are you employed or self employed? Do you have any questions for us? Oh just another question. How did you spend your weekend? Did you enjoy the Austrian thriller? Also please give our best regards to Günther. We read his message too. How many are there in your group today and who is your trainer? We hope to get an answer from you before the end of the day. So today there is no break for you.
Hi Englishbine,
as you can see it’s 9 p.m. and I’m sitting at my home office desk … I believe some questions of yours are just kidding, but I’m okay with your kind to ask questions…
Joking aside, I am fond of joking, too and so I’ll answer briefly.
The “dark red book” is our workbook with the title “Business Basics” published by David Grant and Robert McLarty. I think your group also uses this workbook?
I didn’t learn English at the grammar school and also not at the University in Magdeburg. At the technical university we had two sessions English, but we only learned special words we used for reading of some books in the field of engineering and construction of power stations. This time was disastrous!
I began to learn English at home. The self-study was my way to improve my English skills. Anyway I use this intermediate course and I hope I will be able to understand, speak and write English better than to the begin of this course.
So, I want to drink a beer and watch the “Stahlnetz” on NDR.
Perhaps tomorrow more if I have time during the lessons. Please don’t forget tomorrow we want to celebrate Shrove Tuesday.
Ta-ta for now
Wolfgang
Difference between shopping online
and buy normal in a shop
I start with advantages of online shopping.
I think when you look in the Internet you can find more. And you have a faster and better selection.
On many web pages you can find cheap prices.
And the last thing for me is you can find things in the Internet you do not get in the shop for example CD´s, books .shoes and many more.
Now I write about advantages of buy normal in a shop.
You can see more than the Internet and you can try on clothes before you buy then.
In a shop you can handle the matters or things and just see before you buy then. You can find in a shop offer special offers.
And for me very interesting you meet a lot of people.
And an the end I write my personal opinion.
I think that both types of shopping are good things to it.
The mixing between the tow is often bargains. Therefore I use both too.
Hello good morning Wolfgang,
How are you today? We are in a good mood because the sun is shining again. We were very surprised to hear that you didn´t learn English at school or university. Can you tell us how exactly you learned English at home. How did you get started? How much time do you spend on you activities every day?
From your messages we got the impression that you like thrillers very much. Is that true? We are waiting for your response. Your Magdeburg friends
Hello Jennifer, thank you very much for sharing your shopping experiences with us. We heard that you are visiting the BMW plant in Leipzig next week. Can you please tell us about this trip? What time are you leaving Nordhausen and how long will the tour take? Also will the tour be in English? Thank you very much your English friends from Magdeburg
Yes we come with you to the BMW in Leipzig. We go by train on Tuesday at 6.22 to Halle and then to Leipzig/messe and than we go by bus about 8.30
to BMW. We hope you are there when we coming.
We have no idea about the tour we think the tour is in German but we speak in English
And we think the tour is going 2 1/2 hour .
