Join the new blog "ieltscommunity9"

Hello again silent ones!

Some of you have taken the IELTS (Nadeem and Huda) - some are taking it this weekend (Ahmed Aly especially) the rest will be taking it soon.

So, as this blog seems defunct, why not join us on the new weblog www.ieltslearn.blogspot.com and help the new class?

Leave a comment below or email me.

I have invited Ahmed to join the new weblog and to talk to them about how the IELTS went. Let's have some dialogue and co-operation, people!

Waiting (in vain it appears!) to hear from you

Tony

as Blogmember

The blog is dead! Long live the blog!

Hello my guide seekers!

One week gone and precious little news - no feedback from Nadeem and Huda, just a wee comment from Miss Noora. See how busy you get and time swallows up all those good intentions!

I know a lot of you are girding your loins for the IELTS ordeal on 23/25 February, don't suffer in silence, post on the blog OR better still, join the new weblog for my next course. I have opened a new weblog, you can post as BLOGMEMBER or I can invite you to join. It would be fab to hear from you, come on, make the effort! We are now:

www.ieltslearn.blogspot.com

Join us and share your knowledge / lessons learned!

Good luck to everyone

Hoping to hear from you

Tony

Ahmed's happy, Nadeem's cheerful, the rest?

Just blogging in to say hello...

Now you are free to catch up on all those other tasks, me too until we kick off a new course next Saturday. Do you have any suggestions for the name of the new blog - the future ieltscommunity9? Yes, I will continue, of course, as the blog can serve a useful purpose in uniting 16/17 disparate, desperate souls.
Yes, so Ahmed is happy - his team won yesterday - they had the luck and took their opportunity. Nadeem had his IELTS Speaking on Thursday and the rest earlier today - we look forward to his report.
Huda also had her second bite at the IELTS apple - we really, really hope that she kept her nerve and got the bands she deserves.
What about the rest of you? You were going to post essays / task ones for me and Dr Rashid to look at, er we're still waiting...
LEARNING ZONE - remember you can book a computer (two on the left) through reception to use anytime call (02) 6910600 and check availability. We have a saying in English: "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions"... Which means??? Good intentions are not enough, the right actions are what will lead to salvation and success (in life as in IELTS.)
Okey dokey, you're on you're own now, your guide is with you in spirit and via the weblog, the rest is up to you...

Bye

Tony

Anybody there?

Hmmmm

I was wondering if I'm the only one using the weblog...

Remember this facility is for you. When we have a final feedback session tomorrow I'll be asking you why this weblog hasn't worked and should we just rely on the 2005 archives. It seems the three week course is too intensive to enable you to use the blog. Please advise.

Ah well, mock testing tonight, do bring your Insight into IELTS coursebook.

Bye for now

Tony

Blog breakdown???

Hello again!

Funny things happening on the blog... We lost posts by Ahmed, Seddiqah and myself, while at the same time I can't comment on new posts such as Nesreen's! Maybe it's a conspiracy...

Ah well, let's keep plodding on.

This evening I'll finish the interviews and we'll have a post mortem tomorrow on the Speaking module.


As for this evening:

• I have two language features - using articles (a / the / --) and giving opinions
• I have some model essays to consider
• We should discuss how you got on with the reading test yesterday
• I'd like to give you Afaq's (GT 8.5 overall band) IELTS tips
• We'll do a full scale WRITING Task 1 / Task 2 test (8.20 - 9.20)
• One of the past successful students did a SWOT analysis of his IELTS profile = STRENGTHS / WEAKNESSES / OPPORTUNITIES / THREATS - why not look at yourselves critically?

See you later!

Tony

Wonderful Wednesday

Happy Woden's day (one of our pagan Norse gods!)

Do enjoy your weekend, if it has arrived already.

I'm off to Dubai with my family - see you at Global Village this afternoon?

I haven't forgotten you - I was correcting your Task One efforts! I see progress, indeed!

One language point: what is the difference between affect and effect? One is a noun, the other is a verb (you seem to be affected by the effects of poor teaching/learning in the past...) Comments please!

OK campers, that's your lot from me till tomorrow. It would be gratifying to hear from you, but I understand if you are pre-occupied with the effects of being showered with IELTS information and this affects your contribution / non-contribution to the weblog. OK, got the point now?

Over and out

Tony the Torturer

ps I have a special mission to accomplish at Global Village, wish me luck!

pps Er, you are meant to have fun as well, while studying with me... I'm not a monster or a cruel person. As Shakespeare said:

"All the world's a stage
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and entrances;"

Exit Sir Tony of Zafaranah

That Was The Week That Was

So guide seekers, IELTS has started biting and the fat lady has started singing!

Take a deep breath and analyse where you need to focus your efforts!

Any problems with Reading, see Barham - he thinks it's the easiest part of the IELTS.

In your feedback READING still causes a lot of concern, yet this is the one area where you can work independently and improve yourself by:

• looking for paraphrases (how the question rephrases the words in the text)
  
• timed, speed reading
• see how the question relates to the text
• skim
• scan
• scrutinise
• build up a list of new words + synonym/antonym & phrase usage
  
• think in English
• read the local English language press - Khaleej Times rocks!
• work out your strategy for each IELTS reading question type
• extract the main point / central idea from each paragraph
• make sure you understand the instructions
• highlight the key words in the questions
• DO NOT read the text word-by-word - sweep backwards and forwards
• get yourself a stopwatch / use the timer on your mobile phone
• get a 'study buddy' - arrange to work together in the Learning Zone on Thursday afternoon - hey why not even TONIGHT Tuesaday, call the BC reception on 02 6910600 to make sure the Learning Zone is free

Remember: "No pain, no gain"
"It ain't over till the fat lady sings"
"When the going gets tough, the tough gets going"
"There's no such thing as a free breakfast or a free band 7.0"

That's more than enough cliches.

Why do I object to you using "like" as a linking word? This is because in formal writing we use such as when we refer to an example.

Example: "There are many instances in history such as the Solidarity movement in Poland, when the ordinary people rose up against their oppressive governments."

I have very high standards for myself, my daughters and my students - have you got what it takes to satisfy my requirements? Can you handle the truth?

Check your inboxes for the WEBLOG invitations. You have my undivided attention for the next 9 days - after that I can't guarantee anything. if your inivitation fails, post as BLOGMEMBER, citing your name.

Read the amazing posts from Mais Albassam and her heroic 7 7 7 7 IELTS performance - she was and is an inspiration. She lived in the Learning Zone. She worked her socks off. She wept with frustration during the course and with joy when she got her final IELTS band 7.0 overall - she had to score band 7.0 in each module: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.

Are you hungry? I don't want excuses! The ball is in your court.

Enjoy the weekend. I certainly shall, but will be sad to see my darling daughter Dana leave for London on Friday. Eh bien, c'est la vie, n'est-ce pas?

Rock on, believe in yourselves!

I want, I demand to hear from you!

Come on you guys!

Standing by, don't call Houston, post it on the blog!

Keep smiling

Tony the Tormentor

My new blogger account

Hello everyone,

Thanks Tony for your help to get our own accounts. I think now it is easy to post on my account instead of using yours. It was a good solution at that moment but sometimes it is difficult to be in another man's shoes.

Sorry I could not make it ....

Hi Tony ,
Iam sooooo Sorry I could not make it , we were bussy today at work I hope i will be able to catch the lesson of today . Thanks for your correction I will try to improve my wrting .

This is my E.mail (deleted), invite me .

Suad.

Join the weblog properly

Hello campers!

The technical problem has been resolved (OK now Maryam?)

So give me your email addresses and I'll invite you to join.

Make sure the weblog is CLOSED when you accept my email invitation / open your personal account.

Blog on with Blogmember in the meantime!

Regards

Tony

Blogmember joins the blog?

Hi guys!

Interesting messages!


I hope the technical problem has been sorted out and you can post as 'blogmember' rather than pretending to be me (lol).

Will be in touch.


Tony

Hello classmates,

How is your weekend? How did you find homework? Specially the IELTS Academic Writing: Task one. Please, read the following you might be interested in it.
Sample task:
Write a report for an IELTS tutor describing the information in the graph below. You should write at least 150 words.



The graph describes the cases of students in Tony's class over a span of three weeks course till the exam day. It can be clearly seen that the Adrenalines cases and IELTS skills gradually increased, While the numbers for Nervous breakdown we discover a marked decline over the weeks.

In the first week Adrenaline rate was 30.This number increased gradually to50 by second week and continued to rise but more sharply and reached its peak on test day.
In contrast, the figures for Nervous System in the first week were very high100. By week two decreased to70 and fell steeply to 10 by the end of the test day. Meanwhile IELTS skills data were significantly higher by the end of the course.

I conclude the report by stating that, we see an overall upward trend for Adrenaline and IELTS skills and a dramatic fall for the Nervous System by the end of the course.

hloooooo

how is everyone ?
Yesterday i went to the learning zone i started with listening it was easy,then i went through the reading passages from ilts academic.i found it very difficult to understand some of the words in the text.i am dissapointed in my reading skills.i hope everyone will be enjoying their weekend .looking forward 4 a hot debate on saturday.dnt forget to do ur homeworks.. bye and take care.

sabu

Hi all... I miss the classes....+ Tony's comments

Hi Tony,
It is me Suad , I would like to thaks you for your instractions,It were very helpfull to me , I send my weekend trying to write down the Task 1 writing and here it is , I would like if you can have a look at it and tell me how is it?.

The charts illustrates (SVA) the number of Japanese tourists travelling a bourd (S) over a span (P) of ten years and the Australian (P) share of the tourists (P) market.

In 1985, about five million Japanese tourists strated (P) travelling abroud , when that number containued (S) increasing gradually till it reached around ten million in the year (of) 1990.Whereas no considerable changes were seen in the tourists' numbers between 1991-1993. When (WC) five million of them were recorded to travell (G/S) in the year 1995.

In describing the second chart, (as) we can see that Australia`s share of the market has grown dramatically in period of 1985-1995 to reach about 5% of the total Japanese tourits (S) , as this percentage rised (G) to be around 6% by the end of 1995.

In conclution (S) , if we compare the findings in both charts, we found that Australia has been directly affected (WC) by the frequancy of the tourists travelling from Japan. (toward it.)

A significant improvement, Suad! We are on the right track now!

Other students, take note of Suad's initiative in posting a corrected piece of writing on the weblog.

Tony
thanks again,
suad.

Thursday in the Learning Zone

Hello again (no escape from me!)

Just to reconfirm that the Learning Zone, such a valuable resource, is open on Thursday afternoons from 12.30 to 8.00pm (there are Young Learner classes on Thursday mornings.)

Why not work together? You can have a 'study buddy' and share your ideas and insights...

Anyway, enjoy the weekend and this stupendous weather (the language is rich and has deep veins to be mined.)

I'll be chilling out with Dana, Zeena and their* mum over the weekend, but I'll be keeping in touch - especially if YOU give ME something to respond to.

Phew it was quite a hectic week. I can understand if you want to let 'the dust settle' and 'digest all that biryani' you had from me this week at the Council.

Looking forward to hearing from you

Bye for now

Tony

* Oh yes, please note the correct spelling and usage of 'their'

Come and talk about yourself

Hello,

First I'll tell you about myself,
My name is Noora Salem. I'm 17 years old and I'm in grade 11 (Baby of the class).
I'm writing this post to tell you about my impression from this course.
I'm enjoing the course because I got to know pleasant people.
I really like my teacher (Mr. Tony) ,because he is heplful, generous and kind.
Although sometimes he is strict but I appreciate that.
Thanks for everything Mr. Tony :)
What concerns me about the IELTS is the reading task :S
I hope that after this course I'll be ready for the IELTS.

Let me tell you about what I felt when I attened the first class,
I was nervous and scared because all of you guys are older than me.
My problem is that I'm shy, maybe you noticed that.
Specially when speaking because I don't use my English everyday.
I go to a government school, so all the subjects are taught in Arabic.
Only the English subject and it's very easy.
So that is a problem to me , but sometimes I speak English with my sisters and brothers.
I have one sister who studied in UK and now she is a doctor, her English is brilliant.
I also have three brothers who studied abroad and now they're working.
If you want to know me better ,, you can ASK :)

I want you all to come and talk about yourselves to get to know each other.
Sorry if I talked too much :)

Take care

hellooo everybody

how r u my friends? All of us should actively take part & start posting messages to make ielts community8 interactive. I have gone through some of posting,most of them has shared their experience in the blog. i thank Tony 4 giving his id.hope to see more posting next time.bye.

Sabu.

Learning Zone Advice

Class

Some of you might be in the Learning Zone today - morning / afternoon / before the lesson, so this is the score:

1. Go to the START menu in the left hand corner of the PC
2. Click on PROGRAMS
3. From the drop down menu choose: IELTS Academic or IELTS GT option
4. Let the CD load
5. Click continue
6. You have 12 themes on the left and each theme relates to either VOCAB / Reading / Listening / Writing / Speaking tasks all based on IELTS practice
7. Choose a theme
8. Decide on which skill you want to practise: either VOCAB / Reading / Listening / Writing / Speaking
9. Target the question types / aspects of this skill which you need to work on
10. Use the RIGHT click for tips / check answers / redo
11. You cannot save / print out this material - you must work on it in REAL time = YOUR time at the British Council
12. Consider working with a "study buddy" - someone from the course who is in "the same boat" as you

Tomorrow, Tuesday, everyone will have a chance from 6.30 - 7.30pm to work in the Learning Zone.

Bye for now

Keep posting and commenting

Tony

Suad's message: "To be or not to be"

See an old blog: IELTSCOMMUNITY2 / blog number 12013232 for Suad's post.

Cheers

Tony

The devile hasn't shown up yet!

Hello Tony,
I would like to share my experience with you. I've studied English for about ten years.I feel that my English language level maintained the same for a long time. This is why I 'm trying to do my best in this course to polish up my English to reach band 7 "I hope so". I joined the IELTS Course because I found it is not an easy task to work it on my own. A little push could help me to score the golden band 7 . I'm going to take a special training programe for teacher this summer. I wish this course will help me to remedy my English language weaknesses. I really want to be a good teacher to better serve my students, to add to my qualifications,and open doors for better jobs. When I was interviewd to join the course they said that " The devile will be in the class!",however, the devile hasn't shown up yet but, it seems to be a tough course.
Anyway, we will smoke him out of his cave.
Thanks
Ahmed.

The devile hasn't shown up yet!

I think this was one of the class , Ahmed probably, posting a message.

So come on guys let's hear from you!

Use a 'nickname' or code to sign in when using my account - we'd love to know who is posting on the weblog!

bye for now

Tony

Hello the keen one(s)

So gang, this is how it works!

To post a message:

You go to www.blogger.com

Enter MY username and password [will give them to you tonight]

Go to dashboard and select IELTSCOMMUNITY8 blog # 21058039

Click on "create new post" and you're ready to post a message (just leave your name / nickname for me to know who has posted.

To make a comment:

click on comments

use BLOGMEMBER username and password (get that tonight as well]

and make your comment.

BINGO!! We're blogging.

Now the secret message is why do we use red and yellow cards in football:

It started after the 1966 World Cup when a German referee sent off an Argentine player who didn't speak German and the ref didn't speak Spanish. The linesmen couldn't help, neither could the English players who spoke only English (of course!). Chaos ensued and communication, rather the lack of it was the cause.
So the head of the refereeing committee, an Englishman called Ken Aston, had the brilliant idea of using RED and YELLOW as the signal for "sent off" or "warning" while he was sitting in a traffic jam and was looking at the red and yellow signals of the lights. HISTORY was made.

As you can guess, history and football are two of my passions in life. So the secret question, class, is: What are you passionate about?

I'm waiting to hear your answers tonight - don't disappoint me by being boring, 'wet' individuals who aren't passionate about anything.

How was it last night? It should be a load of fun tonight as well, apologies in advance if my sense of humour is a little cruel... What did the prince say to his doomed lover in Shakespeare's tragic play "Hamlet"?

Yep, that was the second secret question!

Rock on, guide seekers, this blog isn't just for me. it's YOURS as well!!!

BFN

Tony, of Irascible English Linguist Tormenting Students fame...