English Pro

Writing might be the most daunting skill and part of the exam. Why? Because it’s generally awfully under-practised .
Let’s delve into the very first stage of the writing process - the planning stage🙂

Нові групки стартують вже з 3 лютого🎈

Всіх, хто бажає доєднатися, тестую🙂
Якщо є запитання, пишіть в коментарях або DM

У цьому пості розберемо
🍁by the same token
🍁as such

Якщо було корисно, let me know 🙂

Нові групи у грудні 🤗

А ще - на початок лютого планується старт чотирьох нових груп🙌🏻
🆕 CAE
🆕 C1 General course
Дві 🆕 C2+ groups (абсолютно новий курс)

Більше деталей - у грудні🤗

Everyone seems to have had a hard time with these three expressions🙈

📌To/for all intents and purposes
📌By the same token
📌In this/the same/a similar vein

Let’s delve into them👩🏻‍💻

✍️ Whether you’re writing a post or an essay, text presentation matters. The way you lay out your text can have a big impact on readability - that is, how easy (and pleasant!) it is to read.

📚 We’ve all opened a book or document and seen one giant block of text - no blank lines, no indents... 🙈 It feels dense and overwhelming, right? A little space between paragraphs makes a huge difference. It gives the eye a break and helps the reader follow your ideas more easily.

When it comes to exam writing, two presentation styles are generally considered best:

1️⃣ No indents + blank lines between paragraphs

2️⃣ Indents + blank lines between paragraphs

🚫 Some UK students say they’ve been penalised for using only indentation without any line breaks.

Bottom line:✨ Make your writing easy on the eye - it’s not just about what you say, but how you lay it out.

💭 Make use of your students’ contributions: the sentences they write and share; Quizlets they make; dialogues they create and share, etc. All of these can be used for the benefit of the whole group.

💭 Praise your students for their contributions. Show them that their work is appreciated and actually benefits not only them, but also the rest of the group.

💭 During the class, notice not only “fancy” chunks but also normal everyday “simple” language like “haven’t got round to that yet” or “fair enough!”.

💭 Work on your students’ communication skills: how they interact with each other. Highlight the importance of verbal and non-verbal backchannelling techniques in your feedback.

💭 What you think is NOT correct might be just fine or might have already become the norm. Language changes. Double-check before correcting. Triple-check. Look for the right answer together with your students.
See the second slide about this one.

As someone who teaches groups, I occasionally have to say goodbye to students.
My courses are long - 12 to 24 months - and by now, I’ve accepted that very few groups reach the finish line with the same people they started with.
And you know what? If you teach long-term group courses, chances are you’ve been / you will be in the same situation.
So how do I feel when someone leaves mid-course?
It’s sad, of course - especially when it’s someone you’ve REALLY enjoyed working with. That goes without saying.
✅ Yes, I’ll have to think about filling that spot.
✅ Yes, a new person might not be a good fit — for a number of reasons.
✅ Yes, I might not find anyone at all.
✅ Yes, I worry a little — but just a little.

Do I feel angry when someone leaves?
No.
I understand that priorities shift, life happens, things come up.
But.
I DO feel a certain way when someone leaves in an inconsiderate manner.
Like when they disappear without a word, ignore my messages, don’t pay for their final lessons, or make a decision to leave an hour before class.
Those things sting. Especially when they come from someone you never expected it from.

Recently, a student - a fellow teacher, one of the sweetest people I’d worked with - suddenly disappeared after 1.5 years in the group. Was leaving my messages on «delivered» for weeks, didn’t pay for the last few classes. I still wonder why she chose to end things that way.

So no - I’m not upset when someone leaves kindly:
🔆 they give two weeks’ notice (or at least a few days)
🔆 they say something nice before leaving
🔆 they pay for their attended lessons - and I don’t have to chase them down a month later
That kind of goodbye? I deeply appreciate it.

Feel free to share your thoughts or stories 🙂

If you teach groups, the following situation might well hit close to home:
you send students to a breakout room asking them to discuss some questions (post-listening or post-reading, for example) and then - after bringing them back - you ask them about the things they discussed together and hear this:

👩🏼‍💼: We discussed that it makes no sense to …
👩🏼‍💼: We discussed that the government must take action to …

❌We discussed + that-clause❌

I hear something like this almost every lesson🙂

✅ we discuss something with someone
✅ we discuss something
✅ we discuss WHEN we should do sth / WHERE to do sth / WHO needs to do sth / HOW to do sth

So, suggest that your students use some of the following ways:
💁🏻‍♀️ One of the things we mentioned was …
💁🏻‍♀️ [Maria] said that … and I completely agree.
💁🏻‍♀️ [Maria] and I both agree that …
💁🏻‍♀️ I really liked [Maria’s] point about … because I couldn’t agree more.
💁🏻‍♀️ [Maria] and I believe/think that …

Do you know what is better than “We discussed + that-clause”?🙂 - Only “We discussed with [partner’s name] + that-clause” when there were two people involved in the conversation 🙃

One thing you can do after reading / listening to some text is retell its gist.

1️⃣ Ask your SS to take turns reading 2-3 sentences or a paragraph (provided that the paragraphs are more or less of the same size and pretty short) at a time. Tell them they can read out loud or to themselves.
(I personally like reading out loud at a slow pace, hearing the words and processing information that way).

2️⃣ Ask them to explain the main idea of each piece in their own words. They can use the phrases from the original text, of course, but they don’t have to - encourage them to improvise and produce their own version of the content.

How is this activity beneficial for SS?
Swipe to see🙌🏻

…………

Are you going to try it with your students?