Classic learner mistakes – can you correct them?

by David Sweetnam on October 31, 2011

Sadly some students are taught at school that “mistakes are bad.” But mistakes are good: looking at them in class and seeing why you make them can help improve your understanding of English, as well as help improve your accuracy in speaking and writing. Here are some classic ones a few of my students made last week – can you spot the mistakes below?

Image: Neil T. (licence: CC by 2.0)

Spot the mistakes

Level: Upper Intermediate (B2+)

1. I see my friends quite often because of they are fun to be with.

2. I like when he cooks for me.

3. I visit a gym 3 times a week.

continue reading…

99 top IELTS collocations

by David Sweetnam on October 20, 2011

Here is a reference sheet to act as a little reminder to students taking the IELTS writing exam about the importance of collocations in academic English.

You may have noticed lately that I’ve posted some worksheets directly relating to a class or student I’ve been teaching. This is mostly so that students can access these wherever they are, and also for me to generate a bank of different materials which I can download and use anywhere.

Today here is a reference sheet of adjectives which go with some key nouns to use when describing graphs and trends.

Don’t forget that you are marked on your ability to use a variety of vocabulary – using your dictionary, check the ones you aren’t sure of, and you may find that these collocations are useful for widening your active ‘lexical resource.’

Get it here:


Or here:
99 top IELTS collocations

How I chose the words

I typed in the keywords on some online newspaper sites, as well as checking an online corpus.


Specialising in FCE | CAE | CPE | IELTS Preparation

david [at] GetIntoEnglish [dot] com
Skype: getintoenglish
Twitter @GetIntoEnglish
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IELTS writing exam task 1 – describing a trend

by David Sweetnam on October 16, 2011

Are you looking for help with IELTS preparation in Prague? In the IELTS writing exam you need to be able to describe a graph (or a chart, a diagram or other visual information) and be able to interpret the information presented to you. As part of this, today we look at the keyword ‘trend’.

IELTS Writing Task 1: an introduction

I’ll write a more lengthy post later about this IELTS writing task but just for now please note the following:

  • you should spend a few minutes looking at the chart or graph and work out what information and trends you can see
  • you have only 20 minutes to complete this task – don’t spend longer than this, as you have to complete task 2 in 40 minutes!
  • Don’t try to write unnecessarily long sentences in order to fill up the word limit. Instead write concise, informative sentences.
  • You can make sentences longer by using linking words (eg although, despite) to join these concise sentences together

A possible model plan

Divide your answer into 3 paragraphs. In the first one you describe what information the graph(s) shows. In the body (paragraph 2) your answer will incorporate how you respond to these questions:

  • What general trends can you see? Are there any exceptions?
  • What are the highest or lowest figures?
  • What does the information suggest?

In paragraph 3 you can include a note summarising the general trends which you see.

Lexical Resource

You are given marks for the variety and range of vocabulary you use, which often includes your ability to use collocations appropriate to the task.

Because one of my own students is studying for the IELTS right now, while another one needs vocabulary to describe graphs, I prepared a reference worksheet on the keyword ‘trend’, with examples of how to use this word.

Rather than use a dictionary, I’ve used my own knowledge with some examples taken from the Financial Times .

We’ll go through this in class. For now, print it off and underline any collocations you think are useful for the exam.

I’m preparing a more detailed reference sheet on this topic, which I’ll post when it’s complete.

Collocations with ‘trend’

Get it here:


Or here:
Keyword trend

Further reading

Euro dips 5% – graphs and trends


Specialising in FCE | CAE | CPE | IELTS Preparation

david [at] GetIntoEnglish [dot] com
Skype: getintoenglish
Twitter @GetIntoEnglish
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Euro dips 5% – graphs and trends

by David Sweetnam on October 8, 2011

Here is a reference sheet which presents verbs to use for describing graphs and trends.

This week I had two lessons where we looked at graphs and trends. In one case we looked at words to use for presenting company sales figures, whereas in another class we looked at some of the language you need to know to be able to do Writing Task 1 of the IELTS exam.

Please note that I added a few words by looking at today’s Financial Times.

Also check you know the answers to these questions:

  • are there any differences in meaning among verbs in the same boxes?
  • which verbs have a noun form?
  • which verbs are irregular?

Get it here:


Or here-> Euro dips

Also check out:

Sales hit one million – graphs and trends


Specialising in FCE | CAE | CPE | IELTS Preparation

david [at] GetIntoEnglish [dot] com
Skype: getintoenglish
Twitter @GetIntoEnglish
Now on Facebook

So, how was the flight? – small talk

by David Sweetnam on October 5, 2011

To kick off today, some site news about Get Into English:

Image: sa-ku-ra (licence CC by 2.0)

While I continue to post articles and worksheets on learning English, I’m also looking for a professional designer to help improve the look of this blog and to make it a better reading experience. I’ll be asking around for feedback from friends and students, and please feel free to add your views on how Get Into English can improve below.

In addition, I’m planning a client-only zone, which I think will be great for students and clients who wish to learn English in Prague with me. More on this later on!

So you may see some changes in the coming weeks and months, but overall I’m sure it will help make this blog a better read for everyone.

David

ps and check out the new page on Facebook here ;)

Small talk phrases

So, did you catch the game?

The (AFL) Australian Football Grand Final took place at the weekend, and Geelong came through in the end. Almost 100 000 people were at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with millions more watching on TV. I can imagine on Monday that it was the only thing that people were talking about in pubs and at water coolers in offices all over the city!

It’s a reminder too that talking about sport, the weather, what you did last night or at the weekend is an important part of the language and culture across the English-speaking world.

We call it small talk. We use informal phrases, phrasal verbs and idiomatic expressions when we chat and ask each other about how we’re going:

I hear you went to the party. How did you find it?
I’m popping over to Bill’s later on – want to come?
How did you like the big match?
What did you get up to yesterday?
Did you get up to much over the weekend?
Busy day?

The funny thing about this however is that SO much teaching time at some English language schools is devoted to grammar. Yet when you land in Australia or the States or Great Britain, will you be prepared to actually speak with the locals?

For some learners I’ve had over the years in Prague, they don’t see the sense in small talk, as it’s not as big a feature of Czech compared to English. I remember when I first arrived in town and asked some friends “jak se máš?” (how are you?), only for them to smile and respond:

“Actually we don’t really say that, David.”

I also remember having a class in a company when the first student to arrive was an IT guy, someone who preferred to study the rules of the language rather than have a conversation at 8am in the morning with a guy from Australia. Those first five minutes before the others came were painful, probably for both of us:

- So how was your weekend?
- Good.
- Did you go anywhere?
- Yes, I was at the cottage..

At that point he had this look on his face like “I hope the real lesson will start soon.”

Then one day I did something different:

- What did you read in the newspaper this morning?

Suddenly he was speaking for ages about his thoughts on the war in Iraq!

Today I won’t argue so much about why these conversational phrases and expressions are important for students to be exposed to and practise, partly as my own students generally agree that they are useful for speaking English naturally.

Small talk phrases worksheet

So we can move forward here and look at this recent worksheet I did with one student. I’m sharing it here for my other students and hope you too will find it useful :)

Level: Upper Intermediate (B2+)

Time: if you practise the language by asking your friends the questions (or your teacher), this can take more than 30 minutes.

Task: fill in the gaps with the right word. As well, there are some typical features of English conversation in the worksheet – what do you notice that seems different to what might be in a ‘traditional’ English coursebook?

The pronunciation of the questions and phrases is important to practise, which we can do in the next lesson as a warm up.

Please download it here and if you have any questions, feel free to ask below!



Or get it here if the link doesn’t work:
Small talk – so how was the flight

Let me know how you go!



Specialising in FCE | CAE | CPE | IELTS Preparation

david [at] GetIntoEnglish [dot] com
Skype: getintoenglish
Twitter @GetIntoEnglish
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Carn the Hawks!

by David Sweetnam on September 30, 2011

You might already know that Australia’s top summer sport is cricket. But what about winter? Australian Rules Football is a sensational game that gets your heart goin’, and in 14 hours from now, over 90 000 people will pack in to the famed MCG, with millions more watching in pubs and bars across the land.

Well, I wanted to say “Carn the Hawks!” but Hawthorn lost to Collingwood in last week’s epic last-gasp Preliminary Final battle, which means tomorrow’s big AFL Final is between Geelong and Collingwood. Talk about a dilemma – who to prefer out of those two?!

Australian Football is kinda hard to explain. The best thing is to check it out below and see what you think. Here’s the last 8 minutes of last week’s match, where no one really knew who would win:

If you can’t see the video, click here

What do you think? How does it compare to soccer for you?

As I’ve been away from home for some time, I’ll be itching anyhow to watch the game. You’ll be able to catch the latest through Melbourne’s better newspaper, The Age.

Get Into English new page on Facebook!

Further reading

Sports vocabulary answers..and a piece of cricketing history [with worksheet]



Specialising in FCE | CAE | CPE | IELTS Preparation

david [at] GetIntoEnglish [dot] com
Skype: getintoenglish
Twitter @GetIntoEnglish
Now on Facebook