Homework 2011-2012

In this blog you will find extra material to improve your English.

Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 1
Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 2
Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 3 
Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 4
Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 5
Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 6
Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 7
Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 8
Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 9 
Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 10
Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 11 
Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 12
Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 13
Here you will find all the entries related to Ready for CAE unit 14
Compositions
1. My English and Me (deadline: 19 Oct)
2. Read this article and write a formal letter to the newspaper, giving your version of what life is like on the island and asking them to print another article. Use the comments below the article to get some ideas of what to say. You will find a letter writing guide here and here (deadline: 9 Nov) 
3. Write a report about some different types of TV advertising. Get the details here. (deadline: 28 Nov) 
4. Writing: Character Reference. (deadline: 21 Dec)
One of your classmates sees this advert on the British Council website: www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants-fla.htm

Have you ever wanted to teach abroad and improve your English? Can you think of classroom activities that would help students in the UK to improve their language skills? If so, the Foreign Language Assistants programme might be for you.
Your role will be to work with the teacher in the classroom or on your own with small groups of students in order to help them gain confidence in your language. It is also a good chance for them to learn more about the culture in your country.
If you are a language assistant wishing to teach Spanish in the UK, you must apply to the office in your home country:

Ms Conchita Hernandez
Ministerio de Educación
Subdireccion General de Cooperacion Internacional
Paseo del Prado 28-2
28014 Madrid
Spain

You will need to send the application form and at least one character reference letter.

Your task:

Your classmate asks you to write the character reference letter for him. Use 230-260 words.
 
Find useful language here.

5. Write a scrapbook this Christmas with the activities you do together with family and friends. (deadline: 16 Jan)

6. Ready for CAE p 69. Choose one of these statements and write an essay (deadline 29 Feb):

• Young people no longer respect their elders
• It is better to live alone than in the parental home
• The over-sixties have nothing to learn from the under-twenties.
• Marriage is no longer relevant in modern society.
• Parents should be punished for offences committed by their children.
• We have more means of communication, but we communicate less effectively.

7.  Write a review of a book or film encouraging others to read or see it: Useful language . (deadline: 28 March)
8. Write a balanced discussion ( essay ) on the following theme: "New fashions in diet and exercise are more concerned with commercial profit than with health and fitness." (deadline: 18th April).
9. Write an essay on the following theme: "Is Social Networking Bad for You?" (deadline 30th April).
10. Write a descriptive essay: My Dream House. Try to use the vocabulary on page 214. You can also find models here and here (Deadline 9th May)
11. Essay: The Current Education System is Flawed. You can get some ideas in this video and in this one.(Deadline: 16 May) 
 
Presentations
 Readers (deadlines: 31 Oct and Feb)

Workbook
You can do the exercises in: Unit 1  , Units 2-14

Reading List Advanced 2 2011-2012

Readers Advanced 2

Your assignments are:

A) You will choose a book to read. Tell your teacher which book you have chosen. (Deadline: 31 Oct.). You will then read the book.

B) You will prepare a short presentation about it. You can also include your favourite quotes from the book and add some explanations. You can also try to convince the class that the book you have chosen should (not) be on the Reading List next year. (February) 

Reading List 2011-2012 (suggestions)

1.            The Kite Runner is a novel by Khaled Hosseini.  Published in 2003, it is Hosseini's first novel, and was adapted into a film of the same name in 2007.The Kite Runner tells the story of Amir, a young boy from Kabul, who befriends Hassan, the son of his father's servant. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of Afghanistan's monarchy through the Soviet invasion, the mass exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the rise of the Taliban regime. 336 pages

2.            The Brooklyn Follies is a 2005 novel by Paul Auster. The 60-year-old Nathan Glass returns to Brooklyn after his wife has left him. He is recovering from lung cancer and is looking for "a quiet place to die". In Brooklyn he meets his nephew, Tom, whom he has not seen in several years. Tom has seemingly given up on life and has resigned himself to a string of meaningless jobs as he waits for his life to change. They develop a close friendship, entertaining each other in their misery, as they both try to avoid taking part in life.  320 pages

3.            Disgrace is a 1999 Booker Prize-winning novel by South African-born author J. M. Coetzee who won the Nobel Prize in Literature four years after its publication. David Lurie is a South African professor of English who loses everything: his reputation, his job, his peace of mind, his good looks, his dreams of artistic success, and finally even his ability to protect his own daughter. He is twice-divorced and dissatisfied with his job as a Communications professor, teaching one specialized class in Romantic literature at a technical university in Cape Town in post-apartheid South Africa. His "disgrace" comes when he seduces one of his students and he does nothing to protect himself from its consequences. 220 pages.

4.            Notes from a Small Island is a humorous travel book on Great Britain by American author Bill Bryson, first published in 1995. Bryson covers all corners of the island observing and talking to people. On his way, Bryson provides historical information on the places he visits, and expresses amazement at the heritage in Britain. Sideways, Bryson pays homage to to the humble self-effacing fortitude of British people under trying times such as the World Wars and Great Depression, as well as the various peculiarities of Britain and British English. 327 pages.

5.            Enduring Love (1997) is a novel by British writer Ian McEwan. On a beautiful and cloudless day, a middle-aged couple celebrate their union with a picnic. Joe Rose and his long-term partner Clarissa Mellon are about to open a bottle of champagne when a cry interrupts them. A hot air balloon, with a 10-year-old boy in the basket and his grandfather being dragged behind it, has been ripped from its moorings. Joe immediately joins several other men in an effort to bring the balloon to safety. In the rescue attempt, one man, John Logan, dies. 247 pages.