PORTFOLIO

ENGLISH 3

PRESENTED BY

MIGUEL ANGEL TORRES LOZANO

2010

Part one.

Index + Student's Preface + "Your Portfolio" +

Prayers, Syllabus, Passport, Mission

Statement, Rules & Procedures, Class

Expectations

Class expectation:

English 3, a new for me in this semester and a new challenge for me; I hope that I can pass this level. I‟ll speak all the time in English, also I´ll do the best on all the homework and I‟m gonna show my first impression as English teacher in our classroom.

Our pedagogical agreement.

25% Midterm exam. (Units 06-09 new headway pre-intermediate)

25% Final term exam (units‟ 10-12 new headway pre-intermediate)

(Units 01-02 new headway intermediate)

15% Oral activities: expositions, interviews and role-plays.

15% Oral and written quizzes

20% Compositions / portfolio.

With this pedagogical agreement, we´re gonna work in this semester, if we wanna pass this level, we have to put a little bit of attention making an excellent portfolio because this work has a worth of 20$% of the final grade.

I guess that that most important thing that we learned at the first week of class was this sentence “don´t fear to talk in front of the class in English”.

OUR PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES IN THIS SEMESTER.

1) First novel reading, 1 per, 17 Sept. 2) Role-play --4 per--- 10 min. 24 Sept. 3) Story telling presentations. 1 per, 1st Oct.... 4) Lesson plan, class presentation --1 per, 29 Oct. 5) 2nd novel reading. 1per, 5 Nov. 6) News Paper Making --(2 groups). 12 Nov. 7) Video making (English Learning Video)--3 per. 19 Nov

Part two

Class notes

I took some notes about vocabulary and grammar that were important to me, because it was something new for me:

Grateful: something thankful from an excellent work that we did it. To sweat: when we finished doing physical exercise, our bodies are covered

with salty water. Agreement: it´s a contract where we put our conditions for something that

we´re gonna do. Give back: it´s return something. Differences between past simple and present perfect, also an explanation of

using off since, for and ago.

Beginning Present perfect

Past future

Beginning finishes Present

Past simple

- Fall over: fall in the same place. - Fall down: fall to the ground but in different level. - To book: reserve your ticket with anticipation. - queue : to form a line while waiting for something - Box office: the place where tickets are bought for entertainments such as

movies, plays, or concerts - Modal auxiliary verbs such may, should, must, have to, etc. - 0 conditional ( present vs. present) - 1st conditional ( present vs. future) - 2nd conditional ( past simple vs. would) - 3rd conditional ( would+ present perfect+ past perfect) - Uses and differences between those topics. - Passive voice: rules, explanations and exercises to improve our knowledge.

These are all the important information that I consider important for me, I wrote this because I saw that I needed to know some topics because it was unknown for me.

Part three

Homework

“si quieres, puedes” Richard Vaughan:

This was an interesting work about learning of English that was a story about an English teacher, his problems and solutions, also there were the stories of some student at his institute. In that book, the author give us some advises in the English‟s learning like work improve our different abilities (reading, speaking, writing and listening). He shows us a simple book and its beginning gives us sentences that open our eyes in the English learning “no hay aprendizaje de ingles sin dolor” and for me the most important sentence “Uds. Nunca hablaran ingles Como un nativo “those sentences were so impressive for me because I thought in a different way about English learning. But I really enjoyed reading this book because show the real world of English‟s teachers in countries where people don´t speak English.

“How are English didactics” & “how can I apply it in Colombia?”

These were our first homework in this semester, we had to search information about the different application of English didactics in Colombia, starting with portfolios in class, San Andres Islands project, websites like Colombiaaprende.com, senavirtual.com and ispeak.com; also the improvement of English teachers in universities. This work´s showed me that we weren´t alone in Colombia as we thought it. We have a lot of aid for our work as future English teachers in Colombia.

“Differences between Present perfect and past simple”

With this work, the foremost in this was to learn all this topics that I thought it wasn´t important but finally I was wrong with that. So, I guess that I have to show more attention with this topics because if I knew It, it would be something that I didn´t see it. But I enjoyed ´cause I learned some rules that I didn´t know it.

“Visit the website myesltips.blogspot.com, text-to-speech.imtranslator.net/, www.rnw.nl/english, www.englishpage.com, avaxhome.ws, rapidsharedownload.com, wikihow.com, interactive.mped.org, www.esl-lab.com”

These are the websites that we´re work in class every Monday in bilingualism classroom show me that if we search on the internet, we can find a lot of useful material for our learning. The only thing that we need it‟s a computer and internet. also we have to put all of our attention because we have time and material to improve a lot our but we felt lazy with this, so I guess that we´re wasting our time when we don´t do anything about our subject.

“Beowulf”

That was one of my favorite classes in this semester; my reason is that we put our knowledge in a challenge with this movie with subtitles in English, so if we wanna improve our knowledge, we have to see more movies and try to listen English all the time, in this kind of practice we can improve our listening with native voices and natural American expressions. also I liked the activity of resolve some question about Beowulf, it´s the way that we can show our knowledge that we kept seeing the movie.

First oral report of one book with level 3rd at reading.

it was a little bit difficult because I forgot one word and that was the reason that I speak without fluency, but I guess that I can improve because I‟m working with my speaking and my thoughts in English. It sees that my problem is that sometime I translate in my head, so sometimes I can´t follow a quick conversation but these activities help me improving my listening and speaking.

“The story of the stuff”

It was an impressive video, we never think about the impact over the environment when we used machines to do our works like car , factories and another contaminations machines that become our air in something dirty and unhealthy.

Passive voice

As the last exercise of grammar about Present perfect vs. past simple, at the beginning I didn´t pay attention but when I started to read, I realized that was useful for me to know it. So I appreciate so much this activity because I´, becoming in a student without preoccupation in my learning of grammar and vocabulary.

Role-play

I‟ve enjoyed so much this activity because we do the best of us to show our stories; also we have to do a script for our presentation to the teacher. So in this activity we´ve worked with the 4 competences of English. (Reading, speaking, listening and writing). I guess that activity is my favorite in this semester for all the content and context that we used to do these wonderful jobs.

Portfolio

I consider this activity one of the most important activities in this semester. The reason is because we put all of our independent work, our activities at home like homework and independent assessment and this is our proof of all activities with the teacher and by ourselves.

“Questions about Beowulf”

1- What does thanes in wrothgar´s hall to value most? Well, when Wrothgar was celebrating a victory in the battlefield, the most value thing in that hall was a cup with dragon´s shape, that cup made of gold was so shining and beautiful.

2- Describe Grendal: Grendal was an ugly beast, son of Wrothgar. That troll had big head, it was a huge troll and skinless, he had a particular shape and ears made of water.

3- What are king Wrothgar and his queen doing during Grendal´s first attack? They were celebrating a victory in the battlefield; also they were sharing out all the gains of that victory.

4- What is Beowulf doing when first see him? He was traveling on a boat in the middle of a hard rain on the sea. Also that rain was in a darkness night.

5- Why has Wrothgar closed his mead-hall? Because inside of the building had died a lot of people and there were a lot of dry blood on the floor and the walls.

6- Who challenges Beowulf by saying he lost the race with Brecca? That was Unferth, the councilor of the king.

7- What does Wrothgar promise Beowulf if he defeats Grendal? The reward was to get married with Welthow, wife of the king.

8- Describe Welthow (Wrothgar´s wife) and Wrothgar´s relationship. The relationship was bad and coldness between the king and queen. The king loves her because she was a gorgeous girl, but they hadn´t a son.

9- What´s the topic of Welthow´s song? The song is about a hero, who‟s won a battle and always came to home.

10- What does Grendal do when he hears the song? He screamed because he felt pain in his ears for the loudest sound on that lands

PART FOUR

HANDOUTS.

Narrative Story.

The locked room.

With this book I‟ve been reading according with lesson plan of this semester. I felt that reading this book was easy and also it gave me unknown words so useful for me and I liked this book for its easy vocabulary and interesting stories.

Grammar

Passive voice. Present perfect vs. past simple For, since and ago. Conditionals. Modal verbs.

these are al the most important topics in this semester, with this I felt that my English improve a lot , even I felt more comfortable to speak in English with my friends and all of these happen with the abundant material that we can find on the internet.

Writing

Write about our life in Ibague in present perfect. Opinion about the story of the stuff. answer questions about “Beowulf”

Writing in the class room has been practice but a less of usual because we have to do it at home as independent work, but it doesn´t matter because in this work on the portfolio where we have to write all of our dairy activities , so we have to write a lot.

PART FIVE

JOURNAL THEMES

INTERNET ACTIVITIES

Want to have a very good Experience?

Read and Browse (navigate) around all the contents and information of this page. Tell me everything you learned, and your how your mind changed, etc. http://www.ccusa.com/

Reflection: it´s an interesting website about how to get job in wherever country with English spoken like United Kingdom or United States. They in this website put all the necessary information to make our dreams of work in another country become in true.

Learn New Vocabulary!

An interesting page for learning new vocabulary and its pronunciation. Don't forget to be creative when reporting this work and other in the portfolio. The page is: http://learningchocolate.com/ Enjoy and learn.

Reflection: I´ve enjoyed learning vocabulary in this page in a different way as we know; I guess that we can use this website when we begin to teach in a school as English teachers. I felt that I‟ve learnt a good quantity of vocabulary from this page.

TV SHOWS ONLINE

Here's a good page for watching TV series online for free. Watch, listen, enjoy and don't forget to tell me your reactions in the portfolio. http://free-tv-video-online.info/internet/

Reflection: one of my favorite websites because I could watch TV show like The Simpsons in English and the best part that I could see its first episode in English, so my opinion from this is we can combined our hobbies with our learning, making our learning more interesting for us and also to our future students.

My Pupils' Experience

www.mypupilsexperience.blogspot.com

This blog intends to be my student's space for showing their progress out to the world. All files here are made by my all time pupils. Enjoy and give them your support.

Reflection: I like this space because we can show to another people our progress and we can show how our English level as student of the University of Tolima is. Because we can be the best teachers of English in Ibague.

Language Teaching Articles.

According to our program for this semester, we need to read articles about teaching, as it is your area of performance. Here is a good page for reading articles. Don't forget to report your reactions on the portfolio. http://iteslj.org/Articles/

Reflection: with this, we work with our reading level and also we can use our this articles to improve our speaking because we see natural expression, it´s the same that Spanish if we don´t read, we don´t have a lot of vocabulary for our knowledge.

English Phrasal Verbs

If you don‟t know about phrasal verbs, this is the best option to learn this important topic for all, but I don‟t forget the best option to learn this hard topic and it‟s a dairy practice with this problem but with this page we have a huge dictionary to start to practice this. http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/phrasal-verbs/

Reflection: if we‟re gonna to learn this, we‟re gonna start right now because it‟s so difficult to us, phrasal verbs are some words that we don‟t know a lot but if we speak all the time in English and using all of them, we can learn how to use them.

ESL Games - Juegos de palabras para aprender o practicar inglés - Trabalenguas, adivinanzas, chistes

Interesting website to learn more tactics to improve our speaking, because we need improve it for a huge reason, we have to speak in an intermediate level to pass this semester, so we have to visit this web site. www.saberingles.com.ar Reflection: Interesting material and so useful for all of us, maybe if we start to teach to kids, we can use this material because it‟s so funny and interesting and also I‟ve enjoy it. Good vs. Well.

It‟s a common mistake in English learners but it‟s interesting to know the difference between good and well, also we have to know because we‟re gonna teach to other people our knowledge and if we don‟t know, we gonna do a huge mistake.

www.elearnenglishlanguage.com

Free ESL Stories and Exercises

In this web site we can listen and read at the same time, an exercise so useful for us, with this work, we can learn the correct pronunciation of the words, all of us have to use this website and also use it in the classroom as a teachers in the near future.

http://www.rong-chang.com/qa2/

Prefixes and Suffixes (Affixes) - Language Arts FREE Presentations in PowerPoint format, Free Int

As a teacher we have to know all about prefixes and suffixes in English, also we have to know how to teach to our students, so let‟s do it. languagearts.pppst.com

English & Songs - Aprender inglés con letras de canciones en inglés - I Will Always Love You - Whitn

Music is a useful material to use in the classroom and also useful for all of us. We can learn music with good lyrics, I mean with good material in grammar and Vocabulary because in music we can teach some idiomatic expression. http://www.saberingles.com.ar/songs/

American Idioms (A) - Popular Phrases in English

Well, we need to know about American idioms because we like to speak in good way and with fluency, the American idioms give us a short help to speak in a natural form like an American but we have to practice a lot to talk with a similar way like an American.

http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/americanidioms/index.html

INDEPENDENT WORK

I‟m gonna write my activities in August and September with my independent activities at home.

August:

Learnt the lyrics of bat country by Avenged Sevenfold.

Bat country

"He who makes a beast

out of himself,

Gets rid of the pain of

being a man"

Caught here in a fiery

blaze, won't lose my will

to stay.

I tried to drive all through

the night,

The heat stroke ridden

weather, the barren

empty sights.

No oasis here to see,

The sand is singing

deathless words to me.

[Chorus:]

Can't you help me as I'm

startin' to burn (all alone)

too many doses and I'm

starting to get an

attraction.

My confidence is leaving

me on my own (all

alone).

No one can save me and

you know I don't want

the attention.

As I adjust to my new

sights the rarely tired

lights

Will take me to new

heights.

My hand is on the trigger

I'm ready to ignite.

Tomorrow might not

make it but everything's

all right.

Mental fiction follows me;

Show me what it's like to

be set free.

[Chorus]

So sorry you're not here

I've been sane too long

My vision's so unclear.

Now take a trip with me

but don't be surprised

When things aren't what

they seem.

Caught here in a fiery

blaze, won't lose my will

to stay.

These eyes won't see

the same, after I flip

today.

Sometimes I don't

know why we'd rather

live than die,

We look up towards

the sky for answers to

our lives.

We may get some

solutions but most just

pass us by,

Don‟t want your

absolution cause I

can't make it right.

I'll make a beast out of

myself,

gets rid of all the pain

of being a man.

[Chorus]

So sorry you're not

here I've been sane

too long

My vision's so unclear.

Now take a trip with

me but don't be

surprised

When things aren't

what they seem.

I've known it from the

start all these good

ideas

Will tear your brain

apart.

Scared but you can

follow me I'm too weird to live but much too rare to die.

Read the da Vinci code. It has been a little difficult because it´s September and I haven´t finish with this book. The positive point is that I´ve learn a lot of vocabulary and grammar.

Resolve some exercises from internet in grammar and listening. Read articles in English like wwe magazine, Wikipedia and “build the

mosque a bit further away” from www.rnw.nl.

Visit some websites that the teacher gave us like

With this activities that I started to do in august, there are some activities that I can´t finish yet like read the da Vinci code and learn the completely the lyrics of bat country, but with this activities I felt that my knowledge in English started to warm up like an athlete with his activities before a big competition. So I can say that these exercises have covered all the four abilities (speaking and listening with bat country, visiting websites that the teacher give us), (reading with the da Vinci code´s book, reading articles from internet like “built the mosque a bit further away” an interesting article about the building of a mosque in the ground zero, where 3000 people died in a terrorist attack from Al Qaeda in 2001, so now 2010 some people wanna build a Muslim mosque close to the ground zero so the people think that is bad idea.

September.

I‟ve planned these activities for this month to improve my reading and listening:

Reading of Sherlock Holmes and the mystery of Boscombe pool, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and a story of Britain, all these are level three at reading.

Learn the lyrics of turn the page by Metallica, Jeremy by Pearl jam and trust by Megadeth.

Watch wrestlemania XXV with subtitles in English. Learning vocabulary with this website Follow the activities in the websites from facebook group “English 3”. Trying to speak English at home with my family. Following one advise of Richard Vaughan about English learning like

listen to music in low volume when I reading something or clean my house, something like that.

Turn the page

On a long and lonesome

highway east of Omaha

You can listen to the

engines moaning out as

one note song

You think about the

woman or the girl you

knew the night before

But your thoughts will

soon be wandering the

way they always do

When you're riding

sixteen hours and there's

nothing much to do

And you don't feel much

like riding; you just wish

the trip was through

Here I am - on the road

again

There I am - up on the

stage

Here I go - playing star

again

There I go - turn the page

So you walk into this

restaurant strung out

from the road

And you feel the eyes

upon you, as you're

shaking off the cold

You pretend it doesn't

bother you, but you just

want to explode

Yeah, most times you

can't hear 'em talk, other

times you can

Oh, the same old clichés,

"Is it woman? Is it man?"

And you always seem

outnumbered; you don't

dare make a stand

Make your stand

Here I am - on the road

again

There I am - up on the

stage

Here I go - playing star

again

There I go - turn the page

Oo-ooh, out there in the

spotlight, you're a million

miles away

Every ounce of energy

you try to give away

As the sweat pours out

your body like the music

that you play, yeah

Later in the evening, you

lie awake in bed

With the echoes of the

amplifiers ringing in your

head

You smoke the day's last

cigarette, remembering

what she said

What she said

He-ey

Yeah

Here I am - on the road

again

There I am - up on the

stage

Here I go - playing star

again

There I go - turn the page

There I go - turn that

page

There I go, yeah, yeah

There I go, yeah, yeah

There I go, yeah

There I go, yeah

There I go oo-oo-ooh

There I go And I'm gone

Trust

Lost in a dream Nothing is what it seems

Searching my head For the words that you

said Tears filled my eyes As we said our last

goodbyes The sad scene replays

Of you walking away

My body aches from

mistakes Betrayed by lust

We lied to each other so

much That in nothing we trust

Time and again She repeats lets be

friends I smile and say yes

Another truth bends, I

must confess

I try to let go, but I know Well never end till were dust We lied to each other again

But I wish I could trust

My body aches from mistakes Betrayed by lust

We lied to each other so much That in nothing we trust

God help me please, on my knees Betrayed by lust

We lied to each other so much Now there‟s nothing we trust

How could this be happening to me I‟m lying when I say, trust me

I can‟t believe this is true Trust hurts

Why does trust equal suffering

Absolutely nothing we trust

Jeremy.

At home

drawing pictures

of mountain tops

with him on top

lemon yellow sun

arms raised in a V

dead lay in pools of maroon blood

daddy didn't give attention

to the fact that mommy didn't care

king Jeremy the wicked

ruled his world

Jeremy spoke in class today

Jeremy spoke in class today

clearly I remember

picking' on the boy

seemed a harmless little fuck

but we unleashed a lion

gnashed his teeth

and bit the recessed lady's breast

how could I forget

he hit me with a surprise left

my jaw left hurting

dropped wide open

just like the day

like the day I heard

daddy didn't give affection

and the boy was something that mommy

wouldn't wear

king Jeremy the wicked

ruled his world

Jeremy spoke in class today

Jeremy spoke in class today

Jeremy spoke in class today

Try to forget this...

try to erase this...

from the blackboard.

My reflections about these activities are good because there were a little bit difficult to do it for example watch wrestlemania with subtitles because they spoke quickly and using idiomatic expression but if could understand almost all the information, that´s enough for me. Later I have three lyrics these song have different levels in speaking starting for the easiest like turn the page and finish with trust, the most difficult passing through for one intermediate level like Jeremy. Also I‟ve been working with my listening in a new way to improve like listen to English music when I‟m doing another activity different to English, this show me how our listening can improve giving attention and doing in the best way.

But I guess the activity most difficult for me is trying to speak in English with my family, actually with my brother that has a good listening and speaking but he can´t write in the best way, so every day we speak in English about five minutes, trying to modify our thoughts in Spanish to English, for example last Saturday I was with my friends nearby from Multicentro and I saw a sign which said “pare” but I didn´t read “pare” I read stop, so I told to my friend what the hell it´s happening to me, I was so gullible about that sign. So my mind is starting to think in English and that´s so cool because my exercises works a lot.

About the reading of those books, I felt comfortable with this because I felt that I´ve learnt a lot of vocabulary from Britain, but I chose those book because they are different, one book of history, another of criminal story and the last one of fiction science. So those books show me different way of writing that we can read without difficult. but these activities were useful for me independent learning.

OCTOBER:

October was a month where I improve my reading skill and also my listening skill so I decided to make some activities that help me with my problems.

Following the instruction of Mr. Vaughan about reading, I decided to start reading aloud, because I‟m improving my speaking and also I can read in front of the classroom.

Activities:

Read newspapers in English. Watch videos about English. Learn some lyrics from my favorite songs. Use more material from English in my dairy activities.

With these activities, I‟ve combined my favorite activities with my independent work, so I‟ve enjoyed my independent work and I feel comfortable with my improving and also that my improving is notorious. I have to say that I‟m great with my learning and I enjoy the English classes because I‟ve learnt a lot in this semester.

Lyrics:

Interstate Love Song:

Interstate love song

Waiting on a Sunday afternoon

for what I read between the lines

your lies.

Feelin' like a hand in rusted shame

so do you laugh or does it cry?

Reply?

Leavin' on a southern train

only yesterday you lied

Promises of what i seemed to be

only watched the time go by

All of these things you said to me.

Breathing is the hardest thing

To do. with all i've said and

All that's dead for you

You lied - good bye

Leavin' on a southern train

Only yesterday you lied

Promises of what i seemed to be

Only watched the time go by,

All of these things i said to you

Holy Wars and The punishment due:

“

Holy wars and the

punishment due”

Brother will kill brother

Spilling blood across the

land

Killing for religion

Something I don't

understand

Fools like me, who

cross the sea

And come to foreign

lands

Ask the sheep, for their

beliefs

Do you kill on God's

command?

A country that's divided

Surely will not stand

My past erased, no

more disgrace

No foolish naive stand

The end is near, it's

crystal clear

Part of the master plan

Don't look now to Israel

It might be your

homeland

Holy wars

[Solo - Friedman]

Upon my podium, as the

Know it all scholar

Down in my seat of

judgement

Gavel's bang, uphold

the law

Up on my soapbox, a

leader

Out to change the world

Down in my pulpit as

the holier

Than-thou-could-be-

messenger of God

Wage the war on

organized crime

Sneak attacks, repel

down the rocks

Behind the lines

Some people risk to

employ me

Some people live to

destroy me

Either way they die.

They die

[Solo - Friedman]

They killed my wife and

my baby,

With hopes to enslave

me

First mistake... last

mistake

Paid by the alliance, to

slay all the giants

Next mistake... no more

mistakes!

[Solo - Mustaine]

Fill the cracks in, with

judicial granite

Because I don't say it,

don't mean I ain't

Thinkin' it.

Next thing you know,

they'll take my thoughts

away

I know what I said, now

I must scream of the

overdose

And the lack of mercy

killings.

Mercy killings

Mercy killings

Killings!!

Killings!!

Killings!!

Next thing you know They‟ll take my thoughts

away!

November:

It‟s the last month of the semester, the activities that I‟ll do related with my training for the final term exam, so I decided to do some exercises from the new headway pre-intermediate and new headway intermediate. Also I‟m searching useful material from internet that helps me learning more information from English as second language for me.

Activities:

Complete activities from the new headway pre intermediate and new headway intermediate books.

Search for material to use in a classroom. Search for exercises related with the final term exam.

I hope that my independent work would be enough to pass and the most important learn a lot for an important language like English

PART FIVE

TEST AND QUIZZES.

First oral report:

I guess that I couldn‟t show my capabilities speaking in English, I don´t know

what happen with me in that moment, I guess I felt uncomfortable because I

forgot a simple word like agreement, that explain one though from the book

that I read. This show me if I can´t handle my fears when I gonna talk with

somebody in English, I couldn‟t speak with property and confidence. So I

have to practice a lot with my speaking and lose my fear when I gonna talk.

Role-play Activity:

That was an interesting activity for all of us, I guess that we put a lot of

motivation with this and we made a great job. In fact I guess that we had

prepared with enough time and the results were cleared because all the

presentations were interesting and well made it. In personal opinion, my

participation was good and my speaking was clearly, I guess that I felt more

confidence on the role-play.

Story telling presentation:

Selected an interesting story was my opinion at the beginning of the activity

because if I told a story, they would pay attention and follow my story, so I did

that and finally my story was good, so my partners heard all the story and

made me feel more confidence than at the beginning of the story.

Lesson plan:

That was a strange activity because we have to organize a lesson plan like

the teachers do it. So we had to search information related with this activity

like how prepare a lesson plan or make useful activities or things like those. I

have to say that I was expecting more from the activity but I think that my

partners don‟t prepare the lesson plan and finally when the day comes, they

chose a easy topic to teach. But after all we make a good job.

Newspaper:

That was an interesting activity but unfortunately I didn‟t make the activity, I

don‟t know why but I feel very uncomfortable with the huge mistake that I‟ve

made.

PART SIX.

Miscellaneous and conclusion.

Material that I collect.

How many English words can I learn per day?

10 English words or phrases per day aren‟t too many, are they? Just give it a try. You will find that you can learn them in next to no time.

So why not take a little time each day (Monday to Friday) to learn 10 new words?

Use the weekend to revise what you have learned during the past week(s). This way you‟ll enrich your English vocabulary by 50 new words per week. (That‟s 200 new English words after a month!)

Backlog Analysis: unlearn typical English mistakes

Isn‟t it frustrating: it is always the same mistakes that prevent you from getting that better mark in your English tests. How can you unlearn those mistakes?

Don‟t try too much at a time. Instead, concentrate on just one typical mistake. Go through the explanations and exercises in your grammar reference or textbook. When reading English texts, look out for that specific grammar aspect.

Our backlog analysis contains 26 typical problems. We show you where on ego4u you'll find relevant explanations, exercises and tips. Take the print out of our analysis and your last English test and consult your English teacher. Look through the test together and pick out one problem. Write down the category … and start unlearning that problem.

Motivation is half the Work

“Boring!” Well, that‟s definitely not the way it works.

Try to find a positive aspect to studying. Why not watch your favorite film in English and write down some useful words or phrases that you want to remember. You could also read the lyrics of Top 10 songs and try to understand what they are about. Or check out celebrity sites and learn more about famous actors, bands and other stars. This sure is good for your vocabulary and on top of that – it‟s lots of fun.

Always look on the bright side of life.

Learn English through Reading

Read English texts as often as you can.

This could be the news, short stories or novels, texts from your textbook or ego4u. Choose an interesting text that is not too difficult for you (otherwise it wouldn‟t be fun).

Don‟t look up every word which is new to you – even without a dictionary you will understand a lot. Just concentrate on what you do understand and try to find out the rest by intelligent guessing. That works rather well, especially if you are interested in the topic. If you are a football fanatic for example, you probably won‟t have problems understanding an English text about football. On the other hand, someone who is better in English than you but not interested in football will have more problems understanding the same text.

Do also watch the news in your native language and try to find English news to some of the topics. Even if you don't understand every word in the English text, you will get the message as you already know what the text is about.

Read between the lines.

Learn English through Movies

Thanks to DVD, watching films in English has become an easy thing to do.

Choose your favorite film – you‟ve watched that film a dozen times and probably know all the dialogues off by heart in your native language. So following the story will be easy for you.

Have paper and pen ready as you may want to jot down useful words or phrases that you wish to learn. English subtitles might be useful for that (although they might differ from what is actually being said).

If you are not used to watching films in English, choose a only few episodes – at the beginning it isn‟t easy to concentrate on listening to the foreign language for a long time.

What you see is what you get.

Learn English through Songs

Vocabulary needs to be revised again and again. Well, what could be better than studying vocabulary by listening to your favorite songs?

Read the lyrics first and try to understand them. You don‟t have to translate the lyrics word by word; just try to find out what the song is all about. (Note: „Rap‟ might not be practical as those songs usually contain slang words that not even „ordinary‟ English native speakers know.)

Pick some words or phrases from the song that you would like to learn. If necessary, look up their exact meaning in a dictionary. A dictionary might also be useful to find other interesting phrases with the word.

Now, to learn the vocabulary, all you have to do is listening to the song again and again (that shouldn‟t be a problem if it‟s one of your favorite songs).

Let the music turn you on.

Targets

Set small, achievable targets, e.g.:

learn 10 new English words or phrases every day, Mondays to Fridays (repeat on Saturdays, relax on Sundays)

unlearn one typical mistake before the next test (see our backlog analysis)

study 15 minutes every day

read the lyrics of an English song every week and try to understand its main content

read and try to understand one short English text every week

study English on ego4u every day ;o)

…

Reaching your target step by step is much better than setting a huge target that you cannot achieve. Easy does it … and keeps your motivation up.

Many a mickle makes a muckle.

Study English with Friends

Meet friends and study English together.

You can repeat your English vocabulary, do your homework together and help each other with English grammar. And why not try one of our games on ego4u. Studying with friends simply is much more fun.

It‟s also a good opportunity to exchange ideas on studying in general. Maybe your friends have found out about a good way of studying more effectively. Or, who knows, maybe you can advise your friends on this?

All for one and one for all.

Ten Tips for Learning English as a Second Language

"What's the best way to learn a language?"

Many students and teachers have asked this question, and the answers are as different as the people asking the question. Here I will give you several tips for learning English. They are based on my own experience in learning languages. These tips helped me when I learned a foreign language, and I hope that they will help you as you work on improving your English.

1. Want to learn.

First of all, you must want to learn. If you are not interested in learning English, no class will help you, no book will help you, and no hints will make it easier. If you are not interested, you will find reasons to avoid studying, and whenever you do study, it will be very difficult. So you have to be honest with yourself. Ask yourself, "Do I really want to learn English?" If you can't answer "yes" to this question, it is better for you to set English aside until you're ready and willing to learn.

2. Identify your motivation.

Next, you need to identify your motivation. Ask yourself, "Why do I want to learn English? Why do I want to improve my English?" Some people want to learn English to get a better job, or to be considered for a promotion. Other people may need to learn English to attend university or school. Still other people may want to learn English so they can enjoy life in America more, by being able to understand movies and TV, and make friends with their American neighbors. Each person is different, so their motivations will be different also. If you have identified your motivation, it will be easier for you to learn English, because it will help to encourage you as you learn English.

3. Set goals.

Once you have identified your motivation, you can set some goals for learning English. Having goals will help you to remember what areas you want to work on, and it will help you to see your progress.

Ask yourself, "What are my goals? What areas would I like to improve?" Pronunciation? Listening comprehension? Would you like to increase your vocabulary? Do you want to know what to say when you go to the bank, the doctor, shopping? Think about what your goals are, and review once in a while to see that you are making progress toward your goals.

4. Practice, practice, practice.

After you have set your goals, you have a better idea of what you need to practice. Just like the athlete whose goal is the Olympics must train daily, you as a language learner must practice language every day to make progress toward your goal. We say, "Practice makes perfect." This means the more you practice something, the better you become at it, and the fewer mistakes you will make.

Specific ways to practice:

o Speak to Americans as much as possible.

o Write, write, write – letters, email, notes, etc.

o Make phone calls to practice your English

5. Expose yourself to English as much as possible.

The more you expose yourself to English, the more you get used to it and the more familiar it becomes to you. You will start to recognize what sounds right and what sounds wrong. You will also start to understand why certain words or phrases are used instead of others, and you will start to use them in your own conversations and writing. English will start to become a habit, and little by little you will find it easier to use English.

Specific ways to increase exposure to English:

o Watch TV and movies.

o Listen to the radio.

o Read as much as possible.

6. Enlarge your vocabulary.

Having a large vocabulary is basic to learning any language, and it is especially true in English. Reading is a very good way to learn new words. So is doing puzzles or playing different kinds of word games.

7. Have fun.

Having fun increases your ability to remember, so the more you enjoy yourself as you learn English, the easier it will be to remember. Play games and puzzles. Even simple ones, like ones written for children, provide good experience and practice for English. Comic books and newspaper comic strips are also a good way to have fun, and the pictures make it easier to understand than stories.

8. Cultivate friendships with Americans.

If you make friends with some Americans, you will find that they can be a very valuable help in your learning English. Having American friends means that you will find yourself in situations where you have no choice but to speak English. Yet since they are your friends, you will be doing things you enjoy together with them. So these situations will probably have little or no stress. Friendships with Americans also means that you'll have someone whom you can ask questions regarding language, culture, the suburbs, and so on.

9. Make regular study a habit.

Regular study is a key to success in learning a language. It is easier to study a little each day instead of trying to study several hours only one day a week. Also, studying a little each day makes it easier to review what you've learned and remember new things.

10. Acknowledge the progress you've made.

Finally, it is important to recognize that you will improve as you study English. Sometimes when you set your goals, they seem very difficult. Progress comes little by little, so it's hard to see if you have grown in your language skills. Think about where you are at today, and where you were last week or last month. Maybe it doesn't seem like you have come very far. But if you stop and think about where you were six months ago, or even a year ago, then you see that you have made progress. You have improved your English, and that is a reason to celebrate your accomplishment. It gives you hope that as you continue to study and work hard at improving your English, you will reach your goal sooner or later!

I put these materials to show interesting ways to learn English as a second language, so we can learn in different ways and we can choose the way for us. The only thing that we need is motivation to do that.

IPA Alphabet:

Now we have the IPA alphabet, an important material to know all the information related with the pronunciation and how to write a word with phonetic symbols, so we have to learn this important alphabet.

Conclusion.

I consider that in this portfolio we put all the information about our

performance inside the classroom and also without the classroom, so I

consider that my progress is notorious but if I gonna improve I have to work

hard with my independent activities, so in this portfolio I put big part of my

material in this portfolio to show my progress and also I‟m gonna put more

useful material that help me with my independent work.