Depending on how much time you have and your learning goals, you can prepare (or do some homework) before coming to class. Feel free to come to class without any preparation if you are busy or just want to have the chance to speak English in the class.
If you really want to improve your English fast, put in more time. The more time and effort you put into practicing both in and outside the class, the faster you’ll make the progress.
For those of you who want to prepare for the class on Mar 27 or do something during your absence:
For conversation using the book Survival English, preview units 1~ 3.
If you already got the book, here are my recommendations for how to preview:
1.Listen to the recordings on CD first. Listen a few times and jot down any words that you did not quite catch (or what they sound like).
2.Then read the dialogues while listening to the recording. Now you can figure out the words/expressions you missed.
3.you can try the exercises in each unit, and read the Culture Files on p. 84 for units 1~3, and do grammar review by using Grammar Files on p. 72~73 for units 1~3. You’ll find the grammar easy, but try to keep the grammar points in mind when you speak. Your challenge is not so much in writing and understanding as is in speaking with correct grammar.
For the Book Club reading: Read A Lost Son (The Chinese version is included for your reference if you are curious about what it’s like in Chinese.). Bring the English version to class for discussion. The class leader Claire already posted it on the class blog if you have not received it by email: http://972english.blogspot.com/.
Announcements:
1.Please think about the blog address we could change our blog to, to make out blog more readily accessible to people interested in learning English. We’ll discuss the ideas people come up with on Mar 27.
2.We add 10 minutes to each class by taking a shorter break/extending class time to make up for May 29 (a holiday) beginning Mar 20.
