Lifehack

Another of the internet's fantastic resources, lifehack.org is a blog that was created to give people interesting advice and ideas about all areas of life. This is a quote from their website:

"Lifehack is your source for tips to help improve all aspects of your life. We are widely recognized as one of the premier productivity and lifestyle blogs on the web. This site is dedicated to lifehacks, which is a phrase that describes any advice, resource, tip or trick that will help you get things done more efficiently and effectively."

The articles include things that will help you in everyday life, tips on how to be successful, advice on how to use technology to your advantage and so much more. There is something for everybody here and you are guaranteed to learn in the process. Here is the article that brought me to the website:

10 Inspiring Videos That Will Change Your Life by Anna Chui.

Make English Part of Your Everyday Life

Even if you are not living in an English speaking country, English is everywhere. Building fluency is an essential part of improving as a language learner. A few hours of class per week is simply not enough to really get a student thinking in English. One of the best things that can be done to help with this is to find a source of English that fits into your everyday life. Think about your interests and make one of them English.

Do you enjoy watching films and television? So many of these things are produced in English and then translated into your language. Hollywood films are released all over the world at the same time in hundreds of different languages. The problem is what gets lost in translation. The dub artists that translate films hardly ever manage to maintain the same feel as the original actors. Is Johnny Depp still Johnny Depp when his voice has been changed? How much of the original language is lost or changed while being translated? There is no need to settle for substandard translations when you can watch the original version in English. Change the language settings on your TV to original voice. It will be rewarding and excellent for your language skills.

Many students prefer reading to watching TV and films. If this is your case then why not pick up the next novel you want in English? Almost all major bookshops have foreign language sections and hundreds of popular books are available. There are even more options for people who have e-books. Hundreds of older, classic literature is available for free because it is no longer under copyright law. Check out Project Gutenberg. Its a website that offers all these books without paying a penny. It won't put any harmful viruses or malware on your computer either.

Maybe you don't have time to read or watch TV and films. No problem. You could download some English music, radio or pod-casts. There are a lot of excellent sources for getting free or cheap audio on the internet. Everything can be put on your mobile, MP3 player or good old reliable CD.

Finally, almost everyone has a smart phone and tablets like the iPad are becoming more and more popular. There are thousands of applications that are available in English. One of my favourites is TuneIn Radio, which gives you access to live radio from anywhere in the world directly to your phone or tablet. Then there are news programs like Flipboard, Zite, BBC News and more. There are games, restaurant review apps, cooking apps, music discovery apps, video apps, health apps and basically anything else that you can imagine all available in English.

So what's stopping you? Find something you enjoy and do it in English. You won't regret it.

BBC Learning English

The BBC has a great website for English learning. Unsurprisingly for such an established and professional company, the website is well organised and full of excellent tips for a language learner. You can read news, with important vocabulary highlighted, and even listen to the story meanwhile. There are games, grammar explanations and even sections on colloquial spoken English. Overall, it is a fantastic website for any English learner. Take a look at www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/.

Memrise

Memrise is an tool that helps you study vocabulary. Their concept is to combine science, fun and community to perfect the learning process. It teaches you new words and then immediately tests you on them in an interactive way. This helps the words really stick. I use Memrise to study Spanish and I find it very useful.

It is available on the internet at www.memrise.com and as an application on both iOS and Android.

Enjoy!

Creating a Vocabulary Notebook

Vocabulary is one of the most important areas for an advanced learner of English. It not only helps you show your level and knowledge to others, but also understand readings and listenings with greater ease. Unfortunately, learning new vocabulary can be tough. Many students take the approach of creating a vocabulary notebook which can be organised into different sections. This helps both in the moment that you record the new words and when it comes to studying the words later on.

There are a variety of methods to record words in a good vocabulary notebook. With these methods you will quickly be creating a beautiful vocabulary notebook that is guaranteed to help you remember those difficult words. I recommend using the ideas that appeal to you and make the most sense.

Method 1: Categories

When you come across a new category of vocabulary, create a page in your notebook dedicated to that category. These can come from the text book or you can create the categories yourself. For some categories it's a good idea to include similar words and example sentences. It's even better if you can relate the example to your personal life because this will help to create a mental connection. For example, if the category is jobs you might want to organize it like this:

teacher - to teach (verb)
Example: My favourite maths teacher in secondary school was Mr Kite.

accountant - accounting (noun)
Example: I hire an accountant every year to help me with my taxes.

Method 2: Word families

Word families are groups of words that share a common root. Recording words in their families can be very useful because it will help to give your vocabulary more range. The word transformations exercise in the Use of English paper of Cambridge exams also focuses on this area.

Root	Noun (thing)	Noun (person)	Verb	Adjective
photo	photograph photo	photographer	to photograph to take a photo	photographic
entertain	entertainment	entertainer	to entertain	entertaining entertained
know	knowledge	--------	to know	knowledgeable (-) unknowledgeable

Method 3: Language chunks

Words don't always come alone. Many times we use words together that if separated, would have a different meaning. When you encounter these chunks it's a good idea to record them in a separate area of your notebook. Examples of language chunks include; "would you like", "get to know", etc.

Method 4: Collocations

Collocations are words that can be commonly seen together. These common connections are extremely important for the Use of English paper. The collocation mandates what words correspond with each other. Collocations should be recorded in a different area of your notebook.

Collocations with take:

- take a bath/shower

- take some time to do something

- take away food

- take an exam

- take turns

and many more...

Method 5: Mind maps

One of the most difficult things to do when writing down new vocabulary is to organize it in a way that is easily accessible later to study. A list of words can appear never-ending to our eyes. A popular way to organize words that helps with this is mind maps. Mind maps start with a central word, concept, or category. This can then be expanded in all directions as more related vocabulary appears. It is more flexible and adaptable than a list. Take a look at this mind map that a language learner has created:

Some students like to create mind maps by hand, while others prefer to do it on a computer. Many programs and applications exist for creating mind maps. Try out www.mindmeister.com or search the internet for mind mapping software.

Welcome to the CAE blog!

Welcome students,

This is the new blog that has been created in order for you to explore everything related to your CAE preparation class. It will serve to supplement the materials that are used in class and provide a place for people to gain extra practice in various skills. Additionally, it provides a space for people to comment on and discuss various things related to the exam.

I will be occasionally posting things which fall into two categories. First, I will post any materials, links, exercises, videos or other things I find that I feel give you good practice for the CAE exam. Second, I will post things that I hope will help to encourage and inspire you to read, write, listen and think in English as part of your daily life. Any suggestions, questions, doubts or criticisms are also welcomed so that this blog can become as useful as possible.

To start with, I recommend checking out the useful and interesting links that I have posted on the side of the page. These will hopefully be of interest to you and help you get the ball rolling.

See you in class,

John