The News

Spend at least half an hour browsing the news sites below. Which is most appealing to you and why? Can you tell the reputations of these various sites? (Yes, one of them is a parody.) In your opinion, which would deliever the news the most accurately?

http://english.aljazeera.net/English

http://www.foxnews.com/

http://www.cnn.com/

http://www.democracynow.org/

http://www.theonion.com/content/index

After you have spent some time at each site, post a comment here explaining some of the most interesting things you read or saw and say why.

P.S. (Perhaps be ready to discuss these issues on Oct. 20. We have a guest teacher that day from the department. Otherwise, we might spend the time as group work preparing your Web quest projects. Cleveland will meet with you this Saturday.) Thanks, Russ.

Journal Question

If you could go back to some time and place in the past, when and where would you go? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your choice.

Journal Question

What is the most important thing your culture has given to the world? Use reasons and details in your response.

Journal Question

Who is the most adventurous person you know, and what about that person makes you think so? Use details to support your response.

Journal Question

If a group of people just came to your country from overseas, what is one important piece of advice you would give them? Use reasons and details in your response.

Journal Question

If you could contribute something to science or medicine, what would you do and why? Use reasons and details in your response.

Journal Question

What is a city you have visited that you have enjoyed, and why did you enjoy it? Use reasons and details in your response.

Journal Question

Describe a well-known building in your hometown. Use details in your response.

Project: Mexico Travel WebQuest

A WebQuest is a kind of research project where students work in groups and research information on the Web to complete a given project or task.

Find your WebQuest at http://mexicotravelwebquest.googlepages.com/. To complete this project, you will need to work in groups of three. (Tell me who you are working with by the end of next class.) Read through the pages at this site to understand the project, and we will discuss timelines, groups and roles on Saturday. Enjoy!

(Visit Exploitz.com to order your own 1939 Vintage Mexico Travel poster!)

Listening Practice! (TOEFL)

Follow the steps below to listen to a podcast used to prepare for the TOEFL test. (For this example, we are going to listen to #25, so we all hear the same one, but if you want in the future to practice, you have many here- free!)

1. Go to http://www.eslpod.com/toefl/scripts/scripts.html
2. Scroll down to TOEFL Podcast #25 "Finding a Roommate"
3. Right click on the "Podcast" icon under the title of that post.
4. Select "Save target as" and choose a place on your pc to save the file (desktop?).
5. Wait while the file downloads and open it when complete.
6. Media Player (or similar) should launch and play the podcast.

NOTE: The "Audio Index" tells you where on the counter of the file each part of the podcast can be found. Each podcast on this site contains a deliberately slow reading of the dialog, an explanations section where idioms and vocabulary are carefully explained by a narrator, a "fast dialog," or a reading of the dialog at a normal rate for native speakers, and a short section of comprehension questions at the end where you can quiz yourself. The script is also written out for you on the Web site. While you can decide what works best for you, I highly recommend you first try to listen to the "fast dialog" by forwarding on the play bar your Media player to the right place (17:37 on Podcast #25) once or twice before listening to the slow dialog or explanations. See how much you understand, but remember, these are written with idioms and phrasal verbs you are not necessarily expected to know.

Good luck and have fun!

Some more photos of our group!

Journal Question

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Independence Day holiday! Here's a new journal question to respond to (leave your response as a "comment" below):

What are the characteristics of a good neighbor? Use reasons and details to support response.

TOEFL Prep. Question:

Respond to the following journal question by signing in with your gmail account and adding your response as a "comment."

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Grades (marks) encourage students to learn. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

Welcome to Fluency in English!

Welcome to the advanced course of Fluency in English; we will use this blog as a bulletin for announcements and a common place where we can all read threads of discussion on various journal topics. (You will need a "Gmail" account to sign in and have your comments automatically signed.) Enjoy!