Friday ESL with Computers Class, December 13, 2013

Welcome on Friday the 13th

Today we'll 

• finish Unit 9 in our textbook
• look at some information on Friday the 13th
• look at an interactive Christmas book online

One more thing:  How many students want to go to the Student Council Party?

Where:     Chinatown Campus Annex 

                 628 Washington Street

When:      Wednesday, December 18th

                 1 - 3:00 p.m.

What:       Entertainment - dancing, singing, etc.

                 Raffle prizes

How Much:  FREE  FREE  FREE

                 but you need to sign up!

The last day of school: 

Wednesday December 18th

Teachers will return registration papers to students, If one teacher doesn't have your paper, check with the next one. If you can't find it, check with the A&E office in the new year.

Tuesday Dec.17 and Wednesday Dec.18, students can sign up for or change classes in the A&E Office on the 1st floor.

Have a wonderful holiday! Thanks for your hard work!

See you on Friday, January 10, 2014 for Spring Semester 2014!!

Friday ESL with Computers Class, December 6, 2013

No more tests!

What is an IQ Test?

Has everyone registered for next semester, Spring 2014?


Look at Chinatown Campus' Spring 2014 ESL classes here.

If you or one of your classmates hasn't registered yet, please let me know.

For Business/Computer classes at Chinatown Campus, click here.

For Business Dept. classes, register online OR on the first day of class.

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1. Check out some free ESL courses from universities. They are difficult, but very interesting. 

The pronunciation course is good and improves vocabulary, too.

2. Look at Languages section of iTunes podcasts.

iTunes icon

You can choose audio (listening) or video (watching) podcasts. 

NOTE: video podcasts take longer to download/watch. 

3. For those students interested in improving your writing, go to www.grammar-quizzes.com and look at connecting sentences.

4. Don't forget our Ventures 3 website. Work on Unit 7 and, if you have finished that, Unit 8 on this site. 

When you have finished 3 or 4 sections, use REPORT to print your results.

Friday ESL with Computers, November 22, 2013

Welcome! I hope you enjoyed the rain.

Today we'll see how our textbook works now that it is completely online. 

Everyone needs to turn on their computers before we can start. I'll check. 

Next, we'll look at our schedule for the rest of the semester:

1. Thanksgiving holiday: Wednesday, November 27 - Sunday, December 1. 

2. Promotion Tests: Monday, Dec. 2 and Tuesday, Dec. 3

3. The Affordable Care Health Insurance Workshop, Wed. Dec. 4, in the 4th Floor Meeting Room
10:30 - 12:00 noon

4. In-class Registration for Spring 2014:

Thursday, Dec. 5 and Friday, Dec. 6.

5. Student Council School Party:

    Wednesday, December 18, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. at the Annex, 
628 Washington Street 

** Last day of school, Wednesday, Dec. 18 - pick up your registration paper in class.

                 HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

See you on Friday, January 10, 2014 for Spring 2014.

Friday ESL with Computer Class, November 15, 2013

Today we'll continue where we left off last week.

a. Sign up for EnglishClass101.com  

b. If you have iTunes on your home computer, you may want to use this website and podcast. 

c. Here's the paper that tells you how to use iTunes to get podcasts.

d. For those who enjoy grammar, here's a useful website. 

e. To watch YouTube videos about learning English, click here.

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Last week we didn't have time to look at 1, 5 and 6 on our list. We'll do it now.

Friday Computer Class, November 8, 2013

Here are this week's lessons:

1. Elemental English Pronunciation Podcasts

These intermediate-level podcasts tell you how to pronounce American English.

2. Minimal Pair Practice and Listen and Repeat videos

These lessons are very easy to use. We'll practice in class.

3. Ventures 3, Unit 6 

Finish the first 3 sections or more, then click REPORT and print the results. We'll look at how to read them and review wrong answers.

4. John Robinson's blogs  

This is one of a group of ESL blogs about basic English grammar.  We'll look at more of them in the future. 

5. Spelling Games and Vocabulary Games

You can click on other subjects at the top of the page.

6. Verbal (words) Reasoning Quiz This is much harder than it looks. We'll try some questions in class.

NOTE: On Wednesday, November 13, our class will take a tour of the Chinatown Campus Library. You will need to get a PIN number from the librarian before we do this. I'll explain in class.

tinyurl.com/808chnb 

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Here's a website with Language Tools - dictionaries and other information to use when learning English (@EnglishClub.com).

We practiced to do vs. doing (infinitives and gerunds) on Thursday. 

The short address to this exercise is: http://tinyurl.com/lkr1220  

For a spelling quiz, try this: Listen and Spell the Word

Where are we in San Francisco?

  

http://www.alicesgardentravelbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/SF-Conservatory-Potted-Plants-%C2%A9-Alice-Joyce.jpg   

These are photos of a famous place in San Francisco. 

What is it's name?  Where is it located? 

Find information about this famous place with a computer search. 

Use google.com to search. What words can you use in your search from looking at these photos?

Finally, here's a familiar song to go with the photos: 

Ramblin' Rose by Nat King Cole. 

 

Friday Computer Class, November 1, 2013

Welcome to our Friday Computer Assistants, Joel and Bongani. 

They are credit students at the Ocean Campus, studying Computer Science. They are both volunteers. We appreciate their help.

NOTE: Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday, November 3 at 2:00 a.m.  

Turn your clocks back one hour before you go to bed Saturday night. You will have the correct time when you wake up on Sunday.

Important dates coming soon:

• Thursday, October 31st - Halloween (not a school holiday) & teachers' meeting 9:45 - 10:30 a.m.
  
  
  

Apply for Business Dept. non-credit classes You must apply by October 31, so we will take a few minutes in class to do this. You will register for classes from November 12 - 30.

Wednesday, November 6
CASAS Post-Test
 Take this test one time only!

• Monday, November 11th - Veterans' Day (no school - a holiday)

• Wednesday, November 27th - Sunday, December 1st - Thanksgiving holiday  (no school)

• Monday, Dec. 2 - Tuesday, Dec. 3 - Level 6 Promotion Tests - if you have more than one L. 6 class, choose: which class will you take the test in? Tell your teacher.

GRAMMAR etc.

1. A quiz on quantifiers (i.e. much, many, few, a few, little, a little) We'll try it in class.
2. Grammar Quizzes - choose the ones you want to practice. Ask questions if you're not sure what to do. 
3. Ventures 3 (the green book) - finish Unit 5 and print your report. Let me see how you did.
4. English quizzes and games online  Ask if you need help.
5. Finally, a song for the holiday we had yesterday. This song includes exercise.

Friday Computer Class, October 25, 2013

Around Town

Here's a map of San Francisco, 

at least the part we're in.

Let's look at our city

www.staysf.com

Have you been to Coit Tower? 

Where is it?

What do people do there?

from cnn.com

Have you ever been to the Exploratorium, at Pier 15 in San Francisco? It has moved from Lyon Street to the waterfront. 

Is the Exploratorium a museum? A school? What do you think?

What places in the city are interesting to you? Why? Click here for information.

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Pronunciation
Here are three YouTube videos to practice:

 1. Here's some practice with sound comparisons

2. "100 speaking mistakes in English"

3. English Conversation with subtitles

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Go to Ventures Arcade here; click on book 3 (the green one) and choose Unit 5.

When you finish the exercises, click on REPORT. Put your name in the box and click on print at the bottom.

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Now for a song: I Only Have Eyes For You

Listen to the song. What do you think the title means?