And an announcement

As of the middle of July we will be taking our holiday in our cottage in Halkidiki,Greece.During that time we will be able to offer something that has been asked of us,that is English 3 course meals and the chance to converse in English with 3-yes three!-English teachers.Naturally,this will involve a small number of guests every time.And the cost will be most reasonable of course.
If you know people who would be interested please give them my email address,yorik57@gmail.com

Speaking

This is the first of  more than 3 articles about the speaking component in exams.
In general,speaking-or the interview as it was called in earlier times-is exactly what its title is,that is a test of one's spoken English.The candidate goes from personal to general,from concrete to abstract,in order for the examiner(s) to decide whether he or she is able to understand and respond to spoken English successfully and,within that,how successfully,helped on the way by cues provided by the interlocutor who may or may not also be the examiner.
What has always worked with my classes is that 1) they see this as the easiest part of the whole exam since they interact with a person,not a paper and 2) that they treat it as no more than an incident in their everyday life-i.e.an occasion where they meet people of their own age or older and they chat with them,starting with the basics and moving on to more complex issues.The only extra factor is that they do it in their second language.
A must here is that they must remember that the chance to talk about ,say,sociopathic behavioural patterns in post-traumatic situations,unless they are taking a highly specific exam,are -of course-minimal to nil.They will be asked to talk about themselves,their family,likes or dislikes and how they feel about things.Only at very high level exams they may be encouraged to speculate and generalise and that only to an extent,given the average age of candidates,in Greece and abroad.
Surely,the more they talk and the less the interlocutor does is best for them.If they manage to steer the conversation towards areas in which their knowledge and vocabulary are best,then they feel more comfortable,more confident and thus more successful.In at least one exam the idea is that the examinees come out of the interview room with a feeling that they have achieved something and the interlocutors are trained to facilitate this.And the fact is that they have achieved a lot.They have communicated in a language that is not their mother tongue in an exam situation.
In the next post I will start going into the speaking component of particular exams.
As always,please comment and/or instigate discussion
George

The lighter side

To powder one’s nose
W.Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was the first person we know about to put the words ‘I must powder my nose’ into a woman’s mouth,but there must have been many since then.In a way it’s the ultimate toilet euphemism because there is nothing in it that remotely refers to defecation or micturition,merely an acknowledgement that,outside the cubicle,a woman might take a few moments to retouch her make-up.Certainly if one were to suggest that she was going to take a leak,0ne would get a very dirty look indeed,perhaps because that phrase is even more recent.In fact it comes from a writer at the very opposite end of the scale of gentility from Maugham: Henry Miller(1891-1980) ,and his novel Tropic of Cancer,which was published in Paris in 1934.The novel was eventually published in the United states in 1961,prompting a furore similar to that generated by Lady Chatterley’s Lover in the UK.If only Miller had shown more interest in euphemisms,there wouldn’t have been any such fuss.In fact,’I stood there taking a leak’ is one of the most respectable lines in the whole book.Such an activity,of course,like may such instances of toilet euphemism,is more likely to apply to a lady than to a gentleman.It’s a bit like the old adage that ‘horses and soldiers sweat,men perspire;women merely glow’.So bulls shit,men obey calls of nature…and women powder their nose.
Taken verbatim from
Balderdash&Piffle
The stories behind our most intriguing words and phrases
by Alex Games

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Writing in American exams

American exams are many and various.There is,for example,the TOEFL exam,desired lower scores in which(and sometimes scores in some of its components) are used by American universities to decide whether to admit foreign undergraduate or postgraduate students.There are also exams such as GMAT,GRE,TWE ,to name but a few,which are more specific to particular areas of study-GMAT is ,for instance,a  must if you are applying for a postgraduate course in economics.There are even exams for prospective postgraduate students in law,medicine,etc.
Among the  components of all those tests there is naturally the Writing task.Although at first sight it may look daunting,it is indeed one of the easiest to approach for a well prepared candidate.
One must always keep in mind the basics.And the basic factor in all American exams is time.You have a limited amount of time(usually 30 minutes) to write an essay to cover an A4 page-about 350  words really.Consequently,planning how you will allocate this time is crucial.
Make sure you avoid to write a plan.This will only waste your valuable time.Instead,in the first 5 minutes read the topics and choose which one to write about.Once again,steer clear of choosing the most challenging one.Either you will be tempted to write too much-remember the LIMITED time!!-or your resources will be insufficient.Choose the EASIEST one ang get on with it.
5 more minutes of thinking what you will write about and your paragraphing are necessary.Remember,make sure you have an introduction where you shortly talk about what you are going to talk about ,two or three at the most paragraphs in which you expand on your views and then a conclusion to remind your readers  what you have talked about.
Then start writing.The introduction over,keep in mind that whatever statement you make in your paragraphs you must follow it with a reason for saying so and,ideally,an example.Many people worry about those examples and just stop writing.And here goes: your examples need be clear and concise.What is unnecessary for them to be is sophisticated.Keep in mind that they ask you to write based on your reading or YOUR EXPERIENCE! And this is the key.They expect you to have little reading experience and,as for life experience,to have that of the home.If then you write ,as your example  :’For instance, my grandmother did so and so when she was ….’,it is a perfectly valid example and feel absolutely free to use it.It may seem simplistic but keep in mind that your aim is to PASS.Leave stimulating discussion for the campus!
The writing should take you about 10 minutes to cover your page.STOP there.Remember the time!!
Now is the time to reread your essay.Resist the temptation to cross out whole sections while doing this.It would be of very little effect .You may,of course,correct a couple of spelling mistakes or a grammar slip but that should be all.
As far as your language or vocabulary goes,keep it simple and safe.Use a posh word that you are unsure about ,or a complex sentence for that matter, and you’ve done wrong.Simple,clear,safe and within the time constraints should be your KEY words
Always remember that a well prepared and confident candidate is the most likely to do well.
Keep in mind that comments,questions and requests are welcome
George

Here I am

My postings are to help people around the world learn English.
With a very long background of teaching the language to people of various ages and with various expectations -from beginners to people taking exams to prove their proficiency in English to teaching maths in English to preparing people to take exams to get into American universities(some very specific exams as well) to simply conversing with people in the language ,just to help them practice their speaking skills-and after becoming an examiner of speaking skills as well,I feel I can help people do just this :LEARN ENGLISH WITHOUT FEAR
I promise at least one post weekly,sometimes on the same topic if I feel there is more to say about it,sometimes on different topics.
The blog and my work is free for all.My pleasure is to do what I love,TEACH that is.Nothing is copyright unless expressly defined so.However,for the sake of decency,please mention this blog and me personally as your source if you choose to copy something.Also,please feel free to ask questions which I promise to reply to promptly
George Raptopoulos