Homework 30-03-09

Summary paragraph on the Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is one of the most famous architectural wonders of the modern World.
It's recognizable both for its roof shells and its impressive location in Sydney Harbour.
The construction of this large performing art centre was started in 1959 and completed in 1973 by the Danish architect Jorn Utzon.
The Opera House includes theatres, rehearsal studios, restaurant, bars and shops.
Even if expected to cost $7 million, the final cost was$102 million, also the completion of the building was expected in four years.
Inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II on 20th October 1973 millions of people attended the ceremony and the event was televised and included a fireworks display and a classical music performance

Write a paragraph on your blog reflecting on the listening workshop

This week we tested our listening skills : i found it quite useful also because it's been long time since my last listening test.

However i believe that in order to really improve the listening skill recorded tracks are not the best solution : in fact when listen to someone we are able to look at his movements, to see his lips moving and many other things that modify a conversation and are not represented this way.

I find more useful listen to the teacher and see how a real english speaks

Homework!

Decide on what you would like to write about for the Legal English Wiki.

I would like to write about differences between a civil law legal system and a common law legal system , and i can say right now why ;
1) Comparate Law is an argument nowadays essential in the lawyer formation
2) It's very interesting and can help us improve our legal english too
3)Legal English has traditionally been the preserve of lawyers from many countries (USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) which have shared common law traditions. However, due to the spread of English as the predominant language of international business, as well as its role as a legal language within the European Union, legal English is now a global phenomenon.




Some self study work on countable/uncountable nouns and noun phrases.

Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example: "cat". We can count cats. We can have one, two, three or more cats. Here are some more countable nouns:
dog, pen, animal, man, person ,bag,cup,coins


Countable nouns can be singular or plural:

My dog is playing.
My dogs are hungry.


We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:
A dog is an animal.


When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it:

I want an orange. (not I want orange.)
Where is my bottle? (not Where is bottle?)


When a countable noun is plural, we can use it alone:

I like oranges.

Bottles can break.

We can use some and any with countable nouns:
I've got some dollars.

Have you got any pens?
We can use a few and many with countable nouns:
I've got a few dollars.
I haven't got many pens.




Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk".
We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself.



Some more uncountable nouns:
music, art, love, happiness
advice, information, news
furniture, luggage
rice, sugar, butter, water
electricity, gas, power
money, currency


We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. For example:
This news is very important.
Your luggage looks heavy.


We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say a something of:
a piece of news
a bottle of water
a grain of rice


We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:
I've got some money.
Have you got any rice?



We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns:
I've got a little money.
I haven't got much rice.

Learning styles & multiple intelligences

All the tests i have done ( the one we all did last week and the tests on the blog) are evidencing that i appear to be an " all-around" intelligence.
I am trying to say that somethimes it appears that i am a visual learner, sometimes and auditory but also in one test a kinesthetic learner.
I can approve these results because whenever I am studyng something i need to use visual materials, to take notes and if possibile to visualize information but at the same time i need to discuss my ideas, to repeat in order to memorize and in the end i really need to take breaks if needed and skim through reading material to get a rough idea what it is about before settling down to read it in detail.
So, when studyng English, i need to use to advantage my learning skills , taking notes, repeating etc.etc.

Home Sweet Home

Hey There!

It's been a while since last post, but now lessons are started and there will be many updates!
Stay tuned :- )