WOW ! FANTASTIC !! ^_^

Hey guys of 1c07! Well, that is my feeling after I enjoyed the performance of our class! Yeah, so interesting!@_@. All groups tried their best and performed wonderful role-plays. It seemed that the performance became a comedy show. I laughed a lot and I think I had a great time with my classmates. First of all, I was impressed by the performance of F5, the group of the five pretty girls. It mentioned the life of a family, the problem of most students nowadays: lazy and idolize famous stars. Especially, I find the performance of ongnho4289 very interesting. Their play was well acted with the character "fortune-teller" of Ms Mo (hihi..^@^) . Then, Happy family performed a play referring to the lives of students, which are very familiar with all of us. Vivavn also made a story about the schooling at a high school which has a strange name "Violence". Maybe all of us are able to find the reason why. If you haven't found it yet, you should ask Mr Nhu Anh[hehe]. The next turn was my group, 3snakesand1cat. I myself found out that our group didn't have as excellent performance as other groups but, actually, we tried our best. Following our group was All4one. The story told about a robbery at a bank. Although the content of script was simple, their performance really made me surprised. And the last part of the show was the performance of Born-to-shine. I'm very sorry that I did't catch all the story. Maybe my listening skill isn’t good enough. Thanks to the performance, Ms Hang, a member of Born-to-shine, had a chance to express herself. “Quiet as she was in class, she speaks English quite fluently” , said Mr Binh. As you see, all of these groups used expressions. I think that was a good opportunity for us to review all we’ve learned. Finally, I hope that we all gain good marks in the mid-term test. @*_*@

What I Experience After Nearly A Year In Speaking Class

I'd like to say hello to our 1C's stars and starlets-to-be.

I'm telling you what I feel and think now. You know, 8 months ago I was very eager to wait for the coming of the new school year. My first thought was like: "Whoo, in this university, will I get some unforgettable experience? How are the teachers? And what about my classmates? Ah, right, with my level it's not surprising that my friends will all be my little teachers". And so on, I kept thinking about what was going to happen in here. Then, those first days at 1C came. I was so scared and didn't dare to say anything but just looked at you. I couldn't tell how much I admired you. So, I said to myself that there was going to be a lot to learn from you, and my speaking skill may improve day by day. A few weeks passed, I didn't feel so scared as I was before. And what was going on in class is that Mr. Binh let us practised with the roleplays. You would never know how excited I was when the first time I saw your roleplays. "Gee, where am I?" That was more than what I expected. Although sometimes you made mistakes with the pronunciation, you've shown me how to speak or to express myself. Speaking is not just using some simple sentences but it is to manipulate functions too. Speaking is not speaking only but listening first. Speaking is not minding making mistakes but learn from them. Speaking is using words and also your body language etc. Well, you definitely teach me a lot more than that. From your presentations, roleplays and debates, I learn to be more confident, I learn what I should do when talking in front of a crowd. For example, eye contact is very necessary, not to look down on the floor or look up at the ceiling all the time. And of course, I also learn something not concerning speaking, it's something about how to use ppt file and how to make a blog, moreover something about life, something about how to be a better person, something about teaching career,... I appreciate it so much. And I don't know how to thank you enough for all your helping. You made my progress. Well, lots of things to tell, but I would like to say this one sentence:

I LOVE YOU, MY 1C07!

Some comments about the presentation on Friday.

On Friday, 4 other groups of our class continued presenting (include 3 snakes and 1 cat). I learnt a lot from the presentations of other groups. I think all of us had prepared very well for the mid-term test. Some groups made their presentations very informative and impressive by some ways. For example, F5 and Vivavn have the same method in their presentation. They performed role-plays and asked others some questions about the functions they wanted to mention. This way makes people notice and remember easily. I was very impressive when I watched the clip which Vivavn prepared. Obviously speaking, they had spared no effort to make the clip. Although the sound of the clip was not good, that was so great. Another problem I would like to add here is the skill of using Microsoft Powerpoint. Born to shine used many beautiful pictures in slides and they was very suitable for their presentations. Besides, I also recognized some mistakes in the part of All4one. The fonts of letters (Huyen Trang's part) she used are not clear and the size was too small to see well.

Furthermore, after watching the presentations of all people, I felt that the features and speeches of person who presents are very important. As far as I can remember, some members didn't keep their eye-contact to the audience, they've just looked at the computer. Although Mr. Vinh spoke without looking at the screen, he looked at the floor of the room. I personally think that both of these don't make presentation effective. So, we should keep our eye-contact to everyone when we are speaking. Do you think so? Moreover, a good voice is certain to make audience take notice of your presentation. Some members of our class speak so softly or quickly. That's not good for our presentations. Besides, some of us have still made wrong pronunciation ( include me). A small mistake I would like to mention here is the pronunciation of the sound /t/. I heard Miss Loan pronounced the sound which refers to "ch" instead of /t/.

In conclusion, this was the first time we make presentation in mid-term. Sth is good, we should learn and develop. Sth must be repaired to make us improve. Some problems I've mentioned may be so direct or not right. Pls give me your ideas...**^^**

About Functions Summary Presentations

Wow, honestly speaking, all you have shown me the best. But still, there are some very small mistakes I'd like to share with you.

First, f51c07. I want you to know that your preliminary roleplay surprise me a lot (especially when Nhu said the name "Tu"). And you're picking the stamp doing this. It helps to learn functions more effectively than just sitting there and learn by heart, to tell you the truth. Also, beside the functions, I learn a wonderful way to help others study them. So, that's the good point. However, did you notice that one or two members in your group unintentionally pronounce some words uncorrectly? So, please pay more attention to your pronunciation, ok?

Now, ongnho4289. Hey, I was very proud to be in your photo, to be an axample, I don't know, at least, it's something to help. But, please, next time, don't just cover my back. I would be appreciate if you focus a little more on my face. I never imagine that: "Wow, Ailing the reporter! Welcome to 1c07." Does it sound great? Ok, you don't know how curious I was when I saw the picture of Miss Huyen. You know, I saw nothing but the "huge, cute" mouth of her. It's the funniest picture I've ever seen. And I wonder would you show me how you could do that? Don't tell me it's just by chance or some good luck, I don't believe. It was so interesting but one thing. Did you ask for permission before you take others' photos and put them into your file? No? I remember Mr. Binh already reminded us about that, right? So, that's that.

And next, happyfamily1c. I might say everything was on their ways. And hopefully, everyone noticed that you had put lots of energy into the project. Well done! If I were Mr. Binh, you could get bonus marks. Unfortunately, I'm not. So now, is Nguyen Thao reading my entry? Sorry to interrupt, Thao, but would you agree that you have a very nice accent and your English was unimaginably fluent? Uhm... but one thing that made me feel a little sorry is the absence of Thanh. Send her my regards, will you? Oh, and one more thing, your presentation sure was attractive, but if you asked me, it was a bit too long.

Now, in brief, you guys brought us a lovely, exciting atmosphere. So, keep on the right track. And finally, don't forget to give a feedback after our group's performance. Thank you.

A GOOD LISTENER, EASY OR DIFFICULT???

Have you ever wondered why the person you are talking to doesn't seem to pay attention to what you've said. Actually, it occurs to my mind more than once. How about you? To me, the solution to this is quite simple. The reason is that if you would like to be listened by the person you are talking to, you, at first, have to show that you are a good listener. I've considered it one of my English troubles before. But now it is not my trouble any more!! @_@ One good way of letting a person know that you are listening attentively to him/her is to use some phrases to identify with the speaker - not necessarily to agree with the speaker, but to try to show that you are interested in what he/she is saying by responding. For example: Uh-huh, Mm-hmm,.../Mm-hmm.How come? Yeah,.../Oh, yeah. Good! Ok./That's Ok! Right./That's right! Oh, sure! Well, let see. Wow! Oh, great! That's it! Oh, no! All right! .... Especially, when someone tells you about their troubles or complaints, you should use some following phrases to share your feeling with them: Oh, don't you hate that? I can imagine. Yeah, I can relate. I see, I see. I know the feeling. Tell me about it. I know what you mean. ... Oh, yeah!!! Now practise confidently to show that you are a perfect listener! GOOD LUCK!!! KIM NGAN /

IMPROVE MY SPEAKING!!!

In speaking class, we usually use some words or phrases similarly. It's very natural. The reason is that we are Vietnamese. When we talk, we have ideas in our minds in Vietnamese and translate them into English directly also in our minds. We don't have much time to think how to use another words or phrases for our speaking. So, our speech is not various. Honestly speaking, although I'm a student majoring in English,I'm not goot at speaking at all. The reason for this may be the fact that I didn't have much chance to practise speaking when I'm in secondary school and high school. When I speak, I usually make some mistakes that I use the same word over and over again. For example, when I am asked a question beginning with "Why", I start my answer with "Because..." all the time. Or when asked for giving opinion, I always reply with the beginning "I think...". But now I think my speaking has gradually been improved. After several weeks of practising speaking and acting, I've mastered some other ways to reply intead of "because" such as BECAUSE OF..., DUE TO..., IT IS DUE TO THE FACT THAT..., THE REASON FOR THAT IS..., NOW THAT..., OWNING TO etc. Last Wednesday, I learnt some function about giving opinion, agreeing and disagreeing, discussing. I find it quite interesting. Now when I would like to show my opinion, I am supposed to use some expressions such as IN MY VIEWPOINT..., TO ME..., AS FAR AS I KNOW..., PERSONALLY (GENERALLY, HONESTLY, FRANKLY...) SPEAKING, AS I SEE IT..., THE POINT IS etc. Hey guys, let's enjoy and share with me your ideas!!<^_^> KIM NGAN

DIARY

(from www.coventrygangshow.co.uk)

A diary is a record (originally in written book format) with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries undertaken for institutional purposes play a role in many aspects of human civilization, including government records (e.g. Hansard), business ledgers, and military records. Schools or parents may teach or require diary-keeping. (From Wikipedia)

So, have you ever been writing a diary of yourself? If yes, you must have been improving your ability of writing(especially in English, if your diary has been written in English). Do you think so?

The first thing I recommend you should write your diary is that you can relax yourself when you write. All things, all people you meet in a day may let you be under stress. And when you can write all your secret, your thinking, you can recognize some thing wrong with you or happiness. Is it right? Besides, you can also remember what you learned on that day. It is very useful for your study.

The second thing is that your writing is improved. Write, write, and write everyday will help you practise some skills of writing and learn more vocabularies. But if you write without correcting your mistakes, you will not get any improment. Let's write to learn, not only write to remember.

(By 3snakesand1cat)