WRITTING STRATEGIES

For this you will have to practice a lot by writting, My favourite way to do it is by writting my personal diary in English. You can start like this:

Dear diary, it has been a long time since I haven't witten anything, the truth is I haven't had anything special to tell but I feel quite happy to write something today. Today I have woken up with loads of things I would like to do in my mind and have reached to do some of them, but not all of them.. First I don't know why but I wanted to go to the shoe shop and by myself some nice shoes because mine are quite old.. so I went to the shoe shop wich is just next to my home and bought my self a pair of shoes which I specially like, they are really beautifull and where also in a bargain, isn't that great?
....
....
....
...
....
....
Well I feel quite tired now because I've been doing loads today and I need to get a bit of sleep. See you the next day I have something to tell.....


 Sometimes I also do my shop list in English, it is a very good strategy to learn new vocabulary about food ;)
For example:


Onions
Carrots
Potatoes
Biscuits
Milk
Bread
Bananas
Orange juice
Apples
Chocolate


.....


Try it, it does work!!

LISTENING STRATEGIES

My favourite thing to do is use youtube and watch english programs like straordinary people:

This vidio talks about a boy that's blind but has learnt how to see, looks interesting doesn't it? Have a look at it ;)

You can find the other parts of the video on youtube.

GRAMMAR STRATEGIES

You can only get better on grammar by practicing and studying a lot, so here I've left a few web pages for you to have a look.

http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/grammar/stratgram.htm

http://www.jlls.org/Issues/Volume1/No.2/fyalcin_eyalcin.pdf

http://www.jlls.org/Issues/Volume1/No.2/fyalcin_eyalcin.pdf

READING STRATEGIES

The best way to improve your reading is ovbiously by reading so here I am uploading some of the best pages I have seen so as you to practice your reading, you'll se that you can also know how well you've understood the reading by anwering some questions.

http://www.world-english.org/improve_reading_skills.htm

http://www.saberingles.com.ar/reading/index.html

http://www.5minuteenglish.com/reading.htm

http://sites.google.com/site/departamentodelenguascmiv/lectura-1/lectura

As I really like mithology, here I left a text for you to read, it talks about Arachne the Spinner. Hope you enjoy the story.

A long time ago in a place called Lydia lived a young spinner and weaver called Arachne. Lydia had a reputation for producing splendid textiles and had some of the finest spinners and weavers in the world. No spinner or weaver was more talented or gifted than Arachne.


Arachne wove all sorts of beautiful pictures into her cloth. Often the scenes were so life like that people felt they could almost touch and feel what was going on. Visitors travelled many miles to see her beautiful work. Not only were her finished products beautiful to look at, but just watching her weave was a sight to behold. Even the nymphs of the forest would stop their play and look on in wonder.


Arachne was rightly very proud of her work but she was also very arrogant. So remarkable were her works that observers often commented that she must have been trained by Athena, the goddess of wisdom and crafts, also known for her ability to spin and weave beautiful pictures. Arachne was scornful of this. Why she said, should she, with all her talent, be placed in an inferior place to the goddess? She would tell visitors that the Goddess herself could not produce work any better.


When news of Arachne's bold claim reached Athena she was very angry, but she decided to give the young woman a chance to redeem herself. So one day she disguised herself as an old peasant woman and went to visit Arachne. She gently warned her to be careful not to offend the gods by comparing her talents to those of an immortal.


But Arachne told the old woman to save her breath. She boasted that she welcomed a contest with Athena, and, if she lost, would suffer whatever punishment the goddess decided.


At this Athena revealed her true form. The visitors who had come to watch Arachne's weaving were very afraid, but Arachne stood her ground. She had made a claim, and she would prove it.


It was decided they would compete by each creating a tapestry. The two of them set up their looms in the same room and the contest began, the mortal Arachne at her loom and the goddess Athena at hers. They wove from early in the morning until it got too dark to see. The next day they compared what they had done.


Athena had woven a stunning cloth showing the gods and goddesses together on Mount Olympus doing good deeds for people. A beautiful scene had developed from the threads. Those witnessing the competition marveled at the work produced by the goddess. Arachne, however, had woven a cloth that made fun of the gods and goddesses. It showed them getting drunk and behaving very badly. Nevertheless, so exquisite was the mortal's work that the characters in the scene were lifelike.


When Athena saw it she was even angrier than she had been before. She was forced to admit that Arachne's work was flawless but the disrespectful choice of subject made her finally lose her temper. Athena destroyed Arachne's tapestry and loom. Then she touched her forehead, making sure that she felt guilt for her actions.


Arachne was ashamed but the guilt was so overwhelming it was far too deep for a mortal to bear. Realizing her folly Arachne was crushed with shame. Terrified and in turmoil she ran into a nearby wood and hanged herself from a tree.


Athena had not expected Arachne to take her own life and took pity on her.


Sprinkling Arachne with the juices of the aconite plant, Athena loosened the rope, which became a cobweb; then she said gently, "Spin if you wish to spin". At this Arachne slowly came back to life but not in human form, for as Athena spoke her words Arachne's nose and ears disappeared, her arms and legs became long and slender and new legs grew beside them, then her whole body shrank until she was just a tiny little spider.


For the rest of her life Arachne was to hang from a thread and to be a great weaver and the descendents of Arachne still weave their magic webs all over the earth today

 Aracne

   

                                  

SPEAKING STRATEGIES

Some advises

1)When speaking we have less time to think about the words and to combine them correctly.

--- The best way to get over this is to practice and get confident about it ;)

2) While speaking there can also be some problems with pronunciation

--- The best way to improve this is by listening to an English person and try to repeat what he or she is saying.

Intonation is also important, think that depending on how you say things you can mean something or another.

Here you have some web pages where you can find recordings so as for you to pronounce properly and also practice your speaking.

http://www.learnenglish.de/pronunciationpage.htm

http://www.english-at-home.com/speaking/better-english-speaking-skills/

http://confident1.com/how-to-improve-your-speaking-voice

Also, fins someone that can speak to you in English and try to have a conversation, if not, I recomand this chat: http://chatroulette.com/ This is a web where you will be able to find people from all arround the world, it has its advantages and disatvantages but it is worth it to practice your english because you will sure find lots of people that would like to speak to you.

This is a recording I made with a friend to practice our english, listen to it to get some ideas of what you could talk about to improve your speaking.

THERE ARE FIVE IMPORTANT LEARNING SKILLS:

-SPEAKING

-READING

-GRAMMAR

-LISTENING

-WRITTING

INTRODUCTION OF MYSELF

My name is Sara, I am 19 years old and I am a student in the university of Lleida. At the moment I am in the first year and I am studying English studies. I have been studying english all my life and now I would like to give to the people that do like English and want to learn it, some strategies or ideas that can help them.

                                - This is where I study              Rectorat from Lleida