Dear students,
Here goes my last letter, I guess, before the New Year!
I know how difficult it is for you to be motivated with a prompt that started with our classes at the beginning of October. I know it's difficult to keep writing if nobody is telling you how important it is to write a little piece every day. Maybe somebody is telling you how important it is, even your own inner voice but... are you listening? I know it is almost impossible to be motivated if you do not have comments on your posts... What can I say? Little, without your contribution.
I wanted to list some of the thoughts that have been hovering in my mind while I was reading you these days.
May I? Thanks!
a) If you write on your blog and do not read the others and do not write comments on your partners blogs... do not expect to get any comments. Keep this moving! Write and comment and answer back when they tell you something. It shouldn't be a very long text... A few nice words can be motivating enough.
b) Correct your mistakes when the teacher suggests some changes. It is very frustrating to come back to you and find the same mistakes I've corrected before.
c)Spell-check your texts before your publish your texts. Very often I find mistakes that could have been avoided.
d)If you have language doubts, check them out in a grammar book or in the web.
e)Write short texts but do it often. Be versatile Use different materials; videos, listening texts (podcasts), texts, films, songs, web pages or books for inspiration and support... Try different topics and approaches. Be daring! Experiment with language; use chunks you know by heart from songs or books you've listened to or read. Insert those into your texts and make them sound more “English”.
f)Do not expect to be corrected by the teacher immediately and every time after you write. Keep the flow of your own pace, make it fluent, continue writing. Interact with each other and be happy or at least challenged with your partners' comments and those your may get from the teacher sometimes... But, by any means, do not stop writing if I do not say anything to you.
All I need to see is that you get from 6 to 10 comments in each of your posts... To get all these you may have to write 15 comments yourself! And... what about these native speakers of the language we were going to look for?
I have the feeling of being a ghost, for I cannot be seen but I can tell you I'm there! The doctor said he will keep me on a sick leave al least until after the Xmas Holidays. I feel better but I'm still in pain. I met Irina, your replacement teacher, last Friday and she is certainly taking care of you. So you are lucky to have her, meanwhile.
I'll be back soon and I will take into account all you have done, all you have written. (Tutorial meetings will take place right after the holidays.)
Do take care. All the best,
Do you want to learn all the vocabulary you need to survive the Christmas Holidays?
