Comparing Japan and Kenya

Dear students,

     I hope you're having a great time. As I promised you in yesterday's class, I'm going to post pictures of the information you need to compare Japan and Kenya organised into tables hoping that it will make the writing process easier for you.

Here's also the model answer to compare with your answer after you're done writing. Focus on the use of simple past passive and remember to always use passive in Academic English writing. Also since this is a comparison, you will need to use a lot of comparative adjectives. Make sure you use them correctly.

Have fun!

and Happy Halloween!!

P.S. I'd love to see a pic of your costume if you're going to dress up;)

Let me hear you say: #EL099_MTA

Dear EL099 students,

You are more than just students to me. You are individuals with valuable opinions so I want to know your thoughts and opinions on the MTA exam you did last Sunday/Monday. Kindly go on twitter and tweet using the hashtag #el099_mta

Best wishes✨

Midterm Review

Dear students,

Are you ready for tomorrow? I'm sure you are going to do great! You're MY students after all;)
Here are some tips and review material. Please study it carefully and share your questions here, on LMS or wherever you find me.

a. Vocabulary (10 marks)

-Mainly focus on definitions and opposite words. Be sure to read the texts you have in reading and writing lesson to get a better sense of the words.

-Learn the root and all its stem words (employ: employer, employee, employment, employable)

-Spelling is very important as well.

Test your knowledge of Themes 1, 2 & 3 vocabulary here

b. Grammar (10 marks)

Review:

-Present simple (negation and making questions)

-Past simple (negation and making questions)

-Present continuous with phrases like 'now', 'look' and 'watch out!' E.g. Watch out! a car is passing

-Modal verbs (can / should / must / would)

-Other verbs like 'want' and 'have to'

-Using a/an/the

-Prepositions

-Joining sentences with because or so

-Quantifiers 

use (much) with uncountable nouns e.g. how much time do you need?/ I don't have much information about Philosophy.

use (many) with countable nouns e.g. how many books do you have?/ I had too many cups of coffee today.

use (a lot of) with both countable and uncountable nouns e.g. I had a lot of coffee./ A lot of students attended today's class.

c. Writing (15 marks)

-Pay attention to punctuation.
-Organize your ideas in a sensible way.
-Reorder words exercise

d. Reading (15 marks)

-I hope you get an easy one :p

Wishing you the best of luck. BREAK A LEG!

We're Going Pink For October! (Breast Cancer Awareness)

Dear all

     I decided to play a role in raising awareness against breast cancer by changing the color of the blog, sharing some facts and by urging all of you to participate and save lives!

• Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women.
• Although breast cancer in men is rare, an estimated 2,600 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 440 will die each year.
• On average, every 2 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer and 1 woman will die of breast cancer every 13 minutes.
• Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women.
• Most breast cancer – about 85 percent – occurs in women who have no family history of breast cancer.
• Another top risk factor for breast cancer: Simply getting older – 79 percent of new cases and 88 percent of deaths occurred in women age 50 and older, according to the American Cancer Society. Just fewer than 11,000 invasive cases occurred in women younger than 40, and just under 49,000 in women under 50. In women ages 50 to 64, invasive breast cancer was even more prevalent with more than 84,000 cases. Women over age 65 accounted for more than 99,000 cases last year.
• Exercise reduces breast cancer risk for women of all body types – even lean women, according to Leslie Bernstein, Ph.D., director of cancer etiology at City of Hope.
• Exercise is beneficial to breast cancer survivors. A June study in Cancer found only a third of survivors meet recommended activity levels.

If you're wondering how you can participate, the least you can do is read about it. You may also want to share posts/tweets/links on your social accounts. You can also wear a pink ribbon badge, or if you're a practical human being, then you can simply donate.

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P.S. Something you should know about the writer of this blog (other than how ridiculously obsessed with Harry Potter she is) is that she will always stand to defend women's rights and gender equality and she will always put up a fight against nonsensical stereotypes and cliches. Unlike many people in our lovely society, I don't consider discussing a topic like breast cancer stigmatic and I can never comprehend why it's condemned. Millions of people have been affected by this disease; either directly or by losing one or more of their family, friends and loved ones. Sadly, it's not a laughing matter.

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References:

• National Breast Cancer Foundation
• City of Hope
• Susan G. Komen

Your Spirit Animal

   

     Our fellow animals play a huge role in our lives. I'm sure all of you have noticed that animals often represent similar (or sometimes very different) things across cultures and civilisations. In fact, some of the most powerful symbols that we use -almost everyday- are related to animals. We always compare someone's strength to that of a lion's while, horses are usually associated with nobility and grace. And you probably can't say the word peace without a picture of a white dove popping inside your head.

     Our friend, George Orwell, used animal symbolism as a main device to criticise prominent politicians of his time in his very famous novella Animal Farm in 1945. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't the first one to do that. Native Americans, for example, believed that a person's personality traits and skills can always be linked to those of one or more animals. Thus each one of us shares a special connection with an animal (or a number of animals).

     So just like any bored, curious human being would do, I thought about what animal I could possibly share this special connection with. At first I wanted to believe it was an owl but whom am I kidding? I'm not as wise or calm. I am loud, fast and outgoing. I swing from an idea to another in a blink of an eye. However, after doing a few tests, it turned out that my spirit animal is the lion (now how cool is that :B). We share the characteristics of confidence and independence and we both are relentless fighters: we do not give up easily.

     Doing these personality tests will always help you know yourself better and thus define yourself as an individual. It is very important to have a clear image of what kind of person you are but it is even more important to be confident and feel free to be the wonderful person you are. Like they always say: 'no one is better in being you than you'. So go ahead and be YOU! The last thing this world needs is another replica. 

Click here to discover your spirit animal!



   

   

irregular verbs

Click here to view a list of English irregular verbs

you can also take a quiz to test your learning outcomes :)

Because and So

Dearest students,

I was looking through some websites when I came across this quiz. I thought I could share it with you to help you evaluate your understanding of the use of 'because' and 'so'

Click here to do the quiz

REMEMBER:

USE BECAUSE TO EXPRESS A REASON:

He is the best student because he studies a lot.
               (result)      <———-    (reason)

• I didn’t go to class because I was sick.
• We arrived early today because we have a meeting at 7:00 AM.
• She got presents because it was her birthday.

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USE SO TO EXPRESS A RESULT:

He studies a lot, so he is the best student.
   (reason)    ——–>   (result) 

• Jane didn’t like the movie, so she turned off the TV.
• Yesterday was a holiday, so the school was closed.
• I lost my car keys, so I took a taxi.

Good luck!

Workbook Answers

Dear students,

I hope all of you are having a wonderful day. As I promised you in class, I'm going to link the PDF file in which you can find the answers to all Workbook questions. 

I should note, however, that the answers are only relevant up till theme 3. Themes 4 and 5 have not been updated yet.

Click here to download answers

Also, click here to download the Introverts spidergram I showed you in class to help you write your essay.

Don't hesitate to share any questions

Tweet me @tasneemaou

Assessment for EL099 fall 2016/2017

Dear students,

Unfortunately, the only way we can measure your learning outcomes and achievements is by giving you tests. Here is a list of the exams you're going to take plus how much each test/assignment weighs.

Quiz 1 (10 marks): Themes 1 & 2

____________________

Midterm (25 marks): Themes 1, 2 & 3

____________________

Quiz 2 (10 marks): Theme 4

____________________

Research Presentation (5 marks)

____________________

Final Exam (50 marks): All themes.

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Also do not forget to check the course calendar to know about the approximate time of each test/assignment.

Click here to download the Course Calendar

Feel free to ask questions and send me messages on LMS

Tweet me @tasneemaou

Orientation Day

Dear students,

I hope you're having a wonderful break so far. Yesterday reminded me of how much I missed being a university student and for a while it felt like I was again. The four years I spent being a student at the Arab Open University were some of the happiest years of my life. I guess what I'm trying to say is: enjoy being a student as much as you can. Make new friends, hang out together, experience new things, and laugh hysterically...

Live your life not in another moment but this moment... (:

Did you join any clubs?

(leave a comment or tweet me @tasneemaou)

The birds are twittering!

Dear students,

Since social media networks have taken a big part of our daily lives, I decided to start a new Twitter account so we can communicate in an easy and modern way. This can also help integrating new and fun methods into your learning routine. Feel free to follow, retweet and share your opinions and questions :)

@tasneemaou