We've Moved

We've moved to a new blog!

You can now find us here

Punctuation

Having trouble with your semi-colons? Here's a useful guide:

Academic Word List

The Academic Word List is a series of sublists of the most important vocabulary you'll need for studying. It's not a good idea to spend all your time on the list but it is useful to work through the lists a bit at a time. There are lots of example exercises on the internet to help you out.

Welcome Back

Good to see everyone back and looking forward to a glorious British summer!!

Lets hope its not like 2007

End of Term

End of term already! I hope the exams went ok. We look forward to seeing you all again next term .... and if you think you've already worked out the British then have a look at this:

Revising for Exams

Some useful advice:

Dealing with Exam Stress

The Student Learning Centre has lots of advice to help in your preparation for exams:

No Smoking Day

Not of interest to everyone:

...and an interesting article:

Word Games

Lots and lots of word games here for improving vocabulary:

Magic 8 Ball

Do you need an answer quickly? Try the Magic Eight Ball.

Revision

It's coming up to time for exams, and if you haven't started already, it's time to start organising your revision. Of course, there is lots of advice on the web. Here's one example:

Presentations

As everyone will soon be making presentations, here are some presentation links:

Football

If you like football, here's all the latest news and results.

Astronomy & Astrology

If you have a hobby or interest, it can be a great way to explore and improve your English. Here's an example for astronomy:







Of course, if you prefer astrology, you can look here:

Shopping in Leicester

Are you getting the most out of Leicester? Here's a link to help you discover a little more.

Writing an Essay

Don't forget that there is lots of advice and support on the University website, especially for writing essays.

More Listening

More listening here. These are particularly good practice for the the FES 1 and FES 2 exams.

Leicester Comedy Festival

Need cheering up?

Business Podcast

Although this podcast is mainly for business people who are learning English, there is lots of useful language for Business, Economics and Accounting students.

Longest Words

Thanks to Chakib for this:

Podcasts

Lots of listening practice to be found here

Wordia

This is an interesting twist to the usual dictionary. Here you will find video definitions of words. A nice way to build vocabulary and practice listening.

Sharky the Snowman

This is my snowman. He's called Sharky. Unfortunately, he's not feeling or looking too good these days. But this is how I like to remember him:

***WE ARE OPEN***

The centre will be open today and classes will run as normal.

***IMPORTANT INFORMATION***

CLASSES ARE CANCELLED TODAY DUE TO THE WEATHER

***IMPORTANT INFORMATION***

Classes will be running today as normal.

Please take extra care as you make your way in.

***IMPORTANT INFORMATION***

Classes this afternoon (after 12.00) are cancelled due to the weather and the subsequent problems with transport.

Please check back here for news about tomorrow.

I will post information on this blog.

Alternatively you can call me on my mobile.

Snow

Check the latest weather here:

Snowy pictures here

And lots of interactive weather stuff here

More Quizzes

Lots more quizzes here

Idioms

Like idioms? Have a look here

The News (but weirder)

Here's a link which is good for improving your reading. As well as all the main stories it also has some of the day's more odd news.

Here's an example:

Pub locals spot UFO

A group of drinkers who claim to have spotted UFOs as they came out of their local pub were also plunged into darkness.

Lord Nelson pub landlord Keith Gelderd and his locals watched the shapes glowing in the sky but were then greeted by house alarms going off as the whole village suffered a blackout.

Keith from Poppleton, near York told The Sun: "If I live to be 100 I'm sure I will never see anything like it again. At first there were two spheres hovering in the distance. When they started to move they made no sound.

"There were seven or eight of us watching. As they moved towards us two more appeared.

"They were all in a line, then one moved 180 degrees around the one next to it. As they left all the electricity went off and you could hear alarms. Then it came back on again.

"None of us was drunk. What were they? Flying saucers? "

Bricklayer Jason Mitchinson, added: "It was the strangest thing I've seen. They were an orange flame colour with an outer ring that glowed.

"They just cruised along. They stopped over the pub, then headed for Scarborough. When they turned it was tight, at 90 degrees, not like a plane."

Short Story Radio

Lots of short stories to listen to here

Pronunciation

Type in a word and this online dictionary will give you the pronunciation with a 'human' voice.

Games

Here are some more straightforward games for learning and practicing English, which you can find here.

Questionaut

Here's an interesting quiz. There are eight levels to complete. It will test your English skills and your science knowledge as well as your imagination. Click on the picture above to start the quiz.

Reading Faces

How good are you at reading faces? Are men better judges of emotion that women? Find out here

Welcome back. I hope you all had a great holiday. For those of you who went home, I look forward to hearing about what you got up to on your blogs.

For business students, here's a link for Marketing vocabulary: