New at iTunes U

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:52:34 -0700

ITunes U is easier to use and has some exciting new audio and video material, thanks to three recent changes!

First, there is a new video that explains how to use iTunes U.

Second, the audio and video material from the universities is now organized by categories, or topics. All of the history classes are listed together under History. All the literature class are listed together under Literature. As a result, it’s now easier to find what you’re interested in.

Finally, there is an exciting new category of sources, called Beyond Campus. This category includes material from non-educational sources, like museums, PBS (Public Broadcasting System) television stations, and the Smithsonian.

If you have any questions or comments, please send me an e-mail. My address is warren@successfulenglish.com.

Warren Ediger

Prepare for Academic English at iTunes U!

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:10:18 -0700

In the listening and speaking sections of the TOEFL, students have to listen to academic lectures in English. After they listen to the lectures, they have to be able to remember facts, identify main ideas and supporting details, summarize, and use information from the lectures to answer questions.

Many students are not familiar with academic English. But now there is a wonderful new place students can go to become familiar with academic English. It’s called iTunes U!

iTunes U isn’t a real school. But it is an excellent source of good academic English.

During the last few years, millions of people have become familiar with iPods and the iTunes Store. If you know how to find the iTunes Store, you are only a few steps from the door to iTunes U!

iTunes U is a special area inside the iTunes Store. When you enter iTunes U, you’ll find free academic lectures, interviews, and other kinds of class content from top U.S. colleges and universities, such as Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Duke University, and MIT.

If you have an iPod or other mp3 player, you can download lectures and other content from iTunes U and carry them with you wherever you go. If you don’t have an iPod, you can listen to them on your computer.

Here are some suggestions to help you use iTunes U to prepare for the TOEFL:

Look for lectures that are easy to understand. When you are trying to improve your English, it’s important to read or listen to as much easy-to-understand English as possible. Remember this when you look for lectures and other material on iTunes U.

One way to make sure the lectures are easy to understand is to listen to lectures about subjects you are already familiar with. For example, at the UC Berkeley iTunes U site, there are many lectures on world history in the Social Sciences section. If you are familiar with the Renaissance, find a lecture on the Renaissance and listen to it. What you learned about the Renaissance in your language will help you understand the English lecture on the Renaissance.

If you don’t understand part of a lecture, go back and listen to it again. When read or listen again to something you don’t understand, it will often make sense (be understandable) the second or third time.

If you find a lecture that is interesting, listen to it two or three times. Repeated listening is always a good strategy to improve understanding and to help you acquire, or absorb, more English.

Some lectures include pictures or video that will help you understand more. And some professors give links to their web sites, where they have outlines and other information.

I suggest that you begin with either UC Berkeley or Stanford University.

They both have large collections of lectures for you to choose from. Later, if you want to look at other schools, you can find a list of them at the iTunes Store or at http://itunesu.pbwiki.com/.

Come back in a few days, and I will have some more suggestions for using iTunes U to improve your academic English.

If you have a question or comment about this subject, use the “Add a comment” link below. I would like to hear from you.

Warren Ediger
warren@successfulenglish.com

Note: iTunes U is a registered trademark of Apple Computers.

Using a Tutor to Improve Your English and Prepare for the TOEFL

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 09:25:16 -0700

In this interview, from ESLPod.com’s Guide to the TOEFL Test Podcast, Dr. Jeff McQuillan and Warren Ediger talk about:

what to look for in a tutor
choosing a tutor
advantages of video tutoring
preparing for the speaking section of the Internet-based TOEFL
using an online tutor
building vocabulary and language proficiency

To read the interview, use this link: TOEFLPodcast Interview.pdf

TOEFL - the thrill of victory and the agony* of defeat

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:27:05 -0700

*agony = severe, or extreme, pain or suffering

For many years a popular American television program, began with these words:

“The thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat! The human drama of athletic competition!”

“The thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat!” Everyone who saw the beginning of that program remembers those words.

I have a number of students who have taken the TOEFL. Some of them have experienced the thrill of victory. But, unfortunately, a few of them have suffered the agony of defeat. And I’m always sorry when that happens.

Today I want to talk to you about some things you can do to be sure you experience the thrill of victory when you take the TOEFL.

The purpose of the TOEFL is to make sure that students can understand and use English the way it is used in college and university classes. That means you must do two things. First, you must acquire enough English so you can understand academic English. Second, you must learn how to use English the way it is used in a college or university class.

How do we acquire English? I recently wrote, “When you read or listen to English that you can understand, you acquire – you pick up, or absorb – more English. The more you read or listen, the more you acquire.”

Some of my students have studied English for 8, 10, even 12 years. They have learned a lot about English, but they have not yet acquired, or absorbed, enough English to be successful on the TOEFL. If you are like them, the best thing you can do is to read or listen to a lot of easy-to-understand English. (Be sure you read The importance of easy.)

Does reading or listening help improve TOEFL scores? Yes, it does. A friend of mine, who is an English professor in Japan, recently compared two groups of students who were preparing for the TOEFL. One group of students took a TOEFL preparation class. They went to class five days a week for 13 weeks and did homework every day. The other group did only one thing: they read books for fun, books that they chose and enjoyed. At the end of 13 weeks, the book-readers’ TOEFL scores had improved just as much as the students who took the class!

For some students, improving their English by reading and listening will be most important part of TOEFL preparation. And for some students, it may take six months or even a year.

How can you tell if your English ability is good enough? Here’s a simple test you can try:

1. Go to the ESLPod Guide to the TOEFL Test and choose one of the podcasts. Some of them are class lectures. Others are conversations between two students or between a student and a professor.

2. Listen to the fast dialogue at the end of the podcast. You may take notes, but don’t listen to the slow dialogue or explanation. And don’t read the text of the dialogue.

3. Did you understand it well enough the first time to describe or explain the main ideas to a friend?

If you understood the lecture or conversation well enough the first time to be able to talk about the main ideas, your English ability may be good enough to think about taking the TOEFL. If you didn’t understand the lecture or conversation the first time, it would be a good idea to spend some time reading and listening to easy-to-understand English.

If your English ability is not good enough, taking a TOEFL class may not help very much. Most TOEFL classes are designed to help students become familiar with the test and test-taking strategies. They are not designed to help students improve their English.

I will never forget the e-mail I received a few months ago from one of my former students. Eduardo acquired a lot of English in our ESL classes. And when he wasn’t in class, he read a lot and spent time with people who spoke English. He also took classes at the local community college. He took the TOEFL without any special preparation and earned the score he needed to enter a prestigious business program at a Southern California university. Eduardo clearly experienced the thrill of victory!

I hope you do, too!

If you have a question or comment about this subject, use the “Add a comment” link below. I would like to hear from you.

Warren Ediger
warren@successfulenglish.com

Writing successful TOEFL essays and other English documents

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:31:22 -0700

If you want to become a better writer, you need feedback*. You need someone who will look at your writing and show you how to make it better.

Last week I received an e-mail from a student who wanted help with his TOEFL practice essays. He wanted someone to evaluate them and give him feedback.

At the end of his e-mail he added, “As you might know, money matters.” I do know that money matters, especially for students. I thought about his request. And I came up with a way to provide helpful feedback on your English writing. It’s not very expensive, and you don’t need to schedule a tutoring session.

Would you like to receive feedback on TOEFL practice essays, essays and other papers for school, or personal and business documents? If so, please send me an e-mail.

If you have a question or comment about this subject, use the “Add a comment” link below. I would like to hear from you.

Warren Ediger
warren@successfulenglish.com

*Feedback = information you can use to improve something or make it better.