Homework for Wednesday 4/5

Use of English practice:

Complete "Use of English 1 and 2", which you will find on your right. This webpage allows you to check your own answers. 


Important: Write down those answers that you found confusing or difficult to work in class. 


http://www.examenglish.com/CAE/cae_use_of_english1.htm

CAE writing paper

Check this webpage! It contains all the tips you need to write essays, proposals, articles, letters, reports, and more! 

Remember that the CAE writing paper contains two parts:

PART ONE: Write an essay. 

PART TWO: You choose one out of four situations. According to the input, you´ll have to use the most appropriate style to write your production (report, letter, article, etc)

All writing parts must cover between 220 and 260 words. 

Here´s the page:

http://www.rubenvalero.com/english/content/cae-proposal

Informal letters

CAE students have written informal letters to the teacher telling her about their routines, freetime and intentions to sit for this important exam.
You all might as well learn some techniques from them!

Hi Florencia!

Thanks for your letter, you really surprised me, I didn´t expect you to contact me this soon!

I´m glad you asked about my job, so well, let me start by telling you some things about it.

As I said last class, it is in the administration of a private neighbourhood in Nordelta, Tigre.

I´ve been working there since September 2015 (before I used to work here, at York!). I´ve to go every day from 9:00 to 18:00, except at weekends. Sometimes I break down but I´m happy, it´s very dynamic, I´m dealing with different situations and a lot of people all the time. I found out it´s making me grow and also gain a lot of experience.

I thought you might be interested to hear about my guitar classes, which is something I do in my free time. I´m just learning but I love music so I enjoy it very much. 

I also spend my afternoons rollerblading with one of my best friends, it helps me to disconnect my mind from daily routine.

I also want you to know I´m glad and excited about your classes, I was wondering if you would like to help me improve my listening and speaking skills because, as you might know, I´m planning to sit for CAE by the end of the year!

Now, I´ve to get back to work but I´ll see you next Wednesday!

Take care,

Cami! 

Hello Florencia 

It is really good that you sent this letter to me.

I´m doing my last year at school, and I’m busy because I have to do a long and difficult project about child abuse. In this project, I have to investigate by reading books, talking with people that know about this topic, and watching movies or documentaries. However, the most important part of this project is the experience, going to places where there are children that suffer from abuse. I have to help them and play with them, in this way I can understand them better.

Apart from the academic life, I’m working at a book shop, so I don´t have a lot of free time, but when I do, I like to go to the gym. At the weekends I hang out with friends; we go to the cinema, eat out, go to parties or just meet in someone´s house.

I would like to sit for the exam this year in December because next year I´ll start university and I won´t have time to study for  CAE.

I´m really happy to have you as my teacher too.

See you next class!

Denisse



Hi Flor!


I’m writing to tell you a little bit about myself. At the moment I’m not working but I’m studying. I worked until last year at York and decided that this year I was going to help my sister-in-law with her own business and her new-born. In that way, I’d have more time to devote to studying and try to pursue my dream job as a flight attendant. 


I’m currently waiting for a response from Qatar Airways, and if everything goes okay, I’ll be moving away and working with them. 


I’m a crossfit fan! I love the discipline and the people that train with me are really kind, we’re always having fun and making jokes. I like running and have run a few 5K marathons, which were great fun.

I also like to read and write. I sometimes feel much older than I am, because I’d rather stay home than go out every weekend. I enjoy a good dinner more than all the noise in dance clubs. Whenever I go out, I enjoy it and have a good time.


I have three nephews, two of them live here and I really like to be around them and spend time with them. 


Regarding CAE, I wish I had done it last year, but I wasn´t feeling a hundred percent confident. I’m having a hard time with the reading and I get very nervous in the speaking part. So I really want to work hard on those two papers and get to the exam at the end of the year feeling more relaxed.


Hope to hear from you soon,

Kiss,

Otis!




Hello Flor,


Thanks for your email. I was glad to hear from you and that all is going fine despite the difficult times we are living. Furthermore, I’m also happy about all the projects you had mentioned before, which you have been carrying on.


In my case, I’m also very well and I have a lot of news to tell you. Firstly, I want to talk about my job. I really got bored of my last one so I have been looking for a new one, and you know, this is very stressful but luckily, I have found one which I hope will be a great chance. I’m starting at Unilever company next week and I’m so excited about that! It is a big and international company that could bring many positive things to my career.


Secondly, you asked about the things I do in my free time, didn’t you? Well, I really don´t have much free time but on weekends I usually go to the river to practice wake boarding in the afternoon and go dancing at nights, but during the week I only go to work and then to university. Therefore, as you can see, I have fun only on weekends for the time being.


Lastly, about my CAE test, I am planning to sit in December or on the first instance the following year. I need a lot of time to practice in order to get a good level before planning to sit for it.


So that’s all, I hope you will be ok, and good luck with all the amazing things you are living.


I look forward to hearing from you soon.


Take care.

Fede



Dear Florence,


Good to hear from you. It's been a long time since we saw each other. How are you doing?


I've been very busy these days because I´m starting exams next week, so I've been studying a lot. I barely had time to drop a line.


I've also been helping my little brother with a very important project he has next week. Apart from that, as I'm new at school, I found a lot of differences with my other school.


The teachers are more rigid, I mean, without sense of humor and we have to say lots of patriotic stuff in the morning before we enter our classes.


There are  also some good things, for example I made lot of new friends and they even invited me to a party!


Despite the fact I’ve been very busy I also had some free time. I have football lessons twice a week and also go to the gym. But when I got some time to rest, I sleep a lot and play video games; it’s very relaxing.


I was supposed to sit for CAE last year but we had a very boring teacher. She was 75 years old and she wasn’t able to come to all the classes. So I finally decided to sit for it at the middle of the year, though I’m still thinking about it.


I’m also glad to be your student, I hope to have a great year.


See you!

Eugenio




Hello Florencia,

How are you?

I am fine, I have recently been very busy with school because of our annual work, I am quite nervous I must admit but luckily other than that everything is well.

Regarding my free time , I don't have much because I have been very occupied with my studies, especially with subjects like Chemistry, Physics and Maths , which I have a hard time with. To distract myself I have started a new course on ceramics which I am highly interested in. I believe it is a good way to forget about all my worries and tasks since it gives me peace so I am very happy. 

Another thing I do when I have some free time is running, I started doing it during my summer break  and each day I try to go a little bit further, it is a great motivation. 

I am planning to sit for my Cae exam in May actually on the 7th. Because of that , I have been doing a lot of extra homework, I was wondering if I could send it to you so that you can tell me if it is okay. 

That is all for now , I hope to hear back from you soon, please tell me your news, I heard about your new job congratulations!!! I am very glad for you. 

Lots of hugs , I hope to see you soon! 

Ariadni

Hello teacher! 

Nice to hear from you!! 

I am very happy that you are back to school and I feel excited about learning English this year! As regards school, I recently changed schools and started at Colegio Del Norte. I don’t really know much about it, because I am new. I also haven’t made any friends yet but I guess I will get to know my mates and the school soon. Luckily, I know some of the students from a grade beyond so I chat with them at break time and I would also like to mention that the teachers are excessively strict!

Regarding my free time, I do a lot of things, on the weekend I hang out with friends in   the neighborhood and we spend most of the day chatting and playing sports. I don’t really enjoy sports but in the end, the point is to be with my friends haha! 

During the week, I usually play video games and spend most of the time inside my house watching series and movies and every night before going to sleep, I read a lot! I read from Sci Fi books up to fantasy medieval-themed books. The ones I mostly like are those which involve magic in the stories in the same way that J.K Rowling does on Harry potter. I also love novels that have a tragical ending!

Last Year I was supposed to sit fort the CAE, but I had a teacher that was always absent to many classes so I barely learned anything. I guess I will sit for the exam at the end of this year if I get good marks at mocks!

I am very excited about being your student and I hope we all have a very good year!


My best wishes

Bernardo

Dear teacher, 

                       

                         How are you? I hope you´re doing well. I knew you were going to write to me, so I was expecting this letter from you.

By the way, my school is going great. This is my last year so I´m pretty excited but sad at the same time because I will miss teachers and friends. My plans for this year are to enjoy everyday to the maximum. I still don´t know what I´m going to study in the future, so that´s a bit frustrating, but I will figure it out soon.

In my free time I play basketball in a sports center near my house. I love it. I've been playing it since I was 9 or 10 years old. I also go to the gym in the same place. When I have some free time at home, I watch series or play video games such as "Call of Duty" or FIFA. I also love football and I´m a big fan of River plate. 

About the CAE: I don´t know when I´m going to sit for it. These are just my first classes, but I think I will sit for it when I feel ready, I know it´s going to be harder than the FCE, which I passed last year, so this one requires more effort. Another thing that I want to add is that I also attend this class not to lose contact with the language, and knowing that I could pass an important exam that will be useful for my future job.

I want to leave something for the final, and it´s the fact that I´m very glad to be your student and I like the way you teach. 

Agus.

MOCK DATES 2016

Here's everything you need to know about the mock exams:

You will have a booklet with 8 complete exams (Reading & Use of English paper, Writing paper and Listening paper). This booklet is to be used at York, you will only take it home during the winter break to complete Mock #4. You must bring it back to class once we start again. It is yours, take care of it and keep a neat record of your corrected answer sheets. 

Concerning the papers, please note:

• Listening paper. 

It will always be completed during class time. So make all your efforts not to be absent on that day. 
Before the class starts, ask for your booklet and an answer sheet to the secretaries. So, please, do come some minutes earlier.
When you finish, check you have written your name on the answer sheet, place it in the booklet and hand it to your teacher.

• Reading and Use of English paper, and
• Writing paper

Both of them are always on a Friday. You have to come to York during opening hours and ask for your booklet and an answer sheet to the secretaries.
When you finish, check you have written your name on the answer sheet, place it in the booklet and hand it back to the secretaries.

General advice:

• As you can see, you are responsible for your Mock Exams. We, teachers, believe you can handle this.
• Mock Exams are intended to give you full practice, constant evaluation of your progress and help you build the strategies you need to succeed in the exam.
• Complete every paper with responsibility, do not use dictionaries or any other help that is not allowed during the exam. 
• Very important: Be aware of the time set for each paper and do not exceed the limit.

	Date	Paper
1	April 12th/13th	Listening
	April 22nd	Reading & Use of English
	April 29th	Writing
2	May 17th / 18th	Listening
	May 2oth	Reading & Use of English
	May 27th	Writing
3	June 14th/15th	Listening
	June 17th	Reading & Use of English
	June 24th	Writing
4	July (during Winter break)	Listening
	July	Reading & Use of English
	July	Writing
5	August 16th/17th	Listening
	August 19th	Reading & Use of English
	August 26th	Writing
6	September 13th/14th	Listening
	September 16th	Reading & Use of English
	September 23rd	Writing
7	October 11th/12th	Listening
	October 14th	Reading & Use of English
	October 21st	Writing
8	October 26th / 27th	Listening
	October 28th	Reading & Use of English
	November 4th	Writing