http://www.monkeydollars.net/2010/03/2010-big-12-tournament-schedule.html

Congratulations to the official winners, me and all Snipsly’s members…

http://relationships-love-marriage-articles.blogspot.com/2010/03/international-womens-day-2010.html

http://www.monkeydollars.net/2010/03/big-ten-wrestling-tournament-2010-live.html

Don’t pick up your pen and then start to think what to write. Plan your ideas first.

Learn the techniques of ‘process writing’.

1 Collect your ideas and make notes. Think about the reader. Ask your self “What does the reader need to know?” “What does the reader know already?” Think about the ‘communicative purpose’ of what you are writing.

2 Organise your notes into a logical structure. Think about the language you will need.

3 Write your first draft. Try leaving every other line blank so you can make corrections without having to rewrite the whole text.
Cartoon of woman writing

4 Imagine you are the reader. Check your draft contains all the information the reader needs and that it is clearly expressed. Also check for language mistakes and correct them.

5 Learn from the corrections your teacher gives you on your written work. Identify your bad habits and frequent mistakes. Concentrate on correcting these.

6 Learn how to check your own writing by checking the writing of your fellow students. Remember to look for a logical structure and development. Look for well-organised paragraphs. Look for details – spelling, punctuation, word order. Learn from your fellow students’ mistakes. Your teacher can help you do this in class.

Do not let difficult vocabulary slow down your reading. Just ignore the difficult vocabulary on your first reading and understand as much as you can.
Cartoon of woman reading

Often the first sentence in a paragraph will give you a general idea of the whole paragraph.

Remember to look carefully at the question word. Who? wants a name or person. When? wants a time. Where? wants a place. How long? wants a time or distance. Why? wants a reason.

Examine the reading task carefully after your first reading. Some tasks require general or detailed understanding. Other tasks require searching for specific information.

Learn to ’skim’ – that is to read through the whole text quickly to get a general idea of the meaning.

Learn the skill of ’scanning’ the text looking for key words. Then read around the key word to find the answer.

If the task requires detailed understanding, read the questions carefully and have a clear idea in your mind of what you are looking for before you read the text a second time.

Don’t be afraid to read the text a third or fourth time to get the information of ideas you need. This is much better than ‘inventing’ your answers.

Remember that fast, repeated reading is much more effective than slow, careful reading.

Predict
Try to understand as much about the topic before you listen. Ask yourself questions about the speakers and what they are likely to say. Prepare yourself for listening by having lots of questions and predictions in your mind. Be prepared to change those predictions as you listen.

Prepare
Read the questions before you listen and think about the sort of answers which might be possible.

As you listen
The first time you listen, make notes of any key pieces of information. If you can’t write down names, write the initial letters. Read through your notes before the second listening so that you can ‘fill the gaps’ in your notes.

Cartoon of man listening to a tape

Listen for clues
Listen, not only to the information but also to the voices. Are they angry or happy? Sincere or joking? Are they female or male speakers? Are they young or old?

Listen frequently
Listening is a skill which improves with a lot of practice.