آموزش زبان انگلیسی - زبان آموز

Liam O'Flaherty

wow4all — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:25:39 GMT

Liam O'Flaherty

Biography

‘I was born on a storm-swept rock and hate the soft growth of sunbaked lands where there is no frost in men’s bones. Swift thought and the flight of ravenous birds,and the squeal of hunted animals are to me reality.’ Liam O’Flaherty

Body language - Great tips to improve our conversation

wow4all — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:27:17 GMT

I would like to post here some big tips from Henrik Edberg to improve our conversation that I happened to find from his blog. I think that we, Vietnamese in particular, usually miss these points since we were not taught at school or very little at home (at least it is my case) . I hope these tips are as useful for you as they are for me in rare occasions such as taking Speaking English tests or going to interviews.
————–

Words are only 7 percent of your conversation. The rest is your voice tonality (38 percent) and your body language at 55 percent. That’s according to research done by Albert Mehrabian, currently Professor Emeritus in psychology at UCLA. These numbers may vary depending upon the situation and what is communicated (for instance, talking over the phone is obviously different from talking face to face) but body language is a very important part of communication

Improving your body language can make a big difference in your people skills, attractiveness and general mood.

There is no specific advice on how to use your body language. What you do might be interpreted in several ways, depending on the setting and who you are talking to. You’ll probably want to use your body language differently when talking to your boss compared to when you talk to a girl/guy you’re interested in. These are some common interpretations of body language and often more effective ways to communicate with your body.

First, to change your body language you must be aware of your body language. Notice how you sit, how you stand, how you use you hands and legs, what you do while talking to someone.

You might want to practice in front of a mirror. Yeah, it might seem silly but no one is watching you. This will give you good feedback on how you look to other people and give you an opportunity to practise a bit before going out into the world.

Another tip is to close your eyes and visualize how you would stand and sit to feel confident, open and relaxed or whatever you want to communicate. See yourself move like that version of yourself. Then try it out.

You might also want observe friends, role models, movie stars or other people you think has good body language. Observe what they do and you don’t. Take bits and pieces you like from different people. Try using what you can learn from them.

Some of these tips might seem like you are faking something. But fake it til you make it is a useful way to learn something new. And remember, feelings work backwards too. If you smile a bit more you will feel happier. If you sit up straight you will feel more energetic and in control. If you slow down your movements you’ll feel calmer. Your feelings will actually reinforce your new behaviours and feelings of weirdness will dissipate.

In the beginning easy it’s to exaggerate your body language. You might sit with your legs almost ridiculously far apart or sit up straight in a tense pose all the time. That’s ok. And people aren’t looking as much as you think, they are worrying about their own problems. Just play around a bit, practice and monitor yourself to find a comfortable balance.

1. Don’t cross your arms or legs – You have probably already heard you shouldn’t cross your arms as it might make you seem defensive or guarded. This goes for your legs too. Keep your arms and legs open.

2. Have eye contact, but don’t stare – If there are several people you are talking to, give them all some eye contact to create a better connection and see if they are listening. Keeping too much eye-contact might creep people out. Giving no eye-contact might make you seem insecure. If you are not used to keeping eye-contact it might feel a little hard or scary in the beginning but keep working on it and you’ll get used to it.

3. Don’t be afraid to take up some space – Taking up space by for example sitting or standing with your legs apart a bit signals self-confidence and that you are comfortable in your own skin.

4. Relax your shoulders – When you feel tense it’s easily winds up as tension in your shoulders. They might move up and forward a bit. Try to relax. Try to loosen up by shaking the shoulders a bit and move them back slightly.

5. Nod when they are talking – nod once in a while to signal that you are listening. But don’t overdo it and peck like Woody Woodpecker...

100 Ways to Improve your TOEIC Listening

wow4all — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:55:18 GMT

As most people find TOEIC listening Part One an easy place to pick up points and it comes at the beginning of the exam and so can give you confidence for the rest of the test, it is well worth spending some time and effort thinking about how you can get the most out of it. Below are 100 ideas on how you can improve your score in the short and long term, most of which you can do on your own outside of class:

1. Concentrate on your pronunciation. More than sentences that you would not understand if you read them, most people have problems with sentences in the exam that they would understand if they could read them carefully but have trouble understanding quickly when listening to them from a native speaker speaking at natural speed. Working on your own pronunciation is the best way of making sure you recognize English words and sentences when you hear them in the TOEIC exam.

2. Buy an electronic dictionary that speaks. If you can get a dictionary that has different accents you can also use that to make sure you are familiar with American accents (most of the test) or British and Australian accents (some parts of the test that people who have only studied American English can find difficult).

3. Learn homonyms. Homonyms are words that have the same spelling and pronunciation but totally different meanings, and so have different entries in a dictionary. These are sometimes used in the exam to try and fool you into choosing the wrong answer in Listening Part One. You can find lists of homonyms on the internet, and learning the more common ones can also be a good way of learning similar words that you didn't know.

4. Learn homophones. Sometimes a question will try to fool you by using a word with the same pronunciation but a different meaning in that sentence to the thing you can see in the picture. By learning words that sound the same but have different spellings you can make sure you recognize each word in its context in the sentence. Learning words this way can also help you get the pronunciation exactly right...

Tongue-twisters(2)

wow4all — Sat, 03 May 2008 00:17:18 GMT

201

Rattle your bottles in Rollocks' van.

202

A fly and flea flew into a flue,

said the fly to the flea 'what shall we do?'

'let us fly' said the flea

said the fly 'shall we flee'

so they flew through a flaw in the flue.

203

How much dew does a dewdrop drop

If dewdrops do drop dew?

They do drop, they do

As do dewdrops drop

If dewdrops do drop dew.

Love sms

wow4all — Sat, 03 May 2008 00:06:18 GMT

I love my EYES when u look into them,

I love my NAME when u say it,

I love my HEART when u love it,

I love my LIFE when u are in it.

چشامو وقتی تو بهشون نگاه میکنی دوست دارم،

اسممو وقتی دوست دارم که تو صداش میکنی،

قلبمو وقتی دوست دارم که تو دوسش داشته باشی،

زندگیم رو وقتی دوست دارم که تو توش هستی.....

My heart is made 2 luv u, my lips are made 2 kis u, my eyes r made 2 c u, my

hands r made 2 hold u, evry part of me wants u, bcoz i was made just 4 u!!

قلبم برای دوست داشتن تو ، لبام برای بوسیدن تو ، چشام برای دیدن تو و دستام برای نگه داشتن تو بوجود اومدن؛ چون من فقط بخاطر تو ساخته شدم!!!!

Lost in Translation

wow4all — Fri, 02 May 2008 04:59:18 GMT

To be a translator, believe me it’s sad,

To be a translator, you have to be mad-

Who else would sit in a room

Encased in loneliness more like a tomb?

Who else would fondle a microphone cable

Or typewriter keyboard when perfectly able

To fondle some better more pliant device?

(It happens to others, they say it’s quite nice.)

Who else would apply so much love, care, devotion..

wow4all — Fri, 02 May 2008 04:51:18 GMT

آسيب شناسي ترجمه در ايران

گفت و گو با دکتر ناصر فکوهي

؛گرايش نسل جواني که قلم به دست دارند و در حوزه هاي مختلف فکري و انديشگي به ترجمه قلم مي زنند، گاه اين سوال را به ذهن متبادر مي کند که ما تا کجا مجاز به ترجمه و بلعيدن آثار متفکران غرب و نيز نينديشيدن، توليد نکردن و کشف نکردن راز و رمزهاي جامعه خود هستيم.اگر اين ترجمه ها باعث تلنگر زدن به خلاقيت و نوآوري ما نشود آيا اين خوراک هاي فکري آماده جسارت انديشيدن و تاليف و ترويج را از ما نخواهد گرفت؟ در اين خصوص با دکتر ناصر فکوهي به گفت وگو نشستيم که در پي مي آيد.

-در حال حاضر جامعه ما با ترجمه هاي گوناگوني در حوزه هاي مختلف مواجه است، البته ترجمه دانش بشري را ارتقا مي دهد، يا به قول «شريعتي» انسان هاي «دوفرهنگه» خدمت بيشتري به جامعه خود مي کنند تا انسان هاي «تک فرهنگه». حال شما اگر بخواهيد به دستاوردهاي مثبت و منفي ترجمه اشاره کنيد، به چه مواردي مي پردازيد

Learn English from the movie

wow4all — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:45:18 GMT

Many people effectively learn English from Hollywood movie (not Bellwood ok?).

Yet, you can see some friends, who watch thousand of hollywood movie, do not speak any words!! Right, the thing is you don't just watch it but you have to watch by learning purpose to create more useful entertainment.

The steps may annoy your emotion but if you want to learn English you better follow below steps. Otherwise, you may lost your time and effort without nothing. There are three easy steps to follow.

1. Buy soundtrack movie (of course!) and watch it with the subtitle on at the first time. Your eyes and ears should work equally at this stage. Try to understand the theme and the main idea of the movie...

50 THINGS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW

wow4all — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:12:18 GMT

THINGS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW

(or 50 Completely Useless Facts!)

The word "queue" is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.

Beetles taste like apples, wasps like pine nuts, and worms like fried bacon.

Of all the words in the English language, the word 'set' has the most definitions!

What is called a "French kiss" in the English speaking world is known as an "English kiss" in France.

"Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.

"Rhythm" is the longest English word without a vowel.

In 1386, a pig in France was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child....

Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.

Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a "Friday the 13th."

Coca-Cola would be green if colouring weren’t added to it.

On average a hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute.

More people are killed each year from bees than from snakes.

The average lead pencil will draw a line 35 miles long or write approximately 50,000 English words.

More people are allergic to cow's milk than any other food.

The Tell-Tale Heart

wow4all — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:47:18 GMT

The Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allan Poe

TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story.

It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture -- a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever.

Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded -- with what caution -- with what foresight, with what dissimulation, I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night about midnight I turned the latch of his door and opened it oh, so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern all closed, closed so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly, very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this? And then when my head was well in the room I undid the lantern cautiously -- oh, so cautiously -- cautiously (for the hinges creaked), I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights, every night just at midnight, but I found the eye always closed, and so it was impossible to do the work, for it was not the old man who vexed me but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he had passed the night. So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed , to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept...