Cours de Langue - Anglais

Chers Madame, Monsieur,


Je me permets de vous écrire dans le cas où vous seriez à la recherche d’une personne possédant un excellent niveau d’anglais, que ce soit pour des cours de langue ou pour de l’assistance en matière de communication et de traduction. L’anglais est en effet ma langue maternelle, et j’ai une formation d’enseignante ainsi que d’ingénieure en électronique. Je vis depuis peu au Bugue.

Je travaille actuellement à mi-temps pour une entreprise locale (dont vous trouverez les références dans le document ci-joint), au sein de laquelle je donne des cours d’anglais aux employés. Je souhaite étendre cette activité. Mes compétences techniques (je suis titulaire d’un MSc) ainsi que mon expérience professionnelle représentent un avantage certain pour toute entreprise recherchant une personne qualifiée pour dispenser des cours aux employés souhaitant améliorer leur anglais ou bien développer leurs relations avec des clients étrangers.
Je peux enseigner en groupe tout comme en face à face. J’ai de l’expérience avec tous les groupes d’âge. Avant de déménager en France, j’étais enseignante de lycée à Birmingham (dans les Midlands, au centre de l’Angleterre).

Le domaine de la communication avec les clients et collègues anglophones m’intéresse également. Je peux enseigner l’anglais des affaires, ou encore aider à la production de matériel promotionnel (CDs, DVDs) et à la rédaction de manuels techniques. De par ma formation j’ai des connaissances en matière de création de sites web. J’ai travaillé pendant plusieurs années dans les domaines de la communication audiovisuelle et de l’ingénierie, entre autres pour le service technique de la British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), et Reuters Television. Cela m’a également permis de faire l’expérience du travail aux Etats-Unis.

Si vous pensez que mon savoir faire peut vous être utile pour mener à bout vos projets, vous pouvez me contacter soit à l’adresse donnée au haut de cette lettre, soit par mail à l’adresse suivante : miers.carol@yahoo.com
J’espère avoir de vos nouvelles, et vous prie d’agréer de l’expression de mes sentiments les plus distingués,
Carol Miers

LEARNING NUMBERS COUNTING

How to work out the nine times table:
Start at the bottom with 1 X 9 = 9, 2 x 9 = 18
Then you increase the first column by 1, and decrease the second by one, each time
that is
2 x 9 = 18 then add and subtract
3 x 9 = 27
4 x 9 = 38
5 x 9 = 45
6 x 9 = 54
7 x 9 = 63
8 x 9 = 72
9 x9 = 81
10 x 9 = 90 Finish at the top, the largest number with 90

GRAPHS TECHNICAL LANGUAGE

GRAPHS

Decide which graph, A or B, is described in each paragraph below.
Then say what you think each graph represents


1 This graph shows that there was a steady downward trend in the activity for both X and Y. This trend which lasted for over 20 years then began to level out.
2 Activity X was at a peak from about 1975 until 1980, but there was a steep decline over the next 16 years and a corresponding increase in Activity Y.
Match each expression in bold to features on the graph.

Useful language

Adjectives Slight/marginal Steady/gradual Sharp/steep/rapid Marked/significant
Verbs Raise/increase Fall/decline/decrease Be at/reach a peak Level out Remain steady exceed
Nouns increase/rise(in) decrease/decline/fall/downward trend (in)
Time expressions in(about) 2000 since 1999 for(nearly/just over/more than) ten years Between 1994 and 2004 during the period 1994 to 2004
Adverbs slightly/steadily/gradually sharply/steeply/rapidly

Fill in the blanks to describe the graph C.

Over the period 1971 to 1997 as a whole, there was
1.................................in the consumption of butter and margarine and a .........................in the consumption of low-fat spreads. Butter was the most popular fat at the beginning of the period, and consumption .....................of about 150grams per person per week in about 1975. Since then, there has been................................. In 1981, the consumption of margarine .....................that of butter for the first time, but since 1987 there has been..........................in the consumption of margarine which seems set to continue. Low-fat spreads were introduced ..................., and there has been....................................in their consumption since then, so that by about the...............................they were more popular than either butter or margarine.

Another - using the same graphs, but perhaps to use the following week:
After the introduction of low-and-reduced fat spreads in 1984, there was a ..........................in its consumption, while that of Margarine..........................during that time. The amount of people consuming butter ..............................between 1971 and 1974 when Margarine was at a ................................. But then the consumption of Margarine................................and in 1981 it.....................that of Butter for the first time. At this time, the consumption of Margarine or Butter was.......................grams per person per week. The consumption of Margarine began to..........................between 1981 and 1986. It then ........................ between 1986 and .........................The consumption of Butter has been influenced by the introduction of margarine and low-and-reduced-fat spreads, with a .............................................for the last............................years. In 1993 the consumption of margarine and low-fat spreads .................. that of butter.

SYNONYMS
To practice vocabulary from different lessons you can use the following, for example:
Memory chains game for vocabulary connected with graphs, and simple shapes and reading and describing them. Where one word is underlined - only that word is replaced
Preparation: Photocopy, cut along the horizontal lines and fold along the middle to make double sided cards with the synonyms on the back:

The biggest The most
The smallest The least
The sum of all the parts The whole
Getting higher taller
To use a pencil to make shapes ~To draw

The place where two lines meet The point
There are four of these in a square Right angles, corners, equal sides
A part of a circle A curve, an arc
A four sided shape with four right-angles A Rectangle
Measured in square metres, for instance An area
How big something is Its size
How long a line is Its length, dimension
How wide a shape is Its width
How tall it is Its height
Slight increase Marginal increase
Steady decrease Steady decline
Sharp rise Steep rise
Sharp increase Sharp rise
Reach a peak Reach a maximum
Flatten out Level out
A steep decline A rapid decline
To stop falling To level out
A slight decline A slight fall/decrease/drop
A gradual decrease A gradual fall/decline/drop
The proportion The Ratio
A part, measured out of 100 The percentage
The lowest point The Minimum


Practice describing the activities in the following graphs:
Which graph shows .......................?

Verita Banda

These have been playing locally

http://www.invinoveritasbanda.fr/page%20agenda%20galerie%20photos/saison%202009/agendagaleriephotos2009.html

http://www.sambastone.org/dates.htm

Welcome Phillipe Loiret

Has anyone seen this film ? Can anyone point me towards a review in the British press about this film ? Apparently a big success in France, the most recent film by the director Phillipe Loiret sheds light upon the laws relating to immigration, as a young Iraqi immigrant tries to swim the British Channel (la Manche) with the help of a swimming instructor. Helping an immigrant in this way is illegal in France.
Strangely the British public don't seem to have accessed this film yet.

Discussion and Debating Meetings

Discussion and Debating, Introduction to Meetings

Elementary Level

In order to prepare for a group meeting, where each person takes on a role and debates a decision that a company must reach – it’s good to begin with some practice before speaking in a group. To be able to act out a scenario and use phrases for disagreeing or putting across an opinion it’s a good idea to practice a few phrases, and watch how someone else does it. This builds confidence.

There is a short video clip (‘What shall we do ?’) from the ‘English Today ‘ course that came with a guide ‘Télé Sept Jour’ (no copyright infringement intended)about four people coming to a decision about what to do that evening. It can also be used for learning about comparatives/superlatives, and auxiliaries Do and Shall; I did this before, and now I am using it for some useful phrases to adapt for meetings. For instance;
Why don’t we - to use for persuasion
What would you suggest ? or Can I suggest something ?
Why don’t we try to find a good compromise ?
And so on.

After going through the clip, I give out a sheet with some useful phrases some of which we discuss

LANGUAGE of DISCUSSION
CHAIRING THE MEETING
Keeping to the point Moving on Controlling the meeting
Please keep to the point Let’s move on One at a time please
That’s not the point Can/Shall we move on? Please listen to others
Please answer the question I think we’ve dealt with that Let Ria speak
You’re getting off the point That’s agreed then Do calm down !

ASKING FOR OPINIONS
What do you think/propose/suggest ?
How do you feel about that ?
What’s your opinion/feeling/reaction?

PROPOSING/GIVING OPINIONS
I think we should............. Why don’t we...................?
The best thing would be to............ It would be a good idea to..............
How about............? What about ...............?
I suggest we............. In my opinion
My feeling is................ What we ought to do is...............
AGREEING
I agree Hear ! Hear !
Right ! I couldn’t agree more
Exactly ! That’s how I feel
DISAGREEING
I don’t agree I disagree
Nonsense ! How can you say such a thing ?
How can you say that? That’s just not true !
What makes you say/think that ? That’s wrong
Your arguments just don’t stand up That’s illogical
ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION/TRYING TO UNDERSTAND
What do you mean ? I don’t understand
Sorry ? Please explain
Say that again That’s not clear
I don’t follow I’m not with you
INTERRUPTING AND PROTESTING
Hold on! Will you just listen?
Please let me speak/answer! Wait a minute
If you’ll just let me answer If you’d just let me get a word in
If you’ll just let me get a word in Let me explain
You misheard That’s not what I said
You’ve already said that

We than try out a few scenarios in pairs, trying to reach an agreement
For instance:
1 The Objective: To decide whether to support Arsenal or Barcelona in the Championship League next year.
One person argues for Arsenal and the other for Barcelona

2 Making a controversial statement: I like Sarkozy, he is doing a good job

3 The Objective: To reduce the amount of alcohol consumed by young people
A: Thinks that prices should be increase
B: Thinks that the age limit should be raised to 25.

I choose a scenario that I think fits with the student’s interests, or is of general interest. Being provocative is quite motivating in a lesson !There is some useful grammer in Murphys ‘English Grammer in Use’ Intermediate level, as usual.

Un Grand Dictionnaire

I found a useful dictionary for technical terms when I was wondering about the job role of someone working in the 'Bureau d'Etudes : Here is the link to a Grand Dictionnaire

The Pronunciation Game

This is a very nice pronunciation game, which needs just two people and is usually also funny. One person has to make up a sentence from the words within the table, that is, not using the top horizontal words or those in the column on the left. Once you have composed a sentence you must tell the other person what it is, by reading the grid words along the top and the side. For instance to give them the word 'she' you would say 'Bit and Hut'....., or to give them the word Boat, you say 'Bite and Height' Of course it depends upon the pronunciation and the listening comprehension what sentence your partner finishes up with ~! To alter it a bit, you can ask them to make up a sentence using a particular tense. Check out your own sentence before the lesson, and add or change words in the table as you wish.

French auto entrepreneur application form

There is an English translation by Alison Morton which is extremely helpful, describing how to apply for the auto entrepreneur micro person, or micro enterprise scheme. As I found filling in the (very easy) form - very difficult, here are a few notes, incase anyone else has the same trouble.
First of all - 'Adhérez au régime' click on this - to join the scheme
Then which category to select ? Commerciales , Artisanales, ou Libérales ? This is roughly; business; trade or profession. I got confused until I opened up the French original version of the autoentrepreneur on http://www.lautoentrepreneur.com/ . To do this, look under Documents Utils in the top menu for the Guide to l'auto entrepreneur. Opening this, I looked at the list of professions in the Appendix: I noticed there are far more listed here than in the English translation - thankfully the one I needed was there.
So I then used the French and English guides together to translate the terms on the application form.
I decided to select for 'micro social simplifié' the 'mensuel' or pay monthly option.
Then under the 'Tax Options' or 'Options Fiscal', you can opt to sign up for the 'pay as you go' option by clicking yes on 'versement libératoire de l'impôt sur le revenu ' .
Finally when I had uploaded my scanned passport picture (which must be a .jpeg or .pdf file) and clicked on the Teledeclarer button, there was no confirmation that it had gone. The following morning, I received an email saying I needed to post the form. I went back to the page and managed on second attempt to log back in, whereupon this time, the Teledeclarer button worked and it said that I am 'enregistree' which sounds like good news.