Stephen Krashen on Acquiring Language

I discovered Stephen Krashen with his book "The Power of Reading".  I found his theories for reading so interesting that I began to research what he had to say about language acquisition.  He is one of the most influential Second Language Acquisition theorist of the past few decades. If you're interested in Second Language Acquisition theory and how it translates into practice watch this video series:

"If we give people messages that are interesting and comprehensible, grammar will take care of itself."

"If we give people messages that are interesting and comprehensible, grammar will take care of itself."

Check out this website: http://www.sdkrashen.com/

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IIE Library English Resources

IIE Library

Hours: Monday thru Friday 9:00 a 21:00
Saturdays 10:00 a 14:00

Acces to the library catalog: IIE Catalog

Our library has an extensive selection of books, movies and music in English. 

As a student at the International Institute you have free access to the library. 

Of special interest to you is the selection of leveled readers books. Level

reader books are books that help you build reading confidence in

English through accessible language and a variety of appealing topics.

The stories are classic literature that has been adapted to

various reading levels.

Of special interest:
Level reader booksBooks that help you build reading confidence inEnglish through accessible language and a variety of appealing topics.The stories are classic literature that has been adapted tovarious reading levels.
Speak Up series: This magazine is for English language learners witharticles and interviews. It also has movies that come with movie guidesto help you understand the movie better.

VIDEOSThe library also has an extensive selection of videos of original versionmovies in English. As well as a series of movies that have
English Reading Circle

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Encuentro con Stephen Tapscott

24 de enero a las 19:30h.

Stephen Tapscott, profesor de literatura en MIT y conocido
internacionalmente por sus traducciones de obras de Pablo
Neruda, Gabriela Mistral, poetas alemanes y polacos, dará una
presentación tanto de su obra personal como del arte de traducción
poética.

Estará acompañado por Margery Resnick,
profesora de literatura en MIT y

Presidenta del Instituto Internacional.

Este acto se desarrollará en inglés, sin traducción simultánea.
Al término del acto, se ofrecerá un vino español

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Improve your English through Reading

Republished from Englishclub.com

Josef Essberger

Right now you are reading English. That means that you are using your brain in a very active way. Reading is a very active process. It is true that the writer does a lot of work, but the reader also has to work hard. When you read a text, you have to do some or all of these:

• imagine a scene in your head
• understand clearly what the writer is trying to say
• agree or disagree with the writer

Advantages of Reading

When you learn a language, listening, speaking and writing are important, but reading can also be very helpful. There are many advantages associated with reading, including:

Learning Vocabulary In Context

You will usually encounter new words when you read. If there are too many new words for you, then the level is too high and you should read something simpler. But if there are, say, a maximum of five new words per page, you will learn this vocabulary easily. You may not even need to use a dictionary because you can guess the meaning from the rest of the text (from the context). Not only do you learn new words, but you see them being used naturally.

A Model For Writing

When you read, it gives you a good example for writing. Texts that you read show you structures and expressions that you can use when you write.

Seeing "Correctly Structured" English

When people write, they usually use "correct" English with a proper grammatical structure. This is not always true when people speak. So, by reading you see and learn grammatical English naturally.

Working At Your Own Speed

You can read as fast or as slowly as you like. You can read ten pages in 30 minutes, or take one hour to explore just one page. It doesn't matter. The choice is yours. You cannot easily do this when speaking or listening. This is one of the big advantages of reading because different people work at different speeds.

Personal Interest

If you choose something to read that you like, it can actually be interesting and enjoyable. For example, if you like to read about football in your own language, why not read about football in English? You will get information about football and improve your English at the same time.

Five Tips for Reading

Tip #1

Try to read at the right level. Read something that you can (more or less) understand. If you need to stop every three words to look in a dictionary, it is not interesting for you and you will soon be discouraged.

Tip #2

Make a note of new vocabulary. If there are four or five new words on a page, write them in your vocabulary book. But you don't have to write them while you read. Instead, try to guess their meaning as you read; mark them with a pen; then come back when you have finished reading to check in a dictionary and add them to your vocabulary book.

Tip #3

Try to read regularly. For example, read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes every day is better than two hours every Sunday. Fix a time to read and keep to it. For example, you could read for fifteen minutes when you go to bed, or when you get up, or at lunchtime.

Tip #4

Be organised. Have everything ready:

• something to read
• a marker to highlight difficult words
• a dictionary
• your vocabulary book
• a pen to write down the new words

Tip #5

Read what interests YOU. Choose a magazine or book about a subject that you like.

Things to Read

Newspapers

You can find English-language newspapers in all large cities around the world. Newspapers are interesting because they are about real life and the news. BUT they are not easy to read. Try reading newspapers if your level is intermediate or above.

Some British newspapers:

• The Telegraph
• The Times
• The Independent
• The Guardian
• The Financial Times (business)
• The Sunday Times

Some American newspapers:

• The International Herald Tribune
• The New York Times
• The Wall Street Journal (business)

Magazines

Some magazines are published weekly, some monthly. You can find English-language magazines in many large cities around the world. If you cannot find the magazine you want in your town, you may be able to order it for delivery. Many magazines have pictures which can help your understanding. You will need an intermediate level for most magazines, but a pre-intermediate level may be ok for some magazines.

There are magazines on every subject:

• Politics
• Sport
• The House
• Cars
• Music
• Romance
• Travel
• Language
• etc

Books

Books are divided mainly into:

• Non-fiction (history, biography, travel, cooking etc)
• Fiction (stories and novels)

Some books are easier to read than others. It often depends on the author. Agatha Christie, for example, wrote in an easier style and with simpler vocabulary than Stephen King. You can buy books in specialised English-language bookshops in large cities around the world. You may also be able to find some English-language books in libraries. And if you have a British Council in your city, you can borrow many English-language books from their library.

Short Stories

Short stories can be a good choice when learning a language because they are...short. It's like reading a whole book in a few pages. You have all the excitement of a story in a book, but you only have to read 5,000 or 10,000 words. So you can quite quickly finish the story and feel that you have achieved something. Short stories are published in magazines, in books of short stories, and on the Internet. You can also find short stories at EnglishClub.com English Reading.

Readers

Readers are books that are specially published to be easy to read. They are short and with simple vocabulary. They are usually available at different levels, so you should be able to find the right level for you. Many readers are stories by famous authors in simple form. This is an excellent way for you to start practising reading.

Cornflakes Packets

By "Cornflakes Packets", we mean any product you can buy that has English writing on or with it. If you buy a box of chocolates, or a new camera, why not read the description or instructions in English? There are many such examples, and they all give you an opportunity to read real English:

• airline tickets
• cans or packets of food
• bottles of drink
• tapes and CDs
• user guides for videos, computers...
• etc

Poetry

If you like poetry, try reading some English-language poems. They may not be easy to understand because of the style and vocabulary, but if you work at it you can usually get an idea - or a feeling - of what the poet is trying to say. You'll find some classic poems, with explanations of vocabulary, atEnglishClub.com English Reading.

Good luck with your reading. It will help you make a lot of Progress!

© 2000 Josef Essberger

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Police Mystery Story-Responding in English

Read Story and add a comment about the story here or email it to me. 

New Theory: Jack the Ripper Was a Woman

NEW BOOK CLAIMS DOCTOR'S WIFE DID THE DIRTY DEEDS

By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff

Posted May 10, 2012 9:30 AM CDT | Updated May 13, 2012 9:58 AM CDT

(NEWSER) – The sadistic killer who struck London in 1888, killing five prostitutes over a 10-week span may have been ... a woman? A new book (titled the says-it-all Jack the Ripper: The Hand of a Woman) puts forth a new theory: That Jack the Ripper was indeed a female, specifically one named Lizzie Williams, wife of royal physician Sir John Williams. Author John Morris tells the Birmingham Mail that "numerous clues scattered throughout the crimes, taken individually, may mean little, but when grouped together a strong case for a woman murderer begins to emerge."

What are these clues? For one, Lizzie was unable to bear children, which makes the fact that three of the prostitutes' wombs were removed suspect. Morris believes a crazed Lizzie Williams decided to take revenge on those who could have children, and notes that she suffered a breakdown after the murders. Supporting Morris' case: The women weren't sexually assaulted, and bits of a woman's cape, skirt, and hat were recovered from the fireplace of the final woman to die, Mary Jane Kelly. Except Kelly had never been seen wearing the items—and she was reportedly having an affair with Sir John Williams, who was himself considered a prime suspect. Lizzie Williams died in 1912, having never been interviewed about the murders.

What do you think?

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Student Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor

The Unemployment problem is the most important issue in my city, it´s true that it is very common in the world, but I think in Madrid is more detrimental. There is a lot of people that have had to travel to other countries to find a job. If you are young it´s very difficult because companies require that you have experience.

Now days if you have a job, you are always afraid of it´s stability. If you go to the unemployment office it´s not useful in finding a job. Usually the jobs that are available only offer you a temporal contract of six months or less. 
If you use the jobs websites there is a problem, because you receive a lot of publicity for courses or Masters programs which you don´t need.

Finally I think the government has to create good measures that can improve the job opportunities, then the people would be able to find a job.

Sincerely,

Jose D.

Israeland Palestineneeds your attention

Dear Editor,

Everybody knows about Israel-Palestine conflict. Everybody has heard about it, but no one takes a minute to listen to it.  It’s incredible; we have gotten accustomed to hearing about attacks, murders and deaths of civilians. We have accepted that Israelis and Arabs are going to live faced forever.

In that region, just five hours away from us, to be alive or dead is sometimes a matter of luck, and so we see it as habitual. Death of an Israeli or death of a Palestine is no longer news. In contrast, if it is the death of a European, life freezes.

Sincerely,

Begoña

Dear Editor:

A few days ago a Brazilian comedy tv show was on the news because of a bad joke. In this case, people had to enter into the lift, but suddenly it stopped and lights were turned off. When lights were turned on again, they realised that a strange little girl, who looked like a ghost, she had just appeared into the lift. What were people’s reactions? Everyone wanted to get out of immediately. Most of them suffered anxiety attacks so severe that they needed medical attention.

These days we know of the nurse’s death, the one who attended Kate Middleton during the time she stayed at King Edward VII´s Hospital in London. Again, an Australian radio show made an innocent prank just to have fun. But the result was much different from what they could have ever expected it. I understand, this radio programme hasn’t got the whole responsibility for this terrible loss, but they have been the last straw.

For these reasons, newspapers, television and radio shows should understand that not everything is ok when it comes to people’s entertainment. There must be an ethical code and laws, which provide common sense to programmes that try to make this type of humour. Sometimes they could end in bad circumstances like these ones.

Sincerely,

Elena H.

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Making an Impact Vocabulary

Quizlet Games

activists	(n.) people, usually outside of government, who actively promote a political party, philosophy, or issue they care about
apathetic	(adj.) showing little or no emotion or animation
be aware of	(v.) know about
circumstances	(n.) facts and conditions that affect a situation
escapists	(n.) someone who likes to fantasize and dream of a different or imaginary life
generation	(n.) all the people living at the same time or of approximately the same age
issues	(n.) topics or problems under discussion
motivated	(adj.) very eager to do or achieve
visionary	(n.) a person with unusual powers of foresight
business as usual	Things are happening as they usually do, even though there is a reason why you might expect them not to happen normally
do your part	Contribute a fair amount of the work, share the responsibility for accomplishing something
hack into	Break into a computer system
public service announcements	(PSA) a message created to educate people about an issue
raise awareness	To help people know that something exists and is important
solution	The method or process of solving a problem.
speak out against	To state or show publicly that you oppose something.
think outside the box	To think of new, different, or unusual ways of doing something, especially in business

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