A student living in London...

Hello there bloggers, this is Dana, Tony's daughter! Some of you may have come across me a few days ago when I made a comment.

Thank you very much indeed for your kind greetings Mohammed and Yasmeen, it was very nice to hear from you! Sorry I didn't get back to you Yasmeen about the swimming but thanks very much for the info and I promise to get in touch if I need to know more for another time.

I'm getting everything ready at the moment in preparation for my return 'home' tomorrow - as I know my dad mentioned, home for me is London, England. I love living in the 'Big Smoke' as it is a vibrant, cosmopolitan and fun place to live, so I'll tell you a bit more about it...

I live in the west of London in an area called Hammersmith. It isn't a particularly well-known area of London (not like South Kensington, or Earls Court for example - you may have heard of them) but it's a great area. I live with two lovely girls (who are also medical students) on the third floor of a block of flats. There are lots of flats in London as it is the best way to fit a lot of people into a smaller area!!

The London Underground (known as 'The Tube') runs just next to where we live, the nearest station is Barons Court. I either take the tube or the bus to get to uni every morning, but I definitely prefer the bus as it is less crowded and is ABOVE the ground!

I am studying at Imperial College, London, doing a degree in Medicine so I'll be a doctor at the end of it all (Insha'Allah). The campus itself is in South Kensington (right next to the Science Museum!) but our hospitals are based all around London - Paddington, Chelsea, Hammersmith, Ealing, Harrow... I'm currently in my fifth year of six so only one more to go! At the moment I am on my Psychiatry rotation, which is extremely interesting. Imperial College is a great place to study and has a good reputation for its Business/Management degrees and also many other areas of science and technology as well. I feel very lucky that I managed to get in, stay in and make the most of it!

Living in London means being just around the corner from so many theatres, museums and music venues. There is always so much going on, but unfortunately they can be rather expensive! In general, London is quite an expensive place to live but we all manage to live, eat, work and play sensibly. I think it is worth it for all the teaching I have received at Imperial and all the opportunities that lie in front of me now and also for all the fun times that I have had living there.

I think I had better stop writing and post this - I hope that I have managed to give you a little taster of what it is like to live and work in London! Please feel free to ask me about anything I have written or haven't written about, or if you'd like me to explain anything. I think this blog is a great place to 'converse' and will make sure I check it regularly on my return so please blog away about anything you like and I will be sure to answer.

Oh yes - well done to those of you who recently did the IELTS, Insha'Allah your results reflect all the hard work that you put in. Good luck to those of you who have it to come, you can do it, don't let exams get you down!

Thank you for the wonderful reception again and carry on making the most of this mode of communication, it makes my dad very happy (although generally, anyway he is a very kind and good-natured individual, as I'm sure you'll agree!!) and is also quite useful :)

All the best

Dana

IELTS EXAM on 28/04/2005 by Abdul Rahim

Dear Sir (email sent to Tony),
I have finished the exam ( all parts) yesterday. I feel good about it (inshallah).
I have taken your advice (inside the class as well outside the class) I guess I have to sit and wait for the results on 14 th of May.
The Listening part was tricky ( you shouldn't answer what you hear first !)
The Reading part was long but I could manage my time ( first passage was about an animal Koala, the 2nd passage was about Childrens getting heart attack by not doing excersie, 3rd passage was about a comparison between animals and human in LEARNING !)
Writing task 1 was about population in urban/rular from1960 to 2040 !Task 2 was about "some people think news media influence poeple negatively" do you agree or no?
In speaking i was asked about my childhood and stuff like that ...
Sir, If you need me to come to class and talk to my colleague I would be happy to do it on Sunday [OK gang, let's go for SUNDAY?] or Monday ( although Monday am not sure about it).
To Sum up, (wow I guess am still on IELTS WRITING mode) LOLthank you Sir for your kind info's and please let me know if there is anything that I can do.TAke care and Peace ;)
Abdul Rahim Khouri

There you have it, four exams in one day and AbdulRahim gave it his best shot after only 11 lessons on the course. You guys have another 11.25 hours with me to sharpen your skills and work a miracle or two [lol]!!!

THANKS for taking the time and trouble to post this, Abdul Rahim. See you on Sunday at 7.30pm?

Cheers and hoping for good results on the 14th, In Sha Allah!

Tony

Happy Friday

Hello campers!

Just a quick "hello" and query as to what you are all up to...

• Santhosh has been "captivated" by work
• Fahad has other pre-occupations
• Abdul Rahim has "done" his IELTS - good for him
• Certain members of the blog have never posted or commented on anything
• Mubs must be getting over what "incapacipated" her last Tuesday
• Mohammed Saeed is recovering from a gruelling Thursday
• Our other stalwart, Yasmeen, is ready to edit any task 1 / task 2 offerings
• The other blogger who has contributed a lot, namely Afaq, has been silent of late

And so, what to do? As well as seeing friends and family you could be:

1. re-writing old reports / letters (Task 1) or essays (Task 2) that I have looked at and suggested improvements - then POST 'em on the blog!
2. write sample essays for the 69 topics I gave you OR simply post your introductory paragraph to any of the 69 topics on the blog
3. listen to 90.3 FM at least and see how they phrase their ideas and signal to you as the listener
4. study those linking words / discourse markers / model answers at the back of the TEST book
5. read the listening transcripts of tests 1 - 4 - see how they "caught" you by referring to the questions
6. "reverse engineer" Aisha's writing and my model essay - what made them effective and successful
7. read the INSIGHT book - we'll look at certain key areas - but Yasmeen recommended the blue highlighted "exam tips" very highly
8. go over my handouts - believe me, they can help - my friend Abdelrahman applied what I recommended in speaking and listening, for which he got band 8.0 and 7.5 respectively. He did not do the same for reading and writing and "only" got band 6.0 - he lost track of time in the reading and over-elaborated in the writing. They seem to be marking very strictly in the IELTS writing. Don't be too complacent or over-confident!
9. get down to that Learning Zone next week - you're wasting a fabulous resource
10. Finally, assuming you have logged in and read the blog as far as this, then POST me a three sentence introduction to ANY task 2 essay on the 69 arguments list. Just write: SAMPLE INTRODUCTION/ ARGUMENT ESSAY NUMBER 1 - 69. I want you to: i) Make a general statement rephrasing the title in YOUR words; ii) Give an interesting topic sentence on what you understand by this question and iii) Write a clear thesis statement about what you will say/discuss/argue in your essay. A neat, sharp introduction "sets out your stall" and then you DELIVER in paragraphs 2 and 3. It also shows me that you have thought about the question and have the confidence to declare what is your position and then justify it with appropriate ideas and evidence.

Go for it or am I dealing with a feckless bunch of spoonfed braindeads?

Come on, surprise me! Make my day!

Off for prayers, then lunch and a swim. Logging back this evening.

Your ever-demanding taskmaster Tony

The day that ran away

Blogging 'eck! There I was, mulling over what to say to the class, when the day ran away with me - vrooooom just like that!

Spoke to Fahad this afternoon, he sounded well and his wife is doing fine - in the sad circumstances. Poor lad, he seemed quite worried about missing his speaking test last night... bless him! Hope he can make it tonight. Santhosh as well - we missed you and your calm, unruffled demeanour - a professional trait.

As for Miss Mubs, be warned my birth sign is Cancer, the crab. So I have sharp pincers and a hard shell but am quite soft and vulnerable underneath (honest!).

One of this class's ironies is that if so many of you believe in the efficacy of computer-aided learning, then why do so very, very few (indeed hardly any) come to the Learning Zone before class???

Also you are quite a reticent bunch, how can I start a fire under you?

As for this evening:

we'll look at:

• SPEAKING - I have some tips for you and a NEW handout
• WRITING - the famous band 9 work from Aisha and my modest effort
• WRITING - the 69 arguments to fuel lots of controversy and dispute (hopefully!)
• LISTENING - feedback on your FOURTH Listening test practice
• SPEAKING/WRITING some ideas for giving opinions
• WRITING - some linking words
• WRITING - A FULL SCALE TASK 1 / TASK 2 SESSION
• SPEAKING test for Vinod / Fahad (?) / Shaikha

OK blogmates, see you in an hour and a half, I need a shower {HANDS OFF the AC switch, Heba!!!!}

bfn

let's hear from you, otherwise it all gets a bit one-sided and tedious ;)

Tony the sideways scuttler

Sad News :(

Hi everybody,

I have spoken to Fahad today immediately after the class (around 10 PM) coz I found 8 missed calls from him. I though there was something srious and yes it was.

To anyone who doesn’t know Fahad, he is Married and have a one year son named Ali. both Fahad and his Wife were expecting another baby. unfortunately, Fahad's Wife made car accident today (it wasn’t her fault, as somebody hit her car from back), she had bleeding and the baby died. Fahads Wife is been admitted at the hospital. While I was talking to Fahad he was crying and I have treid my best to calm him down.

Fahad and His Wife are in bad condition due to the situation. If you want to call him please do. this is his mobile number 050/ 446 0477



May Allah rest the baby's soul in peace , Ameen.

Abdul Rahim Khouri

ONLY for Abdul Rahim and Marium !

Hey you both,
get in touch with me , we need to discuss and clear out the mess before the debate tomorrow.
mail me at mubarka78@hotmail.com and enlighten me with the mindblowing points you both are presenting.

Incase you forgot, we are in favour of computer technology prevalent in ourlives ;)
MAIL me soon!!! (its an order wrapped up in politeness and PANIC) ;)

Lord help us!

Start getting those brains in gear...

Good evening I-words folk! I see you've all been relaxing and going along in second or third gear. Well my dears, the weekend is over and I'll be cracking my whip in no uncertain terms this coming week and you'll feel the lash (metaphorically speaking, of course!) next week as well.

I am disappointed, to put it mildly, that no I-words bloggers have taken the trouble to respond to Mohammed Saeed's three Task 2 essays posted. He is our guest, why have you ignored him? This guy is Serious, with a capital "S". He's taking the exam this Thursday 28th April, along with Abdul Rahim and some other I-magic people (?). Mohammed is a journalist and a TV presenter. He has worked really, really hard to improve the layout, organisation, content and coherence of his Task 2 essays and not one of you has had the wit / courtesy / interest (take your pick!) to help him. Ah well, good ole Yasmeen will probably do the honours, but at the same time I had hoped I-words would show their true colours (oops, maybe indifference is your true colour - please correct me!)

I know we have some 'night owls' amongst the blog, so let's hear from you.

We definitely (nb correct spelling) need a post mortem on your Task 2 efforts from last Tuesday. Now that you have my template and know what I and IELTS expect, then I demand instant improvement and better application from you guys. By the way, yellow cards for Moh'd Nasrul and Moh'd Azeem for misusing "like" and "etc"!!!

Also I feel the need for a class debate - I'll set that one up tomorrow for Sunday or Monday - three debaters per team, then a different 6 next week with me a judge / summariser.

I'll still be up and about for another hour or so, Zeena's in bed and dreaming of her sister Dana who arrives tomorrow for a week's stay - she's the 5th year Medicine (!) student at Imperial College of Science and Technology in London.

Added to my wife's aunt over from the USA, then it's all go in my household. Nevertheless, my focus on your IELTS needs is paramount, but have you taken your eyes off the balls?

I'll be posting my reactions to the Yusuf Islam talk / songs at the National Theatre on Thursday within the next few days. It was an experience that I'd like to share with you, but for the moment IELTS business comes first.

Over to you bloggers, I'm standing by for comments and postings.

No one has emailed me their completed Task 2 essays from last Tuesday (as some of you had promised), don't expect any formal response if you send me anything tomorrow - you had three days to get your act together.

Finally, the Speaking section on Abdul Rahim's very thoughtful handout is OUT-OF-DATE, so ignore that section completely - the other bits were quite useful - thanks Abdul rahim!

Over to you, class!

Tony your slightly disappointed, albeit (lovely word!) very demanding Teacher

Tuesday's menu

Hello bloggers

This is the blogmeister calling and expecting to see ALL 15 shining, expectant faces this evening.

We have A LOT to get through:

1. I have typed up Yasmeen's advice
2. I want to give the template for recording new vocabulary
3. I have my SPEAKING handout (copyright tb enterprises)
4. I have prepared some pairwork for section2 speaking practice
5. I will give you some worksheets for Task 2 writing
6. I will give you my WRITING handout (copyright tb enterprises)
7. I plan to give you my READING handout (copyright tb enterprises)
8. I have a reading project for the weekend
9. I want you to do a timed task 2 writing
10. 1 will interview the next two victims: Santhosh and Abdul Rahim

How can ANYONE afford not to be there?

I know it's a holiday (for most people) tomorrow, but we don't have a class on Wednesday (at my insistence), so I expect 100% attendance.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going . . .

Are you tough enough for IELTS?

Let's see

A bientot

Antoine

Happy to be with you guys

Dear All,

First I would like to thank you all for being such a wonderful class. I hope that we can get over the IELTS exam from the first shot :)

I have gone through Yasmeen's Golden Advice abot IELTS exam, I really appreciate her for her great contribution. I would like to add to her comments that the student should be prepared mentally and use specific strategies ( as what Yasmeen's mentioned eg. reading the questions carefully, speed in going through the reading etc) in IELTS exam.

I do beleive that we will get the maximum benefits from this course. and one last thing to say, " its the student who will sit for the exam, not the teacher. therefore keep it, work hard"


Yours,
Abdul Rahim Ahmed

check out this site

Dear fellow members,

Found this really cool site which helps in a better understanding and usage of English language.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

From general writing tips, grammar, punctuation to even spellings and much more.
The site also features certain interactive exercises where you can check your answers online.

Do take advantage of it !

Go west....?!?

The western media seems to have a strong influence on our lives(asia and middle east).
Intitially, starting from the lastest fad ,food we eat, to the growing freedom in sexual attitudes, gender equality and a liberated life style.

Do you think by following such a standard of living,we would become more western and perhaps more acceptable/superior to our peers and society?
Or, it doesn’t matter who and what your are copying ,as long as it makes you look original, chic and sophisticated.

Should we ape the West?

Views heartily welcomed…

Yasmeen's GOLDEN Advice

In case you missed the Ieltsmagic posting, here is Yasmeen's advice for the IELTS test:

17 April, 2005

Tips and Tricks for the IELTS exam

Dear all,I just took the Academic IELTS exam on Saturday. A few points I wanted to share with you all...

1. Listening exam: FORGET ABOUT EVERYTHING else in the world, JUST CONCENTRATE completely on the task. When the paper is given, you are not allowed to open it till the Supervisor instructs you to open the question paper. Now, the first thing you do, in the time given, before the task starts, keep going through the questions!! EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO READ ALL THE QUESTIONS in the different sections. When you finish task 1, you'll again get time to read all the questions in task 2 and so on. So make sure you read it. Because at times,eg. after answering question 4, there might be a small talk, which is not really related to the next question, and you might panic, thinking that you have missed the next question's answer, but it is not so, after a little extra talk they come back to the next question. So DON'T PANIC!!! Listen attentively.Also another thing to remember, when the first speaker is giving a list of options, for example, a lady asks the administrator about the various hostels they have, so the person gives her a list of the types of hostels. You have to make sure you listen carefully to all the options, because when she decided which option she wants, she was not very clear in saying the words. But if you have heard all the options, you would be able to figure out which option she took.

2. Reading: if the questions are given before the task, then read the questions very quickly first, for example, if the question is matching a heading for the paragraph, you should quickly read the paragraph and see which topic suits it. Dont read the whole passage first if you have to do the matching, cos when you match the topic, it would evenually be that you have read it all. Every paragraph you read, quickly see which heading is best for it. Make sure you reconfirm that by reading the first and last sentence of each paragrah. Be very quick but DO NOT PANIC!! Try reading the questions first, so that you know exactly what you have to look for in the paragraph.

3. Writing: Time is short! So quickly figure out how you want to write the task 1 and 2. You can write your notes on the question paper, but not on the answer paper. Please remember, you'll loose marks if you write less than the number of words required. You can write a little more, but not less!! Recheck your writing, if you get time for any spelling, grammar, or silly mistakes.

4. Speaking: Relax! Its not difficult! You will feel at ease, and then you will just keep on talking. Dont be very slow, nor be too fast. A medium speed is good. Dont give long gaps, it can test the patience of the examiner. Just keep going on. When you get 1 minute to write your notes, USE IT TO WRITE!!! dont just sit and think! WRITE IT DOWN QUICKLY AND SHORT ONES!! Because you can always refer back to what you wrote and keep going on. Don't think of how much time is left, it can make you nervous. Just be natural and just loose track of time, the examiner will himself tell you when your time is up! So dont worry about the time! Dont keep time.

Bottom line: DO NOT PANIC UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!! TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND JUST GO FOR IT! ITS NOT IMPOSSIBLE. DO NOT LEAVE ANY QUESTIONS UNANSWERED. WRITE ANYTHING, YOU NEVER KNOW IT MIGHT JUST BE THE RIGHT ONE!Take care and all the very best to all of you!!! God bless you!

# posted by Yasmeen @ Sunday, April 17, 2005

Amtrying to invite myself

Hello bloggers!

Have tried to invite myself to join my own blog.

Not sure if this is gonna work.

Let's see

Tony

Yes, it has worked! You guys just have to persevere a bit more.

I'll give "blogmember's" username and password tonight. Make sure you identify yourselves when using this general blog posting/commenting device.

CU later

Tony

Some of our students are missing

We appear to have lost Sheikha and Fahad hasn't responded to three invitations. Ahmed has accepted but can't post or comment. We haven't heard from Marium, Katayoun, Alyazi, Vinod or Abdulrahim on the weblog!!!!!

Can anyone help me find and save our missing students?

Good night

CU tomorrow

Tony

No escape from me

Hello IELTSers

Well the weekend has almost gone and Saturday looms...

You were going to attempt the 12 tasks(?) of Hercules for me, how many did you manage?

1. Finish (?) that Reading test you started.
2. Review your handouts.
3. Look at the Insight textbook.
4. Do the Task 2 writing homework.
5. Buy some subject dividers.
6. Send Zeena a birthday greeting.
7. Do the punctuation exercise.
8. Visit some IELTS websites.
9. Listen to BBC World Service on 90.3FM.
10. Join the weblog and make a posting.
11. Practise your English.
12. Relax!

As you realize by now, this is an IELTS driven weblog. I'd like to see you posting work and asking each other questions. I can ask you to do certain tasks, but until you start POSTING (only 5 people have made a post so far) then it all gets a bit restricted and not very helpful.

Not a single blog member has commented on ANY of my postings to date. Er, HELLO? Is there a problem?

As you know, I have very high standards that I set myself and my students. As things stand at the current moment, this IELTS class seems to lack self belief (apart from a few indidviduals). Come on, we have to start working together, or it gets harder and less fun for all of us.

Arwe you checking www.ieltsmagic.blogspot.com ? Some of that weblog are taking the IELTS NOW!! They have posted some excellent advice that can help you guys.

So, let's have some initiative and spirit. Where are you? What are you?

Comments expected!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tony

Birthday msg for Zeena

Congratulations to little Zeena on turning 11 this year.
Happy Birthday and may Allah bless you with His supreme blessings!

Where’s my share of the cake?

Genetic engineering: man VS God ?

I would like views of my fellow students on this particular controversial issue, which is already a heated subject under discussion in the west.

Should man continue his tireless effort to explore the code of life, or he ought to succumb to whatever comes his way, in the name of fate?

iam a absolute voter in support of cloning

*Cmon people Mr.Tony is right, its for our own benefit that we start expressing our perceptions, have discussions and learn new facts/figures , so start posting.
Once you post ..you wont stop! ( doesn't this phrase remind you of pringles)

How to make a posting

Good afternoon bloggers!

Some of you might be unsure how to make a posting on the weblog. So here is the procedure:

1 You accepted my invitation.
2 You created a a user name account and chose a password.
3 You added your name to the ieltscommunity 2 list.
4 So you are logged in, now do to: www.blogspot.com
5 You will see the "Dashboard" page and ieltscommunity 2 highlighted.
6 Click on "New Post".
7 Up comes the subject heading and your text box.
8 Windows XP allows fancy fonts and colours, my basic old PC at work is not so flexible.
9 Try to edit your post before you send it (if you're worried about mistakes).
10 As the blog Administrator, I can edit / remove any posts or comments. Later on I shall ask some class members to share this responsibility with me.
11 The weblog is a platform for all of us. Take advantage of this opportunity to ask questions and interact with your classmates and other bloggers.
12 Practice makes perfect. I shall be very disappointed if you do not register with the blog or contribute postings / comments.
13 You have looked at www.ieltsmagic.blogspot.com, shortly I will be giving www.ieltswords.blogspot.com to my old class and they can be a massive help to you guys. Some of the "ieltsmagic" bloggers are very sharp and really, really focussed on the IELTS exam.
14 So come on class, get involved - otherwise it's your loss, not mine!

Comments invited!

See you tonight

Tony

the premium beauty syndrome

Greetings pple,
Just joined in, couldnt find anyone here, so i thought of doing the honours of posting somthin in here.
One particular thought which often tempers with my nerves is the beauty issue.
I often hear guys say"true beauty lies within"but for this to be applicable, pple usually go for the outer stuff FIRST.
Let me give u a typical everyday example.
we have job interview situation.we have 2 girls in a room...a good looking one with ordinary qualifications and a not so goodlooking one with remarkable talent and expereience. The interviewer wud naturally fall for a gal with looks FIRST, thus the battle is half won by this lady, who wud even want to look at the resume of the other gal?

another aspect, why do people think of burqa clad women to be soo ancient homo sapiens? i often meet new pple, n this is the very first impression i get from them, , later on, 10-15min in the conversation, when i talk to them about politics, foreign affairs, new fashion trends, they just sit dumbstruck.....see thats what iam saying, looks do matter, wether we beleive it or not.such ambiguous stuff which is soo prominent is our society just makes me sick to the core.

differ with my views..?

Please check your emails and join up!

Hello class!

This is where the fun starts... I have invited everyone to join the blog. Mohammed Nasrul has to re-eactivate his email account.
Please don't delete my invitation as junk mail, thanks!
As soon as you accept the invitation, then open your blog account.
WRITE DOWN your blog user name and password!!!
Then make a posting immediately, so that you start participating in the weblog! Do this by going to www.blogspot.com after you have opened your blog account and logged in to the blog.
OK then, see you later!
Get blogging!
Tony

Welcome to the blog!

Hello my new IELTS class!

Well, you've found our website - bravo! Hopefully you have created your blog account after accepting my invitation. Please remember your user name & password - they are very important. It's also a good idea to make a posting as soon as possible - it gets you over your nervousness (?) at using the blog and we all start being one big, happy family - isn't that sweet?

Bye for now

Your IELTS tutor

Tony