basic information 2nd Year English
1st year English was a bridge between: high school English & Science English (2nd year) You learnt general English (especially speaking). Learning academic English & the English of your field
Learning English
Words for reading
AWL = Academic Wordlist LDV = Longman Defining Vocabulary
Everybody needs to know ALL the words of the LDV. Longman dictionaries use ONLY these words to explain other words. So using a Longman Ei-Ei dictionary helps you remember these words. Longman Defining Vocabulary
To find out more about wordlists, and how to use them, visit the “resources” section of Mr. Lavin’s website: kumamoto.ac.jp/~rlavin/resources/ More information...
Reading MANY EASY books FAST and for ENJOYMENT helps you to: remember the basic words very well; learn to read faster and better. Extensive Reading: ryoudoku gakushuu hou
In high school, your study focus was ACCURACY (seikakusa) or QUALITY (shitsu). Now, our focus is FLUENCY (ryuuchousa) or QUANTITY (ryou).
What we will do in the 2nd year
EASY reading: You will learn basic words and sentence patterns NATURALLY. Words and Phrases: You will need to spend lots of time & effort learning useful words (general, academic, and specialized). You will do some puzzles. You will also need to find your own ways of learning.
Speaking: We will do some informal speaking and some formal speaking (presentations, etc.). Writing: We will do some formal but more informal writing, probably using a BBS (electronic “keijiban”).
Learning how to learn: One semester is about 14 classes. I cannot teach you much in that time. It’s more useful if you learn ways to study: using notebooks, dictionaries, the Internet, etc.
In most classes, there will be time for you to ask me questions and discuss ways to learn with me. It is possible for you to NEGOTIATE your own assessment system if you have some special interest.
Take some time to look at my website. Most of the information is at: kumamoto.ac.jp/~rlavin/2ndyear/ Also see: kumamoto.ac.jp/~rlavin/resources/