Thursday, February 28, 2008

English for GERRmans

Seems like I just can't resist playing around with those acronyms ;)
Today's link takes you to an online test by the University of Düsseldorf which is designed to evaluate your English proficiency based on the official European frame of reference, in German "gemeinsamer Europäischer ReferenzRahmen", aka GERR. "My" 9th-graders might remember that this turned up in the fictitious CV in our textbook...
OK now, here goes:

http://www.psycho.uni-duesseldorf.de/abteilungen/ddp/Englischtest

Thanks again to Dr. Jörn Krieger for pointing me in the right direction ;)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

OWAD's this?

"One Word A Day" - I don't know if it'll keep the doctor away (depends on the word, I guess), but it seems like a fun way to expand one's vocabulary to me: Basically, what you do is subscribe to a mailing list which gives you exactly one English word to learn every day (hence the name). Paul E. Smith tries to choose words a little out-of-the-ordinary (for example, "flawless" as a much more colorful adjective than just "perfect"), serving more than just to impress your teacher ;)

The (German) press release can be accessed here.


Thanks to Jörn Krieger of "Der Medienbote" for the press release & link!