Vocabulary Sci-Fi

Dear Alex,

            Thanks a lot for your letter. It was really amazing to hear from you and learn about your school life. To tell you the truth, it’s but a miracle that we’ve come into contact with each other! Perhaps only in the wildest dream could I face the prospect of communicating with a person from the past. It came as quite a surprise for me that our lives are so different because 30 years that divide us is rather a short period, isn’t it? How difficult it must be for you to master a foreign language using only textbooks, printed dictionaries, tape recorders and records! I’m afraid to sound impolite but, in contrast with you, we are at an advantage in this respond. Judge for yourself – having the access to the Internet (a virtual network connecting computers worldwide) we are able to get hold of people whose mother tongue is English or who just excel at it. You can opt for whatever you need – writing email letters, talking business or having a small talk, even talking non-stop and communicating face to face via a special Skype program.

            What is more, there is a wide range of sites (so to say, “pages” in the Internet) conductive to learning a language. For instance, if you have difficulties in learning different collocations, you can easily visualize your vocabulary by creating word clouds on the site “wordle” and benefit from absorbing new information. Have a look, this is my word cloud with the word “speak”:

            For using synonyms correctly, you can create a word map on the site "graphwords" with different meaning fields. Here’s the one for the word “access”:

            If you are in the nick of time but have to memorise new words, then the site “Quizlet” is the best choice. It will enable you to create a flashcard set of words which you can learn either by playing games or taking tests. This is the one I’ve just made: http://quizlet.com/49789783/theatre-for-the-deaf-flash-cards/

            When I feel unsure about using a particular word in the sentence or doubt about its appropriate context, I turn to the “fraze-it” site. Here you can easily choose any collocation and find various topics related to it. As an example let us take the phrase “tell the difference” and limit its context to the topic “education”:

They're attracted to the fruity flavors such as grape, green apple and strawberry, she said. Meanwhile, the colorful packages resemble popular candy containers and wrappers, such as the green Mike and Ike box and the shiny Fruit Roll-ups pouch, she added. It can be difficult for parents and school officials to tell the difference. A statewide effort is under way to limit the sale of these products.

            If only you had the opportunity to use all these methods! You would easily advance too far. Nevertheless, even using traditional books containing texts and grammar modules is good enough to practice reading and writing skills, and to get a base in essential grammar and vocabulary. But you’ll definitely need extra listening and speaking practice. Then try to watch more films and videos or listen to radio programs with native speakers. This will also help you not to be out of touch with current affairs in English-speaking countries and be aware of their culture. Why not start writing letters to a peer whose first language is English? By the way, I can find some addresses for you via the Internet. My last advice: whatever ways of learning English you choose, try to fit them into your daily routine.

            Please, speak your mind and don’t lose touch with me. I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours,

Yulia.