Searching for Collocations

Here is a website that lets you search for collocations. Type in a word you that you are interested in. It will give you a big list of collocations for that word.

For example, if you do a search for salt it will bring up the list of collocations. One of the most common collocations that this word appears in is salt and pepper.

Common Mistakes

Here is a great website that explains some common mistakes that students often make. Some of them are very simple mistakes but some of them are useful.

More Additions to The Trylingual Page

Abdullah has sent me a website that has a number of dictionaries, thesauruses and encyclopedias on it. You can search a word or topic and it will bring up lots of information. It will even let you play the pronunciation of the word (unfortunately not in an Australian accent).

From this website, I have added a new function to the Trylingual page called AnswerTips.

"AnswerTips are small bubbles of information triggered by double-clicking any word on an AnswerTips-enabled page. This feature allows your visitors to access definitions and fast facts on millions of obscure words, personalities or slang, without wandering from your site. Try it right now: double-click any text on this page."

I hope this helps you all learn a lot faster.

Thanks Abdullah.

An Easy Steak Recipe

By request, here is an easy Aussie Steak recipe.

Enjoy!

The Best Show on Australian TV

I think that Australian Story is the best program on Australian TV. Every week they interview real Australians about their experiences in life. Some of them are very famous but some are average Australians. All of them have extraordinary tales to tell.

My favourite story is about John Marsden. He is an Australian writer. I grew up reading his books and I always enjoyed them. I had an even deeper respect for him after seeing this episode.

Australian Story is televised on ABC-TV (Channel 2) Mondays at 8.00 pm and repeated on Saturdays at 12.30 pm.

Enjoy

The New Look Trylingual

Some of you may have noticed a few changes to the blog. I would like to point out a few of these. At the bottom of the blog you will notice two new sections- a survey and a newsreel.

The survey contains a questions about studying English that I would like you to answer. You can choose more than one answer. The question will change every week.

The newsreel features a number of news stories from the web. The current topic is Australia. I will change the topic every term. Let me know if you have any ideas about new topics.

A problem for Foreign Students in Melbourne

Here is an article from today's newspaper. It is about a Language College in Melbourne. I thought that you might find it interesting.

Relative Clauses

Here is a website where you can check your understanding of relative clauses. This website has the same thing. This last website helps you practice combining two sentences to make a sentence with a relative clause.

Subject Verb Agreement

Here is a great website that explains the rules of subject verb agreement. It also has some great examples. After you read the website do the exercises and check your answers afterwards.

Extending the Human Being via Robotics

Here is a very interesting lecture about the future of robotics.

Please note that you may have trouble downloading this lecture if your bandwidth speed is slow.

"While you may be familiar with commercial applications of robotics that improve our efficiency, like the Roomba, or toy robots that entertain and teach children, like Robosapien, there are a number of directions of robotics research that seek to extend human capabilities. This talk will discuss surgical robots, rehabilitation robots, and new applications of robotics for motor learning that have great potential. Applications range from enabling remote surgery, rehabilitating sufferers of stroke and spinal cord injury, speeding the acquisition of new motor skills, and potentially training amputees to use complex prosthetic devices. Also discussed will be the implications of providing humans with skills beyond the innate or physiologically viable."

Do your Counter Arguments look sick?

Here is a great website on counter arguments. It will help you develop your own counter arguments and then write a paragraph about it at the end. Don't for get to check your answers.

Real People, Real Views, Real Experiences

This is a great website from the BBC called Video Nation. It has a series of videos of real people talking about their views and experiences. Go to the Video Archive, which you can find on the left side of the page, and choose a topic that interests you.

Test your Subject Verb Agreement

Here are a few websites where you test your knowledge of SVA.

Quiz 1
Quiz 2
Quiz 3

As a final and more challenging test, try this quiz. It is an article on soccer. You have to choose the correct verb from the drop-down menu.

An Essay Explained

Here is a helpful website. It is a model Cause and Effect essay with explanations about the writing and the grammar used in the essay. The explanations are in blue. This should be useful for making your essays look better.

Advanced Word Class

The next websites are for people who want a challenge.

Here is a quick exercise based on the word economy. All the answers are from this word family.

The next website is an exercise on adjectives.

This last website is a real challenge. Click on the arrows and choose the correct word class from the drop-down menu.

AWL Help

This website has a list of word families for the words in the AWL. Try to use this as a way of checking your answers. Avoid using this as a study sheet.

Here is a crossword to test your knowledge of the AWL. There is another one here too.

The next website is more challenging. It has a series of word searches based on the AWLs. Be careful! The words can go forwards or backwards (e.g. sdrawkcab).

Collocations are DRIVING ME CRAZY!

Collocations can be difficult to learn. Many student dictionaries do not list collocations. This website has the Oxford Collocations Dictionary on it (click on the Oxford Collocations link on the right side of the page).

For example:

If you want to know some collocations of crazy enter this word in the box and press search.

This will bring up this page below.

OXFORD Collocations dictionary for students of English
crazy adj.
1 mad/wild
VERBS be, seem, sound go I'd go crazy if I lived here. drive sb The group's performance always drives the audience crazy.
ADV. really absolutely, completely, totally a bit, half, a little, pretty, quite, slightly
PREP. with We were crazy with excitement.
2 very angry
VERBS be go drive sb The kids would answer back, and that drove her crazy.
ADV. absolutely, completely
PREP. at He was crazy at me for letting the goal in.

Notice the verbs in bold. Compare this to the title of this entry; Collocations are DRIVING ME CRAZY!

Grammar Revision

Here are a few websites to revise some grammar.

Simple and Compound Sentences

Independant Clauses I

Independant Clauses II

Commas and Coordinating Conjuctions

Good Luck!

Which word is correction(n)/correct(v)/correct(adj)/correctly(adv)?

A Public School.

A Private School.

Here is a great exercise to help you practice choosing correct word classes. Read the text and click on the words in blue. Type in the correct word class and check your answers at the end.

Please note:

Public Schools = are open to everyone, funded by the government and are cheaper than private schools.

Private Schools = are selective about who they let study at their school and are usually quite expensive.