These are just a few ideas that should make your time in our shared world more interesting, more fun, and less stressful. Or, to put it in a different way, to make your time and effort in these classes more successful both academically and personally.

For information on how to fail this class, please go to the bottom of the page and click on the icon that says "Failure is not an option".

Students who are active participants, speak English in the classroom, answer questions, ask questions, give ideas and help their classmates get consistently and significantly higher scores for participation than students who are silent, don't speak, aren't prepared for group work or helping classmates, or are consistently "lost in class."

Ask questions when you need to. Ask for help. Show your initiative and effort in trying to work with the class materials. Try to see how class materials are relevant for your needs. Try to make connections between the topics and stories or other materials and your own life and what you see around you every day. Let your professor and classmates know when you find useful or relevant materials.

Remember to question everything. Even your own ideas. Be prepared to explain with details why you think or believe something. Even question your professor [sometimes he likes to test to see if you are really awake or paying attention]. Ask other people to react to your ideas. Practice reacting to news items that interest or bother you. Ask other people in the class about their views on different subjects, and think about if you can agree with them or not and why.

3) Help your classmates. Help your teacher too. Make suggestions to improve the class. You can recommend materials, activities, resources, and ideas. You might suggest a movie you think is relevant to topics we discuss in class, or an article you saw in a recent newspaper, or a song you've heard recently. These might work as sources you or a friend could use in writing. Bring your world into the classroom so our classroom reflects more of the world.

4) Read as much as possible. About everything. From all sources, and any language. Relate what you read with your experience. Share your thinking with other people. Share your sources of information. Plan for and allow time to read and re-read class materials more than once, and to think carefully about what you read. Reading will help a lot, and reading in English will help even more. Many studies demonstrate that consistent reading increases vocabulary and familiarizes people with grammar, sentence structure, and writing styles and conventions.

5) Use English a little every day. Use English outside of the classroom too, reading, speaking, listening, and writing. Look for ways to practice. Push yourself to use English. Read internet news or services or surf the Net in English. Ask yourself, "How can I say '......' in English?"

Part A: If you are absent, or have problems, or whatever, let me know about it as soon as possible. Early communication by email and in person (not after you have missed so many classes your grade is affected!) is essential to working out problems in our class. Make several friends in your section, and have somebody communicate for you and bring work for you if necessary.

If you want help --real help-- with your work, make an appointment or go by during my office hours. The best way to show your interest is to go by the office and bring work and ask specific questions, and talk about specific ideas and examples. If you feel you need help with internet searches, doing web assignments, etc., ask! Go by and we'll practice.

Part B: If you want help later in your academic and work life with resumés, letters of recommendation, etc., you will have a much better chance of getting help if your professor remembers you, knows something about you and your studies and plans, and has seen you or heard from you recently. Students who greet their former professors, visit them, and maintain some link get better (more specific and more detailed) recommendations than students who appear after one, two, or three years and ask for letters because the professor gave them English 3??? a few years ago.

Ask for help (letters, etc) with as much time as possible before a deadline. Be prepared to describe and discuss the exchange program, scholarship, coop experience, etc. in detail with me. The more I know about the program, graduate school, or other plan you have the better I can prepare to write a letter to help you, or the better I can help you revise an application essay.