Category: VCE English
Word of the week: fanatic
From Oxford Dictionaries: A person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, especially for an extreme religious or political cause: In everyday speech, 'fanatic' can be replaced with 'crazy about' or 'fan' or another term to describe a person who is outrageously passionate about something. While this is usually acceptable in casual conversation, it is important to note… Continue reading Word of the week: fanatic
Word of the week: Ponder
From Oxford Dictionaries: Think about (something) carefully, especially before making a decision or reaching a conclusion A common mistake is to use it interchangeably with think. Think is a more general word, used across a wide variety of situations where someone has a thought, idea or opinion. Ponder is far more specific and only used where someone… Continue reading Word of the week: Ponder
How to find a good tutor
Finding a good tutor can be a bit of gamble: a good ATAR doesn't automatically translate into a good tutor, going to a 'good' school also guarantees very little. So what can you do as a student/parent? As someone who goes through the process all the time (I find and train tutors and send them… Continue reading How to find a good tutor
How to revise for your English/EAL exam
The English/EAL exam is always a bit tricky to prepare for because, well, how to you study a skill? My answer to that is this: you don't. You practise a skill. That is, you repeat an action until you can do it perfectly. And then you repeat that perfect action another million times. This means… Continue reading How to revise for your English/EAL exam
When authors use multiple persuasive techniques at once
Note: This post is one of a series of scheduled posts while I'm away for a few weeks. Some students get a little confused when authors use multiple persuasive techniques/devices at once. Where do you start? Which one do you talk about first? Below is an example: 'Whenever there’s something unhappy, or evil, or messy out… Continue reading When authors use multiple persuasive techniques at once
Video: The ‘Bang for Buck’ writing principle
When writing under timed conditions, it's important to understand time as a limited resource. Are you using your x number of minutes to write stuff that going to get you the highest mark? ~Shirlaine
My #1 English vocabulary rule
As students move up the years in high school, they are expected to use more and more complex vocabulary, but this leads to a pet peeve of mine: inappropriate/incorrect vocabulary. Essays that use incorrect or inappropriate language frustrate me because: you're using the wrong word, I don't understand what you're trying to say, I think you can write… Continue reading My #1 English vocabulary rule
English Tuition that cares 