Talk to us and share your opinion on the most controversial topics ever. Click here to go to our online TalkGroup. Either a new window will pop-out, taking you straight to the TalkGroup, or you will be taken out of this page straight to the TalkGroup. You will be required to register and join the group before you can participate. However, you can enjoy listening to others' contribution without registering or signing in to the website. You can always come back to this page when you finish your contribution or when you have finished listening to others' contributions.
NB: Coming soon - *Online Video Discussion*
WSU Students: Your Headphones and Mics are coming, soon.
It will be fun. I can feel it!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Text to Speech
Type a word or sentence/s in the textbox below, choose the accent and the voice you would like to use to read it aloud. Then, press the play button to listen.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Test 2 coming soon
In your preparation for Test 2, please practice changing the following passages into passive and active voice.
Change the following bulletin into passive voice:
A pastor has angered Christians in South Africa by preaching a sermon entitled "Jesus was HIV-positive" in an attempt to break what he regards as a conspiracy of silence by the South African church. Xola Skosana said that people stigmatise HIV as evil and a sin in the country that has the world's biggest caseload. Skosana (43) took an HIV test in front of his congregation last Sunday at the non-denominational Way of Life church in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. 100 young people from the impoverished township also took the test. Skosana chose the title for his three-part sermon to draw attention to "a very serious issue". Skosana cited a passage in the Bible where Jesus says: "I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me." But South African Christians are saying he can't reconcile Jesus and Aids. They assume it means Jesus was promiscuous and had a louche lifestyle with many sexual partners.
Change the following ad into active voice:
Applicants are invited to apply for a scholarship in the field of Science and Engineering. To qualify the applicant has to be in their first year of study, or scheduled to complete grade 12 at the end of 2010, or must be enrolled to commence their first year at university in 2011. Special interest in Natural Sciences is required. First year applicants who do well in Math and Academic Literacy will be preferred, and at least 50% of successful applicants will be selected from those groups. Students with good communication and computer skills are highly encouraged to apply. Successful applicants will be informed by email.
Change the following bulletin into passive voice:
A pastor has angered Christians in South Africa by preaching a sermon entitled "Jesus was HIV-positive" in an attempt to break what he regards as a conspiracy of silence by the South African church. Xola Skosana said that people stigmatise HIV as evil and a sin in the country that has the world's biggest caseload. Skosana (43) took an HIV test in front of his congregation last Sunday at the non-denominational Way of Life church in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. 100 young people from the impoverished township also took the test. Skosana chose the title for his three-part sermon to draw attention to "a very serious issue". Skosana cited a passage in the Bible where Jesus says: "I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me." But South African Christians are saying he can't reconcile Jesus and Aids. They assume it means Jesus was promiscuous and had a louche lifestyle with many sexual partners.
Change the following ad into active voice:
Applicants are invited to apply for a scholarship in the field of Science and Engineering. To qualify the applicant has to be in their first year of study, or scheduled to complete grade 12 at the end of 2010, or must be enrolled to commence their first year at university in 2011. Special interest in Natural Sciences is required. First year applicants who do well in Math and Academic Literacy will be preferred, and at least 50% of successful applicants will be selected from those groups. Students with good communication and computer skills are highly encouraged to apply. Successful applicants will be informed by email.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Bursary & scholarship websites
After our wonderful class, especially the tutorials, on "motivation & career guidance" I have posted the ff websites for you to view and apply for bursaries. Feel free to suggest more sites and let me know if some of them are no longer available or helpful. Good luck!
Study Trust http//:www.studytrust.org.za
CareerWise http://www.careerwise.co.za/
GAL.co.za http://www.gal.co.za/fm_bursary_start.asp
Bursary Management System http://www.bursary.co.za/
Allan Gray Orbis Foundation http://www.allangrayorbis.org/
MandelaRhodes Foundation http://www.mandelarhodes.org/scholarships
Fulbright Scholarship http://southafrica.usembassy.gov/
Chevening Scholarship http://southafrica.usembassy.gov/ ; http://foreign.fulbrightonline.org/participating_country/show/south_africa
FirstRand Educational Trust: Laurie Dippenaar Scholarship for International Post-graduate study http://www.firstrandfoundation.org.za/
Canon Collins Trust http://www.canoncollins.org.uk/
Visit Highe Education Websites like Wits, UNMMU, Rhodes, UCT & others http://www.nmmu.ac.za/documents/webmaster/NMMU%20Bursaries%20Booklet.pdf
http://www.uct.ac.za/downloads/uct.ac.za/apply/handbooks/undergradfunding_2010.pdf
http://web.wits.ac.za/Prospective/FinancialAid/ExternalBursaries.htm
Funza Lushaka Lushaka website - www.funzalushaka.doe.gov.za.
Website by tert. educ. students by students for students http://www.tertiaryeducation.co.za/
Chemistry related bursaries http://www.chieta.org.za/Search/SearchResults.aspx
http://www.chieta.org.za/STATS/OCT07/CLIENTSTREAM-32.HTML
Business related http://www.neet.co.za/graduates.html
Links to many website w/ bursaries and scholarships to all bursaries: http://www.gostudy.mobi/Bursaries/All/Default.aspx and by field of study: http://www.gostudy.mobi/Bursaries/StudyField/Default.aspx
Bursary Directory http://www.bursariesdirectory.net/
Firststep [dot] me http://www.firststep.me/content/view/633/1/
For Law http://www.wwb.co.za/wwb/view/wwb/en/page3449
By Field of study http://www.smartcape.org.za/careers/bursaries-and-scholarships.html
Various http://www.quickfindit.co.za/index_files/bursaries.htm
Study Trust http//:www.studytrust.org.za
CareerWise http://www.careerwise.co.za/
GAL.co.za http://www.gal.co.za/fm_bursary_start.asp
Bursary Management System http://www.bursary.co.za/
Allan Gray Orbis Foundation http://www.allangrayorbis.org/
MandelaRhodes Foundation http://www.mandelarhodes.org/scholarships
Fulbright Scholarship http://southafrica.usembassy.gov/
Chevening Scholarship http://southafrica.usembassy.gov/ ; http://foreign.fulbrightonline.org/participating_country/show/south_africa
FirstRand Educational Trust: Laurie Dippenaar Scholarship for International Post-graduate study http://www.firstrandfoundation.org.za/
Canon Collins Trust http://www.canoncollins.org.uk/
Visit Highe Education Websites like Wits, UNMMU, Rhodes, UCT & others http://www.nmmu.ac.za/documents/webmaster/NMMU%20Bursaries%20Booklet.pdf
http://www.uct.ac.za/downloads/uct.ac.za/apply/handbooks/undergradfunding_2010.pdf
http://web.wits.ac.za/Prospective/FinancialAid/ExternalBursaries.htm
Funza Lushaka Lushaka website - www.funzalushaka.doe.gov.za.
Website by tert. educ. students by students for students http://www.tertiaryeducation.co.za/
Chemistry related bursaries http://www.chieta.org.za/Search/SearchResults.aspx
http://www.chieta.org.za/STATS/OCT07/CLIENTSTREAM-32.HTML
Business related http://www.neet.co.za/graduates.html
Links to many website w/ bursaries and scholarships to all bursaries: http://www.gostudy.mobi/Bursaries/All/Default.aspx and by field of study: http://www.gostudy.mobi/Bursaries/StudyField/Default.aspx
Bursary Directory http://www.bursariesdirectory.net/
Firststep [dot] me http://www.firststep.me/content/view/633/1/
For Law http://www.wwb.co.za/wwb/view/wwb/en/page3449
By Field of study http://www.smartcape.org.za/careers/bursaries-and-scholarships.html
Various http://www.quickfindit.co.za/index_files/bursaries.htm
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Essay 2, Ready
Based on your performance in the first essay, which so far, is pretty good, I thought it would be more essential if you could hand in a draft before the final essay. For this I'd like you to utilise the services of the Reading and Writing Centre. Contact Mrs Ncube in the Centre and submit your drafts to her before you write and submit the essay online. She will, after going through your draft, take your name/s down and give you a grade for the draft and hand the marks to me to record. Handing in the draft constitutes 50% of the whole essay grade. Please NOTE that Essay 2 should follow the same format as essay 1 - check the guidelines in Mr Maduna's study guide for details. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions and/or for further assistance.
Click here to start working on your essay. Have a fantabulous day.
Click here to start working on your essay. Have a fantabulous day.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Important Dates
New* as from July 30, 2010
I'm so excited that everything is working well. Here are some important dates to note:
- Test 1. First attempt, Due August 08, 2010 at 11:59 PM. Test 1 ReTake due on Saturday, August 21, 2010 at 11:59AM, just before noon. Click here to take the test.
- Essay 1 draft, handed in to me personally in my office before August 12, 2010 11:59 PM (Please note that this essay must be complete work even though it will be treated as a draft. See Mrs Ncube in the Reading and Writing Centre for assistance.) Click here to view the essay topics and directions.
- Essay 1, complete essay. Due August 28, 2010 at 11:59PM. Click here to type and turn in your essay.
- Essay 2. Due Sept 20, 2010. Click here to type and turn in your essay.
- Test 2. Sept 10, 2010. Click here (loading ...) to take the test.
- Class Event. September 17, 2010 at 5pm
- Test 3. October 08, 2010. Click here (loading ...) to take the test.
- Exams. November 12, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
San Francisco Educator Works to Keep Young People 'Alive and Free'
Click on the play button below, read along as you listen to the story about Joe Marshall, a co-founder of the Omega Boys Club in San Francisco, California, USA.
Click here to listen
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
More than half of young black men in the United States do not finish high school. Many grow up without fathers and in neighborhoods with gangs, drugs and violence. Sixty percent of those who drop out of school have spent time in jail by the age of thirty-five.
Joe Marshall co-founded the Omega Boys Club in San Francisco, California, twenty-three years ago. Mr. Marshall tries to give boys -- and girls -- a safe refuge and a chance at a better future.
Every week, he has two basic messages for his young students: "Stop the violence" and "Don't do drugs."
Mr. Marshall spent twenty-five years as a teacher and administrator in San Francisco. He taught math in middle school and expected to see his best students go to college.
Jason Steinberg/Steinberg Imagery
Joe Marshall celebrates the Omega Boys Club's 150th college graduate last October
JOE MARSHALL: "I got a lot of horror stories and a lot of my former students ended up dead or in prison for selling drugs, being involved in gangs, girls ended up getting pregnant."
The Omega Boys Club serves more than four hundred young people every year. Two times a week, it offers after-school classes in math, reading, family and life skills, and college preparation.
In many ways, it serves as a kind of family. It provides teenagers with structure and support.
Joe Marshall has a doctorate in psychology. He sees gangs and violence as a disease that needs to be dealt with as a public health problem.
JOE MARSHALL: "That's what these young people get. They develop a street mentality. The big part is dealing with the emotional residue of anger, fear and pain that they develop because they got invested in this in the first place.
"Then we tell them to follow some new rules for living that will decrease their chances of ending up dead or in prison and increase their chances dramatically of staying alive and free."
The club represents the headquarters of what he calls the "alive and free movement." But his most effective way to spread his anti-violence message is through radio.
In nineteen ninety-one, Joe Marshall started "Street Soldiers," a weekly call-in show.
JOE MARSHALL: "OK, let's talk to line two. Line two. And this is--Is this Marlena? This ain't the Marlena I know."
MARLENA: "Yes Doctor Marshall, this is Marlena!"
JOE MARSHALL: “It is my Marlena!”
Marlena was one of the graduates of the Omega Boys Club.
JOE MARSHALL: "She's at Southern University right now, going into her third year. She talked about what she had learned the hard way and how we helped her learn that by coming to Omega, by listening to 'Street Soldiers,' and she said she had learned how to love herself."
The club provides guidance and financial assistance to help students stay in school. Over ninety percent of members who were accepted into college have graduated.
Twelve other American cities have copied the program. Joe Marshall has been invited to speak in Canada, Nigeria, South Africa and Thailand.
He turned sixty-three this year.
JOE MARSHALL: "I want to build an institution. I'm not going to be here forever, so my big thing is to make sure this goes on."
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. I’m Steve Ember.
Click here to listen
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
More than half of young black men in the United States do not finish high school. Many grow up without fathers and in neighborhoods with gangs, drugs and violence. Sixty percent of those who drop out of school have spent time in jail by the age of thirty-five.
Joe Marshall co-founded the Omega Boys Club in San Francisco, California, twenty-three years ago. Mr. Marshall tries to give boys -- and girls -- a safe refuge and a chance at a better future.
Every week, he has two basic messages for his young students: "Stop the violence" and "Don't do drugs."
Mr. Marshall spent twenty-five years as a teacher and administrator in San Francisco. He taught math in middle school and expected to see his best students go to college.
Jason Steinberg/Steinberg Imagery
Joe Marshall celebrates the Omega Boys Club's 150th college graduate last October
JOE MARSHALL: "I got a lot of horror stories and a lot of my former students ended up dead or in prison for selling drugs, being involved in gangs, girls ended up getting pregnant."
The Omega Boys Club serves more than four hundred young people every year. Two times a week, it offers after-school classes in math, reading, family and life skills, and college preparation.
In many ways, it serves as a kind of family. It provides teenagers with structure and support.
Joe Marshall has a doctorate in psychology. He sees gangs and violence as a disease that needs to be dealt with as a public health problem.
JOE MARSHALL: "That's what these young people get. They develop a street mentality. The big part is dealing with the emotional residue of anger, fear and pain that they develop because they got invested in this in the first place.
"Then we tell them to follow some new rules for living that will decrease their chances of ending up dead or in prison and increase their chances dramatically of staying alive and free."
The club represents the headquarters of what he calls the "alive and free movement." But his most effective way to spread his anti-violence message is through radio.
In nineteen ninety-one, Joe Marshall started "Street Soldiers," a weekly call-in show.
JOE MARSHALL: "OK, let's talk to line two. Line two. And this is--Is this Marlena? This ain't the Marlena I know."
MARLENA: "Yes Doctor Marshall, this is Marlena!"
JOE MARSHALL: “It is my Marlena!”
Marlena was one of the graduates of the Omega Boys Club.
JOE MARSHALL: "She's at Southern University right now, going into her third year. She talked about what she had learned the hard way and how we helped her learn that by coming to Omega, by listening to 'Street Soldiers,' and she said she had learned how to love herself."
The club provides guidance and financial assistance to help students stay in school. Over ninety percent of members who were accepted into college have graduated.
Twelve other American cities have copied the program. Joe Marshall has been invited to speak in Canada, Nigeria, South Africa and Thailand.
He turned sixty-three this year.
JOE MARSHALL: "I want to build an institution. I'm not going to be here forever, so my big thing is to make sure this goes on."
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. I’m Steve Ember.
Essay 1 Due on August 28, 2010
As always, we had a wonderful class. Thank you for your lovely participation in our class activities. This is to confirm, as we agreed in class today that essay 1 is due on/before Saturday August 28, 2010. Congratualtions to those who have submitted already, and good luck to those who are still working on theirs.
One more thing - I'd like to advise those who often absent themselves from class that the Lecture Attendance Rules as set out in the University Prosepctus, Rules and Regulations, and in Mr Maduna's ACL guides will be applied wholely.
TGIF - Have a fantabulous weekend.
One more thing - I'd like to advise those who often absent themselves from class that the Lecture Attendance Rules as set out in the University Prosepctus, Rules and Regulations, and in Mr Maduna's ACL guides will be applied wholely.
TGIF - Have a fantabulous weekend.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Links to Essay Forms - Ready!
I'm so impressed with your performance on Test 1 Retake. Some of you though need to have practiced even more. Test 2 is coming very soon. I urge everyone to practice more and to attempt all the exercises for Test 2 will be based more on the exercises we have on the blog, and you might not be given as long a period to prepare as it was the case in Test 1. Furthermore, there might be no retake.
Links to the forms in which you should type and submit your essays are ready. Click here or on Assignments above to go to the assignments page. We will talk about the due date in class. Feel free to drop me a message re the assignement whenever you have a question or any difficulty. Just click on the contact button on the mid-left of your monitor. You can give me a shout on facebook as well.
Links to the forms in which you should type and submit your essays are ready. Click here or on Assignments above to go to the assignments page. We will talk about the due date in class. Feel free to drop me a message re the assignement whenever you have a question or any difficulty. Just click on the contact button on the mid-left of your monitor. You can give me a shout on facebook as well.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Slow internet connection - a problem
We are experiencing slow internet connection. The forms in which you will fill out and submit your essay 1 will be available as soon as the internet problem has been fixed.
My apologies.
My apologies.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Test Scores
Great job folks!
The test was out of 35. I added 1 mark for filling out the survey to make it 36.
For those who took the test twice, I recorded their best score from the two takes.
Check your test scores below (listed in ascending order of your student ID #s). If your student ID is not listed, you probably did not take the test and should see me immediately.
Please NOTE: Those who got less than 30 should retake the test otherwise they will be disqualified from the next test. Let's talk about the retake in class.
Have a Fantabulous (Women's) Day.
_______________________________
201014533 17
201037866 29
201038994 27
201039036 28
201039214 33
201039714 24
201039850 31
201041510 29
201042231 32
201042894 29
201043726 27
201044927 21
201048523 28
201053411 25
201053810 22
201054701 25
201056429 26
201057433 20
201057492 23
201059002 18
201063247 32
201070855 23
201075849 30
201078384 29
201078449 22
201086522 28
201098997 24
201099942 31
203626656 20
208021205 24
208027424 16
208069887 27
208149600 21
209000538 27
209005696 28
209018291 24
209019417 24
209046228 20
209053224 27
209056061 22
209065257 29
209077816 30
209100990 24
209107170 25
210010053 31
210012064 21
210012412 25
210018038 25
210021594 27
210023392 27
210025085 21
210026804 25
210029013 18
210030828 22
210034998 24
210040335 27
210041269 24
210044705 19
210055162 24
210060549 28
210060565 21
210062576 28
210062592 22
210064382 19
210064560 25
210068663 26
210071109 25
210074604 25
210074841 25
210075139 24
210081228 23
210082402 24
210086408 24
210089083 29
210090405 23
210095636 21
210095776 27
210095806 28
210096322 29
210096772 24
210100656 32
210103868 30
210105062 30
210105216 24
210105771 21
210108029 22
210108339 18
210108371 31
210109106 27
210112360 29
210114398 23
210118202 26
210119063 28
210119098 23
210120576 20
210120789 23
210120983 26
210124423 27
210124571 32
210124725 23
210125071 20
210125438 27
210126426 21
210126825 20
210127074 19
210128585 28
210130377 21
210133228 26
210136464 29
210136731 25
210136804 28
210136995 24
210138866 31
210139005 20
210139161 23
210139269 23
210139323 26
210139579 26
210139714 25
210140402 21
210140666 27
210140917 29
210141387 16
210142308 13
210143193 25
210144106 25
210144254 28
210144580 22
210144661 30
210144696 28
210144807 32
210145021 29
210145161 24
210145595 20
210145714 20
210146443 26
210146486 30
210148071 30
210148217 26
210150068 28
210150947 23
210151374 31
210151374 25
210152842 21
210154969 18
The test was out of 35. I added 1 mark for filling out the survey to make it 36.
For those who took the test twice, I recorded their best score from the two takes.
Check your test scores below (listed in ascending order of your student ID #s). If your student ID is not listed, you probably did not take the test and should see me immediately.
Please NOTE: Those who got less than 30 should retake the test otherwise they will be disqualified from the next test. Let's talk about the retake in class.
Have a Fantabulous (Women's) Day.
_______________________________
201014533 17
201037866 29
201038994 27
201039036 28
201039214 33
201039714 24
201039850 31
201041510 29
201042231 32
201042894 29
201043726 27
201044927 21
201048523 28
201053411 25
201053810 22
201054701 25
201056429 26
201057433 20
201057492 23
201059002 18
201063247 32
201070855 23
201075849 30
201078384 29
201078449 22
201086522 28
201098997 24
201099942 31
203626656 20
208021205 24
208027424 16
208069887 27
208149600 21
209000538 27
209005696 28
209018291 24
209019417 24
209046228 20
209053224 27
209056061 22
209065257 29
209077816 30
209100990 24
209107170 25
210010053 31
210012064 21
210012412 25
210018038 25
210021594 27
210023392 27
210025085 21
210026804 25
210029013 18
210030828 22
210034998 24
210040335 27
210041269 24
210044705 19
210055162 24
210060549 28
210060565 21
210062576 28
210062592 22
210064382 19
210064560 25
210068663 26
210071109 25
210074604 25
210074841 25
210075139 24
210081228 23
210082402 24
210086408 24
210089083 29
210090405 23
210095636 21
210095776 27
210095806 28
210096322 29
210096772 24
210100656 32
210103868 30
210105062 30
210105216 24
210105771 21
210108029 22
210108339 18
210108371 31
210109106 27
210112360 29
210114398 23
210118202 26
210119063 28
210119098 23
210120576 20
210120789 23
210120983 26
210124423 27
210124571 32
210124725 23
210125071 20
210125438 27
210126426 21
210126825 20
210127074 19
210128585 28
210130377 21
210133228 26
210136464 29
210136731 25
210136804 28
210136995 24
210138866 31
210139005 20
210139161 23
210139269 23
210139323 26
210139579 26
210139714 25
210140402 21
210140666 27
210140917 29
210141387 16
210142308 13
210143193 25
210144106 25
210144254 28
210144580 22
210144661 30
210144696 28
210144807 32
210145021 29
210145161 24
210145595 20
210145714 20
210146443 26
210146486 30
210148071 30
210148217 26
210150068 28
210150947 23
210151374 31
210151374 25
210152842 21
210154969 18
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Vote for our class event
Thank you for the wonderful ideas we shared in class on Friday, August 06. You are still welcome to suggest the kind of event you would like our class to have by clicking on the "Class Event" page just here-a-top. Feel free to drop me a message on facebook, and/or and quick email by clicking on the "Contact" button on the middle left of your monitor.
Click here to view and vote for one tentative event and earn extra credits. It's gonna be fun. I feel it!
Click here to view and vote for one tentative event and earn extra credits. It's gonna be fun. I feel it!
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