Here is the summary of my classes this week.
In Beginning English, I taught my students not to think too much when speaking English. We practiced choosing between “what’s” or ”what are” and between “who’s” or “who are” as quickly as possible so that they can speak more fluently. I also taught them phonetic symbols.
In Business English, I introduced reproduction training, an effective method for practicing interpreting. With this method, students first memorize dozens of phrases, then shadow my reading, and finally compose an entire story using the expressions they have learned.
In Technical Writing, I continued to teach my students how to write instruction manuals clearly and concisely.
I advised my students to be careful when using collective nouns such as “staff,” and Latin-derived words such as “data,” and “media.”
As for verbs, I suggested that they should avoid using past participles unless they are not necessary.
Yes: Figure 1 shows the electrical circuit of the machine.
No: The electrical circuit of the machine is shown in Figure 1. (Not concise.)
Yes: The electrical circuit of the machine is in Figure 1.
No: See the electrical circuit of the machine shown in Figure 1. (Not concise.)
Yes: See the electrical circuit of the machine in Figure 1.
In Engineering English, I taught:
・names related to designing, covering both the pre-production and production phases.
・electrical terms and expressions related to power supply and different types of circuits.