Revival

I know that I broke all my promises. I'm really ashamed. All the time of my absence I tried hard to make an attempt and begin wrting again, but I needed my inspiration. Now I know that I can write almost nothing without it inside of me.
I can't say it for sure, but I think that I will pass ma CAE exam a little bit later. I'm not ready to do it in June. I just feel it. The results of my pretests make me feel awkward.
I must write here, in my blog, as often as possible.  Just more practice. I should learn new words and use them.
May be I should choose a new topic for writing? I think it is a good idea. It is not so interesting or exciting to write about my days. Sometimes it is simply boring because my weekdays are similar to each other in terms of their structure and filling - my chores, workout, work, learning. It would be more pleasing to speculate about something and much more useful at the same time.
One question - should I worry about making mistakes? Or making mistakes is okay at any level? Who can answer? I'll be glad to receive an answer to this question. So feel free to comment my posts
here.

December, the 23rd

On Friday I was extremely tired and all I wanted was only to relax. So my husband and I had a great romantic evening together after my working day. We watched a great movie "Good Will Hunting". It is a bit strange in the beginning but then you start to realise that this film is great.It shows us that we often don't realize (and may be even don't want to do this) what are causes of ouur problems nowadays. It's not always easy, it's hard work, it can hurt you but after sometimes you have to do that. Not analyzing your past, trying not to think about anything serious, just live is much simpler. When you meet someone who can help you, you shouldn't be reluctant, you have to think about this person. Why has he/she come to your life? What do you need to learn? And if you want to change your life?

December, the 22nd

What should say after not writing for so long? At first I thought that a situation like this one will be a kind of break of my own promises. Now I realise that sometimes we simply need to set our priorities in the right way.
So I decided that even if I don't study for one or even for some days I will write (in other words I must do it) something about my day and what was done.
On the 22nd of December I worked as usually. In the evening I had to translate one text connected with management, so I worked with English which is obviously great. Not much but it's better than nothing.

December. the 21st

Is it enough to sleep for about 5-6 hours? I try to but I haventn't succeeded in it yet.
Today Unit 14th of idioms is completed/ My only drea, now is to sleep in.
I had a couple of episodes of Saun T when in my car. He's great even if I do not understand evything in his talks.
To be honest it's almost impossible for me to write right now. I will do it tomorrow, I promise. And now - nighty night, my dear followers.

December, the 20th

Today I did a few things connected with my learning.
First of all, I completed unit 13 and almost finished unit 14 (idioms). I hope to finish it completely tomorrow.
I listened to Shaun. Today it was much better than yeasterday. It was about changing yourself.I definitely like the idea of trusting and believing in yourself.
I looked through the book "1000 collocatons" (thank you, Lilya). It is great. I've done lesson 1 from it. It will be my next coursebook during my preparation.
I need to relax, I don't know why but I am so tired now. Now I can do nothing with it 'cause I have to work. I can only dream about my coming holidays.
Well, I feel that my thoughts are tangled. It's not a good time to write about something, to try to understand what's happening and what do I have to do later. So I'll go to bed and have a good sleep.
Bye for now! Peace out!

December,the 19th

It's Monday again. Two weeks before the New Year. I am looking forward to my holidays. I am absolutely tired.
Today I worked a lot.
As for my English learning, I've almost completed Unit 13 (idioms). I listend to the episode 14 of Shaun T's podcast, but I didn't like it. It was really noisy and very difficult to understand for me. Moreover, it was too long.
I know that I have analyse my sample exam №1, work with its vocabulary and explain all the mistakes. It will be useful for me.
Now I will go to bed. Good night!

December, the 18th

That day I almost wasn't at home and didn't have any opportunity to do any tasks. I was busy all day. I understand that it is not an excuse. It is only a fact. Now I see that I have to be more careful with my free time, to plan it thoroughly. This weekend served as a lesson for me.

December, the 17th

I am very sorry. I haven't been writing anything for almost 3 days. That's awful. Does it mean that I have broken my word?
Last Saturday I finally did a sample paper for my future exam. It was kind of ambiguous. On the one hand I've finally done it. On the other hand, I was frustrated with my result. I got only 60% in reading and Use of English and I also got 60% in Listening part. I know that I have to improve my future results, I have enough time for that but I have to work hard. I will.

December, the 16th

It is really amazing how different my days can be. Today was really busy. I had too much to do and it was quite difficult to squeeze all the necessary things in it.
I listened to some podcasts as usual. Shaun talked about negativity. That episode was made just after the terrorist atack in France last year. He was very emotional. His main idea was that we can't change this world, we can't change other people but we should change ourselves. We should overcome our inner problems and try not to spread the evil into the world. It was so close to the ideas form one of my favourite books.
By the way, have you ever read the 'Little prince'? It's a wonderful book full of the nicerst thoughts about our life. I just adore this book. I remember reading it at university in French and discussing the most vexed questions with our teacher. All these hot dicsussions are really unforgettable!
To be honest, it was the only thing I managed to do today within the bounds of my learning. It is Friday already and I am very tired. It was a long week, it was hard for me.
I'm going to do the sample test tomorrow. I definitely must do it because I ptomised to do one sample a month and I'll have some time for it tomorrow evening. I hope that my results won't frustrate me. I will tell you about my experience even if it is disspointing.
Well, that's enough for today. I'm going to sleep in today because I don't sleep enough during weekdays. See you later, my dear alligators! :=)

December, the 15th

It was quite an ambiguous day. I was upset because of some problems but I managed to fulfil my promises for today.
Unit 12 (idioms) is done. I have 3 more left.
Listening. It was Shaun again. It might seem rather strange but when he talks about fitness, it immediately connects with learning languages in my head. Today he talked about plateau. I think that when you learn a language, some day it seems to you that you don't move forward anymore, you can't see any progress. It's not easy to overcome this situation but it is real. You just have to work hard. And it is very important to do one small step forward, towards your goal every day. You shouldn't lose your temper but you should work. Work hard.
Oh, today I watched the first series of "Great expectations". It's a BBC series and it's an exciting one. Its length is about one hour. There are two more series and I'd like to watch them as soon as possible.
Not bad, isn't it? Need to 'chillax' now. See you tomorrow!

December, the 14th

Today was a long and busy day. I did lots of different things from the very morning.
In terms of learning I managed to listen to a couple episodes of Shaun's podcast. I really enjoy listening to them. Altough it is sometimes impossible for me to understand, I struggle. Shaun often repeats 'Dig deeper!' These words are just the ones I need to hear every day from someone. He also talks about motivation, about how not to be your own barrier, what is important when you have to make decisions. When you listen to him, you realise that all your life is about struggling. You shouldn't give up, think that you're weak. Just dig deeeper!
Today I finished reading the 4th chapter of HP2 and started to write down vocabulary. I'm trying to find a way to organise it, a way to classify it.
I did half of the 12th unit of idioms. I dream about completing this book already as I have lots to do besides this book.
We (my students and I) watched "Frozen" to the end. I liked it very much. I want to look up in a dicionary some words and phrases that seem to be rather interesting and useful for me in a dicionary.
I think today was a great day! I did well. Hope to keep it up!
Now it's time to go to bed. Night-night!

December, the 13th

One more day of my studying. Not bad, I should say.
In the morning I wanted to add some mire LEP to my flash card but I came across Shaun T's podcast. It was rather unexpectedly. I decided to listen to it destite the fact that he is American. At first, it wasn't easy to understand because of different pronunciation. Luke's pronunciation is just perfect for my ears, I understand almost everything when he talks. However, I definitely need to listen to something different from time to time.
By the way, Shaun's podcast is so great! It is inspiring and motivating. It's such a pleasure to hear his voice. I hear it every day when I workout. So I'm used to listening to his motivating words, I really like this. That's why I decided to listen to his podcasts for some time. I listened to two episodes and started to listen the third one today.
What else? I completed the 11th unit in my idioms.
 I read some pages from HP 2, chapter 4.
To summarise, I think that today was quite a good day in terms of learning.
I have to revise  all the words that were new for me from the book and do some additional exercises to practise idioms.
That's all for today! Nighty night!

December, the 12th

At the beginning of a new week I am usually tired and want to stay at home sitting comfortably in my armchair and reading a great book. That's a nice dream, I think. n reality I hav to go to work and do many other necessary things.
In the morning I could start listening to the next episode of LEP but I prefered to listen to some music in order to improve my mood. But when getting back home from work, I was listening to episode №99. It was quite interesting as Luke was talking about different things from food to his memories from his childhood. I haven't finished listening to it yeat, so tomorrow I'll go on.
I started to read the next chapter of HP2. Chapter 4. I must complete it by the end of this week.
I also started to watch the cartoon Frozen with my students. It is rather easy and I like it very mych. I want to find all the words and expression from this cartoom connected with winter and cold.
What's more, I've started to work with unit 10 of my idioms course book. I've already found definitions for all the idioms from this unit and I have to do only some exercises now.
So, I think this day was not so bad. I did a lot of useful things despite the fact that I just wanted to be lazy today. Bye for now! See you!

December, the 10th and 11th

My weekend was quite buse this time. We are doing some repairs in our flat so this work totally occupied all my free time. I don't even now what to write here today.
Do you think I should feel guilty for that?
I definitely must plan my activities for next week much more carefully. It will give me opportunities to learn a lot of new things and useful information. I dream about having more free time but 'c'est la vie' as the French say. I know I will do my best to keep my promise.
I have to go to bed now as I am tired. Bye, see you tomorrow!

December, the 9th

That's the end of this working week and I feel so tired. Maybe that's because I was working hard for the whole week, spending every evening with my English learning.
At the end of this weekend I hope to sum up my activities during this week and write a bit longer message in my blog.
As for today, I've listened to some LEP.I've also listened to the 3rd chapter of HP2 and have written down a couple of minutes from the 4th one (I've done quite a lot of mistakes). I've finished to translate new words from the 3rd chapter. And I've completed the 9th unit from my idioms course book.
This was just a brief message. I have to go to bed now and have a rest. Bye. See you tomorrow!

December, the 8th

I've just understood that a week slipped by. I can't say it was bad. On the contrary, I've done a lot of work. I always think I can work better. It's a kind of self-criticism. I definitely need you to comment my posts here, it would be like feedback for me.
I must write here not only about my promises but also about something exciting or just interesting in order to make this blog more alive, more natural. I may write down my speculations though they can be a little crazy sometimes. It would also be really useful because it is a good practice in writing and using new vocabulary.
Today I listened to LEP, episode 97 and 98 (not to the end). I just like it very much.
I also worked with some vocabulary from HP2. I've stopped wriring down definitions and started to translate words and phrases into Russian.
I want to choose a good series in English to watch but still can't decide. There are so many of them.
In about a week I'm going to do a kind of a mock exam for me. I hope I won't be afraid of my results.
See you later, alligator!

December. the 7th

If only I knew where to buy some free time, I would go there immediately. But, as far as I'm aware, it is almost impossible so I have to do with the exact amount I have now. I definitely must learn what time-management is and how it works.

Today I was thinking a lot about my knowledge of English. I sometimes doubt whether I know enough to teach other people. Of course, I do, but I'm never that sure. 

I've listened to an episode where Luke presents some participants of his competition. To win a good dictionary, people had to record themselves speaking English for about 2 minutes. It's a real challenge, I think. I don't know why, but it's very difficult for me to feel confident when I speak English. It's okay when I talk to my students but not that way when I talk to someone else. I need more practice. Mayve I must record myself speaking and upload this into my blog. Who knows? I'll think about it. 

I've done some exercises from my idioms coursebook. I think I'll complete Unit 9 tomorrow.

It's a shame but I haven't read anuthing at all today except for some texts from my students' coursebooks. 

Tomorrow might be a good day for learning. So, I'm out of here, bye for now!

December, the 6th

Today was much better than yesterday.
I've done several things today in terms of my exam preparation:
1. I've finished episode 91 where Luke was talking randomly ebout everything and listened to a part of the episode 93 where Luke with his btother James and his friend Aaton are talking about cultural differences. It is quite challenging sometimes because they talk naturally, laugh and etc.
2. I've started unit 10 of 'A good tirn of phrase'.
3. I've listened to the 2nd chapter of HP2and started to work with vocabulary from chapter 3.
4. I've decided to take part in a marathon where I hope to achieve some good results in time-management.
Well, I think that's all I have to say for today. By the way, it's tomorrow already (haha!) and I need to go to bed.
See you soon!

December, the 5th

Nothhing special, what else can I say.
This day was too busy from the very morning. I was listening to Luke's 91st episode in which he was talking something about something baginning with the letters from A to Z. It was quite interesting how he could go on talking without lod pauses.
I've done some exercises from Unit 9 of 'A good turn of phrase' but I haven't finished it yet.
As for reading, I've only managed to print out the next chapter. Tomorrow I'll start reading it.
Now I'm just going to bed because I am so tired...

December, the 4th

Not a very succeddful day, to be honest, in terms of learning. A visit to the dentist, a ski trip to the forest with my husband, lots of housework. In one word it's Sunday.
The only thing I've done is that I've finished reading the third chapter and I think that during the next two days I must make some notes about new vocabulary from it. I'm also going to read a part of the 4th chapter, to listen to the 2nd  and the 3rd ones, do a listening task like the one I did for the 3rd chapter. Lots of plans! I hope the next week will be more effective.