This week's English Language Support

Are you good at email?

Students and teachers often complain that they get too much email and this is a valid complaint.

Email Overload Is Costing You Billions -- Here's How To Crush It

Top Tips:

For Receiving Email

1. Use separate email accounts for separate purposes. I recommend 3 accounts.   For example,  use one specific account for VIU matters,  and another account for personal non-VIU matters.  Have a third as a general account where when you have to give an email address to someone  you don't know (ie. a business) you use this.  This is where your junkmail will go. 
2. Try not to check it constantly as this wastes time.   Have a routine of regular times to check your messages, such as first thing in the morning,   first thing when at work,  before or after lunch,  and later in the afternoon.   Four times a day should be enough.  And have a set time for fully processing/managing all your daily emails.
3. Use your folders to organize your mail.
4. Don't be afraid to delete emails.
5. Make certain that you are receiving important emails such as from VIU ISS.
6. Keep your inbox to a minimum.  Some suggest no more than 25 messages.  All other messages should be read, filed, or deleted.
7. Acknowledge that you received the message.   Otherwise the sender may not be sure you got their message.    Keep this reply short and prompt.
8. Use the 80/20 principle.  

For Sending Email

1. Don't send an email unless it is really necessary.   If there is a better way to communicate (i.e. talking to someone or using a wiki),  then do this.
2. Always include a clear "subject line".
3. Make certain that your name is in English, and that you have an appropriate email address (i.e. one that indicates who you are, and is not silly or offensive).  Otherwise,  it may not be read.
4. Keep it short.    Long messages are better sent as letters, perhaps as an attachment to a short email message.
5. Use spell-check.
6. Reply promptly,  clearly,  and briefly.
7. As with all writing,  consider the reader and write for them.   You are not writing for yourself.
8. Have your email program remember email addresses so you don't have to type them in each time.    If you do type in an email address,   be certain to spell it correctly.   A misspelled email address is a serious problem!
9. Put your most important point at the beginning of the message.
10. Avoid text-speak (i.e. emojis).   This is email, not texting.   
11. Remember 'please' and 'thank you'.
12. Have a signature block at the end of the message.   A message should always be signed to ensure the recipient knows who sent the message.

Remember that email is a tool for fast convenient (and potentially mobile) communication.  Use it for this.   It should be not be a place to store information or for discussion;  these are better left to wikis or discussion forums.

You may want to explore Evernote  or  PBWorks for these purposes.

I really like this webpage

11 Essential Tips to Manage E-mails Effectively

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English Language Support this week

As you get nearer to the end of semester,  carefully planning is vital to success.   Please don't leave matters to the very end.    If you need help with your English,  we are here for you.

English Language Support this week

Please note the reduced hours this week as Les will be away.

Succeeding at multiple choice quizzes, tests, and exams

Most students are familiar with multiple choice type tests,  particularly international students who have taken entrance exams or IELTS or TOEFL tests.    Some students are very good at these types of tests,  while others do very poorly on them.

Multiple choice tests can be a serious challenge for students for several reasons.   First,  you need to carefully read all of the question including all the choices.    If your reading and vocabulary skills are limited,  this can be problematic.    Second,  you need to think seriously and strategically.    Usually,  if there are four choices,   then you should be able to eliminate two of them fairly easily.   This leaves just two choices, both of which may be possible.    Your job however,   is to choose the best answer.  There isn't always only one right answer.   If you are not comfortable with ambiguity,  then this can also be a problem.

Therefore,  the following recommendations should improve your multiple choice test taking performance.

1. Improve your reading and vocabulary skills,  with a focus on your area of study.   Improving your reading speed may be especially helpful.   You may want to do practice multiple choice tests to practice specifically this kind of reading.
2. Carefully read the question to make certain you understand it.    A good strategy is to not look at the choices until after you have read and understood the question.
3. Eliminate the unlikely or impossible choices.
4. Choose what under the circumstances and in accordance with the question is the "best" choice.
5. Manage your time carefully.  Usually with multiple choice questions,  there are many questions to answer.  For example,  if there are 60 questions in a one-hour exam,  you have 1 minute per question.     
6. Know the details of your area of study,  not just the general ideas,  because multiple choice questions usually include such details.
7. Be certain to answer all the questions on a test.   If there are 4 choices,  you  have a 25% chance of getting it right just by guessing.
8. "All of the above"  is often the correct answer.   
9. Manage your anxiety.   If you are nervous and stressed,   you especially won't do very well on these type of exams.   Do something before and during the test to relax.
10. I like to do the easy questions first as it builds my confidence and my  context.   This can be like a kind of warm up.   Don't get stuck on difficult questions.   See tip #5.

There are more strategies out there that can help you, but following these simple ten tips should add a few percentage points to your multiple choice test results.    The most important piece of advice is to know and understand the material that is being tested because then you will be better able to read and think,  which underlies successful multiple choice test performance.

The following webpages provide additional advice and information.



Multiple Choice Exam Advice

Answering Multiple Choice Questions

More tips for taking multiple choice tests

Test taking strategies

Mastering Multiple Choice  (some handy tips in an ebook)


Finally,  you can practice taking some multiple choice quizzes here.    Try to use the new tips you have learned.

Multiple Choice Reading Quiz (6 questions)

Canadian Citizenship Practice Test (100 questions)

BC Driving Test 

International Economics Practice Test (25 questions)

How to improve the flow of your spoken English

One of the challenges of improving your English is getting it to sound more natural.  Nobody wants to sound like a robot or a computer.    While English as second language speakers shouldn't expect to sound exactly like a native English speaker,  it is reasonable to improve the flow of your words and sentences.    


The average English speaker will speak about  120 to 150 words per minute, ranging from reading aloud at the slower end and conversation at the faster end.

 I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal because he will endure: that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.

This excerpt from William Faulkner’s acceptance speech for the 1950 Nobel Prize for Literature is 184 words.   Try to read it as naturally as you can while you record it.  Then calculate your speaking speed by dividing 184 by the minutes you speak.   (Ex.  184/1.5 =122.7 words per minute).   This is not conversation, so it will probably be at the slower end of the scale.   You could also record yourself speaking without reading,  then count the words and the time and calculate your speed.

You can read and listen to the full speech here


There are two main ways to make your speaking flow and sound more natural.

1.   Stress and intonation.    The following YouTube video explains intonation and the subsequent website explains stress.   For example, in words,  the difference between "desert"  (full of sand) and "dessert" (full of sugar) is simply a difference in stress placement.  But we can also stress entire words within sentences to change the meaning of the sentences.




Dictionaries or simply listening to others are the two best ways to learn where stress within words go.

Word Stress Rules


2.    The second way to make your speech choppy is to connect words within sentences, also called connected speech and linking.

This website and video provides a good explanation.

Connected Speech & Linking | English Pronunciation Lesson

Watching television sitcoms is a great way to learn this.   For example,  you could download Big Bang Theory Transcripts and then watch the episode while you read along,  noting how they 'actually speak'.

Some of the following resources will help you to improve your pronunciation and speaking flow..

Pronunciation Tips — A Guide to Better Speaking

English Pronunciation Practice  (Try the Listen and Repeat Machine  here)

The English Rhythm Rule

Practice Speaking and Listening to LImericks

Poemhunter   (This website has many popular poems where you can listen and read the poems.   Very useful for improving your pronunciation stress and flow.)

Poetry Out Loud  (Listen to some famous actors read these poems — you might want to find and print out the poem before listening to it)

Dr. Seuss Poems (These are fun to read and listen to)

English Language Support this week