Hello
The final cafe for all learners will be on Monday 18th July 10 -12 and it will be a celebration. Please bring food to share and there will be games and prizes to win!
If you are in the beginners group the classes will continue for a few weeks after this – we will tell you all the dates you need to know in class.
The cafe and beginners classes will start again from Monday September 12th.
Here are some videos for the beginners:
Happy learning!
Hello everyone
We had some great visits to South Hill Park this week so thanks to everyone who came along and hope you enjoyed the trips. We will be back at the Open Learning Centre next week as usual.
South Hill Park: The room we DID NOT SEE! The Haversham is used for Civil Ceremonies: Citizenship ceremonies, signing the Register for Marriages etc. It is where the Registrar is based, hence we could not visit. But here is a view of the room we missed.
Check out some interesting vocabulary for next week when we talk about South Hill Park and its facilities: ceramics, artwork, silver-smith, printing press, props, scenery , theatre, cinema, stage, wings, orchestra pit, stalls, tiers, box-seats, gallery, studio, workshops, quilting, patchwork quilt, crest, coat of arms, motto, maze, fountain, ghosts, nursery (room), cellar, hauntings. Happy learning!
Here is a video for beginners about directions:
See you soon at the cafe!
Julie
Last week we talked about Ascot and here are some videos about it:
Also some videos for our beginners to support their learning:
This week we are visiting South Hill Park on Monday and Thursday – please remember to go there instead of going to the Open Learning centre. The morning cafe sessions will meet on the Terrace at South Hill Park at 9.45 am. The beginners group will meet on the Terrace on Thursday afternoon at 12.30 pm. We will look round the mansion building and also the grounds.
Hope to see you soon!
Hello
This week we are continuing to look at local places of interest, and next week we will be visiting South Hill Park for both cafe sessions on Monday 20th and Thursday 23rd June. We will give you full details about the trips during this week’s sessions at the centre.
Here is a video about Windsor Castle which is about half an hour’s drive from Bracknell:
See you soon at the cafe!
Hello and happy Jubilee weekend!
We are on a half-term break at the moment and the cafe will restart from Monday 6th June. Here are two videos to help you keep learning English…
From Monday we will be running a separate class for beginners to learn English, on Mondays from 12.30 – 2.30 pm, and a cafe for beginners to practise English, on Thursdays from 12.30 – 2.30 pm.
The morning cafes will keep going at the usual times:
Monday 10 – 12 noon and Thursdays 10 – 12 noon
Hope to see you soon!
Hello everyone
The cafe has been very busy recently as we have been welcoming lots of new students. To meet the needs of beginners learning English, we are starting ESOL lessons and a cafe session for beginners after half-term, from Monday 6th June.
The new beginners lessons will be every Monday from that date, 12.30 – 2.30 at the Open Learning Centre. The new beginners cafe session will be on Thursdays from 9th June, 12.30 – 2.30. If you are eligible for these new sessions, you will not also be able to attend the morning cafe sessions.
Any questions, please ask Julie or Carolyn next time you are in the cafe.
Next week we are having Jubilee celebration sessions to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The following week, commencing 30th May will be a holiday week and so there will be no sessions running then.
Here are some helpful videos:
Finally I would like to remind all learners that the cafe is for learning English and we welcome people from all over the world. Everyone has the right to learn English with us and to feel safe and welcome. Please remember to respect our British values of tolerance and diversity when you attend the Open Learning Centre – thank you.
See you soon at the cafe!
Julie
Hello
If you are a beginner level student, please note that after half term – from Monday 6th June – we will be running a beginners’ lesson every Monday from 12.30-2.30, with a cafe session every Thursday to support this, from Thursday 9th June (12.30 to 2.30). You will need to attend these sessions instead of the sessions in the morning on those days.
A mixed selection of videos this week to help with your English learning.
Enjoy watching and see you soon at the cafe.
Hello
Hope you have been enjoying the lovely weather this weekend. Here are some videos to help with your English:
Happy watching!
Hello
Hope you had a good bank holiday weekend. Here are some videos to help with your learning:
For beginners – words to do with the house, clothes and furniture:
For the middle and higher groups – uses of some and any:
For the advanced group, the passive voice:
The cafe will run as usual on Thursday this week and hope to see you there!
Hi everyone
Welcome to the Summer Term and we have already had two busy sessions with lots of new members!
A couple of points to note: Monday 2nd May is a bank (public) holiday so there will be no cafe session then. You can come to the Thursday session next week even if you normally come on Mondays. Also, we are going to register students and collect the £1.50 payment when you first arrive, so please come a few minutes early and have the correct change if possible.
This week we have been talking about ways to enhance your learning, and here are some useful videos for you:
Hope to see you again soon
Julie
Hi everyone
It’s the Easter holidays but that’s no reason to stop learning and practising your English! Here are some helpful videos:
Using your phone to help learn:
For middle and higher level learners
And finally, a video about Google Translate:
Hope you find these helpful!
Hi everyone
The Spring celebration was a great event so thanks to everyone who came on Monday this week. It’s now the Easter break so there will be no cafe sessions until Monday 25th April.
The link below will take you to a video which explains how to record your voice on an iPhone. This will be useful next term when we will be encouraging students to record themselves speaking English so they can play it back and improve.
Fun at the End of Term Celebration
This video is for the middle and advanced groups to help with your understanding of modal verbs:
This video is for beginners:
Have a great Easter holiday everyone and look forward to seeing you all again from Monday 25th April 🙂
Hello
Some useful videos this week to help you with your English:
A couple of videos for beginners:
We hope you enjoy these videos. Remember, the final cafe session this term is on Monday 28th March and it will be a celebration with food to share and games to play. Please come if you can – everyone is welcome!
The cafe will start back again after the Easter holidays, on Monday 25th April and Thursday 28th April
Best wishes
Julie and Carolyn
Hi everyone
Hope you are enjoying the lovely spring weather we are having at the moment. Just a reminder, Monday 28th March will be our spring celebration at the cafe when everyone is welcome. We will restart the cafe sessions after Easter from Monday 25th April, 10 – 12 as normal.
Message from Carolyn Stocker:
ALL STUDENTS: Your raffle tickets for the Festive Party on 28th March are available from this week. Collect yours asap!!!!
FOR ALL STUDENTS FROM HONG KONG: useful info on Employment and more
Employment | Hongkongers |Britain
This page shows information about employment in the UK
This week at the cafe we are talking about the origins of Easter. Hope to see you soon!
Best wishes
Julie
Hello
Here are some videos to help you with your English – as usual they are aimed at different levels. Also please note that Monday 28th March will be the last cafe session this term, and it will be an Easter celebration with food to share, a free raffle with prizes to win and games. All students are welcome to attend, even if you normally come on a Thursday. It will be from 10 – 12 as usual.
Hi everyone
This week we will be talking about numbers in the beginners group:
Advanced Learners: Use your English: think about trying another course
2 d ·
“The trainer was fabulous, the best first aid course I have been on”, “Loved the smaller group, good course, friendly, informative, very happy”, “Very knowledge…
See more
Hello everyone
Hope you had a good half term holiday. Here are some videos which support the topics we covered this week – Valentine’s Day and Pancake Day. There are also two basic videos about the months of the year and days of the week.
Hello everyone
It’s now half term so just to remind you there are no classes next week. The cafe sessions will start again from Monday 21st Feb.
In the meantime here is a very useful video with lots of basic phrases to help you have a conversation:
Keep practising your English and see you soon!
Hello everyone
Next week is half-term so there will be no classes on the 14th and the 17th February. This week we are continuing to look at likes/dislikes (beginners), and health (the other groups).
Here are some videos that you might find helpful:
ADVANCED GROUP: Watch the video drama called THE YELLOW WALLPAPER. THEN, look at the analysis on plot and characters. Notice the comments about the treatment of mental health conditions in this drama. Look at the progression of the main character’s mental health condition as the story unfolds
So there’s something for everyone this week – happy learning!
Hello everyone
Here are a few videos to help with your learning:
ADVANCED STUDENTS: a really important video on “reductions” (speaking English like a native). It shows you how to understand sentences with reduced words: have/of/etc. Please note this lady is Australian, so some differences in pronunciation, primarily in the “of” reduction. British English would use this pronunciation: a lot’v/sort’v/ etc and not the flapped “t”.
Hi everyone
The topic for this week is health and safety generally and online. These videos will help you prepare:
Also here are a couple of simple videos you might find useful:
Hi everyone and happy new year!
We will be starting the cafe sessions again next week, from Monday 10th January. We will be talking about New Year traditions and customs – these videos will help you prepare:
Hi everyone
Hope you are all well and looking forward to Christmas. Unfortunately we have had to cancel the Christmas event planned for this Thursday, 16th December, because of the new Covid restrictions. So there will be no cafe session this Thursday.
We are hoping to be back in the centre from Monday the 10th January to restart the cafe next term. For updates nearer the time, please see this blog or the Lexicon facebook page.
In the meantime, here are some festive videos to help you practise your English over the holidays!
Have a very merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!
Julie and Carolyn
We hope everybody enjoyed our visit from Bracknell’s Mayor, Mayoress and Deputy Mayor today. It was a unique opportunity to meet them.
Please note :Last Language cafe session – festive party/bring and share food at 10am Thursday 16 December. This is for all students. Monday students can come twice during that week!
Start of new term: Monday 10th January at 10am
Meanwhile here are some useful videos which explain how to describe yourself and other people:
Hello, here are some useful videos to watch to learn some everyday English phrases:
Hello
The Language Cafe will be closed the week of 25-29 October because it is a school holiday that week. It will start again from Monday 1st November.
Here are some useful videos to help you with learning English:
Best wishes
Julie and Carolyn
Hello
We’re very pleased to announce that the Language Cafe will be reopening in the Open Learning Centre from Monday 13th September.
As before there will be two sessions a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, from 10 – 12. You can attend one session per week, and we repeat Monday’s session on Thursday.
The session will cost £1.50 and this will include a tea or coffee if you want one.
Each week we will cover a different topic relevant to life in the UK. You will be in a small group with other learners of a similar level.
We look forward to seeing you at the Cafe!
Best wishes
Julie and Carolyn
Hi everyone
For this final week we shall continue discussing holidays – please bring us some photos to share if you have some. The final session for this term will be on Thursday 15th July. We will hope to be back in the centre from September – we will post more details later in the summer.
Have a lovely summer holiday and hope to see you next term!
Best wishes, Julie and Carolyn
We will be talking about holidays, so please bring along any interesting stories and photos about your favourite holidays. We are going to discuss holidays and travel in the UK and abroad so here are some videos to help you prepare:
These videos have more advanced vocabulary:
Hello!
Some exciting news – next week we are going to meet at Bracknell’s Arts Centre – South Hill Park. This will be instead of the Zoom sessions, so we will be able to meet in person!
The trips will be on Tuesday 29th June(for the Monday group, and we will team up with another class), and on Thursday 1st July for the Thursday group.
Please meet on the Cafe Terrace at 10 o’clock – the terrace is round the back of the main entrance, overlooking the parkland, and there are picnic tables. Please make sure: wear suitable clothing and footwear for walking. Bring hats, suntan cream and water, bring your phone, bring a notebook and pen. We are going to look at the house and gardens and discuss what happens at the centre.
Please go to southhillpark.org.uk for details of how to find the venue, and events that are held there. This video will give you an idea of what it’s like:
We look forward to seeing you next week!
This week we will have different topics for Monday and Thursday. Monday’s topic is the dentist. These videos are about going to the dentist. Please watch them to prepare for Monday’s session.
Thursday’s topic is job interviews, and we will be looking at how to answer tricky questions you might be asked.
All Thursday group learners: next week (w/c21.6.21) , you will use Julie’s link, just for this session. Topic: we shall continue our topic on Jobs and Employment. Please bring any questions that you have been asked during job interviews. We shall be tackling common and difficult questions that are often used in job interviews. We shall look at possible answers and also at WHY the employers might be asking questions like these: what are they looking for?
See you next week on Zoom!
Hello
Next week we will be talking about employment in the UK, including different types of jobs and job hunting. If you need help with CVs, interview practice or job applications, we have a job club at the Open Learning Centre on Thursdays. Please ask Carolyn or Julie for more information or book an appointment with an Advisor through Reception at the OLC.
Here are some videos to help you prepare for the session:
The next two are for middle/advanced level learners and show two different approaches to the interview. What are the differences that you notice?
After the half-term break we will be talking about understanding road signs and other signs that you might see outside. Please watch these videos to help prepare for the sessions:
Basic Level: Talking about travelling by different means. Please note: the pronunciation of “route” in British English is totally different from American English. Also, in British English we don’t normally use the word “metro”, but we often use “underground”. The word “stop-over” or stop-off is usually used instead of “layover”.
We shall be looking at the topic of Driving in the UK/tests and signage. The beginning of this clip is an example of what you CANNOT do on UK roads!
The week beginning 31st May is a half-term holiday, when schools are shut, so there will be no Language cafe sessions that week. We will start again from Monday 7th June.
Hello
Next week we’ll be talking about the Royal Family, so here are some videos to help you prepare. Think about the following questions: What is your opinion about the Royal Family?/Who is your favourite member of the royal family and why?/Do you think we should have a royal family nowadays?/ Does your country have a royal family?/What stories have you heard in the news recently or in the past about members of the royal family?/
Also please note that Monday 31st May is a Bank Holiday, so there will be no session on that day.
We hope you enjoy finding out about this topic, and look forward to discussing it with you!
Hello
Next week’s topic is all about medicine and illness. Here are three videos to watch which will help you prepare:
We hope you find these videos helpful!
Hi everyone
This week we’re talking about the environment, and here are the videos:
See you on Zoom!
Monday 3rd May is a Bank Holiday here in England, so there will be no session that day. The session on Thursday 6th May will run as normal, and we will be looking at the UK government and the recent news story about supermarket cake brands. These videos will help you prepare:
Please look up the following terms and make sure you understand what they mean: Parliament/evolved/Simon de Montfort/House of Commons/MPs/Chamber/constituency/constituent/to head up/the Opposition/the Speaker/to chair a debate/peers/to hold someone to account/Select Committees/a Bill/a Green Paper/a White Paper/Cabinet Ministers/Monarch/Democracy/to campaign/Election/to be up for grabs/Ballot Paper/Manifesto/a hung parliament/to pressure or protest group.
Here are the videos about Colin and Cuthbert the Caterpillar cakes!
Above: Judge Rinder (TV Judge personality) gives his opinion on the Colin the Caterpillar controversy and legal action.
Hope to see you next week!
Hi everyone
Hope you had a good Easter break. As we are continuing the Language Cafe on Zoom, here are the videos you need to watch to prepare for next week. We will be talking about May Day, which this year is a Bank Holiday on Monday 3rd May, so there will be no session that day.
A fun video of a Maypole dance, with no narration – just music
Finally, for advanced learners, here is a pronunciation video about how some sounds disappear in spoken English, to makes things easier to say:
Happy learning and see you soon!
Our next topic is Easter, and here are some videos to watch:
The one below has no commentary and is set to music. Which bonnet (Easter hat) do you like best? What Easter symbols do they use in the hats?
The language in the video below is quite advanced, and there may be some vocabulary that you have to look up:
A basic level video which looks at the origins of Easter:
We will break for the Easter holidays after next week, so the last sessions this term are Monday 29th March and Thursday 1st April.
The cafe will restart on Zoom, using the same link, from Monday 19th April. Have a great Easter!
Hi everyone,
We will finish our virtual tour of the UK by looking at Northern Ireland. Here are some short videos to help you prepare:
This one is very short, with no commentary:
This one is also about the whole of Ireland, and has subtitles but quite complex language:
This is a fun watch as it follows a young US man exploring Northern Ireland with his local friend, so you will hear the two different accents. They talk quite fast, so it may be quite tricky to follow, but it is worth watching for the beautiful scenery and fun activities:
And finally, a brief history of St Patrick’s Day, with subtitles so it’s easy to follow:
Happy watching and see you next week!
This video shows lots of things to do with Scotland, with no words but lovely music so is suitable for all learners:
This video uses simple language to introduce Scotland, so is for all level learners:
The video below is narrated by an American man and he talks quickly so it may be quite difficult to follow. The scenery is beautiful though and gives you a great idea of what Scotland’s landscapes are like.
This video is about the Gaelic language and is suitable for more advanced learners:
We hope you enjoy watching these videos and that they help you learn about Scotland!
Hi everyone
Continuing our virtual tour around the UK, next week we will be looking at Scotland. Here are some videos to give you a taste of this part of Britain:
Next week’s topic is Wales, and here are some short, interesting videos which tell you about this region of the UK:
Hope you enjoy watching these videos, and look forward to seeing you next week!
Next week we will be talking about the census, which is happening soon. This is a link to the main website which has lots of information about it:
Here are a couple of short videos you can watch to give you more info:
See you next week!
Hello
This video is for the advanced group students to watch for next week’s session, following on from what we were talking about last week:
See you next week!
Hi everyone,
Next week is the half-term holiday so there will be no Zoom sessions. But don’t worry, we’ve found some interesting videos full of ideas to inspire you:
Here is one about the origins of Valentine’s Day:
This tells you all about how to make pancakes, which we traditionally eat on Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day):
I hope you enjoy these videos!
Topic: TV and Radio. Please watch this video about the evolution of TV. We are going to discuss our favourite TV/radio programmes during this week. Please come prepared to share your views about films/soap operas/series/documentaries, reality TV and much more
Please also watch this video about the invention of radio:
All Students: please note that the Spring Half Term Holiday is Monday 15 February to Friday 19 February 2021. There will be no classes during this week.
For anyone who wants to keep practising, there are some great online courses available to improve your English, whatever your level. Lots are free or very cheap. Try FutureLearn for basic English for the Workplace or Udemy for Basic English for Beginners. Good luck!
Hello everyone
Next week we’ll be talking about the USA, including some general facts about the country and recent events. Here are two short videos suitable for all level students to help you prepare for the session:
Here are two videos which are for the Thursday students, which are a quick look at US politics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PrvciTGpRI
Please watch the videos and make notes as we will be discussing them in the Zoom sessions.
See you next week!
Julie
Bracknell Language Cafe