Back to School after Lockdown

Whether you are raring to get back into the swing of things, reluctant, cautious or scared, we are going back to school. May 18th 2020, here in Greece at least, we're restarting school. Whichever reaction describes yours, there's one thing that is true, this school year has been like no other any of us have experienced.

I've got a few pointers for your academic progress and performance in English. Please bear in mind that I am assuming you have done nothing since March 11th when school closed. (If you are diligent then this blog post is probably not for you!)

All students:

Make sure you have all your equipment in your bag: course books, exercise books, pens, pencils, hand-outs. Throw away the mouldy sandwich that has been festering there for 2 months! Add hand sanitizer, masks and optional single-use gloves.

Young learners:

What do you remember? Have a look at the course books you've been using. Do you remember the character names? Can you still read the dialogues? How many words do you remember? Do you still know the grammar rules? If you have ebooks listen to the recordings again.

Pre-Intermediate + non-exam takers: 

Read all the texts again to familiarise yourself with both the grammar and vocabulary. Catch up on the homework you left until after Lockdown. (That time is now!) 

Pre-Intermediate + exam takers:

Revise vocabulary and grammar. Re-familiarise yourself with exam style tasks. Check the website or social media sites for your exam board, see if there are any online revision exercises or sample tests you can do. Find a friend who's taking the same exam as you and do some mock interviews from your course book or test book. Record the 'interview' and then be your own examiners; what did you do well? What could you have done better?

Most of all, stay safe, study hard and focus on the task in hand. Wear your mask, wash your hands, keep your distance. You can do this!