The autonomous work summary thread.

[Admin]

This is where you can tell us all what you have been doing along with a short critique.

[Jessica Mauricio]

Hello John,

Personally, I first started to go to the website that has been given to us “GoFluent”, but I did not like it so much (sorry).

I think I naturally watch a lot of videos, movies and series in English or I better say in its original version.

For example, I watched Enola Holmes in its original version because I felt like it would not be interesting to see this movie who is set in London without hearing the British accent. Or for example, I could not watch Emily is in Paris new series starring on Netflix in French. How can you catch all the jokes and cultural differences that Emily is dealing with if you don’t watch it in the original version? How?

I also regularly watch Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, an American show hosted by a British man with a great sense of humour. He talks about a lot of subjects linked with all what’s happening in the world and maybe a little bit more specifically in the USA. Each of these videos last about twenty minutes on average but you don’t really see the time passing. Also, he is very sarcastic and that’s probably why I like the way he presents things.

On the other hand, I’m also reading a book untitled “The Ethical Consumer” written by Harrison, Newholm and Shaw and guess what ? It’s in English. Well actually, that was not done on purpose. I had no choice; we could not buy it in French (cause this book has not been translated I guess), but I have to read it in order to write my research thesis. Talking about that…my thesis is about understanding the motivations that people have when buying and eating meat substitutes. When searching about this subject, every author’s article dealing with the idea of an ethical consumer, will eventually mention this book that I ordered in Amazon. The book is very interesting but quite long because it’s written in little characters and it has almost 250 pages. But I’ll survive !!

Well, I think I summarized all what I’ve done lately for my autonomous work.

See you next Thursday everyone !

[Emma Vancostenoble]

As Jessica, I went on the website Breakingnewsenglish.com but I was also a little bit confused and shocked by the ugliness of the site and the lack of "design"... It was complicated to find your way around

Finally, GoFluent stays the best on my heart ! I prefer working on it, because we can see our evolution day after day (until how many minutes we spent on!) and we know where to find an information and we can work without losing the thread.

You can laugh at me but I downloaded TikTok one month ago (sorry guys for being soooo boring with this app 24/24...) and I think watching americans/english/scottish TikToks 2 hours per day improve my english level   Since two weeks, I surprised myself putting english subtitles on english voices when I watch a series. It's a big change for me !

I'll not mention the fact that we have a lot of courses in english and also a looooot of articles to read wroten in english, but the training is quite everyday, step by step. Not doing any sports but my mind is training its english, isn't it enough ?   (John will say "no" because I still do a lot of vocabulary mistakes and he's my "human dictionary"...).

See you buddies.  

[Admin]

As Jessica, I went on the website Breakingnewsenglish.com but I was also a little bit confused and shocked by the ugliness of the site and the lack of "design"... It was complicated to find your way around

Finally, GoFluent stays the best on my heart ! I prefer working on it, because we can see our evolution day after day (until how many minutes we spent on!) and we know where to find an information and we can work without losing the thread.

You can laugh at me but I downloaded TikTok one month ago (sorry guys for being soooo boring with this app 24/24...) and I think watching americans/english/scottish TikToks 2 hours per day improve my english level   Since two weeks, I surprised myself putting english subtitles on english voices when I watch a series. It's a big change for me !

I'll not mention the fact that we have a lot of courses in english and also a looooot of articles to read wroten in english, but the training is quite everyday, step by step. Not doing any sports but my mind is training its english, isn't it enough ?   (John will say "no" because I still do a lot of vocabulary mistakes and he's my "human dictionary"...).

See you buddies.  

Emma, Have I ever said "no" to you?

[Adrien Roucairol]

Hi John, i'm sure you are in a good mood today!

I come back to this beautiful webstite "Breaking New English" and i'll give you my impression on it.
It's true like Emma and Jess, i'm not a big fan of the website, it looks very colourless.
Personally, i worked on the theme World News, and i was a little disappointed because there are no many actualities in this theme. I also worked on the theme lifestyle, and for your information, the new trend in Tokyo is the transparent public toilet. I'm sure this information will change your day, maybe your life

More seriously, exercices proposed are quite interesting even if the structure of the site is not very pratical.
But, I prefer largely the Gofluent!

Take care of yourself!
See you

[katia katy]

hello everyone

I hope you are all well

Well, during my autonomous work, I worked on Gofluent, I chose two courses related to our training, I chose Business courses and sales and marketing courses and it was quite intersting especially when you can see your mistakes and also progress.

I really liked the fact that you can evaluate yourself or the fact that you can train and do Toeic exercises when it's expensive on other websites. The only thing that displeased me is the lack of attractiveness of the website.

Concerning the breakingnewsenglish.com website, I used to use it during my bachelor degree. It's true that the platform is a bit boring but I find it very intersessant, full of exercises with different themes and it helps a lot in my final exam because we had the same type of exercice that we can find on this website.

I don't really watch videos and series in English, it's true that I manage to understand the series in English but it doesn't help me a lot to pronounce english as it should be.

I prefer to use international chat websites. It allows me to meet new people from all around the world with different cultures and practice my english with people who have English as their mother tongue and it helps me a lot.
Sometimes I keep in touch with somepople because we share the same hobbies and find them very friendly and sometimes I just talk once with them by choosing whatever topic we want to talk about. But it's been a long time since I've used this kind of website.

I also read a lot of articles in English for my dissertation and it allowed me to have a lot of vocabulary in digital marketing and influence marketing.

So this is what I’ve done lately for my autonomous work.

Take care

See you soon ^^

[Laura Berthier]

Hello John !!

My autonomous work in English is not just for an hour on Thursday afternoons but every day (Yes John please be impressed ) I have never sait it before but thanks to you, since last year I really want to learn and improve my English, I'm not in the same state of mind as before (English was my phobia....) so thank you very much !!

So, every day I spend a lot of time on Facebook, Instagram or Tik Tok (because of Emma, I don't thank you for wasting 2 hours of my life a day on it....) and much of the content is in English and in understandable language so it's cool !

And as Emma said, we read a lot of research articles in English, sometimes not easy to understand... but you have to take our time...

And of course I watch series... Like Jessica I watched the series Emily in Paris (it's not a series for you John it's love stories...) there are French people who speak in English, that's when we realize that we have a horrible accent... And there is a lot of clichés about the French as well, we are arrogant, and we don't like foreigners, and we all speak bad English... What do you think John ? true or false ?

And I bought a book "Call my by your name" in English to practice, I read few pages and then I left it in Angoulême for the holidays and now it has stayed there because I stayed at my parents for the lockdown... But the few pages that I read for the moment were really not easy to understand, I am for from being bilingual...

And finally, about the 2 websites : breakingnewsenglish.com and gofluent, I don't like it too much, I find it too academic, I feel like I'm going back to middle school... so I don't spend a lot of time on it, I prefer to read articles or watch interviews, ....

That's it !!

See you Thursday everybody

[Admin]

I am impressed Laura. And the better you become the easier and more enjoyable it gets for you (and everyone else )

[Le Foll Camille]

Hi,
Like Laura, I spread my English training throughout the week.
I finally finished Down to earth (with Zac Effron ). When it's a documentary I prefer to watch it in OV. It's 2 in 1, I learn new things while working on my English comprehension.

It's a shame, I find that the breakingnewsenglish.com site doesn't really make you want to click on the different categories. The interface is really old. I prefer Gofluent and its application which is more attractive and easy to use.

I also picked up and completed the worksheets you gave us in class. With all the time spent on the screens I find it pleasant to work just with a sheet of paper and a pencil.

See you next week

[Célie Moutot]

Hi Everyone !

I try to work as much as possible in english during my free time. First of all i try to watch series or films in english with english subtitles, I think it's good to learn some vocabulary, the pronunciation and see the spelling of words.
Sometimes i find it to hard to understand everything, because the characters speak quickly or use a specific vocabulary.
So... if someone knows a series in english easy to understand, I'll take all the suggestions !
What i like to do too, it's try to translate my favorite songs, I find it fun because i like working in music !

I also train on GoFluent. I have already done several vocabulary and videos exercices (eLearning). I prefer to work with videos because i think it train me better for a possible Toeic.

Concerning Breaking News English, I like the different exercises about the actuality. For example: Kamala Harris, the first black vice president to be elected in the United States. It's very interesting but i dont like the interface...

I will try to keep training on both but I prefer GoFluent

See you on Thursday !

[Aude Billiaud]

Hello John,

As for me, I mainly read books in English for my autonomous work. So far, I've read easy books such as Harry Potter (only the first two because I wasn't so much into it), then I decided to read Stephen King's books as I think his books are very well-written and with attractive plots. I read It, Pet Sematary and Joyland. After seeing the movie Dead Zone last week, I would like to read it next. And because I'm a sucker for romance (and Hugh Grant ), I also read the fantastic Bridget Jones' diary book.

For oral comprehension, I watched many YouTube videos in English to get used to the natural accent and speed of English speakers. I also watched movies on Netflix in their original version.

Finally, I practised my English on Gofluent.

See you on Thursday!

[AdélaïdeSagnes]

Hello,

I read a lot of English texts given by our teachers, but I have decided to read them aloud because I have some trouble with pronunciation and I think that practicing reading alone will help me stutter less!!!

I checked the "Breaking news English" site, and it’s true that the architecture of this site is very strange. I read some texts and then I went back to go fluent. I agree with Emma who says that seeing her progress is encouraging. In particular, I did some grammar exercises. I also did the exercise you put on UPdago, I didn't get a very good mark…

Otherwise I'm thinking of writing the words I don't know on a vocabulary notebook and I watched some horror movies in English with French subtitles. I'm going to try to find a series in English that I might like.

Have a good week

[Emeline Texier]

Hello !!

Personally, I checked Breaking news english like everyone and this website seems me old-fashioned. So it doesn't encourage me to do my exercises.
So, for my autonomous work I did 4 exercises on GoFluent about vocabulary and grammar and I had very good marks (it suprised me ) !
Then, during my free time I watch Netflix series and since few weeks I watch "The Crown" in english with subtitle in english ! To be honest, I don't understand all but I learn more vocabulary, expression and it help me for my oral expression because in this series the english accent is gorgeous ! Moreover, despites it's a series, it contains real history facts so I learn a lot about Britain history.

To finish, I promise that I will going to do some english exercises to improve my low level in english

See you !

[ONDET Pauline]

Hi everyone

For my self-employment this week, I tried to work on the Breaking News English website by doing some exercises of "listen", "read", "grammar", "spell" and "words". However, I found that using this website was much more complicated to understand and less intuitive than GoFluent. Indeed, the website looks old and unorganized (sorry), and sometimes you can't write or do the exercises and there is no correction! So as the others, I didn't really enjoyed it. That's why, then, I worked on the GoFluent website, I took the "English for Managers: Intermediate Course", and I'm currently in my "Challenge zone"!! In general, I prefer to work on grammar, conjugation or video exercises (I don't really like texts, in my opinion, it's too academic and requires too much concentration   ).

As others, I also watch every day my series in english (with english subtitles of course) because it allows me to combine my hobbies in my free time while improving my English (I think it helps me in my listening comprehension and allows me to learn vocabulary). Celie, if you are looking for a serie, I watch New Girls which is quite funny and easy to understand and doesn't use a very complicated vocabulary.

Otherwise, with the recent American elections, I found myself reading articles in English as well!
So it's true that I have the impression that I progress more in English and that it requires less effort when it's not mandatory readings or exercises at school, but when it's subjects that interest me (series, films, articles, ...) and for that, I recognize that your course is really great to progress and love English because we are quite free!

Good luck to all for this new week of classes and above all good lockdown!!!

[Admin]

In defence of the sites people don't like, remember they are free. Gofluent is a pay site - it just happens that the IAE have paid so it's free for you.

[Lisa Garcia]

Hi John,

We talked about it together during our personal discussion in class, I have been to GoFluent several times but I find that the exercises are not very interesting ..
For my autonomous work I watch instagram a lot and I follow a lot of accounts and American celebrities so all the captions are in English and what is good is that they also sometimes use "slang" so that also allows me to learn everyday vocabulary and not just the basic vocabulary you learn in class.

I also watch on Netflix the documentary "I am a killer" where prisoners on death row tell their stories. I like to watch this kind of documentary in English because people speak with words that we don't really learn in class because they can be vulgar but I still find it good to know this kind of vocabulary because people don't always speak in a sustained manner (I don't know how to say it).

Otherwise, my brother wants to pass the toeic because he needs it to validate his master's degree so maybe I'll try to help him improve his English. And I would like to pass the Toeic a second time because I would like to have a better score than the last time, because I had not managed my time well enough and I could not finish on time.

[Emma Vancostenoble]

In defence of the sites people don't like, remember they are free. Gofluent is a pay site - it just happens that the IAE have paid so it's free for you.

Our love for you -and your professional skills, as an excellent teacher- is also free then. Maybe you should pay us because our love is big, sincere and unanimous. And you also have it 2 hours per week, as we should use GoFluent which is a pay site. Deal ?

[Admin]

In defence of the sites people don't like, remember they are free. Gofluent is a pay site - it just happens that the IAE have paid so it's free for you.

Our love for you -and your professional skills, as an excellent teacher- is also free then. Maybe you should pay us because our love is big, sincere and unanimous. And you also have it 2 hours per week, as we should use GoFluent which is a pay site. Deal ?

I DO pay, it's just not in cash.

[carolinemaggi]

Hi again

Unfortunately we couldn't talk about it in face to face as we should do
However, I tried to follow this autonomous work. I started to exercise myself on GoFluent :
The platform is not really intuitive but the exercises I did are nice. I mean the platform offers us different exercises, different formats and levels. So, you can choose the exercise that suit you the most according to a theme that interests you. I remember working my vocabulary on "travel requirements", it was a short exercise but efficient, I liked the way they teach you the vocabulary (meanings, pictures, role-playing).

For this autonomous work I also watch some series or videos that you share with us and I prefer those kinds of personal work than exercises. It entertains me more. I started the series Friends in VO, what a genius idea ! I love this series it makes me laugh and I learn vocab bc they use familiar language, useful in everyday life.

Concerning your 'useful links" I've watched some videos on BBC REEL and TED (I will on OROTO bc I saw attracting programs as the late late show with James Corden or AsapSCIENCE). These videos are useful and interesting, there are several topics related on, and images help the understanding.
Today I discovered BBC THE BIG IDEA : I like the format, it's not a video and it's short, so I could listen it the morning while I'm preparing myself for instance  

Moreover, by having this autonomous work and watching series in English, I keep familiar with the language and I even surprised myself to not check on Deepl what I said to my friends when I have a discussion with them (with my friends from abroad)


see u

[Lauralee Spadat]

Hi everyone !

Well like all of you, I'm in love with netflix series. For me, it's the best way to learn a language in it’s daily life. I always watch my series in original version, so often in English, and I sometimes put the subtitles in English, so as not to miss anything.

There, I just finished the series "The queen's gambit". It’s the story of a young American girl of the 60s who will climb the ranks in the world of the game of chess to become a grandmaster (the highest level of the game). It's not the kind of story I'm used to watching at all, but this one blew me away. Really, it's very interesting to also know this aspect, to see how this universe works (so little known ultimately). Also, while the story is happening in a different period (60s), the turns of sentences are sometimes different, so it's a good way to learn new things again.

But that's not all I do during my autonomous work time. When I need to work on a specific thing I of course connect to GoFluent and do a set of several exercises. It’s a good way to review grammar, vocabulary and learn new expressions and sentences to use in a professional environment (conversations, requests, explanation as a manager, etc.).

In addition, at the moment I'm reading a very interesting book on personal development called "Simplify". This is a fun little book written by Joshua Becker, a big proponent of minimalist living.
We now find ourselves, our lives and our homes cluttered with too much information, too much stuff and just too much things we don’t need.
This simple book helps me become aware of the freedom gained from living with less. It's a small book, easily read under an hour, but it carries a persuasive punch to start living live in a very different way.

so my final word, let's live simply and in a good mood to attract only the best!  

PS note to myself: this also applies to you Lauralee

[adelinerousseau]

Hi john  

My objective is to practice my English as more as possible. In the beginning, I went on GoFluent. What’s interesting is that you can see a lot of different little notions. If we can identify our weaknesses, I think it can help, indeed.

But, I prefer to improve my English in my own way. Like many people, I watch my Netflix series in English. I’m a big fan of the Sherlock series (I’m Sherlocked). I watched it once with French subtitles, and now with English subtitles. I really like their accent and how they talk, but without subtitles, I’m lost. They speak so fast! Too fast for me.

At the same time, I talk regularly with Erasmus friends in English. Indeed, as they don’t speak French, I have no choice to speak English. It helps me a lot!

Also, I try to read books in English. I started The Lord of The Rings a few months ago, but I admit it’s a little bit complicated right now. So, I’m reading a book that I consider more at my level. It’s The Graveyard Book, written by Neil Gaiman. I like it very much. I intend to read several of his books. I really like his English, I understand him, my vocabulary is improving and I love the story. What more could I ask for?

I will continue to use GoFluent, for some exercises and explications where I know I have some weaknesses.

See u  

[Admin]

Hi john  

My objective is to practice my English as more as possible. In the beginning, I went on GoFluent. What’s interesting is that you can see a lot of different little notions. If we can identify our weaknesses, I think it can help, indeed.

But, I prefer to improve my English in my own way. Like many people, I watch my Netflix series in English. I’m a big fan of the Sherlock series (I’m Sherlocked). I watched it once with French subtitles, and now with English subtitles. I really like their accent and how they talk, but without subtitles, I’m lost. They speak so fast! Too fast for me.

At the same time, I talk regularly with Erasmus friends in English. Indeed, as they don’t speak French, I have no choice to speak English. It helps me a lot!

Also, I try to read books in English. I started The Lord of The Rings a few months ago, but I admit it’s a little bit complicated right now. So, I’m reading a book that I consider more at my level. It’s The Graveyard Book, written by Neil Gaiman. I like it very much. I intend to read several of his books. I really like his English, I understand him, my vocabulary is improving and I love the story. What more could I ask for?

I will continue to use GoFluent, for some exercises and explications where I know I have some weaknesses.

See u  

Sherlock is a fast and complicated series even for English people. Fantastic but difficult.

I also like Neil Gaiman - if you like him you'll probably like Terry Pratchett novels which are typically british humour fantasy. Gaiman wrote "stardust" which was made into a very good movie in 2007 with Michelle Pfeiffer (who looks almost like my wife).

[Admin]

Hi John,

We talked about it together during our personal discussion in class, I have been to GoFluent several times but I find that the exercises are not very interesting ..
For my autonomous work I watch instagram a lot and I follow a lot of accounts and American celebrities so all the captions are in English and what is good is that they also sometimes use "slang" so that also allows me to learn everyday vocabulary and not just the basic vocabulary you learn in class.

I also watch on Netflix the documentary "I am a killer" where prisoners on death row tell their stories. I like to watch this kind of documentary in English because people speak with words that we don't really learn in class because they can be vulgar but I still find it good to know this kind of vocabulary because people don't always speak in a sustained manner (I don't know how to say it).

Otherwise, my brother wants to pass the toeic because he needs it to validate his master's degree so maybe I'll try to help him improve his English. And I would like to pass the Toeic a second time because I would like to have a better score than the last time, because I had not managed my time well enough and I could not finish on time.

I watched the first 3 from I am a killer, if you like those you'll probably like "the jinx - the life and deaths of Robert Durst" which I finished last night it's 6 episodes long but entertaining. You may also like "Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez" an amazing true life crime documentary.

[Admin]

Hi everyone !

Well like all of you, I'm in love with netflix series. For me, it's the best way to learn a language in it’s daily life. I always watch my series in original version, so often in English, and I sometimes put the subtitles in English, so as not to miss anything.

There, I just finished the series "The queen's gambit". It’s the story of a young American girl of the 60s who will climb the ranks in the world of the game of chess to become a grandmaster (the highest level of the game). It's not the kind of story I'm used to watching at all, but this one blew me away. Really, it's very interesting to also know this aspect, to see how this universe works (so little known ultimately). Also, while the story is happening in a different period (60s), the turns of sentences are sometimes different, so it's a good way to learn new things again.

But that's not all I do during my autonomous work time. When I need to work on a specific thing I of course connect to GoFluent and do a set of several exercises. It’s a good way to review grammar, vocabulary and learn new expressions and sentences to use in a professional environment (conversations, requests, explanation as a manager, etc.).

In addition, at the moment I'm reading a very interesting book on personal development called "Simplify". This is a fun little book written by Joshua Becker, a big proponent of minimalist living.
We now find ourselves, our lives and our homes cluttered with too much information, too much stuff and just too much things we don’t need.
This simple book helps me become aware of the freedom gained from living with less. It's a small book, easily read under an hour, but it carries a persuasive punch to start living live in a very different way.

so my final word, let's live simply and in a good mood to attract only the best!  

PS note to myself: this also applies to you Lauralee

I watched "the queen's gambit" because I used to be a pretty good championship chess player when I was young. It was a strange mix for a tv programme though.

[Admin]

Hello !!

Personally, I checked Breaking news english like everyone and this website seems me old-fashioned. So it doesn't encourage me to do my exercises.
So, for my autonomous work I did 4 exercises on GoFluent about vocabulary and grammar and I had very good marks (it suprised me ) !
Then, during my free time I watch Netflix series and since few weeks I watch "The Crown" in english with subtitle in english ! To be honest, I don't understand all but I learn more vocabulary, expression and it help me for my oral expression because in this series the english accent is gorgeous ! Moreover, despites it's a series, it contains real history facts so I learn a lot about Britain history.

To finish, I promise that I will going to do some english exercises to improve my low level in english

See you !

My wife loves "the crown" there's a new and final season (4) starting this week.

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