City Hall Training: Week 1

by

Welcome to this conversation class. I hope you find this class both interesting and a little unique.

Here’s the basic purpose of this class. To improve your English communication skills by understanding and using six words:

  1. thesis
  2. hypothesis
  3. argument
  4. claim
  5. premise
  6. fallacy

That does not sound like a lot of work. But actually, to truly understand these concepts and use them on a daily basis  … in conversation, listening and reading… requires some effort and study.

SYLLABUS

Here is the syllabus for this class.

THESIS SENTENCE

Here is a worksheet that helps ESL students understand how to write a good thesis sentence.

This ESL worksheet shows how to use a thesis sentence in a short paragraph.

HYPOTHESIS SENTENCES

Here is a worksheet that explain how to make a hypothesis sentence.

HOMEWORK

You have some homework. Please read the article THE ART OF FAILURE by Malcolm Gladwell. It is in your booklet. After reading the article please complete these tasks:

  1. Write 6-8 comprehension questions, which you will ask your partner. This helps you understand the article better as well as your colleagues.
  2. Write a thesis sentence.
  3. Write a short summary of the article.
  4. Write 2 or 3 hypotheses from the article.