GRA.D.E.

[ale77]

Dear everyone,

I am writing to inform you that I have created a web resource which might be useful to both EFL teachers and learners.
It's a collection of grammar exercises that can be accessed online. The exercises can be retrieved by using a user-friendly form: users are enabled to choose the type(s) of exercise, the topic(s) and even specific tense(s).

If you wish to try using it, my website is:
http://www.greid.altervista.org/

 

[Raymott]

There are so many choices of test, and you have to tick each of the boxes to get it to work.
Four out of my five attempts to get a test ended up with "Sorry, try another choice". Are the answers available?

 

[emsr2d2]

Same problem here. I tried 6 or 7 different combinations of choices but every one resulted in "SORRY. There are no exercises in the database which match your search. Please try selecting different values".

If there aren't even any exercises testing the use of "to be" in the present simple tense and using a multiple choice answer system, then it's not even covering the basics.

 

[ale77]

@emsr2d2:
The DB is not complete yet.
As a matter of fact, you can clearly see that the topic "to be" is currently covered by 2 exercises. How many of them did you expect to retrieve?

@raymott:
- the wide choice of exercise types is actually a strength of the system, at least in my view.
- no answers (yet).

 

[Raymott]

@raymott:
- the wide choice of exercise types is actually a strength of the system, at least in my view.

It would be a strength if the system was forthcoming with the result of your choice.
I think the idea is good. But you probably know that there are hundreds of similar sites where a student can go and, when they choose a test, they get it, and then they get their answers marked immediately. To be honest, if I were a student I would not go back - even with a promise that it will be getting better.
You obviously have the programming skills to deactivate/erase for now, those parts which don't have content. You might not remember the early days of the Web, but the place was full of sites that had a lovely home page full of interesting links that went nowhere, or to a gif of a little yellow labourer icon.
If the functioning matched the conception, it would be a good site - all assuming that the answers are correct, and all the grammar is right etc. In ogni caso, buona fortuna! You have a lot of work to do!

 

[ale77]

Thanks for the encouragement. Mmh, it's quite weird to get deadpan remarks and frowning comments on a forum which is supposed to create a network of interest. I clearly looked in the wrong direction.

Anyhoo... would you be so kind to point me to any "similar sites" of yours which remotely allow users to select exercises so precisely?
My resource is a test builder, intended (primarily) for teachers who need to produce quick grammar tests. If I were a student I wouldn't probably use it myself.
I didn't write the code and the database with the goal of saying the last word on English teaching - I am not going to steal your job, you know.

As far as I am concerned, I haven't got any work to do at all. But hey, feel free to donate some money if you wish to get more results next time you sign in.

 

[Raymott]

I don't know off hand of any on one site. But let's take emsr2d2's examples "If there aren't even any exercises testing the use of "to be" in the present simple tense and using a multiple choice answer system"
It took me less than a minute to type into Google, "English test 'to be'" and this is the first result:
http://www.englishteststore.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10422&Itemid=430

Sorry, you didn't get the responses you would have liked. I thought you were asking for opinions.

 

[ale77]

Serious opinions should be given by qualified people. And yes, other people's opinions are (almost) always good.
Once again, and (hopefully) for the last time since I am just wasting my time here:
the site you "googled" in less than a minute (bravo!) has nothing to do with the kind of resource I made.
- Can you customize your test?
- Can you download it and send it over?
- Do you think that the site you've found is useful in any way to a teacher?

Take some time to answer these questions, wise man.
... and thanks for the pat on my shoulder. I was really desperate for it

 

[emsr2d2]

None of your comments change the fact that you said that this is a resource for teachers who want to get tests quickly. If I want to get a test quickly, I expect the site to have a test for any combination of choices I tick.

As I said, I told it I wanted an exercise which covered "to be" in the "present tense" and where the answers were "multiple choice". There were none. I tried 5 or 6 other combinations of tick boxes and I got absolutely no exercises.

I'm sorry that you didn't get the responses you wanted but there was nothing to compliment on your site. It simply doesn't work. If I had found that site from a Google search, I would have given up on it after those five or six attempts and never gone back.

If you are the site builder, I suggest you put a "Site Under Construction" page up until you have at least one exercise for every possible combination of choices.

 

[ale77]

It seems you really need to practice the verb to be in the Present Simple! If you ask Raymott, he can point you to a number of sites (even after a one-minute google search, believe it or not!).

Why don't you try a different search instead of keeping complaining about how small the collection of exercises is?
Currently, there are more than 170 exercises on the database. I warn you, only 2 of them are about the Present Simple. Please do not feel bad about that!

By the by, I am not a site builder. I am going to add exercises in my free time. I guess I have devoted enough time to this thread of discussion. Frankly, it's like banging my head against a wall.
I've got some advice for you too: try to see the bright side. Your criticism ("there was nothing to compliment on your site") just shows you can't really understand what you are blabbering about.

Peace and love!

 

[emsr2d2]

Quite clearly you did not come here looking for constructive criticism of that site. If you're not the site builder, I'm not sure what your point was. If you are a contributor to the site, I suggest you contact the site builder/site owner and pass on our comments. I doubt he/she will be too thrilled to discover that we felt like we were banging our heads against a brick wall trying to use his/her site.

I don't need to practice my use of the verb "to be" in the present simple but genuine learners do.

I was going to close this thread but there's a danger that you'll think I did it because you specifically targeted/insulted me with the comment "... you can't really understand what you are blabbering on about". I shall, therefore, leave it to another moderator to decide whether closure is the right thing to do.

 

[Tdol]

If I were a student I wouldn't probably use it myself.

I don't see that the criticism about navigability is invalid; you have changed the terms from the first post. Now it's a test builder, which is a very different thing from what you originally suggested it was:

I am writing to inform you that I have created a web resource which might be useful to both EFL teachers and learners.
It's a collection of grammar exercises that can be accessed online.

There are two discussions going on- one based on the first statement and one based on a revision.

 

[Tdol]

If you represent a Joe Average user of my site (which I honestly hope not!) I'll use your precious suggestion and I will include at least one exercise per topic.

That would make sense- empty topics can be frustrating and give the feeling of a site not yet built.

I'd be really disappointed to know your big head is banging against a wall.

Really? And you're complaining about the quality of the debate.

One suggestion I would make about the site, which I visited for the first time today, is that I am expected to register without seeing anything. If you gave some screenshots and an explanation of what lies beyond the registration barrier, it might encourage more people to sign up. I didn't sign up because I don't sign up for things unseen, especially when they give no details about their operation on the homepage. You can think that's because I am an arrogant idiot and tell me you're glad not to have me as a member or think of it as a heads-up. But, hey, the internet's not short of arrogant, useless twerps like me.

 

[ale77]

It seems this thread has gone a bit too far from what it was supposed to be in the first place.
I just wrote about a website, which is not the best ever, and not complete yet. I KNOW THAT. Thanks!
Thanks for your advice. I'll look into it.

Regarding your comment about signing up without knowing what "lies beyond the registration barrier", well... I feel it's better to have a few registered users who are really interested (and who got enough info from the homepage) than having thousands of one-time users who are just curious.

PS:
I don't know you, so I can't tell what kind of person you are.
From your post, I can just assume you are a bit touchy and not really self-confident. Come on, do not be so hard on yourself.

 

[Tdol]

Free test builders are two-a-penny; what makes yours worth registering for? There's nothing on the homepage that sets it apart. I was trying to help by suggesting that you might be able to sell it better.

How many active users do you have?

 

[ale77]

Promotion and profit are not my priorities. I designed the website and wrote the code just for me at the beginning, and then I decided to put it online for other people who might be interested.

Personally, I don't care if three users or three million users are registered. It's totally free, and I don't earn a living designing websites.
Since you asked: 12 active users have signed up so far. The website has been up and running for a couple of weeks, and it's mid July. Most teachers are busy enjoying their holidays, so I don't expect a higher number. And for the record, this is the first forum I have written to.

You wrote that "free test builders are two-a-penny". Are they? Could you please point to any of those? Then, could you please check how they compare to mine? That would be some good "constructive criticism". As administrator of this forum, you should be concerned about that. You know, it's quite easy to say that there are plenty of similar (or better) resources without a proper and thorough assessment/comparison. But I am not the one who can tell you how to do your job. Maybe "vague and pointless criticism" is the unspoken rule here.

Finally, thanks again for your suggestions: I've just added some screenshots, as you advised. So now, if you wish, you can be number 13

 

[emsr2d2]

If you designed the website and wrote the code, then surely you are the site builder?

 

[ale77]

in your previous question, I thought you were asking if my job is to build sites. It isn't.
But yes, I have learnt how to code a little recently, and built this one.