How to Create a Supreme Student Portofolio

How to Create a Supreme Student Portofolio
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Start taking pictures early. It is a good idea to have a camera with you for a few weeks and take
several pictures of your daily routines and activities.
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You should be in many, but not necessarily in all pictures. It is important that there are at least five
or six good pictures of you in front of something of interest. In such photographs, you should
not appear as a dot on the horizon, but as the main object in the picture. You should be somewhat
close to the camera so that people can see your facial expressions.
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Wait for a nice day to take a tour around your town/suburb/village. Take somebody with you so
you can be in some of the photographs. If you can find high-quality postcards of your region or
city, you may include those in addition to the personal pictures.
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Taking your pictures early on is as important as having them developed quickly. Not all of your
pictures will turn out perfect, and you might need to re-take some photos! You may ONLY use
original pictures from the photolab for your portfolio. You may NOT use printouts of your pictures
from a color-inkjet or even from a color laser jet printer. The pictures must be on photopaper.
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What makes a good-quality picture? The photograph should not be too dark or too light. There
should be a person on almost every picture you select for your portfolio. Pictures should be
colorful and friendly. Remember: you want to make a good impression on a potential host family!
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Underneath (or above, or right/left of) every photograph there should be a written comment. It
is your choice if you want the comments to be hand-written or typed. Hand-written text should
be in neat, clean, and legible handwriting and not too small or narrow. Remember: CYE makes
quality scans of your portofolio to create several copies, also to include other pertinent
information about the student, which will be given to prospective schools and host families. Do
not use colours that are very light, because they might be hard to read after scanning and printing!
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Often typed text looks very neat and professional. Hand-written text gives your portfolio a more
personal appearance. Choose the captions/comments as you wish, but try to avoid any kind of
dirt, smears or “Eselsohren” on the paper!
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Following are some ideas for motives. First and farmost: YOU! (there should be an introdution page
(page1) with a photo of yourself and a short introductory statement). Your family, pets and friends.
Your hobbies. Do you work? Take a picture of what you do. Pictures of your school might be
interesting. Also include pictures of the area you live in, your home, your room. Try to have
yourself or your family or your friends in the pictures as often as possible.
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The following should NOT be in any photograph: alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, communist
symbols (on t-shirts for example), drugs or drug symbols (cannabis leaves for example). Try also
to avoid girls in very short bikinis as some Americans will consider an overly liberal showing of skin
inappropriate for a introduction portofolio.
If you are unsure about anything (how to express something in English, whether or not a photograph is
inapproriate, etc.), please do not hesitate to contact the CYE office on Monday, Wednesday or Friday from
3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m..
On the other side of this information sheet you will find some helpful explanations about American
vocabulary and its use.
Common Errors in Student Portfolios
* Einleitung
Welcome (NOT Wellcome)
This is... (NOT Here is…)
I am… oder My name is….
* Einblick in mein Leben
insight into my life
overview of my life
* Gebäude
buildings (nicht: houses)
but: my parents’ house...
* Sommer und Winter
the summer = die Sommerferien
in summer / in winter (ohne Artikel)
autumn (BE) = fall (AE) = Herbst (D)
* an Weihnachten
on Chirstmas Eve (nicht: at)
* Die gesamte Familie
the entire family (not so good: the whole family)
* ein … von mir
a … of mine
(example: a friend of mine = ein Freund von mir)
BUT: a picture of me
* Verwandte
relatives (E) = Verwandte (D)
* Schüler und Leute
pupil (BE) = student (AE) = Schüler (D)
people (E) = die Leute oder das Volk (D)
peoples (= die Völker)
* Schulnote, Schulklasse, Schulform
mark (BE) = grade (AE) = Schulnote
example: He makes good grades in school.
form (BE) = grade (AE) = Schulklasse
example: I am in 10th grade.
grammar school (BE) = high school (AE) = Gymnasium (D)
* Urlaub und Ferien
holidays (BE) = vacation (AE) = Urlaub (D)
(school) break (AE) = (Schul)ferien (D)
example: During spring break we went to Italy.
Here you can see my family on our trip (Reise) to Italy.
holiday(s) (AE) = Feiertag(e) (D)
* Freizeit
I spend my free time with… In my free time I meet ….
(NOT: I do a lot with … in my free time)
* Fitnesscenter, Turnhalle
gym (AS short for gymnasium) = Sporthalle/Fitnessclub
practice (E) – Training (D)
coach (AE) – Trainer (D)
trainer (AE) – Physiotherapeut (D)
* Ähnlichkeit (mit jemandem haben)
to be alike
* etwas gern tun/genießen
I enjoy playing sports... (NOT: I enjoy to play...)
He likes to play sports... (NOT: He likes playing...)
* used to
example: I used to play the piano when I was young.
example: He used to be my best friend.
example: We used to travel to Italy in the fall.
* Fußball
Soccer (AE) = Football (BE) = Fußball (D)
* Mit einem Sport oder Hobby aufhören
but last year I quit playing basketball because ...
I played the piano for five years. I quit because….
* auf diesem Bild...
in this picture (NOT „on“ this picture) you can see...
another way: this picture shows...
Es ist im geschriebenen Englisch nicht üblich,
contractions zu gebrauchen:
„It is“ statt „It’s“ und „cannot“ statt „can’t“
und „have not“ statt „havn’t“, usw.
HE, SHE, IT – das „S“ geht mit!!!
3 Person Singular: ein “s” an das Verb hängen.
* sich auf Weihnachten/Wochenende freuen
to look forward to Christmas/the weekend/etc.
Useful Internet Resources:
* sich freuen, jemanden zu sehen/sprechen
to look forward to seeing sb/talking to sb.
example: I look forward to seeing you in the U.S.
example: I look forward to traveling to the U.S.
http://dict.leo.org
http://thesaurus.reference.com/