毎日通える英会話教室‐English Garden の英会話ブログ

Word Jumbles

Hey everyone!
Here are some word jumbles for you to try out.
(These words come from your Side By Side textbooks.)

Book 2 page 80
1. ortarpi
2. efatcarei
3. tmdroanula
4. mmsuue
5. trreauanst
6. rmkapesture
7. syuivtern
8. ryralib
9. utsehcroou
10. tcrceno alhl

Book 4 page 78

1. gaeercnuo
2. peho
3. acrisene
4. kmae a shiw (three words)
5. zenees
6. ullitopno
7. omyenoc
8. interaoc
9. evigrgases
10. ssesccu

Try to make the words BEFORE looking at your textbooks!

And by the way, if you haven`t seen THE DARK KNIGHT, I highly recommended it!
  

Tongue Twisters!!

Hey Guys!
So this week Maggie was kind enough to teach you guys some tongue twisters.
Most of us in America have learned the following tongue twisters when we were kids.

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Here is Maggie`s favorite:

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear.
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't`t fuzzy, was he?


Now, try to make your own-in English of course!  

Tests!!


Ok guys, here are a few questions to practice what we have been studying this month.

Beginner class

(Fill in the blank)


1.__________ South Street and you`ll see the bank on the right.

a. Walk up

b. Drive

c. Turn

d. See



2. Walk along Main Street and you`ll see the video store __________.

a. across from

b. on the left

c. next to

d. between the park



3. __________ along Third Avenue to Newton Street and turn left.

a. Walk up

b. You`ll see

c. Turn

d. Drive



Intermediate class

(Fill in the blank)


1. If John __________ more time, he`d study more.

a. will have

b. had

c. has

d. had had



2. If our cat __________ friendlier, everyone would like him more.

a. were

b. be

c. will be

d. is



3. If it __________ a lot this winter, we`ll probably go to Florida on vacation.

a. will snow

b. snowed

c. snows

d. won`t snow
  

Directions


Hey Guys!

Here is some new vocabulary and example sentences （that aren`t in the book), that you can use when giving directions:

1.Straight ahead

The movie theater is straight ahead


2. Keep going straight

If you keep going straight, you will see the bank.


3. Catch the train

In Tokyo, it is faster to catch the train then to drive to most places.


4. Grab a taxi

Let`s grab a taxi and go bar hopping!


5. head towards

If you head towards Oroku station, you will see Jusco.


I hope...

I wish...


So in this month`s chapter, we have had the opportunity to practice "I hope" and "I wish".

This isn`t the first time that we have seen these words before, but just in case you don`t know, we usually use "I hope" when we believe something is or can be possible.

" I hope it doesn`t rain this weekend"

or

"I hope I can watch the new Indian Jones movie again before is stops playing at the movie theater."

We usually use " I wish" when we think or believe something is not possible.

" I wish I would win the lottery!"

or

"I wish that I could be Indian Jones!"  

"Can you tell me....?" And "Could you please tell me....?"


Hi guys! Are you having a good week?

So the above two phrases came up in class this week, and a few students asked me how are they different.

The truth is, they are not so different. Yes, it is true that "Could you please tell me...?" is more polite, but only slightly.

Remember in English if you want to be polite, how you say something is often much more important than what you say!

Consonants and Vowels

This week, I introduced you guys to vowels, and told you that every word must have a vowel in it.

Here are the vowels again:

A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y.

Every other letter in the English alphabet is called a consonant.

For homework, tell me all the vowels in the list below:

Dog

Cat

Mother

Father

My

Biotechnology  

Topic one:
Personalities

So this week, we learned a lot of new words to describe people`s personalities.

There are many, many words we haven`t learned yet.

Here are a few that you can look up in you dictionary for homework.

1. bossy

2. moody

3.greedy

4. cool

5. talkative


And here is an exercise for you --look at this example sentence:

My brother is very lazy. For example he never cleans his room or does his laundry.

Try to use this structure and talk about your friends, family, co-workers, etc.

My........... is ............ For example.......................................





Topic two
Have you....yet?


This week we practiced using the above structure.

Here are some examples from class:


A parent and a child:

Have you cleaned your room yet?


A nurse and a patient:

Have you taken your medicine yet?


A golfer and a caddied:

Have you cleaned the golf balls yet?


A teacher and a student:

Have you done your homework yet?   

Don`t Forget to Review...So That You Won`t Forget!!!


Hey Guys,

Are you enjoying the nice weather we had this week?

It was very...um...蒸し暑い this week, wasn`t it?

Do you remember the English for 蒸し暑い?

If not, then you need to REVIEW!!


As you know, I always talk about the power of review. Just spending 15-30 minutes everyday reviewing your flashcards will have a HUGH effect on your English.


Have a look at this article...



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgetting_curve


...which is about the FORGETTING CURVE.


( you don`t need to read the article, but at least have a look at the graph).


The graph is basically showing you how much better you can remember something if you review it, versus if you don`t.


So...don`t forget to review!





Tip of the Tongue



Recently, I saw this video about those tricky words that you just can`t seem to remember.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=T36I8Coiz64&eurl=http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?type=article&article_id=218393117



Have a look, and if you find it difficult to understand, let`s talk about it in class.

Oh, and if you don`t know the expression "Tip of the Tongue", ask me!  

Describing People


This week, we learned a lot of new words to describe people.

The words "sloppy" and "lazy" seemed to cause the most confusion.



So here are some example sentences using the words for you.

Sloppy

1. Bill looks sloppy. He hasn't`t shaved, combed his hair, and his clothes are a mess!

2. Mike`s work is so sloppy that I always have to proof read it for him.

3. Marshal`s handwriting is so sloppy, I can hardly tell what he writes on the board!

4. When I was a kid, my favorite lunch was Sloppy Joes!



Lazy

1. Last weekend, I was lazy and stayed in bed all day.

2. Stop being so lazy and clean your room!

3. My son is so lazy! He never wakes up early!

4. Many people think cats are lazier than dogs.



Exercising



"Do sit-ups" was one of the new things we learned this week.

Here are a few other exercise words/phrase that you may not have learned.

Can you guess what they mean?



Push-up

Chin-up / Pull-up

Roman Sit-up / Back-up

Crunches

Bench Press



The first three are probably more common then the last four.
  

Active versus Passive English

So, the other day I was thinking about why it is so important to volunteer when doing exercises in class.

As you all know, I prefer to have my students volunteer, rather than having me select the student.

The reason is connected to how your brain works.
When you are speaking, you force your brain to recall the English you have previously learned. One could call this Active English.

However, when you are simply listening to the teacher of other students speaking, it is more of Passive English. You brain doesn't have to work as hard.

Therefore, Active English is better training if you want to become a good speaker than Passive English.

So, at the next class, lets all try to be Active Speakers (I will bring the candy)!  

***Hey Guys! This week we will try something a bit different with the blogs.....
Read the blog, and pay special attention to the BOLD words and phrases (look them up if you need to, or refer to your textbook).***

Agreeing and Disagreeing
Beginner class SBS Book 2 Page 47

This week the weather has been a little weird, don`t you think? I mean, one day it was cloudy, and the next day it was sunny.
I think most people will agree that sunny weather is better than others kinds of weather, especially cold weather.
Sunny weather is warmer, and much more comfortable.
And further more, sunny weather makes people feel better than other types of weather.

But some people disagree.
They don`t think sunny weather is so great. They prefer milder weather.

How about you?

I don`t remember!!!
Intermediate class SBS Book 4 Page 52-55

Recently, I was talking with a student about last week`s classes.
It seems that student had a little case of Amnesia!
Here was the conversation:

Teacher: Okay, let`s review last week`s vocabulary. How do you say "Prime Minister" in Japanese?
Student: I don`t remember how to say "Prime Minister".
Teacher: Oh, Okay. How about "vote" as in "Who should I vote for" ?
Student: I`ve forgotten what vote means.
Teacher: I see. Well, do what CAN you remember from last week?
Student: I can`t remember ANYTHING from last week!
Teacher: That`s not true! You remembered three phrases from last week. What are they?
Student: I`m not sure what they are!!!  

Roommates!

Hello everyone!
This week, one of the topics that came up in class was the subject of Roommates.
It was very interesting to talk about the different roommate culture in America and in Japan!

For one thing, there is no 礼金 in America.
Instead, we have what`s called "First and Last`s". (Meaning First and Last`s month`s rent).

We pay for the FIRST month`s rent, as well as the LAST month`s rent when we sign the contract.

So, the LAST month we live in the apartment, we don`t give any money to the landlord.

That helps, since we are usually looking for a new apartment at that point!

For one thing 一つには、一つの理由には
Instead 変わりに
Landlord 家主   

Topic One.
Comparisons!

Welcome back everybody from your Golden Week Vacation.
Did you all have a very good time? I hope you did.

So this week, we learned how to make comparisons.
Here is a summary of what we practiced:

A is ~er than B.
A is more......than B.

For example:

Angelina Jolie is younger than Hillary Clinton.
Angelina Jolie is more beautiful than Hillary Clinton.

Remember that the rule of thumb is for one or two syllable words, you use "~er". For three or more syllables, you use "more".

単語：
Syllable 音節
rule of thumb 一般規則  

Topic One:
Do you prefer to say "rather", or would you rather say "prefer"?

So this week we talked about how to use "rather" and how to use "prefer".
Here is a quick summary.

ーprefer A to B.
I prefer milk to tea.

ーrather A than B.
I would rather have Pizza than Okinawa soba.

In both cases, B より　A の方が。。。




Topic Two:
Golden Week

Yea! Golden Week is here!
There are so many tourists from mainland, right?
Some people have asked me, and the answer is: "No, there is no Golden Week in America."
However there is a Spring Break, around this time of year.
A lot of people travel during that time as well, to where it`s sunny.
Have a safe vacation!  

Topic One:
Declining invitations.

The weather is so nice now!! I imagine that all of you are going out to eat, drink, sight-see, and so on.


Because you are so busy, it is useful to know some English for decline invitations (without being rude, of course).
Have a look at this:

A: Would you like to go to tropical beach this weekend?

Here are a couple ways to decline the invitation:

I`m sorry, I don`t really like the beach.
To be honest, I don`t have time this weekend.
I`d love to, but I have to study English.  

Topic one:
I really can`t decide!

This week, we praticed the above sentence.
For example:
Q: What will you do for golden week?
A: Well, I might take a trip, or I might just stay home. I really can`t decide!

But if you know 100% what you are going to do, you can use some of the following:
I`m gonna go to Nago.
I have decided to go to Yambaru.
I will defiently go to Itoman.



Topic two.
Gonna

This came up in class the other day, and I though it was a bit confusing, so I will write about it here. Have a look at these sentences:

I`m going to eat dinner.
I`m gonna eat dinner.

Here, "going to" becomes "gonna" in casual conversation. It means "will do".

Now, look at these two sentences:

I`m going to the store.
I`m gonna the store.

Here, the SECOND sentence is incorrect. (You can`t say that).

This seems a bit confusing but the main point is this:

In the FIRST example, "going to" means "will do."
In the SECOND sentence, "going" means "行っている" and "to" is "に”　or "へ”.

Okay. I think you are even more confused now. :)  

Topic One: Maybe?

Wow, this week suddenly became humid, didn`t it?
When I asked some students:

"Do you think it will be humid next week?"

Most people said,

"Maybe."

Here are a few others way you can answer:
Definitely (100%)
Probably (90%)
Probably not (10%)
Definitely not (0%)



Topic two: Debates

Thursday, we praticed giving our opinions on different subjects.
And a little bit, we praticed debating.
For homework, I gave you all a topic, and told you to prepare to debate it next week.
I am really looking foward to your debates!  

Topic one:
Recipes

This week we learned some new English to talk about cooking. I also had you guys bring in some of your favorite recipes!

Here was some of the English we learned.

Pour in
Slice
Chop up
Add
Cut up

For example:
Pour in some milk.
Chop up some mushrooms.

Have fun cooking!



Topic two:
Good News/Bad News

There are many ways to react to news you hear, other than just "I see".
For good news, you can say:
That`s great/super/wonderful.
I am happy to hear that.
I`m glad to hear that.

For bad new, you can say:
That`s terrible/awful.
I`m sorry to hear that.
That`s a shame.

Try them out in class!  

Spring Break!

Yeah, it`s Spring Break!
Well...for the students anyways!

This week we talked a bit about what people normally do in Okinawa for spring break.
Growing up in Georgia, my family and I used to drive down to Florida for spring break.
In Florida there is a lot to do. We often went to the beach and swam. We also went to Disney Land as well.

Anyways, spring break is fun wherever you are!


単語リスト:
Normally 普通は、いつもは、
Grew up 育ちました
Often しばしば
Whereever どこへ～しても、どこで～であろうとも  

Topic one:
Reading

This week, we studied a reading from our books. Here are a couple new words from the story:
1. Upset
2. Disappointed

Here is a fun way to learn new words that you come across. Look the word up in a good dictionary that has example sentences. That way you learn how the word is used in English, instead of just learning the Japanese definition of the word.

Here are some other words that have similar meanings:
frustration
annoyed
unnerve
disconcert
fluster

Have a look in your dictionary, and bring some example sentences to school with you!



Topic Two
Promotions

This week, one of the words we came across was the word, "Promotion".
This turned into an interesting discussion, and we talked about differences between the workplace in Japan and in America.

In Japan, traditionally promotion has been based on age. However, in America, promotion is usually based on ability.

Which do you think is better?

単語リスト:
Promotion by age system
年功序列制

Promotion by ability
功績による昇進
  

Topic one:
What would you like?

This week, we practiced the English you need when ordering at a restaurant.
We learned "Please give me"
For example:

"Please give me an order of Pancakes!"

Here are a few other ways to order food:

I`ll take a bowl of chicken soup.
I'll have a dish of ice cream.
I`d like a cup of hot chocolate.

Try some of the above at the next class!


単語：
Order 注文をする



Topic two:
Passive Voice

The last couple weeks, we have been using the passive voice.
We don`t often use this structure in normal, daily conversation. However it is often written, especially when writing about famous sites, works of art, music, poetry, books, etc.

Here is some "extra credit" for you guys; find a travel book in English, and choose a small article about a famous sight. Read the article and underline the passive structures.

Then give it to me in class, and I will give you a prize!

単語：
article 記事