Whiteboards.

Here's a link from Yoshie's blog which has the pictures of the whiteboard from the 9:00 class, Monday the 31st of January

http://mcyocee.blogspot.com/2011/01/white-board-301.html?showComment=1296516793643#c4499089574387185367

If any of you have anymore feel free to post them in the comments section below.

We'll make a collection.

Lock and Load.

That's right it's time to load up.

A major reason for this blogging thing is to assemble the best sites you can find for helping you get the answers you need fast when you are writing.

For your armory, get a good English learner's page on grammar in your own language. Then find one just in English.  It's good to have a least two sources.  Remember that you need to use your time in class for questions that you can't find answers to and for practice, which is really why you are here.  You could have got grammar lessons in your own country, right?

Here's one in English.  It's like a little YouTube channel of grammar presentations at a whiteboard.  One of our Russian students showed it to me last year.  He's working as to help Russian students find school and university places now here and in the UK.

On the site you can search for the topic you are learning about.  You can also compare your teachers' lessons with these teachers' lessons.  Watch one or two a week and then use them.  People around the world are watching them but they don't have a pub full of Irish people down their street.  We want you to learn the grammar ideas as fast as possible so that your English becomes as correct and clear as it can become.  We want really good USE of English.

This website is based in Canada.  It's called EngVid.com.  It's great!  Soak it up! (Get all of it quickly as quickly as a sponge takes up water)  There's even an IELTS section for Ibrahim!   Lock and load! It's time to gear up. (You are not required to watch the ridiculous "Commando Gear Up" scene but if you do just watch the first 48 seconds. Mine was a truly wasted youth.)



(This same scene had a big impression on this kid Alex who proves that the Lock and Load scene didn't just make a big impression on me.)

Why were they protesting on #jan25 in #egypt

Last night the people of Egypt were protesting.  Why did they feel they needed to do that.

Thanks to Eufrasia. We have a have a copy of these lists to play with online.  Did they feel good or bad and why?

On these two lists we find 3 kinds of nouns:

1. plurals with no article
2. uncountable nouns
3. gerunds

Why because we are describing something in a general way

~ Something that makes me feel good:

• Financial security
• Success in my career
• Being happy in my choices
• Being physically fit
• Sleeping well
• Plenty of variety and excitement in my life
• Spending time with your family
• Being in a good relationship
• Keeping busy
• Having time to relax
• Good friendships
• Going out a lot
• Being Creative
• Intellectual stimulation
• Spending money
• Feeling in control of my life and not losing control of my emotions.

~ Something that makes me feel bad:

• Financial worries
• Feeling under too much pressure
• Not sleeping
• Criticism from your colleagues, family, boss, partner, English teacher
• Anxieties about work or college
• Lack of confidence in what you are doing
• Feeling stress
• Eating badly
• Loneliness 
• Feeling unfit
• Feeling unfulfilled with my work
• Being controlled or feeling manipulated ( People try to control what I'm doing..... )
• Boredom

How many are plurals with no article? (Generalise? Pluralise!)

How many are uncountable nouns?

How many are gerunds?

What's another way to describe each one?

Auxiliaries: Change you can believe in.

So what have we found out? We have 5 different uses of these wonderful little things called auxiliaries beyond the question and negative forms:

1. In question tags, looking for "confirmation of a guess" OR as a *suggestion* to agree
2. In the super-positive, so that we can clarify any possible future or past misunderstanding, especially making a note of the positive as *not* negative
3. In the two-word micro-question which we use to show interest, and ask for more info.  This can be very funny when used ironically- but it offends quite easily.
4. In our famous three-word short answers
5. And to avoid repeating the same long verb phrases.

In all of these, understanding and control of your intonation is essential.

So that's basically it, isn't it? I hope you *do* ask me any questions about this stuff that you may still have. Actually this reminds me of a story about CES when Obama was an English teacher here. Yes, at CES Dublin.  ("Was he?" you say, and I say "Yes, he was.")

It was just after his days at Harvard.  His family are from Ireland. . .

At the end of class one Monday in Room 5.2, he announced that they were going to study auxiliaries over the next few days.

One of the better students let out a groan and asked him why they needed to study the "5 Uses of Auxiliaries" again.  

"Because we do," he said with grin. 

To which, the student very cleverly replied "Do we?"

Barack smiled because understood the joke in the student's reply. He appreciated the humour, kept smiling and said "Yes. Yes, we do."

The same clever student then asked, "Are these '5 Uses of Auxiliaries' really THAT important for my English?"

And Barack said "Well.  For a start they are efficient, easy ways to keep the conversation flowing, and manage it without getting lost in repetition. So- yes, they are quite important.  In fact, they can really be effective for achieving near-native speech patterns.  And of course they're essential for keeping up with native conversations.  They aren't just important they are fundamental.  I really want YOU in particular to use them.  You see, they will change everything for you and you have tremendous potential as a communicator. Don't waste this opportunity here. Remember we'll all be working together.  That's what we do here.  I hope you understand."

Barack stopped speaking because he could see that the student was at a turning point.  He had changed his mind.  That student wanted to learn something now. He wanted to learn those 5 uses of the auxiliaries.  He wanted to master them.  He wanted to go home to be an English teacher himself.  But he wasn't sure if he could do it. This was his last week at CES.  He only had until Friday.  

So, he lifted up his eyes, and he stared into Barack's face. "Can we really learn everything about them in just one week?"

The proud CES teacher closed his book, picked up his coffee cup and answered "__________________!"

The End

Homework: Write a conversation using all "5 Uses of Auxiliaries" for Uppers.  Can you do it?  

  

Our book: New Cutting Edge Upper-Intermediate

Yes that's why we chose purple for our title bar.  It matches.  Our book also has a corresponding website at this address:
http://www.pearsonlongman.com/newcuttingedge/upper-intermediate/

We started Unit 1 on Monday, the 10th and basically we stayed on the first Grammar point.  We reviewed the "Intermediate" verb forms for storytelling:

Present

• Simple
• Continuous
• Perfect
• Perfect Continuous

Past

• Simple
• Continuous
• Perfect

Past Perfect gave the most trouble so here's a little refresher from English Page: 

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastperfect.html

This website has helped almost all of our school's fastest learners come to grips with grammar.

The internet can and should be your best source for new English.  It isn't nearly as fun as figuring English out with people, unfortunately.

"I love learning" or "I love to learn": Gerunds Vs. Infinitives

"I love learning" or "I love to learn": which is best?

Both are fine!

"I want eating" or "I want to eat": surprisingly only the second one is good.  Why?  

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of our first were about this topic.  Everyone wrote about going to cheap restaurants.  Surprisingly only two people were restaurant snobs.  

So let's get to review. There are literally hundreds of these pages online dedicated to helping you have the information you need during your study time.  Check out this site below as an example for some good resources on the topic of gerunds and infinitives.   

http://learning.cl3.ust.hk/english-grammar-guide/Verbs/Infinitives_vs_Gerunds.htm

Here is a screen shot of their list of verbs ALWAYS followed by a gerund (when followed by a verb).  Do you know them all?

Here is a screen shot of their list of verbs USUALLY followed by to + infinitive  (when followed by a verb).  For example after afford and meet I can't afford to buy lunch anywhere but Centra.  or Prepare to meet your maker. 

How about a few more examples grammar experts?