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Much and Many

“Much” and “many” are used so many times in English! It takes much effort to learn the difference between them. Students should spend a lot of time studying if they want to speak fluent English.

There are many great websites that help with this subject. Here are some resources that you can use to learn more:

http://englishlanguagehelp.info/esl/much-vs-many/

http://stickyball.net/esl-grammar.html?id=394

And here is a quiz for practice.

Do you feel confident with using “much” and “many?” Try to describe the following words using either “much” or “many” for practice:

_______ cars
_______ books
_______ rain
_______ snow
_______ love
_______ coffee
_______ people
_______ groups
_______ time
_______ English!

How did you do? If you are still having trouble, try the websites to learn more. I wish you much luck and many good answers!

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The Importance of Asking Questions

We all know that asking questions is important when you learn a new language, but how important?

As an ESL teacher, I am always looking for new ways to help my students learn. One of the best ways I can do that is by knowing my student’s interests and any QUESTIONS they may have.

When a student asks a question, it not only gives them good practice and new information, but it allows the teacher to understand what the student needs to learn! So, I encourage you, students, to ask ask ask! It is so important to always be asking questions, no matter how small or silly they may seem.

Here is a link to some good information on how to ask questions in English. I hope it helps, and don’t forget: ASK QUESTIONS!

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-questions_types.htm

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ADVERB placement

Student: Why is the first one correct and not the second?

The kids work well at school.
The kids work at school well.

Teacher:  The first one is correct because there is a ‘rule of order’ of words in a sentence.  Basic English sentences, until you are at an advanced level of English, is: Subject, Verb, Object.
Then, we usually, put the modifying adjectives, before the noun they are talking about.  The kids (subject)   Or the smart (adjective) kids… AND THE ADVERB comes after the verb…work well….we put the adverb right after the verb to avoid misunderstanding as to which word the adverb is modifying.

Here’s another example…
The dog barked loudly at the postman.
If you move ‘loudly’ to the end of the sentence, you are actually putting the most emphasis on the fact that the dog barked at the postman.  By putting ‘loudly’ at the end…it is almost as if you were saying something as an ‘afterthought.’  When in fact, what you really want to say, is that the dog BARKED LOUDLY…not just barked…so the location of the adverb gives more emphasis.

JANET’S PROFILE

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Lets Learn aLL about *L’s*

How difficult was that sentence to say? If you are like most ESL learners, it wasn’t so easy. Below are some of my favorite resources on how to pronounce the English *L*.

l_sound

Start with this lesson from pronuncian.com. It will explain in detail the mechanics, or step-by-step movements, of how to move your mouth in the sound of an L.

Next- I have a really fun video to watch. This is Amy Walker, who is not an English teacher but a professional actress who has excellent accent skills. In this video she clearly explains how to practice the L sound, and also does a warm-up for the first minute or two. It may seem silly, but warm-ups and practice are the key to mastering English!

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Learn English with Kelsey Sensei

 

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Cooking with an English recipe

Now that September is well underway, school has begun and so have regular English classes.
Today is a cold, wet, rainy day and my student of 9 years old is coming over. I've had to rethink my lesson for the day because we can't go outside so I thought we would make cookies or a cake. Here is a really great recipe that's not too difficult to understand.
Chocolate fridge cake
This is a no bake cake that keeps fresh in the fridge for two weeks or more (if it lasts that long)!
You will need:
250 grams digestive biscuits
150 grams of plain or dark chocolate
150 grams of milk chocolate
100 grams of unsalted butter
150 grams of golden syrup
100 grams of dried apricots, chopped
75 grams of raisins
60 grams of pecans or other nuts (optional)
1. Put the biscuits in a plastic bag and bash them into pieces with a rolling pin.
2. Melt both kids of chocolate, the butter, and the golden syrup in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. (bain marie), Stir well.
3. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the broken biscuits, apricots, raisins, and nuts.
4. Line a 20cm (8in) shallow, square shaped tin with clingfilm. Spoon the mix into the tin and level it by pressing down with a potato masher.
5. Set the cake in the fridge for 1 -2 hours. Then turn it out and peel off the clingfilm.
6. Enjoy!
Here comes Autumn!!!!!
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Remembering New Vocabulary

Here is a really excellent blog on language acquisition. This post makes some very useful suggestions about how to remember new vocabulary…..it’s all about context!!!! Have a look at this: http://www.lingholic.com/how-to-remember-words-when-learning-a-language/

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Using Pinterest to improve your English

I have been ‘pinning’ for a few years now and thought it was really a great way to waste time…  until now.  Thanks to ESL Hip Hop, I have now found an actual use for Pinterest.

Most people use Pinterest to ‘pin’ (share) recipes, pictures of their dream house, internet memes, and basically anything you can think of.  It is a virtual pin-board for you to organize into categories as you wish.  pinboardI am a victim of the food boards, the vacation dream spot boards and drifting off into the land of make-believe  as I pin away.  The other day something on twitter caught my eye.  ESL Hip Hop posted about a Pinterest picture dictionary.  EUREKA!  What a great idea!   He has a ‘board’ dedicated to vocabulary from a particular song.Screen shot 2013-06-14 at 11.16.53 PM

I am a very visual person, so seeing the picture in real life context really hits home with me. Let’s face it, we’ve all had enough of the lame illustrated furniture vocabulary in books written in 1972.

hit home – refer to or be relevant or familiar to; “I hope this message hits home!”

What should you do about this?  Sign up to Pinterest and follow my boards and ‘pin’ words that you do not know to your own boards and study them daily.  Once you feel that you know a word, you can move it to a different board.  You can name it ‘Words I Know’ and only glance at that one once in awhile.  As I mentioned earlier, it is a great way to waste time– BUT, if you are browsing around and reading the captions in English, you are learning at the same time!

[googlefont font=”Chewy” size=”50px” margin=”10px 0 20px 0″]http://pinterest.com/skypenglish4u[/googlefont]

I would love to hear what you think about this method of learning vocabulary.  Leave me a comment below!

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Frequently Confused Words #2 Make or Do?

Another difficult area, for many non native speakers, is working out when to use make or do. The problem is that they have very similar meanings, but they do have very different uses.
Do is used when we are talking about general and daily activities and when no physical object is produced.

What are you doing? I’m doing the housework.

I really hate doing the ironing.

I wish I didn’t have to do it.

Examples: Do the washing up

Do my homework

Do our jobs

We also often use do with, nothing, everything, anything, something.

It’s my day off tomorrow, would you like to do something?

Does anything really matter?

I’ve done everything you asked me to do

Make, on the other hand, is very often used when we are talking about creating, building or constructing something that we can actually touch or see.

I am making breakfast/lunch/supper                                                                          

He made a really beautiful box in his woodwork class

My grandmother used to make her own clothes.

 

Do and make are also used with a large number of set expressions, (collocations) the problem is (rather like a lot of things in English!!!) there are no rules to help you decide and so these just have to be learnt.

Follow this link to see a list of set expressions and to try out some exercises.

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Common Phrases

Student: I realize I should learn by heart a set of template common phrases for everyday situations. So I can build my arguments or story around them, use them. Maybe that way to speed my speech flow.

Teacher: It is a good idea to be comfortable using common phrases.  I would not recommend just memorizing them.   You need to be able to use them on the spot, in any random conversation.      Play around with these useful expressions. 

I believe that learning phrases is more effective than just single vocabulary words.  So many words can be used differently – especially when dealing with prepositions and everyone’s favorite, phrasal verbs!    Just going over that list (or any other list of common phrases) will make you aware of them and you will notice them when you are watching TV shows or reading articles (everyday!)

on the spot:  immediately

 

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