Unit 7-lesson 4- Practice class 3

Welcome to the last practice class in this course. This time the topics are: affirmative and negative past tense, past tense questions and quantifiers. Take a look at the examples and get ready to answer the questions at the end.

Topic No.1: Affirmative and negative past tense.

Examples:
They went to the party.
I bought a blouse.
Chris cooked dinner.
To change these statements to negative past tense, we add did not before the main verb. And we write the main verb in present tense. Like this:

Subject + did not + present tense verb + complement.

Examples:

• They did not go to the party.
• I did not buy a blouse.
• Chris did not cook dinner.

A past tense statement uses a past tense verb. But when we change that statement to the negative form, we change the main verb to present tense.

The same thing happens with questions. If we use the same examples we have the following:

They went to the party.

Did they go to the party?

 I bought a blouse.

Did I buy a blouse?

 Chris cooked dinner.

Did Chris cook dinner?

 This is how we write questions in past tense:

Did + subject + present tense verb + complement

This kind of question can only give us a Yes or No answer. So we call these ‘Yes/No questions.”

The last part of this publication is quantifiers. We talked about them in previous lessons but here are a few examples:

She has many friends.

The refrigerator has a few tomatoes.
There isn’t any milk.
Do you want some coffee?

Remember that we use many and a few for countable nouns, like shoes, potatoes, tomatoes, cars and other objects that we can count.

And we use a little and much for non-countable nouns, like sugar, rice, air, water or wind. If we put non-countable nouns in container, they become countable.

Examples:

Many waters –incorrect.
Much water- correct.
A bottle of water- correct.
A few time- incorrect
Five hours-correct.

Some time- correct.
A little time- correct.

Notice how you can write with countables and non-countables. Check the examples and compare with the previous lessons if you want. This lesson is for practice only, so you will notice that explanations are short and there aren’t many examples.

Double check anything that you need and get ready for the questions.

Unit 5-lesson 5-Practice class 2

Welcome to the second practice class in this course. This time the topics are: This, that, these and those; present progressive and prepositions of time. Take a look at the examples and get ready to answer the questions.

Topic No. 1.
This, that, these, those.
Here is a quick reminder of how these work:
This- one object close to you.
That-one object that is far away.
These- Two or more objects close to you.
Those- Two or more objects far away.

Examples:

•  Those blue shirts- plural, far away.
• These white cars-plural, close to you.
• That red car- singular, far away.
• This green house-singular, close to you.

 

Topic No. 2

Present progressive is a tense that we use to talk about something that happens in this exact moment. We use it with the following structure:

Subject + am/are/is + ing- verb + complement

Example: Bruce is driving to work.-This means that in this moment, Bruce is driving.

Here is a chart to remember how to use present progressive with each pronoun.

 

PRONOUN	TO BE	ING VERB	COMPLEMENT
I	am	eating	a pizza.
He/ She/ It	is
We/ You/ They	are

Topic No. 3

Prepositions of time: IN, ON, AT.
Use these to talk about moments in time. To talk about a long time period we use IN.
Examples:
In the summer.
In the winter.
In the weekend.

To talk about a specific day or date, use ON.

Examples:
We ate cake on my birthday.
You will go to school on Monday.
I visited my grandmother on Sunday.

To talk about specific time, use AT.
The movie starts at 8:00 pm.
I talked to him at noon.
Ross arrived at 3 o’clock.

Check the examples as many times as you want. This class is for practice only. During the lesson you will see a few examples of each topic, but not in detail. We talked about each one of the topics in previous lessons. So this information is just to review some of them.

Unit 2-lesson 4-Practice class 1.

Practice class 1

Welcome to the blog publication for the first practice class of English 1. We will show you some topics that you have worked with in previous lessons. You can look at some examples and study them so you can answer the questions. And we begin with the first topic, which is the to be verb.

Topic No.1- The Forms of “To Be”

The Greek sea god, Proteus, could change form in an instant. In order to get any decent information out of him, you had to grab him and hold on tight while he went through his various forms — lion, snake, tree, running stream — it wasn’t easy. The verb “To be” is said to be the most protean of the English language, constantly changing form. Considering that we use it so often, it is really too bad that the verb “To be” has to be the most irregular verb in the language.

Present Tense

I am	We are
You are	You are
He/She/It is	They are

Past Tense

I was	We were
You were	You were
He/She/It was	They were

 

We must choose carefully among these various forms when selecting the proper verb to go with our subject. Singular subjects require singular verbs; plural subjects require plural verbs. That’s usually an easy matter. We wouldn’t write “The troops was moving to the border.” But some sentences require closer attention. Do we write “The majority of students is (or are) voting against the referendum”?

Simple Questions

We create simple yes/no questions by inverting the order of subject and the “To be” verb.

Is your brother taller than you?

Am I bothering you?

Were they embarrassed by the comedian?

  

Topic No. 2- Prepositions of place.

General Information:
AT	ON
We use at for a point: at the window – at the entrance – at the door at the end of the street – at the station – at the top	on the wall – on the ceiling – on the floor – on a page on a cover
IN
We use in for an enclosed space: in the garden – in the house – in London – in the water in her bag – in a row – in a town

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use of AT, IN and ON. Look at this chart for quick reference on how to use these prepositions of place.

Topipc No. 3 –Present simple.

Using simple present is easy, just think of the activities you do regularly.
Use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. The action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often happens. It can also be something a person often forgets or usually does not do.

Examples:

• I play tennis.
• She does not play tennis.
• Does he play tennis?
• The train leaves every morning at 8 AM.
• The train does not leave at 9 AM.
• When does the train usually leave?
• She always forgets her purse.
• He never forgets his wallet.
• Every twelve months, the Earth circles the Sun.
• Does the Sun circle the Earth?

I think that this information is enough for one practice class. Now, read the topics again if you need to, because the questions are coming up.

Part of this publication was taken from

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

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/to_be.htm

Unit 8-lesson 4- Extinction.

Welcome back! In this last post for this level, we are going to talk about extinct animals. In our last post we showed some unusual and incredible species. This time you will learn about animals that don’t exist anymore. Here are a few of them.

The Dodo bird.

Poor dodo. The bird that couldn’t fly. Native to the island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, was known to mankind for less than 100 years … but that’s all it took for us to finish the species.

Mankind did their part to end with their habitat and food. And then there are the pigs, dogs and other predators that we introduced to the isolated island, where they destroyed the birds’ nests.

The last dodo died sometime in the late 17th century. Since then, the bird (a relative of pigeons and doves) has become a poster child for extinction and a reminder of the havoc we can wreak as human beings.

Tasmanian Tiger

It looked like something of a cross between a tiger and a dog. It was a carnivorous marsupial, complete with pouch.

Native to Australia, the Tasmanian tiger was last seen on over 2,000 years ago. The tiger was hunted to extinction by the indigenous population, but had a safe haven of sorts in the island of Tasmania … or at least it did until Europeans showed up.

The last one was caught in 1933 and died three years later in a zoo in Hobart, Australia.

The Quagga

The caramel brown zebra subspecies has been missing from the planet since the 19th century, but that hasn’t stopped some from trying to resurrect it.

Since 1987, the South Africa-based Quagga Project has been using selective breeding among plains zebras to mimic the animal’s unique markings — most notably, its distinctive striping pattern, which starts at the head but extends back only as far as mid-body.

Native to South Africa, the original quagga was hunted to extinction for its meat. The last one died in an Amsterdam zoo in 1883.

We should all try to do our part to stop animals from becoming extinct. Visit your local library or ask your Biology teacher to find out what you can do.

If you noticed, all of the pictures you saw here are illustrations. It’s hard to find pictures of extinct animals. If you want to see the complete list of extinct animals where this information was taken from, visit:

http://science.discovery.com/creatures/10-extinct-species.htm

And if you would like to see actual pictures of other extinct animals, you can go here:

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/rare-photographs-now-extinct-beasts/14727?image=0

Unit 8-lesson 3- Animals through out the world.

In any language, learning about animals is something that you have to do. And English is not the exception. You may already know most of the animals you will see in this lesson, but here are a few animals you might not know. The following are some of the world’s most amazing animals.

The Red Panda

The (Ailurus fulgens)is also known as the Shining Cat. Native to the Eastern Himalayas and Southwestern China. It is the only member of it’s genus Ailuirs. It eats bamboo, but it is an omnivore, and eats anything the woodlands provide. It’s ability to eat bamboo rests with it’s strong, curved, sharp claws. A distant relative to the giant panda, there are no more than 10,000 adults left in the world, though it is protected by several countries.

Giraffe Weevil

Native to Madagascar, the Trachelophorus giraffa gets its name from its jointed extended neck that is similar to a Giraffe. The majority of the body is black with red patterns covering the wings. The extended neck help with nest building and fighting. The Giraffe Weevil is the longest weevil in the world at around 2.5 cm.

Stick Bug (or Stick Insect)

The Phasmatodea (or Phasmida), are known around the world as walking sticks, stick bugs, stick insects, and ghost insects. Their natural camouflage make them very difficult to see. There are over 3000 known species around the world, but are found in tropical areas most of the time.

Giant Isopod

Isopod, means crustacean. This creature is related to shrimp and crabs. First discovered in 1879 by French zoologist Alphonse Milne Edwards, it was the first proof of life at the azoic (deep ocean) level. They are of little interest to commercial fisheries as there numbers are too low to market. Mature adults reach up to 14 inches(35cm) , and weigh almost 4 pounds(1.8kg).

They live in areas over five hundred and fifty feet below the surface in the darkness, they search for the carcasses of dead whales, fish and squid. They are known to survive up to two months without any food.

These are just a few of the amazing animals we have in our planet. If you would like to see the full list of 25, you can visit this site:

http://hubpages.com/hub/25-Most-Amazing-and-Unique-Animals-On-Earth

Unit 8-lesson 2- Traveling the world.

When traveling, it’s important to check online the places you would like to visit. The internet has a lot of information and you can call your travel agent to get tips and recommendations.
In this lesson we talk about a few places you could visit on your next vacation.

One of those places is Italy. So here are some suggestions to consider if you visit this country.

Florence, in the Tuscany region of Italy, is home to approximately 366,000 inhabitants. It was home of Leonardo Da Vinci, Machiavelli and Michelangelo among others, it has earned the title of ‘the Renaissance capital of the World.

Venice is a city defined by all those who have seen it as one of the most beautiful in the world. It has more than a hundred tiny islets, packed closely together around canals. The city is in a lagoon, protected by the longer island of Venice Lido.

Venice is on the north-west of Italy. Because of its popularity amongst tourists, the best season to visit the “City of Gondoliers” is probably winter, when hotel rates are more accessible and the city streets are a little less full. There are also two major events in Venice such as the Venice Carnival in February and the “Biennale” (a world famous modern arts festival that takes place in summer every two years). August is definitely not the best time to go because it gets really hot and humid.

Lucca, capital city of Lucca province, is located in Tuscany, in the northern part of central Italy. Situated on the Serchio River, Lucca is near the Tyrrhenian Sea. With a population of around 85,900 inhabitants, it is one of Italy’s finest tourist spots.

The purpose of this blog publication is that you get to know a few places that you can visit in Italy. There are many more places you can visit in that country, but we would need a lot more space to describe them all. If you want to learn more, please visit this site, which is where part of this information was taken from:
http://www.placesonline.com/europe/italy/places.asp

Unit 8-lesson 1- My school or your school.

Unit 8-lesson 1- My school or your school.
In this lesson you will learn a little about schools in other countries. All schools have teachers, students and a place to study and learn. But, in most cases, there are differences that make every school unique.

Please watch the following video about a school in England. Pay attention and answer the questions that follow.

Now that you have seen how that English school works, why don’t we move on to the next part of this lesson? Watch the video again, if you need to, and answer the questions.

Unit 7-lesson 3- Some food to go.

There are many topics in English that need special attention to learn them correctly. The use of quantifiers is one of them. We have to know the difference between countable nouns and non-countable nouns. An example of this is the use of some and any. And this is the topic for this lesson. In the class, we explain how to tell these apart. The following text will give you some tips to help you use them.

The words some and any are used for countable and uncountable nouns. In general, we could say that some means a few / a little and any means none in negative clauses or a few / a little in questions.

In general, we use something/anything and somebody/anybody in the same way as some/any.

Look at these examples:

• He needs some stamps.
• I must go. I have some homework to do.
• I’m thirsty. I want something to drink.
• I can see somebody coming.
• He doesn’t need any stamps.
• I don’t have any homework to do.
• I don’t want anything to drink.
• I can’t see anybody coming.
• Does he need any stamps?
• Do you have any homework to do?
• Do you want anything to drink?
• Can you see anybody coming?

We use any in a positive sentence when the real sense is negative.

• I refused to give them any money. (I did not give them any money)
• She finished the test without any difficulty. (she did not have any difficulty)

Sometimes we use some in a question, when we expect a positive YES answer. (We could say that it is not a real question, because we think we know the answer already.)

• Would you like some more tea?
• Could I have some sugar, please?

So, how do you tell countable nouns from non-countable nouns?

Countable nouns are things you can count, like oranges, grapes, tomatoes, toys, people and so on. And non-countable nouns are things you can’t count, like water, wind, time and money.
To count water, for example, we need a container, like a glass, a jar or a cup. So you can count cups of water or jars of water.

Time is non-countable, but you can count minutes, hours or days.

Keep this in mind and pay close attention to the topics discussed in this lesson.

Part of this was taken from http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/adjectives-determiners-some-any.htm

Unit 7- lesson 2 – The story of my life.

This time we focus on a subject that could be complicated: the zero article. Most of us use it everyday but we don’t know that we are doing it. It is used a lot in English. It is easy to use, but sometimes it is difficult to learn.

With this in mind, please read the following text so you can learn the basics about the zero article.

There are lots of rules about the use of articles. Here we’ll concentrate on 3 golden rules. Most mistakes with articles are made through breaking one of these rules.

1. When we say what people’s jobs are, we use a/an

• She’s an architect.
• He’s a doctor.
• My grandfather was a teacher.

2. Singular, countable nouns always have an article – a/an or the – or another determiner (my, your, this, that etc.)
Remember that we use the indefinite article – a/an – when we talk about something that is not definite.

• I saw a good film yesterday. –We don’t know which film.
• There’s a man at the door. -We don’t know who the man is.
• Do you want a drink? -It’s not a particular drink.

… and we use the definite article – the – when we talk about something more certain.

• I’m going to take the dog for a walk. -The dog is a pet – it’s not just any dog.
• Have you seen the car key? -Speaker and listener know which car. It’s not just any car.
• They live in the house opposite ours. -There’s only one house opposite. It’s not any house.

1. When we talk about things in general we use a plural noun or an uncountable noun with no article.

• Birds eat worms. -NOT The birds eat the worms.
• Water flows downhill.
• Kangaroos live in Australia.

BUT We went to the zoo and saw the kangaroos. These are particular kangaroos – not kangaroos in general.
There are many other rules about articles but remembering these 3 golden rules will reduce the number of mistakes you make.

Don’t worry if you don’t understand these completely at first. It is good to check other websites to learn tips and recommendations. If you pay close attention to tv shows, you will notice they use the zero article all the time. So keep this in mind and get ready for the lesson.

This information was adapted from

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-reference/articles-1

 

Unit 7-lesson 1 – How do I get there?

Hello, again. In this lesson we will learn how to give directions. When we visit a different city or go on vacations, it’s common to ask for directions. It is something that happens often so it’s important that you have an idea about how to do this.

Please watch the next video, which shows some examples about giving directions.

What do you think? You will see that giving directions is easy. First, learn the vocabulary and phrases used to talk about where a place is, and then you can give directions without any trouble at all. If you want to, you can see the video again, before answering the questions.
When you are done, please continue with the lesson. Good luck!