Tuesday Quick Tip: Who vs. Whom

Good morning, dear students!

Today I want to continue our Tuesday Quick Tip theme of pronouns.  Do you remember the lesson quick tip from last week about subject and object pronouns?  You might want to review it before looking at this Quick Tip.

Today I want us to talk about the difference between the words ''Who'' and ''Whom''.

Even native English speakers confuse these two interrogative pronouns, but there is a simple way to decide if you need to use ''who'' or ''whom'':

So if your question is about a subject, you must use ''Who'' -- Who gave you that necklace?
If your question is about an object, you must use ''Whom''-- From whom did you get that necklace?

''Whom'' can be considered very formal today.  Most native English speakers don't use ''whom'' correctly, if ever, and it is widely accepted to always use ''who'' no matter the circumstance.  This isn't correct in written English, but with speaking it is common.


Try out some sentences below in the comments!  We can talk about this more in class if you have any questions!

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend!  This week is going to fly past quickly-- it's a four day work-week, and this weekend is the final match of the America Cup!!  I hope you're all ready to work hard and put your English skills to work!  Short weeks can be fun, but they can also be stressful sometimes-- work piles up quickly, right?  My personal goal this week is to do small things with great love.  I hope that you can tell this week that when I designed your lesson, I was thinking of you, your goals, and your English needs.  It's a very small part of what I do, but I am thrilled to be working with each of my students, and I hope this excitement shows in the work I prepare for you!  Have a great week!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Thursday Music Mini-Lesson: Born To Die by Lana del Rey

Good morning, dear students!

I have a cool lyrics video for you today.  I hope you enjoy the song, and more importantly, I hope you learn some new vocabulary or phrases!

The song is ''Born to Die'', by Lana del Rey.

Let's look at a few important notes:

1) Remember that in English, ''Nacer'' is ''To be born''.  In Spanish, the verb is the action of a baby.  In English, it is something that happens to us, but not something that we actively do.  So I can say that my baby will be born in the summer, or that I was born in November.  The important thing to remember is that along with ''born'', we must put some version of ''to be''.

2) ''In the meantime'':  translation
3) ''The pouring rain'':  translation


What did you think of the song?  Did you have any other vocabulary words or phrases that you didn't understand?  Leave your questions and opinions of the song in the comments, and we can talk about it in our next class!

Happy Thursday and happy studying!

The Ultimate Do-It-Yourself Challenge

Good morning, dear students!

Today I'm leaving you with a two-for-one deal.  This NPR article is very short, but has some good vocabulary.  It's accompanied by a GREAT video about a man in Nepal trying to rebuilt after the recent earthquake.

Here's a list of a few words that you might need to know for the article:

1) in ruins:  translation
2) salvage: translation
3) plight:  translation
4) remoteness:  translation
5) shattered:  translation


If you'd like, you can watch the video here first, but it is also available on the NPR article.

What other new vocabulary did you find in the text and the video?  Tell me in the comments or in our next class!

Happy Wednesday and happy studying!

Tuesday Quick Tip: Subject and Object Pronouns

Good morning, dear students!  Today I'm back to work with my blog posts, and the first new content I want to review is this Tuesday Quick Tip about pronouns.  It always surprises me how some of my intermediate and advanced students have never been taught the difference between subject and object pronouns-- it seems to be something that many teachers simply don't cover!  So let's look at the differences today.  

Before choosing which pronoun to use, we first have to decide if your noun is a subject or an object.  

What's the difference between a subject and an object?  Look at these images to see the difference!

In the sentence ''I called Andrew'', Who called?  Who received the call?

In this case, ''I'' is the subject, and ''Andrew'' is the object. 

Now, if I want to use a pronoun for Andrew, I can't just use ''he'', because that's a subject pronoun.  We need an object pronoun.  Look at the difference:

So, instead of saying, ''Rachel bought Felipe a gift'', we could say ''She bought him a gift''.  

Instead of saying, ''Felipe brought Maria a sandwich for lunch'', we could say ''He brought her a sandwich for lunch.''

Also, remember that when we use the verb ''To tell'', we need an object.  Often, the object is a person, and an object pronoun makes perfect sense.  For example, ''She told him about the party.''

Questions?  Leave them in the comments or bring them with you to our next class!  

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  I hope you've all had a relaxing weekend and are ready and motivated to start the week!  I have great lessons planned for you all!  Some of the things we will see this week will be hard.  Some of the goals you are working on are very difficult.  Keep looking!  There's a way around every problem, but solutions require hard work and creativity.  I have faith in all of you, and can't wait to sit down with each of you this week!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  I hope you've enjoyed the weekend and that you have fun plans to watch the Chile-Mexico game tonight!  I'm excited to see you all this week and get to work on some interesting lessons I have planned.  I'm finally feeling 100% health-wise and can't wait to get some interesting material here on the blog for you!  I hope you're having a lovely day so far, and if you aren't, I hope you find a proactive way to turn it around!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Motivation Monday

Good Morning, dear students!  I hope that you've all had a wonderful weekend and are ready to get back to class!  When we sit down to work together this week, I want us to think about some realistic goals (they could be short-term or long-term goals) regarding your language learning-- these could include preparing for an interview, beginning TOEFL vocabulary study, or even just completing the perfect tenses in a grammar-based lesson unit.  Goals can seem large and scary, or so small that they aren't even worth planning.  However, without sitting down and really thinking about what we are capable of and how we can plan to master those capabilities, it's difficult to progress.  So tell me, what do you want to work on in English for the second half of 2015?  Think  hard and let's discuss it at the beginning of our next class!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  It's the beginning of a new week AND a new month!  Personally, I've been a little under the weather lately, but I'm back to work this week and I'm ready to have some interesting, challenging lessons with you guys!  It is a beautiful thought that some of the best days of our lives haven't happened yet, right?  Now is a great time to look at your goals for the second half of 2015 and see what you can do to set yourself up to live happily and excel in the areas of life that are important to you.  I know that's what I'll be doing for the whole month of June, and I'm excited to see what you all have on your own to-do lists!

Happy Monday and happy studying!