Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!

I hope that you've all had a great weekend and feel refreshed to get back to work!  Remember that good things take time, that big goals are made up of small goals, and that with steady, focused work you can achieve more than you ever thought!

I can't wait to see you all in class this week!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  I hope you all enjoyed the weekend.  This week we'll be looking at some challenging material in our classes.  Most of my students are comfortable with making mistakes in front of me, but I want to remind you all that mistakes are proof that you are trying!  I don't mind mistakes at all from my students.  I've been through the language-learning process, too.  I understand the desire to go through a class with zero mistakes, to feel like you've done a perfect job, and to be proud of yourself for understanding the material easily.  That's not a realistic expectation to have about language learning, though.  In fact, some of the rules in Spanish that I remember best are because I've made SO MANY MISTAKES with them.  If anything, an error (and a correction from a teacher) is an opportunity for your brain to store more information about a rule or definition.  This means you're more likely to remember that information in the future.  Let's change our attitudes about mistakes-- they're common, they happen, and they're necessary.  Our goal should always be to overcome them, but an additional goal should be to embrace them when they happen. 

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Making Words Plural

Good morning, dear students!

I have a graphic to show you today, from www.allaboutspelling.com.  It shows the general rules for how to make most nouns plural.

It can be difficult, even for native speakers, to know when a noun needs to have ''s'', ''es'', or a big change when we change it from singular to plural.  Look at this chart below to remind yourself of the rules!

Happy Thursday and happy studying!

Reading: Why do Nouns Exist?

Good morning, dear students!

I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

I have a quick, interesting read for you today.  It's about English, but more than just English, it's about Language.  All languages have certain things in common, such as nouns.

Why do nouns exist?  They give us a way to name things, of course.  In this TED-Ed Blog entry, a writing teacher explains the importance of nouns, as well as the different types.

Click here to read this quick piece.

The TED-Ed blog is a great blog to read short entries in English about all kinds of topics.  The focus isn't always on language, but I encourage you to check it out once or so per week.  You'll definitely learn new vocabulary, and you might learn some interesting facts about languge.  or dinosaurs.  or tectonic plates.  Who knows?

Did you learn any new vocabulary in this article?  Leave your new discoveries in the comments and bring them with you to class!

Happy Reading!

Tuesday Quick Tip: The Pronunciation of -OUGH-

Good afternoon, dear students!

I have a great little entry for you today about the pronunciation of the letters ''ough''.  It's quite a popular combination of letters in English, if you didn't know, but can produce  A LOT of different sounds. Check out this sentence below:

''A rough-coated, dough-faced thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough.  After falling into a slough he coughed and hiccoughed.''

There are 9 different pronunciations of ''OUGH'' in this sentence.

WHATTT.
I know.

Let's look at them in order (I've done the best I can to give you a phonetic pronunciation for Spanish speakers):


Rough:  Rahf
Dough:  Doh
Thoughtful:  Thahtful
Ploughman:  Plawman
Through:  Thru
Scarborough:  Scarborah
Slough:  Slaw
Coughed:  Coft
Hiccoughed:  Hikapt



Why can one combination allowed to make so many different sounds when it comes to pronunciation?  Who knows.  I don't.  I just know you have to pronounce these things correctly if you want to be understood, so here we are, dear students.

What other words have you come across lately that end in ''OUGH''?  For those of you working on pronunciation in your English classes right now, we'll be reviewing LOTS of these words over the next two weeks, because there isn't a rule to show you how each one should be pronounced.  Somewhere in the United States, a 9-year-old child is studying these words because we have to memorize the spelling and pronunciation for lots of words in English-- especially these tricky ones.  Take heart in knowing that if small children can learn it, so can you, you genius adult professional!

Check out this video from the old show, ''I Love Lucy'', (a personal favorite of mine), where Lucy is trying to correct Ricky's pronunciation (for the record, Ricky is a Cuban immigrant so the show makes a lot of jokes about how difficult English can be).

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  Happy Monday!  I hope you've all had a great weekend.  What are your plans for the week?  It's beginning to feel a bit more like spring outside, which is always an energy booster.  I hope you're all feeling motivated to jump into some intense classes this week-- I've had allllll weekend to plan your classes, and I think you're going to be really pleased with them!  If we're going to do the same amount of work this week, let's work to make ourselves stronger-- in English, in our careers, in our personal relationships.  It's the same amount of work as being miserable, if you ask Carlos Castenada.

For the first half of Monday, I'll be waiting for my refrigerator delivery in my new place.  If I've canceled a Monday morning class with you, I'll be e-mailing you Monday evening/Tuesday to reschedule class, if it's possible. 

I hope you all have a great start to the week!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  I hope you're all ready to start the week after a nice rainy weekend!  Society tells us the normal, proper way to do things, but that isn't always what's best for us or our hearts.  That pressure can weigh heavily on our minds as we try to pursue the things we WANT for ourselves.  Stay strong-- many people living their ''normal'' lives are bored to death, and they wish they could go back in time and make different decisions about their life paths.  Whatever it is that you're working on, dreaming of, or planning for, go at it with your full heart, normal or not.  That, of course, includes your English goals, study abroad dreams, and professional aspirations!  I hope you start off this Monday encouraged and ready to work!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Reading Practice: Delta Will Ban Big Game Trophies as Airline Freight

Good morning, dear students!

Today I have a very short article for you, but I think it will give you some very interesting vocabulary words and phrases!  It should only take you 10-15 minutes to read through it, so no excuses!

By now, maybe you've heard of Cecil the lion.  He was killed recently by a big-game hunter.  Many people were outraged and saddened by his death.  Delta Airlines has decided to ban big-game trophies on their planes as a result of this public outrage. 

Here's a list of some vocabulary that I think will be useful for you:

no longer:  I will no longer help you with your homework.  (meaning:  I won't help you any more in the future). 

effective immediately:  I have sent you a new list of office rules, effective immediately. (meaning:  These rules are valid starting now).

so-called:  His so-called law degree is actually just an online course certificate.  (meaning:  He calls his certificate a law degree, even though it isn't a law degree.  So-called is a way to imply that someone lied or exaggerated about something).  

Try using these phrases in your own sentences in the comments!  What do you think about this article?  Is it a good choice for Delta to make?  Do you think big-game hunting is acceptable?  

Happy Wednesday and happy studying!

Tuesday Quick Tip: ''To Work'' + Prepositions

Good morning, dear students!  Today I have a quick tip for you!
Did you know that changing the preposition that follows the verb ''to work'' can change the context of your sentence?

Check out the diagrams below to see how different prepositions help to communicate different ideas when we pair them with ''to work''!

Most people work for a company.  As you see above, Michelle works for Coca-cola.  Thousands of people work for Samsung.  I work for myself. 

We can use ''for'' to name a specific company (or an individual, if you are employed by a single person and not a company).  We can also use ''for'' to begin a description of companies.  

• I work for a large tech company.
• She works for a social media company. 
• A lot of people work for non-profit organizations.

''To work with'' is used to explain the people at your job.  It can be used to explain who your coworkers are, or it can be used to explain the type of clients you help.  If I say that Samuel works with Christian, you know they are coworkers.  If I say that Samuel works with engineers, you know he has to collaborate with them at his job.  If I say that Samuel works with children, you know that he is surrounded by children at his job.

''To work in'' is used to tell people about your industry.  Mining, Education, Healthcare, Architecture, Construction, Design, Tech, Sales, and Customer Service are all ''areas'' or ''industries'' that help give a broad description of our jobs.  We must use ''in'' if we are going to give this broad description.

So what company do you work for?  What industry do you work in?  Who do you work with?

I work in education.  I work for myself, and I work with Chilean professionals that want to study English. 

Try to describe your work in the comments!  Leave your questions there, too, and we'll hash out any problems in our next class!

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  I hope you've had a great weekend!  It's still cold but we're moving towards spring.  What goals are on the horizon for you?  What kind of negative thoughts creep into your mind about how to achieve them?  This week I'm going to work hard to spend extra energy on positive thoughts.  I hope you'll join me!  I can't wait to see you all this week and get to work on some interesting lesson plans!

Happy Monday and happy studying!