Monday, December 2, 2013

ONE in 8 million...

1 IN 8 MILLION. New York People

New York is a city of characters. The Times introduced 54 of such individuals in sound and images, ordinary people telling extraordinary stories__ of passions and problems, relationships and routines vocations and obsessions...

Pick your favourite

This crazy language ! :)


(Click on image to enlarge)

Friday, November 29, 2013

Grammar Tip # 2. MODAL VERBS

Aesop Fables are back !

Hi there !

I just fixed the addresses for Aesop Fables on the "Literature" section. Thanks for reporting any broken links, please keep doing it ! It really helps to have our blog updated

Happy reading :)

Friday, November 8, 2013

CRISIS IN SPAIN, A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE...

Grammar Tip # 1: Present Perfect Simple vs. Continuous

Present Perfect Tense        Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Grammar rules for the present prefect tense:Subject + Auxiliary verb (has/have) + Auxiliary verb (been) + Main verb (past participle)
The main verb uses the verb form past participle/V3.
Negative sentences - "not" is added between the Auxiliary Verb and the main verb
Questions - the auxiliary verb comes before the subject.

Grammar rules for the present prefect continuous tense:Subject + Auxiliary verb (has/have) + Auxiliary verb (been) + Main verb-ing
The auxiliary verb "to be" always stays in the V3/past participle form (been).
- ing to added to the base form the main verb.
Negative statements - add "not" between the auxiliary verb "have" and the the auxiliary verb "been".
Questions - the order is change the order the auxiliary verb "have" comes before the subject.
The result is more important than the activity itself e.g. I have walked the dog.The activity is more important than the result. e.g. I have been walking the dog.
To state the amount of times an action took place e.g. She has won this competition every year since 1999.To state the length of time or to state "how long" the action took place. e.g. I have been walking the dog all morning.
Used for actions that are naturally instant e.g. Oh no! I’ve broken a glass.Used for actions that naturally have a duration e.g. I have been walking the dog all morning.
Used for past actions that happened recently and are still in the news e.g. She has won a medal.Used for actions that continue into the present e.g. I have been walking the dog all morning.
Used to emphasize completion of an action e.g. I have walked the dog.Used to emphasize the action, not the completion e.g. I have been walking the dog.
Used to express that an action is completed or to emphasize the result. e.g. I have walked the dog.Used to emphasize the duration or continuous course of an action. e.g. I have been walking the dog all morning.

Exercises for further practice:
Englishpage exercises
Autoenglish exercises
Englishgrammarsecrets exercises

Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

"Hello World !"  It's how a new blog is usually started. It's also used in many introductory tutorials for teaching a programming language, though this is not the case here. We are going to learn about the English language. Not just 'the' language, but 'about' it and how to use it.  My approach to second language acquisition (or third, or fourth) has always been considering it a vehicle, not just the goal itself; there are so many things to absorb throughout the process. Some call it Content Based Instruction (CBI), others Language for Specific Purposes (LSP)...What do you wanna call it? How about leaving terms aside and just enjoy with 'Our Favourite Things...?'  (check out Pomplamoose's Sound of  Music version viedo below).

So, let's introduce ourselves and Welcome to our space!