Merry Christmas!!

I hope you are enjoying December.  


Professional Light Displays (Be prepared for SLOW traffic!)

In the USA, different people celebrate Christmas in really different ways.  Some people celebrate it because it is a really important Christian holiday -- the day to remember when Jesus was born.

Religious Christmas Song Lyric Videos

Virtual Handel's Messiah Sing-a-long

Many people celebrate Christmas by giving money to their church or to charities.  (Some local charities.)  Some people celebrate Christmas by volunteering (working for no pay) to help people.
Volunteer Fairfax -- links volunteers to no-pay jobs (Can be a great way to meet people and practice English!)

Many non-religious and religious-but-not-Christian people in the USA celebrate Christmas as a great time to celebrate love, friendship, and family -- they shop, party, spend time with family, go to parties with friends, send cards, and give presents in the same ways that Christians do.

Lyrics Videos:  Christmas Songs (NOT religious)

Love to shop in person? Example Conversation  Challenging examples of English conversations you may have.

 Sales at Tyson's Corner,  Sales at Fair Oaks,  Sales at Springfield Town Center,
Sales at Potomac Mills


Do you celebrate Christmas?  What do you usually do?  What did you do this year?

Are you studying for US Citizenship? Today is Bill of Rights Day!

Do you know the rights in the Bill of Rights?  Should any of them change?  Which are most important?

Happy Hannukah

Do you celebrate Hannukah?  What do you do?

חנוכה commemorates the re-dedication of the holy temple in Jerusalem.  In the US, Jewish people get together, light candles, and give gifts for eight days.  In the USA, Hannukah is a big holiday, partly because it gets commercialized in a similar way to Christmas.

Friday the 13th

Are you superstitious?  Are you extra careful on Friday the 13th?

 Juan Carlos makes a lot of sense when he says that a live cat should be better luck than a dead rabbit.

How is today going for you?  What brings good luck? 

Can you write any examples that show that a superstition is true or not true?  (Faride wore pearls on her wedding day and has a wonderful marriage.  Reham's sister was born on the 13th and is a very lucky person.)

My Love is....

Can you use as -------- as or a comparative (bigger than/happier than/more beautiful than) to describe an emotion or a friend or a member of your family?

Nothing Compares

 

Practice Simple Present Tense verbs

Learn and practice comparative & superlative adjectives

What are the best things in life? 

Longer...

Practice game: comparative

Study and Practice Using Comparatives and Superlatives

What are your best attributes?  Write about two of your friends.  Who is taller?  Who is younger?  Who is funnier?  Who is farther away?

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Pilgrims are people who travel for their religion.  

People who go to Mecca or Jerusalem are often Pilgrims.

People who move here because their government doesn't like their religion are also pilgrims.

I'd love to start an ESOL class online cookbook with easy recipes, difficult-but-worth-it recipes, recipes with national pride, and great recipes for good health.  If  you know any good recipes in any of those categories, please write them in a google doc and share them with a link for everyone at my gmail.

The next video is British English, but the only real difference is that I say "frying pan" rather than "frypan."

This video shows a common menu for a traditional Thanksgiving.  Many people buy the pies and cranberry sauce.

Links to Black Friday Deals!
Sales at Springfield Town Center
Sales at Tysons Corner
Deals at Potomac Mills
Sales at Leesburg Outlets

If you shop good Friday sales, please write about the experience!

Thanksgiving is a time to enjoy food, family, and the good things in our lives.  Many people also thank God for all the good things in life.  My job and my students often make me happy.  What are you thankful for? What makes you happy?

You should be here

 

You should understand "ain't" (negative helping verb "to be" in every verb tense) and "ya'll" (plural you - you all) because they are very common in songs and speech.  You shouldn't use these words because they are stereotypes as speech for people with no education and no money.

cutting up - joking and playing

dial up the weather -make a phone call to order the weather exactly how I like it

Stop and take it in - stop to really see what's happening

freaking out -- acting crazy with excitement

Do you like to go camping?  What do you like to do with your friends? What should we talk about in class?  

Song: doctor, doctor

Learning Chocolate: Medical Symptoms

Learning Chocolate: organs of the body

Medical Items (Easy World of English Picture Dictionary)

Write about a doctor's visit.  Why did you go?

Trying my best

 Everyone who is coming to class is improving a LOT.  We are working together and getting better.

What do you do when you are trying your best?

We can make it

 Make it = succeed

What do you like to do? What do you like to make?  Can you teach the class how to make it or do it?

How do you try to improve a relationship?

Get it done

 When Kim heard, "do your nails" today, she said that she often heard, "get" not "do" at work. She is correct.  We often use get with a past participle form of a verb (regular ---ed/irregular-3rd column) to say that someone else is doing something for us. 

(Official grammar name for this word pattern is passive causative.  You can officially use have instead of get, but using have for passive causative is a bad pattern to practice before you are good at ALL the verb tenses. Anyway, get is more common for speaking in this area.)

My daughter gets her nails done for all the holidays.  I only got my nails done for my wedding.

I don't fix my car.  I get my car fixed by Backlick Road Service Station or Community Car Care.

I don't cut my hair.  I get my hair cut at a beautician.

My mother doesn't clean her house.  She gets it cleaned.

I don't repair watches.  I get my watch repaired at Silver Dolphin.

I brush my teeth twice a day, and I also go to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned three times a year.

I rarely wash my care and I rarely get my car washed. My car is pretty dirty. (Pretty as adverb=mostly)

The past participle verbs in these examples do NOT show time.  The form of get shows the verb tense. 

Examples: I am getting my car fixed now.  I will get my car washed tomorrow.  My dad used to get his shoes shined every month.  Mark gets his car serviced four times a year. We got the kitchen floor replaced last month.  My mother never goes to Zales Jewelers because when she got her engagement ring cleaned there, they lost her diamond and offered her a much cheaper stone.

Make or Do

Woodward English Presentation Make or Do

Woodward English Printable Chart

Make or Do Expressions on Quizlet -  some common expressions to "collo"

Make or Do flashcards -pick the make or do

English online make or do game

similar blog post with a few more links

Mixed Tense Make vs. Do game from Woodward English-- really challenging, but easy to change your answer!!

Challenge: Small talk and health

One of my English teaching websites recommends this video for our level, but I think it's really difficult.  I am surprised by it.  I don't want you to feel bad if your friends aren't here.  I really want you to talk to strangers in English!

Do you go a place where you can make small talk?  Where?  Do you meet with anyone to practice English or try different international foods?

Reading Day

My group played with contrasting the sound of brown cow ow with rose boat oh.  Both sounds can be spelled "ow."  Rose boat bow is a noun - ⋈⋈⋈.  Brown cow bow is an action -- bending to show respect.

Maryann's group read about relaxing in nature and tipping.  If you want to listen to the article on tipping on the computer, go to ellii.com and sign up for my class with this code.  I put a group of mostly challenging readings there.  If one is not good for you, try a different one.  Please tell me what is good or not good for you.

ellii.com/students

YJHVWQ

Citizens Vote in the USA today!

 

CNN 10- Student news in ten minutes or less

What are the most important issues in this election?  Who will be a better president?

It's Going to be

We often say it's going to be a long day if we expect to be bored or sad.  

Tell me about a time that you expected a long day, but it wasn't bad after all.

Don't forget to turn back time! (Fall back one hour)

Most people in the United States turn the time backwards one hour today.

We are returning to Eastern Standard Time (EST)

If you went back in time, what part of history would you want to see?

What people or stories from history do you like?

Happy Halloween! Trick or Treat Customs

Introducing Halloween for ESL

Rules and Customs for Trick or Treating

                                            

  Video: Tips for fun Jack O Lanterns

Do you enjoy Halloween?  What do you do?

http://www.elcivics.com/halloween.html

Halloween Vocabulary

Halloween Vocabulary Matching Game from www.esolcourses!

Halloween reading and gap-fill

You are my Sunshine!

 Dance that Ha taught at break time in 2023 (Instruction at 3:12)

My best friend loved this song because her parents sang it as a lullaby.  Did your parents have an "I love you song" for you?  My mother sang the Riddle Song as an I-love-you lullaby.  After I got the picture book with the lyrics, I sang A-you're adorable. 

Do you have a favorite love song?  What is it?

Yesterday Once More

Practice Using Simple Past Tense when something happened one time and finished

Practice Using Irregular Verbs

Some songs always bring back memories.   This song reminds me of ice skating in the 70's with my babysitter -- a young man who wanted to be a magician.  He always found the quarters for the hot chocolate vending machine behind my ear!  The ice rink played this song a lot.  (Shah la la la, shing a ling a ling, whoa oh oh don't have any meaning, but people often sang those sounds in the 50s)

Do you have any memories with this song?  What songs make you think of certain times in the past?

If you love her,

 This video is challenging, but you can do the fill-in-the-blank worksheet!  Repeat as many times as you need.

Describe a person (or people) that you love.  What do they do every day?

The time of our lives

"Let's have the time of our lives"  means let's have the most fun ever.

Write about a time you had fun! Where did you go?  What did you do?

Can you use "Let's _____(base verb)" to suggest fun activities?

Let's Stay Together

Did you ever get back together with an ex?  Did it work out well?

Are there any little things couples should do to make it easy to stay together no matter what?  What are they?

Home Repair--More Vocabulary

😅New Vocabulary Set (Includes relevant words from the old set)

House Vocabulary from Languageguide.org

http://www.languageguide.org/english/vocabulary/kitchen/

http://www.languageguide.org/english/vocabulary/kitchen2/

http://www.languageguide.org/english/vocabulary/bathroom/

http://www.languageguide.org/english/vocabulary/bathroom2/

http://www.languageguide.org/english/vocabulary/utility-room/

http://www.learningchocolate.com/content/tools-1

http://www.learningchocolate.com/content/tools-2

A handyman can fix many things.  Do you have any needs that could use a handyman?  Did you ever fix something?  What did you fix?

Why don't you...?

I'm losing my mind just a little means that I feel a little crazy.

We often say, "why don't you..." to suggest something.  It looks like a question, but it's really a nice way to advise or command.  Why don't you meet me in the middle?  means "Let's compromise."

What do you ask people to do?  Can you use, "Why don't you?"

Example:  When I ask my son to take out the trash, I can say "Why don't you take out the trash?"

When I ask my daughter to make a salad, I can say, "Why don't you make a salad?"

When I ask my husband to call me, I can say, "Why don't you call me after work?

Calling your landlord when the dryer doesn't work

A landlord or landlady is the owner of a property that someone rents.  They should pay for any big repairs.  The renter changes light bulbs and keeps things clean.

Vocabulary Practice with Learning Chocolate

Who can you call when you are the home owner?  

Did you ever fix something using YouTube videos for instruction?

Did you ever call a landlord or a landlady?  Why?

Fix You

  I won't try to fix you, but I will try to teach you to fix English mistakes!!  I want to fix this video by adding apostrophes!

Fix usually means repair.  A mechanic fixes cars. A plumber unclogs drains and fixes pipes. We also use fix to mean make when cooking.  My grandmother fixed dinner and served it at 6:00 every night.  She liked to fix roast beef, chicken, or soup.

What can you fix?

Survive

"Survive" means live when it's difficult to live.  It can also mean barely live.  In the next song, "Don't just survive" means do more than barely live, try to live well.

Texting English to formal English: "Tryna" = "is trying to."  "Gonna" ="is going to" "Gotta" = "have got to = must"

 Do you have any favorite books or movies about survival?  Write about it!!

White Tie I

 

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day ! We HAVE SCHOOL MONDAY! (Children don't.)

Government offices, banks, and libraries usually close today.  Restaurants and stores usually don't.  They are often crowded with people who don't have to work!  Sometimes, they offer good deals.

Sometimes schools close, sometimes they don't.

For 2024, our children don't have school, but we do.

Knowing that Native Americans were here before the English colonists and naming a few North American tribes is on the citizenship exam.  Most common tribes named include: ▪ Cherokee ▪ Navajo ▪ Sioux ▪ Chippewa ▪ Choctaw ▪ Pueblo ▪ Apache ▪ Iroquois ▪ Creek ▪ Blackfeet ▪ Seminole ▪ Cheyenne ▪ Arawak ▪ Shawnee ▪ Mohegan ▪ Huron ▪ Oneida ▪ Lakota ▪ Crow ▪ Teton ▪ Hopi ▪ Inuit

Please write anything you know about any indigenous groups in the Americas.  

Also, as a student recently told me, do you think it is wrong to judge historic people by today's values?  

Patience

 

Do you hate when people tell you to be patient? I do!

English often takes time.  Thank you for working hard.  Please help me make the class good for you.

Write about a time when your patience worked for you.

Pronouncing blue moon words.

 

Blue moon is a category on the color vowel chart invented by K. Taylor and S. Thompson

When did you move to this area?  What do you like to do here?  

Who do you think about when you see the moon? 

Pronouncing "a cup of mustard"

 "A cup of mustard" is from the color vowel chart made by K. Taylor and S. Thompson

What word do you know that use this sound?  Are they easy for you to say?

What do you have to do?

 

What do you have to do? What do your family members have to do?

No School Today!

Today, schools are out for Rosh Hashana. the Jewish New Year! 

May you have a good, sweet and peaceful year!

What is your favorite New Year tradition?  Do you make resolutions or set goals?

Money can't buy me love

 

("Correct" English:  Say you don't need no any diamond rings)

What are some good things that you can't buy?  What are some good things that you can buy?

I'm not giving up

Dictation and verb tense practice

 Write about something difficult that you did.  Did you have to persist?

If (bread)

 Where do you like to go?  Where is the most beautiful place you have ever seen?

What do you like to do?

Happy National Punctuation Day!

 

Practice punctuation mark names.  

Do you want to learn more about punctuation?

Talking to the Moon

 Do you like to eat moon cakes?  Did you ever celebrate a mid-autumn festival? (If yes, write about it!) What is your favorite season?  What do you like to do in Fall?

This is my now.

 

Look around.  What is happening?  Describe what's going on right now.

Happy Autumn!

Matching -- Autumn Vocabulary Words

Activity: Put Autumn vocabulary words in alphabetical (ABC) order

Unscramble (change the letter order to make)the Autumn Vocabulary words (same ones you put in ABC order)

Hikes near DC

What's your favorite season?  My husband's favorite season is Fall because he likes to go hiking and camping.  Do you like hiking or camping?  Tell me about it!

You needed me

80 Irregular Verbs on Quizlet

Irregular Verb Game

 Write two past tense sentences in the comments.

Remember When

This country song has great examples of past "to be."  

Remember:  Was for 1, were for 2 but always were for you (1 or 2!) 

Study and practice simple past

Some of my best memories were meeting you and talking with you.

Write about a pleasant memory.

Hello! Welcome to class! (Hello Again)

 

Hello!

Welcome to class!

What's your name?  Where are you from?  What do you like to do?

Listening to songs can help you speak and understand English better.  I post songs and write questions.

Please write answers to the questions as often as you can.  You can write comments or on paper for me.

There are also links to useful websites.  On a phone, you need to scroll down and touch the link for view web version to get to the links. 

 Please tell me about any songs, websites, or YouTube videos that helped you.

Who did you meet today?  Can you describe a classmate that you met today?  What do you want me to know about you?

In My Life

 

Write about something or someone that makes you happy.  What do you like to do? 

My Heart GOES on...

(Warning:  this video has a picture of people kissing with bare (no clothes) shoulders.  You are not required to watch the music videos for homework, but your listening will probably improve faster if you repeatedly watch some of the videos on here.)

I think that listening to pop music helps improve listening skills.  I can't find a lot of good pop music with perfect grammar.

Grammar Teacher Note:  Do NOT use DOES for every day positive statements.  (My heart goes on, not my heart does go on)  Does for positive statements is called "emphatic."  Emphatic is for fights and for strong feelings -- just like using always and never with present continuous.  You will occasionally hear these in real life, but don't pick them as answers on grammar tests.

What do you feel strongly about?  What do you love to do with your family?

Imagine

 

Do you think Lennon's ideas can lead to world peace?

Imagine your life with excellent English.  What are you going to do?  Describe your life.

Like My Father (Warning: some sexy language - mild by US standards)

 I always enjoy when my students show me a new song.  Thanks!

Please write about your family.  Do you have a big family?  

Do you think this young woman will find the man she describes?  Are there more important things that a man should do?  Did you/Do you want to marry a man like your father?

The Devil Doesn't Bargain

 

What would a partner have to do to make you call him or her "Devil?"  Describe a terrible friend, partner, or spouse.

I'll be missing ...

 This tribute to B.I.G. has expressions from US dialects I don't  teach because they aren't good for college essays or job interviews.  In a formal situation, say "I'll miss you" rather than "I'll be missing you."

If it won't make you sad, describe some foods and people that you miss right now.

That's My Goal

Why do you want to learn English?  What are your goals?  What will you do when your English is excellent?

Please write about another goal that you are happy that you got.

Getting ready for the next class!

 

Do you like to meet new people?  Where can you speak English with people?  What should we do in the new class?

International Day of Charity

 Can you write what is happening in the video?  Although this video was made for world kindness day, I think it's better for International Day of Charity.

 What is charity?  Do you support any charities?  What charities will you support when you become rich?

Happy Labor Day!!

 Federal and office workers often get the day off on Labor Day.  Restaurant and retail workers usually have to work really hard.

Are you working?  What do you do?

Are you looking for a job?  Did you look at the Job Listing links on this blog?

Do you like to shop?  We usually have sales on Labor Day!

Sales at Springfield Mall   Sales at Home Depot  Sales at Best Buy  Sales at Potomac Mills

Please write about your job or about shopping!

See You in September

 

Great work this summer!  I hope you enjoy your break!

Are you watching the Olympics?

 

Are you watching the Olympics?  What's your favorite sport?  Did you ever play a sport?  Which one?

Stay a little longer...

accidentally=by accident=with no intent=I didn't mean to do it

Student Examples: Comparative

Our levels are very big.  I am really happy with

the progress of everyone who came to class a lot.  You all are smart and have wonderful attitudes.

You improved a lot, and that gave me a LOT of joy.

Thank you!

You don't need to use perfect grammar or to remember good grammar words (verb tense, noun, adjective, comparative, etc.) to get placed in high intermediate.  Good grammar and grammar words can make your progress much faster.

Grammar I Want You to Understand before you go to High Intermediate

What attributes do you like your friends to have?

What did you like about class?

What did you enjoy learning?

Did you learn anything useful for your life?

What was boring?

How can I make next class better?

Lady in Red-- Describe people with adjectives in the correct order (1. Opinion 2. Size 3. Color 4. Pattern 5. noun that you are describing)

When you describe clothing, use the adjective order: opinion, size, color, pattern.

(If there isn't a pattern, the word "plain" goes before the color.)

She's wearing a dramatic, long red sparkly dress.  I'm wearing a comfortable, large, plain blue tee-shirt.

Basic Vocabulary Review and Listening Practice: Women's Clothing   men's clothing

Basic Shopping Conversations (Despite American accents, this video uses a few British terms. Instead of lift, use elevator. Instead of trial room, we say fitting room  Instead of "make a bill," say, "ring this up.")  Most of the phrases are common in the USA too.

Challenge:  Explanations of Adjective Order and Difficult practice using all the categories

(NO SAS-C POMP= number, opinion, size, age, shape, color, pattern, origin, material, purpose)

Intermediate Level Shopping Conversation (Turn on CC if it's too fast...)

What is your favorite color?  What is your favorite season?  What's your favorite outfit?  

Describe what you wore when you looked really good.

Do you want to practice grammar?

Can you find any grammar mistakes in this grammar song?

Some people in our class got an excellent grammar education before this class.  Some never had a chance to learn grammar before. Here are links for some of grammar you should master before going to high intermediate.  If you want grammar practice, try these links.

Can you name the parts of speech?

Simple Present

Present Continuous=Present Progressive

Simple Present vs. Present Continuous

future with will

future with going to

Simple Past

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Old Fashioned Pronoun Use

Challenge: Adjective Order

Memory work:  80 Common Irregular Verbs 

Irregular Verbs - A variety of little-by-little lists, songs, and games to help you remember  

Non Count Nouns

Common expressions with Make or do

Where were you?

 There aren't many videos of this song.  "Outreach" is the wrong word.  It should be "our reach."

Is dating normal in your former country?

Do you like to go on dates?

Where are good places to go on a first date?

What do you do if you feel "ghosted?"

Outreach is a strategy to try to get more members into an organization.  "In our reach" means that with some effort, we can get it.  Fluent English is in your reach.

Glued 

I gave my love a cherry

 

Do you like to give gifts? 

When do you give gifts?

Who do you give gifts to?

What are good gifts to give to friends or childen?

How do you like your eggs?

 

Do you like to eat eggs?  How do you like them cooked?

Talking at a restaurant

Quizlet Vocabulary: Speaking about food

Grammar: Practice using count & non-count nouns

A few regional differences:  My family says "appetizer" rather than "starter." 

In this area, a 20% (minimum) tip is customary.  "Tip jobs" have a lower minimum wage, so servers don't get the minimum wage of $21/hour.  Servers usually get $2.13/hour from the restaurant, and taxes often take their whole paychecks.  Some restaurants require servers to pay some of their tips to bussers, "expo," (a person who doublechecks the order and arranges the food in a pretty way) and bartenders.

In the conversation at the end of the video, native speakers in this area say, "chicken sandwich" rather than chicken burger.  We'd probably say we like tacos or a taco if there's only one.

English for my Job-Hospitality

Food and drink Vocabulary from English Club  (Go down to see links to vocabulary and practice)

Grammar: count vs. non-count  (same link as the top)

What is your favorite restaurant nearby?  What is the best restaurant in your native country?  What is the best restaurant you ever ate at?

It feels like I'm falling in love

 

How do you feel right now?

Describe someone that's easy to fall in love with...

Sky full of stars

 I miss the dark skies and zillions of starts I could see from my grandmother's yard when I was a child.

We went to a special dark sky place to camp last year.

It wasn't very dark.

What are you going to do tomorrow?

What do you wear when you want to look good?

How long will I love you

 

How long does it take to clean your kitchen?

How long does it take to walk around your neighborhood after dinner?

How long should you know someone before considering marriage?

What's this? What's that?

 A lot of topics in this class feel easy because they are not new for most of you, but they are also not easy to remember to do every time you speak or write. If you are in my class for listening, try to have English conversations as often as you can.

Most of you learned food names, singular and plural, and count nouns a long time ago.

Do you remember (1) this/that   (2+) these/those? A student asked about those terms today.

Easy Quiz from test-English.com

UsingEnglish.com Quiz

Count-Non-Count

My class presentation on count and non-count

Video: Some things you can count and some you can't...

Practice using a or an only with singular count nouns

Easy Partitives (In this game, fruit is count (grrrrr) and a piece is thicker than a slice

Similar Information -- Who Wants to be a Billionaire Style

Partitives Game (Partitives are containers or pieces that make non-count nouns countable)

Quizlet -- Count or Non-count

More Practice!!

Advanced Class List of Non-Count Nouns

Birthdays

 

Do you enjoy parties?

Do you like birthdays?

What were your important birthdays?

Happiness

 

What do you do when you would like to feel better?

I read and eat crunchy food.  I call my friends.  I take a walk.  I sometimes go swimming.  I sometimes go shopping.

Do you like to dress up?

We say "dress up" both for costumes and beautiful formal clothes.

Kids and adults in the US often wear costumes on Halloween.  My children liked to do theater so they dressed up in costumes when they were actors.

 Did you ever wear a costume?  I had a great glow-in-the-dark ghost costume in fifth grade.   

Some people dress up for parties.  What do you usually wear to parties?  What was your best outfit ever?

Right where we are

 

Are you in a relationship?  If yes, how old were you when you met?  What do you like to do together?

If no, describe a good partner for you.  

Frequency

We use frequency adverbs to talk about how often things occur or repeat.

(Don't forget to write sentences with FAs for homework!)

I often teach my classes to put frequency adjectives before most verbs, but after the verb "to be" because that's how we usually speak them in the USA.

It's okay, however, to start or end a sentence with a frequency adverb especially to emphasize the frequency in poetry, lyrics, or writing.

Quiz: Click on the words to put them in the sentence in the correct order. Make a mistake? Click in the box to start over.

Kahoot: Adverbs of Frequency

How often can you speak or listen to English?  When can you speak or listen to English?  How often do you have fun?  What fun things do you do?

He doesn't want to talk, and she doesn't either.

Formal English:  The stars in the sky don't mean anything to you.  Not 

The stars in the sky don't mean nothing to you.

Using English Quiz: Practice Simple Present

EasyESOL.blogspot: agree with too or either

Quiz to practice too vs. either. The ones that aren't at the end of the sentence are "too" meaning also.

What are some things you and your partner/friend/family member agree on?

My husband likes spicy Chinese food, and I do too.

My daughter likes chocolate, and I do too.

My mother likes to read novels, and I do too.

My husband doesn't like to run marathons, and I don't either.

My daughter doesn't like scary movies, and I don't either.

I don't like to iron clothes, and my mother doesn't either.

Dance

 

I love to dance, but I don't usually dance at parties.  I am excited that my student picked this as a favorite song because I sometimes do a line dance to "Dance Monkey."  Some of my classmates won a prize in the 2019 Senior Olympics by dressing up as monkeys and doing this dance.

Do you like to dance?  How often do you dance?  What's your favorite kind of dance?  Do you like to watch dancing?  Did you ever take dancing lessons?

Happy Fourth of July!!

This next video is super-fast for our level, but it repeats enough that it's good for training your ears. Understanding every word doesn't make the song easy to understand.

History of Independence Day -- Also fast, but clearly spoken.  Make sure you turn the closed captioning (CC) on.

ESOL Explanation of Independence day with a transcript.

Some U.S.A. patriotic songs you will probably hear today...

Read about the flag and other USA symbols...

During fireworks, you usually hear "Stars and Stripes Forever."

Listening: Interview with questions about the Fourth of July


Reading/listening practice -- press the triangle to hear the story as you read it.

funinfairfax.com:  Fireworks in Northern VA (scroll down for the 4th)


Are you enjoying the fourth of July?  What are you doing?  Does your former country have an independence day celebration?  When is it?  What do you do?

All of Me

 

Are you in a romantic relationship?  

(If Yes)  How did you meet your current partner?  Do you do any small things for the person you love?

  

(If No)  Do you like to talk about family?  Can you describe how you met a good friend? How do you stay in touch with old friends?

Goals

Think about your goals for English class!

Practice DO or DOES in questions

Challenging (Difficult) Video and Reading

My goal is to teach you a lot of good English as fast and as pleasantly as I can during the next five weeks.  

What are your goals?  What do you want to talk about and work on in English Class? 

We're starting a marathon, but you can go the distance

 

I really want to make learning English easy and interesting.  What makes English difficult?  How will you get past the challenges? 

You are so beautiful

 

Learning Chocolate: Physical Appearance Hair

Learning Chocolate:  Appearance

What do you look like?  Does anyone in your family look like you?