Ships

 

Possessive Adjective Rap

 

Jimmy's Recommendation

 

May you feel at home here.

Was or were  ______ing is past continuous.  Use this verb tense when you are talking about a specific times in the past when you weren't finished with an activity. Don't use was/were as an auxiliary verb in simple past.

When I was a child, I moved a lot.  Home was where my mom was.

What makes a home feel like home?

Where are good places to live?  Why?

Challenge Listening: Reviews of the big bedrooms on the Auto Train that goes from Lorton, VA to Florida

 I rarely ride trains, but I am curious about the auto train.

Amtrak's auto train allows you to bring your car on the train to Florida.

How often do you travel?  Do you take vacations?  Where did you go on your last trip?  How long did you stay there?

Ordering at a restaurant

 

What' s your favorite food?  How often do you eat at a restaurant? What restaurant do you recommend?  Can you tell me a story about excellent or terrible service at a restaurant?

Getting a table

The instructions on the homework say, "listen."  You can listen to this video to complete the homework.

What duties does a host perform?  Did you ever work at a restaurant?

What was your job?  What did you have to do?

 

Ordering Coffee at Starbucks

 

Although I enjoy many of their products, I don't usually go to 7 11 or Starbucks because I don't like their prices. 

Starbucks has their own vocabulary in how to order.

How often do you drink coffee?  How do you like your coffee?

Talking at a restaurant

Quizlet Vocabulary: Speaking about food

Grammar: Practice using count & non-count nouns

Can you find the spelling mistake in the subtitles?

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 $12.41/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 checks 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?

7-11

For many summers, my children loved this day because they could get free Slurpees from 7-11.

Happy birthday 7 11

What do you like to drink? 

Practice "drink" vocabulary with https://www.languageguide.org/english/vocabulary/drinks/ and
learning chocolate:  tea, drinks with their containers, and fruit.

Rain on me

In this song, "on" is a preposition that shows where the rain falls.  Practice prepositions.

Do you like rain?  My daughter likes to walk in the rain.  I don't like to walk in the rain, but I like to eat. If there's no rain, there's no fresh food.

Did you ever lose power in a storm?  What did you do?  What do you usually do when it rains?

The Light We Keep On

 

Are there any small things that you do to make someone feel better?  What?

Firework!

 

Who do you admire?  Why?  What do you love to do?  What is important to get done?

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?

Why do you want to learn English?

 

When do you most want to be good at English?  What do you want to do with your English?