Welcome!

Welcome to English Class!  

I post songs and questions.

Please write answers to the questions in the comments or on paper to turn in.

Please listen to songs. When I post a song you like, repeat listening to it until you can sing it.

Sometimes the songs are fast and challenging, and sometimes they are slow.

If you don't like a song, don't use it for practice. Practice is easier and more useful if it's fun.

I also put many links to websites that look helpful for our level to use after you finished your class homework..

On a phone, you need to go to the bottom of the page, and press "view web version" 

to see and use the links.  I usually update the class vocabulary after class.

If you love a helpful website, please tell me about it.

Welcome to English class!  What is your name?  When did you come to the USA?  What are your goals for this class?  How can I make this class excellent for you?

High Hopes

Can you write about a time that you had a difficult goal and succeeded?

Are you on vacation?

gonna=going to= will (future tense, not movement)  jalopy=old word for badly maintained car
hop in =get into   have a ball = have fun 'neath=beneath=under "The Mashed Potato"=old dance

Are you enjoying the break?  What are you doing?

What are you listening to?

 What are you doing?  What is your favorite kind of music?

Do you want to practice grammar?

The most important thing you can do to improve English is use English -- talk to people, read, listen, and write English.

I like to teach Grammar because if you use it well, it's an excellent short cut.  If you catch the rule with the grammar pattern, you can immediately understand how to say 10,000 things correctly.  Also, advanced classes usually use grammar rules. If you understand basic grammar ideas and how to use grammar with lots of examples, high level classes can be easy rather than incomprehensible.

• Try to remember grammar rules, but don't get mad when they don't work 100%.
• Make tons of your own examples from the rule, and ask a native speaker if they are correct.
• Repeat correct useful phrases a LOT

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 topics you should master before going to high intermediate.  If you want grammar practice, try these links.  If you find other helpful websites, please send them to me.

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

Free slurpees from 7-11 today!

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.

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?

Happy Father's Day

https://www.languageguide.org/english/vocabulary/family/

Are you celebrating Father's Day?  What are you doing?  What should a good father do?

Happy Summer!

 Did you enjoy your first day of summer?  When I was a child, many ice cream trucks and merry-go-rounds played this tune, but I never heard the words.

Do you like ice cream?  What's the best flavor? Are you planning to travel this summer?  Where do you want to go?  Do you like to go to the beach?  What's your favorite beach?

Happy Juneteenth

 

My mother grew up in Galveston Texas 
where people had beach parties to celebrate Juneteenth 

throughout the twentieth century.

Juneteenth is new as a federal holiday,
but it's an old celebration of freedom 
even though many people were still enslaved after that date.

Do you celebrate any historical events?  Which ones? How?

Bluer than Blue

 

If you ever think of me, please send me a text or an email and tell me how you're doing...

Party in the USA

Tell me about parties you enjoy.  What's the best food?  What do people do?

Promotion

I promote on whether I think you have a good chance of survival in the next level. I assess your level for reading, writing, speaking, and listening.  Three of these should be above our level for you to move up.  

This time is unusual. Usually my managers are very strict about a 217 or higher reading score. I really want you to use good grammar when you speak..  This class, they want me to be strict about listening comprehension, but not as strict about the reading score (still should be above 207.)  At the beginning of the level, 40% of this class was reading below our LI level.  Now you all are doing much better.

PLEASE PRACTICE A LOT THIS SUMMER.  No one in our class can do no English this summer and be okay in high intermediate in the fall.  If you don't have a 218 or higher on the reading test, read as much as you can.  I've seen people who read for one hour a day make big gains in one month.  Write a lot too.

Intense English classes are hard.  If you came to class, you won.  Your English is better, and you became stronger.  

Whether it rains or pours, I'm all yours....

 

Who's your favorite actor?  What's your favorite TV show?  What's your favorite movie?

Today, people in the class recommended Man in the Mirror, Prison Break, Breaking Bad, Titanic, Home Alone, The Color Purple, Mission Impossible, Game of Thrones and My Best Friend's Wedding.  Claribel recommended her son's favorite book series, "Awesome Alex."

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?

You've got a friend

 

Describe a few of your friends.  When did you meet them?  What do they look like?  What do (did) you usually do together?  Who is the tallest?  The youngest?  the farthest away? The most reliable?

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 $12.77/hour without the tip money.  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 their coworkers including bussers, "expo," (a person who checks the order and arranges the food in a pretty way) and bartenders.  Other restaurants take all the tips and redistribute them to every worker equally.  When I worked at a restaurant, the servers kept all of their tips, but that was a long time ago.

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?

Holiday!

What's your favorite holiday?  Why do you like it?

What do you usually do to prepare?

Where are the best places to go for a vacation?  Why?

Challenge Listening: Thrift Store

 A thrift store is a place that sells used (secondhand) things.  Big ones near here are Salvation Army and Good Will.  The best selection of secondhand clothes in the area is probably at Unique.  The most expensive are probably consignment shops in Vienna.  The cheapest used clothes are from Facebook buy nothing groups or  at Yard Sales at random people's homes from 8 AM-12 PM on Saturday mornings.  

Yelp: Northern Virginia thrift stores

What's the best deal you ever found?  Was it new or used?

Shopping for a car!

 Whenever I shop for an appliance or a car, I look at Consumer Report's ratings.

Challenge Listening about cars:  (You probably should slow this one down in YouTube)

Maryann says that she checks Consumer Reports on the sofa at home through her library card!  

Here are her instructions:

Hi Laurie.

This is how I reached Consumer Reports online using my library account number and login:

1.  Logged into George Mason Regional Library with my library card number and password;

2. Go to “Research Center”In column on left side of screen

3.   Click “All Databases;” and 

4 .  Click on “C” in the alphabet list and Consumer Reports is the third or fourth entry.

Fairfax County Public Library cards are available free to residents of Fairfax County.  You can borrow books, CDs, DVDs, and artwork.