englishtown

I did not go to the Englishtown for my study. Because I got some excuses that my account has been created for another people. I felt embarrassed because most of the teachers called a girl’s name. That was terrible.

OK.  Here are some comments from teachers.

Excellent! ??It was a pleasure to meet you. I wish you the best of luck in your studies. Learning new vocabulary is important.  Make a point to review your lesson vocabulary whenever possible. (Nora)

Thanks for your active participation and comments which really contributed to the success of the discussion today – it was fun to hear your comments and the other students appreciated them as well. (craig_B)

Keep up the good work! You made a very good effort.The best way to improve is to participate and be active in class,which you did very well. (Rachel)

That was a great class! Thanks for your active participation in today’s lesson dominic. You are speaking English very well and demonstrating a solid vocabulary. See you again soon. (Oliver_B)

You did very well in the conversation today, Dominic. I hope you enjoyed the class and see you again soon. (Edith)

Excellent! TODAYS CLASS WAS THE BEST!! YOU PARTICIPATED EXTREMELY WELL!! I REALLY ENJOYED LISTENING TO YOUR BRILLIANT CONTRIBUTIONS AND TEACHING YOU. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!! (Sue M_SA)

That was a great class! Dominic, it was a great class.You read the dialouge well and had a good grasp of the topic. Remember that a SPITTING IMAGE OF- means that you look almost identical to someone. Keep up the good work. (Charmaine)

That was a great class! Your contributions helped to make this a very interesting class. You answered well and your answers were relevant to the questions. Well done. (Colleen)

Thanks for your active participation in today`s lesson.  You are speaking English very well and demonstrating a solid vocabulary.  See you again soon. (Michelle_B)

Your pronunciation is really good. You are speaking English in the class with confidence and clarity.  You have a thorough understanding of the topic and are making excellent contributions.  I hope my corrections will help you improve your English. Well done. (Ross_B)

You have a good grasp of the topic. It was a pleasure to meet you. I wish you the best of luck in your studies. Great details given while speaking about any given topic! Keep up your efforts! (Nora)

You are speaking in class with purpose and sound technique.  You are making excellent contributions.  Keep up the great work and I will see you again soon at Englishtown. (Vanessa_B)

Excellent! Nice work! I enjoyed talking about food, even though it did make me quite hungry! I hope to see you soon for another class. (Pierre_B)

Hi there!! Thank you for attending and participating in todays lesson. I hope that you enjoyed todays lesson and also found it helpful. You gave some interesting answers and contributed fully to the class discussion! Well done!! Your English was good for this level but keep practicing every day. I would like you to follow the recommendations which i suggested in class. Have a nice day!! James McCann, Cape Town, South Africa. (James M_SA)

Excellent! thank you very much for joining me today.you are brilliant and i enjoyed having you in my class.you will gain the knowledge you seek.keep up the good work.sorry for the disconnection..see you soon. (Lee_SA)

Thanks for coming to our `family` class. You spoke well and I think we could have gone on longer! I look forward to hearing more from you Dominic. (Judith)

That was a great class! Thank you for joining us today. It was great having you with us. You did a great job, keep up the good work. I hope to see you again soon. (Alfre L_SA)

You are working well in class and making excellent contributions. You do need to extend your vocabulary. This is not a serious concern, just an endeavor to refine your skills even further. You need to develop your grammar skills as well. See you again soon (Vanessa_B)

Thanks for the great class!. We covered a lot of vocabulary and did a lot of practice that will help you make progress. You are developing some good fundamental skills. I hope my corrections help you improve your speaking. See you again soon in class. (Vanessa_B)

you demonstrate a fine competency with the English language. You need to work on your pronunciation to fine tune your skills. Keep up the great work, see you again real soon. (Laura_B)

Excellent! Thanks for your active participation in today`s lesson. You are speaking English very well and demonstrating a solid vocabulary. See you again soon. (Caroline E_B)

Excellent! Hi Dominic, you are an amazingly good student! Thank you very much for coming to class today! You were fantastic and enthuiastic, and I really appreciate it that! Your English is really good! (Sergio P_JHB)

It was a pleasure to have you in the class with me today. Well done for doing a good job, you were able to conduct a good conversation with the other students in the class. Keep up the hard work, and continue top practice your English as much as you can. Good bye!! (Helen G_SA)

Excellent! I really enjoyed having you in class today. Thanks so much for your effort and participation. Keep up the good work and I hope to see you very soon. (Ben S_B)

Excellent! that was a wonderful class, i really enjoyed teaching you and hope to see you next time. your vocabulary is very good and your pronunciation is improving. keep on practising and goodluck for your studies Dominic. (Vuyo Mj_SA)

Excellent! you are demonstrating good fundamental speaking skills in class. I look forward to working with you again in the future. Keep up the good work. (John_B)

I enjoy having you in class. You have outstanding skills and you express yourself very well,you are also a lively student and mek the lesson more enjoyable,you did well today and it was nice seeing you hope you enjoyed the lesson and that we can meeet again. Esnath (Helen K_SA)

Excellent! Excellent work and well done!!! you showed a good understanding of the topic and you used good english in the discussin. your pronounciation is very good. keep it up. Hope to see you soon. (Sue M_SA)

Let’s start from 22th, July. It’s quite a long time.

22th, July: The topic is about India. But it is hard to remember.

Spicy food: means that some extra component added into the food. Maybe it is very hot. For example: I am addicted to spicy food. That means I enjoy food with hot very much.

On 23th, the topic is about Advertisement. Here are some interesting advertisements.

The first picture is about the IPOD. It is a MP3 player. It is in fresh looking, modern and aimed for young people.

The right picture on the first line is a laptop. And I guess it is posted by DELL Company. In this AD, we can see there are too much information offered in the right side of the picture. It also shows the price “$399”. But it is not colourful. It is dull (Old fashioned.) .

And the third one is funny. HAHA! We can see that the man called PC is fatter than the one called MAC. The MAC is more effective. Sometimes I agree with that. 🙂

The next picture, maybe it is shotted from a building. Maybe the word, “don’t jump”, it is hard to understand. We can paraphase this sentence into “We can help you, don’t jump.” On the right side of the corner. There is a URL.

The last picture, “I never read the Economist”. It is written by a Management Trainer aged about 4X years old. It is easily to understand. He spent half of his life and only get a manager. But he did not read this magzine. Maybe that is why he did not get promotion at a younger age.

New Words:

Slogan: It is a type of a sentence or a few words. For example, “One World, One dream” is a slogan. And there are some benefits: 1. Companies use slogan to attract us. 2. They use simple way to make us remember.

Here are some famous slogans:

Just do it (Nike)~~ It is very popular around the world.

It is. Are you? (The Indenpendent – Newspaper.)~~It is the Indenpendent!

… …

Testimonial: It is similiar with the Recommend Letter.

Enticing: Means attractive.

Subtle [‘S/\tl]: means tricky.

But there is too much advertising in our lives.

On 24th, July, the topic is about keeping fit.

The model sentence is “I keep fit by …… “.

New Words:

Jogging: It is seems to be one type of running, but in a lower speed. Example: I always go jogging with my dog.

Fit as a fiddle: It is a verbal-phase. It means very healthy.   

Fight fit~ Very strong.

Here are some tests:

1. You can eat anything you want if you are fit.

If we eat an unhealthy diet, we will become fat.

2. You only need to do exercise in order to lose weight.

We need to exercise in order to maintain a healthy body, heart, main.

3. You should train very hard when you first join a gym so you can catch up with the other member.

You need to begin an exercise progran slowly. Listen to your body.

4. You need to go to the gym or buy expensive equipment in order to get fit.

You can exercise at home. You can go outdoors and lead an active lifestyle.

5. A good exercise program includes cardiovascular training, strength training (1.e. with weights) and stretching.

Absolutely!!!!

6. You should hold your breath when lifting weights.

You should remember to breathe when lifting weights.

25th, July: Sports

New Words:

Contact sports: One item of sports, for example: football, boxing, rugby etc.

Overflowing: ==flooding    Example: Rivers are overflowing.

Question: Who is your favourite sportsperson? Why do you like them?

One possible solution: My favourite sports person is LiuXiang. He is very brave and he always trusts himself in the match and I think it is the athletic spirit. I think that ehrer are many other athletes that don’t have the same spirit in the competetion. I am not sure whether or not he will win in 2008 Olympics in track and field, but I will study his spirit.

2nd solution: My favourite athlete is Zedane – a  very famous French football player. Actually, I am not a person who likes sports much but I like watching football – especially the world cup. Many people him and others don’t.

On 26th, July: Travel

New Words:

Transition: ==transform, change.

Passion: ==enthusiasm.  Example: You showed your passion in this class.

In my case: ==in my point of view, for me, for my own perspectives… …

Slacker: ==lazy bones

Dialect [daiElekt] : Different pronouncation for different areas of country.

Question:

1. If you are preparing to go abroad, what would you like to bring?

1. Visa 2. Money, cash or Credit Card. 3. Passport 4. Drugs 5. Appropriate clothing 6. Adaptor plug

2. Why do people going abroad for work or study?

1. For better career 2. Better life 3. Close family members

On 27th, July: I learnt some useful tips for “Asking Questions”

New Words:

to head off for: ==to go/ leave

the spitting image of: ==look like  Example: She is spitting image of my cousin.

to brush on: ==review something

The good sample for asking indirect questions:

I wonder something … …

Could/Can you tell me … …

Do you know if … …

Would you mind … …

We were talking about budgets on 28th, 2008.

Questions:

1. What’s a budget?   2. What’s  a budget holiday?   3. What’s the most expensive holiday you’ve ever had?   4. What the cheapest holiday you’ve ever gone on?   5. What’s the biggest holiday cost?

Answers:

1. It is a fiancial plan, allocate money for specific purpose.

2. It is a holiday that you don’t need a lot of money for.

3. The most expensive holiday I have been on was to Thailand.

4. The cheapest holiday for me is when I go traveling, within my country. We use our car to travel so we don’t need to stay in a hotel.

5. -accomodation  -souveniers/ gifts   -plane ticket

 THIS PASSAGE DID NOT FINISHED

I have studied in the Englishtown for more than two weeks. I talked with many teachers in the Online Classroom. I feel less pressure than usual. There are some marks and the comments below:

you are speaking well in class, you have a solid vocabulary and you are developing your sentence building skills. Keep up the good work. (Laura_B)

Excellent! Great lesson here today! I had a fantastic time listening to you speak and thought your pronunciation was excellent! Keep working hard, and STAY SAFE! (Nick R)

You did a great job! Dominic, you are speaking in class with purpose and sound technique. You are making excellent contributions. Keep up the great work and I will see you again soon at Englishtown. (Ruth_B)

You did a great job! Dominic, your vocabulary is impressive and you have a good pronunciation. Just continue practicing your speaking as much as possible and you will continue to improve. (Aaron_B)

You have a good grasp of the topic. you are speaking in class with purpose and sound technique.  You are making excellent contributions.  Keep up the great work and I will see you again soon at Englishtown. (John_B)

I enjoy having you in class. You really come across positively. You are great fun to have in class and you give me the impression you are enjoying yourself.Keep it up, Dominic! (Daphene)

Excellent! Brilliant work Dominic! Your oral English is impressive, and I admire your enthusiasm in class! Keep up the good work, and hopefully we will meet again in the near future! (Vuyo B_SA)

That was a great class! thank you very much for this class, i really enjoyed your enthusiasm , and please i do urge you to keep up the good work at englishtown , have a great weekend, and i do hope to meet you in lessons to come, cheers (Jo_SA)

You did an excellent job Dominic.  You speak clearly and with a good level of accuracy.  Thanks for coming to the `phrasal verbs` class.  (Judith)

You are making great contributions to the class discussion.  Today`s class was a lot of fun and we treated a lot of different areas.  See you again soon in class. (William_B)

Yes, I upgraded to the Level 5. But it is not difficult. Maybe I will try the Level 7 next week because I want to get more progress in three months.

I will also summarize some good points from the Englishtown.

On 17th, July: We talked about some different way of the work. The topic is called “Working at Home”.

There are some advantages to work at home:

– to relieve pressure of traffic (The conjection, which is stand for the traffic jam, would be slightly. )

– to save money for company

– We can enjoy our family time

– More secure for people (Accidents)

– Less stressful (Most of the people are afraid of the boss or the manger.)

Everything has two sides :-), Here are some dis-advantages:

– Poor connection problem (Because the ADSL is much slower than the works in Local-Network.)

– The employee may be lazy with their works: waste time, distractions, etc.

– There are less space to work. (There is a statistic. Because there are more bacteria in your Home if you work and sleep in the same living-room. )

– Maybe you cannot meet the deadlines

– Need more money to buy equipments. (In most of the company, you can share the copier, faxer, printer… with your colleagues. But if you work at home, you will need dedicated facilities. )

– It is not good for the appearance for a company. (Everybody has their own cell-phone, telephone number… And it is not convenient for a customer to memorize large number of this. )

OK, that’s all above. And there is another question for this: if you would like to work at home. What are the things would you like to set up?

Maybe the answer is: At least one cell phone or telephone, faxer, copier, PC are needed. Air conditioner and other electronic equipment (Water cooler…) are optional.

New words: Cluttered == Messy

I forgot there is another class. It is on 16th, July. It was called “Stay Safe”. Yeah, it is a important topic that I have learned that the China is much safer than Western Country. Maybe there are many people living on. And the population density of China is extreme high. Maybe that’s one of the solution to answer this question :-).

Let’s move to this topic.

New Words:

Precaution == to prevent.

Bungee, is one of the extreme sports.

Pretty Crime: It is a slightly (not big) criminal issues, pick pokets.

near death experience: it is very easy to understand. NO EXPLAINATION

Question: How to keep yourself SAFE?

– Protect your home from thieves, robbery or possible danger.

– Alarm System maybe work for precautions

Let’s move on our topics. On 18th , July. I had a topic named “My Neighborhood”.

NEW WORDS:

His letter irritated/’iriteit/ me a little. Irritate: means that something makes you angry.

amenity: feel comfortable.

Pawn Shop: It is a place that you can sell your goods for emergency. And you can get it back by buying it soon.

bustling: Adjective. Busy, active.

cosmopolitan: I think it is useful. Let’s see an example: New York is a very cosmopolitan city.

So, cosmopolitan stands for “international”.

The old couple sold that large house and moved into a small bungalow. bungalow: small house without the lifts or more than 2 floors.

OK, the main task of the lesson is to introduce your neighborhood. Here is the Screen-shots for the answer.

We were talking about “My Childhood” on 19th, July. Let’s see some new words as usual:

reminisce == remember

Does your husband do any chores after work? Chore == Housework (NOT Homework :-))

Buliding blocks, is a game that most of us played it in our childhood.

Spoil (a child)

On 20th, July, I participated with a “Phasal Verb” Class.

NEW WORDS:

Call off == cancel

Catch up == Keep time with Someone/ Something.

Strong minded person

Multination company

take after == behave like

OK, that’s it. I have finished it.

I was using Englishtown more than 10 times. And I got much progress on that. I was very appreciated that there are many good teachers. Most of them a wonderful. They are kind, smart, easy-going and skilled.

Here are some feedbacks I got from them:

Excellent! thank you so much you are a brilliant student.please do keep up the good work and i hope you will pop up in my class again.this was a great class. (Lee_SA)

That was a great class! You are making great contributions to the class discussion. Today`s class was a lot of fun and we covered a lot of different areas. See you again soon in class. (Ben S_B)

Excellent! This was a fantastic lesson. I hope you enjoyed yourself. I`m particularly glad about your good efforts to practice your spoken English and really admire your confidence. Those were great contributions and can only encourage you to keep up the good work. Keep working on your pronunciation to perfect your diction. Best of luck in your studies. (Juliet_S)

Excellent! WELL THAT WAS AN EXCELLENT CLASS I REALLY ENJOYED TEACHING YOU TODAY. YOU REALLY PARTICIPATED WELL AND YOU SHOWED THAT YOU GRASPED THE TOPIC VERY WELL. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND I HOPE TO HAVE YOU IN MY CLASS SOON!! (Sue M_SA)

Keep up the good work! Dominic, well done and thank you for participating. Hope you had fun in class today. Remember practice makes perfect. Hope to see you soon. Regards, Haylee, RSA (Haylee M_SA)

I hope you enjoyed today`s class. Dominic, you worked well in class tonight discussing Comparatives and Superlatives. You are reading well in class but please remember that it is just as important to keep reading at home to improve your pronunciations and extend your vocabulary. Keep reading at home it is important. (Steve_B)

Well done and thank you for participating in my class! You read and speak very clearly and have great pronunciation. You have a great grasp of comparisons and so could express yourself rather well. You are a strong student and so should advance with ease. Thanks for your effort – hope to see you again in class soon! (Janet A_SA)

Excellent! A student that is not shy at all. He took an active part in the class. His pronunciation and sentence structure needs a bit of work. (Jacqui)

Some teachers said that pronunciation and sentence structure need to be progressed. But some of the teachers didn’t say that. I don’t know why, but I will practice more in the future.

OK! Let me summary the good expression and new words offered these days:

synonyms & antonyms: These has opposite meaning. A synonyms is a meaning of a word as same as another word’s meaning.

take credit: Mean that Sb. get reward or pay back from the work.

Co-worker: It is different from the word “co-operate”. But it has the same meaning as “work together” and “colleague”.

wander: It is a expression that means nothing to do(+about/off/over/through). It got similar to the word “laze about”.

chill out: It is equal to calm down.

tramp:The dictionary said: someone who has no home, job, or money and who lives outside

 

And there is a special expression in the sentence: B is the most interesting pictures amongst the there pictures.

I don’t know what is the difference between among and amongst. But I searched on the Internet. Some of the user said that the “amongst” is more stronger than “among”. In most of the cases, the word “amongst” can be replaced by “among”. This solution did not be verified. But this sentence was edited by a native speaker (Thanks for Janet). It is a superlative. And the sentence need to be supported by a strongest expression.

I catched a name of a grammar: adjective-comparative-superlative. Do you know what’s the Chniese meaning about these three words?

We talked about the travel today. And I also catched come argues from the packaged travel: 1. It can take you somewhere by bus 2. You cannot stop when you go some places of interest.

But all the Back-Packing are DIY.

natural surrounding: It is a good phase in the classroom. That means

And there is also a example about how to introduce yourself when you first meet someone or a group of people:

I come from xxx.
I am xx years old. I am able to xxx, and I was also responsible for …… I had greatly improved my xx skill at xxx.

My skills are mainly relevant to xxx. Now ,I’m doing something in xxx.

As a xxx, I am responsible for xxx and xxx where or what can be ……

OK,as you know,
be experience in xxx.
be good at xxx.
be familiar with xxx.

About my personal characters, I think I’m
active, self-motivated, warm-hearted, be confident, detail-oriented, be patient……

I enjoy xxx. I don’t like xxx

I also see that the registation of Verycd forum has been opened up. I haven’t logon that forum for over one and half years.