Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Let's practice gerunds, infinitives and using the bare infinitive. What's THAT???

Goto this page, read my posts and try the exercises:

http://preintduan.blogspot.com/search?q=gerunds

:)

Also, for fun have a look at my webpage, if you like, then click on animations, then click "here" ;)

Monday, June 8, 2009

Homework June 9th due THURSDAY

Hi class!

OK, good work.

Let's practice conditionals:

Try: http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/if-clauses.html
http://a4esl.org/q/h/mb/adv_conditional.html
http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/bl_conditionals1.htm
http://esl.about.com/od/grammarlessonplans/a/l_condreview.htm
http://esl.about.com/od/grammarlessonplans/a/chant13.htm
Study:

http://esl.about.com/od/gramma1/a/conditional.htm
FROM http://prof.usb.ve/bleiva/Ingles/Gramatica/Sesion7.htm...

Links:

For information or explanations on Conditionals, go to

http://www.englishspanishlink.com/gram%20conditional.htm

http://valenciaenglish.netfirms.com/conditionals.htm

http://grammar.englishclub.com/verbs-conditional.htm check the six links of this page, especially the ZERO CONDITIONAL, so important in scientific English.



To practice conditionals go to:

http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/quiz/if1.html

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/if-clauses.html

http://www.better-english.com/grammar/secondconditional1.htm

http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blgrquiz_conditionals.htm

http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/2nd3rdconditionals1.htm Fill in the gaps

http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/2nd3rdconditionals2.htm Rewrite the sentences

http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/2nd3rdconditionals3.htm Say if the sentences are correct or incorrect

http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/condit2.htm fill in the blanks

http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/condit3.htm An exercise to reinforce the use of the second and third conditional.



Modal verbs:

Remember to check explanations of MODAL VERBS in previous sessions.



May, might and would are modal verbs which are used as follows:



We use may and might for events which could happen in the future . Their most common meaning is POSSIBILITY.



Examples:

* I don't know what I will do on my vacation, but I may stay home.

* I can't help you. Why don't you ask the secretary? She might be able to help.

* It is cloudy today. It might rain this afternoon.



The negative forms of these verbs are may not, might not , would not



Examples:

* I may not go to the party tonight. I have a lot to study.

* Classes might not start next week. The teacher is traveling.



They can also be used in the continuous tense may/might be doing


Examples:

* If you call after 10:00 pm. I might be sleeping

* She may be going out off town next summer.



Sometimes we use would after the verb wish


Examples:

* I wish it would stop raining. It's raining a lot. I want to go out to play, but my mother says I can not because it is raining.

* Tom wishes He would be able to speak German. He needs to travel to Germany soon and he doesn't know a word in that language.



We use I wish...wouldn�t to complain about the way some people do certain actions .


Examples:

* I wish my father wouldn't smoke so much. He might get sick.

* He wishes you wouldn't drive so fast. It makes him feel nervous.



You can also use would to express the past and remember events which have happened.


Examples:

* When my brother was a child, he went to the USA by ship. He would wake up very early every morning to see the sunrise.

* Whenever Linda was sad, she would just walk out of the room.

* When we were children, we all used to get up very early and go to the beach every day during summer.



Taken and modified from: Murphy, R. and William Rutherford (1999). Grammar in Use. Cambridge University Press, UK.



Links:

For explanations and exercises on Modal Verbs go to: http://www.englishpage.com/modals/modalintro.html

http://esl.lbcc.cc.ca.us/eesllessons/modals/modals.htm

http://www.i-claudius.com/esl/modals.html

http://smccd.net/accounts/sevas/esl/gramcheck/gramcheck3-5/modalflashcds.html

Try searching on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdHbkjCviC0&feature=PlayList&p=EEA0D5FA42DB4C58&index=2&playnext=2&playnext_from=PL

Or Google:
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=conditional+quiz+esl&meta=

More test practice here:

http://preintduan.blogspot.com/2009/04/toeic-youtube-tests.html

Thursday, May 28, 2009

How many kilos?

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

One more

Choose which verb. Causative? To? that?

http://www.quia.com/quiz/288695.html?AP_rand=1738602401

Causative verbs

REad this please:

http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/22581-causative-verbs-make-have-get-let-etc.html

http://www.eslgold.com/grammar/causative_verbs.htmlCausative Verbs
Causative verbs designate the action necessary to cause another action to happen. In "The devil made me do it." the verb "made" causes the "do" to happen. Here is a brief list of causative verbs, in no particular order: let, help, allow, have, require, allow, motivate, get, make, convince, hire, assist, encourage, permit, employ, force. Most of them are followed by an object (noun or pronoun) followed by an infinitive: "She allows her pet cockatiel to perch on the windowsill. She hired a carpenter to build a new birdcage."

Three causative verbs are exceptions to the pattern described above. Instead of being followed by a noun/pronoun and an infinitive, the causative verbs have, make and let are followed by a noun/pronoun and the base form of the verb (which is actually an infinitive with the "to" left off).

Professor Villa had her students read four short novels in one week.
She also made them read five plays in one week.
However, she let them skip the final exam.

Try:

http://www.eslgold.com/grammar/causative_verbs.html
http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/lefg1_causative2.html

Causative verbs

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

FOLLOW

What is following a blog?

Read this:
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=104226

So, after you "follow" you need to read this:

http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=99761

OKAY, so next you need to create a blog!!! Yay!

After you have created a blog, you can go to your dashboard and you add the blog by scrolling down to the reading list.

So,:

1. Create a blog.
2. Go to http://preintduan.blogspot.com/
3. Click FOLLOW and use your blog login.
4. Go to your blog.
5. Click DASHBOARD.
6. Scroll down to Reading list.

That's it!
Homework 26 May, 09.

Please click FOLLOW on the right -> then login and you should see your picture on the right of the blog.

Thursday:

We will be focusing on the TOEIC grammar focus for this week, so we will go on the blog 2:30-3:30 Thursday. Each student must write a "COMMENT"/question about the blog for that day.

Thanks!

Duan.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Moreover

Moreover...

Hi!

Read this - it talks about common words new students try to use that locals usually don't:

eg: Moreover, almost/most (misuse), hobby, so so, maybe no.

Interesting.

Some notes:

Don't say: Maybe no. Almost students. so so.
--> Instead, try: No. Most students. Not too bad

You will only hear this at interviews or elementary school really: hobby.
Only in academic writing and TOEIC: moreover

Cheers,
Duan.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Last class

Hi TEOIC!

Wow - we have covered lots of grammar on this blog - I hope you've been keeping up!

Today, try studying ing/ed here:

1. Here
2. Here
3. Here
4. Here
5. Read this about passive tenses...
6. Participles
7.Finally, here

OK - great!

Furthermore (for Roger! haha) - did you all study subordinating conjunctions yet??), here are some documents with links that I created to answer some questions at PGIC previously:

OPEN WORD FIRST!These are in folders...
Conjunctions:
S:\STUDENT'S WORK FOR TEACHERS\Duan\NOT HERE\Conjunctions_TOEIC.doc
Comparatives:
S:\STUDENT'S WORK FOR TEACHERS\Duan\NOT HERE\TOEIC compare.doc
Past perfect continunous:
S:\STUDENT'S WORK FOR TEACHERS\Duan\NOT HERE\past_perfect_cont.doc
S:\STUDENT'S WORK FOR TEACHERS\Duan\NOT HERE\past_cont_perfect.doc
TOEIC test practice:
S:\STUDENT'S WORK FOR TEACHERS\Duan\NOT HERE\TOEICextra.doc
Revision:
S:\STUDENT'S WORK FOR TEACHERS\Duan\NOT HERE\toeic_revision_updated_terry.doc

OK, great!

Don't forget to COMMENT to ask any questions.
Also, FOLLOW this blog for updates forever! Yay!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Questions in class

Good luck in tomorrow's TOEIC test!

Some questions answered from today's class...

Moreover/Furthermore/Therefore/So:

Read this and this.

Here are some common subordinating conjunctions.
Here is a quiz.

Connectors quiz.

More practice.

Lots more examples.

OKAY. What else?

Passive and active voice.

What is that?


What is an example?

Quiz.

One more.


Can you show me on YouTube?

Continued.

More on conjunctions here and here.

Finally, what about sentence structure? eg subject-verb-object, etc.

Read this, then:

Practice subject-verb agreement here.

Oh, yes - the other problem was with gerunds and infintives.

Read this and this, too.

Gerund or Infinitive with/without to

Quiz1.

Quiz2.

Quiz3.

What is a bare infinitive?

Example.

Cool - good night and good luck!

Duan.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Perfect!

Hi class! Firstly - whoops! The address is not TOEIC, it's:

http://preintduan.blogspot.com/


Please check it regularly. The best way is to click "FOLLOW" to get updates.

If anything is way too easy, stop it and try another link instead :)

Okay, so on Tuesday, I found there was some confusion about:

before/after
present/past tense
bare infinitive

Also, the grammar focus for this week is relative clauses:
who/which/that

eg. He is the teacher who helped me.
That is the book that I read.
You are the one I trust.

To practice perfect tenses:
1. Read this and present and this for past. These are very useful pages. Click around. Have fun!
2. Practice here
3. and here

To practice before and after, click:
1. Here
2. and here.

To practice relative clauses:
1. Read this, this and this.
2. Practice here.
3. A little more advanced.

For additional work, try here, here, here and here.
Any questions? Click "message".

Finally, test your understanding of tenses here.

Good luck!

Duan.

Oh, here are some explanations:

Present perfect



Past perfect.



Relative clauses



For homework, why not practice the TOEIC test in my previous post here:
Reading
Listening
Answers.

C ya!
Duan.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

More slowly VS slower

Today, I was asked what is the difference between:

more slowly | slower

-> adverb | adjective

i.e. You can't use the adjective "slower" as an adverb.

For a full discussion on this point, read here.

Therefore, we must say: "Speak more slowly".

We shouldn't say "Speak slower", because Speak is a verb here, not a noun.

So, before using "slower", think: is it referring to a noun or a verb?

eg.
Speak more slowly. <--- verb/adverb!!!!
You speech should be slower. <--- noun/adjective!!!!

So, if it's an adverb (ie usually -ly), we don't change it to -ier. We use "more -ly" :)

Got it?

I might also mention an online TOEIC preparation site here for about $20/week. (They have offered discounts if you mention this blog.)

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Comparatives and Superlatives

Hi TOEIC class! Let's hope the computers work this time.

GRAMMAR THIS WEEK: Comparatives and Superlatives!

So let's practice:

First, check out this song for the differences. Why not?

1. Comparative & Superlative
2. Comparative & Superlative 3



Pick and choose the right ones for you:

COMPARATIVES



  1. comparative and superlative 01 [A4ESL]


  2. comparative and superlative 02 [A4ESL]

  3. comparative and superlative 03 [A4ESL]

  4. comparative and superlative 04 [A4ESL]

  5. comparative and superlative 05 [Learnenglish]

  6. comparative and superlative 06 [Collegeem]

  7. comparative and superlative 07 [Collegeem]


  8. comparative and superlative 08 [StClare Oxford online]

  9. comparative and superlative 11 [The Grammar Aquarium]

  10. comparative grammar [English Club]

  11. comparative mistakes [Pasadena City College]

  12. comparative superiority 1 [Better-English]

  13. comparative superiority 2 [Better-English]


  14. comparison of adjectives 1 [English-Hilfen]

  15. comparison of adjectives 2 [English-Hilfen]

  16. comparison of adjectives 3 [English-Hilfen]

  17. comparison of adverbs 1 [English-Hilfen]

  18. comparison sentences 01 [A4ESL]

  19. comparison sentences 02 [A4ESL]


  20. comparison sentences 03 [A4ESL]

  21. comparison sentences 04 [ODL]

  22. comparison sentences 05 [A4ESL]

  23. crossword comparatives superlatives [ODLT]

  24. degrees of comparison 1 [Learnenglish]

  25. degrees of comparison 2 [Learnenglish]


  26. easy comparisons [A4ESL]

  27. grammar all kind of comparatives [Edufind]

  28. grammar comparative and superlative 01 [Curso-Ingles online]

  29. grammar comparative and superlative 02 [ESL About]

  30. grammar comparative and superlative 03 [University of Calgary]

  31. grammar comparative and superlative 04 [Sherton]


  32. grammar comparative and superlative 05 [P. James M. Donnelly]

  33. grammar comparative and superlative 06 [St Clare Oxford]

  34. grammar comparative and superlative 07 [ESL About]

  35. grammar comparative and superlative 08 [Sherton]

  36. grammar comparative and superlative 09 [A4ESL]

  37. grammar spanish comparative and superlative [OM Grammar]


  38. list comparative and superlative [A4ESL]

  39. puzzle comparatives[ITESLJ]

  40. regular comparatives and superlatives 1 [University of Victoria BC.]

  41. regular comparatives and superlatives 2 [University of Victoria BC]

  42. sentence-ordering puzzle [University of Victoria BC]



SUPERLATIVES


Superlative exercises 4 [ODL.VWV.]


Superlative grammar [English Club]


Spelling Superlatives 1 .-[ English-Zone]


Superlative Forms.-complete the sentences.-[Isabel Pèrez]


superlatives 2.-listen and answer.-[Andrew Thatcher]


Superlatives.-listen and answer.-[Andrew Thatcher]



Finally, try some online TOEIC tests from last session, here.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

New Students Session 5

Good afternoon class of session 5!!!

Well, we all know that "TOEIC IS FANTASTIC", but why?

1. It is a fantastic way to focus your grammar skills.
2. It is a fantastic opportunity to learn as part of a group-structured practice.
3. It is a fantastic chance to practice your English under pressure, which is fantastic for job opportunities.

So, how do you start using this blog?

1. JOIN this blog, so that you get notified of updates.
2. RIGHT-click the links to open new windows ("open in new window").
3. If unsure of what to do, read the blog, ask a partner or ask me!

What about now?

This week's grammar focus is on prepositions (time/place), so here are some links to follow (remember right-click, then "open in new window" please).

1. Let's start by clicking on this moderate-level prepositions QUIZ. (click)
2. Then, here.
3. More here.
4. OKAY, try studying some common prepositions here, then follow the links on the page (if the advert isn't too distracting!).
5. The other thing to do is study YouTube:

Some locations prepositions:







Common errors - prepositions:





If you have lots of time for prepositions, try all these:

Start here with these excellent tables and the exercises that come with them from the ego4u website:

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/prepositions

These are from the Language Project website:

http://www.languageproject.co.uk/free_exercises/elementary/elementary_prepositions.htm

Prepositions with People

http://www.languageproject.co.uk/free_exercises/exercise_page.php?ID=76

Prepositions – Study

http://www.languageproject.co.uk/free_exercises/exercise_page.php?ID=77

Prepositions of Place

http://www.languageproject.co.uk/free_exercises/exercise_page.php?ID=97

Prepositions of Time

http://www.languageproject.co.uk/free_exercises/exercise_page.php?ID=98

From the website 5-minute English: Time and Date:

http://www.5minuteenglish.com/mar18.htm

The following links are from the excellent ESL website a4esl.

Here are the Preposition exercises from there in order of difficulty. Make sure you bookmark the site and go back and use it for other things too.

Prepositions often confused by Donna Tatsuki

http://a4esl.org/q/j/dt/mc-confusedprep.html

A preposition crossword:

http://iteslj.org/cw/1/vm-prep.htm

About, at, for or to by Vera Mello

http://a4esl.org/q/j/vm/fb-prep.html

At, in or on by Nuala Ivic

http://a4esl.org/q/j/ni/fb-prepositions.html

Prepositions by Vera Mello

http://a4esl.org/q/j/vm/mc-prep.html

At in or on by Jack Bradshaw

http://a4esl.org/q/j/jb/fb-prepositions.html

In, At or On by Douglas Gilbert

http://a4esl.org/q/h/9704/dg-in-at-on.html

By Ilker utlu

http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz48miu.htm

http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz46miu.htm

By Charles Kelly

http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz98bck.htm

By Barbara Donnelly

http://a4esl.org/q/h/fb-bd-preposition.html

4 by Vera Mello

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/prepos01.html

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/prepos02.html

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/prepos03.html

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/prep01.html

By Yanti Nading

http://a4esl.org/q/h/0001/yn-prepositions.html

By Leticia Bradley

http://a4esl.org/q/h/lb/inatplaces.html

http://a4esl.org/q/h/lb/inonat.html

At on and in used in Time and Dates

http://a4esl.org/q/h/lb/atonintime.html

At, by, with

http://a4esl.org/q/h/lb/atbywith.html

Slightly more difficult maybe:

by Senora Edmilson

http://a4esl.org/q/h/0101/es-prepositions.html

By Violeta Tsoneva

http://a4esl.org/q/f/x/xz98mvt.htm

By Charles Kelly

http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz65fck.htm

After, for or since by Vera Mello

http://a4esl.org/q/j/vm/fb-afterforsince.html

By Charles Kelly

http://a4esl.org/q/j/ck/fb-prepositions.html

By Vera Mello

http://a4esl.org/q/j/vm/ci-prep.html

Charles Kelly:

http://a4esl.org/q/j/ck/mc-prepositions.html

In, on or up by Richard Davies

http://a4esl.org/q/h/9801/rd-inonup.html

By Cheryl Newman Maris

http://a4esl.org/q/h/9704/cn-prepos.html

Level 2 by Vera Mello

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/prep02.html

Level 3 by Vera Mello

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/prep03.html

Astronomy quiz to practise prepositions by Joan M Diez

http://a4esl.org/q/h/9901/jd-astronomy.html

DIFFICULT

Quiz about Manatees (very large and not very beautiful animals that live in the sea) by Alexandra Sanchez

http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz36mas.htm

Particles in Conversation by Ted Power

http://a4esl.org/q/j/tp/mc-particle.html

http://a4esl.org/q/j/tp/mc-particle2.html

http://a4esl.org/q/j/tp/mc-particle3.html

http://a4esl.org/q/j/tp/mc-particle4.html

http://a4esl.org/q/j/tp/mc-particle5.html

http://a4esl.org/q/j/tp/mc-particle6.html

http://a4esl.org/q/j/tp/mc-particle7.html

US Holidays and Celebrations by Vera Mello. This is a useful exercise for ECCE students

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/holidays.html

Prepositions for the Writing about Graphs task in the IELTS exam. Also good for CPE students. By Enda Tuomey

http://www.writefix.com/graphs/preps.htm





How do you self-study? Try searching like this on google.com.au (click here).

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Homework for TOEIC weekend

Revise the difference between specified and unspecified here:

1. Read this.

2. What are generic nouns???

3. OK, practice the previous TOEIC posts - test practice.

4. Study uncountable nouns.

5. Examples of THE...


6. What's the difference between countable and uncountable?

7. Which one??

8. Practice your understanding here.

9. Practice indefinite articles.

10 and definite.

Monday, April 13, 2009

PART IV answers

part IV answers: 29c 30a 31d 32a 33c34b 35 a36c 37d 38d 39d 40b 41c

TOEIC reading PARTS V, VI, VII

OK, I think the TOEIC LISTENING tests from YouTube were quite useful. Please practice these again at home for homework.

Here are the answers from part II: 10B 11a 12c 13a 14b 15c.

Next, have a look at this series of videos about the READING PARTS v,vi, vii.

Cheers,
Duan.

PART V



CONTINUED:



PART VI



continued:



PART VII



continued:



Final review from YouTube:



Happy studying!

Duan.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

TOEIC youtube tests...

Cool! Try these...









Also some of you might need to practice prepositions here:



Here:



and here:



What about conditionals?



Finally, here are some online tips and overview of the TOEIC test:




Try searching youtube for yourself typing in "TOEIC"

Cheers and happy study!

Duan.

Elmo

Ha haha!

This is soooo cute.