Hi Guys?
Do you have any idea what we can write about? Maybe you would like to know sth about LINGUISTICS? We are waiting for your comments and ideas  ! :)

witches-watched-waches

Do you speak Greek?

Do you like automotive?
EXCELENT ENGLISH! JEREMY SPEAKS PERFECTLY! WATCH :)

Have you heard about Pro-Ana? I have heard recently about it and I'm shocked! Girls have own websites with the slogan : PRO-ANA. It means that they treat anorexia like the kind of lifestyle , not  disease!!
They have own Dekalogue and for instance:

1. My slenderness is more important than my health.
2 You don't eat- you are strong, you eat - you are weak.

and they are writing, e.g:

Today I ate one apple and drank green tea

DO YOU AGREE THAT MODERN TECHNOLOGY AND MASS MEDIA MAKES SOMETIMES YOUNG PEOPLE STUPID? WE ARE AGAINST PRO-ANA!!!

We compared 5 books which are frequently used by students. If you hesitate which book you should buy, look and decide:

The book	Level	Plus	Minus	REMARK
Michael Swan, Practical English Grammar		Lots of theory and examples	No practice	For us it was not possible to learn only with this book without practice.
Foley, Hall, My GrammarLab	C1-C2	Lots of examples, order, additional things, for instance phrasal verbs	-----------------------	It is very difficult book. We find that it is more difficult than Vince’s one. But it is the same level…
Martin Hewings, Advanced Grammar in Use	C1-C2	Lots of examples, order, lots of new words and phrases.	Sometimes we did not understand theory which was explained more clearly in Swan..
Michael Vince, Advanced Language Practice	C1-C2	All difficult and strange cases which were explained in the class.	Lack of order. All is mixed up.
Michael Vince, First Certificate Language Practice	B2	------------------------	----------------------	Too easy for us. We would like to recommend it the students from the first year.

HEWINGS - ADVANCED GRAMMAR IN USE

In this book besides grammar which is similar to Vince, I think, we can find texts with new words!

Look:

Prague is a stunning city,and this thriving capital of the Czech Republic makes a romantic and vibrant citybreak destination. A stroll through Prague's cobbled streets is wonderfully exciting: its architecture is remarkably diverse, and amazingly untouched by the Second World War, although Charles Bridges and the Astronomical Clock have recently been undergoing restoration.

Or even we have information about prefixes!

Look:

mis- badly	misdiagnose sth, misinform sb, mismanage sth, mistreat sth/sb
inter- between from one to another	interdependent, interrelated
ill- badly	ill-treated, ill-advised
re- again	refuel, rewrite, retell
de- indicating reversal or removal	depopulated, decentralize, destabilize
anti- opposed to	anti-racism, anti-drugs policy

Or common abreviations:

PS - postscript
encl. - document enclosed
PTO - please turn over
NB - used to make sb notice some important information
PC - politically correct aiming to avoid offending anyone
ETA - estimated time of arrival
B&B - bed and breakfast

Or Glossary with academic English:

evaluate sth
discursive
summarize sth
criterion
coherent
command of sth
stylistic
register

MY GRAMMAR LAB - THE MOST EXPENSIVE BOOK

Contents:

At the beginning of a book we can find the keyword for registration on the Internet, and there are plenty of additional exercises and films:

And in the book there are plenty of additional exercises which are typical of our test in June:

Here we have also many interesting issues, besides grammar rules.

e.g

KEY WORD	SIMILE
gold	The kids were as good as gold today = well behaved
feather	I picked up the little girl - she was as light as a feather.
bat	I'm afraid I'm blind as a bat = used humorously
post	My father is deaf as a post = used homorously
ox	John will carry it - he's as strong as an ox.

Or information:

German woman who has spent 55 years with the tip of a pencil lodged in her brain has finally had it removed. Margaret Wegner fell over carrying the pencil when she was four. It punctured her check and went into her brain causing excruciating pain, and she has lived with the ensuing chronic headaches ever since. At the time, no one dared operate, but the remaining 2 cms of pencil were removed on Friday in a delicate operation. She is said to be making a speed recovery.

MICHAEL VINCE ADVANCED LANGUAGE PRACTICE






Aside from grammar , you can learn and practise here English Vocabulary

e.g

Idiom or set phrase	Meaning
Bob's coming, isn't he? Don't hold your breath.	used to say you don't expect sth to happen even though sb said it would.
Are they sure to win the election? Yeath. It's foregone conclusion.	used to say that sth is a result that is certain to happen.
Are you going to the party? You bet.	used to emphasize that you are keen to do sth.
It's very cold today. You can said that again.	used to agree completely with what sb has just said.
Can we go in if we're not members? No way.	used to say that sth is not at all possible or not allowed. SYN : No chance.

Or we can find lots of new words e.g connected with discuss prison.

REOFFEND
THE ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
DETERRENT
TURN OVER A NEW LEAF
OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD
REHABILITATION

Or interesting information, e.g :

GRENDON - is not a typical prison. It is constructed exclusively on the principles of group therapy, and operates as a "therapeutic community" for offenders.

MICHAEL SWAN PRACTICAL ENGLISH USAGE

MICHAEL SWAN PRACTICAL ENGLISH USAGE

It a perfect book a far as practice is concerned. Lots of examples but without exercises.

An example : PRESENT PERFECT. What can we find in Swan’s book? 

      The structure

Have/has + past participle

An Example: I have broken my glasses. She hasn’t phoned. Have you finished?

  When we use it? 

1) finished events connected with the present

I can’t go on holiday because I’ve broken my leg.

                                THOUGHTS

PAST                                                         NOW

2) finished events: news

 Uncle George has crashed the car again.

finished action + news now

3)time words: ever,before,recently etc

Have you ever seen a ghost?

We haven't seen Beth recently.

4) repetition up to now 

I've written six letters

5) continuation up to now

I've known her for years

and ADVANCED POINTS !!! 

If you want to have more, here you can find contens :
Look, how "rich" this book is !

Look how this book looks inside:

And the reviews of other people:

"Swan's "Practical English Usage" is a staple book that should be in pretty much any resource collection. The book is arranged in sections that give brief introductions to a huge range of grammatical forms, their functions and a host of other information.

The sections are replete with examples to illustrate the point that Swan is making. The language is very accessible and I have used this book as a rescue resource for difficult questions asked by students.

Perhaps one point, as mentioned by another reviewer, is that the information on each element is not extensive. However, considering that the book weighs in at "hefty" and covers a huge range of things, this is not surprising. One could easily justify supplementing it with another grammar book or two in order to get that comprehensiveness.

However, for everyday teaching purposes, "Practical English Usage" is a mainstay and a fantastic resource"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I've had this book for about eight years (a previous edition) and have never had a doubt I couldn't take off in a minute with it. It's very easy to look up and there's cross-reference to related topics.

The explanations range from informal spoken English to formal and literary written English; from basic usage to the most complex and tricky grammatical rules even native speakers have trouble with. Differences between Brittish and American English are also shown.

I don't feel the need for any other similar book so far. This one is great!"

GRAMMAR!! LET'S LEARN PART 1

Happy New Year!

Hi Everybody!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Abba

'Happy new year"

No more champagne
And the fireworks are through
Here we are, me and you
Feeling lost and feeling blue
It's the end of the party
And the morning seems so grey
So unlike yesterday
Now's the time for us to say...

Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I

Sometimes I see
How the brave new world arrives
And I see how it thrives
In the ashes of our lives
Oh yes, man is a fool
And he thinks he'll be okay
Dragging on, feet of clay
Never knowing he's astray
Keeps on going anyway...

Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I

Seems to me now
That the dreams we had before
Are all dead, nothing more
Than confetti on the floor
It's the end of a decade
In another ten years time
Who can say what we'll find
What lies waiting down the line
In the end of eighty-nine...

Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I 

Now you can also sing ;) 

Have a nice .... night;)

A&D&M

Merry Christmas and

 

Hi !

Merry Christmas!

 We baked some cookies! You also can:

Christmas Cookie Recipe

 Having procured one chalice butter, 2/3 chalice sugar, cream these ingredients, that by their commingling, you may begin to make the dough.

In a similar way, the butter is having been made commingled, with the sugar, beat in one egg.

Gather these dry ingredients to yourself, which you have received, so that, having combined them, you may add them to the dough which you have already begun to make: 2 1/2 chalices sifted all-purpose flour. 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Make the precious dough with your venerable hands.

Into the refrigerator graciously place the dough, so that it, having been chilled for the duration of 3 or 4 hours, before the rolling and the the cutting of the cookies.

When, in the fullness of time, you are a ready to bake these spotless cookies, these delicious cookies, these Christmas cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Rolling out the dough and taking up the cookie cutter or stencil of your own choosing, fashion the cookies into forms that are pleasing.

Sprinkle colourful adornments of the cookies like the dewfall.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the cookies have just begun to attain to the brownness that is graciously granted them by the oven’s heat.

May these cookies be found acceptable in your sight, and be borne to a place of refreshment at your table whereon they may be served with milk, hot chocolate, or with your spirits.

It is delicious !
you must try it !
Have a nice day
A&D&M

 

Hi Guys !

How is your day ? We hope you are fine ! We think that need some motivation !!! We all have some free time so you can easily create some opportunities !!

1. wach some movies
2. listen to your favourite music
3. speak to your friends!
4. read some articles 

Have a nice day!
A&D&M

British Accent !

Hi,
we are not native speakers.... so we know ...... how hard it can be ;(
Hmmm... we think you should listen how to pronounce some words or sentences

 .

 Have a nice day!

How to learn idioms?

Hi Guys !
We have for you sth fantastic- BODY IDIOMS! You can learn idioms effectively! It can be easy! :)
A&D&M

Some tips more!

1.Play Scrabble, Boggle, and do crossword puzzles. These and other word games are available for the computer, so you are not dependent on a partner to play. Also, try out the Franklin Electronic Dictionary that features built-in word games.
  

2.For the serious vocabulary student, there are many books that focus on the words most commonly found in standardized tests, such as the SAT and GRE. There are also many interesting word sites on the Internet, many

A&D&M

Vocabulary test

Often, however, you will be given a set of words by your teacher and told to learn them for a vocabulary test. In this case you need to be sure exactly how you will be tested, because this will influence how you learn the words. There are several ways that the teacher might test your vocabulary learning, but the ways are broadly divided into two categories:

• You will be given the word and have to:
  1. write a definition
  2. use it in an example sentence
  3. translate it into your language
• You will be given:
  1. a definition
  2. a gapped example sentence
  3. the translation in your language
  and you have to write the English word.
  

If you do a vocabulary test from the second group above, then in most cases you will need to learn the exact spelling of the word and will lose marks if you misspell it. As with all tests, be sure to ask the teacher exactly how you will be tested and exactly how you will be graded. You will then avoid wasting time studying something that you will be not be tested on.

A&D&M

Vocabulary Learning Tips PART 2

What's more?

Usually the first things you learn about a new English word are what it means and its translation in your own language. But there are other things you need to find out before you can say that you know a word like a native speaker does. For example, you have to learn:

1. how it is spelled
2. how it is pronounced
3. how it is inflected (i.e. how it changes if it is a verb, noun or adjective)
4. other grammar information about it
5. how it collocates (i.e. what other words are often used with it)
6. if it has a particular style or register
7. the context in which it is most likely to be used
   
   
    A&D&M
   

Vocabulary Learning Tips PART 1

How to learn some new vocabulary? That's easy!

1.REPEAT!

To ensure the words stick in your memory, test yourself on them at regular intervals. If you learn some new words in the morning for example, check that you can still remember them later that day, the next day, a week later and a month later. If you find some words hard to recall, try thinking up different associations for them. You may need to try several different associations before you find one that works.

2.LEARN IN A CONTEXT

Learning long lists of unrelated words is boring, difficult and does not help you much when you come across those words in a different context. If you focus on learning words in the context you're most likely to find them, you are more likely to recognise them when you encounter them or need to use them again. 

3.READ!

Most vocabulary words are learned from context. The more words you are exposed to, the better vocabulary you will have. While you read, pay your attention to words you don't know. First, try to figure out their meanings from context. Then look the words up. Read and listen to challenging material so that you'll be exposed to many new words.

4.WORK WITH YOUR DICTIONARY

If you have a dictionary program on your computer, keep it open and handy.You can find a lot online dictionaries Find them and look up any word you are not absolutely sure of. Use a thesaurus when you write to find the word that fits best.

A&D&M