Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Let’s go to work ! What can you see in the first two pictures ?
Tell me about the lady. Who is the man ? How does he feel and why ? What does the lady do ? How does she look ?
Then the lady … ?
Finally the lady … ?
OK, Top Cats, give me your answers.
Points for using adjectives, correct grammar, and pronunciation.
Image from India Today
EXAMPLE:
A young lady with long straight dark hair is at school. She is very tired and sleepy. She has a lot of boring homework.
Her daddy is very angry. He wants the lady to be intelligent not lazy.
The lady is nervous because she is so shy. She reads many big books. She is unhappy. However, she is hard-working.
Sometimes the books are exciting and she thinks it is important to learn.
She has a high score and her family are very happy.
The beautiful clever young lady has a great job. She is wealthy and has many valuable things. However, she is not selfish. She buys her family amazing presents.
NOW … Your turn
Tell me a story
Tips: Tell me what the boy looks like. Tell me how he feels. Tell me what he does. Finally, what happens to the boy when he grows up ?
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images and are used for educational purposes. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
I have + adjective + noun. Pronouns + is + adjectives
EXAMPLE: I have a Japanese friend. She is clever and shy.
Royalty-free image from Google
The sentence has 3 adjectives. Tell me about your friend:
I have a … friend. He or She is … and …
Tell me about these people:
This man is Greek. I have a Greek friend. He is …
Royalty-free image from Google
This lady is English. I have an ….
Royalty-free image from Google
This man is Japanese. I have a …
Royalty-free image from Google
Now, let’s talk about pets.
Royalty-free image from Google
I have a cute puppy. He is small, quick and happy.
Tell me about your pet.
Tell me about these animals:
Royalty-free image from Google
Royalty-free image from Google
Royalty-free image from Google
Bye bye from the friendly bear.
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images and are used for educational purposes. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images and are used for educational purposes. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
The employer is responsible for providing a safe working environment for staff.
In the physical workspace, the teacher should not be physically or verbally harmed in any way.
Kicking, hitting, being jumped on etc are unacceptable, and the offender needs to be punished.
In the online workspace, the teacher should not be expected to work with an unreasonable amount of background noise.
TAs and senior staff need to be more proactive in both recognising and addressing these problems.
The situation is clearly very stressful for all involved.
Let’s work together and make classes a fun, happy and, most importantly, appropriate place for learning.
Suggestions:
Any student in a noisy environment should have their mic muted.
Any student who interrupts the class on a regular basis will be placed in the Waiting Room. Repetition of the offense will result in the student being barred from the class.
Postscript
I have happy to report that my centre has taken action, and changes were implemented within a few hours of this posting. My Manager is pretty amazing that way – your help and input can not be overstated. Thank you.
We have two very cute dogs however, they do not look the same. Let’s take two basic adjectives (big & small) and use them as comparisons.
big —– bigger
small —– smaller
The black and white dog is smaller than the black dog.
The black dog is bigger than the black and white dog.
To make your sentence more interesting, add more information:
The cute black and white dog is much smaller than the dangerous angry black dog.
The grammar rules:
For small words, just add ‘er’
small —- smaller // tall —- taller
big add ‘g’ + ‘er’ bigger
If the adjective ends with a ‘y’
ugly – replace y with ‘i’ then add ‘er’ —- uglier
angry —- angrier
For big words, use ‘more’
delicious —- more delicious // dangerous —- more dangerous // energetic —- more energetic
NOW … YOUR TURN
1 Tell me about the men (small, short, tall) then use the comparative.
2 Tell me about these two people.
3 Who is stronger ?
4 Compare these clothes. Try to give me three adjectives(pretty, thick, warm, plain, colourful).
5 Compare these guitar players (energetic, exciting, amazing, boring).
6 Tell me about these two people
Easy – yes, a piece of cake !
Answers:
1 One man is short, one man is tall. The man with glasses is taller. The man on the left is much shorter.
2 The man is older than the lady, the lady is younger than the man.
3 The man with the black T-shirt is much stronger. The man on the right is much weaker than the other man.
4 The black coat is thicker, warmer and cheaper than the second coat. The second coat is more colourful but uglier than the first coat.
5 The guitar player (guitarist) jumping is more energetic and more exciting than the other man. The second guitarist is more boring.
6 The beautiful cute young Asian lady is more friendly than the old American man. The old man with glasses and a beard is angrier and uglier than the smiling lady.
In the morning, my students are like bears with sore heads
Man’s best friend
I’m a newt, and I’ll have you know I’m totally sober
NEWT: As pissed as a newt – Informal British English meaning to be drunk.
SIDEBAR: This is is very unusual saying, but around 200 years ago, young teenage sailors were known as ‘newts’. It didn’t take much alcohol for these boys to become very drunk, hence the expression.
OWL: To be a night owl – someone who stays up late, maybe all night.
PANDA: To have panda eyes – night owls and insomniacs often have black rings around their eyes, like a panda. I first heard this in Malaysia.
QUAIL: To quail at something – to be afraid or nervous about something.
RED HERRING: A false clue in a mystery or detective story
NOW LET’S TAKE THESE EXPRESSIONS OUT FOR A SPIN
When did you last sleep ? You ____________________________________
The police followed a clue but it was just a _____________________
My neighbour is a real _____________________ playing music all night.
I have toothache but I __________ at going to the dentist.
Did you hear him sing karaoke ? He was ___________________________ !
Are you ready for some more ?
SWAN: Swan song – a final appearance.
TIGER: A tiger mum – a mother who pushes her children to study and study and study.
UNICORN: Life isn’t all rainbows and unicorns – sometimes life is hard and we have to deal with problems (tell me about it).
VULTURE: The vultures are circling – vultures wait for animals to die, then they swoop down and eat the dead body, so this expression means something very bad is about to happen.
WHALE: Having a whale of a time – having a wonderful time, really enjoying yourself.
X: Give me a break ! However, check out this little beauty:
This is an X ray tetra, a non-aggressive fish found in the Amazon
YAK: To yak or yakking – to talk non-stop, usually about nothing important.
ZEBRA: Zebra crossing – black and white marking on the road. In the UK, cars usually stop to allow people to walk safely. In Viet Nam … hhmmmm not so much (i.e. never).
The most famous zebra crossing in the world. From The Beatles ‘Abbey Road’ LP
Speaking of The Beatles, allow me to quote from ‘A Hard Day’s Night’
The party was amazing, we all had _________________________
The show was her last ever, it was her ________________________
Will you stop _______ ! I can’t think !
Walk to the ________________________ because this road is dangerous.
She has a _____________________ who makes her study English every day.
The business is losing too much money. The _________________________
I have to pay my rent, my student loan, my electric bill. This is no fun ________________________________________________________
Just because you’re having online classes, with different teachers, (lucky you) doesn’t mean you should stop expanding your knowledge of weird and wacky English expressions, and let me tell you, you won’t find many of these in those cotton-pickin’ textbooks.
English speakers use animals as:
metaphor (my neighbour is a pig)
simile (she drinks like a fish)
idiom (look what the cat dragged in)
adjective form (he is rather bovine – like a cow, she moves with a feline grace – like a cat)
Today, I’m going to introduce you to expressions featuring animals, some of which may not be suitable for polite company …hey, you want to learn REAL English … that’s how we speak !
Now, without further ado …
ANTS: Ants in your pants – when someone can’t keep still, is always moving about which can be very irritating.
BATS: Bat-shit crazy – NOT used in formal, standard English. This is more common in US English to describe someone who is acting very strangely.
CATS: To let the cat out of the bag – to tell a secret, to tell something you were not supposed to disclose.
DOGS: Gone to the dogs – someone or something that was once respectable but is now dirty, useless etc.
ELEPHANT: Couldn’t hit an elephant – implies that someone is very bad at something for example, if they had a rifle they wouldn’t be able to hit a very large target.
SIDEBAR: “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance,” are the famous last words of John Sedgwick, an officer in the Union army in the US Civil War. He meant that the enemy was so far away, they couldn’t possible hit a massive target let alone a single man. Sedgwick was, ironically, shot and killed by the enemy. Read more here:
FISH: Like shooting fish in a barrel – refers to something that is so easy, no effort at all is required to be successful.
Groucho Barks ?
At this point, time to stop and reflect, practice what you’ve learnt. What expression fits ?
He used to be a respectable professional, but his wife left him he began drinking and now he’s _______________________________
The bloody woman next to me on the plane just wouldn’t sit still. She had ___________________________________
I’m never teaching that class again ! The kids are all __________
This job is so easy, it’s _________________________________
Oh ! I knew they had a secret. Now the _____________________
Don’t worry about Peter, he’s so bad, he _______________________
Hahahah ants in my pants, I love that one !
Ready for some more ? OK, let’s kick it !
GOLDFISH: Living in a goldfish bowl – a life with no privacy, everyone can see what you do, all the time.
HORSE: A dark horse – someone that has hidden talents or abilities
INSECT: Go away, you little insect – not polite, used when someone is making you feel very uncomfortable, or is harassing you.
JACKASS: You jackass ! – again, very informal signifying a silly or stupid person.
LION: Taking the lion’s share – taking the biggest amount of something.
MONKEY: Too much monkey business – too much madness or uncontrollable behaviour
Practice makes perfect so … kick it !
You spent $100 on that Relox watch, made in China ! _____
Being famous is awful, everyone taking photos all the time, it’s like _____________________________________
I can’t work for this company anymore, I don’t trust them, ________________________________________
As the CEO, he took ___________________________ of the bonus.
I don’t want to buy those cheap fake sunglasses, go away you _________
Wow, Julie wrote this ? It’s so good, she’s a real _________________ always so quiet in class.
OK, enough for one blog, I’ll continue N – Z if there’s any interest, I’ll continue N- Z even if there isn’t any interest. Now I gotta prepare for two online classes and a speaking placement test, drink tea (I am English, don’t forget) and hope my internet doesn’t act like a jackass and pack up on me.
// sel____ // tal________ // unu_____ // valu____ (costs a lot of money)
// wea______ (if you can buy the Mona Lisa, you must be extremely wea_____) // Xenop_______ (do not like people from other countries) // ye__ – _____ (lasts for 12 months) // Zamb___ (person from Zambia)
Sentence building using adjectives is very easy. Even using basic adjectives can improve your English. Colours, sizes and where someone is from are all easy adjectives. Look at this example:
The flag is very large and is white with a red circle in the middle. The flag is Japanese.
Look at these flags. Choose one and describe it to the class. Points for the students who guess which flag. Extra points if they know the country.
:format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7512632-1443019630-1565.jpeg.jpg)
Thay Paul's Notes 