Past Perfect Tense

Posted on May 14, 2013 by mhardy3222

FORM 

(had + past participle)

Some of my students are studying Past Perfect Tense this week. Unfortunately, Heloise is absent with a broken finger, so I’ve found a site which has a good explanation of Past Perfect for her to read at home. It includes lots of examples and exercises for practice.

This is a great site for anyone who is studying English.

Heloise, we all hope you feel better soon. Your friends at school (Kei, Shiho, Shiori, Naho, Thalita, Ayana, Julia, Kenshiro and Mohamed) send their regards and hope to see you soon.

Link for Past Perfect:

Here is a short cartoon video which will help you understand Past Perfect:

Posted in Grammar, Intermediate (Level 4), Pre-Intermediate (Level 3) | 1 Comment

A few good words – a great video

Posted on May 11, 2013 by mhardy3222

Sometimes you don’t need many words to say something very clearly. A few well-chosen, descriptive words can be very powerful.

She’s Alive… Beautiful… Finite… Hurting… Worth Dying For …

Posted in Advanced (Level 6+), Intermediate (Level 4), Pre-Intermediate (Level 3), Upper Intermediate (Level 5) | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Practise English while Watching a Creative Music Video

Posted on May 11, 2013 by mhardy3222

I love this song and the fabulous music video! The group, OF MONSTERS & MEN, are from Iceland, and they sing the song Little Talks in English. It’s good to listen to people speaking, or singing, English as a second language because most people who speak English are not native speakers. In fact, of all the people in the world who speak English, fewer than one third are native speakers. So speak with other English students as much as possible and your listening will improve. I hope you enjoy this song. I have 2 links: one for the music video, and one for the lyrics.

Posted in Intermediate (Level 4), Listening, Pre-Intermediate (Level 3), Songs | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Coming Soon: One Minute Video Lessons … Pronunciation

Posted on April 28, 2013 by mhardy3222

CLEAR PRONUNCIATION is an important English skill. It CAN be taught and you CAN improve your pronunciation. Don’t listen to people who tell you it is too difficult because you are French, Chinese, German, Japanese, Extra Terrestial … whatever!

You DON’T need to lose your accent.

You DON’T need to sound like a native speaker.

However, people DO need to understand you when you speak to them in English.

I will be starting One Minute Video Lessons soon and I will be starting with Pronunciation. Watch this space!

Posted in Listening, Pronunciation Videos, Speaking & Pronunciation | 1 Comment

A Big Warm Welcome to Visitors to this blog!

Posted on April 28, 2013 by mhardy3222

Hello Everyone!

I teach English at Langports English Language College on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and I know that it can be difficult for students to find English help on the Internet. There is SO much that it can be confusing. I started this blog a few weeks ago to: a) help my ESL (English Second Language) students to find help on the Internet, and b) provide mini-tutorials of topics I’ve taught in class, as revision.

I’m happy to learn that my blog is being read in several countries, so I would like to welcome all you International visitors! Now I think I have a third reason for my blog: c) to connect with people from all around the world who want to improve their English communication! If you would like some English help, just leave a ‘comment’ and I will do my best to help you.

Posted in Intermediate (Level 4), Pre-Intermediate (Level 3) | 1 Comment

Suggested Reading for Advanced Students

Posted on April 26, 2013 by mhardy3222

One of my advanced students, Vinicius from Brazil, asked me to recommend some interesting books for him to read. So here are a few suggestions for Vinicius and any English students who enjoy not just a good story, but superb writing by internationally acclaimed authors.

The following books are recommended for adults. I will point out the ones that are also suitable for teenagers/high-school students. Most of these books were written in Spanish or Portuguese and then translated into several languages including English. I recommend that you read the English versions! The richness of the language is certainly not lost in translation.

Firstly, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. This book is suitable for teenagers as well as adults. Read book reviews to check if you would enjoy this genre. Book reviews are usually well written. Try Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-PAULO-COELHOs-books-ORDER/lm/RGSU0TQEPZU0T
You could also check-out his blog where he provides wonderful, free short stories: http://paulocoelhoblog.com/

Secondly, Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie. While Salman Rushdie’s books are often a challenge even for native speakers, this novel is easy to read for native speakers and ESL/EFL speakers alike, including Teenagers. Rushdie’s books are written in English. For a review try Amazon or Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4835.Haroun_And_The_Sea_Of_Stories

Finally, (for now) any of Isabel Allende’s novels. You can read about them and more on her website http://isabelallende.com/ I especially enjoyed the Trilogy: City of the Beasts, Forest of the Pygmies, and Kingdom of the Golden Dragon. These three novels are also suitable for Teenagers.

Leave a comment if you would like me to recommend other genres. Happy Reading!

Posted in Advanced (Level 6+), Reading, Upper Intermediate (Level 5) | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Watch TV shows: relax and learn

Posted on April 25, 2013 by mhardy3222

THE VOICE is a very popular TV singing competition in which the contestants are coached by selected celebrities (Coaches), such as Ricky Martin, Joel Madden, Seal, and Delta Goodrem (Australian version).

TV shows like ‘The Voice’ will help you to learn English! It’s on 3 or 4 times a week. You hear the singers talk about themselves using natural English. The Coaches ask all of them similar questions and use similar vocabulary when talking about music and singing. This means that there is a lot of repetition, which is great because you need to hear new words many, many times before you can remember them.

If you enjoy TV shows like ‘The Voice’, you may become interested in going online to read about the Coaches and their Teams: http://www.thevoice.com.au/profiles.html. You may decide to watch videos of your favourite singers. Your English will improve without you thinking about it!

You could also check out the US version featuring Coaches: Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Shakira, and Usher.
http://www.nbc.com/the-voice/

Posted in Advanced (Level 6+), Elementary (Level 2), Intermediate (Level 4), Listening, Pre-Intermediate (Level 3), Songs, Speaking & Pronunciation, Upper Intermediate (Level 5) | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Things in my House: Vocabulary for Beginners

Posted on April 25, 2013 by mhardy3222

Have fun and learn new ‘Things in my House’ words with pictures. Go to http://www.manythings.org/lulu/i1.html

When you finish, click-on English Vocabulary Games with Pictures http://www.manythings.org/lulu/

Posted in Beginner (Level 1), Elementary (Level 2), Vocabulary | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Enjoy reading and increase your vocabulary and writing skill

Posted on April 24, 2013 by mhardy3222

Tara Moss

Tara Moss is a bestselling Canadian-Australian author, television presenter, journalist and former model. She has kindly made some of her short stories available free on the Internet. If you wish to improve your English expression, her stories are fine examples of clear, concise writing.

English students often feel that by increasing the length and complexity of their sentences, their writing will be more impressive and earn them a higher rating. However, a combination of sentences of varying length is more reader-friendly. Well chosen, descriptive language can be more compelling than lengthy, ordinary details.

See how Tara Moss creates suspense and drama with style and economic use of words. Read this short story quickly. (I doubt that you will be able to slow down once you start!) Then read it again and marvel at the adjectives and adverbs. Also, her choice of nouns and verbs enables the reader to visualise the action easily. Brilliant!

Are you ready to read Psycho Magnet?  **NOTE: Unfortunately, this short story is no longer available online. Instead, click HERE for a well written  ABC News article about Tara Moss which includes a Youtube video of her discussing  her new book, The Fictional Woman.

If you are interested in learning more about this remarkable woman and her writing, click HERE for her website. Happy reading!

Posted in Advanced (Level 6+), Reading, Upper Intermediate (Level 5), Vocabulary, Writing | Leave a comment

Understanding language in context

Posted on April 23, 2013 by mhardy3222

There are some wonderful learning tools on the Internet for students of English. One I can highly recommend is an Online Concordancer. If you want to know how to use a word or phrase in context, or if you want to see language patterns, visit this site.

For example, if you type in the words MUST HAVE, you will see about 200 examples of these two words followed by Past Participles in sentences which have nothing to do with obligation. What you will see are very clear Verb Patterns and with so many examples, you will soon work out the meaning.

You know the word ADVANTAGE but do you know which prepositions, adjectives, and verbs collate with it? Look and you will see collocations such as … added advantage …, … advantage over …, … full advantage of …, … take advantage of …, and many more.

Check-out the Online Concordancer site here. First, click on ‘English’. Next, choose a ‘corpus’. Then, type in the ‘Keyword(s)’. Lastly, click on ‘Get concordance’

Have fun!

Posted in Advanced (Level 6+), Grammar, Intermediate (Level 4), Reading, Upper Intermediate (Level 5), Vocabulary, Writing | Tagged | Leave a comment