Happy Halloween!

What are you doing tonight?  Are you trick or treating?  Are you working?  Are you having fun?

Always on My Mind

What little things should spouses do for each other in order to keep the relationship strong?  Write about a time you were happy with someone because they did something nice.

"My American Cousin" episode with past tense

Write about your last trip.  Where did you go?  What did you do?  Were the people nice?  Was the scenery beautiful,  Did you stay at a nice hotel?

• Who do you call when you want someone to comfort you? 
• or
• Do you like to sing?  What do you sing?  How often do you sing?  Did you ever sing in front of people as a performance?    
• or
•  Write about a time when a friend showed you that he or she was a better friend than you had realized.

When you were little

End this video at 1:47....

What did you do when you were little?

Yesterday

Parts of Speech

We usually spend our time in class just practicing English.  If you learn grammar, though, you can learn patterns that teach you hundreds of correct ways to speak and write in a very short time.  You can also learn what's NOT correct in educated English.  The problem with grammar, though, is that it has its own crazy vocabulary that you never use in real life.

Parts of speech classify words.  It's easier to understand grammar if you understand these categories.

Lots of information and practice about parts of speech!

Evening Class Homework

Pronouns are words that substitute for nouns.  

The homework for evening class is about pronouns.

Instead of using my name -- Laurie Jane Spangenberg Scheible, I can say "I" or "me."  Instead of using the name-- Arnold Schwarznegger-- I can say "he" or "him."   In the homework, replace the name of the person or animal with the object pronouns in the word bank.

Pronoun Table

Lot of information and practice with pronouns

Evening Class Spelling Words

Could be Paradise

Today we talked about using "could" for past ability.  Here "could" indicates present (or future) possibility, but the pronunciation is the same.

What do you think of when you think about paradise?  Where are the most beautiful places you visited?

What did you want when you were a child?  What did you enjoy?

Can you do this?

Can you find 3 English grammar or spelling problems in the next video?  

Grammar Practice with "can"

OK -- this next video starts fast and there's some more bad grammar and spelling -- I don't like "gone" for "is going to," "gonna" for "is going to," or "camoflauge" for "camoflauged," but the chorus repeats really good pronunciation of "Can you do this?" and it's fun.

What could you do when you were a child?  What can you do now?  What do you like to do?

Friends

Describe a good friend, an old friend, or a new friend!

Today, we talked about cars.


Practice basic car vocabulary

More parts of a car vocabulary

Review and expand car vocabulary, and try the listening test

Practice some vocabulary for driver's problems  (Note:  we say registration stickers rather than tabs in Northern Virginia.)

This next video is fast, repetitive and really tacky.  I hope it's amusing for you.

Do you like to drive?  Do you need to study for the driving test?  What kind of car do you want?

Quinoa!

Maria brought quinoa to morning class today!!  I love Maria's quinoa.  Before I met Maria, I tried to make quinoa for my family because it is very healthy.  My children said, "We don't want to eat birdseed."  Maria taught me to dry toast the quinoa in the frying pan before I boil it.  Now my family loves quinoa!  Make the grains pop like popcorn in a dry frying pan before you cook it.  Once it pops, the texture is softer and more like rice.

Thank you Maria!!  Maria--please give us a recipe!!

Cooking Quinoa (after it pops in the frying pan) in English

Recent article about quinoa in Time Magazine

Did you enjoy eating quinoa?  I first ate quinoa because it is very healthy.  What do you eat when you want to be healthy?

Ceviche!

Erika brought a delicious Ceviche today!! 

According to Wikipedia, ceviche is a popular international dish prepared in a variety of ways throughout the Americas, reaching the United States in the 1980s.^[1] The greatest variety of ceviches are found in Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador; but other distinctly unique styles can also be found in coastal Honduras, El Salvador, Belize,Guatemala, the United States, Mexico, Panama, the Caribbean, and several other nations.^[1][8]

Here is a recipe I found on youtube.  Make sure you add cilantro at the seasoning stage.  I love the taste of cilantro and lemon in Erika's dish.  Erika -- please tell me if this is the same, similar or different from what you did today!

Did you taste the Ceviche?  Have you had it before?  Can you tell me a story about eating Ceviche? Thank you Erika!!

Everything I do...

Do you already know this song?  Does it bring back memories?  Please write about a memory with this song if you have one.

 I like the written lyrics of this video better than my last blog post of this song, but I'm not sure I like the model's facial expressions.  Do you like the model?  Can you describe her?

Have you ever made a sacrifice that you are happy you made?

Pupusas!

Thanks to Salvador and his sister, morning class at Pimmit enjoyed delicious Pupusas today!!

I found a Martha Stewart video that explains how to make pupusas in English.  Salvador -- please tell us if this is correct!

Was today the first time you ate pupusas?  If so, did you enjoy them?  If not, how often do you eat pupusas?  Do you have a favorite restaurant for pupusas in this area?

Adele "Make You Feel My Love..."

What makes you feel loved?  What do you do when you love someone?

Computer Class

Try the Ventures Arcade Blue Level Unit 1

Pick any question in the main section and make a comment.  The questions in "Describing Personality" may be easy and interesting.

After that, please explore the blog.  If you find anything interesting, tell everybody.

Class Vocabulary -- Try in order: Flashcard -- Scatter -- Speller



Want to practice Grammar?  These posts go well with this Unit -- Please comment and tell me if they are easy, difficult, or you don't understand.

Order of Adjectives

Present Continuous (progressive)

Simple Present

Frequency Adverbs

present vs. present continuous (progressive)

What would you like to write about?

Describing Personality

Adjectives describe people, place, things, and ideas.  Can you describe yourself?  Can you take a picture that symbolizes or shows your adjective?  Can you write what happens in one of these skits?

I can...

(The long instrumental--no words part--goes from 1:20-2:23)

We say "go the distance" to mean complete the race or do everything you need to do to meet your goal.  I've seen many students get fluent in English.  If that's your goal, we can definitely go the distance together.

Using "can"

What can you do best?  Can you take a video or picture and bring it to class or send it (or a link to it) to me at LJScheible@fcps.edu?

Can you write about doing something really well in the comments?