Conversational_ESL

Dating Around

2012-01-25T07:50:00.000-08:00

Guest post of the week by Deangelo Spencer

Ever since I moved to Austin I have been dating like crazy. I moved here from Miami about a year ago, and I have been on so many dates that I can’t even remember all the guys. Unfortunately, I can only remember the weird ones. One of the first guys I went out with worked for directv austin. I figured since he went around installing satellite dishes in people’s houses he was probably pretty normal. When we went out I found out he was obsessed with vampire movies, books, and shows. He was 30 years old but had read the whole Twilight series and seen all the movies. It was all he could talk about. I know this is mean, but I only sat through dinner so that I could have a good story to laugh about with my friends. Most of the other guys have been pretty normal. There was the guy who was a professor at UT, and the other one who was a PhD student. I’m loving the single life and dating different people. I didn’t know Austin would be such a great town for it.

Days of the Week in English with Pronunciation Videos Embedded

2012-01-15T08:34:00.000-08:00

The days of the week are:

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Please note the spelling for Wednesday. It has a silent 'd' included. The first 'd' is not audible, and is often left out of the word by accident, resulting in a misspelled word.

Spending a Saturday playing dress up with my clothes

2011-11-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

Guest post written by Hannah Bateman

I know that it sounds a little silly to play dress up in your own clothes, but a lot of the time that's the only way that you can really get some new great outfit combinations going. You just never know how something is going to look unless you try it on for yourself to see. Well, I like to do that every now and then because it keeps me from having to feel like I have to go shopping every so often. It's the ultimate shopping your own closet, but also like playing dress up when you were young. I used to really love dressing up when I was little. So it probably helps me get more wear out of my existing wardrobe and saving me money in the long run.

I get all kinds of inspiration online with my wireless internet Winter Park and some of my favorite fashion blogs. I think that I really get all of my fashion ideas from fashion blogs now anyway. I love seeing how people put themselves together anyway.

I'm not sure if people would care to see what I wear on a daily basis, but I dress for me anyway.

I've left Facebook

2011-09-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if it will be permanent, but after finding that the changes they've made will require me to do a lot of work, and I do mean a lot, for each person on my friends list, I'm not interested. I made a note when I was deactivating my account that when they change it back to how it is, I'll come back. I don't need Facebook, really, but it was a nice little relationship while it lasted.

I'm not the only one who is disappointed by the latest 'improvement' and along with the others who feel the same way I do, I can't understand those who think the new changes are beneficial. Less control over what I am exposed to is not beneficial, at least not in my opinion.

Some of the people who say we just have to go with the flow because we don't pay for the service forget that we users do, in a way, pay for Facebook's operation, through ad revenue. The majority of people who posted about this latest change are not happy. Those that leave might, in the long run, make things better, IF Facebook changes things back. The ones who complain and then stay, I think of them as sheep. Big Brother Facebook says 'here, read this story and that post, and you will be happy, we decide now what you will read, unless you tell us about each individual who posts.'

Another thing I found is that everything you post is ok, it's still public, private, however you set that part up, but when your post hits someone else's page, and their friends who aren't on your list, well, they do get to read your posts, even if they are private. There really is no 'private' any more at Facebook. That, right there, was the last straw with me.

What do you think of Facebook?

Phone Tree

2011-09-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

This guest post from Lenny Mcknight

When was the last time that you spent thirty minutes on the phone holding and trying to work your way through a phone tree? Today everyone has them. Some are worse than others. They phone trees that are the worst are the ones that cut you off, don’t call you back, and don’t have an option where you can speak to an operator. I was surprised to hear a phone tree when I called the gas station to track down my lost credit card. I even think I would pay an extra dollar a month to be connected to a live person when I call somewhere than having to navigate an impossible automated system. Luckily, for some of the businesses that I call often, I have memorized the navigation choices and am able to cut at least five minutes out of my wait time. I did have a good experience when I called about a television package . direct tv customer service was much more streamlined than the natural gas company that put me on hold for forty-five minutes even after I had been cut off twice! Maybe I should start billing these places for my time!

For My ESL Readers Doing Business in Canada

2011-09-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

There is a site I found that has several products listed, that you might be interested in using to buy Canadian-based items. It would save you money on shipping over sites that are USA-based, which is where I am. eBay is just getting too complicated, and isn't very user-friendly, especially for Sellers.

This site is good for finding office supplies at excellent prices, and for those teaching ESL classes, there are school supplies also available. The first page is pretty bare-bones, but I've found that the search engines on the site return several excellent products. One of the search formats is a comparison guide that works rather well.

One thing about this site that several of my readers might be interested in knowing is that you can sell your products to other users here, as well. eBay is just getting too complicated, and isn't very user-friendly, especially for Sellers.
Office supplies are not the only category you can list in, either. There are several, including fashion, books and other media, and even musical instruments.

Take a look around, and let me know in the comments section below if you found this site helpful. ESL isn't just about reading, it's about writing, too!

My car runs so much better now!

2011-05-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

Guest Blog Post by Lorri Stockstill

I was visiting my family in Houston, Texas a few weeks ago. I drove my blue Acura Integra down there from Indianapolis. I was almost there when the car's engine started making some strange noises. I was pretty worried, but the car made it to my cousin's house. He said he always takes his and his wife's vehicles to the Houston auto repair shop down the street from their house.

I did the same, hoping it was just the trip's distance causing the car to need an extra early oil change. The guys working there were very nice about everything, and looked my car over immediately.

Thankfully, there wasn't anything seriously wrong with the car, and they said it was just the oil change, like I had been hoping for. I told them how far I had driven it, and that is when they said I should really get more than just the oil change. I asked them what else should I do, and they said with the distance I had just driven, and then with me having plans of driving all the way back up to Indianapolis, I should really get a tune up, which I did.

I drove back up here to Indianapolis, and the car ran great the whole trip back up! It's been about a week since I've been back up here, and it's still running great. I know it was used when I bought it, but my little blue beast of a car runs better now than it did when I bought it a few years ago. And now, I'm really jealous of my cousin - he's right down the street from these fantastic mechanics, only a few blocks.

Deciding my spring break destination

2011-05-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

Guest post written by Mike Carlyle

My roommates and I decided that we definitely wanted to go somewhere for spring break. But we had a really hard time figuring out exactly where we wanted to go. We weren't even sure if we wanted to go somewhere with a beach or a city for fun. Then we argued about budget too and how we should get wherever we were going.

While we were arguing about that earlier this year we decided to sign up for an internet package that we found on the website SatelliteStarInternet.com while we were looking up trip destinations.

Well, after much deliberation, we decided on the spring break idea of Panama City Beach, Florida. We decided that it would be better to just go somewhere that's really warm. But instead of paying more for Cancun, we decided on PCB where a few of our friends were already planning on going for the break anyway. I think that we'll be glad that we can hang out with more people from school in a place that isn't too expensive and caters to college students.

Reading many different authors helps you learned English skills because it exposes you to many different phrases, and also covers many different topics. Seeking out different things to read should be fun, and enjoyable. Articles about food, like the guest blog above, cars, engineering, current events, and anything else you might be curious are good topics for you to read so you improve your English skills. If you are interested in something, search for articles about in English. Look up any words that are unfamiliar to you in a good dictionary. Many are found online, just like translators.

Biscuit Toast

2011-05-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

Guest post written by Donna Burlington

One of my favorite things about fixing biscuits is that once they're a day old you can make biscuit toast with them! I've always thought that biscuit toast is so much better than the regular biscuits that they start out as. I'm not sure if anyone else calls it that though or if it's something that my mom just made up a name for heated up biscuits.

I really had a craving for some biscuit toast over the weekend, but every time I've had biscuit toast it's been at home. So I went online to find a good biscuit recipe so that I could make a ton of biscuits and then enjoy a lot of biscuit toast. While I was looking for recipes, I came across a website WildBlue! Deals.com and after I read through it a little bit, I decided to change over my home service to the service.

I did finally find a recipe for biscuits that was well worth going to in order to make some biscuit toast later. I think I could live off that stuff.

Reading many different authors helps you learned English skills because it exposes you to many different phrases, and also covers many different topics. Seeking out different things to read should be fun, and enjoyable. Articles about food, like the guest blog above, cars, engineering, current events, and anything else you might be curious are good topics for you to read so you improve your English skills. If you are interested in something, search for articles about in English. Look up any words that are unfamiliar to you in a good dictionary. Many are found online, just like translators.

I'll be posting some guest posts here soon.

2011-04-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

I hope you enjoy them. They won't be by me, but by guest posters. This means I will be able to bring you many more posts on topics I wouldn't usually cover. The more you read, the more you improve your English skills. If there are any topic you'd like to read about, let me know. I can help you search for them.

Just for the Sports Fans (and Those Interested in Learning About American Sports)

2010-05-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

If you are interested in learning about how to bet on different American Sports, click here. I'm not interested in American sports, even though I'm an American. Since I'm not interested in them, I can't really teach about them, or how to bet on them. I know many who are learning English are also interested in American culture, and this is an excellent resource for you. Many Americans bet on different sports.

What I do know about American sports is minimal, but I do know that soccer is starting to become quite popular. Other sports include basketball, football, baseball, bowling, golf*, swimming, aquatic dance*, dancing*, wrestling, sailing, fishing, skating, ice skating, horse racing, boating, and the list goes on. The asterisks (*) indicate sports that are considered to not be a sport, but rather an activity by some people. Some people debate on if these are really sports at all.

PS: That is a betting site, where they teach you how to make bets on who is going to win in a game or match. When you win BIG, don't forget me!

For Other Teachers - Excellent Resource

2010-05-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

Great source for those who want to teach ESL/EAL to students. It helps you teach better, and helps students learn more easily! You can have a class work on up to 20 projects together. They have free and paid options. Check it out and see which one works best for you.

They're, Their, and There

2010-03-08T20:27:00.000-08:00

These are problem words, even for native speakers of English. They are phonetically identical, but it is the spelling that causes confusion. So this is more of a writing lesson, than a pronunciation lesson.

They're going to be happy because their package is there at the house.

'They're' is the same as 'they are', so the sentence could be written as They are going to be happy because their package is there at the house. 'They're' is a contraction, much like could've for 'could have', didn't for ''did not, and so on.

'Their' is a possessive word. It means more than one person, at least two are involved in the possession of the noun in question. If only one person was involved in the possession of a noun, then the word used would be either 'his', 'her' or 'hers'. If the sentence had been about a man, it could have been written 'He'll be happy his package is there at the house.' You can change he'll to she'll and his to her if you wanted to write the sentence about a woman. It would read then like this: 'She'll be happy her package is there at the house.'

'There' is a location word. 'Here', another location word, is closer to the speaker or writer than 'there' is. 'There' shows that distance exists between the speaker or writer and the noun in question. Remember, 'there' and 'here' do not rhyme. 'There' rhymes with 'air', 'dare', 'bear' but 'here' rhymes with 'ear', 'gear', and 'mere.'

The sentence 'They're going to be happy because their package is there at the house.' shows that the people will be happy that the package belonging to them is at home.

Possessives

2010-02-04T15:54:00.000-08:00

Some possessives use an apostrophe, while a few do not. Its is not the plural form of it (this is possible, but that is an unusual usage of the word, and will most likely be covered later). Its is the possessive form.

When speaking about a dog, for instance, you might say 'This dog has lost its collar!' but another way to express the same thing is to say (or write) 'The dog's collar was missing.'

When a girl or a woman has something, it is her or hers. For example: That is her camera. or That camera is hers. We might say 'that camera belongs to her. She owns the camera.

With a boy or a man, we would say That is his camera. or That camera is his. We could also say 'That camera belongs to him He owns the camera..

Other possessive words are ours, our, theirs, their, mine, my, your, and yours.

The subject determines which form, and the possessor determines which possessive word you should use.

Here are some examples:

Those are ours.

Those are our cameras.

Those cameras are ours.

That is our camera.

******

Those are theirs.

Those are their cameras.

Those cameras are theirs.

That is their camera.

******

Those are mine.

Those are my cameras.

Those cameras are mine.

That is my camera.

******

Those are yours.

Those are your cameras.

Those cameras are yours.

That is your camera.

If you paid attention very closely, you may have noticed that the sentences with your and yours matched up with the sentences that used our and ours. All that was different in those written sentences is that there is a 'y' in the 'your' and yous' sentences.

Just remember, 'your' and yours' do not rhyme with 'our' and 'ours'! 'Your' and 'yours' rhymes with 'ore' and 'ores' (like iron ore, or silver ores, in the ground), and 'our' and 'ours' rhymes with 'hour' and 'hours', which are time words.

In the Midwest, 'hour' rhymes with 'shower'. 'Our' and 'ours' rhyme with 'shower' and 'showers'.

Color Words

2008-07-15T01:13:00.000-07:00

Review the following words:

Red

Purple

Green

Lime Green

Peach

Blue

Yellow

Orange

Pink

Lilac

Aqua

Cream

Brown

Grey (or Gray, both spellings are correct, and a matter of personal preference.)

Black, and the color of this page is White.

Confusing Words, 1

2008-07-15T01:09:00.000-07:00

Look up these phrases and explain the difference between the two words:

'Maybe' and 'May be'

Short and Long Vowels - B*k

2008-07-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

Show pronounciation and define the following:

Back -
Bake -
Beck -
Beak -
Bic -
Bike -
Buck -
Book -

Welcome to the Blog for LorriAnne's Online ESL Conversational School's Blog!

2008-07-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

There are links at the right hand side, and while this blog won't be posted in on a regular basis, it will have interesting things in it.