Students who completed the Blue Level may take two tests to see how well they did in the first month of lessons:

Blue Level Test #1  /  Blue Level Test #2

The answers to the tests are here.

If you are new to this website, it’s a good idea to see how well you do on the first two tests.

I’m hoping that a large new group of students will begin on the Blue Level starting tomorrow, September 1. New students should print out the Blue Level checklist and use it to monitor progress on the website.

The word of the day is "create."

This is a new exercise for the Orange Level. It matches a video that I made last week.

I added a new audio track to this pronunciation exercise.

The word of the day is "cool." As we move towards the season of fall, the weather here in the midwest goes from hot and warm to cool.

You can never spend too much time learning about irregular verbs. This is today’s Yellow Level lesson. The most confusing among these verbs are be, do, and have.

The word of the day is "you."

In Blue Level Lesson Twenty-seven, students learn how to use "would like" when making polite requests. This sounds so much better than using the verb "want."

  • I want a hamurger and fries. (okay)
  • I would like a hamburger and fries. (much better!)

The word of the day is "strange."

Do you know the eight parts of speech in English? This Yellow Level lesson will help you develop new vocabulary skills.

Let’s take the word of the day, "taste," as an example.

The word "taste" can be a verb:

  • This tastes good.

It can be used as a noun:

  • This has an interesting taste.

It can also be used as an adjective with the addition of a suffix:

  • This is very tasty.

    Are you following the schedule on the home page? For students who are new to the website, the lessons for today are as follows:

    Blue Level Lesson Twenty-five: the verb "want," present tense

    Red Level Lesson Twenty-fve: opposite adjectives

    Yellow Level Lesson Twenty-five: the future perfect tense

    The word of the day is "wrong."

    This is an interesting news story about a possible future transportation system. It’s produced by VOA Learning English. I like the rolling captions and the slow pace at which the story is read.

     

    If you like the approach that they take in creating this video, let me know. I could very easily whip up a weekly news program similar to this for the website.

    The word of the day is "vanish."

    Click here for the newest Word of the Day quiz.

    The word of the day is "trend."

    There’s a new Green Level quiz for causative verbs. A student requested this.

    The word of the day is "salary." A salary is different from an hourly wage. If you are working right now, you should learn how to talk about your salary.

    Here’s a new video that explains a few things about how to use the word "eat."

     

    After viewing this video and the one that was released on Monday, try to complete this exercise:

     Directions: Choose the correct forms of the words "eat" or "drink."

    1.  Tony was hungry, so he got something ____ ______.

    2. _________ coffee in the morning is very popular in the U.S.

    3. Last night I ______ too much pizza.

    4. _______ you _________ any of this cherry pie yet?

    5. The kids were so thirsty they _______ all of the water.

    6. If you _________ too much wine you might get sick.

    7. The students _____ _________ lunch in the cafeteria right now.

    8. ________ too much junk food is not healthy for you.

    9. John has a headache. I think he had too much _____ ______ last night.

    10. Mary has a stomachache. She _______ too much cake and ice cream.

    How did you do? The answers are below

    Answers:
     1.  to eat  (infinitive — What is an infinitive?)  2. Drinking  (gerund — What is a gerund?) 3. ate (past tense)  4. Have…eaten  (present perfect tense)  5. drank  (past tense)  6. drink  (conditional) 7. are eating  (present continuous tense) 8. Eating  (gerund) 9. to drink  (infinitive) 10. ate  (past tense)

    The word of the day is "run."

    Do you like to wear clothing that has pockets? Pockets are very useful for carrying things. I keep my keys, my cell phone, my wallet, and extra change (coins) in my pockets. This is the word of the day.

    The word of the day is "drink." This is an extremely common word in English, but be careful when using the past participle form of the verb! Click here to take a look and have a listen.

    Here’s a new video for the word "drink."

     

    This week I have some time to make new videos. If you have any suggestions, please send them to me: [email protected]

    In the subject field enter "idea for a video." Because I get between two to three hundred emails per day now, it’s important to flag the subject. Thanks!

    The word of the day is "pain." I sent one of my kids off to college today, so I’m really feeling it.

    The word of the day is "comfortable." This is a very hard word for to pronounce. You can’t say it too slowly or else it will sound strange.

     

    I sent out an email today which included an exercises for the "going to" future tense. Did you get it?

    The word of the day is "legal."

    I’m on the road today. What does it mean to be "on the road"? A person who is on the road is traveling, usually long distance and usually in a car.

    Did you receive today’s email from your teacher? If not, make sure you signed up to receive free emailed lessons, exercises, quizzes, and other good stuff. You can sign up on the home page.

    Here’s a new YouTube video for students who feel they need help with conversations that take place when first meeting someone:

     

    The word of the day is "involve."

    Blue Level students study the verb "have" today in Blue Level Lesson Nine.

    Red Level students learn the differences between "a few" and "a little."

    Yellow Level students compare the past tense with the past continuous tense.

    Are you following the daily schedule for your level this month?

    The word of the day is "heavy."

    I’ve updated my privacy policy to let everyone know that my website uses cookies as a means for learning more about who my students are and where they are from. Cookies are important because they help advertisers serve ads on this website. Advertising is what helps keep this website free. If you prefer not to see ads here, I have no problems with that, but then you really should make some sort of financial contribution to help keep the website online. Thanks!

    The word of the day is "grind."

    There’s a new Think in English exercise: a woman

    The word of the day is "grill."

    grill She uses a grill to cook food.

    There’s a new reading exercise for the Yellow Level: Living in the city can be interesting and fun.

    The word of the day is "fall."

    Today is the sixth of August, so you should be working in Lesson Six of whatever level you are focusing on this month.

    I just added audio to Popular Expressions Used in the U.S. — H. I don’t know how much these lists of expressions are helping people, but they seem to be popular among visitors to the website, so eventually I’ll add audio to all of them.

    The word of the day is "dark." This is a good word to use when describing light, color, and moods.

    Blue Level students learn what nouns and pronouns are today.

    Red Level students about commands.

    Yellow Level students learn how to make verbs negative in the present perfect tense.

    This new video might help you with today’s Yellow Level lesson:

     

     

    Students in all levels are studying in Lesson Three today.

    In Yellow Level Lesson Three, students learn how to form the present perfect tense. This is a very important verb tense because it’s used to describe the passage of time. To form the present perfect tense you need two verbs:

    has or have + a past participle

    Choosing between "has" or "have" depends on the subject of a sentence or a question. If you know how the verb "have" changes in the present tense, you know what I’m talking about. The past participle, however, is not always an easy choice. If the verb is regular, just add on an "ed" ending. But if the verb is irregular, you might have to remember how the word changes. Here’s a list of common irregular verbs showing their past tense forms and past participles.

    If you are a new student on this website, today’s lesson for you is in the Blue Level. Lesson Three shows you how to form questions with the verb "be."

    If you finished the Blue Level and are working in the Red Level, Lesson Three shows you some differences between the helping verbs "do" and "did."

    The word of the day is "chip."

    I notice a lot of my students are viewing this website with mobile devices. That’s great, but remember the best way to use this website is with a desktop computer. It’s so much easier to see the lessons that way, and it’s easier to write down answers from a larger screen size. One of the the keys to learning English online is writing down what you see and hear. If you aren’t writing, what are you doing?

    You can find your lessons for this week on the home page.

    The word of the day is "beige." Beige is a color that looks like this:

    beige

    Each course level on this website has a checklist. Keep the checklist next to your computer, tablet, or phone and use it to track your progress as you move through each level:

    PRINT:

    The word of the day is "anxiety."

    Click here to go to July 2015

    Click here to go to the LAEO Blog Archive.

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