Learn American English Online Blog

There’s a new video for the word "whevever." You can watch it here.

The word of the day is "wagon." A wagon is a type of vehicle:

station wagon

This is a station wagon.

The weird thing about the words "need" and "want" is that sometimes you’ll hear someone use the past tense form of these verbs when they are asking a question or making a statement regarding a situation in the present:

  • Is this what you wanted?
  • Is this what you needed?
  • Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted.
  • No, that’s not what I needed.

Weird.

Of course, you can ask the same sort of questions or make statements like this with very little change in meaning:

  • Is this what you want?
  • Is this what you need?
  • Yes, that’s exactly what I want.
  • No, that’s not what I need.

See, I think the past tense form is often used because when we want or need something we made the decision sometime in the past, and when confronted with the availability of the thing, we talk about it with the past tense.

The present perfect tense is also used with these verbs, but especially with the verb "want" to express some long-held desire:

  • I have always wanted to visit Brazil.
  • We have always wanted to get a horse.
  • Maria has wanted to be an actress since she was a little girl.

What do you need or want?

 

We improved the navigation for the Yellow Level lessons. Thanks to my friend, Santiago, for the suggestion. There are still several pages that need to be improved or rewritten for that level. Remember, we welcome feedback and suggestions for improvement to the website. It ain’t perfect, you know!

We’re collecting photos of new students for the month of May. If you want to be included, please email your photo to

There’s a new lesson for the Yellow Level. It matches the video below and includes an exercise.

New Video:

Today’s word of the day is "ouch."

ouch Ouch!

There’s a new quiz for the prepositions "to," "for," and "from." You can print the PDF here.

The word of the day is "number."

There’s a new prepositions quiz for the prepositions "in," "on," and "at." This is a PDF which you may print. the answers are in today’s email.

I just joined Patreon in order to finance my next project. You can find me there as Teacher Paul and help support my work. Thanks!

Here are the answers to the exercise I sent out yesterday:

1. had been; 2. had prepared; 3. hadn’t told; 4. had done; 5. had had; 6. Had…saved; 7. hadn’t worked;
8. had given; 9. hadn’t gotten; 10. had hidden

Here an exercise from an email I sent out this morning to my students:

Directions: Complete each sentence or question with the past perfect tense. The verb provided in parentheses is in the simple form. Some verbs are negative. 

1. She _______ _________ a good student until she lost interest in school. (be)
2. If we ________ ________ , we would have done better on the test. (prepare)
3. It was obvious to everyone that the man _________ __________ the truth. (tell — negative)
4. Did the valet say what he ________ _________ with the keys? (do)
5. The teacher said that she ________ _________ enough and started to yell at the students. (have)
6. _________ he _________ more money, he would have been able to buy a house. (save)
7. The new employees __________ __________ so hard in all their lives. (work — negative)
8. If you ________  _________ me the right directions, I wouldn’t have gotten lost. (give)
9.  My kids _________ _________ out of bed by the time I left the house. (get — negative)
10. Where did she say she ________ __________ the money? (hide)

Here’s a new video, by request, for the present perfect tense:

 

I’m trying to change the login for the chat room, but it might take awhile for people to get used to the change. If you want your own nickname, protected and available only to you, send me your nickname request and I will send you a password. This might help improve the quality of conversation that’s been happening there lately.

The word of the day is "hotel."

Here’s a new quiz for Words that begin with the letter P.

 

The word of the day is "grave."

 

This new video includes 55 words that begin with the letter "p."

 

Here’s your vocabulary quiz for this month. It’s a combination of words from last month and this month.

The word of the day is "excuse."

The word of the day is "death."

If you are one of my students, I sent you an email early this morning. The subject was the passive voice. I hope you learned something from the lesson and the exercise.

Emailed lessons, exercises, and quizzes are only available to people who sign up for them. If you want these things, just sign up.

Your lesson of the day is on the present tense, passive voice:

 

The word of the day is "click."

 

This month most of my students will focus on learning about the passive voice in the Green Level.

In the second lesson in the Green Level is something almost every student should understand, whether that student is a beginner or advanced.

When you come into the world–thanks to your mother’s hard work–you are born. The verb "bear" is the simple form for the past participle, "born." We almost always use "be" + "born" to talk about our arrival here on planet Earth:

  • Where were you born?
  • I was born in Germany.
  • My friend, Roseanna, was born in Mexico.
  • Most of my students were born outside of the United States.

To learn how to talk about birth experiences, click here.

The word of the day is "build."

Most of my students will learn about the passive voice this month in the Green Level.

Are you one of my students? If not, sign up here.

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

PRINT:

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