Learn American English Online Blog |
October 30, 2017 Tests October 29, 2017 Today Red Level students should complete a review before they take tests Monday and Tuesday. Students who don’t do well on the review or the tests, repeat the Red Level. Here’s a new video for the verb "bother." October 28, 2017 The verb "be" is often used in the future tense with the helping verb "will" or the verb phrase "be going to." This is something students have to practice.
Learn more about using "will" and "be" together in Red Level Lesson Twenty-eight. October 26, 2017 One of the many things that makes American English different from British English is the use of the verb "go." In Red Level Lesson Twenty-six, you will learn how the verb "go" is used in front of another verb in the simple form. This is something that can’t be done with all verbs, but it’s done with many of them:
You can go learn more about this by clicking on the link above. October 25, 2017 Red Level Lesson Twenty-five provides a list of opposite adjectives. Students might find this helpful when studying basic vocabulary words in English. This new video shows the difference between the short e sound and the long e sound:
October 24, 2017 If you finished yesterday’s lesson on "used to," today is a good day to learn about "be used to." With the addition of "be" in front of "used to," the meaning completely changes. To be used to something is to accept it. You may or may not like it, but you are used to it. Learn how to use "be used to" in Red Level Lesson Twenty-four. October 23, 2017 To talk about the past, sometimes you might want to use "used to." This verb phrase indicates that something is really in the past and, perhaps, not likely to happen again.
Learn more about using "used to" in this Red Level lesson. October 21, 2017 Lesson Twenty-two of the Red Level provides useful vocabulary, grammar, and usage for students who want to talk about multiplication and division in English.
October 20, 2017 Possessive pronouns can be used in place of a noun to indicate the owner of thing. These pronouns are not easy to use because you must think carefully about the noun that a possessive pronoun represents. For example:
When using "hers," the speaker is thinking about one car: my car.
When using "mine," the speaker is thinking about apple trees that belong to the neighbors. This can be a very tricky thing to learn. Go to Red Level Lesson Nineteen to learn more about possessive pronouns. Have you been practicing your reading skills? I recommend that you try the reading exercises in the Red Level if you are working on the English lessons in the Red Level this month. October 19, 2017 In Red Level Lesson Twenty students learn about reflexive pronouns. These are pronouns that refer back to a subject.
The word "myself" is a reflexive pronoun. It refers to the subject, "I."
October 18, 2017 Gerunds are similar to infinitives (yesterday’s lesson) in that they function as nouns in a sentence or question. Click here to learn about gerunds. This new video shows ways to use the verb "can" in the negative form, followed by a verb. I chose these four verbs because they often confuse my students when put together with "can’t." � October 17, 2017 Infinitives are very common in English. They look like this: to be, to do, to eat, to leave, to imagine, to believe, to hope, to plan, to finish, to go The word "to" goes before the simple form of a verb when creating an infinitive. Infinitives can function as nouns in a sentence, so they might be used in the position of a subject or in the position of an object:
Remember that the word "to" is also used as a preposition. This is one reason why students need to learn to identify infinitives whenever they appear. Learn about infinitives in Red Level Lesson Seventeen. October 16, 2017 It’s necessary for new students to learn about time expressions. These are words and phrases that help you talk about periods of time. Here’s a new quiz for conjunctions. I just uploaded it this morning. October 15, 2017 Conjunctions are small words that join words, phrases, and clauses together. Here are the most common coordinating conjunctions: and, but, or, yet, so The words for and nor are also coordinating conjunctions but they are used less frequently. Click here to learn about conjunctions. This is your lesson for today. October 14, 2017 Adjectives are words used with nouns. It’s possible to speak in English without adjectives, but it would be very difficult. Here are some examples:
You can learn more about adjectives in the Video Lessons section. You have probably noticed that we are featuring Purple Level lessons this month for the Word of the Day. There are two reasons for this. First, the Word of the Day section is being rewritten. There are also some missing audio recordings, so they’re being added. Second, the words featured in the Purple Level represent basic English. These are all verbs. For you these verbs might not seem basic, but they are. They’re are also difficult verbs to use because many of them are irregular. I think it’s important for beginning level students to study irregular verbs as soon as possible. October 13, 2017 The word of the day is "dress." This is simple word, but there are many different ways to use it. October 12, 2017 A popular way of talking about the future is to use the "going to" future. It’s formed like this: S + (be) going to _______. The subject determines the verb "be" (am, is, or are), and the main verb is in the simple form. Contrast these sentences with the ones that I showed you yesterday.
Learn more about the "going to" future in Red Level Lesson Twelve. October 11, 2017 The future tense can be formed by using the modal verb "will" with a main verb in the simple form.
Learn about the future tense in Red Level Lesson Eleven. October 10, 2017 Here’s a new video for modal verbs: � Red Level students learn how to use a lot, some, and any today. October 9, 2017 To talk about small amounts, use "a little" or "a few." But you must be careful when making a choice. Learn more in Lesson Nine. October 8, 2017 Learn to use the adjectives "many" and "much" in Lesson Eight. October 7, 2017 There are some interesting ways to use the verb "do" as a main verb. You can learn about this in Red Level Lesson Seven. October 6, 2017 Today’s Red Level lesson is on object pronouns. October 5, 2017 Your lesson for today is on forming questions with the verb "do." The word of the day is "furniture." October 4, 2017 Knowing how to form commands is useful when you need to tell someone what to do. The way you do this is to start with a verb in the simple form and follow that with an object, or a prepositional phrase, or an infinitive.
October 3, 2017 Red Level Lesson Three shows students how the verb "do" is used as a helping verb for both the present tense and the past tense when making verbs negative and when forming questions. The word of the day is "put." Notice that I’m posting links to the Purple Level this month. I think it’s useful for new students to become familiar with basic verbs in English as early as possible because they can be difficult. Most of the verbs included in the Purple Level are irregular. Today’s reading assignment: Bill works as a handyman. October 2, 2017 To make a verb negative in the present tense or the past tense, add "not" to the helping verb, do, does, or did. Present Tense:
Past Tense:
You can learn more about this in Red Level Lesson Two. If you are studying in the Red Level this month, be sure to work in the reading lessons as well. Red Level Reading Lesson number two: Donna and Bill had lunch together. Try to complete the reading lessons in order, one for each day of the month. October 1, 2017 When students complete the Blue Level, they move forward to the Red Level beginning with Lesson One.
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: Click here to go back to SEPTEMBER 2017 Click here to go to the LAEO Blog Archive. o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
|