Monthly Archives: May 2017

Something Happening Now

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Don’t say: 
– Look! The baby walking!
– Where is your sister?  She’s work in Boston today.
– What are your kids doing right now?  They playing soccer at the school.
– Sorry, I can’t go to lunch with you.  I eat a sandwich right now.

Say this:
– Look! The baby is walking!
– Where is your sister?  She’s working in Boston today. (or She is working)
– What are your kids doing right now?  They’re playing soccer at the school. (or They are playing)
– Sorry, I can’t go to lunch with you.  I’m eating a sandwich right now. (or I am eating)

Remember:

  • When you talk about something happening NOW, for most verbs, you use this form:
    Verb to-be (am, are, is) + verb + ing

    • He is cooking.
    • I am making the bed.
    • The doctor is flying to California.
    • Everyone in class is reading.
  • This verb tense is called “present continuous”, or “present progressive”.

Watch out for Ticks

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  This is a nice time of the year to take walks in the woods, or in more natural areas (around lakes, or maybe outside your own home). However, when you do, you should be aware of ticks – on yourself and on your children.

Ticks can be tiny, but dangerous.  Some ticks can give you lyme disease.  It’s important to be
aware of the information to avoid tick bites, and what to do if you get a tick bite.

Strong, Stronger, Strongest

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  Use STRONG to describe one or more people or things.

  • My husband is strong.
  • That is a group of strong women.

Use STRONGER to compare two people or things (or two groups of people/things)

  • Carlos is stronger than his brother.
  • A tiger is stronger than a lamb.
  • Who is stronger in the video below?

 

Use STRONGEST when you compare three or more people/things.

  • James is the strongest person in the class.
  • Anne is the strongest woman he knows.

— Thanks to Debra, Jamilli, and the rest of their class for the arm wrestling video. —

Describing Pictures on DreamReader.net

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   Dreamreader.net is a website mostly filled with useful short articles to help you improve your reading.  Each article includes the audio (to listen to the story) and a little quiz.

For higher-level beginners, there is one section called “Easy English” that includes pictures, where you try to answer some questions about what you see in the picture.  For example, this is their first picture lesson:

Question #1:

Question #2:

Continue reading →

Stand With Immigrants Dinner

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   Framingham Adult ESL Plus provides free English classes, high school equivalency and citizenship classes, and additional services to 800 people in MetroWest.  There are many hundreds more in the area who are hoping to get into one of these classes.

On May 24th, there will be a Stand With Immigrants Celebration Dinner at the Sheraton Hotel in Framingham.  All the money raised will go to the MetroWest ESL Fund, which pays for 6 English classes at the school.

Please consider coming to the dinner.  It will be a fun event, with delicious food and three different bands.  And also please mention it to your business connections in the community.  It would be a good way for them to show their support for immigrants.