Rosetta Stone

Posted on September 29, 2017 by faeslcommunity

Rosetta Stone is a very good app to learn English (and other languages). It’s available for Apple and Android phones and tablets. The app is also very expensive – $199 – but you can try the first lesson for free. (Lesson 1 gives you about an an hour of practice or more)

With this app you can learn vocabulary and grammar and practice your pronunciation. You can also press “MENU” to get to “Extended Learning” for Lesson 1, which gives you:

more than 160 common English phrases (Ex: “How much does this cost?”; “We need help.”)
a story that you can read, listen to, and record yourself reading out loud
8 minutes of basic sentences – Listen to these and then try to speak them

The free part of the app is only a small part of the whole package.

Money Vocabulary

Posted on September 29, 2017 by faeslcommunity

Remind vs. Remember

Posted on September 27, 2017 by faeslcommunity

Don’t Say
– Remember me to make a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.
– That song remembers me of our trip to Cape Cod.
– I reminded that I have to work on Tuesday.
– I reminded to pick up milk at the store.

Say This:
– Remind me to make a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.
– That song reminds me of our trip to Cape Cod.
– I remembered that I have to work on Tuesday.
– I remembered to pick up milk at the store.

Remember (Don’t forget):

Remember
- is the opposite of “forget”
- Remember is something you think about from your own memory – it’s internal
- Remember + something
  - I remembered your birthday.
  - I remember the first day we met.
- Remember + to (She remembered to call her mother.)
- Remember + that (I remembered that there is no school today.)
- YouGlish examples of remember (also remembers and remembered)
Remind
- Remind is to help someone remember something – it’s external
- Remind + someone + to
  - Carla, please remind me to do my homework
  - I have to remind my father to take his medicine.
- Remind + someone + of
  - That smell reminds me of springtime.
  - That dog reminded me of the dog I had when I was a boy.
- YouGlish examples of remind (also reminds and reminded)

Below is more explanation especially for Portuguese speakers (one here for Spanish speakers, and one more for everyone)

Use Your Dog To Practice English

Posted on September 23, 2017 by faeslcommunity

Your English will improve if you speak or sing – out loud in English – to your dog.

But also, have you noticed that when you go walking with your dog, other dog lovers will usually be more friendly? Maybe they’ll say hello, or ask you questions about your dog, or ask, “Can I pet your dog?” Use this as a great opportunity for some small talk – short, informal conversation. Remember – the more English you speak, the more comfortable it will become.

Besides walking in your neighborhood, great places to meet other dog lovers (and for your dog, too) are parks in the area that are dog-friendly. One of the best places is Eagle Pond at Callahan State Park in Framingham (shown in picture). Here’s a list of many more.

Do you have another favorite place?

Word Order in Questions

Posted on September 21, 2017 by faeslcommunity

Which is correct – “I can have an apple?” or “Can I have an apple?”
The order (sequence) of words in an English sentence is often different from the word order of the same sentence in other languages. The word order in a question is even a little more difficult.

This picture may help you. It’s called the “Question Hand”. To make a Yes/No question, start at the pointer finger. The “X word” can be an auxiliary (helping) verb or the only verb in the question.
Examples: Did (x word) he (subject) eat (main verb) dinner with you? Is she coming home? Can I have an apple? Are you okay?

To make other informational (open-ended) questions, start with the thumb.
Examples: Where (question word) do (x word) you (subject) live (main verb)?
What time did you get home?

Try to put the words in these questions in the correct order:

And here is some more explanation, plus many more practice exercises.

Family Relationships

Posted on September 21, 2017 by faeslcommunity

The people in your family, and how you are related to each other, is called your Family Tree.

Floor vs. Ground

Posted on September 17, 2017 by faeslcommunity

Don’t Say
– (In your kitchen) I dropped a glass on the ground.
– (In your son’s bedroom) Please pick up all your dirty clothes from the ground.
– (In a parking lot) I found $20 on the floor.
– (At a park) I’m throwing bread on the floor for the birds.

Say This:
– (In your kitchen) I dropped a glass on the floor.
– (In your son’s bedroom) Please pick up all your dirty clothes from the floor.
– (In a parking lot) I found $20 on the ground.
– (At a park) I’m throwing bread on the ground for the birds.

Remember:

Inside – Use floor
Outside – Use ground
but… what is a “ground floor”??
- The ground floor of a tall building is usually the same as the ‘first floor’ – at the ground level.