Never Say “I no have…”

Posted on February 25, 2018 by faeslcommunity

Don’t Say	Say This
I no have time today.	I don’t have time today.
I no have his phone number.	I don’t have his phone number.
I no have to work tomorrow.	I don’t have to work tomorrow.
I no have to work yesterday.	I didn’t have to work yesterday.

Remember

Never, Never say “I no have“
For present tense, say “I don’t have…”
- I don’t have any money. I don’t have patience with my kids. I don’t have to go to Boston. I don’t have a headache.
- Here are 25,000 more examples of “I don’t have” in American conversational speech on Youglish.com
For past tense, say “I didn’t have…”
- I didn’t have school last week. I didn’t have many friends when I was young. I didn’t have electricity in my house until 8:00. I didn’t have to shovel the driveway.
- Here are 5,000 more examples of “I didn’t have”

Maple Sugaring Season

Posted on February 25, 2018 by faeslcommunity

With cold nights and warmer days, late February is the beginning of maple sugaring season in Massachusetts. Maple syrup is made in many sugar houses in and near MetroWest. You can visit a sugar house and get a tour explaining how maple syrup is made – and usually taste/buy some fresh delicious maple syrup or other maple products.

Places to visit:

Here is lots of information about maple sugaring season in Massachusetts – places to visit and maple recipes to try
And a map of sugar houses
Here are some special Maple Sugaring Events
- Natick Community Organic Farm – Mon-Sat now through March 23rd
  One-hour tours – Tree-tapping, and seeing how maple syrup is made ($8 per person – Reserve in advance)
  Special Maple Magic Day on Saturday March 3rd with pancake breakfast, more demonstrations, music
- Sap-to-Syrup Farmer’s Breakfast at Drumlin Farm in Lincoln – Saturday/Sunday March 10th/11th
  Pancake breakfast, tours and demonstrations. Drumlin Farm is a great place to take kids. They have a variety of animals to see, and good walking trails.
- MapleFest at Chestnut Hill Farm in Southborough – Saturday March 24th 11:00 to 2:00
  Taste maple syrup and candies; crafts and games; nice place to walk
- Maple Days at Old Sturbridge Village – Saturdays and Sundays in March
  Quite expensive ($28 per adult), but Old Sturbridge Village is a large place – recreating life here in the 1830s – with lots to see and do. The Maple Days (see video) are a special event at the village.
- And More Events and Sugar Houses around Boston including places in Hopkinton and Mendon

Presidents’ Day

Posted on February 18, 2018 by faeslcommunity

Until the middle of the 1970s, February 22, the birthday of George Washington who was the first president of the United States, was a national holiday. Also, February 12, the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the president during the Civil War, was a holiday in most states. In the 1970s, Congress declared a single holiday, to be called Presidents’ Day, would be observed on the third Monday in February (Monday February 19th this year) to honor all past presidents.

Here’s a video rap to help you remember their names.

Here’s information about what places are open or closed on this national holiday…

Town/City Hall and other government offices and courts: Closed

Public Schools: Closed (Part of February vacation week)

Senior Center: Closed

Public Library: Closed

Supermarkets: Open

Retail stores: Most are open

No Mail Delivery

Prefixes

Posted on February 17, 2018 by faeslcommunity

A prefix is a set of letters added to the beginning of a word, that changes what it means. For example, the prefix un- usually changes the original word to the opposite meaning (happy/unhappy).

There are many common prefixes. This doesn’t work for all words, but if you learn how these prefixes are used, you can increase your vocabulary more quickly. (unlucky; unzip; uncut; unopened; unwrap; unknown; unlock; etc.)

Here are some of the most common prefixes:

Finally, here’s a larger list of 50 common prefixes.

Abraham Lincoln

Posted on February 9, 2018 by faeslcommunity

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born on February 12th, 1809. He led the United States through its Civil War in the 1860s, which abolished slavery in the country. He was assassinated (killed) in 1865 – only a few days after the war ended.

At the site of a large battle in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (where 23,000 soldiers died in just one day), President Lincoln gave a 3-minute speech (now known as The Gettysburg Address) that has become the most famous in American history…

Tongue Twisters

Posted on February 5, 2018 by faeslcommunity

A tongue twister is a set of words that are difficult to pronounce together – especially when you try to say them quickly. They are fun to try to speak, and can help improve your pronunciation.

For example, try saying this (slowly at first, and then faster):
Rubber baby buggy bumper

Or this one – to practice the TH sound:

(From englishclass101.com) Or another one:
Theopolis the thistle sifter thrust a thistle through his thumb.

Here is a collection of many more tongue twisters – easy, medium, and difficult.

Groundhog Day

Posted on February 2, 2018 by faeslcommunity

February 2nd is a small, fun/silly holiday called Groundhog Day. You may see it mentioned on the news – especially during the weather report. According to legend:

If the groundhog sees his shadow on Feb 2nd, there will be 6 more weeks of winter
If he doesn’t see his shadow, there will be an early spring

Did he see his shadow this year? Yes! He saw his shadow. Here’s the ceremony – in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania…

There’s also a popular romantic comedy movie called Groundhog Day that you might enjoy watching.

Learning English in MetroWest

Monthly Archives: February 2018