Things You'll Need:
English (ESL) text book
Grammar exercises
English language reading material
Step 1
Make a plan. Try to get an overview of English grammar from a text book or online resource. Note the grammar points you need to work on and plan to work on each for at least a few day.
Step 2
Identify common mistakes. People who speak the same language often make the same mistakes in English grammar. For example, many Russian speakers have trouble using "a" and "the" in English. Find out what grammar points are often difficult for speakers of your native language. Pay extra attention to learning those grammar points.
Step 3
Find some grammar exercises. To learn English grammar well, you'll need to practice each grammar point until you can use it easily. Look for a book of grammar exercises that also has answers. Online activities and quizzes can also help. Focus on just one grammar point each time you study.
Step 4
Pay close attention to grammar when you read English. When you're trying to learn correct English grammar, it's not enough to understand general idea of what you read. You'll need to understand exactly why each sentence is written that way. When you read a sentence, ask yourself if can make similar sentences. If you can't or you're not sure, find text book exercises for those grammar points and practice.
Step 5
Translate from your native language into English. When you write or speak your own thoughts, it's easy to avoid complicated grammar. When you translate, you have to work with whatever is on the page, even if the grammar is difficult. Start translating simple things like advertisments and then move to newspapers and magazine articles. Translating dialog in plays is another good way to practice.
Step 6
Ask native speakers for advice. If you know any native English speakers, ask if they could check some of your writing now and then. If there are no native English speakers near you, look online for language learning forums or language exchange sites. Just remember if the native speaker is not a teacher, he or she may not be able to explain grammar rules.
Learn English grammar in small steps and give yourself time to practice. Learn the basics of one grammar point, then move on to another. When you're comfortable with the basics, you can go back and study the details.
There are some grammar differences between U.K., U.S. and other variants of English. There may be two or more correct ways to say something. Remember this when you ask native speakers for help.
If you really don't want to get bored or want to overcome it just engage yourself with something ( i.e do something ), write some thoughts on a piece of paper, work something around the house, meet a friend or help somebody, just do something you really like to do- You will become happy!!!
One of the oldest micronations, the republic of Molossia. It is located in Dayton, Nevada. It is inhabited by only four citizens, one of whom, Kevin Baugh is the president. It was founded in May 1977 by Baugh when he was aged fourteen and was formerly known as the republic of Vuldnstein. It has its own space program, has a railway and issues currency (valora) as well. Relations with the neighboring Muchistan have been troubled of late. In 2000, Molassia staged the first ever Micronation Olympic games in tune with the Sydney Olympics.
The London Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel, is the tallest (135 metres (443 ft)) Ferris wheel in Europe, and has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the UK, visited by over 3 million people a year.[1]
At the time it was erected it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until it was surpassed by the Star of Nanchang (160m) in May 2006, and then the Singapore Flyer (165m) on February 11, 2008. However, it is still described as "the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel" (because the entire structure is supported by an A-frame on one side only) by its operators.[2]
The London Eye is located at the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames in London, England, between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The site is adjacent to that of the former Dome of Discovery, which was built for the Festival of Britain in 1951.
History of the London Eye
It was formally opened by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, at 20:00 GMT on December 31, 1999, although it was not opened to the public until March 2000 because of technical problems. Since its opening, the Eye, operated by Merlin Entertainments but sponsored by British Airways, has become a major landmark and tourist attraction.
By July 2002, roughly 8.5 million people had ridden the Eye. It had planning permission only for five years, but at that time Lambeth Council agreed to plans to make the attraction permanent.Since 1 January 2005, the Eye has been the focal point of London's New Year celebrations, with 10-minute fireworks displays taking place involving fireworks fired from the wheel itself.
In 2006 the Tussauds Group bought out the other two joint owners, British Airways and the Marks Barfield family (the lead architects). Following Merlin Entertainments purchase of the Tussauds Group in 2007, it now owns 100% of the Eye. British Airways continued its brand association, but from the beginning of 2008 the name 'British Airways' was dropped from the logo.During the bidding process of the 2012 Olympic Games, the London bid organisers announced the Olympic emblem would be attached to the Eye for the duration of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
In August of 2007, it was announced that London Eye could be temporarily renamed "The McCartney Eye" after Sir Paul McCartney of the Beatles. The renaming would coincide with the release of a McCartney related DVD set titled "The McCartney Years".
I am adding the following information especially for my dearest friend eksena:
Interesting things about the London Eye
A TEAM EFFORT
It took seven years and the skills of hundreds of people from five countries to make the London Eye a reality
A VIEW FIT FOR A QUEEN
You can see around 40KM (25 miles) from the top as far as Windsor Castle on a clear day
FLYING HIGH
The London Eye welcomes an average of 3.5 million customers every year. You would need 6,680 fully booked British Airways Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets to move that number of fliers!
DING! DING!
The London Eye can carry 800 passengers per revolution - equivalent to 11 London red doubled-decker buses
HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION
Each of the 32 capsules weighs 10 tonnes. To put that figure into perspective, it's the same weight as 1,052,631 pound coins!
SLOWLY BUT SURELY
Each rotation takes about 30 minutes, meaning a capsule travels at a stately 26cm per second, or 0.9km (0.6 miles) per hour - twice as fast as a tortoise sprinting; allowing passengers to step on and off without the wheel having to stop
THE ONLY WAY IS UP
The circumference of the wheel is 424m (1.392ft) - meaning that if it were unravelled, it would be 1.75 times longer than the UK's tallest building.
Wales (country that is part of the United Kingdom), there is a village called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (58 letters), which in English means "Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of Saint Tysilio near the red cave." The locals call it Llanfairpwll. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.com is the longest single word .com domain name in the world.
I am sure that you already know which place is this.
First advice to all of you who will be traveling to UK, careful! Even if a night before you start your trip or journey, you listen the weather forecast that it will be a sunny and hot day, do not believe it! I am sure that you have heard that English food is horrible, but believe me, English weather is terrible. That's why you see people most of the time holding an umbrella in their hands. It rains a lot, and usually it is cold.
If you go to a restaurant and you would like to try traditional English food, they will suggest you apple pie ( which in fact has no apples on it). Plus do not expect that people will talk to you friendly as Americans do. They are good people but its in their own nature to behave and act like iced people. Every one minds his/her own business and the best of all is that they do not ask a lot of questions.
The most important thing to remember is "Never give short answers if they ask any questions, because they might be offended and think you are ignoring them. Try to be as much communicative as you can and show some interests in the discussion."
I hope that this small piece of information will help you know how to behave when you will be visiting the UK.
If you have any questions about the UK, then I'll try to answer them ( at least for the places I have been to).
Dear little_baby
Now I'll ask you a simple question: Do you think that none of us never made mistakes in the past while we spoke and learned English? If so then you must know that even now we make mistakes. Now imagine yourself being somewhere with a stranger sitting next to you and he says:
" You go where?"
'USA'
'Reason'
'Business'
'You stay how long?'
Even though we make mistakes we do understand each other, and I don't think that anyone will be laughing about what you write. Remember that only if you practice very often you can be very good at it. At Cambridge a teacher once said to me: 'Can you give me a name of a person who learned to drive by just reading books how to do it? Or did you learn how to swim without getting into water?
Think and consider this friendly advice. and remember that: "To err is human...."
When NASA started sending American astronauts into space, they discovered that ballpoint pens didn't work in zero gravity. So NASA scientists spent ten years and twelve billion dollars, and they made a pen that worked in space. The Russians used a pencil!
Well, it seems that you read your diaries too often, that's the main thing that makes people bored. ( Just kidding) But frankly speaking it doesn't seem to me that you are the kind of the person who enjoys being bored. And of course that there are some moments when everyone in the world and every person gets bored, but I don't think that there are no ways to overcome it.
"I doubt whether meeting a friend equals helping someone"
Does this mean that you don't enjoy helping the others and were never helped by them. Or does this give you the idea that my best friend is myself?
Always remember that English is not "phonetic". That means that we do not always say a word the same way that we spell it.
Some words can have the same spelling but different pronunciation, for example:
I like to read [ri:d].
I have read [red] that book.
Some words have different spelling but the same pronunciation, for example:
I have read [red] that book.
My favourite colour is red [red].
I would advise you to choose one or more of your favourite native speakers of standard English that you have access to on the radio, on audiotape or on video and spend as much time as possible imitating what they say.
Rightly or wrongly, the way that you speak is one of the first things that people notice about you. People will judge your background, education and social standing just by the way you speak.
Even if you can already communicate in English if you don't speak clearly, people won't understand you and they won't want to talk to you, because it's just too tiring.
Listening and understanding are also important. If you don't know how different words are pronounced you will not improve your understanding.
Don't confuse pronunciation with accent. It doesn't mean that we all have to talk like the Queen of England. As long as your pronunciation is understandable and pleasant that's fine, if people struggle to understand you then you may need to try and reduce your accent, but unless you are an actor, and you need to play different roles, please don't try to get rid of your accent.
But successful speaking is more than just knowing how to pronounce words correctly.
Enunciation is is the act of speaking clearly and concisely, making each word sound as clear as possible.
Make recordings of your favourite programmes and then play them back in short sections. Try to reproduce as accurately as possible the pronunciation, stress and intonation patterns of the speaker(s).
Watch carefully this video and have a fun. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?BAiR83rvS-k[/youtube]
Meanwhile take a look at http://international.ouc.bc.ca/Pronunciation/. Please feel free to ask. I'd be happy to help.
Yes I have, and been part of mixed martial arts style for almost nine years now. Extreme Martial arts is a mixed sport of acrobatics, gymnastics and martial arts. XMA also sets an X-games kind of pace to weapons drills as well. It is a combination of techniques, methods of movements and philosophies from all martial arts styles. It is a mixture of virtually all martial arts styles blended together with high-flying acrobatics and gymnastics.
Although I am aware that a few people know this kind of sport 'cos they think it started recently which is not true at all.
all of them do allow saying words of love and words of hate, singing nice songs, telling funny stories…
This is true, but in other discussions we said that the answers are being given in English, and this really matters. Although I agree with you, still this a good way to let people express their own thoughts.
If others ask me for information, I'll try to answer it. But as you know one can't know everything. Let's say London for example. First time I lost the way, instead of going at Belgravia, I went at Belgrave Road because my question to an old man was: "Excuse me. Can you tell me the way to Belgravia, please?' He gave me the answer, but the wrong direction. So even if you ask someone something, especially about any direction you must spell it correctly, otherwise you'll go completely to a different place.
Let's compare British with Dutch people. Dutch people are always ready to help and give you an answer, even if they are in the other side of the road, they approach and ask you if you need help.
The other thing you'll find strange and interesting is that in London you can hear about 300 different languages being spoken, and this happens because there are a lot of immigrants from all around the world, and because Heathrow Airport serves as a bridge to connect other countries.
what is your personal attitude to this fact?
I am used to it. What I meant in the first post here was that you must be careful when you visit London for the first time .
Every one minds his/her own business and the best of all is that they do not ask a lot of questions. I like this fact a lot.
Traumatic? Maybe for a bad sensei who teaches them the worst of MA. I am aware of what I can do, but believe me or not, Martial Arts have helped me to cope in different situations and they taught me how to control myself even when I'm furious.
My question to you little_baby :
Can you distinguish full contact from real sport? And what kind of Martial Arts do they train for?
Interesting idea! :). But unfortunately these days I'm in the Balkans.
So maybe I'll start a new discussion giving advice what places to visit in the UK.
If any of the Martial Arts students fights in the street, they are banned from the school!!! We train because we want to be healthy and help others get away from smoking, alcohol, drugs etc. and during these nine years we did it well.
Russian
English (ESL) text book
Grammar exercises
English language reading material
Step 1
Make a plan. Try to get an overview of English grammar from a text book or online resource. Note the grammar points you need to work on and plan to work on each for at least a few day.
Step 2
Identify common mistakes. People who speak the same language often make the same mistakes in English grammar. For example, many Russian speakers have trouble using "a" and "the" in English. Find out what grammar points are often difficult for speakers of your native language. Pay extra attention to learning those grammar points.
Step 3
Find some grammar exercises. To learn English grammar well, you'll need to practice each grammar point until you can use it easily. Look for a book of grammar exercises that also has answers. Online activities and quizzes can also help. Focus on just one grammar point each time you study.
Step 4
Pay close attention to grammar when you read English. When you're trying to learn correct English grammar, it's not enough to understand general idea of what you read. You'll need to understand exactly why each sentence is written that way. When you read a sentence, ask yourself if can make similar sentences. If you can't or you're not sure, find text book exercises for those grammar points and practice.
Step 5
Translate from your native language into English. When you write or speak your own thoughts, it's easy to avoid complicated grammar. When you translate, you have to work with whatever is on the page, even if the grammar is difficult. Start translating simple things like advertisments and then move to newspapers and magazine articles. Translating dialog in plays is another good way to practice.
Step 6
Ask native speakers for advice. If you know any native English speakers, ask if they could check some of your writing now and then. If there are no native English speakers near you, look online for language learning forums or language exchange sites. Just remember if the native speaker is not a teacher, he or she may not be able to explain grammar rules.
Learn English grammar in small steps and give yourself time to practice. Learn the basics of one grammar point, then move on to another. When you're comfortable with the basics, you can go back and study the details.
There are some grammar differences between U.K., U.S. and other variants of English. There may be two or more correct ways to say something. Remember this when you ask native speakers for help.
The London Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel, is the tallest (135 metres (443 ft)) Ferris wheel in Europe, and has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the UK, visited by over 3 million people a year.[1]
At the time it was erected it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until it was surpassed by the Star of Nanchang (160m) in May 2006, and then the Singapore Flyer (165m) on February 11, 2008. However, it is still described as "the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel" (because the entire structure is supported by an A-frame on one side only) by its operators.[2]
The London Eye is located at the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames in London, England, between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The site is adjacent to that of the former Dome of Discovery, which was built for the Festival of Britain in 1951.
History of the London Eye
It was formally opened by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, at 20:00 GMT on December 31, 1999, although it was not opened to the public until March 2000 because of technical problems. Since its opening, the Eye, operated by Merlin Entertainments but sponsored by British Airways, has become a major landmark and tourist attraction.
By July 2002, roughly 8.5 million people had ridden the Eye. It had planning permission only for five years, but at that time Lambeth Council agreed to plans to make the attraction permanent.Since 1 January 2005, the Eye has been the focal point of London's New Year celebrations, with 10-minute fireworks displays taking place involving fireworks fired from the wheel itself.
In 2006 the Tussauds Group bought out the other two joint owners, British Airways and the Marks Barfield family (the lead architects). Following Merlin Entertainments purchase of the Tussauds Group in 2007, it now owns 100% of the Eye. British Airways continued its brand association, but from the beginning of 2008 the name 'British Airways' was dropped from the logo.During the bidding process of the 2012 Olympic Games, the London bid organisers announced the Olympic emblem would be attached to the Eye for the duration of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
In August of 2007, it was announced that London Eye could be temporarily renamed "The McCartney Eye" after Sir Paul McCartney of the Beatles. The renaming would coincide with the release of a McCartney related DVD set titled "The McCartney Years".
I am adding the following information especially for my dearest friend eksena:
Interesting things about the London Eye
A TEAM EFFORT
It took seven years and the skills of hundreds of people from five countries to make the London Eye a reality
A VIEW FIT FOR A QUEEN
You can see around 40KM (25 miles) from the top as far as Windsor Castle on a clear day
FLYING HIGH
The London Eye welcomes an average of 3.5 million customers every year. You would need 6,680 fully booked British Airways Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets to move that number of fliers!
DING! DING!
The London Eye can carry 800 passengers per revolution - equivalent to 11 London red doubled-decker buses
HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION
Each of the 32 capsules weighs 10 tonnes. To put that figure into perspective, it's the same weight as 1,052,631 pound coins!
SLOWLY BUT SURELY
Each rotation takes about 30 minutes, meaning a capsule travels at a stately 26cm per second, or 0.9km (0.6 miles) per hour - twice as fast as a tortoise sprinting; allowing passengers to step on and off without the wheel having to stop
THE ONLY WAY IS UP
The circumference of the wheel is 424m (1.392ft) - meaning that if it were unravelled, it would be 1.75 times longer than the UK's tallest building.
Wales (country that is part of the United Kingdom), there is a village called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (58 letters), which in English means "Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of Saint Tysilio near the red cave." The locals call it Llanfairpwll. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.com is the longest single word .com domain name in the world.
I am sure that you already know which place is this.
First advice to all of you who will be traveling to UK, careful! Even if a night before you start your trip or journey, you listen the weather forecast that it will be a sunny and hot day, do not believe it! I am sure that you have heard that English food is horrible, but believe me, English weather is terrible. That's why you see people most of the time holding an umbrella in their hands. It rains a lot, and usually it is cold.
If you go to a restaurant and you would like to try traditional English food, they will suggest you apple pie ( which in fact has no apples on it). Plus do not expect that people will talk to you friendly as Americans do. They are good people but its in their own nature to behave and act like iced people. Every one minds his/her own business and the best of all is that they do not ask a lot of questions.
The most important thing to remember is "Never give short answers if they ask any questions, because they might be offended and think you are ignoring them. Try to be as much communicative as you can and show some interests in the discussion."
I hope that this small piece of information will help you know how to behave when you will be visiting the UK.
If you have any questions about the UK, then I'll try to answer them ( at least for the places I have been to).
Now I'll ask you a simple question: Do you think that none of us never made mistakes in the past while we spoke and learned English? If so then you must know that even now we make mistakes. Now imagine yourself being somewhere with a stranger sitting next to you and he says:
" You go where?"
'USA'
'Reason'
'Business'
'You stay how long?'
Even though we make mistakes we do understand each other, and I don't think that anyone will be laughing about what you write. Remember that only if you practice very often you can be very good at it. At Cambridge a teacher once said to me: 'Can you give me a name of a person who learned to drive by just reading books how to do it? Or did you learn how to swim without getting into water?
Think and consider this friendly advice. and remember that: "To err is human...."
New word: discount
What do they really mean to say?
"I doubt whether meeting a friend equals helping someone"
Does this mean that you don't enjoy helping the others and were never helped by them. Or does this give you the idea that my best friend is myself?
Some words can have the same spelling but different pronunciation, for example:
I like to read [ri:d].
I have read [red] that book.
Some words have different spelling but the same pronunciation, for example:
I have read [red] that book.
My favourite colour is red [red].
I would advise you to choose one or more of your favourite native speakers of standard English that you have access to on the radio, on audiotape or on video and spend as much time as possible imitating what they say.
Rightly or wrongly, the way that you speak is one of the first things that people notice about you. People will judge your background, education and social standing just by the way you speak.
Even if you can already communicate in English if you don't speak clearly, people won't understand you and they won't want to talk to you, because it's just too tiring.
Listening and understanding are also important. If you don't know how different words are pronounced you will not improve your understanding.
Don't confuse pronunciation with accent. It doesn't mean that we all have to talk like the Queen of England. As long as your pronunciation is understandable and pleasant that's fine, if people struggle to understand you then you may need to try and reduce your accent, but unless you are an actor, and you need to play different roles, please don't try to get rid of your accent.
But successful speaking is more than just knowing how to pronounce words correctly.
Enunciation is is the act of speaking clearly and concisely, making each word sound as clear as possible.
Make recordings of your favourite programmes and then play them back in short sections. Try to reproduce as accurately as possible the pronunciation, stress and intonation patterns of the speaker(s).
Watch carefully this video and have a fun. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?BAiR83rvS-k[/youtube]
Meanwhile take a look at http://international.ouc.bc.ca/Pronunciation/. Please feel free to ask. I'd be happy to help.
Although I am aware that a few people know this kind of sport 'cos they think it started recently which is not true at all.
This is true, but in other discussions we said that the answers are being given in English, and this really matters. Although I agree with you, still this a good way to let people express their own thoughts.
Let's compare British with Dutch people. Dutch people are always ready to help and give you an answer, even if they are in the other side of the road, they approach and ask you if you need help.
The other thing you'll find strange and interesting is that in London you can hear about 300 different languages being spoken, and this happens because there are a lot of immigrants from all around the world, and because Heathrow Airport serves as a bridge to connect other countries.
what is your personal attitude to this fact?
I am used to it. What I meant in the first post here was that you must be careful when you visit London for the first time .
Every one minds his/her own business and the best of all is that they do not ask a lot of questions. I like this fact a lot.
warning
My question to you little_baby :
Can you distinguish full contact from real sport? And what kind of Martial Arts do they train for?
So maybe I'll start a new discussion giving advice what places to visit in the UK.