'Gaul' with English...

Welcome back...!

2008-05-30T10:41:00.002+07:00

Well, it is not easy to maintain the motivation in updating this blog...

hopefully, from now on i can give regular update everyday.
Enjoy...

New Year, New Book...

2007-08-21T12:31:00.000+07:00

dear students,

Welcome to the new academic year... i really enjoy teaching you all.

Starting from this year we are going to level you and use diferent books according to your level. i hope this year will end up with a great result of your language skills mastery...

Well good luck! and God bless you...

Spell ABC... It's Fun!

2007-03-28T12:24:00.000+07:00

Do you know tongue twister? well, try to read these sentences... begin with a slower speed, ok?

A
If I assist a sister-assistant, will the sister's sister-assistant assist me?

"What ails Alex?" asks Alice.
Alice asks for axes.

B
Once upon a barren moorThere dwelt a bear, also a boar,The bear could not bear the boar,The bear thought the boar was a bore.At last the bear could bear no moreThat boar that bored him on the moor.And so one morn he bored the boar-That boar will bore no more!

A big bug bit a bold bald bear and the bold bald bear bled blood badly.

Bad black bran bread.

Big ben blew big blue bubbles.

Betty Botter bought a bit of butter."But," said she, "this butter's bitter.If I put it in my batter,It will make my batter bitter.But a bit of better butter-That would make my batter better."So Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter(better than her bitter butter)And she put it in her bitter batterAnd made her bitter batter a bit better.

The fuzzy bee buzzed the buzzy busy beehive.

Blue bugs blood.

I bought a box of biscuits,a box of mixed biscuits,and a biscuit mixer.

Bill had a billboard.Bill also had a board bill.The board bill bored Bill,So Bill sold his billboardAnd paid his board bill.Then the board billNo longer bored Bill,But though he had no board bill,Neither did he have his billboard!

C
Catch a can canner canning a can as he does the cancan, amd you've caught a can-canning can-canning can canner! Clean clams crammed in clean cans. How much can can a cannibal nibble, if a cannibal can nibble can?

Top chopstick shops stock top chopsticks.

Cuthbert's cufflinks.

A cupcake cook in a cupcake cook's cap cooks cupcakes.

Crisp crust crackles.

Chocolate chip cookies in a copper coffee cup.

Ape Cakes, Grape Cakes.

Cinnamon aluminum linoleum.

If you must cross a course cross cow across a crowded cow crossing,cross the cross coarse cow across the crowded cow crossing carefully.

Cheap sheep soup.

A cup of proper coffee in a copper coffee cup.

From: http://members.aol.com/SdShowBob7/twisters.html

Do you have another tongue twister? Share it through the comment link below...

How to Read a Whole Book

2007-03-28T10:04:00.000+07:00

Some people can't read a whole book completely without giving up. Here are some steps to help you.

Steps
Make sure the book you are trying to read actually is worth your while. Most people know how well they read and how fast. Make sure you can actually understand the book, as in reading over the summary.
Then when you get the book sit down and read it for about 15 minutes, this will help you get an understanding of the type of writing you will be reading.
If the book you are reading doesn't seem appealing and you seemed bored before 15 minutes, it's probably a style which you don't like. Realize that the beginning of the book may not be the climax of the book.
Make a schedule that allocates 30-60 minutes each day so that you can read your book.
Keep a notebook and write or draw a picture to briefly describe what you read or how you felt about it

Tips
Sometimes in the middle of the book it gets boring, but just keep on going. If the book is boring for several pages or chapters, then skip it, because if it is not big, it's probably not that important. Even if you skip a few pages, if you think it is better, then after a few better pages go back and read the pages you skipped.
If your not sure what books you like, try finding a book you like and looking it up on Amazon.com. Once there scroll to the bottom to the "lists" of books created by other users. (Also a good way to find movies)
Look on the Internet or in the bookstore for what other people have said about the book.

Warnings
If the book really gets boring just drop it, it's not worth your time.
If you have to read the book for class, talk to other students about the book to help keep you motivated
Watching the movie will not help. Movies based on books are usually altered, sometimes beyond recognition

From: www.wikihow.org

Today's Recomended Book

2007-03-20T07:30:00.000+07:00

The Pearl...

This article is about the 1947 novel. For the 1948 Spanish language film, see La perla.

The Pearl is a 1947 novel by John Steinbeck. It tells the story of a poor Mexican diver who finds a magnificent pearl which he hopes will improve his family's life; however, he finds that his new wealth brings only corruption of the soul and the blinding luxuries of 'civilized' life. Like many of Steinbeck's works, the book primarily addresses the issues of poverty, wealth, and an unjust society, particularly focusing on wealth's corrupting effect on relationships and its connection with happiness.
La perla (The Pearl), a 1948 Spanish language motion picture, is based on the book.

The Pearl First edition cover

Author : John Steinbeck

Country : United States

Language : English

Genre(s) : Novella

Publisher : The Viking Press & William Heinemann

Released : 1947

Media type : Print (Hardback & Paperback)

ISBN :NA

From: www.wikipedia.org

Free e-books

2007-03-15T07:38:00.000+07:00

Do you know that there are thousands of books that you can grab form the internet freely? why don't you directly try to visit those sites, who knows there is one of your favourite books...

These are some sites I recomend:

www.gutenberg.org
www.ebooks.com
www.netlibrary.com
www.fictionwise.com
www.wisdomebooks.com
www.ereader.com

Well, good luck!

Another Future Expression...

2007-03-13T10:02:00.000+07:00

To express future activity, we usually use the form of 'will' or 'be+going to' as the example i've got from http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplefuture.html :

Simple Future has two different forms in English: "will" and "be going to." Although the two forms can sometimes be used interchangeably, they often express two very different meanings. These different meanings might seem too abstract at first, but with time and practice, the differences will become clear. Both "will" and "be going to" refer to a specific time in the future.

FORM Will
[will + verb]

Examples:
You will help him later.
Will you help him later?
You will not help him later.

FORM Be Going To
[am/is/are + going to + verb]

Examples:
You are going to meet Jane tonight.
Are you going to meet Jane tonight?
You are not going to meet Jane tonight

however, there are other ways to express future expression... what are they?
1. by using present continuous...
I haven't eaten my brakfast yet. It is 7 o'clock already. I am having my breakfast at 7.15 am.
as you can see, the sentence expresing future activity of personal intention.
2. by using present simple
The concert begins at 6.30 pm. tomorrow.
This sentence tells us scheduled activity, which almost impossible to change.

So, from now on... you are not only able to use 'will' or 'be+going to' form, but also present continuous and present simple to show future expression.

Do you like to make a sentence so i can check them for you? You can click the comment link below and write it there.

Compound Words

2007-03-08T07:09:00.000+07:00

Here is a brief article about compound words...

A compound is a word composed of more than one free morpheme.
English compounds may be classified in several ways, such as the word classes or the semantic relationship of their components.

Compound nouns
Most English compound nouns are noun phrases (= nominal phrases) that include a noun modified by adjectives or attributive nouns. Due to the English tendency towards conversion, the two classes are not always easily distinguished. Most English compound nouns that consist of more than two words can be constructed recursively by combining two words at a time. The compound science fiction writer, for example, can be constructed by combining science and fiction, and then combining the resulting compound with writer. Some compounds, such as salt and pepper or mother-of-pearl, can not be constructed in this way, however.

Compound adjectives
English compound adjectives are constructed in a very similar way to the compound noun. Blackboard jungle, leftover ingredients, gunmetal sheen, and green monkey disease are only a few examples.
A compound adjective is a modifier of a noun. It consists of two or more morphemes of which the left-hand component limits or changes the modification of the right-hand one, as in "the dark-green dress": dark limits the green that modifies dress.

Compound verbs
A compound verb is usually composed of a preposition and a verb, although other combinations also exist. The term compound verb was first used in publication in Grattan and Gurrey's Our Living Language (1925).
From a morphological point of view, some compound verbs are difficult to analyze because several derivations are plausible. Blacklist, for instance, might be analyzed as an adjective+verb compound, or as an adjective+noun compound that becomes a verb through zero derivation. Most compound verbs originally have the collective meaning of both components, but some of them later gain additional meanings that may predominate the original, accurate sense. Therefore, sometimes the resultant meanings are seemingly barely related to the original contributors.
Compound verbs composed of a noun and verb are comparatively rare, and the noun is generally not the direct object of the verb. In English, compounds such as *bread-bake or *car-drive do not exist. Yet we find literal action words, such as breastfeed, taperecord and washing instructions on clothing as for example hand wash.

From: www.wikipedia.org

Can you make a compound words? try to write it by on the comment dialog box by clicking the comment link below...

THE PASSIVE VOICE

2007-03-02T13:12:00.000+07:00

Hope this article can help you to learn about passive voice...

The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action, e.g.

The passive is used ...:
We are interested in the passive, not who uses it.
The house was built in 1654:
We are interested in the house, not the builder.
The road is being repaired:
We are interested in the road, not the people repairing it.

In other words, the most important thing or person becomes the subject of the sentence.
Sometimes we use the passive voice because we don't know or cannot express who or what performed the action:

I noticed that a window had been left open
Every year people are killed on our roads.

If we want to say who or what performs the action, we use the preposition by:

"A Hard Day's Night" was written by the Beatles
ET was directed by Spielberg

The passive voice is often used in formal or scientific texts:

A great deal of meaning is conveyed by a few well-chosen words.
Our planet is wrapped in a mass of gases.
Waste materials are disposed of in a variety of ways.

From: www.edufind.com

Can you make a passive voice? click the comment link below and i'll try to check your answer later...

Relative Clauses

2007-02-28T14:39:00.000+07:00

If you need extra information about relative clauses, I' ll give you one. Have a pleasant reading...

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
As the name suggests, these clauses give essential information to define or identify the person or thing we are talking about. Obviously, this is only necessary if there is more than one person or thing involved.
Example:Elephants who marry mice are very unusual.
In this sentence we understand that there are many elephants, but it is clear that we are only talking the ones who marry mice.

Other examples:
A clown is someone who makes you laugh.
An elephant is an animal that lives in hot countries.
The plums that were in the fridge were delicious. I have eaten them.
Where are the plums (that) I put in the fridge?
Has anyone seen the book I was reading?
Nothing that anyone does can replace my lost bag.
Let's go to a country where the sun always shines.
They live in the house whose roof is full of holes.

From:http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/rel2.cfm

You can try to write a relative clause and I will check it for you. you can simply click the comments link below...

Today's Recomended Book

2007-02-28T10:22:00.000+07:00

STUART LITTLE, CHARLLOTE'S WEB AND THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN

These novels are written by EB. White, a very famous author from USA.
They will bring you to their main character's tenseful and sometimes amusing adventures. Scholastics recomends these books for Grades 3 - 5 with 680-920 Lexile Level. Read all of them, you'll find them as a worth-reading literature of all times...

I'll give you a little information about the authors, i took it from harper-collins publiher:

Essayist and early New Yorker writer E. B. White (1899–1985) also wrote the children's classics Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan, and updated The Elements of Style. He was awarded the Gold Medal for Essays and Criticism of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the National Medal for Literature, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and (in 1973) was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lived in Maine and New York City.

If you have read one of this book, would you please write your comments about it? Just click the comments link below...

English Learning Resources...

2007-02-28T09:59:00.000+07:00

Do you notice something newon the right side of this page? Well I have Google Adsense to help us to find good english learning web sites. Please enjoy your learning through those sites...

Just click them, ok?

An Ideal Soulmate...

2007-02-23T13:16:00.000+07:00

Read this story carefully, I think it's funny...

Elizabeth was a very pretty girl, and her parents were rich. Quite a lot of the young men in the town wanted to marry her, but she was not satisfied with any of them.

One evening, one of the handsomest of the young men who wanted to marry Elizabeth came to visit her in her parents house and asked her to become his wife.

She answered, No, William, I won't marry you. I want to marry a man who is famous, who can play music, sing and dance very well, who can tell really interesting stories, who does not smoke or drink, who stays at home in the evenings and who stop talking when I'm tired of listening.

The young man got up, took his coat and went to the door, but before he left the house, he turned and said to Elizabeth, It isn't a man you 're looking for. It's a televisio set.

Question: Why the young man thinks Elizabeth is looking for a television set?
(Please answer by clicking the comment link below...)

from: LA.Hill

'Indonesian'-English

2007-02-20T15:50:00.000+07:00

During my teaching in the classroom, I found so many amusing things. that's why I like teaching, it is very interesting. One case that i'd like to mention here is how EFL students speak English.

When they are in my classroom, with an English-speaking-zone classroom, they try to speak in English. I really appreciate them, in fact I really proud of their effort. They try hard to speak in English. However, sometimes they talk in English words but with an Indonesian way of thinking.

Have you ever heard "go where?" instead of saying " where do you go?", or
"eat what?" instead of "what do you eat?", or
"wait, wait!" istead of " wait a moment please?", or
"can I go to the toilet?" than "may I go to the toilet?",
try this, "don't tell who-who" rather than "don't tell anyone" !!!

Well, it was funny, wasn't it? but I let my students to make mistakes and gently ask the class what is the proper way of saying it.

Do you have another 'Indonesian'-English way of speaking?
please tell me by clicking the comment link below...

Shopping or Shoping?

2007-02-17T07:51:00.000+07:00

I was talking to my teacher-friends, when someone called me by my mobile phone. She asked me with a serious and a kind of hurry tone in bahasa Indonesia. she asked, whether shopping or shoping is the correct spelling. well, I told her that "shoping" is the correct one. and then She said, "thank you mr.!" and she hung up the phone...

well, do you know? i was worng!!!
i gave the wrong information... i correct the mistake by talking to her on my class...

why do we write shopping rather than shoping? and swimming to swiming? it is because the word "shop" is ended by "p" with a vowel before the letter ("o"). Every word which ends by a consonant and it has a vowel before it, we should add "-ing" with an additional consonant.
so, shop + (extra) p + ing = shopping...

but how about "waiting"? it has a vowel before the consonant...
well, in this case, we should look on the previous letter, "a", so every word contains diphtongs (two or more vowels) we should add only "-ing" at the end of the word...

well, it is a little bit confusing, but i hope it will help you.
if you still don't understand by this explanation, please write your comment by clicking the comments link below...

Auction Day!!!

2007-02-16T12:22:00.000+07:00

Students, you have made great performance and product this week. As our commitment before, we're going to have an auction next week. Please get yourself ready...

There are many interesting products in my room. You may browse them there and find the one that interest you the most.

See you on the auction... Let's have fun!!!

A 'Preposition' Exercise...

2007-02-15T07:05:00.000+07:00

Try to write a short paragraph about things in your bed room, for example where is your bed position, your computer, your favorite doll, etc. write them out in the comments box by clicking the link below...

i'll check them for you as soon as i can...

good luck!

What is a Preposition?

2007-02-15T06:55:00.000+07:00

I hope this article will help you to comprehend the use of preposition...

A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition.

A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:

The book is on the table.
The book is beneath the table.
The book is leaning against the table.
The book is beside the table.
She held the book over the table.
She read the book during class.
In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "book" in space or in time.

A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs. A prepositional phrase can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. The most common prepositions are "about," "above," "across," "after," "against," "along," "among," "around," "at," "before," "behind," "below," "beneath," "beside," "between," "beyond," "but," "by," "despite," "down," "during," "except," "for," "from," "in," "inside," "into," "like," "near," "of," "off," "on," "onto," "out," "outside," "over," "past," "since," "through," "throughout," "till," "to," "toward," "under," "underneath," "until," "up," "upon," "with," "within," and "without."

Each of the highlighted words in the following sentences is a preposition:

The children climbed the mountain without fear.
In this sentence, the preposition "without" introduces the noun "fear." The prepositional phrase "without fear" functions as an adverb describing how the children climbed.

There was rejoicing throughout the land when the government was defeated.
Here, the preposition "throughout" introduces the noun phrase "the land." The prepositional phrase acts as an adverb describing the location of the rejoicing.

The spider crawled slowly along the banister.
The preposition "along" introduces the noun phrase "the banister" and the prepositional phrase "along the banister" acts as an adverb, describing where the spider crawled.

The dog is hiding under the porch because it knows it will be punished for chewing up a new pair of shoes.
Here the preposition "under" introduces the prepositional phrase "under the porch," which acts as an adverb modifying the compound verb "is hiding."

The screenwriter searched for the manuscript he was certain was somewhere in his office.
Similarly in this sentence, the preposition "in" introduces a prepositional phrase "in his office," which acts as an adverb describing the location of the missing papers.

from: www.uottawa.ca

Parts Of Speech...

2007-02-14T14:55:00.000+07:00

Traditional grammar classifies words based on eight parts of speech: the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection.

Each part of speech explains not what the word is, but how the word is used. In fact, the same word can be a noun in one sentence and a verb or adjective in the next. The next few examples show how a word's part of speech can change from one sentence to the next, and following them is a series of sections on the individual parts of speech, followed by an exercise.

Books are made of ink, paper, and glue.
In this sentence, "books" is a noun, the subject of the sentence.

Deborah waits patiently while Bridget books the tickets.
Here "books" is a verb, and its subject is "Bridget."

We walk down the street.
In this sentence, "walk" is a verb, and its subject is the pronoun "we".

The mail carrier stood on the walk.
In this example, "walk" is a noun, which is part of a prepositional phrase describing where the mail carrier stood.

The town decided to build a new jail.
Here "jail" is a noun, which is the object of the infinitive phrase "to build."

The sheriff told us that if we did not leave town immediately he would jail us.
Here "jail" is part of the compound verb "would jail."

They heard high pitched cries in the middle of the night.
In this sentence, "cries" is a noun acting as the direct object of the verb "heard."

The baby cries all night long and all day long.
But here "cries" is a verb that describes the actions of the subject of the sentence, the baby.

from : www.uottawa.ca

Wisdom:: The key to success!

2007-02-14T11:43:00.000+07:00

If the axe is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success. (Ecl 10:10)

Well, this is what i think is important in our life... WISDOM
By our strength we can get good lifeBy knowledge we can get better life
By WISDOM we can get great life...!

How to get wisdom anyway?Collosians 3:16 says:Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
So, we can have wisdom in the word of Christ...
What is word of Christ? John capter 1 says...In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Knowing God and His word are the beginning to have WISDOM and WISDOM is begining to have succesful life...

Read the Bible, have an insight of it and practice it in your life, you'll see blessing come after you!

from: rudiwijaya.blogspot.com

This is how business is done!!

2007-02-14T11:39:00.000+07:00

here is a little humorous story... hope you like it:

Jack, a smart businessman, talks to his son.Jack: I want you to marry a girl of my choice Son : "I will choose my own bride!"Jack: "But the girl is Bill Gates's daughter."Son : "Well, in that case..."
Next Jack approaches Bill Gates.Jack: "I have a husband for your daughter."Bill Gates: "But my daughter is too young to marry!"Jack: "But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank."Bill Gates: "Ah, in that case..."
Finally Jack goes to see the president of the World Bank.Jack: "I have a young man to be recommended as a vice-president."President: "But I already have more vice- presidents than I need!"Jack: "But this young man is Bill Gates's son-in-law."President: "Ah, in that case..."

Welcome...

2007-02-14T07:11:00.000+07:00

Welcome to 'Gaul' with English, a web site which can help you to learn English interactively online !

You can read, write comments, send messages and talk this site to your friend.
Please have fun... Please enjoy 'aja'...