VIP Class Notes (Nicholas)(S/W)

Homework

Study! Write something very short – tell me a story and make sure you use PAST TENSE. Tell me a story about the economy in Spain. Are people leaving Spain because the economy is bad? How has the recession in Spain made life difficult for Spanish people?

Speaking exercise

The money is important in my life because – I have money for the things that I need – with money you can eat and you can to buy something / whatever you like – its OK – I dont need any more money– if you have more I think yes you can do many things for example: you can vacation more often, you can give money to poor people, you can choose the best schools for your children, you can buy the best clothes  – I think having too much money is bad – why – because when you have too much money you dont know how to do with that what you should do with the money / you don’t know how to handle all of the money – I think not if you didn’t I don’t think money makes you a bad personif you are didn’t person then no  if you are a good person then no: money won’t make you a bad person– if you were already always are bad person it’s the same – the mentality is the same.

I want to be famous but it depends on what type/kind of famous you are who famous is you – or which area – because if I was a famous how painter for example – it’s OK – but if I was an actor, actress I dont wouldn’t like that – you dont have perfect life.

98% of the time you do not need to use THE – remove it!

Writing exercise

Two weekends ago we (my husband and I) went to Nanjing, this is a city is near to Shanghai.
This is was the worst trip we’ve ever had, because the city don’t doesn’t have good communication for road travel / the road signs aren’t very clear / when there are have too many people visiting it.

It’s true, that we went on during the holidays /on a holiday, but there were holliday also this was also a holiday for Chinese people, and there are were too many tourists / people visiting.
We didn’t fully enjoy our trip but, we were able to visit same places that were beautiful, in that case, we forgot the bad moments. I think always always think that there is am are things something you find that makes you fall in love with life and with what there are is in the world.

Vocabulary

I think not = I don’t think

economy / economic  / this the health of the country’s jobs and money

e.g. Is Spain’s economy strong?

e.g. It economic situation in Spain good?

recession / this is when the economy is going down 

e.g. Spain has been experiencing a recession for the past 9 years.

e.g. The call the 2008 financial (money) crisis the “Great Recession”.

a depression / this is when the economy is going down very very fast

e.g In the USA during the 1940s, the USA experienced a Great Depression.

sobre valorado / over rated / it’s bad but everyone says its good

e.g. Bali is totally overrated.

underrated /it’s good but everyone says it’s bad

e.g. Columbia is underrated – the prices are good, it’s not too busy, the women are beautiful!

fairly valued / it’s good and everyone says it’s good

e.g. Thailand is fairly valued.

Grammar

we go to Paris first / we went to Paris

you can go to no the places where / you cannot go anywhere without traffic / it’s too crowded / there are only a few roads and they are full of cars

Have you gone to Japan/Have you been to Japan vs. Did you go to Japan  

Have you gone = Did you ever go there before? – General

e.g. Have you gone to Japan. Yes I have been there three times.

Did you go to Japan for the holiday?  = Very specific

e.g. No we didn’t go to Japan for the holiday we went to Nanjing.

e.g. On my trip I went to Phuket and I did not go to Bangkok. I have never gone to Bangkok.

e.g. On my trip, I went to Phuket, and I did not go to Bangkok. But I have been to Bangkok before.

98% of the time speak in the PAST TENSE – when you’re telling me story – tell me WHAT HAPPENED in the PAST TENSE

Pay attention to SINGULAR (ONE PERSON) vs. PLURAL (TWO PEOPLE) SUBJECTS

e.g. The city/It/She (ONE CITY ) doesn’t don”t have good food.

e.g. The cities/They (MANY CITIES – PLURAL) don’t have good food.

Use the word  DURING when talking about “when you went somewhere”

e.g. I went to my English lesson during my lunch break.

e.g. I went to Nanjing during the Chinese holiday.

Says vs. Say

Say = Something you said one time – a specific time

e.g. What did the doctor say? What did the doctor says?

e.g. The doctor said I should take medicine.

Says = Something you usually say

e.g. My mother always says…mother usually says: work hard!

e.g. The doctor says I should take medicine. 

When I went to China my mother say/said/says to be careful.

Pronunciation

the people said / NOT SAYED / SED

e.g. He/she/they said: brush your teeth.

e.g. What did they say yesterday…

e.g. My mother always says: brush your teeth.