VIP Class Notes (Nick) [S]

Do another speaking practice.

Think about something you want to be able to speak about more confidently.

Review your vocabulary.

Vocabulary

Speak vs. Say vs. Talk

— Speak is to make sounds, or to be able to do something;
e.g. He spoke (it was quiet, and then he made noise)
e.g. He spoke about cars (focusing on his speaking)
e.g. I speak English (I can do this)
e.g. I spoke to him about cars.
— When you add prepositions to “speak” (like: to, about, with), it is similar to talk.
— Say is to speak words, or to tell someone about something; to give information
e.g. He said “six” (I just want to tell you what words he used)
e.g. He said that he would arrive at six (he told me that he would arrive at six)
e.g. How do you say 黑芝麻 in English?
— Talk is usually involving other people
e.g. He talked to his boss (he went there and said something)
e.g. He talked with his boss (he had a conversation; they talked together)
e.g. He talked about cars (he told us something about them)

Learn – to put something new in your head
Practice – to get better at doing something; to learn how instead of what

Feeling – what you think about a place, or a situation
e.g. I have a feeling that we will get along (I think that we will have a good time)
Feelings – what you are feeling (angry, sad, happy, uncomfortable, nervous)
e.g. We have to be able to talk about our feelings, so that we can feel better and share with others.

Attrition Rate – the number of people leaving your company
e.g. A healthy company hires enough people to match its attrition rate.

Black Sesame – 黑芝麻

Wonton – 馄饨

Freshman – your first year of high school or college; for things measured by years

Grammar

My English education used to focus on reading and writing vs. My English education focused on reading and writing
— “Used to” is a time period with no beginning and no end
— “-ed” is something that has an end, is finished
— We want to say that the whole time you were studying English, you focused only on reading and writing. That time period has a beginning and an end, and it was all about reading and writing.

You can use either “because” or “so,” but usually not both:
e.g. Because it was going to rain, I brought an umbrella = It was going to rain, so I brought an umbrella.
— These both show that one thing caused another, but you put them on different parts of the sentence.

He speak too much, and I almost forgot my speaking. I learned this conversation last class, but it’s not used. Too nervous, because my English education used to focus on writing and reading, not often speaking. So, it’s so hard to speaking with foreigner. I can(‘t) answer his question. More quickly to improve my speaking. About his feeling about locate in China. I think it’s lonely and feel isolate. Because I’m freshman. I’m new employee, so I can(‘t) give him too much advice.

He speak talked too much / too fast, and I almost forgot what I wanted to say my speaking. I learned practiced / prepared this conversation last class, but it was not useful. I was too nervous, because my English education used to focused on writing and reading, and we did not often practice speaking. So, it’s so hard to speak / speaking / talking with a foreigner. I couldn’t answer his questions. More quickly I want to improve my speaking / English conversation quickly. We talked about his feelings / how he feels about moving to / relocate in China. I think he feels lonely and feel isolated. Because I’m freshman. I’m a new employee, so I couldn’t give him too much advice.