VIP Class Notes (Nick) [S]

Near vs. Nearby; also, other words about position and location (ahead, before, in front, etc.)

How did your favorite singer get a job as an actor/actress in King to King?

Vocabulary

Accent – when you put a small line, a small mark on top of a letter, usually a vowel
— This is sometimes used in English to show that you should pronounce a letter that is usually silent, or for foreign words
e.g. Beyoncé – usually you wouldn’t say the final “e” (like dance)
e.g. Resumé is a word that comes from French
e.g. coöperate – this is an old way to spell the word to show that you pronounce both “O’s,” they don’t make one sound together, like in “good, food, coop”

Vowel – a e i o u (sometimes y)
Consonant – everything else

Resume / CV – 简历

Break up – when a relationship ends, or when you feel so emotional you begin to cry
Break down – when something gets worse and worse and eventually stops working
e.g. My car broke down on the highway today and I had to call for help.
e.g. Our relationship was breaking down slowly because we were too busy, and eventually we just had to break up.

Card – 牌

Babysitter – someone who comes to watch/take of your kid while you are gone
Housekeeper/Maid – someone who comes to your house to help clean it (this one is a bit closer to the usual use of 阿姨)

Character – a person in a story (book, movie, song)
e.g. Sun Wukong is the main character from “Journey to the West”

Subdivision – a group of houses all together
(Gated) Community – a gated community is a closed area with house or apartments that you can only go in if you live there or are invited; a community is a close group of people, like in a town, or at a school
e.g. There is a park outside our gated community.
Neighborhood – a part of city, usually defined by a shared culture, language, building style (architecture), or by a community

Grammar

Into – “in” describes a place (or the language you are using), “to” describes movement; when we put them together, we are trying to express both ideas at once, a change between places (or languages)
e.g. I went into the house (I was outside, and I moved to the inside)
e.g. I translated the contract into English (I changed the language it was written in)

Around – when something is on at least two sides of something
e.g. We have a river that goes around the city (the lines are the river)
_____________
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|        (city)
|
|

In morning my husband take my son for learning English and I stay at home to clean the house and watch tv shows. I don’t know how to translate in English: “King to King” 王牌对王牌. My favorite singer was attend this TV show, so I always watch it every Friday. Babysitter  (ayi) will help us to prepare the lunch and do some other housekeeping. When my husband and my son come back home we take him to play in the park around our (neighborhood, where we lives in), just for 30 minutes just beside our neighborhood. Today’s weather is very good, because I think boys need more sports before he go to the elementary school. My son was just five years old.

In the morning my husband took my son for/to learning English class/school and I stayed at home to clean the house and watch TV shows. I don’t know how to translate the title/name into English: “King to King” 王牌对王牌. My favorite singer was attend this TV show, so I always watch it every Friday. Babysitter Our housekeeper will helps us to prepare the lunch and do some other housekeeping. When my husband and my son came back home we took him to play, just for thirty minutes, in the park outside our subdivision / (gated) community, just for 30 minutes just beside very close to our neighborhood / community. Today’s weather is very good, because I think boys need more sports before they go to the elementary school. My son isjust five years old.

Pronunciation

Beyoncé – make sure to say the “e” at the end (the Queen’s name must be said correctly!)