F2F Class Notes 16th August (Ben)

You have been at Smart English for a long time.

Have you been at Smart English for a long time?

I have been in China for four years.

a garnment company

“watch, listen to” require attention (TV, a movie, a song)

“see, hear ” don’t require attention. (an object, a voice, a sound)

If I see my parents tonight, I will be happy. POSSIBLE

If I saw Xi Jinping tonight, I would be happy. DREAM

If + past perfect = dream.

You can use WOULD to express something that is unlikely to happen or that you don’t understand.

Why would you hit me? – DREAM (I think it’s unlikely you will hit me)

Who would give you money for free? DREAM (It’s unlikely someone will give me money for free)

Who would help you kill someone?

Who would someone waste time to do this? (It’s unlikely someone will waste time to do this)

Why would you do that?

How could you?

When you speak about something unlikely, like a dream, you use the conditional:

will –> would

can –> could

shall –> should

If I were a princess, I would stay home all day, I would watch movies everyday, I would share my money with everyone and I could try to find a prince.

Without money, we would be happier, we wouldn’t need to work, we could have everything for free but we also should work for free.

After counting them, she picked them up one by one with the head facing up and the right way up and put them into an envelope.

I couldn’t agree more = I really agree.

I couldn’t care less = I really don’t care.

I like to make my wallet tidy so I always put the biggest denomination at the back of it and the smaller the number, the closer to the front the bill will be.

Furthermore, I always put the bills with the head the right way up. This way, every time / when I buy something and get change, I spend several seconds tidying the bills up and putting them into my wallet.

Even if I don’t look at the clerk and the person who is standing in line behind me, I can tell how surprised and upset they are and that they are yelling silently / thinking to themselves / and that their minds are all screaming “hurry up”.

I realized this is some kind of OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder, and used to feel embarrassed about it until I found out that I was not alone.

One day, my mother was as excited as if she had found a brand new continent and asked me : ”Have you seen your father’s wallet? You must see this. ” She opened my father’s wallet and I was like” It’s just a normal wallet. Nothing special .” My mother said:”He put the bills in order! Who would waste time doing this?”

1. I totally understand my mother was so surprised because she is the kind of person who grabs money and puts it wherever is convenient.
2. I totally understand why my mother was so surprised. That is because she is the kind of person who grabs money and puts it wherever is convenient.

I said in a soft voice:”me!” I was happy that my father does the same thing because now there are two of us!

A couple of days later, I went to visit my grandmother who is over 80 years old. She HAD just got her pension and was sitting in bed, laying the bills out on it.

After counting them, she picked them up one by one with the head facing forwards and the right way up and put them into an envelope. I was taken aback! My grandmother has it even more-so than I do! There are three of us now! It’s amazing that it runs in my family!

My boss once said:”The better you treat money, the more it will come to you.” I couldn’t agree more and hope more and more money will come to me.

to = in order to

I work to get money.

I spend time at work to get money = in order to get money.

I spend time working.

I spend time to get a better English. = I spend time (studying) to get a better English.

Solution: always say “spend time doING”

this way = as a result

I always take an umbrella with me. This way, I am always ready.