Online Class Notes (Joe)

Today, we talked about a variety of topics from your daily life. We started by warming up with a story. You gave an excellent account of the childrens’ story known as ‘the little engine that could’. Then, we talked about your upcoming holiday, your son’s graduation from kindergarten, and your project at work. You also asked me some questions about my holiday.

At the end of the class, you said that you were unsure about the difference between using the present perfect (have/has + verb 3) and the present perfect continuous (have/has + been + verb 4). I will prepare a special lesson for you to cover this topic next time.

Pronunciation

beach / bitch (make sure the vowel sound in ‘beach’ is stretched out a little bit)

bear / beer (the first one sounds like air. the second one sounds like hear)

fruit / flute (be careful about the /r/ and /l/ sound)

Vocabulary

teddy bear (a children’s toy bear)

locomotive / engine – the part of the train that makes the rest move

coastal – adjective
I will go to a coastal town

seaside – noun
I will go to the seaside
I will go to a town by the seasie

uphill and downhill – adverbs and countable nouns
I never ride uphill
The downhill was very steep

idiom – a phrase or sentence with a special meaning
It’s all downhill from here – things will get easier from now on
It was an uphill battle – things were difficult

Grammar

how long will you ride the bicycle one day? (this is about the future)
how long do you ride a bicycle in one day? (this is about usually)
what’s the longest you’ve ever ridden a bicycle in one day? (this is about in my life)

suddenly, the train broken
suddenly, the train broke (break / broke / broken)

it’s finally kick off
it’s finally kicked off
it’s finally kicking off