VIP Class Notes (Ally)

Vocabulary

Persistence: 坚持不懈; 坚持 / persistent (adj)

self-diagnosis: tell what’s wrong/right with yourself

self-discipline: 自律

embedded： 把…牢牢地嵌入(或插入、埋入)

Grammar

think -> used to think
thought -> 以为 -> you don’t think so now

come/go -> depends on where you are when you’re speaking

no tense/simple tense-> for verbs that are true all the time
– for general information

something -> when you’re being general, just add “s” – plurals

when you use “the” -> specify which one/group you’re talking about

afraid of +noun
ie. Ally is afraid of escape rooms. (n)
ie. I’m afraid of rats.

afraid + phrase
ie. I’m afraid I cannot get to the office on time.
ie. I’m afraid he can’t make it on Friday.

speak/say/talk/communicate/contact/have a conversation

It’s almost two years ago.
It has been almost two years. – “Q: Why haven’t you been to class?” – asking about the time gap -> period of time from then till now -> emphasis on how long it has been since the one-time action.

I went to some English schools to consult how to improve my English.
I went to some English schools to consult about/on how to improve my English.
consult Ally on how to… (consult + person/kind of person)

I thought I improved a bit, but not a lot.
I think I improved a bit, but not a lot.

But I don’t have sufficient persistence./have a lack(n) of …
But I lack(v) persistence.
But I’m not persistent(adj) enough.

I will put a lot of effort to English.
I didn’t/wouldn’t put a lot of effort to English.
I did/would …

I went to SE.
I came to SE…

He understood some Chinglish.
He understands some Chinglish.

that sales would increase.
an increase(n) in sales. 

Q: Tell me about what is difficult in your work? What challenges do you face in your work?

Q: Tell me about a difficulty you’ve faced at work./the most difficult situation you’ve faced.

A: Sometimes I want to express my opinions and ideas especially for something I’m not very familiar with. So I will get stuck because my language skill. I’ve seen one of my coworkers. He has less vocabulary than me but he’s smarter. Why I say that – because he always try to use very simple sentences and some basic words to express himself and the people the usually can understand what he say. But for me, when I get stuck by something, I just stop speaking and keep thinking on my own. This is the number 1 difficult I face right now. Secondly, because I’m not confident with my language, for example, when I join a session or a meeting, I most likely keep quiet because I’m afraid of people will not understand what I say. When people speak something too quick, I will miss what the people said. I’m thinking about what he said, he already speak to another topic. That’s also a big problem for me right now.

A: Sometimes I want to express my opinions and ideas, especially about things/topics I’m not very familiar with. So I would get stuck because my language skill. I’ve seen one of my coworkers. He has less vocabulary than I do but he’s smarter. Why I say that – because he always tries to use very simple sentences and basic words to express himself and people/everyone/people around him/people in the conversation can usually understand what he say. But for me, when I get stuck/ by an unfamiliar vocabulary/by a new idea/grammar that I don’t know, I just stop speaking and keep thinking on my own. This is the number 1 difficulty I face right now. Secondly, because I’m not confident with my language skills/abilities, for example, when I join a session or a meeting, most likely I would/I usually keep quiet because I’m afraid people would/will not understand what I say/afraid of people misunderstanding me/afraid of misunderstandings. When people say things/speak too quickly/fast, I would miss some key information/words./sometimes I misunderstand./I have a hard time understanding them./I have a hard time getting all of the information. I’m still thinking about what he said, but he has already moved on to another topic/he is already on another topic. That’s also a big problem for me right now.

Pronunciation

session

really – realleeeee