VIP Class Notes (Consultant)

First time meeting Anna. Her English is phenomenal already, especially for a 10 year old. I started by asking her about herself.
Harry  Potter, animals, traveling, reading

She’s been to Australia, Dubai, Tokyo, SanYa China

Characters.

Luna  is one of her favorite characters from Harry Potter. Luna has long, curly, blonde.

Vocabulary

4th grade – It seems she felt a bit unsure about how to say this so I just reminded her.

I am in the fourth grade. I am a grade four student.

blonde/blond – Golden (yellow) hair
In English, we call golden hair blonde for ladies and blond for men.

Architecture – the design and study of buildings and other large structures

ex. – I really like the unique architecture of Shanghai, especially the Oriental Pearl tower.

Aquarium – A fish tank or a place to go see fish in captivity in large tanks.

ex. – An aquarium is much like a zoo but for fish and other sea life.

Aquamarine – a color that is bluish green, named after the stone of the same color.

ex. – The water in the movie had a gorgeous aquamarine hue to it.

Kiddy pool – a very small swimming pool, usually less than a meter deep

ex. – I’m just ten, but I’m not afraid of swimming in the ocean because I had a kiddy pool when I was just 9 months old!

Mammals – animals that usually have hair, produce milk, and often have live births instead of eggs

ex. – Dolphins and whales are actually mammals, just like humans and cats.

Albino – the trait in animals that describes having a complete lack of melanin. this causes white hair, skin, and sometimes red irises in the eyes. This occurs randomly in all species.

ex. – I saw a white squirrel today but it was actually a member of the local brown squirrel species. My dad told me it is an albino squirrel and that it will one day have brown squirrel babies.

Melanin – the natural substance that determines the color of skin, hair, and eyes in humans and animals.

ex. – Melanin level depend on genetics and sun exposure. Melanin naturally protects these parts from sun light damage. Blue eyes have far less melanin than brown eyes.

Russian dwarf hamster – A very common species of grey and white hamster.
ex. – My teacher Mr Joe also had a Russian Dwarf Hamster when he was a kid. His didn’t live a long life but it was also tiny and chubby.

Italian – Things, people, or foods from Italy.
I think Anna knew this word but was just struggling to remember it at the moment.

Stimulate overstimulate understimulate
stimulate – to raise levels of physiological  or in the body.

ex. – Sometimes I like to spin side to side in my chair to stimulate me while I feel a bit nervous.
ex. – My English class is not very stimulating for me and honestly feels a bit silly.

Hazel – a type of tree, its wood, or the nuts it produces.  Hazel is also used to describe uncommon eye colors that tend to have green, blue and yellow (sometimes light brown) mixed together. Lastly, Hazel is sometimes a name, especially for ladies.
ex. – I really like hazelnuts, and pecans.
ex. – Hazel eyes are sometimes confused with green eyes, but they have more colors in them and can look quite different depending on the light and colors around them.
ex. – My teacher’s cat is named Hazel because of it’s eye color, but Hazel is a boy cat.

Anna doesn’t seem to need much help with grammar. She has great pronunciation, grammar, and a vast vocabulary.
I encourage her to enroll in a more advanced English class in her upcoming school year if possible.
I think in our future sessions, we will go over some more advanced vocabulary and really just help her practice speaking and listening to hone her skills.