VIP Class Notes (Jesse) [W]

Do a story – no writing review.

The House that I lived in as a kid

I lived in a 3 bed-room penthouse with my parents before I moved to Shanghai in the winter of 2005, to transfer to a boarding school which I can have better education there. It’s a 7-floor building but without elevator which means you’d better don’t forget anything important after you leave the house, otherwise you have to climb the ‘mountain’ just after you climb down. But the good thing is that the house is overlooking a big park which very good view.

I spent about 7 years there but not many good memories as my parents were busy with start their business which they didn’t have much time to stay with me. The house was located in the east of the city, but my school was in the other side which I has to take more than 90mins to go to school by bus since I was 7. We lived with my grandma and a young housekeeper together, my parents had one room, I had one and my grandma share the other one with the housekeeper. The house is about 130 square meter which is enough to us, however as many apartments in China, it was only have one restroom and it’s terrible to share with 4 other people, especially in the morning. The new one We have in Shanghai now which is much better in this part which we have 5 restrooms. The decoration was ok, it’s simple and most things in light color which I prefer than dark color. Since this house kind of was a very nice house in that years, my parents put a lot of love in the decoration part. They designed their own furniture with great passion which was lucky they didn’t choose furniture design as their life-calling business. One of their remarkable design which I couldn’t remove from my mind was a huge TV bench, or it’s not clear to describe that monster which was like an open shelving about 2 meters high and more than 3 meters long, made with bulky plank/board

showed their talent of design
remarkable
significant

The House that I lived in as a kid

I lived in a 3 bed-room penthouse with my parents before I moved to Shanghai in the winter of 2005, to transfer to a boarding school in / at which I can have better education. It’s a 7-story building / it’s a building with 7 floors but without an elevator which means you’d better not forget anything important after you leave the house, otherwise you have to climb the ‘mountain’ just after you had just climbed down. But the good thing was that the house was overlooking a big park which provides a very good view.

I spent about 7 years there but don’t have many good memories as my parents were busy with starting their business which means they didn’t have much time to stay with me. The house was located in the east of the city, but my school was on the other side which meant I had to spend more than 90 mins to go to school by bus since I was 7. We lived with my grandma and a young housekeeper. My parents had one room, and I had one / my parents and I each had our own rooms and my grandma shared the other one with the housekeeper. The house was about 130 square meters which is enough for us, however as many apartments in China, it only had one restroom and it was terrible to share with 4 other people, especially in the morning. The new one we have in Shanghai now is much better in this part / way because we have 5 restrooms. The decoration was ok and was simple and most things were in light color which I prefer than / over dark color. Since this house was considered very nice in those years / days, my parents put a lot of love into the decoration part. They designed their own furniture with great passion but it was lucky they didn’t choose furniture design as their life-calling / but it was lucky that they didn’t quit their day jobs to do it. One of their “remarkable” designs which I couldn’t remove from my mind was a huge TV stand unit, or it’s not clear to describe that monster which was like an open shelving and about 2 meters high and more than 3 meters long, made with bulky planks which meant it took up a significant amount of the space in our living room. 

Grammar

I have a student who is called Julia

My student, who is Julia, is here today.

My student is here today.

which – don’t use it if you can use because / so / but / and (unless it’s “and it”)  – just use it to add new details / information about sth

sth takes time / sth costs money / sb spend time / sb spend money

Vocabulary

these days (now) / in those days (past)

in weekdays – during the week
during the week < > on the weekend 

how much important parents to their children – they don’t know how important parents are to their children

they don’t know how much importance parents have in their children’s development

scenery – the surrounding environment and how it looks
view – what you can see from a particular point

I lived in a 3 bedroom penthouse with my parents / a 3 bedroom penthouse was where I called home before I moved / relocated to Shanghai in the winter of 2005, to / to enable me to / to allow me transfer to a boarding school in / at which I could have better / higher level / more advanced education. It’s a 7-story building / it’s a building with 7 floors but without / it was lacking an elevator which means you’d better not forget anything important / it was crucial that you don’t leave anything behind after you leave the house / after you go out, otherwise you have to climb the ‘mountain’ just after you had just climbed down / as soon as you reach the bottom. But / However / Although the good thing was that the house was overlooking a big park which provides a very good view.