Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Our new domain
We are now serving you at www.chromaticenglish.com Stay tuned for exciting new English learning content.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Idiom: Nature Calls
"Oh no kids! Nature calls."
This idiom came into my mind during one of my classes when learning nature vocabulary and I shouted, "Nature calls!"
Of course this idiom has a totally different meaning than introducing vocabulary cards.
Can you guess?
'Nature calls' refers "to the need to go to the restroom".
A: Are you alright?
B: I drank too much water this morning.
A: Nature calls.
B: Exactly! I'll be back.
Happy Learning!
Do you have a favorite idiom? Send us your idioms at chromatic.english@gmail.com or post them into the comments.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Discussion: Opinion, Preference and Fact
In the previous post about Discussion we looked at the 3 most important parts of a discussion.
Do you remember what those were? You can go back and read the post about Discussions, but let's do a quick review,
Review
A discussion is a detailed conversation on a topic. The purpose of a discussion is to learn as much as possible about the topic.
3 important parts of a discussion:
Opinion - A belief about a topic. An opinion is hard to discuss by itself so we need reasons and examples to help explain our opinion.
Reason - The 'why' of it all is important to any opinion. Reasons will help your partner understand your opinion.
Example - Examples are necessary to connect opinion and reasons to reality. Examples also help your partner understand your opinion.
Opinions in more Detail
An opinion is what you think of something. Opinions used for discussions is one that someone can disagree with.
Examples:
Smoking is unhealthy.
Smoking is relaxing.
Chinese pollution is causing health problems in Japan.
The Walking Dead is the most exciting show on television right now.
Preference
A preference is an expression of personal choice; likes and dislikes are expressions of preference. I like dogs is not a fact but an opinion. Although its not useful for a discussion.
(Not a discussion)
A: I like dogs.
B: No, you don't.
Making a preference into an opinion for discussion adds a reason why you believe. Use adjectives like playful, friendly, dangerous, healthy, good, bad etc.
(A discussion)
A: Dogs are friendly.
B: No, they're not.
This starts a discussion using examples and reasons why dogs are friendly or not.
Examples:
Pizza is my favorite food.
I like to read mystery novels.
My hobby is writing.
Fact
A fact is a statement accepted by people as being generally true. "The Earth goes around the sun" is a fact. Facts are used in discussions to persuade people to believe their opinion.
Examples:
The Indians are the baseball team in Cleveland, Ohio.
Tokyo is the largest city in Japan.
Mario Bros. is an arcade game developed by Nintendo in 1983.
Test Your Understanding:
Read each statement and determine if it's an Opinion (O), Preference (P), or Fact (F).
O P F: I like to sleep.
O P F: Tokyo is the capital of Japan.
O P F: Snakes are good pets.
O P F: I would rather eat bread than rice.
O P F: English is too difficult.
O P F: Chocolate is a food produced from the seed of a cocoa tree.
O P F: Chocolate is delicious.
Put your answers in the comments below or email them to us at chromatic.english@gmail.com.
Happy Learning and Speak Bravely!
Do you remember what those were? You can go back and read the post about Discussions, but let's do a quick review,
Review
A discussion is a detailed conversation on a topic. The purpose of a discussion is to learn as much as possible about the topic.
3 important parts of a discussion:
Opinion - A belief about a topic. An opinion is hard to discuss by itself so we need reasons and examples to help explain our opinion.
Reason - The 'why' of it all is important to any opinion. Reasons will help your partner understand your opinion.
Example - Examples are necessary to connect opinion and reasons to reality. Examples also help your partner understand your opinion.
Opinions in more Detail
An opinion is what you think of something. Opinions used for discussions is one that someone can disagree with.
Examples:
Smoking is unhealthy.
Smoking is relaxing.
Chinese pollution is causing health problems in Japan.
The Walking Dead is the most exciting show on television right now.
Preference
A preference is an expression of personal choice; likes and dislikes are expressions of preference. I like dogs is not a fact but an opinion. Although its not useful for a discussion.
(Not a discussion)
A: I like dogs.
B: No, you don't.
Making a preference into an opinion for discussion adds a reason why you believe. Use adjectives like playful, friendly, dangerous, healthy, good, bad etc.
(A discussion)
A: Dogs are friendly.
B: No, they're not.
This starts a discussion using examples and reasons why dogs are friendly or not.
Examples:
Pizza is my favorite food.
I like to read mystery novels.
My hobby is writing.
Fact
A fact is a statement accepted by people as being generally true. "The Earth goes around the sun" is a fact. Facts are used in discussions to persuade people to believe their opinion.
Examples:
The Indians are the baseball team in Cleveland, Ohio.
Tokyo is the largest city in Japan.
Mario Bros. is an arcade game developed by Nintendo in 1983.
Test Your Understanding:
Read each statement and determine if it's an Opinion (O), Preference (P), or Fact (F).
O P F: I like to sleep.
O P F: Tokyo is the capital of Japan.
O P F: Snakes are good pets.
O P F: I would rather eat bread than rice.
O P F: English is too difficult.
O P F: Chocolate is a food produced from the seed of a cocoa tree.
O P F: Chocolate is delicious.
Put your answers in the comments below or email them to us at chromatic.english@gmail.com.
Happy Learning and Speak Bravely!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The 3 Phrase Diet
Listening to Chris Brogan on the Human Business Works podcast he had a very innovative idea called "The 3 Book Diet". In this 'diet' he proposed the idea of reading 3 books, just 3!, for an entire year. Reading and re-reading each book to learn deeply the information out of each book you chose.
Well, unfortunately Chris gave up his '3 book diet'. To his credit he runs a business podcast with a lot of guests who write books and he needs to read those to conduct good interviews. Also, I never even started my '3 book diet'!
But, I've been thinking about his idea a lot and for teaching English was inspired to create the "3 phrases a week diet"!
3 Phrases a Week Diet (a.k.a 3 Phrase Diet)
Every week for the whole year write down 3 English phrases (or sentences) that you want to learn.
Every day find ways to say each phrase or just study each phrase for 10 minutes.
By the end of the week you'll of learned each phrase Deeply! You'll know the meaning of every word and understand the grammar structure.
I'm Here to Help
On our blog I'll post 3 phrases or sentences for you to learn each week. Plus, on my Vine page [what's vine?], Chromatic English, I'll record each phrase for you to hear, shadow and practice each phrase.
If you have any questions or comments please email us at chromatic.english@gmail.com.
Speak Bravely!
Well, unfortunately Chris gave up his '3 book diet'. To his credit he runs a business podcast with a lot of guests who write books and he needs to read those to conduct good interviews. Also, I never even started my '3 book diet'!
But, I've been thinking about his idea a lot and for teaching English was inspired to create the "3 phrases a week diet"!
3 Phrases a Week Diet (a.k.a 3 Phrase Diet)
Every week for the whole year write down 3 English phrases (or sentences) that you want to learn.
Every day find ways to say each phrase or just study each phrase for 10 minutes.
By the end of the week you'll of learned each phrase Deeply! You'll know the meaning of every word and understand the grammar structure.
I'm Here to Help
On our blog I'll post 3 phrases or sentences for you to learn each week. Plus, on my Vine page [what's vine?], Chromatic English, I'll record each phrase for you to hear, shadow and practice each phrase.
If you have any questions or comments please email us at chromatic.english@gmail.com.
Speak Bravely!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Rock Paper Scissors
In a discussion about the order of how we declare Rock-Paper-Scissors or Paper-Scissors-Rock or Scissors-Paper-Rock or Paper-Rock-Scissors........
When you search this online Rock-Paper-Scissors comes up more often than others but some others are still out there. Although, on the Wikipedia entry for this it's titled Rock-Paper-Scissors so I'm inclined to go with that one.
One word that came up was Roshambo as an American English alternative to Rock-Paper-Scissors and said as 'Ro-Sham-Bo' and uses the same rock, scissors, paper hand gestures.
One variation on the game came from China, which is reported being played around 200 A.D, where you use the thumb as 'frog', the small finger (pinkie) as 'snail' and the long finger (index/pointer) as 'snake'. In this version winning is as follows:
Frog beats Snail
Snake beats Frog
Snail beats Snake
In the popular U.S. television series The Big Bang Theory they come up with Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock, Watch:
A lizard is reptile animal and Spock is a famous television character from the show Star Trek.
In another not so popular animation series on the Cartoon Network, Regular Show, the characters are in a heated Rock-Paper-Scissors battle and the character of Pops refers to the game Quartz-Parchment-Shears. Watch:
Quartz is a type of rock, Parchment is an old English word for paper and Shears is another word for scissors but are usually larger and used to cut bushes or hedges.
How do you play Rock Paper Scissors in your country? What order do you go in? Leave your answer in the comments or shoot us an email.
Happy Learning!
When you search this online Rock-Paper-Scissors comes up more often than others but some others are still out there. Although, on the Wikipedia entry for this it's titled Rock-Paper-Scissors so I'm inclined to go with that one.
One word that came up was Roshambo as an American English alternative to Rock-Paper-Scissors and said as 'Ro-Sham-Bo' and uses the same rock, scissors, paper hand gestures.
One variation on the game came from China, which is reported being played around 200 A.D, where you use the thumb as 'frog', the small finger (pinkie) as 'snail' and the long finger (index/pointer) as 'snake'. In this version winning is as follows:
Frog beats Snail
Snake beats Frog
Snail beats Snake
In the popular U.S. television series The Big Bang Theory they come up with Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock, Watch:
In another not so popular animation series on the Cartoon Network, Regular Show, the characters are in a heated Rock-Paper-Scissors battle and the character of Pops refers to the game Quartz-Parchment-Shears. Watch:
Quartz is a type of rock, Parchment is an old English word for paper and Shears is another word for scissors but are usually larger and used to cut bushes or hedges.
How do you play Rock Paper Scissors in your country? What order do you go in? Leave your answer in the comments or shoot us an email.
Happy Learning!
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
March Newsletter
2013 March Newsletter
by Joshua Wood, Manager and Teacher
In Japan and most of Asia spring is the start of the year. In America it's Autumn and in January for Australia, but they're in the Southern hemisphere so January is summer and July is winter. In spring we celebrate the rebirth of nature after the long cold winter. It's a time when we celebrate new beginnings and new opportunities in life. Especially in Japan we celebrate this idea with the viewing of the cherry blossoms. The beautiful pink and white flowers that only bloom once a year and if your lucky last for about 3 weeks.
It's also a time for spring cleaning! That time of year when the weather gets warm and you open your doors and windows and get rid of the stale air and dust that has accumulated over the winter months. It's also a good time to start new goals and activities. In the west we have our New Year's resolution yet it's hard to achieve new goals when it's just so cold outside. So that is why I like to adopt the Japanese idea of spring as a new beginning of the year. With the warm weather, blooming nature and a freshly cleaned home it's a good time to start those things you've been wanting to accomplish.
What is it that you hope to achieve this spring? I have many things on list and I hope you do too! Let's achieve them together.
Chromatic English Featured Articles
A while back I read about using by zombies at the end of a sentence to help with identifying the passive voice. I tracked down the source to Rebecca Johnson and put together some examples and explanations from her brilliant idea!
In this exercise from the TOEIC speaking exam you'll answer three questions on the topic of travel. Use the Voice Thread to record and share your answers. It's setup as if you were taking the actual exam with 15 seconds to answer the first two questions and 30 seconds for question three. Good luck!
Saturday, March 30th 1:00pm-3:00pm
Meet Chromatic English Teacher Mr. Joshua Wood. Questions or concerns about taking lessons with Chromatic English School? Let's meet up on Skype and have a chat about learning English online. It's safe, secure and free!
Don't have Skype, go to www.skype.com to sign up and join for free today.
Don't have Skype, go to www.skype.com to sign up and join for free today.
If you would like to make a reservation email us at chromatic.english@gmail.com.
We hope to see you there!
Sign up for online lessons with Chromatic English School by April 1st and receive a 1 hour lesson FREE!
Subscribe
New free English learning content is being added daily. Sign up to receive Chromatic English post in your inbox. In the subscribe box on the right type in your email and click submit. In your inbox you'll find a confirmation email. Click confirm and start receiving our posts as soon as they're published.
Also email us at chromatic.english@gmail.com and schedule your free 30 minute trail lesson to decide for yourself if Online English learning is for you!
Speak Bravely and Happy Learning!
Monday, March 4, 2013
Our Teaching Material: Textbooks
Here at the Chromatic English School we use a diversity of textbooks and pictures to teach English and help building your speaking and listening skills.
Here's a photo of some of the textbooks we use:
Of course if you have a textbook you would like to use we can study with that too!
Please share your textbook photos with us! Take a photo of your textbook you use to study English and post it in the comments. We would love to see how you study!
Speak Bravely and Happy Learning!
Here's a photo of some of the textbooks we use:
Of course if you have a textbook you would like to use we can study with that too!
Please share your textbook photos with us! Take a photo of your textbook you use to study English and post it in the comments. We would love to see how you study!
Speak Bravely and Happy Learning!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Idiom: I hoofed it!
In the previous post we talked about commuting. A not so much said idiom I heard on the Freakonomics podcast about commuting the host said "I hoofed it." in regards to how he went to work that day.
A hoof - a foot of a four legged animal; some animals with hooves include a horse, pig, sheep, camel, giraffe.
to hoof it = to walk
Normally we will say:
I walked to school today.
I went to went to work by foot.
With the idiom:
I hoofed it to school today.
I went to work by hoof. This one we don't say.
To hoof it almost implies a quick walking, not jogging but not just walking.
What do you think? Tell us your thoughts and the places you like to hoof it.
Speak Bravely and Happy Learning!
A hoof - a foot of a four legged animal; some animals with hooves include a horse, pig, sheep, camel, giraffe.
to hoof it = to walk
Normally we will say:
I walked to school today.
I went to went to work by foot.
With the idiom:
I hoofed it to school today.
To hoof it almost implies a quick walking, not jogging but not just walking.
What do you think? Tell us your thoughts and the places you like to hoof it.
Speak Bravely and Happy Learning!
Friday, March 1, 2013
Study Tip: Commuter School
A commuter is a person on there way to or from home, school, work, supermarket or other daily errand that you have to do.
A school is a place where we learn and study about a subject or subjects (hopefully) that interest you.
A commuter school is the activity of learning and studying while commuting in the car, on the train or bus, riding a bicycle or walking.
With the exciting new world of personal electronic devices (smartphone, tablets, micro PCs, etc.) we can travel anywhere with them and study anytime with digital audio and text.
So are study tip for you is: Go to commuter school!
While you are commuting turn on an English language podcast, read a blog (this blog perhaps), a digital book, flip through your flashcard app, go on to Voice Thread or however you like to study on the go.
How do you like to study in commuter school? (With what devices, with what material, etc.)
Write in comments below.We love to hear from you!
Happy learning!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)