I grew up with teachers, my father and my mum were teachers since before I was born and are still, so maybe I’m only doing what I was born to do. I must say, though that a bed of roses it ain’t. Every teacher is a student, our lives are ruled by the learning of new things in order to teach them right.

For every class we teach, there are hours of preparation, correcting exercises, and listening to coordinators and principals, who sometimes don’t even know the students. We are criticised every day and not often complimented. Sometimes students just don’t feel like having classes.

Sometimes we feel the urge to go inside a classroom with nothing planned, we have something to talk about, something that drives us, something we are passionate about, something to teach. These are the best classes, these are the real classes.

Happy faces, students that feel the class shouldn’t be over, the feeling you’ve given someone new information, “thank you, teacher”. This is why we really do this job, this is the biggest reward in the world, this is the reason teachers will never disappear.

Just today, in this, “our day”, tell your teacher you’re thankfull and that you appreciate what he or she does. This is the best thanks they can ever get. And to all teachers out there, happy teachers’ day to you, and don’t forget to have fun.

I leave with a joke now, hope you enjoy it:

Then Jesus took his disciples up the mountain and, gathering them around him, he taught them, saying:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
Blessed are the meek
Blessed are they that mourn
Blessed are the merciful
Blessed are they that thirst for justice
Blessed are you when persecuted
Blessed are you when you suffer
Be glad and rejoice for your reward is great in heaven

Then Simon Peter said, “Are we supposed to know this?”
And Andrew said, “Do we have to write this down?”
And James said, “Is this examinable?”
And Phillip said, “Is there an answer guide in the library?”
And Bartholomew said, “What came after poor?”
And John said, “The other disciples didn’t have to learn this!”
And Mark said, “Don’t take the overhead off yet.”
And Matthew went to the bathroom.

One of the Pharisees who was present asked to see Jesus’ lesson plan and enquired of Jesus, “Where are your anticipatory set and your objectives in the cognitive domain?”

And Jesus wept.

Glance = when you glance, you could have looked longer, but you didn’t.

Glimpse = when you glimpse, you tried to look longer, but the then it vanished.

Stare = Staring can be somewhat rude, so, don’t stare at people, OK? Unless of course you put your momma’s boy face on to stare at the pretty lady over the counter.

Gaze = No worries? Then gaze through the window into nothing, or at that person that completes you.

Contemplate = Contemplate is almost like analyzing something, deeply and thoroughly (this is not often used related to sight, but it can be…).

Skim = No time to read through a text? Skim through it and try to get the idea out.

Scan = Looking for specific info on an article or essay? Scanning is what you’re doing.

Peek = Hey, have a peek, but make it fast, I won’t tell anyone.

Peep = So you have all the time in the world and a hot neighbour? Alright… But don’t peep for too long.

Peer = Lost? Peer over the crowd in search of those who were accompanying you.

I hope this helps you on your endless quest for new vocab.

Well, he was right, but that doesn’t mean English has no idioms, so, grab your gear, because I’ve “hit the books” to teach you some sayings in a “New York minute“.

First of all, I must say that “A Bird In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush” is what I originally intended to say back on that day…

But you know, idioms come “a dime a dozen” they’re so easy to find and some of them are “a piece of cake” to understand because they are so easy. It’s common sense that “haste makes waste“, so take your time while learning them, so you can “hit the nail on the head” while using these idioms.

If you don’t get them at first “keep your chin up” and don’t be sad, try harder and everything will be alright. Idioms take practice, remember that “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and neither was your vocabulary and “bear in mind” that if you can read this, you’re not “starting from scratch” and already have some knowledge in English.

I won’t list all idioms here, because that would ruin all the fun you’ll have searching for them, and “to make a long story short” I’ll give you some websites you can log on to and discover some more idioms.

So “stop beating arround the bush” and “cut to the chase“, check out http://www.idiomsite.com/ and http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/. If you like paper dictionaries, you can try Oxford Dictionary of Idioms too.

Where do big words come from, and where do they go when they die?

Well, the second question is almost a philosophical challenge, but the first one I might help you with.

The answer is actually very straightforward: Big words come from small words.

But ask, teacher, what do you mean? And I will tell you that usually, big words are nothing more than a few small words wrapped up together, and that if you have any question to their meaning, you can break them down like an equation.

Stem is the root word, the one we add prefixes and suffixes to.

First of all it’s important to state clear that there are many prefixes for negative ideas, they are as follows:

UN-, IM-, IL-, IN- and IR-, note that DIS- may also be used as a negative prefix such as in Disagree, but is not necessarily a negative suffix.

Other prefixes include

DIS-, Away, apart. E.g.: Disarm

MIS-, Wrong or Badly. E.g.: Misfortune

UNDER-, Below, beneath. E.g.: Underground

OVER-, Superior, outer or excessive. E.g.: Overkill

RE-, Again. E.g.: Replay

TRANS-, Across, through. E.g.: Transatlantic

INTER-, Among, between, together. E.g.: Intermission

SUPER-, In excess, beyond. E.g.: Supersonic

ANTI-, In opposition to, against. E.g.: Anticlockwise

ANTE-, Before. E.g.: Antenatal

POST-, After. E.g.: Postpone

Usually, when you add a prefix to a word both maintain their spelling. But for the prefix ALL, one of the L’s is dropped, like in altogether.

It’s worth noticing also that more than one prefix may be added to a word to achieve the required effect likerediscover, and a prefix (or two) may be added to a word already containing a suffix (but those are for later).

I hope this helps you for now, and for parts 2 and 3, I will focus on suffixes, which are of great interest when one wants to change the morphological class of a word.

Remember, break words down if you don’t know what they mean, and you are likely to find their meanings.

For more information and practice exercises on prefixes, log on to http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/spelling/wordbuilding/prefixes/index.shtml and check out the fact sheets and quizzes.

Have a nice week. (=

This activity is based on the song Viva la Vida, from Coldplay!

1º Watch the videoclip!

2º  Click Here to download the activity

3º Listen the song again, and fill in the words!

Have a good weekend! (:

Modal verbs are special verbs which behave very differently from normal verbs. For example: Can, Might, Should, Must, May, Ought and a few more.

 Let’s see some important differences between Modal Verbs, and normal verbs:

Modal verbs do not take “-s” in the third person.

E.g.: He can speak Chinese.
She should be here by 9:00.

You use “not” to make modal verbs negative, even in Simple Present and Simple Past.

E.g.: He should not be late.
They might not come to the party.

Many of these verbs cannot be used in the past tenses or the future tenses.

E.g.: He will can go with us. Not Correct
She musted study very hard. Not Correct

Most modal verbs, except for ought, are followed by the verb without to.

E.g. Gallaudet should to build a new computer center.

Modal verbs have no infinitive or -ing form.

E.g. My teacher can singing well. Not Correct
My teacher can sing very well. Correct

They make questions and negative forms without using do/did:

E.g. May I see that? / You mustn’t shout. (must not)

On our the next post about modal verbs, we will discuss how to write sentences using these verbs and their uses, prediction, obligation, ability, permission,  etc.

Sometimes you can use either one and sometimes you have to choose either one or the other, but neither one is very difficult. ( understood? )

Ok… let’s explain:

Either and Neither are used with an auxiliary or modal verb to express agreement in the negative 

Either… or

Either… or is used to offer a choice between two possibilities:

Either Mike or Lisa will be there.
Either you leave me alone or I will call the police.
We should bring either coffee or tea.
You can either help us or go to your room.

Either can also be followed by (one) of + group of two:

Either of us could do it
Either one of us could do it
Either of you should know
Either one of you should know

Not… either… or denies both possibilities:

I don’t think either Mike or Lisa will be there.
He doesn’t speak either English or French.

Not… either is used after a negative statement.

I don’t speak French.
You don’t either.

He isn’t ready to go.
We aren’t either.

Neither… nor

Neither… nor is equivalent to not… either / either… or.

Neither Mike nor Lisa will be there.
He speaks neither English nor French.
We brought neither coffee nor tea.
I will neither help you nor go to my room.

Neither can also be followed by (one) of + group of two:

Neither of them are ready.
Neither one of them are ready.
Neither of us has any money.
Neither one of us has any money.

Neither is used like not… either.

I don’t speak French.
Neither do I. / I don’t either.

He isn’t ready to go.
Neither are we. / We aren’t either.

The bottom line is that,
Either means one, neither means none, 

not either = neither.

Do you think you are ready to do a quiz? Click Here, and try it out!

If you wish to take a closer look, check The American Heritage® Book of English Usage topics about Either and Neither.

Updated: two more dictionaries approved by two of my students!

http://dictionary.reference.com/

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

http://www.m-w.com

http://www.wordreference.com

Try to use only english-english dictionaries!

According to Cambridge Advanced Learner’s dictionary (CAL) ,
Any (Determiner, Pronoun): Some, or even the smallest amount or number of.
Some (Determiner): An amount or number of something which is not stated or not known; a part of something.

CAL also states that SOME is used for positive sentences whilst ANY is used for negative ones. This is a rule of thumb, and as such, is not very reliable.

One of the greatest uses of SOME is while making suggestions or asking questions to which one expects a positive answer, or has already a good idea about it.

E.g.: Could you lend me SOME money?
Would you mind bringing me SOME vegetables from the market?
ANY can be used in affirmative sentences if preceded by a word with negative or limiting meaning.

E.g.: Just come along without making any fuss about it.

Some and Any can also be used as exact synonyms in conditional sentences.

E.g.: If you need any/some more material, just let me know.

The important here is to understand that ANY usually relates to a broader, virtually infinite, range of possibility, whereas SOME gives the idea of a more restrict universe of choices. Bear in mind that both determiners can be used as prefixes to form new words, and that these rules and tips apply to the derives as well.

For more information on the subject go to:
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/Determiners7c.cfm
http://www.fortunecity.com/bally/durrus/153/gramch20.html#5

Phrasal Verb is a verb plus a preposition or adverb which creates a meaning different from the original verb.

Example:
I ran into my teacher at the movies last night. run + into = meet
He ran away when he was 15. run + away = leave home

Some phrasal verbs are intransitive. An intransitive verb cannot be followed by an object.

Example:
He suddenly showed up. “show up” cannot take an object

Some phrasal verbs are transitive. A transitive verb can be followed by an object.

Example:
I made up the story. “story” is the object of “make up”

Some transitive phrasal verbs are separable. The object is placed between the verb and the preposition.

Example:
I talked my mother into letting me borrow the car.
She looked the phone number up.

Some transitive phrasal verbs are inseparable. The object is placed after the preposition.

Example:
I ran into an old friend yesterday.
They are looking into the problem.

Some transitive phrasal verbs can take an object in both places.

Example:
I looked the number up in the phone book.
I looked up the number in the phone book.

WARNING! Although many phrasal verbs can take an object in both places, you must put the object between the verb and the preposition if the object is a pronoun.

Example:
I looked the number up in the phone book.
I looked up the number in the phone book.
I looked it up in the phone book. correct
I looked up it in the phone book. incorrect

From: http://www.englishpage.com/prepositions/phrasaldictionary.html