English Practice over the Internet

The Brothers Karamazov

2011-12-05T18:07:00.000Z

Translated from the Russian of Fyodor Dostoyevsky by Constance Garnett The Lowell Press

Book I. The History Of A Family (audiofile)

Chapter I. Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov

Alexey Fyodorovitch Karamazov was the third son of Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov, a land owner well known in our district in his own day, and still remembered among us owing to his gloomy and tragic death, which happened thirteen years ago, and which I shall describe in its proper place. For the present I will only say that this “landowner”—for so we used to call him, although he hardly spent a day of his life on his own estate—was a strange type, yet one pretty frequently to be met with, a type abject and vicious and at the same time senseless. But he was one of those senseless persons who are very well capable of looking after their worldly affairs, and, apparently, after nothing else. Fyodor Pavlovitch, for instance, began with next to nothing; his estate was of the smallest; he ran to dine at other men’s tables, and fastened on them as a toady, yet at his death it appeared that he had a hundred thousand roubles in hard cash. At the same time, he was all his life one of the most senseless, fantastical fellows in the whole district. I repeat, it was not stupidity—the majority of these fantastical fellows are shrewd and intelligent enough—but just senselessness, and a peculiar national form of it.

He was married twice, and had three sons, the eldest, Dmitri, by his first wife, and two, Ivan and Alexey, by his second. Fyodor Pavlovitch’s first wife, Adelaïda Ivanovna, belonged to a fairly rich and distinguished noble family, also landowners in our district, the Miüsovs. How it came to pass that an heiress, who was also a beauty, and moreover one of those vigorous, intelligent girls, so common in this generation, but sometimes also to be found in the last, could have married such a worthless, puny weakling, as we all called him, I won’t attempt to explain. I knew a young lady of the last “romantic” generation who after some years of an enigmatic passion for a gentleman, whom she might quite easily have married at any moment, invented insuperable obstacles to their union, and ended by throwing herself one stormy night into a rather deep and rapid river from a high bank, almost a precipice, and so perished, entirely to satisfy her own caprice, and to be like Shakespeare’s Ophelia. Indeed, if this precipice, a chosen and favorite spot of hers, had been less picturesque, if there had been a prosaic flat bank in its place, most likely the suicide would never have taken place. This is a fact, and probably there have been not a few similar instances in the last two or three generations. Adelaïda Ivanovna Miüsov’s action was similarly, no doubt, an echo of other people’s ideas, and was due to the irritation caused by lack of mental freedom. She wanted, perhaps, to show her feminine independence, to override class distinctions and the despotism of her family. And a pliable imagination persuaded her, we must suppose, for a brief moment, that Fyodor Pavlovitch, in spite of his parasitic position, was one of the bold and ironical spirits of that progressive epoch, though he was, in fact, an ill-natured buffoon and nothing more. What gave the marriage piquancy was that it was preceded by an elopement, and this greatly captivated Adelaïda Ivanovna’s fancy. Fyodor Pavlovitch’s position at the time made him specially eager for any such enterprise, for he was passionately anxious to make a career in one way or another. To attach himself to a good family and obtain a dowry was an alluring prospect. As for mutual love it did not exist apparently, either in the bride or in him, in spite of Adelaïda Ivanovna’s beauty. This was, perhaps, a unique case of the kind in the life of Fyodor Pavlovitch, who was always of a voluptuous temper, and ready to run after any petticoat on the slightest encouragement. She seems to have been the only woman who made no particular appeal to his senses.

Immediately after the elopement Adelaïda Ivanovna discerned in a flash that she had no feeling for her husband but contempt. The marriage accordingly showed itself in its true colors with extraordinary rapidity. Although the family accepted the event pretty quickly and apportioned the runaway bride her dowry, the husband and wife began to lead a most disorderly life, and there were everlasting scenes between them. It was said that the young wife showed incomparably more generosity and dignity than Fyodor Pavlovitch, who, as is now known, got hold of all her money up to twenty-five thousand roubles as soon as she received it, so that those thousands were lost to her for ever. The little village and the rather fine town house which formed part of her dowry he did his utmost for a long time to transfer to his name, by means of some deed of conveyance. He would probably have succeeded, merely from her moral fatigue and desire to get rid of him, and from the contempt and loathing he aroused by his persistent and shameless importunity. But, fortunately, Adelaïda Ivanovna’s family intervened and circumvented his greediness. It is known for a fact that frequent fights took place between the husband and wife, but rumor had it that Fyodor Pavlovitch did not beat his wife but was beaten by her, for she was a hot-tempered, bold, dark-browed, impatient woman, possessed of remarkable physical strength. Finally, she left the house and ran away from Fyodor Pavlovitch with a destitute divinity student, leaving Mitya, a child of three years old, in her husband’s hands. Immediately Fyodor Pavlovitch introduced a regular harem into the house, and abandoned himself to orgies of drunkenness. In the intervals he used to drive all over the province, complaining tearfully to each and all of Adelaïda Ivanovna’s having left him, going into details too disgraceful for a husband to mention in regard to his own married life. What seemed to gratify him and flatter his self-love most was to play the ridiculous part of the injured husband, and to parade his woes with embellishments.

“One would think that you’d got a promotion, Fyodor Pavlovitch, you seem so pleased in spite of your sorrow,” scoffers said to him. Many even added that he was glad of a new comic part in which to play the buffoon, and that it was simply to make it funnier that he pretended to be unaware of his ludicrous position. But, who knows, it may have been simplicity. At last he succeeded in getting on the track of his runaway wife. The poor woman turned out to be in Petersburg, where she had gone with her divinity student, and where she had thrown herself into a life of complete emancipation. Fyodor Pavlovitch at once began bustling about, making preparations to go to Petersburg, with what object he could not himself have said. He would perhaps have really gone; but having determined to do so he felt at once entitled to fortify himself for the journey by another bout of reckless drinking. And just at that time his wife’s family received the news of her death in Petersburg. She had died quite suddenly in a garret, according to one story, of typhus, or as another version had it, of starvation. Fyodor Pavlovitch was drunk when he heard of his wife’s death, and the story is that he ran out into the street and began shouting with joy, raising his hands to Heaven: “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace,” but others say he wept without restraint like a little child, so much so that people were sorry for him, in spite of the repulsion he inspired. It is quite possible that both versions were true, that he rejoiced at his release, and at the same time wept for her who released him. As a general rule, people, even the wicked, are much more naïve and simple-hearted than we suppose. And we ourselves are, too.

Glossary:

began with next to nothing
puny weakling
insuperable
precipice
pliable
voluptuous
importunity
circumvented
toady

2011-11-28T09:35:00.001Z

BBC documentaries

2011-01-19T19:35:00.001Z

I love watching BBC documentaries. They are highly informative, educative and really enjoyable. The level of knowledge they represent is second to none, as well as the technique and the way of presentation. All of them are like the best lectures by the best professors.

As they are produced and performed by the highly educated specialists of the fields given, the English used by them is like the people, at the very high level of the vocabulary with many interesting metaphors. The mine of the modern yet not street argot, a source it is worth learning from.

Baroque! - From St Peter's to St Paul's

Spectacular three-part series, exploring the Baroque tradition in many of its key locations. Starting in Italy and following the spread of the wildfire across Europe and beyond, art critic Waldemar Januszczak takes a tour of the best examples of Baroque to be found, and tells the best stories behind those works.

Episode Three brings the Baroque home with an exploration of the English Baroque tradition that finds its climax through a tour of London's Hawksmoor churches, and Christopher Wren's iconic St Paul's Cathedral.

Here I wrote down some structures used in this documentary. Hope to write any story to use them by myself.

spreading like a wildfire across Europe
emotional and flamboyant art
a half-timbered, medieval hotch-potch of higgledy-piggledy Tudor DIY
rabid suspicion
the sinful, idolatrous, abdominal art
the stupendous riverside vista at Greenwich
the first purpose-built scientific establishment
to enlarge a tiny crack into a giant opening
to have a patchy record in the matters of art
a hugely discombobulating fact
to say the least
his eyes were opened to the delights of art
to get into contact
thereby affirming the divine rights of the kings

EPOTI new log rustic house in Second Life

2011-01-15T21:11:00.002Z

This is incredible, but yet it is the truth, we rent a parcel, bought a house and furnished it with lovely furniture to have a stable, nice environment for meeting with friends in Second Life.
We like to read aloud together, discuss English and speak as much as it is possible to improve our English.
I love this house, a bit of an old tavern-like, and one of my favourite places is the porch with wooden bench, adorned comfortably with cushions in pastel colours, beachy blue and green.
The heart of the house is the big lounge with the warm reddish sitting set, with brightly blazing candles all over, as this abode has no electricity.
But we have a brand-new TV set, with many a radio station, DVD and the picture player. We may watch videos from youtube and other websites, as well as full-length movies.
Also there is a greedy table and some rocking chairs on the balcony. With some trees, grass and flowers all create cosy and friendly spot.

Just come to visti us at: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Microcosm/178/46/54
My Second Life name is: Mariola Lane :)

Debauchery, licentiousness and impiety in SL

2011-01-13T13:19:00.002Z

I was sitting in a lovely recess in my SL rustic house, wandering about congenial company and surroundings I have had there, but yet I had to concede that it is not always a leg up for my English practice.
Some cogent arguments forced me to try this way of studying a language and having fun at the same time; no one used any coercion to keep me there.
Nor anyone acts in collusion to pressure baneful influence on me. And even though some people behave in SL as if they forgot about possibility of condign punishment for they deeds it does not mean that I am going to look at it with spellbound amusement.
Yet I will never ask what resides people’s heads, it could be heartbreaking knowledge for a decent human being.

Their future looks bright

2010-12-06T18:27:00.004Z

Peter decided to share with Jane the good news, however he wanted her not to disseminate this information with spurious friends. He just could not defer any more to send his rejoinder to the bank. He scurried to the kitchen, when Jane was trying to preclude Adam, their youngest son, from eating row rice. He stopped at the threshold, staring at his wife and child with inherent happiness and said:

'From now nothing will preclude us from buying this big house when roads bifurcate'.

His wife accosted him and asked: 'You are not going to squander the second chance and you will accede to the bank's offer to come to the office as next president, are you?'

'Well, according to our reciprocal agreement I am starting next Monday', retorted Peter.'

Glossary
inherent, squander, preclude, bifurcate, disseminate, defer, reciprocal, rejoinder, scurry, spurious, threshold, accost

Do you have the gall to go comando?

2010-12-05T21:19:00.002Z

Peter called for Jane and read this tricky title out loud asking whether she understood it or not. She answered that it had to be American slang as she could not get the hang of it and receded to her den. I knew she would spend a while there, for she did that many a time when she needed to impair my endearments to our American cronies.

Before long she stormed into my garret and answered with ribald grim: 'I do have guts to show myself on the streets in the buff!'.
'In winter?', I inquired surprised by her militant attitude more than the fact that my beloved wife was going to show her beauty to everyone.

'Er, maybe next one,' she retorted and gone in her study anew.

What with my spurious imagination I was sure she would dig up all dictionaries available to find her funny answers whereas she used to give a bell to her American friend, and a specialist at English language. For a friend of her's knowledge borrowed via the phone she had always subdued me in all crosswords.

Time to relax :)

2010-12-03T13:57:00.000Z

What about having some fun while watching videos and listening to the lyrics? My friend sent me a few links to Youtube videos a couple of days ago, and I was astounded by the singer, music, lyrics and humour embedded in his songs. There are plenty of Tom Lehrer songs on Youtube, I highly recommend them to all students of English and lovers of satirical songs.

Lyrics | Tom Lehrer - The vatican rag lyrics

Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer (born April 9, 1928) is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, and mathematician. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater. Lehrer is best known for the pithy, humorous songs he recorded in the 1950s and 1960s.
His work often parodies popular song forms, such as in "The Elements", where he sets the names of the chemical elements to the tune of the "Major-General's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance. Lehrer's earlier work typically dealt with non-topical subject matter and was noted for its black humor, seen in songs such as "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park". In the 1960s, he produced a number of songs dealing with social and political issues of the day, particularly when he wrote for the U.S. version of the television show That Was The Week That Was. (wikipedia)

Wonders of the Solar System

2010-10-26T23:54:00.000Z

Life in Europa's underground ocean?

A wonderful clip about how we can predict existence of water in the Solar System, on Europa, one of moons of Jupiter.

The Dragonriders of Pern

2010-10-06T14:30:00.000Z

As a teenager I felt in love with science fiction stories. But we had to wait long time for many books to be translated and publish in Poland; I not sure why some of them were on a kind of censor list. On this list were such works like the trilogy of dragonriders from Pern and even Foundation by Isaac Asimov.

I would like to introduce these great books to any learner of English; the world of Pern will take us into fantastic journey with dragons, Threads, ex-Earth colony, telepathy and English language. And language in the books is not an easy one; it takes us to the highest level of formal written forms with its whole diversity and flexibility, making the process of reading maybe not the simple task but yet the pleasure of reading is double by it.

We may find some audio recordings on youtube, tasting slowly the delight of immersing into this literature.

Dragonflight

Book One of Dragonriders of Pern

by Anne McCaffrey

INTRODUCTION

When is a legend, legend? Why is a myth, a myth? How old and disused must a fact be for it to be relegated to the category: “Fairy tale”? And why do certain facts remain incontrovertible, while others lose their validity to assume a shabby, unstable character?

Rukbat, in the Sagittarian sector, was a golden G-type star. It had five planets, plus one stray it had attracted and held in recent millennia. Its third planet was enveloped by air man could breathe, boasted water he could drink, and possessed a gravity which permitted man to walk confidently erect. Men discovered it, and promptly colonized it, as they did every habitable planet they came to and then, whether callously or through collapse of empire, the colonists never discovered, and eventually forgot to ask, left the colonies to fend for themselves.

When men first settled on Rukbat’s third world, and named it Pern, they had taken little notice of the stranger-planet, swinging around its primary in a wildly erratic elliptical orbit. Within a few generations they had forgotten its existence. The desperate path the wanderer pursued brought it close to its stepsister every two hundred (Terran) years at perihelion. When the aspects were harmonious and the conjunction with its sister-planet close enough, as it often was, the indigenous life of the wanderer sought to bridge the space gap to the more temperate and hospitable planet.

It was during the frantic struggle to combat this menace dropping through Pern's skies like silver threads, that Pern's contact with the mother-planet weakened and broke. Recollections of Earth receded further from Pernese history with each successive generation until memory of their origins degenerated past legend or myth, into oblivion.

To forestall the incursions of the dreadful Threads, the Pernese, with the ingenuity of their forgotten Terran forebears, developed a highly specialized variety of a life-form indigenous to their adopted planet. Such humans as had a high empathy rating and some innate telepathic ability were trained to use and preserve this unusual animal whose ability to teleport was of great value in the fierce struggle to keep Pern bare of Threads.

The winged, tailed, and fiery-breathed dragons (named for the Earth legend they resembled), their dragonmen, a breed apart, and the menace they battled, created a whole new group of legends and myths.

Once relieved of imminent danger, Pern settled into a more comfortable way of life. The descendants of heroes fell into disfavor, as the legends fell into disrepute.

This, then, is a tale of legends disbelieved and their restoration. Yet how goes a legend? Where is myth?

The Kite Runner

2010-09-05T16:24:00.003Z

Welcome everyone to EPOTI blog once again, I would like to recommend you all a book and a film titled: 'The Kite Runner'. I am working on the method how to add our own recordings if we would like to share them.

The Kite Runner, the debut novel by Afghani-born physician and author Khaled Hosseini, has been on best-seller and book club lists for nearly a year. Writer Isabel Allende says the book — about a young man who returns to Afghanistan after a long absence — is "one of those unforgettable stories that stays with you for years." (NPR radio station)

ONE

December 2001

I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.

One day last summer, my friend Rahim Khan called from Pakistan. He asked me to come see him. Standing in the kitchen with the receiver to my ear, I knew it wasn’t just Rahim Khan on the line. It was my past of unatoned sins. After I hung up, I went for a walk along Spreckels Lake on the northern edge of Golden Gate Park. The early-afternoon sun sparkled on the water where dozens of miniature boats sailed, propelled by a crisp breeze. Then I glanced up and saw a pair of kites, red with long blue tails, soaring in the sky. They danced high above the trees on the west end of the park, over the windmills, floating side by side like a pair of eyes looking down on San Francisco, the city I now call home. And suddenly Hassan’s voice whispered in my head: _For you, a thousand times over_. Hassan the harelipped kite runner.

I sat on a park bench near a willow tree. I thought about something Rahim Khan said just before he hung up, almost as an after thought. _There is a way to be good again_. I looked up at those twin kites. I thought about Hassan. Thought about Baba. Ali. Kabul. I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came and changed everything. And made me what I am today.

Glossary:

frigid - an adjective: extremely cold, unfriendly,
crouch - a verb, to bend your knees and lower yourself so that you are close to the ground and leaning forward slightly
crumble - a verb, to break, or cause something to break, into small pieces
claw - a verb, to use claws to tear something or someone
atone for sth - to do something that shows that you are sorry for something bad that you did, unatoned -- an opposite, an adjective
propel - a verb, to push or move something somewhere, often with a lot of force
harelipped - old fashion used of: cleft lip - an upper lip which does not join in the middle because it did not develop normally before birth

Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 2/16/10

2010-02-15T23:03:00.005Z

Let's Talk
Recorded Live on the Internet
8 PM Beijing Time AND 7 PM GMT
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
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Exercise and Develop Your
English Conversational Skills
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 2/9/10

2010-02-08T22:05:00.003Z

Add 'em Up!
Recorded Live on the Internet
8 PM Beijing Time AND 7 PM GMT
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
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Hooking Up Words
To Make New Verbs
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 2/2/10

2010-02-01T23:30:00.006Z

When Verbs Aren't Verbs
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 7 PM GMT
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
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"Revealing" or "To Reveal"
Gerunds & Infinitives
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 1/26/10

2010-01-25T22:10:00.005Z

Getting It Perfect
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 7 PM GMT
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
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Complete Your Understanding & Ability
With The English Perfect Tense
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 1/19/10

2010-01-18T22:36:00.006Z

Getting Particular
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 7 PM GMT
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
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Learn the English Parts of Speech
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 1/12/10

2010-01-11T22:20:00.005Z

Connecting With English
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 7 PM GMT
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 12/15/09

2009-12-15T00:10:00.003Z

Living With Numbers
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 7 PM GMT
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 12/8/09

2009-12-07T22:44:00.003Z

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers!
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 7 PM GMT
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 12/1/09

2009-11-23T21:08:00.008Z

Who Are They?
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 7 PM GMT
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 11/17/09

2009-11-16T21:24:00.003Z

This Is My Friend,...
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 7 PM GMT
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 11/10/09

2009-11-09T20:44:00.005Z

Nice Meeting You
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 7 PM GMT
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 11/3/09

2009-11-02T19:38:00.008Z

Who Are You?
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7 PM GMT AND 8 PM Beijing Time
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 10/27-28/09

2009-10-26T23:03:00.007Z

Life Goes On
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10/28/09 @ 8 PM Beijing Time
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 10/20-21/09

2009-10-19T23:31:00.006Z

"If"
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Tue., 10/20/09 @ 6 PM GMT AND
Wed., 10/21/09 @ 8 PM Beijing Time
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 10/13-14/09

2009-10-12T23:49:00.008Z

"Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda?"
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Tue., 10/13/09 @ 6 PM GMT AND
Wed., 10/14/09 @ 8 PM Beijing Time
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 10/6-7/09

2009-10-05T23:19:00.007Z

Where's the Beat?
Recorded Live on the Internet
Tue., 10/6/09 @ 6 PM GMT AND
Wed., 10/7/09 @ 8 PM Beijing Time
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 9/29-30/09

2009-09-28T21:58:00.008Z

In, At, or On?
Recorded Live on the Internet
Tue., 9/29/09 @ 6 PM GMT AND
Wed., 9/30/09 @ 8 PM Beijing Time
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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 9/23/09

2009-09-22T20:52:00.002Z

Can You Count Money?
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 8 PM GMT
Wednesday, September 23, 2009

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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 9/16/09

2009-09-15T21:54:00.004Z

Getting What You Want
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 8 PM GMT
Wednesday, September 16, 2009

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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 9/9/09

2009-09-08T22:45:00.005Z

Conversation
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 8 PM GMT
Wednesday, September 9, 2009

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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 9/2/09

2009-09-02T03:40:00.004Z

Business English
Recorded Live on the Internet
Wednesday, September 2, 2009

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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 8/5/09

2009-08-05T02:55:00.004Z

Interviewing Practice
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 8 PM GMT
Wednesday, August 5, 2009

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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 7/30/09

2009-07-28T03:14:00.005Z

"ei", "ie", & Interviewing
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8 PM Beijing Time AND 8 PM GMT
Thursday, July 30, 2009

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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 7/22/09

2009-07-22T00:57:00.004Z

Can You Survive on the Moon?

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8 PM Beijing Time AND 8 PM GMT

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

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Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 7/15/09

2009-07-14T01:29:00.001Z

Adding "ed" & "s"

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8 PM Beijing Time AND 8 PM GMT

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

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Lesson 14 - Glottal Stop - English Pronunciation

2009-07-10T08:31:00.001Z

Free English Lesson on The ESL Tree 6/24/09

2009-06-24T02:19:00.006Z

Building Vocabulary

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8 PM Beijing Time AND 8 PM GMT

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

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An interview with Andre Agassi

2009-06-23T17:14:00.001Z

Tennis, Las Vegas and Andre Agassi

This is Cricket: 4 min overview

2009-06-22T13:25:00.003Z

A video with some basic cricket vocabulary

Tennis vocabulary 1

2009-06-21T13:39:00.000Z

a popular spectator sport - spectator sport –noun any sport that can be watched by spectators, as football or basketball, usually for a fee.
a felt-covered ball
to return a shot
A player wins a point when his or her opponent cannot return a shot, or the opponent's shot doesn't land in the court.
30-love
Why does love mean zero?
Love, meaning zero (in tennis only), comes from the French word 'l'oeuf', meaning egg, and was used because of an egg's round shape, the same as zero (0).
a grass, clay, or hard court tennis surface
the receiver
six games
Play continues until a player wins the first 'set' by being the first to win at least six games.
different shots
Professional players learn to use many different shots, including the serve, forehand, backhand, volley, half-volley, overhead smash, drop shot, and lob. They also learn how to put spin on their shots to make them more difficult to return, and learn how to use tactics to win, such as by playing to their opponent's weaknesses.
ace
a winning serve which the receiver fails to touch with his or her racket
deuce
Tennis. a situation, as a score of 40–40 in a game or 5–5 in a match, in which a player must score two successive points to win the game or two successive games to win the set.
advantage
a player who scores a point at 'deuce' has the advantage, meaning if they win the next point, they win the game

More at: http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/sports-tennis.htm

Simply Red You Make Me Feel Brand New Live

2009-06-21T09:33:00.002Z

My love
I'll never find the words, my love
To tell you how I feel, my love
Mere words could not explain
Precious love... Read More
You held my life within your hands
Created everything I am
Taught me how to live again

Only you
Cared when I needed a friend
Believed in me through thick and thin
This song is for you
Filled with gratitude and love

God bless you
You make me feel brand new
For God blessed me with you
You make me feel brand new
I sing this song 'cause you
Make me feel brand new

My love
Whenever I was insecure
You built me up and made me sure
You gave my pride back to me
Precious friend
With you I'll always have a friend
You're someone who I can depend
To walk a path that never ends

Without you
My life has no meaning or rhyme
Like notes to a song out of time
How can I repay
You for having faith in me

Free English Lesson, Wednesday, June 17, 2009

2009-06-17T01:09:00.006Z

Stories & Humor

Recorded Live on the Internet

8 PM Beijing Time AND 8 PM GMT

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

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Lyre Bird - Imitating Sounds - David Attenborough

2009-06-14T22:18:00.001Z

This is a very nice video with amazing bird which can imitate lots of sounds. Pit promised to write down the text to read it for less advanced students.

Free English Lesson, Wednesday, June 10, 2009

2009-06-10T00:15:00.002Z

Storytelling

Recorded Live on the Internet

8 PM Beijing Time AND 8 PM GMT

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

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Before The Lesson,

Think of a story from your own experience you want to tell
Watch the 3 videos below

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Below Are 3 Ways of Telling a Story

1. Relaying History

2. Relaying News

3. Combining History With News

How is the telling of all 3 stories alike?
How is it different?

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Free English Lesson, Wednesday, June 3, 2009

2009-06-02T22:48:00.003Z

ESL GAME TIME!

Recorded Live on the Internet

8 PM Beijing Time AND 8 PM GMT

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

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A quiz game based on

the May 20 & May 27 lessons

in which we discussed

idioms, slang, jargon,

analogies, similes, & metaphors

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Free English Lesson, Wednesday, May 27, 2009

2009-05-26T19:22:00.024Z

COMPARISONS

Analogies, Similes, & Metaphors

Recorded Live on the Internet

8 PM Beijing Time AND 8 PM GMT

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

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Text for this Lesson

Analogies

An analogy is about the way words (and things) relate to one another. You often get analogy word problems on tests. That kind of analogy is made up of two pairs of words, like this:

PUPPY: DOG :: kitten: _____

What you are expected to do is to find a word which correctly completes the second pair. To solve the problem, you need to figure out what the relationship is. First, read out the analogy:

Puppy is to dog as kitten is to _____ ?

Now it's easy to figure out. A puppy is a young dog, so what's a kitten? A young cat. The answer is "cat."

There are many different ways that words can relate, for example:

They can mean the same thing (be synonyms):

WORK: LABOR :: tidy: neat

They can sound alike or be spelled the same way (be homonyms):

SEE: SEA :: write: right

They can mean opposite things (be antonyms):

BEAUTIFUL: UGLY :: graceful: clumsy

They can be parts of a whole:

LEG:MAN :: wheel: bike

They can be ingredients:

PINEAPPLE: JELLY :: tomato: jam

They can be descriptions (size, shape, color, texture, etc.):

MINK: SOFT :: mold: fuzzy

BLUE: SKY :: green: tree

Or they can describe a cause and action:

OWL: HOOTS :: fan: whirs

How would you complete this analogy?

BLUE: BLEW :: red: ______

How are these words related?

Is there more than one way?

Similes and Metaphors

Metaphors and similes are both ways to compare things. We use metaphors and similes every day, but it can be hard to remember just which is which.

A metaphor is when you say something is something. A simile is when you say something is like something. For example, let's say you have a mean stepfather. If you say, "my stepfather is a bear," that's a metaphor. But if you say, "my stepfather is like a bear," that's a simile.

It's easy if you remember this: if two things are compared with the use of the words "like" or "as," that's a simile. A simile is what's called an open comparison. One memory aid is that you find the letter "i" in both "like" and "simile." But if there's no "like" or "as," that's a hidden comparison -- a metaphor.

Similes	Metaphors
her hair was like silk	her hair was silk
mean as Oscar the Grouch	meaner than Oscar the Grouch
the ship went down like lead	dead fish are polished marble
light as a feather	those figures are fishy
busy as a bee	car salesmen are sharks
her gaze was like ice	her gaze was icy

Practice using similes and metaphors to describe people , places, and things in your life.

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Kate Rusby -The Yorkshire Couple

2009-05-21T07:20:00.006Z

Just a song for a friend, and maybe there is anyone who could help with writing down the lyrics?

The Yorkshire Couple

Its of a Yorkshire couple, this story I'll relate,
Who waited on retirement with apprehension great.
In their little mill tied cottage, said Amos feeling low,
We've to leave this house tomorrow, wherever shall we go.
Wherever shall we go, wherever shall we go.
We've to leave this house tomorrow, wherever shall we go.

Said Martha unto Amos, well don't you fret old lad,
The thought of your retirement, it ought to make you glad.
Since the minute we got married I've saved for a rainy day,
Each time that we made love I put half a crown away.
Do you see that row of cottages, down by Dog and Gun,
We hadn't been married but a year before I'd bought first one,

The second two years later, the third it brought me tears,
The fourth one took much longer, over twenty years.
Said Amos unto Martha, you know I love you so,
And now I see the wisdom of reaping what you sow.
But one thing vexes me though, why did you never tell,
If I hadn't of played away, I'd have had Dog and Gun as well.

Said Martha unto Amos, well you know I love you dear,
But when you said you were working late, well I knew where you were.
D'ye remember our old milkman, the one that were such fun,
Well I did the same wi' him, and I bought him Dog and Gun.

Kate Rusby biography we can find on the Wikipedia

Kate Rusby (born 4 December 1973, Jessops Hospital, Sheffield), is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Sometimes known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times. In 2001 The Guardian described her as "a superstar of the British acoustic scene." In 2007 the BBC website described her as "The first lady of young folkies". She is one of the few folk singers to have been nominated for the Mercury Prize.

(source: Wikipedia)

Free English Lesson, Wednesday, May 20, 2009

2009-05-19T21:39:00.030Z

Idioms, Slang, & Jargon

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8 PM Beijing Time AND 8 PM GMT

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

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You will need this answer sheet

for the lesson

	NON-FOOD EXPRESSIONS	FOOD IDIOMS
A	boss
B	food
C	very easy
D	on the table but still unofficial
E	the best
F	continues to be servile and brown-nose his boss
G	scoundrel
H	make a living
I	is an intelligent person
J	show admiration
K	basically
L	share confidential information
M	means to a big income with little effort
N	chat
O	thinks
P	a little out of touch with reality
Q	problematic issues
R	a little crazy
S	really likes
T	the type of person he likes

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