Blogger Widgets Blogger Widgets ¡Mira que luna......! Look at that moon....! Resources for learning English: DIY

!Mira que luna! Look at that moon! Resources for learning English

!Mira que luna! Look at that moon! Resources for learning English
Fernando Olivera: El rapto.- TEXT FROM THE NOVEL The goldfinch by Donna Tartt (...) One night we were in San Antonio, and I was having a bit of a melt-down, wanting my own room, you know, my dog, my own bed, and Daddy lifted me up on the fairgrounds and told me to look at the moon. When "you feel homesick", he said, just look up. Because the moon is the same wherever you go". So after he died, and I had to go to Aunt Bess -I mean, even now, in the city, when I see a full moon, it's like he's telling me not to look back or feel sad about things, that home is wherever I am. She kissed me on the nose. Or where you are, puppy. The center of my earth is you". The goldfinch Donna Tartt 4441 English edition

Saturday, August 8, 2015

DIY

Jul 24 2015
Intro
Say you have a problem with a door in your house. It doesn’t quite open how you want it to. Would you call aprofessional to come fix it, or would you try do-it-yourself (DIY)?

There are a lot of tutorials online that can help you solve household problems by yourself. All you need is a computer, some tools and a little initiative. After you fix something, you may realize that DIY can be really fun.

Amy and Kellie are talking about DIY. Find out what Amy needs to fix in today’s English lesson about home projects.
Dialogue
English, baby! English lesson audio.
Amy_L: So, I’ve been on the Internet, looking at onlinetutorials, to learn how to do something that’s kind of weird.
Kellie: Oh, really? Are you getting into DIY?
Amy_L: How did you know? Yeah.
Kellie: It’s just so trendy these days. Everybody wants to be an amateur craftsperson or something.
Amy_L: What I’m doing isn’t that glamorous. I’m trying to figure out how to fix my toilet. It’s doing this weird thing. But I think it’s really great when you can learn a skill, then you can be self-reliant. And then have pride that you fixed something on your own.
Kellie: I’m not very good at doing things myself. Plus, I don’t have the right tools. So, I always just call aprofessional to do it. But I think that’s cool that you’re taking the initiative to fix something yourself.
Amy_L: Yeah, well if there’s anything that you ever need to get fixed, we can research it and figure out how to do it together.
Kellie: Alright, well, let’s try!
Discussion
Amy has been looking at online tutorials to help her figure out how to fix her toilet. She likes to fix things by herself because it gives her pride. She tells Kellie that if she ever needs anything fixed, they can do it together.

Kellie thinks that DIY is very trendy these days, but she doesn’t like to do things by herself. She would rather have a professional fix things for her, because she doesn’t have many tools. However, she agrees that it would be fun for her and Amy to try some DIY together.

Do you like DIY? What have you made?
Grammar Point
Present Progressive Tense

Amy likes DIY and needs to fix something in her house. She says, “I’m (I amtrying to figure out how to fix my toilet.” She uses the present progressive tense.

The present progressive tense (also sometimes called the “present continuous”) is formed with the present tense of the verb to be + a main verb + -ing, as in, “He isconstantly calling me,” or, “The neighbors are playingtheir music really loudly.”

We use the present progressive tense to 1) describe an action that’s continually repeated, or 2) talk about an on-going action that’s happening right now. At this moment, Amy is trying to learn how to fix her toilet.

Words like “always,” “constantly,” or “continuously” are often used with the present progressive to describe actions that are repeated, while phrases like “right now” or “at the moment” often indicate that an action is currently in progress.

Which is correct, “Shondra is making dinner,” or, “Shondra making dinner”?
Quiz

  1. What does Amy need to do?
  2. Why doesn’t Kellie like DIY?
  3. Trendy means __.
  4. Which sentence doesn’t use the present progressive tense?


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