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Friday, January 23, 2009

Just Enough English Grammar Illustrated

Just Enough English Grammar Illustrated
Gabriele Stobbe


What This Book Contains

  • Just Enough English Grammar Illustrated requires no formal exposure to English grammar. The book is designed to give learners of English a basic grammar foundation. It may serve other students as a reference or review tool.
  • This book takes a practical approach. It does not focus on rules and definitions. Instead, it studies how words work and what they do in sentences.
  • The material is presented in an easy, step-by-step format. As the learner moves through the book, he or she will gain an understanding of the basic principles of the English language. These principles are laid out simply but thoroughly, and each new principle builds on what the student learned earlier in the book.
  • Real-life scenarios use interesting characters and engaging, simple vocabulary. Basic English structures presented in visually engaging graphics bring grammar alive and therefore increase the student’s desire to learn grammar.
  • Carefully designed graphic illustrations translate grammatical concepts into visual images. Each topic or grammar concept is clearly explained with relevant graphic illustrations. They make comprehension possible without wordy explanations.
  • Graphic organizers and Venn diagrams clarify concepts and help the reader review. They stimulate creative and logical thought processes, and also help the student to evaluate and categorize language structures.
  • Review Exercises and the Answer Key provide the learner with the opportunity to test his or her skills.
  • This book offers choices. It takes into account the different ways in which students learn and, accordingly, provides a variety of learning tools. From real-life scenarios to illustrations and graphic organizers, there is something for everyone.

Rapidshare Free Download Ebook

What is ESL Podcast?

Who is ESLPod.com?

ESLPod.com is run by a team of experienced English as a Second Language professors with over 30 years of high school, adult, and university ESL teaching experience. Dr. Lucy Tse writes scripts and story ideas for the podcasts, and records many of the dialogs and stories. The host for the podcast is Dr. Jeff McQuillan, who helps read the scripts and provides explanations for them.
Both Dr. Tse and Dr. McQuillan received a Ph.D. in applied linguistics and education at the University of Southern California. Dr. Tse was a professor of applied linguistics and education at Loyola Marymount University, Arizona State University, and California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. McQuillan was a professor of applied linguistics at California State University, Fullerton, and Arizona State University. Both are currently Senior Researchers at the Center for Educational Development, the sponsor of ESLPod.com.

Why are you doing this podcast?

For many people around the world, learning English is very important. Unfortunately, there are very few useful, effective sources for learning English. Most people take English classes, which help them up to a certain point. ESL Podcast is designed to help you continue to improve your English.

What’s so different about ESL Podcast?

Well, first, all of our podcasts are free to anyone who wants them. Second, ESL Podcast uses a very different approach than other courses or websites.
They believe the fastest way to improve your English is to listen to conversations and discussions you can understand. Many people try to improve their English bylistening or reading things that are too difficult. They understand only 40-50%, which means they are wasting half of their time!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

What is the biggest word in English?

What is the biggest word in English?
What is the biggest word in English language?
What is the largest word in English language?
What is the longest word in English language?

Did you know that the longest word in the English language (separate from proper nouns) is a science word?
It is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis. This word has 45 letters. Can you figure out what it means? To figure it out, you can approach it the way you approach any word you don’t know. Take the parts of the word you do know and define them one at a time, finally putting the entire word back together. The first part you see above is pneumono, which should remind you of pneumonia, a disease of the lung. Secondly, you should recognize ultra, which means “very”. Next, you will notice the prefix micro, which means “tiny”. Next is the term scopic, which means “to see”. Then you notice the prefix silico, which is like silicon, the natural earth element from which computer chips are made. The next word is volcano, which you are probably familiar with. The last suffix is koniosis, which refers to a disease caused by dust. By taking all these meanings and putting them together, you will now see “disease of the lung, very, tiny, to see, silicon, volcano, disease caused by dust”. With a little work, you should be able to figure out that this is a lung disease caused from breathing in very tiny silicon dust particles, perhaps from an erupting volcano. In other words, it is similar to black lung, a disease coal miners can have.

The full text of President Obama’s Inaugural Address

The full text of President Obama’s Inaugural Address

Barack Obama has been sworn in as the 44th US president.
Here is his inauguration speech in full.


My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.
At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

Serious challenges
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
Nation of 'risk-takers'
We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
'Remaking America'
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Restoring trust
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.
The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

'Ready to lead'
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

'Era of peace'
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

'Duties'
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.
What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

'Gift of freedom'
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

What do they look like?

What does he look like?
What does she look like? What do they look like?


General Appearance
beautiful, pretty, gorgeous, handsome, good-looking, ugly, hideous

Hair
straight, wavy, curly, frizzy
short, medium-length, shoulder-length, long
bushy, oily, spiky, tousled, permed, dyed + color
auburn, carroty, blond = blonde, frosted, ginger = gingery,
grizzled, pepper-and-salt, raven, mousy
to have a part(Am) = parting(Br), ponytail
bald = balding, hairless, hairy

Age
Young, middle-aged, old, elderly

Face
to wear glasses, contact lenses
to grow or have a beard, a mustache
to grow or have or wear a thin/thick=wide/short/long/angled/pointed sideburns
to have a mole, line = wrinkle on face
to have a flat/snub/pointed nose

Height
(somewhat/fairly/pretty/really/very/extremely) short or tall, medium height

Others
thin, slim, slender, skinny
obese, fat, overweight, big, chubby, plump, burly, chunky, well-built, strongly-built

What's the weather like today?

What is the weather like?
Here are some adjectives you can use to describe the weather:

boiling/scorching
hot
warm
cool
cold
freezing


sunny
rainy
snowy
cloudy

balmy: pleasantly warm, with a gentle wind blowing
windy
blustery: very windy

foggy
hazy: not clear, especially because there is a slight mist caused by heat or smoke

Muharram

Muharram (Muharram, Moharram, Muharam, Moharam)

Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four months of the year in which fighting is prohibited. Since the Islamic calendar is lunar, Muharram moves from year to year when compared with the Gregorian calendar.


Muharram is so called because it was unlawful to fight during this month; the word is derived from the word ‘haram’ meaning forbidden. It is held to be the most sacred of all the months, excluding Ramadan. Some Muslims fast during these days. The tenth day of Muharram is called Yaumu-l 'Ashurah, meaning, ‘the tenth day’, and it is a day of voluntary fasting. Fasting differs among the Muslim groupings; mainstream Shia Muslims stop eating and drinking during sunlight hours but do not fast until the evening. Sunni Muslims also fast during Muharram and on either the ninth or the eleventh day, the choice of which additional day being at the discretion of the individual.


Toefl

The world's most common requirement for university and college admissions, ETS TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is an English proficiency test that opens more doors to study abroad.
The TOEFL® test is the most widely accepted English-language test in the world. No matter where you want to study, the TOEFL test can help get you there.

http://www.toefl.org/

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Arrogance diminishes wisdom

"Arrogance diminishes wisdom." Arabic proverb

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Main religions in the world

There are five major faiths in the world

FaithMember(n)Related (adj)Book
IslamMuslimMuslimThe Koran
BuddhismBuddhistBuddhistThe Buddhist Scriptures
HinduismHinduHinduThe Hindu Scriptures
ChristianityChristianChristianThe Bible
JudaismJewJewishThe Hebrew Scriptures

FounderPlaceClergy
MohammadMosqueMullah
Gautama BuddhaTemple-
-(Gandhi) Ashram-
Jesus ChristChurchPriest
MosesSynagogueRabbi

Three branches of Christianity:

  • Orthodoxy (Orthodox)
  • Catholicism (Catholic)
  • Protestantism (Protestant)

Church -> priest
Cathedral -> bishop
Abbey -> abbot , abbess
Monastery -> monk
Convent (= nunnery) -> nun

To Convert
to persuade someone to change to a different religion or to change to a different religion

  • European missionaries converted thousands to Christianity.
  • In 1976 he converted to Islam.

I didn't fight my way to ...

I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian.

Beauty is in the eye of the ...

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

Note
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: used to say that different people have different opinions about what is beautiful

Losing a wife can be ...

Losing a wife can be hard. In my case it was almost impossible.

I haven't spoken to my wife ...

I haven't spoken to my wife in 18 months. I don't like to interrupt her.

How do you get a blonde on the roof?

How do you get a blonde on the roof?
....tell her drinks are on the house.


Note
on the house: provided free by a business - especially a bar or restaurant
  • The room at the hotel was not ready when we arrived so they provided us with free drinks on the house.

Which branch of the military do babies join?

Which branch of the military do babies join?
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The infantry!