About This Blog

 Hello and welcome to my blog. This is where ESL learners and teachers can come for resources and tips on “integrated skills”; that is, students work on all four language skills in the class: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. To the right-hand side of my blog you will find links to grammar websites, online news sources, and online dictionaries. Also, I will post resources for both students and teachers which I find interesting and want to share with you. If you have any questions or suggestions for this blog, feel free to leave a comment and I will get back to you right away. Have fun!

Aim: This blog is designed for students who want to develop their skills in grammar, writing, reading, speaking, and listening. Students develop in-depth language skills, learn critical thinking skills, and prepare for further academic studies. The main purpose of this blog is to help students to improve their English skills. I will try to offer you interesting activities that you can do on your own.

money matters

Money is not the only measure of success in life

For most people in our modern-capitalism world, money is the first thing, and sometimes the only thing that measures success in their life. Money can buy power. Money can buy fame. Money can buy time. Sometimes money can even buy a life. So money has become the first common goal for everybody. However, there is something else that can be the measurement of success in life.

One important thing that defines success in our lives is our careers. With different careers, we will have different goals and measurements of our success. If you are an athlete, your success can be measured by lots of things such as wining tournaments, breaking records, playing in the top league or competing in the Olympics. If you are a scientist, the success in your life will mostly depend on your researches. One line of formula that can prove your theory is true can be the great success in your life. If you are a writer, you will probably succeed if your book gets on the best-selling shelf in the bookstore or if your works get published in a magazine. If you are a musician, playing in the country’s orchestra or a number of your CDs that have been sold can be counted as the measurement of your success. So we can see that another measurement of success in your life besides money is how much you have succeeded in your career.

money matters

Money Matters

There are many things in our society that influence a person's lifestyle, some that are bad and some that are good. Money, however, has both of these effects. It can have the most extreme effect of both sides on a person's life. According to Karl Marx, "It is the whore and pimp of people and nations."

If we possess the power to buy everything and have the power fulfill any need possible then money is "the object of eminent possession" and "functions as the almighty being". He who possess' money has the power to do whatever he is capable. If a person is ugly, then he can buy a beautiful woman so that he is not ugly anymore. If one is bad or dishonest but has money, therefore he is honored because money is. If one is stupid then he can use money to buy smart people to be his workers. So, how do smart people work under stupid people? If something is unable to be done as a man, then money will do it for him.

There are also bad effects of being wealthy. Money is the "true agent of divorce as well as the true binding agent." It turns people into things they are not, giving bad qualities to those who possess too much. One becomes addicted to the fact of having wealth and misuses it to a great extent. It is almost like an addiction, it becomes a job to use money, and therefore one leaves out all the important things in life. In a sense, one may become evil because of the trance money has put on oneself. By not possessing too much wealth, a person is allowed to become his true self without having the temptations of money. If we have no money then we do not have needs for all that we would with money.

new perspectives --A Balanced Life

Can you really have it all?

That's the question I often get asked by busy working moms who want to be able to work, have a family and take care of themselves. My answer is always "yes, absolutely". Finding balance in life is a realistic and important goal. However, sometimes there are glitches and life feels out of control. When this happens it's usually because you are not getting your needs met or you are not aligned with your values. When you're out of integrity life feels out of balance.

What it Means to Live a Balanced Life

Balance is a feeling derived from being whole and complete; it's a sense of harmony. It is essential to maintaining quality in life and work. Your life is made up of many vital areas including your health, family, financial, intellectual, social, work, spiritual, recreation, personal growth, romance and more. You won't necessarily spend time every day in each area in equal amounts, but if in the long run, you spend a sufficient quantity and quality of time in each area, your life will feel in balance. However, if you neglect any one area, never mind two or three, you will eventually sabotage your own success. Much like a table, if one leg is longer or shorter than the rest, it will make the entire table wobbly. For instance, if you don't take care of your health, your family and social life will suffer; if you put too much time into running your business, personal relationships and self care may suffer.

New perspectives

Young people enjoy life more than older people do.

Young and older people enjoy life differently. As far as I am concerned, I can say young people enjoy life more than older people do. In this essay I will explore why I think in this way.

Firstly, young people are more energetic. Being energetic means you can do a lot of things during a day. You can go to the work, do sport activities, play with your children and spend time with your friends. For example, I have grandfather who live together with my family. If I compare my father with my grandfather, I can easily see that my grandfather cannot do a lot of activities during a day. It is hard for him even he wants to enjoy life, because he gets tired easily. It proves that younger people can do a lot of activities because they are energetic.

Musical Moods

Music and the Effects on your Mood

 

Upbeats, rhythms, melodies, tones, and beats all make up a musical composition. Is the song you are listening to slow, fast, a ballad, a rock song, sad, happy, romantic? Music is a form of expression, and artists often times express their feelings through song. They write songs when they are happy, sad, angry, and even when they are in love. Listening to the different types of songs can affect your mood.

If you are sad, you should listen to happy upbeat music to turn your mood around. If you are angry and need an outlet to release your feelings, you can listen to rock music with fast tempos and loud guitar playing. You can set the mood for a romantic evening with the one you love by playing soft ballads or love songs. Music can be a distraction to take your mind off of pressing issues or simply to entertain.

Listening

Listening plays an important role in language learning. It is probably the skill we use most in our lives. The ability to listen well is important in all areas of our lives, for example, our social life (e.g. communicating with people), professional life (e.g. speaking English at work), and academic life (e.g. studying at a college or university). Listening in another language is difficult because we not only have to understand the grammar of the language, but also the speed, pronunciation, intonation and choice of words that the speaker uses. This can make listening very challenging for the language learner.

On this page, I will talk about some strategies to help you become a better listener. I  will also show you some videos discussing listening strategies in more detail and provide links to a number of online sources where you can practice your listening skills. If you have any questions or want me to add anything to this page, just let me know. Thanks

 

 

 

How to improve your English listening comprehension

Why spoken English is difficult to understand

 

A lot of you first learned English in a classroom, from a textbook, or maybe from a CD series. If that's how you learned, then you're going to have trouble with spoken English because they're not the same thing! Here's what's different:

•People use different words and phrases in spoken English than they do in writing. They use slang. They say "um", "hmm", "ah", "uh", etc. They skip the word "that" when using relative clauses. Most classes and books teach "proper" English, which is used in writing and in formal speech. Here at PhraseMix, I try to teach  casual English as well.

Pre-listening

   pre-listening exercises

   Pre-listening activities are an important part of becoming a better listener. It is important to predict what you are going to hear. This will raise your interest and motivate you to listen. As you are listening, you can check to see if your predictions are correct. Think about what you already know about the topic before you listen. If you are doing a listening activity in class, read all the questions before you listen and try to guess the answers. Try to think about the type of vocabulary you might hear in the listening. Thinking about what you already know about the topic and making guesses about what you are going to hear will help you to improve your listening comprehension.

Listening for Main Ideas and Listening for Details

It is really important to first listen for the main idea. Remember, you do not need to understand every word in the listening to understand the main idea. The first time you listen, just listen for important words that will help you to understand the general idea. The first listening should always be to check your predictions in the pre-listening activities. When you listen a second time, then you can listen for the specific details in the listening. In your English class, most listening activities will be set up this way where you will listen first for main ideas and second for specific details. Don't worry if you do not understand too much in the first listening. The second time you listen is always better and you will understand more

Active Listening

 

 

 

Active listening is a communication technique that requires the listener to feed back what they hear to the speaker, by way of re-stating or paraphrasing what they have heard in their own words, to confirm what they have heard and moreover, to confirm the understanding of both parties.

When interacting, people often "wait to speak" rather than listening attentively. They might also be distracted. Active listening is a structured way of listening and responding to others, focusing attention on the "function" of communicating objectively as opposed to focusing on "forms", passive expression or subjectivity.

Using Popular Songs to Improve Language Listening Comprehension Skills

  



 Almost everyone loves music. It is a part of our language and life from before birth onwards. As babies, we hear lullabies. As young children we play, sing and dance to a myriad of nursery rhymes. As adolescents, we are consumed by the beat of popular music artists worldwide. As adults, every form of advertising we hear, every special event we experience, is in part, music. Music pervades television, movies, theater, and even the nightly news. When we exercise, when we work, when we play, when we worship and even when we die, music is there to reinforce or alter or every mood and emotion. A catchy tune is played, hummed or sung, at times in our head, as we go about our everyday lives. So, why not include music and songs in language learning as well?

Sorry, seems to be the hardest Word

Lyrics training

Learn English Through songs

Factors Contributing to Listening Comprehension of Song

• Use of new vocabulary, idioms and expressions – You’ll need to address the new material offered in each song. This includes grammar, vocabulary and usage.

• Pronunciation and accent of the singer – Every native speaker doesn’t pronounce or sing with the same accent. Students may be exposed to an accent which is outside the realm of what they might normally hear in context.

• Use of new grammar and structure Song writers and singers are notoriously “loose” when it comes to use of grammar, structure, pronunciation, stress and other language factors applied to songs. The teacher must prepare for this.