We like to visit Englishcafe.com

We learned about a new web page called http:/www.englishcafe.com.

We
also like www.esl-lab.com
--s2314@tmail.com TheEBookMan.com
www.freeenglishlessons.com

www.CDsForParents.com
Www.LetterFromMexico.com cross-border issues
Www.RoadLovers.com write about your town

The Confusing English Language

Here are some reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:

1.  The bandage was wound around the wound.

2.  The farm was used to produce produce.

3.  The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4.  We must polish the Polish furniture.

5.  He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6.  The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7.  Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to
present the present.

8.  A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9.  When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10.  I did not object to the object.

11.  The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12.  There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13.  They were too close to the door to close it.

14.  The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15.  A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16.  To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17.  The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18.  After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19.  Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20.  I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine
in pineapple. 

English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. 

Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet,are meat.

Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is
neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. 

And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't
groce and hammers don't ham?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? 

One goose, 2 geese.  So one moose, 2 meese? 

If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them,
what do you call it?  Is it an odd, or an end?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?  

If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? 

In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? 

Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?

Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and
a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your
house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by
filling it out, and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the
creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. 
That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the
lights are out, they are invisible.

P.S. - Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"?

...for more comments, go to http://www.englishcafe.com

http://www.freeenglishlessons.com
http://Www.RoadLovers.com write about your city

We like to visit Englishcafe.com

We learned about a new web page called http:/www.englishcafe.com.

We
also like www.esl-lab.com
--s2314@tmail.com TheEBookMan.com
www.freeenglishlessons.com

www.CDsForParents.com
Www.LetterFromMexico.com cross-border issues
Www.RoadLovers.com write about your town

I wish you luck with your accent reduction.

Here is a record of our conversation. I hope you have success with
Wall Street and Gordon Gecko.

The most important accent reduction is to speak more sloooooowly
especially
on STRESSED vowels.

GOOORRR don GEhc ko

[10/18/2007 1:48:56 PM] hemantjindal says: please email me at
hemant_jindal@hotmail.com
[11:05:32 PM] Steve : hello from steve in fort lauderdale. what
country are you from? [11:06:03 PM] hemantjindal says: India
[11:06:49 PM] Steve : cool how did you find my skype address
QUESTION... HOW CAN I REDUCE MY ACCENT?
[11:09:20 PM] Steve : copy a person's speaking pattern. Gordon Gecko
(Michael douglas_) is good for accent. "Greed is good." that is from
the movie WALL STREET. Also, speak slower
Third, go to npr.org, scroll to "THIS I BELIEVE"
You can copy the style of the person's voice.

--s2314@tmail.com TheEBookMan.com

Two reasons to pay attention in a Visual and Active classroom

We know that some students need an incentive to complete work... Slinky
and the flamingo will help!
Do you want to be a penpal?
============
Hello Gabriel.
Thank you for your quick reply.
I will encourage my students to write to you.
Steve
============
On Oct 4, 2007, at 2:24 PM, Gabriel Zamora wrote:
> oh yes, you can use this address <gabrielzamora864@gmail.com>, or also
> gza.1105@hotmail.com Whichever you want to use it's good... thank you
>>> hi...
>>> this is Gabriel from Venezuela...and well this my address.. my msn is
>>> gza.1105@hotmail.com and my AIM is gabrielzamora864.... anyway you
>>> can write me back to this gmail account.... I don't really use the
>>> hotmail account for emails.. just to chat! so yeah :) 
>>> --
>>> Gabriel Zamora
Let's practice by writing!
--s2314@tmail.com TheEBookMan.com

Homework from Cary in Japan

From: Cary Elcome <bradstow2@yahoo.co.uk>
Let's start with a car crash.
Here are a few structural prompts (we could match them with meanings, or
other expressions with the same meaning). Use these phrases in
sentences :
it got damaged
someone damaged it
someone hit you
it was late at night, I was driving along the 441 when ...
The damage was extensive...
you hit something
another driver made you swerve
you can't drive it any more
it's a write off
it has to go to the garage
you have to get it repaired
it needs repairing
you have to walk to work
this isn't the first time this has happened
it happened before
I haven't had an accident for ...
it wasn't my fault
I'm not to blame
we won't be mobile for sometime
it's going to cost a bomb
Bugger!
+++++++++++++
Cheers,
Cary bradstow2@yahoo.co.uk

Look at the front view, close-up

Look out! This is what happened to my wife's car... Ouch. Lesson:
what parts of this car do not work now?

Another penpal in Italy

I am sending this note to introduce Fulvia to Suzy and Bradstow (Cary in
Japan)
+++++++++++++++++++++
Original Message......
On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:57, Fulvia Fognini wrote:
> ah...thank's steve!
> today i have been to the cinema for watching the film's of simpson..!
> do you know?
> how are you?your wife?
> see you..
> bye bye and good night beacuse in italy are 11 o clock!|
>
==================
CORRECTIONS
On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:57, Fulvia Fognini wrote:
> ah...thanks, Steve!
> Today I was at the cinema
OR Today I went to the cinema to watch the film about the Simpsons!
Do you know the film?
Do you know it?
REPLY: YES, I SAW IT. THERE ARE MANY CULTURAL THEMES AND SMALL JOKES
THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO TRANSLATE.
DID YOU SEE THE FILM IN ENGLISH?

How are you?
I AM BUSY. I AM LOOKING FOR PENPALS ... IS IT OKAY IF I GIVE YOUR
EMAIL ADDRESS TO OTHER STUDENTS?

And your wife?
REPLY: MY WIFE IS SAD. HER CAR IS GONE. THERE WAS A FIRE IN THE
RADIATOR. IT IS A TOTAL LOSS.

> see you..
> bye bye and good night beacuse in italy are 11 o clock!|
Good night because in Italy it is 11 o'clock!

Steve S2314@TMAIL.COM
TheEBookMan.com
Steve McCrea 954-OH-MUCHO 954.646.8246
I hope we can find more correspondents for Fulvia.... Fulvia, please
send photos of your city to Cary and Suzylimab@hotmail.com and they
will find penpals. Ask questions about Japan and Curitiba.

Part 2 of the story

After this answer the mother was stunned. "What genii has possessed my
boy? He has never spoken to me like this. Did he eat an American
sandwich with limp white bread? Oh, perhaps that is the solution!"
She took her boy by the hand and went to buy a ciabatta bread at the
Gran Forno on Las Olas blvd. She said to the owner of the bakery...

(Your turn)

Part 1 of the story

A story in pieces
From: Bahadir Oktay <zhart57@gmail.com>
To: Steve McCrea <s2314@tmail.com>

There was a mother who found her child listening to rap music.  The boy,
Yusuf, was singing, "I will beat you, I will come back in my car and
you
will be in the trunk."  The mother, Johanna, was horrified.  She said,
"oh, Yusuf, why are you wasting your time with these kinds of words?"
Yusuf gave a look with empty eyes to his mother and then he answered,
"oh, old woman, why do you get your nose into the things you don't
understand? It's a lifestyle, an expression, but you don't get it. Now
leave me alone". After this answer the mother ...
( Your Turn )

Why do we bring technology into the classroom?

Bringing Technology into the Classroom
A discussion
The minimal level is "hand out DVDs for parents and kids to watch at
home on TV."

The next level up is "hand out CDs to watch on computers." 

The third level up is "bring in cameras and make short videos with the
students."

Fourth level: "videotape oral exams."  Howard Gardner defines this
method of evaluation as "performances of understanding."   Here is a
short quote.

------------------------------------------------- 

When it comes to probing a student's understanding of evolution, the
shrewd pedagogue looks beyond the mastery of dictionary definitions or
the recitation of textbook examples.  A student demonstrates or
"performs" his understanding when he can examine a range of species
found in different ecological niches and speculate about the reasons for
their particular ensemble of traits.  A student performs her
understanding of the Holocaust when she can compare events in a Nazi
concentration camp to such contemporary genocidal events as those in
Bosnia, Kosovo or Rwanda in the 1990s.

"Measures of understanding" may seem demanding, particularly in
contract to current, often superficial, efforts to measure what students
know and are able to do.  And, indeed, recourse to performing one's
understanding is likely to stress students, teachers, and parents, who
have grown accustomed to traditional ways of doing(or NOT doing)
things.  Nonetheless, a performance approach to understanding is
justified.  Instead of mastering content, one thinks about the reason
why a particular content is being taught and how best to display one's
comprehension of this content in a publicly accessible way.  When
students realize they will have to apply knowledge and demonstrate
insights in a public form, they assume a more active stance to the
material, seeking to exercise their "performance muscles" whenever
possible.
Page 160 to 161 Intelligence Reframed by Howard Gardner

Pages 162..
But it is likely that we have avoided assessing understanding because
doing so takes time and because we have lacked confidence that we will
actually find clear evidence of understanding.  Thanks to hundreds of
studies during the past few decades by psychologists and educators, we
now know one truth about understanding: Most students in most schools,
cannot exhibit appreciable understandings of important ideas.

Teachers need to assess students' understanding not simply at the end of
the course but through regular interim practice performances.  

If individuals indeed have different kinds of minds, with varied
strengths, interests and strategies, then it is worth considering
whether pivotal curricular materials like biology could be taught AND
ASSESSED in a variety of ways.
p. 167

----------------------------------   

Teachers would do well to use cameras to capture the students'
understandings.  Review of those performances by parents would help
teachers communicate to parents and students what is seen in the
classroom.

S McCrea, www.VisualandActive.com

http://www.geocities.com/teachers2teachers/newfcatexpand.html

He is so fat that...

Funny labels are everywhere. How can we laugh without making the hippo
feel bad?

Some people think that the "hippocampus" is a university for fat
people.
--s2314@tmail.com TheEBookMan.com
Steve McCrea 954-OH-MUCHO 954.646.8246

Cute wine labels

What is the meaning of these wine labels? Send your most curious signs
and we will interpret the story behind the design.
--s2314@tmail.com TheEBookMan.com
Steve McCrea 954-OH-MUCHO 954.646.8246

Here are some more penpals

Hatem is from Turkey hpub@hotmail.com
Florent flo.cordesse@hotmail.fr
Cristina crilimun124@hotmail.com
--s2314@tmail.com TheEBookMan.com
Steve McCrea 954-OH-MUCHO 954.646.8246
Book editing, marketing, design
Tutoring Supporter of the Double Moon Shot (proposed by Thomas
Friedman) energy and education at www.CDsForParents.com
Www.LetterFromMexico.com cross-border issues
Www.RoadLovers.com write about your town

The camera and the laptop

Laura likes to practice with www.esl-lab.com and

www.freeenglishlessons.com.

She can tell you about Seoul.
Laurajung@hanmail.net why not learn more?
--s2314@tmail.com TheEBookMan.com

Here are three students who like the visual and active method of learning

They will present information to the video camera and we will analyze
their words for improvements. You can write to them at
kbtu-kazakh@rambler.ru (Samat from Kazakhstan),
christoph.frick@hotmail.com (Christoph from Liechtenstein) and Cristina
(she will read emails if they are sent to the teacher first as a screen
s2314@tmail.com).... Ji in is from South Korea laurajung@hanmail.net
Steve McCrea 954-OH-MUCHO 954.646.8246

Here is a list that we might use

WAYS TO REDUCE STRESS
Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen
tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it
does happen, you have to worry twice.
1. Think good thoughts about other people. Send them good wishes. Say
"thank you.".
2. Go to bed on time.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
4. Say "No" to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that
will compromise your mental health
5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify and unclutter your life.
7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too
many.)
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.
9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over
time; don't lump the hard things all together.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, listen
to your inner voice and let go of the anxiety. If you can't do anything
about a situation, forget it.
12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary
purchases.
13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key
buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.
14 K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an
enormous amount of trouble.
15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.
16. Carry a book or magazine with you to read while waiting in line.
17. Get enough rest.
18. Eat right.
19. Get organized so everything has its place.
20. Listen to a tape, cd or mp3 while driving that can help improve your
quality of life.
21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
23. Having problems? Talk to a friend or listen to yourself on the spot.
Try to nip small problems in the bud.
24. Make friends with good people. Make time to sit with good people.
25. Keep a folder of favorite quotes on hand. Memorize good words,
poems and songs.
26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often
a good "Thank you."
27. Laugh.
28. Laugh some more!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they
can).
31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).
32. Sit on your ego.
33. Talk less; listen more.
34. Slow down.
35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the
universe.
36 . Every night before bed, think of a new thing that you're grateful
for. Say "thank you" for something that you've never been grateful for
before.

--s2314@tmail.com TheEBookMan.com
send your ideas and comments

Some students went to Key West

Wow! Look at this story by Laura
My group included Italian and French people from the school. We started
at 6 p.m. on Friday. We left the hotel and we drove very carefully. We
arrived on the north island of the Keys at 9 p.m. It was dark, so we
stopped to sleep in Key Largo, which is the first island of the Florida
Keys. We found a beautiful hotel.

Saturday morning, we went to Key West and we went to the beach. After
the beach, we were looking for a hotel for the night. Saturday night,
we had a BIG problem because we found a LOT of cockroaches. The Italian
boys in our group killed them with courage. They are brave boys.

It was a good situation because we didn't pay for the room with the
problem.

Sunday we looked for a good beach - without rocks! The name of the
beach is Bahia Honda and it is our biggest recommendation. Look for
Bahia Honda Key
about 37 miles (55 km) from Key West. It's beautiful! The sun was hot
when we arrived and it became strong. One of the Italian boys,
Alessandro, got sunburned on his nose and forehead. He's a crazy man
and a real showman (you know, those Italian people!). It was a fun trip
and I recommend that you stay at least two nights in the Keys.
Here are three web sites to see more photos.
Main Page - Bahia Honda State Park > Florida State Parks
<http://www.floridastateparks.org/bahiahonda/>
Henry Flagler's railroad to Key West turned the remote island of Bahia
Honda
Key into a tropical destination.
www.floridastateparks.org/bahiahonda/ - Note this
<http://www.google.com/search?q=bahia+honda+key&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-S
earchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7SKPB>
BEST OF THE FLORIDA KEYS INTERNET GUIDE - BAHIA HONDA KEY INFORMATION
<http://thefloridakeys.com/bahiahonda/index.html>
BAHIA HONDA KEY begins at mile marker 37 and is just north of Big Pine
Key.
thefloridakeys.com/bahiahonda/index.html - Note this
<http://www.google.com/search?q=bahia+honda+key&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7SKPB>
Bahia Honda Key - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahia_Honda_Key>
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahia_Honda_Key

While we were looking for a good beach, we saw several strange people.
You can write to me and learn about these people --- Laura c/o
steveenglishteacher@hotmail.com
--s2314@tmail.com TheEBookMan.com
Steve McCrea 954-OH-MUCHO 954.646.8246

Summary of two days

First day
Many ways of learning
"Look for your passion" --explain something that you love. Project:
talk to a camera. (You can point the camera at a book)
Search page: look for information about "goatee" and "stag party"

Second day
Students want to use english in:
-- teaching (design a program for videos for young students ages 7 to
11)
-- Broward Community College (make a summary of a chapter in a book)
-- meeting japanese and south american clients
-- writing a blog about travels to 50 states. (What is the
"personality" of North Carolina, Washington DC, and New York?)... Or you
can speak abouit how you feel in other places.

We talked about crazy and synonyms
Loco, eccentric, unusual, special, weird, out of the ordinary,
extraordinary. "You really stand out from the crowd", unique, mad off
your rocker, coo-coo, loopy, nuts..
A good exercise: talk about a plot of a movie but do not say the name
of the movie: a young woman is hired by a father with six children.
The mother is dead. The young woman sings, the father is pushed by
invading Germans to join Hitler's war, the family runs from Austria to
Switzerland, the father and the woman fall in love. Julie Andrews was
the woman...... What is the name of the musical film?
S---d of M---c or write to me for the answer.

--s2314@tmail.com TheEBookMan.com
Steve McCrea 954-OH-MUCHO 954.646.8246
Book editing, marketing, design

Bride

Entering the church
--s2314@tmail.com TheEBookMan.com
Steve McCrea 954-OH-MUCHO 954.646.8246
Book editing, marketing, design