Which One: Gerund or infinitive?

Most verbs in English always take either the gerund or the infinitive. You need to learn which one is correct, and then always use that form. Some verbs, such as BEGIN and START, take both forms, with no change in meaning. These two verbs, REMEMBER and FORGET, belong to the group of verbs that can be followed by a gerund or an infinitive, but the meaning changes. You need to make sure you use the correct structure or you will end up saying something that you do not mean!

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Take a look at these examples, where the verbs are followed by the INFINITIVE:

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1. I forgot to take my front door key this morning and now I am locked out of my house.

2. I didn’t remember to take my key this morning and now I am locked out of my house. (note: in examples 1 and 2, the infinitive is ‘to take’.)

3. “Did you remember to water the plants before going on holiday? “

“No, I forgot to water them! They will be dead by the time I get home again!” (note: in example 3, the infinitive is ‘to water’.)

4. Fortunately, I remembered to pack an umbrella because it is raining now. (note: in example 4, the infinitive is ‘to pack’.)

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In examples 1 – 4, the actions in yellow highlight happened first, and the actions in green highlight happened second. So the order is:

.….1…. ….2….

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So the action in the INFINITIVE happens AFTER the act of remembering or forgetting.

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Now let’s look at how to use the verbs followed by the GERUND:

The Key to A Good English Pronunciation

Word Stress and Sentence Stress

Normally when we say "I feel stressed" it means "I feel anxious". Stress is a kind of worried feeling about life or work. But there is another kind of stress that actually helps us understand. This other kind of stress is an accent that we make on certain syllables and words when speaking English.

In some languages, for example Japanese, people say each syllable with equal force. But in English, and some other languages, we put a big force (stress) on some syllables and no force on other syllables or words. This can make it difficult for speakers of other languages to understand English that is spoken quickly. Of course, for native speakers it is not difficult - in fact, stress actually helps native speakers understand each other. So it is very important.

We shall talk here about WORD STRESS (stress on a syllable inside a word) and SENTENCE STRESS (stress on words inside a sentence).

WORD STRESS

Word stress is like a golden key to speaking and understanding English.

If you do not already know about word stress, you can try to learn about it. This is one of the best ways for you to understand spoken English - especially English spoken fast.

What is word stress?

Take 3 words: photograph, photographer and photographic. Do they sound the same when spoken? No. Because ONE syllable in each word is STRESSED (stronger than the others).

• PHOtograph
• phoTOgrapher
• photoGRAPHic

This happens in ALL words with 2 or more syllables: TEACHer, JaPAN, CHINa, aBOVE, converSAtion, INteresting, imPORtant, deMAND, etCETera, etCETera, etCETera

The syllables that are not stressed are "weak" or "small" or "quiet". Native speakers of English listen for the STRESSED syllables, not the weak syllables. If you use word stress in your speech, you will instantly and automatically improve your pronunciation and your comprehension.

If you have an English teacher, you can ask her to help you understand word stress. Or you can try to hear the stress in individual words each time you listen to English - on the radio, or in films for example. Your first step is to HEAR and recognise it. After that, you can USE it.

Two important rules about word stress:

1. One word, one stress
2. The stress is always on a vowel

SENTENCE STRESS

Sentence stress is another golden key for speaking and understanding English. With sentence stress, some words in a sentence are STRESSED (loud) and other words are weak (quiet). Look at the following sentence:

We want to go.

Do we say every word with the same stress or force? No. We make the important words BIG and the unimportant words small. What are the important words in this sentence? Yes, that's right: WANT and GO.

• We WANT to GO.
• We WANT to GO to WORK.
• We DON'T WANT to GO to WORK.
• We DON'T WANT to GO to WORK at NIGHT.

Now that you know that word stress exists, you can try to learn more about it.

You should KNOW that SENtence and WORD STRESS are VERy imPORtant !!!

Source : englishclub

Teaching English Grammar Using English Songs

Src: Harmonimakna

If you work as a teacher and you need a new method to teach Tenses to your student, You can use a music to teach them. Here are the list of some songs that you will find it very useful resource. I got this from Songs For Teaching English Grammar on TEFLtunes


Songs for teaching present simple
Eric Clapton / Wonderful Tonight (lyrics)
The Beatles / She Loves You (lyrics)
Bette Middler / From A Distance (lyrics)


Songs for teaching present continuous
Fool's Garden / Lemon Tree (lyrics)
Rod Stewart / Sailing (lyrics)
Suzanne Vega / Tom's Diner (lyrics)


Songs for teaching past simple
The Beatles / Yellow Submarine (lyrics)
Gloria Gaynor / I Will Survive (lyrics)
Celine Dion / Because You Loved Me (lyrics)


Songs for teaching past continuous
John Lennon / Jealous Guy (lyrics)
Oasis / Champagne Supernova (lyrics)
Aerosmith / Cryin'

How to Achieve Your Goals for the New School Year

Every person wants to achieve the goals set at the beginning of a new school year. Yet, as time progresses it can be all too easy to fall back into bad or slack habits, such as procrastination, cramming and poor researching, sending the original goals to achieve well right out the window.
However, how would you do if you know which steps to take to achieve success in your school career? Amazingly most likely, because planning your goals and dedicating yourself to achieving them will bring about results that you truly want.

Steps

1. Choose specific, realistic goals or even one single but very important goal. When it comes to choosing your goal, ensure that it states precisely what it is that you want to achieve. Don't generalize and say something as broad as 'I want to do well in my exams.' Instead, hone it down. For example, try saying 'I want to study hard through taking notes every lesson and reading through them each night after classes, and doing this will result in me getting higher grades in my exams.' The exactitude of your goal involves both what you want to achieve and identifies the effort that you will put in to achieve it. Simply setting a goal without acknowledging the effort required won't be successful, whereas understanding what needs to be done to get to your goal will be.
2. Write down your goal. Having a hard copy of your goal makes it real. Once it becomes a physical entity and not just a thought going through your head, it has form, substance and reality for you. Ways to express your goal might be:
   
   • Write it in a journal you'll be keeping all year ahead.
     
   • Write it on a poster and stick this above your desk or somewhere else that you look at each day.
     
   • Or, you can say your goal out loud each morning to remind yourself of what you want and what you're working for. This can be helped by writing it on a sticky note and attaching it to a mirror or some other spot you look at daily. Every time you remind yourself of your goal, you're training your brain to accept the effort needed to make the goal happen.
3. Research the topic. The best approach when setting up a goal is to research the topic in which it is in

How To Teach Ordinal Numbers

What Students Need To Know About Ordinal Numbers

Obviously, the first things students need to know are the forms “first”, “second”, “third”, etc. In the rare cases when they already know some fractions, in can be useful to tell them that the ordinal numbers are almost the same (e.g. fifth/a fifth). They might also be aware of the use of ordinal numbers in dates without ever making the mental connection to other uses, or have seen the forms 1st, 2nd, etc without ever having thought about how to pronounce them.

Students who have no problem with “first” and “second” sometimes still say “twenty oneth” and “twenty twoth” for “twenty first” and “twenty second”, so it’s worth going up to at least 40th to show them the regular patterns and to cover everything they will need to understand dates. Other students might pronounce them correctly but try writing short forms like 31th and 42th.

When ordinal numbers are and aren’t used can be an issue, with the English use of ordinals in the names of kings and queens (e.g. Henry the Fifth) and dates not being true in many languages.

Ordinal numbers often take “the”. This ties in with the general meaning of “the”, as there is only one “the first person on Mars” and only one “the third time I went there”. “The” also helps distinguish the fraction “a fifth” from the position/date “the fifth”.

The most challenging thing about ordinal numbers is their pronunciation. Minimal pairs that could cause problems include:

Warning, Bahaya Bohong Putih pada Anak

Orangtua terkadang terpaksa berbohong dengan alasan demi kebaikan anak. Namun kebohongan putih ini hendaknya dihindari para orangtua karena bisa membuat anak jadi penakut.


Hal ini disampaikan Rusdiah Agustina, konsultan psikologi anak dan keluarga di Gorontalo, Senin (22/8).


Dia menjelaskan, yang disebut kebohongan putih adalah tindakan berbohong kecil-kecilan, yang terkadang terpaksa dilakukan orangtua pada situasi tertentu. "Misalnya, ketika anak tidak mau makan. Lalu orangtua menakuti-nakutinya dengan dokter atau polisi," ujarnya memberi contoh.


Kebohongan putih juga kerap terjadi, saat orangtua terpaksa mengajarkan anaknya berbohong, semisal meminta dia mengatakan tamu yang datang, bahwa ayah atau ibunya tidak ada di rumah.


Menurut perempuan yang kerap mengisi acara konsultasi psikologi di sejumlah stasiun radio lokal ini, kebohongan putih secara langsung mengajarkan anak untuk berbohong, penakut, dan menjadi tidak logis.


Jika dia terus menerus ditakuti sosok tertentu, seperti polisi dengan pistolnya, dokter dengan jarumnya, atau malah setan, si buah hati berpeluang tumbuh menjadi sosok yang penakut dan tidak percaya diri, ujarnya.


Terkait dengan hal itu, dia mengimbau orangtua untuk mengatakan alasan sebenarnya dengan bahasa sederhana, jika melarang atau meminta sesuatu kepada anak.


Jika meminta anak untuk berhenti bermain pada sore hari, kata dia, jelaskan padanya bahwa kini sudah saatnya istirahat dan membersihkan badan, agar tidur malamnya nyeyak serta terhindar dari penyakit.
Source : Liputan 6.com

How to Achieve Your Full Potential

Once you've developed your full potential, it's time to work continuously toward achieving it regularly. Sail your own ocean, and you never know what you might find.

 

1. 1
   
   Determine what your full potential is.
   Determine what your full potential is. At its heart, achieving your full potential is about being the best person that you can be and is about expressing yourself to the fullest. Since everyone is a different person, however, full potential is a relative term and you'll view the concept in a different way from your best friend, your mentor and from other people in your life. As you continue to discover your own potential, consider these questions:
   
   • Is there something I have ever wanted to do/achieve/accomplish, such as dancing,singing, writing, or playing a sport?
     
   • Have I been thinking I could improve in any way, such as being kinder, or politer,more assertive?
     
   • Are there any physical aspects of myself I could work on, such as losing weight,gaining weight, or building muscle?
2. 2
   
   Get going!
   Commit to achieve. Once you've confirmed that your goal is achievable and realistic, whether it be a set goal or a long-term thing, get to work. The most difficult part of beginning anything is, frankly, beginning. However, once you get past that first step, you'll be onto success!