17 September 2008

Past Tense Simple or Past Tense Progressive


1 As he .................................. (cross) the street, he was run over by a car.
2 (you, play) ........................................ football as a boy?
3 My tooth ............................................ (break) when I ........................ (eat) walnuts.
4 While I ..................................... (read) dad .......................... (mow) the lawn.
5 What .............................................. (you, do) yesterday around ten?
6 She ..................................... (study) all afternoon.
7 (you, work) ...................................... when the storm began?
8 Christopher Columbus ..................................... (discover) America in 1492.
9 When I ................................. (leave) school, the sun ........................................ (shine).
10 Who (you, talk) ...................................................... to when I ......................... (come) in?
11 He .................................. (visit) me whenever he ................................. (need) money.
12 I ........................................... (have) dinner when the phone .............................. (ring).
13 While she ..................................... (cook) dinner, he ......................... (write) a letter.
14 My grandmother .................................... (play) tennis until she was sixty-nine.
15 She .................................. (wear) a dark coat when she entered.
16 How often ..................................... (you, go) skiing when you were on holidays in Flachau?
17 What .......................................... (you, do) in the garage last night?, the inspector asked.
18 I ................................... (clean) my car.
19 When I .................................... (arrive), my parents .......................... (sit) in the garden.
20 He .................................... (drive) along the road when the accident ............................ (happen).


For the answers click here

15 September 2008

Past Tense Simple or Past Tense Progressive


Exercise 1:
Fill in the correct form.
Exercise 2
Put the sentence in the correct order by clicking on the words one by one.
Exercise 3
Complete the sentences by filling in the blanks.
Exercise 4
Fill in the correct form.
Exercise 5:
Match the two halves of the sentences by typing the letter in the box.
Exercise 6
Decide whether the past simple or past progressive should be used in each gap.







Source:
englishtenseswithcartoons
oup.com
esltower
ro.zrsss
ego4u
Karin's ESL PartyLand 6

13 September 2008

SMS - English


When a 13-year-old Scottish girl handed in a text written in text message shorthand, she explained to her flabbergasted teacher that it was easier than standard English.

She wrote:
"My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :- kids FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc."

In translation:
"My summer holidays were a complete
waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York. It's a great place.")

The girl's teacher was not impressed and said: "I could not believe what I was seeing. The page was riddled with hieroglyphics, many of which I simply could not translate."


Would you like to send English text messages?
Try it out! But do not use them at school.

  • & - and
  • 0 - nothing
  • 2 - two, to, too
  • 2DAY - today
  • A - a / an
  • B - be
  • B4 - before
  • BC - because
  • BF - boyfriend
  • BK - back
  • BRO - brother
  • BT - but
  • C - see
  • D8 - date
  • DNR - dinner
  • EZ - easy
  • F8 - fate
  • GF - girlfriend
  • GR8 - great
  • HOLS - holidays
  • HV - have
  • I - I, it
  • Its - it is
  • KDS - kids
  • L8 - late
  • L8R - later
  • M8 - mate
  • NE1 - anyone
  • PLS - please
  • PS - parents
  • R - are
  • SIS - sister
  • SKOOL - school
  • SMMR - summer
  • U - you
  • WR - were
  • A3 - anyplace, anytime, anywhere
  • ASAP - as soon as possible
  • B4N - bye for now
  • BAU - business as usual
  • BRB - I'll be right back.
  • BTW - by the way
  • CUL - see you later
  • CWOT - complete waste of time
  • FTF - face to face
  • FYI - for your information
  • GMTA - great minds think alike
  • HAND - have a nice day
  • HRU - how are you
  • ICBW - it could be worse
  • IDTS - I don't think so
  • IYKWIM - if you know what I mean
  • JK - just kidding
  • KOTC - kiss on the cheek
  • LOL - laughing out loud
  • LSKOL - long slow kiss on the lips
  • LTNS - long time no see
  • Luv U - I love you.
  • Luv U2 - I love you too.
  • MON - the middle of nowhere
  • MTE - my thoughts exactly
  • MU - I miss you.
  • MUSM - I miss you so much.
  • NP - no problem
  • OIC - oh, I see
  • PC&QT - peace and quiet
  • PCM - please call me
  • ROTFL - rolling on the floor laughing
  • RUOK - are you ok?
  • THNQ - thank you
  • U4E - you forever
  • UROK - you are okay
  • WUCIWUG - what you see is what you get
  • WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get
  • XLNT - excellent
  • :-) smiling
  • :-* kiss
  • :-)) very happy
  • :-0 shocked
  • :") blushing
  • <:3 )~ mouse
  • :@) pig
  • :’-) tears of laughter
  • :-P stick tongue out
  • :-(*) you make me sick
  • x-( you are mad
  • :-" whistling
  • ;-) wink
  • :-@ screaming


Source: British Council
Source:
BBC

12 September 2008

Exercises: Past Progressive/Continuous


Exercise 1:
Write sentences about the pictures. Use the Past Progressive
Exercise 2
Write negative sentences in the Past Progressive. Then press 'Check'.
Exercise 3
Match the phrases to complete the sentences.
Exercise 4
Choose the past progressive to complete the story.
Exercise 5:
Put the words in order to make sentences or questions.
Exercise 6
Finish the sentence with the most appropriate (passend) ending.







Source:
agendaweb
english-grammar-lessons

9 September 2008

Tenses


Not sure? Start here:
'Getting the right tense' quiz Level A



Feeling confident? Try this:
'Getting the right tense' quiz Level B



Superstar material? Try this:
'Getting the right tense' Level C

Tenses 'Treasure hunt!'
If you can get the right tense in the right place, you'll get rich uncovering treasure.

You need audioThis game has sound. Turn on your speakers, or put your headphones on.

'Getting the right tense' treasure hunt





Source:
BBC







Summer Hit 2008 - Kid Rock: All summer long






It was 1989, my thoughts were short my hair was long
Caught somewhere between a boy and man
She was seventeen and she was far from in-between
It was summertime in Northern Michigan
Ahh Ahh Ahh
Ahh Ahh Ahh

Splashing through the sand bar
Talking by the campfire
It's the simple things in life, like when and where
We didn't have no internet
But man I never will forget
The way the moonlight shined upon her hair

[Chorus:]
And we were trying different things
We were smoking funny things
Making love out by the lake to our favorite song
Sipping whiskey out the bottle, not thinking 'bout tomorrow
Singing Sweet home Alabama all summer long
Singing Sweet home Alabama all summer long

Catching Walleye from the dock
Watching the waves roll off the rocks
She'll forever hold a spot inside my soul
We'd blister in the sun
We couldn't wait for night to come
To hit that sand and play some rock and roll

While we were trying different things
And we were smoking funny things
Making love out by the lake to our favorite song
Sipping whiskey out the bottle, not thinking 'bout tomorrow
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long

Now nothing seems as strange as when the leaves began to change
Or how we thought those days would never end
Sometimes I'll hear that song and I'll start to sing along
And think man I'd love to see that girl again

[Repeat Chorus x2]
And we were trying different things
We were smoking funny things
Making love out by the lake to our favorite song
Sipping whiskey out the bottle, not thinking 'bout tomorrow
Singing Sweet home Alabama all summer long
Singing Sweet home Alabama all summer long


Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long

7 September 2008

School Things



Have you got your pens and pencils and other stuff that you need for the new school year? I'm sure you have.
Here are some vocabulary exercises to check if you still remember the words:

Matching exercise
Fill in the words
Scrambled words





Source:

o-novavas
raud.dugal

6 September 2008

The Olympic Games


Were you enjoying the Olympic games on television?
The first Olympic Games were held more than 2,700 years ago in Olympia in Greece. The first modern Olympic Games were held in 1894 in Athens, in Greece.
They happen every four years in different countries.
This year the Olympic Games were in Beijing in China, and they began on August 8th and ended on August 24th.
The Paralympics will take place from September 6th to September 17th.



Song - I CAN RUN

What can Panda do? What can you do? Listen to a song about running, jumping and swimming.

Story - THE FIRST MARATHON

This race was first run nearly 2,500 years ago!
Read and listen to the exciting story of the first marathon.



Text and Vocabulary:

In 490 B.C., there was a big war between the Persians and the Greeks.
Persia was a huge empire (riesiges Reich), much bigger than Greece. It wanted to capture (einnehmen, erobern) Athens.
The Greek soldiers waited on the Plain of Marathon (Ebene von Marathon) below (unten). There were 48,000 Persian soldiers and only 10,000 Greek soldiers.
The Greek sent a messenger (Kurier, Läufer), Pheidipides, to Sparta, to get help. He ran for two days over the mountains to ask the Spartans.
But the Spartans would not fight before there was a full moon. Pheidipides returned to the Marathon alone.
The Greeks could not wait and attacked the Persian army. The Greeks ran towards (gegen, in Richtung) the enemy (Feind). Persian arrows (Pfeile) flew through the air.
The Greeks won. 6400 Persians were killed but only 192 Greeks died.
The Persians ran to their ships and tried to escape (fliehen). They tried to go to Athens to capture the Greek women, children and old people waiting there.
Pheidipides now had another job. He ran 40 kilometres to tell the Greeks that they had won, and to tell them that the Persians were coming.
He arrived at the city gates very tired. "Rejoice (frohlocken), we conquer (besiegen, erobern)!" he shouted. Then he died.
From this great event the first marathon race of the modern Olympic Games was run in 1899. It was won by a Greek runner, Spiridon Louis.
And, like Pheidipides, a long time before, he also carried messages. He was a postman.




The Marathon is traditionally the last event of the Olympic Games.
Here are some activities that you can do about the Olympics.

Write a list of all the sports that you can think of that are in the Olympics. You could do this with your brother or sister, or with a friend. Write the list in English if you can - you can use a dictionary if you don't know the words.

The Ancient Olympics

The first Olympics were held over 2,700 years ago. Can you answer these questions about the Ancient Olympics? Use this site from BBC Schools to help you:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ancientgreece/olympia/index.shtml


* Where did the Ancient Olympics take place?

* Why did they happen?

* How often did they take place and how long did they last?

* How many events were there in the first Olympic Games?

* Who could perform in the early Games?

* What could women do?



Source:
British Council

5 September 2008

Back again!


Hi folks,

The holidays are almost over and so is summer!
So let's enjoy the last warm and sunny holiday - weekend at the water or in the mountains.

Here is a Summer Word Search for you.
Great to see you all again next week!


Instruction:

Each word on the list is hidden in the pool of letters. To circle a discovered word, mouse-click on one end of the word and mouse-drag to the other end of the word. Words may be hidden horizontally, vertically, diagonally, forward, or backward.
Note:
Java games require more memory and a newer browser. If game does not load, try updating your browser to the latest version. This game takes a few seconds to load.

PS: Look here what popsicle is in German. Vacation = holidays (AE = American English)