English beginner

Music
In North America, education is publicly funded. Often, when the economy is bad, the funding is cut. The first place where funding is cut is in the arts. There are fewer music classes. Now, scientists are finding many connections between music and other abilities. How will these studies affect funding?
publicly funded paid for with taxes
funding is cut money is reduced
arts music, art, dance
WRITING TASK
Why do you think funding for arts is cut first? How important is music in education?
Write your opinion in the Advanced Forum!
Question of the Week: How important is music in your life? Come and share your opinions with us at the Advanced Voice and Text Chats!
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Travel
In Canada, we have a lot of tourists. In the summer, they like to see the mountains, the lakes, and wild animals. They like to hike and they like to camp. In the winter, tourists like to ski. Canadians are from many different countries and they speak many different languages. Is a person a tourist or a Canadian? Sometimes, it is difficult to know, but many tourists like to carry cameras and they like to travel in groups.

GRAMMAR LESSON
We use "like" and the infinitive of the main verb (to ____) to say we enjoy something. For example, I like to eat chocolate. You like to swim. She likes to walk. We like to run. They like to work.
Find the examples of "like to ____" in the reading.
ANSWERS
1. They like to see.
2. They like to hike.
3. They like to camp.
4. Tourists like to ski.
5. Tourists like to carry cameras.
6. They like to travel in groups.
Question for the week: Do you have a lot of tourists in your country? What do they like to do? What places should a tourist visit in your country? Why? Come up with answers for yourself.
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Praise
MARVELOUS, WONDERFUL, AWESOME
Look at the prepositions for the expressions below and remember them.
People can be....
marvelous - I marvel at your good qualities.
wonderful - I am in wonder of your good qualities.
awesome - I am in awe of your qualities.
Things can be....
marvelous - This meal is marvelous!
wonderful - Your painting is wonderful!
awesome - That concert was awesome! The view from here is awesome.
Many of the adjectives of praise are connected to being impressed, marvelling at or being in awe of a person or an object. Marvelous and wonderful are adjectives that have been used for people for a long time. However, awesome is a more informal usage that has been popular with young people in the U.S.A. since the 1970''s.
"That dress is totally awesome!" (I really like your dress)
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Colors
Do you have a memory game to help you remember important things? For example, places, dates, or people''s names? I have trouble remembering the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. I use a memory game to help me remember: Run over yonder. Get blue violets.
Each word starts with a letter of the color. "Run" is red, "over" is orange, "yonder" is yellow, "get" is green, "blue" is blue, and "violet" is violet! This little game helps me remember the colors of the rainbo

VOCABULARY
rainbow Sun shines through rain and makes different
colors of light in the sky.
yonder an old word for "over there"
violet a blue-purple color
Question for the Week: What is your favorite color and what does it mean to you? Come up with answers for yourself.
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Phrasal verbs
Which one of the three sentences below uses the present perfect tense?
1. They are leaving for school.
2. They have left for school.
3. They leave for school at 8:30 a.m.
2) is the correct answer. Why? It describes an event that happened in the past and has a result now, i.e. they left in the past and they are not here now. The present perfect tense connects the past event with the present result. Sentence a) uses the present continuous tense and sentence c) uses the present simple tense.
To form the present perfect tense, you need:
1.the verb ''has'' or ''have''
2. and the past participle of a verb e.g. left, gotten, been, found, reached, helped...
In voice chat, tell us about some things that you have already done or achieved in your life. For example: I have already graduated from school, I have already gotten married, I have already bought a home...
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Colors
Jason: I want to write a poem for my wife. It''s her birthday. Do you have any ideas?
Jennifer: Try using this poem
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet,
And so are you!
Jason: I like it, but it''s such an old poem. I want something new!
Jennifer: Well, you could change the words.

WRITING TIPS
Can you help Jason write his new poem? Try to keep the same number of words and make some of the words rhyme. Here''s another example,
Clouds are white
Water is blue
I like rain
But I love you!
Bring your poem ideas to Tuesday''s or Thursday''s Hosted Voice Chat or to the Language Forum!
Question for the Week: What is your favorite color and what does it mean to you? Come up with answers for yourself.
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Giving advice
When I left for university, my father gave me some advice. He said, "There are three parts to a person. There is the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. People often take care of their physical and mental selves, but forget the spiritual self. Be sure to take good care of all three." I have never forgotten his words. Sometimes, when I am unhappy, I look at my life and find that I have neglected one of "my three selves."

VOCABULARY EXERCISE
Use words from the passage to complete the sentences:
1. My plants are dead. I should not have _______ them.
2. I like to swim every day. It is very good ______ exercise.
3. I studied many subjects to improve my _______ abilities.
4. The ______ is the inner being of a person.
5. Your ______ beliefs are very personal.
ANSWERS: 1. neglected 2. physical 3. mental 4. self 5. spiritual
Has anyone ever given you advice you will never forget? What was it?
Question for the week: What is the best advice you ever received? Come up with answers for yourself.
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Colors
Here''s a popular English saying: "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." Read this dialogue. Can you guess what this saying means?
Sue: Hi Joe! Where''s Sam?
Joe: Sam moved back to New York!
Sue: What? He hated New York! It is crowded and dirty! He moved to our town to be away from the big city.
Joe: I know, but he moved back. Our town is too small. He was bored.
Sue: The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence!

IDIOM LESSON
"The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" means:
1. My neighbor takes care of his grass.
2. My grass is very dry.
3. There is always something better.
4. I don''t like my side of the fence.
The answer is 3) There is always something better. The grass is green on both sides of the fence, but often you will see cows eating the grass on the other side. They think the grass tastes better. Sam thinks a small town is better than a big city, so he moves to a small town. Then, Sam thinks a big city is better than a small town! He is like a cow eating over the fence!
Question for the Week: What is your favorite color and what does it mean to you? Come up with answers for yourself.
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Giving advice
Anne: Can you give me some advice?
Shirley: I can try. What''s the problem?
Anne: I have a dinner party tonight. Should I serve the peaches or pears?
Shirley: The poached pears?
Anne: Yes. The poached pears with chocolate-dipped pastry.
Shirley: That doesn''t sound like a problem. That sounds delicious!

PRONUNCIATION EXERCISE
Underline all the words with the /p/ sound in the dialogue. A /p/ sound at the beginning of a word or syllable is much stronger than a /p/ sound at the end of a word or a /p/ with another consonant. Say these words out loud:
Strong /p/: party, peaches, pears, poached, pastry, puff, pot, pour
Soft /p/: problem, dipped, slip, sip, spring
Question for the week: What is the best advice you ever received? Come up with answers for yourself.
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Colors
Colors mean different things to different people. Here are some meanings for colors in North America. Sometimes, they mean more than one thing. Can you match the meanings to the color?
1. White
2. Red
3. Black
4. Yellow
5. Green
a. angry, strong love
b. afraid
c. natural, growing, jealous
d. clean, (used for weddings)
e. death, sadness
ANSWERS: 1.d 2.a 3.e 4.b 5.c
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