EIKEN P-1 Vocabulary crossword

This is first of the series. More to come...if I don't feel lazy or something.^.^

-copyright to the owner of the Ghibli image from "Howl's Moving Castle"

ARTICLES: a/an, the, no or zero article

A lot of English language learners are confused in using the articles. Here are some few things to remember:

a/an

We use a/an with singular countable nouns:

1 the first time you mention a thing / person.
- I saw an old man with a dog.

2 when you say what something is or what somebody does.
- It's a nice house.
- He is a teacher.

3 in exclamation with What...!
- What an awful day!

4 in expressions of frequency
- I have classes three times a week.


the

We use the:

1 when we talk about something we've already mentioned.
- I saw an old man and a dog.
The dog was barking.

2 when it's clear what you're referring to.
- My classmate opened the door.
- The children are at school.

3 when there's only one of something.
- The moon goes around the Earth.

4 with places in a town, (for example: movies and theater.)
- I'm going to the movies tonight.

5 with superlatives.
- It's the best restaurant in town.


no or zero article

We don't use an article:
1 when we are speaking in general (with plural and uncountable nouns).
     Compare:
     I love flowers. (= flowers in general)
     I love the flowers in my garden. ( = the specific flowers in my garden)
- Women usually talk more than men.
- Love is more important than money.

2 with some nouns, (for example: home, work, school) after at / to / from.
- She's not at home today.
- I get back from work at 5:30.

3 before meals, days, and months.
- I never have breakfast.

4 before next / last + day, week, etc.
- See you next Friday.


😎

adapted from GRAMMAR BANK p.137 English File (Intermediate) LATHAM-KOENIG, OXENDEN 
Oxford University Press

Answers to the passage "SHARK ATTACK"

41. 3 there have been two serious shark attacks on people off Maui.

42. 2 Because the sea conditions were very dangerous.

43. 4 because she bled a lot and couldn't get first-aid treatment.

44. 3 Sharks attracted by the births like to eat baby whales.

45. 3 because sharks have weak eyesight and low intelligence.

Vocabularies:

- Maui ( (/ˈmaʊ.i/; Hawaiian: [ˈmɐwwi]) - the second largest island of the Hawaiian islands.

- whether or not - used when someone does not know which of two possibilities is true.

Example: I still don't know whether or not I'm going back to school. I want more holidays.

- unavoidable (adj.) - impossible to stop from happening; something you can't avoid.

- yard (noun) - a unit of measurement. There are 3 feet in a yard. One yard is equal to 0.91 metres.

Learning English

I will be updating my blog in a couple of days. I am going to redesign it for students who are learning English, especially to my students in Seirinkan HS. Have fun reading!

a couple of days - "a couple" literally means TWO, but when used as a context, like in this sentence, it could mean a period of 2 days to 5 days. (It really depends if I am lazy or not.^.^)

Absent!

Wow! My writing skills have gone down! Almost a year without writing anything. No excuse about it.I just became lazy.Now, i have to shake the dust, get rid the rust in my brain and go back into writing again. It's therapy after all.hehehe! ^.^
For those who bothered to read this, aside from meself, I'm going to have a guest writer soon. Do wait for it.

Of memories and falling in love...^.^

Falling in love improves your memory, restores the nervous system & relieves stress.
— iTweetFacts™ (@iTweetFacts) December 3, 2013

My memory could be really good now because I fall in love with my Satomi-langga everyday.^.^

"Love said, 'Lie still and think of me'. Sleep said, 'Close your eyes till break of day'. But Dreams came by, and smilingly gave both to Love and Sleep their way." Sara Teasdale

“I believe a soulmate is someone with whom you share a deep and profound connection and feel that you can completely be yourself. Someone you love unconditionally, and who loves you unconditionally, and when you look into their eyes you have the experience of being at “home.” ” ~Arielle Ford

Have I found my soulmate? I believe I have! She lives across the Pacific,far from me but I felt the connection with her. Receiving her hug really felt that I am "home." She is my home and I will go home to her.
Will we grow old together? I would like to see that. I will leave everything to her. In my part, I am very sure already that she's the one for me.

Seeing about a girl.

• I had to see about a girl.

  I will cross the miles in order to be with her. 

  I guess every man on this Earth will do the same thing that I have done when they meet their special someone. Anything and everything can be done so you can be with your girl.
  My story with this girl is a fairy tale in its own way. There may not faeries involved, but the girl I have is a princess! So,when she asked me to be with her somewhere far from where I am,if there was a flying carpet or the dragonballs cloud, I flew to her right away. People asked me why I'm doing this...it is because I love her!^.^
  This special girl for me is my match in every way. I guess even better. I'm sure her sense of humour and patience is way much better than mine. I want to be with her all the time.
  I went to see about this girl not knowing the future would be, but then I asked her to marry me! A very exciting future it is going to be.^.^

On Missing

miss - v.tr. - To feel the lack or loss of... ex. Do you miss your family?

I have never missed someone so much in my life...alive,that is. I missed my grandparents so much. They went to some place that I can't follow. Well,at least not yet. Maybe I was really designed differently. I lack the real emotions that the regular humans would feel. I think differently. I wonder who taught me that.

And now,here comes this girl. I even barely know her, but I am head over heels on her. Let's get this straight, I am in love with her. There's no "why's", "how's", I just know and I just feel it...and I miss her.

Let me try to explain the feeling...it felt that if I can't see or hold her,I feel empty. I felt that for the first time when I didn't see her...it was a weekend,she didn't go to school. I felt empty yet something inside me felt like it is being squeezed...hard! If I don't see her,I always look forward for the next day because I will have that chance to be with her. I will say this again and again...she completes me.

I don't usually show my feelings but I want it to me known that I miss her...I miss my CAT. If anyone who has the chance to read this and knows my CAT,please tell her that I miss hear and I only miss her when I breathe and that my love for her is true and so shall I remain with my CAT.

Do I feel that I miss someone? Yes! I feel the lack of something or someone important and so dear to me. So let it be known that I do feel missing someone...missing my CAT.^.^