Swimming Pools in San Diego

Summer is here and a student asked me about places to go swimming...  
Here's a list of public swimming pools in San Diego.  Find one that's close to you, and then click on the name of it to find the hours and other information.   Adults $4, Children/Seniors $2.

Summer 3 - The Power of the Mind

Summer Week 3 Vocabulary - practice matching the new words with their definitions here.

Spelling Practice - listen to and spell the new words here. There are lots of games to practice with.
 
Listening - Here's the website to listen to The Power of the Mind

Summer 2 - Sacajawea

Summer Week 2 Vocabulary - practice matching the new words with their definitions here.

Spelling Practice - listen to and spell the new words here.  There are lots of games to practice with.

Grammar - Phrasal Verbs - See if you can match these phrasal verbs with their definintions.  We haven't studied all of these yet, so there are some new words here.

Summer Week 1 - Miracle on the Hudson

Week 1 Vocabulary - practice matching the words and definitions.

Spelling practice - listen to the words and practice with some games.

Listening - Follow this link and then click PLAY to listen.  You may need to turn up the volume because the recording quality is low.

Grammar - Phrasal verbs - here's a great dictionary of many different phrasal verb expressions.  The first page has a good explanation of what phrasal verbs are and how to use them.

VIDEO:  Our classmate Haneen found this video of the plane crash.  She also told me that the plane is now in a museum in North Carolina.  You can read about that here.

Week 18 _George Dawson

Week 18 Vocabulary  - practice the new words and definitions.

Spelling practice with pronunciation of all the words.

You can read a little more about George Dawson here. 

Week 17 - Memorial Day

Week 17 vocabulary words and definitions - practice matching.

Listen and spell this week's words here.

Grammar practice:  Which is correct --- MAKE or DO?

Week 16 - Internet Matchmaking

This week's vocabulary is here - practice matching the word and the definition.

Listen to and spell this week's words.  There are lots of activities here.

Week 15 - Finding Old Friends

This week's vocabulary words - match the words and their meanings.

Listen to and spell the words, and try many games for practice.

Week 14 - Capital Punishment

Week 14 vocabulary practice.

Spelling - listen and spell the new words here.

Here's the death penalty fact sheet that we'll use in class.

More Modals!

If you need grammar practice, check out this page with MODALS.  It has lots of example sentences.  I recommend reading about each modal first, then trying the exercise to practice. 

Week 13 - Tenants' Rights

Week 13 Vocabulary: practice words and meanings.

Spelling: Listen, spell, and practice this week's words with games and dictation.

Grammar: Modals of ability - can, could, be able to, etc.

Week 12 - Apartment Lease

Week 12 Vocabulary - practice words and meanings.

Week 12 Spelling - Listen, spell, and practice this week's words with games and dictation.

Grammar - using Modals for necessity  (Must, Have to, Have got to)  Read the introduction and then try the exercises to see what you know.

Picnic - Tuesday, April 19th at 10 AM

View Playground & Basketball Court near Visitor Center in a larger map

Next week (April 18-24) is Spring Break, so there won't be any classes.
We made plans in class to meet at 10 AM next Tuesday, April 19th at Mission Bay Park, near the Visitors Center.

Bring your family, a friend, and some food to share with everyone. And if you have a basketball, a kite, a game, or a blanket to sit on, bring those too!
Here's a map that shows the best place to park. Take the 5 freeway to Clairemont Drive and go WEST. At the stop sign, turn right and park in the first parking lot. There's a small playground and a basketball court. We'll meet somewhere close to the basketball area.

Week 11 - Future

 
Future with BE going to... 

Future with time clauses (if, when, before, as soon as)  
Here's another one with time clauses.

Future with will (this is the same link as last week)   

Week 11 - What's Wrong with Water?

This week we'll be reading about bottled water.  Here's a video about it.

Click here for our vocabulary practice and spelling!

Here's the info about the EarthFair in Balboa Park next Sunday.

Week 10 - The Aging of America

Vocabulary:  Our new words are here.  You can see a list, and practice matching words and definitions in a game.

Spelling:  Listen to and practice our spelling words for this week.  Choose Week 10 and then click on Spelling Test, Teach, or Games.

Grammar: Even though and although  - check out the video and examples for how to use although and even though.

MORE GRAMMAR: Here's practice using WILL for future tense.

Week 9 - The Road With No End

Photo provided by www.DownTheRoad.org
 the Ongoing Global Bicycle Touring Adventure

VOCABULARY - Our new vocabulary for this week. Match the word to the definition.

SPELLING - Listen to the new words, practice spelling, and try the dictation sentences and other games.

BICYCLE ADVENTURE: Check out the webpage here to see photos, videos, stories and more about Tim & Cindie's adventure around the world on their bikes.  Have they visited YOUR home country yet?

Week 8 - Google

VOCABULARY - Our new vocabulary for this week.  Match the word to the definition.

SPELLING - Listen to the new words, practice spelling, and try the dictation sentences and other games.

GRAMMAR - Present Perfect - Both of these pages have an explanation and then some exercises to practice.  Here's what Present Perfect looks like...  And here are some of the ways we use it.

Calling for an Appointment

Listen to the conversation here  and then answer these questions.

1. What is the patient's last name? 
2. Why does she need to see the doctor?
3. What is the appointment time?

Community Event - Free CPR classes

The Red Cross is hosting a huge event downtown next Saturday to teach people about CPR (CardioPulmonary Resuscitation)   You can learn the basics of how to help someone if their heart stops!

CPR Saturday - March 19th

Week 7 - Medicine Labels

Practice this week's vocabulary with a matching game.

Listen to and spell our new words for the week.

Learn about prescription medicine labels and over-the-counter medicine labels.  Watch the slideshow and listen to the information.  After you finish, take the QUIZZES!!

Week 6 - Communicating with Health Professionals

Practice this week's vocabulary words with a matching game.

Click here to listen to and practice spelling our new words.

Week 5 - Unexpected Adventure

Practice matching the meanings to this week's new words.

Click here to listen to and practice the spelling for this week's words. 

Grammar - ADJECTIVES with -ed or -ing   Read the rules first....   then try this short quiz.    If you want more, there's More practice here. 

Week 4 - Obesity

Practice our week 4 vocabulary with a few games.

Listen to and spell this week's words. 

Noun? Verb? Adjective? Adverb?

Here's a good introduction to parts of speech in English.  Read the page and then click on Continue with first exercise to find a few short quizzes to test yourself.

Next, try this test about parts of speech.  You have to read sentences and decide if a word is a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb.

Week 3 - Navajo Code Talkers

Spelling: Follow the link to hear pronunciation and sample sentences for this week's spelling words.

Vocabulary:  You can practice the new words and meanings here.

Week 2 - Native American Lands

Indian Reservations in the USA

Spelling - Listen to and spell this week's words.

Vocabulary - See the full list of words and practice using games.

Listen & Read - There are hundreds of Native American reservations in the U.S.   Learn more about Native American history and how the reservations began.

Past Tense Questions

A short exercise with WAS/WERE/DID 

Here's a good page that explains the past negatives and questions.  After you read it, click on Continue with the exercises to test yourself. 

Martin Luther King Jr - listening

You can listen to this story about Martin Luther King, Jr. on VOA Special English.  You'll see and hear a lot of the words we studied this week.

Here's a similar story about Rosa Parks, whose actions started the bus boycotts in Montgomery.

To listen, look on the upper right side and click on LISTEN MP3.  It should start automatically.

Week 1 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Vocabulary practice - see a list of this week's words and practice with games.

Spelling - Listen and spell the words for this week.

Listen to Martin Luther King's most famous speech.  It's not easy to understand the vocabulary, but you can see what a powerful speaker he was.

Spring semester begins!

Hi everyone!
Welcome to Intermediate ESL.  I'm so glad you're here!

I want to let you know about two great websites for learning English.  I'll show them both in class today and you can also try them at home.

Listening:  Try http://www.esl-lab.com/  It has 3 levels of conversations in English.  Each conversation has comprehension questions and other practice exercises.  In addition, you can also read the text if you want.  Start with this one from the EASY level Family Activities .

Grammar Practice:  Try Study Zone  This site has grammar explanations and exercises from beginning level to advanced.  You'll probably find that the lower or upper intermediate (level 330 or 410) is good for you.  But if you want to start from the beginning, try level 200.  Each level has many different topics.  Not sure where to begin?  Try this one - Present or Present Continuous

Write a story about a picture...

Click on one of these photos to see what I wrote about them.  Then you can write your own.




TRY IT!
Click on an interesting picture.
Then choose "freestyle" under the photo.
Type a story...  a poem... a memory...  a few words.

If you register for the site, you can email it or save what you create.

Have fun!

Week 16 - Finding a Job

Spelling: You can practice listening and spelling our new words here.

Vocabulary: Here's this week's Vocabulary  list and matching activity.

Grammar: Here's a lesson about how to make and use gerunds correctly. 

This week's question:  Do you have a job right now?  If so, what is it?  What are your job responsibilities?  If you're not working right now, are you looking for a job?  Did you work in the past?  Write about a job you would like to have in the future or a job you had in the past.

HOW TO POST YOUR ANSWER:

Click on COMMENTS below.
Write your answer in the blank box.
Type your NAME after your comment (please, so I know who it’s from!)
Where it says “comment as … select profile”, click on the drop down menu and choose Anonymous.
Then click on Post Comment. The computer will send your comment to me, and I will post it as soon as I read it.
If you need help, let me know and I can show you step by step!

Week 15 - Writing a Resume

Vocabulary practice for week 15 is here.

Spelling - Listen and practice spelling our new words.