Hi everybody! I think 'the universal google search' tool perhaps can give us a lot of ideas about how to use the language, and more. I see it dates back to 2007, but Google has been working on it since then, and now it's news.
"Breakthrough or not, user or Google oriented, the fact is that this development is a breakthrough in search engine development." Here a short article about the news: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-unifies-search-engine/4926/ What impressed me most is 'the wonder wheel'. Here you can see and try by yourself: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=1&tbs=ww%3A1&q=english&btnG=Search&tbo=1&aq=f&oq=#q=learning+english&hl=en&tbs=ww:1&start=0&sa=N&tbo=1&fp=1 It seems there is no a home page for that tool yet. And here the official announcement: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/more-search-options-and-other-updates.html Thank you, Pablo On May 11, 9:58 pm, Pablo <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Pln and all, > > At this time of my day, I'm a bit tired, so, I'll post just short > sentences. > > > First of all,thank you for remembering to wish me "Happy Mother's > > Day!",Pablo! > > Guess what... I forgot my wife's happy birthday :( Well, that happens, > doesn't it? > > Well my doctor prescribed to me, some pills, vitamins and a cream (I > forgot to buy the cream!). And at the same time, I'm jogging again as > I told you. But, my right calf is hurting me... :( I guess I need > something more serious, like physiotherapy... > > > I had the same fear and concern when SARS struck Taiwan,too in 2003...: > > ( > > We had to go everywhere with masks and our elder child in the pram > > with a rain cover during hot summer days! > > > As long as you and your family,especially your daughter wear mask > > properly(and don't forget to change it when torn),and wash your hands > > as often as you can!(we used to use a lot of hand sanitizer(a tiny > > bottle of transparent liquid,quite handy when you can't wash hands > > with water right away)) > > Thank you very much for your advice. I'll read and get more info. > > > I will reply to Mr.D's and your reply to him regarding my kids' > > exposure to 3 languages hopefully tomorrow! > > I'm looking forward to listening to about your kids languages > experiences. > > About my daughter, as happens with kids, they learn in a 'natural way' > and I was careful about that. I mean, I never taught her grammar, > just talking and watching videos again and again. The last weekend I > was doing this activity with her: I have a nice illustrated > encyclopedia for teenagers, with lots of subjects of 1 or 2 pages of > length. I was reading to her in Spanish and she gave me the sentences > in English. I think inverse translation is stimulating and also useful > because you work around the output. For instance, in the "Animals > page", we found this phrases: "Female chickens are called hens". She > didn't know or had forgotten the word "Female". Another: "Hens lay > eggs". The eggs hatch. She didn't know the word "lay". What about > this one: "Farmers use machines to spread manure over plough > fields" (or something like that). (perhaps four unknown words for her, > and one or two for me). Fish breath with gills. (I didn't know that > word). Well, but mainly, easy phrases, to get a little of fluency. > > Well, a first conclusion is that I don't know a lot of words of a > reference easy book like the one mentioned above. I mean, we can use > such kind of texts to learn a lot of basic vocabulary. The second > conclusion, when you have someone who do some activity with, you can > reinforce, review and also learn a lot. > > And we watched a movie too, audio in Spanish, captions in English, > with songs in English :) Sometimes, we watch movies with audio in > English and captions in English or Spanish. > > Thank you, > > Pablo > > > Good day to us all! > > Pln > > > On May 10, 12:41 am, Pablo <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Hi Mr. D. > > > > I think it's important to comment to all of you about my experience > > > with my daughter. > > > > When she was 4 or so, I decided it was about time she learned > > > English. Perhaps it had better been before but it couldn't be like > > > that. Well, I started to teach her the alphabet and her first words. > > > And I used to talk to her in English, e.g. "please, pass me my shoes", > > > "go to bed", "are you ready?" (for school), "hurry up!", etc. I had > > > to learn new words or expressions and I was practicing at the same > > > time. Now she is 12 and I consider she can hold a conversation. I > > > think she is high beginner and I keep talking to her or practicing > > > with her. > > > > I mean, it's really valuable if you have somebody who you can practice/ > > > talk to. I keep trying to get new partners, be native, or EFL learners > > > like me. I also have tried to have an English club at home, no luck > > > so far. > > > > About your suggestion, to tell the truth, I think it can turn out > > > difficult or not so pleasant if words don't come up, I think it's > > > easier to follow a text or dialog. From now on I'll try to focus > > > myself on using the words and the language. Here some ideas: > > > > - Read aloud a book/text/paragraph, repeat 'interesting' phrases > > > - Get texts oriented to fluency, and read them aloud > > > - Repeat phrases while listening to your mp3 player/tv news, etc, no > > > pauses, you just repeat what you are able to hear > > > > By the way, my mp3 player has a function to repeat 2 or more times, a > > > segment A-B. You press twice to decide the segment duration. My mp3 > > > player is cheap but has a smart function and can break sentences > > > relatively well. It's more useful when the audio is not so > > > understandable. > > > > Or simply, read any book or whatever you like, aloud. I think most of > > > us (EFL learners) keep listening to or have listened to a lot of audio > > > input, but the output has been very limited, perhaps in a proportion 9 > > > to 1 if not more? The same about writing, I think we read/write in a > > > proportion 9-1 if not more? > > > > Evereybody, ;) looking forward to knowing about your experiences, > > > opinions, ideas. And a happy mother's day! Especially to Pln, who > > > else? ;) > > > > Thank you, > > > > Pablo > > > > On 9 mayo, 09:02, "Mr. D" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Hey Pablo, > > > > > Absolutely, the first thing I ask a student is "Do you want to speak > > > > English?" > > > > > They always answer yes. Then I say...speak English with an over the > > > > top > > > > enthusiasm to try and illicit a response and to break the ice a bit. > > > > > Here's a method I tell students to use, perhaps you guys can try it > > > > with > > > > yours. I ask them to try to these "simple" but not necessarily "easy" > > > > tasks. > > > > > 1. When they get up in the morning they should go to the mirror to > > > > brush > > > > their teeth and look at themselves and say OUT LOUD! " Today, I will > > > > speak English, maybe tomorrow I'll speak (native language) but for > > > > today > > > > I will speak English. > > > > > 2. I encourage them to say everything OUT LOUD that they are thinking > > > > as they prepare to > > > > go to school or work. No matter how simple or odd it may seem. Like, > > > > hmm... > > > > I think I will wear my blue shirt or brown shoes. Oh, it's almost > > > > 7:30am I > > > > better go have a shower, or where is my purse or notebook whatever. > > > > > 3. Next, when they are commuting or waiting somewhere in public they > > > > can use > > > > their cell phone to call imaginary people and have pseudo > > > > conversations. If they're > > > > not sure what to say, I encourage them to read from the newspaper into > > > > their phone > > > > or better yet their textbook. > > > > > Anyway, I'm a firm believer in speaking to learn to speak and I hope > > > > this helps > > > > somebody out. > > > > > ~Mr. D > > > > > On May 6, 7:13 pm, Pablo <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Hi friends, > > > > > > This interesting article: > > > > > >http://www.helping-you-learn-english.com/how_to_learn_english.html > > > > > > Do you agree? > > > > > > Pablo- Hide quoted text - > > > > - Show quoted text - > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ESL Podcast". 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