Commonly used sentence structures in English

Trong bài viết, nếu bạn viết câu theo nhiều dạng khác nhau với các cấu trúc ngữ pháp khác nhau, chắc chắn bạn sẽ ăn điểm. Đây cũng sẽ là vũ khí giúp các bạn linh hoạt hơn trong việc sử dụng cấu trúc câu khi nói và viết đó.

would like/want/wish + to do sth: thích làm cái gì
have + (sth) to do: có cái gì đó để làm
It + be + sth/sb + that/who: chính... mà...
had better + V-inf: nên làm gì
hate/like/dislike/enjoy/avoid/finish/mind/postpone/practise/consider/delay/postpone/deny/suggest/recommend/risk/keep/start/imagine/fancy + V-ing
want/plan/agree/wish/attempt/decide/demand/expect/mean/offer/prepare/happen/hesitate/hope/afford/intend/manage/try/learn/pretend/promise/seem/refuse + TO + V-inf.
It's + adj + to + V-inf: quá... để làm gì
take place = happen = occur: xảy ra
to be excited about: thích thú
to be bored with/fed up with: chán cái gì/chán làm cái gì
there is/there are: có...
feel like + V-ing: cảm thấy thích làm gì
expect sb to do sth: mong đợi ai làm gì
advise sb to do sth: khuyên ai làm gì
go -V-ing: chỉ hành động liên quan đến động từ sau go
By + V-ing: bằng cách làm...
for a long time = for years = for ages: đã nhiều năm rồi (luôn dùng hiện tại hoàn thành)
When + S1 + V-ed, S2 + was/were + V-ing
When + S1 + V-ed, S2 + had + V-pp3
Before + S1 + V-ed, S2 + had + V-pp3
After S1 + had + V-pp3, S2 + V-ed
to be crowded with: rất đông cái gì
to be full of: đầy cái gì đó
To be/seem/look/sound/become/feel/appear/go/turn/grow + adj

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How to spelling support reading & writing 1

 

In this part, you will find out more about letters and sounds. You will also find some rules to help you spell words correctly.

Vowels and consonants
The letter a e i o u are called Vowel letters.
These vowels can make a short sound or a long sound.
All the other letters in the alphabet are called consonant letters.
Basic: If you forget which letters are vowels, think of:
an angry elephant in orange underpants.
(xem chi tiết phần phonics #1, #2, #3)
How to spell the short vowels sounds
The short vowel sounds are spelt with just one letter.
The sound /a/ as in ant is spelt with a.
The sound /e/ as in hen is spelt with e.
The sound /i/ as in insect is spelt with i.
The sound /o/ as in orange is spelt with o.
The sound /u/ as in umbrella is spelt with u.
How to spell the short consonant sounds
(xem chi tiết phần phonics #1)
Most consonant sounds are spelt with one consonant letter, but some are spelt with two.

Sound	Letter(s)	as in...
/b/	b	bat
/c/	c, k	cake
/ch/	ch	chips
/d/	d	dig
/f/	f	fish
/g/	g	gorilla
/h/	h	hat
/j/	j	jelly
/l/	l	leg
/m/	m	mice
/n/	n	net
/ng/	ng	king
/p/	p	pin
/qu/	qu	queen
/r/	r	rat
/s/	s	sun
/t/	t	tent
/th/	th	thin
/v/	v	vet
/w/	w	win
/x/	x	exit
/y/	y	yell
/z/	z	zip

Xem tiếp nội dung trang 1, 2, 3, 4

Quay về trang Phonics

Quay về trang English For Kids

A strong relationship between Spelling and Reading, Writing

Khi các trẻ đã thạo phần phonic, có thể reading sẽ rất ok như chẳng hạn nhận dạng ra các sound, letter...nhưng khi đặt bút thực hành thử viết một từ hay một câu đơn giản nào đó thì việc không phải là chuyện dễ. Vấn đề nằm ở chỗ trong English có rất nhiều sound phát âm rất giống nhau nhưng là từ khác, hoàn toàn không giống tiếng việt, nhiều khi giáo viên không phải là bản xứ hoặc giáo viên hoặc cha mẹ phát âm không chuẩn sẽ dẫn đến tình trạng trẻ sẽ không dễ dàng nhận dạng ra sound cần phát hiện trong từ đó để viết, hoặc có thể viết ra một âm khác, điều đó sẽ dẫn đến sai nghĩa của từ hoặc ra một từ khác. Cái này gọi chung là "sai chính tả", nhưng trong English, vấn đề "sai chính tả" này thì khá nguy hiểm.

Điều này sẽ thường xảy ra khi các trẻ lớp 1 khi bắt đầu học luyện kỹ năng writing từ những từ, câu đơn giản nhất. Đây chính là lúc phát hiện "sai chính tả" của các anh chị yêu dấu.

Làm thế nào để trẻ giảm bớt phần nhầm lẫn giữa các sound. Phần này sẽ giúp các trẻ làm điều đó.
A strong relationship between Spelling and Reading, Writing:

Spelling can be tricky! To spell well, you need to think about how each words sounds and what letter can make those sounds. Do you want to improve your spelling and pronunciation in English? This section is based on the UK literacy programme, Letters and Sounds.

Spelling is the writing of a word or words with the necessary letters and diacritics present in a comprehensibleorder, usually with some degree of standardization; it is "the conventions which determine how the graphemes of a writing system are used to write a language". Spelling is one of the elements of orthography, and highly standardized spelling is a prescriptive element.

Misspelling:

While some words admit multiple spellings, some spellings are not considered standard, and thus labeled as misspellings. A misspelled word can be a series of letters that represents no correctly spelled word of the same language at all (such as "leik" for "like") or a correct spelling of another word (such as writing "here" when one means "hear", or "no" when one means "know"). Misspellings of the latter type can easily make their way into printed material because they are not caught by simple computerized spell checkers.

Misspellings may be due to either typing errors (e.g. the transposition error teh for the), or lack of knowledge of the correct spelling. Whether or not a word is misspelled may depend on context, as is the case with American / British English distinctions. Misspelling can also be a matter of opinion when variant spellings are accepted by some and not by others. For example, "miniscule" (for "minuscule") is a misspelling to many, and yet it is listed as an acceptable variant in some dictionaries.

A well-known Internet scam involves the registration of domain names that are deliberate misspellings of well-known corporate names in order to mislead or defraud. The practice is commonly known as "typosquatting".

Research also bears out a strong relationship between spelling and writing: Writers who must think too hard about how to spell use up valuable cognitive resources needed for higher level aspects of composition. Even more than reading, writing is a mental juggling act that depends on automatic deployment of basic skills such as handwriting, spelling, grammar, and punctuation so that the writer can keep track of such concerns as topic, organization, word choice, and audience needs. Poor spellers may restrict what they write to words they can spell, with inevitable loss of verbal power, or they may lose track of their thoughts when they get stuck trying to spell a word. 
Clearly, the research base for claiming that spelling is important for young children is solid: Learning to spell enhances children’s reading and writing. But what about middle-school students? Does continued spelling instruction offer any added benefits? Here the research is sparse indeed. Yet, the nature of the English language’s spelling/writing system provides reason to believe that there would be significant benefits to older students from allocating a small amount of time to continued, appropriate spelling instruction. In addition to continuing to learn the rules of spelling, students can develop a deep understanding of English by studying the meanings of roots, prefixes, and suffixes; families of related words; the historical development of the English language; and words’ language of origin. It’s very likely that this sort of word study (in addition to being intrinsically interesting to many students) would support vocabulary development and facilitate reading by enabling students to view any new word from the angles of sound, meaning, language of origin, and syntax. As a result, students would be more likely to be able to figure out the new word’s meaning as well as how to spell it and how to use it with precision.

  

How to spelling support reading and writing
Xem tiếp nội dung trang 1, 2, 3, 4

Quay về trang Phonics

Quay về trang English For Kids

Tham khảo thêm: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/how-spelling-supports-reading

Writing For Kids

As parents you can support your child significantly with their writing skills by doing simple activities at home. It takes time and practise for children to learn letter formation and be able to write words and sentences independently.

Holding a pencil

Every child is different but most children are not ready to practise formal writing with a pencil or pen until at least three and a half years of age. However, there are many informal ways of developing your child's hand eye coordination and fine motor control in preparation for writing. These include providing simple and then more complex jigsaws and puzzles, painting and chalking activities, and perhaps exploring beads and bead strings for threading. Once your child is starting to draw and paint pictures they maybe ready to start engaging in activities which specifically focus on developing their tripod grip.

In order for your child to start learning to write they firstly need to learn how to hold a pencil correctly. This skill takes time to master so it can prove helpful to use a triangular pencil with a special pencil grip to begin with. Firstly, demonstrate to your child how they should hold their pencil and give them time to practise. You may decide to provide a range of coloured paper or felt tip pens for your child to refine this skill in exciting and new ways.
Once your child is able to hold a pencil, you can begin by teaching them how to write their name. Start by practising in informal ways such as using a paintbrush to make marks in a tray of paint, sand, glitter or shaving foam. Allow your child to explore the tripod grip and practise holding the paintbrush correctly first. Encourage your child to practise holding felt pens, crayons and pencil colours, by providing them with a colouring book or coloured paper. Give them time to explore and develop their fine motor control and coordination. Model the correct way to hold pens and pencils so your child becomes use to using the tripod grip. You could remind them by explaining they need to use 'Tommy thumb, Peter pointer and Toby tall' when holding their pencil. It  maybe helpful to use a mini whiteboard with wipeable marker pens or a small chalk board before progressing to more formal pen and paper methods. Children like to feel they can erase mistakes easily and this makes learning to write less stressful and pressurised. Your child can also develop their pencil control using numbers and alphabet stencils. This process takes some time, so don't expect your child to master this skill overnight!

Once your child is showing confidence with the tripod grip and has some degree of control when using writing implements, you could begin introducing them to writing. You child needs to show interest and be ready for this stage. The first step is for you to write in pen (a yellow fine line felt-tip is ideal) and your child to try tracing over each letter with their pencil. Explain to your child how each letter is formed i.e. where they should start and finish.  Once they are able to trace over your writing, let them practise writing over dotted words and then progress onto writing their name independently. Children gain a great deal of self esteem and confidence by being able to write and recognise their own name before starting school.

Diary Writing

Diary writing is an ideal way to develop your child's interest in literacy, especially if they have the chance to choose their own special diary with you! By providing your child with a diary, they can begin to record daily events and write their own sentences. You may decide to sit with your child each day and write their diary together, or if time does not permit, once a week. This way you give your child the opportunity to explore writing themselves but also give them the guidance and support they need to progress. Writing for a purpose is powerful; keeping a record of their daily life and activities is interesting and meaningful to a child. When your child is writing encourage them to sound out words and think about the letter sounds that make up each word. Provide them with a list of tricky words to help them with their diary writing and develop confidence.

For younger children and those with little or no writing experience, it would be best to start with a picture diary for each day, with perhaps you modelling writing by scribing a key word or sentence underneath your child's picture. If your child has a good tripod grip they may be able to trace over your word or sentence. As they become more competent your child could write a word independently to accompany their picture. Older children who are able to sound out words could be encouraged to write a sentence. This can then lead onto independent diary writing which slowly improves as your child becomes more confident with sentence structure.

Writing Lists

A simple way to develop your child’s writing in a meaningful context is to encourage them to help you write the weekly shopping list. This is a purposeful context for writing and allows your child to see the importance of writing skills.  Encourage your child to sound out words as accurately as they can. Only correct your child if the word is not phonetically plausible and you are unable to read it, otherwise you may find your child looses confidence if they are continually corrected. You may decide to teach your child one new word a week, so they are learning how to spell more complex words correctly. When you go shopping encourage your child to read out the items on their list.

You may ask your child to write a list of the children in their class in preparation for a party. Let your child write the invitations too, so they become familiar with different purposes and formats of writing. You may wish to use a copy of the alphabet for your child to refer to if unsure of letter formation or capital letters. Talk about simple features of an invitation such as where their friend's name should be written, where their name is written, and where to write their contact number. Remember to explain that names of people and places always start with a capital letter.

Story Writing

Being able to create and write stories is an essential skill which children need to develop. It will give them confidence in their abilities and develop not just their literacy skills but also their imagination and creativity.

Story writing should be introduced slowly to begin with. Perhaps by reading a story to your child and then pausing half way through and asking them to talk to you about what might happen next. When they have gathered their ideas, give them the opportunity to record them in picture form or a story map as this will aid memory once they begin writing. The next stage is to help them write down their ideas and continue the story themselves. Offer them guidance on how they might start and help them to sound out more difficult words. The first attempt at this will be challenging so even if your child only manages a sentence give them praise and show enthusiasm for what they have achieved. To improve their reading ask your child to read back their story.

When your child is able to continue stories they have had read to them, start introducing the features of good story writing. Emphasis the need for capital letters at the start of their sentences and full stops at the end. Talk about how stories have a beginning, middle and end, and discuss what might happen in each part of a story. Try and ensure they incorporate this structure into their future story writing. As your child becomes more competent encourage them to make up their own stories. You may decide to provide photos or visual prompts to help your child think of a setting and scenario for their story. They could also illustrate the main parts of their story.

Letter Writing

• Once your child is competent with writing simple sentences they could practise writing short letters. An ideal way to develop their interest in this is to use a first letter-writing set.Talk about the layout of a letter and perhaps look at the layout of different letters. Discuss what is included such as the address, name of the person you are writing to and who the letter is from.
• To begin with it is best to write the letter together and keep it fairly simple focusing on the address and main features of the letter. Your child may want to write to a favourite story book character or a family member or friend. They might want to write to tell them about something that has happened recently or somewhere special they have been.
• Encourage your child to sound out words and write in full sentences, remembering capital letters, finger spaces and full stops.
  
• As an extra activity, see if your child knows their address and give them the opportunity to practise writing it on an envelope. Being able to write their own address will give them confidence and is a useful skill for all children to master.

Writing a Postcard

• When on holiday encourage your child to choose a postcard to write. This will develop their writing skills in a fun and meaningful way. They could write to a grandparent, friend or even their teddy bear at home. You may decide to ask them to practise writing their sentences on paper first and then copy them onto their postcard, once they have decided what to write.
  

  
• Again keep encouraging your child to sound out unfamiliar words. Give them the chance to try writing the address themselves (copying if necessary).
• When your child has written the postcard, ask them to read it back to you. This will develop their reading skills and ability to self-correct and spot any grammatical errors in their writing.
•  Give praise and encouragement and allow them to post the postcard for themselves!
  Quay về trang English for Kids

UK life - Guided writing for children

Khi trẻ em không phải là dân bản xứ thì trong vấn đề học writing cũng như speaking gặp khá khó khăn khi vốn từ vựng không có nhiều hoặc là không có idea ( ý tưởng) hoặc có idea nhưng không có từ để diễn đạt. Và cha mẹ thường không biết con mình học thế nào ở trường khi không có 1 giáo trình hay 1 cuốn sách nào nói về cách dạy và học ở các trường tiểu học UK.

Thực tế con mình đang gặp phải vấn đề này, qua tìm hiểu và tự rút ra kinh nghiệm trong việc hướng dẫn con thêm trong việc học writing.

How We Teach Reading, Phonics and Writing in Year 1

At this age, your child will start to become a more ‘independent’ reader, having preferences for types of books and making choices about what to read. Don’t worry if progress seems to plateau for a bit; they make such progress in the first year of school that to continue at that speed would mean they would be doing A levels before they leave Primary School! They need time to consolidate what they’ve learned and to start to apply their reading skills to their everyday lives.

1. More complex phonics

Children will still be learning letter sounds for reading and spelling, but these will become more complex. For example, they will look at the same sounds but with different spelling patterns, such as long vowel sounds, e.g. ai, ay, a-e. It’s valuable to help them with these sounds at home when you are reading together and reinforce the letter sounds from the previous year so that children start to automatically apply their phonic skills when reading unfamiliar words.

2. Tricky words

Children are also expected to recognise some tricky words by sight. They will continue to build up a bank of tricky sight vocabulary and we will continue to send home lists of these words so that they learn them off by heart.

3. Levelled reading books

Your child will continue to bring books home from a selection of schemes. These books will be colour coded in boxes so that your child can choose a book at the right level of difficulty to ensure the appropriate level of challenge and success. It’s vital that you hear your child read to you and to talk about the book – with praise of course!

4. Wider reading skills

In addition to reading a wide variety of texts of all kinds, your child will be developing comprehension skills, understand the sequence of a story (the beginning, middle and end), use story language (once upon a time...), identify main events and characters in stories, and find specific information in simple texts.

5. The teaching and practice of reading

Your child will continue to be taught to read through shared reading and guided reading as well as individual reading practice.

6. Still time for fun and games

Language and reading games of all kinds can still be used to reinforce your child’s reading skills and may focus on reading, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation. Learning is still most effective when it is active so role play, drama and outdoor learning in the local community will feature strongly.

7. Linking reading to writing

Children at this age will be expected to identify and use capital letters and full stops, write simple sentences independently, use story language and to use interesting words! So keep talking to your child so that he or she has a brilliant bank of words to choose from.

8. Spellings

Your child will be using phonic skills to spell unfamiliar words and to spell common and tricky words too. We will start spelling ‘tests’ and you will be expected to practise these with your child at home – use board games and online games to make it fun!

9. Progress

Assessment is still continuous and informal to track your child’s progress and to inform the teacher’s planning. In England, a short phonic reading check is planned at age six to make sure that the essential phonic skills are in place.

10. Keeping in touch

It is still important to stay in touch with your child’s teacher through reading diaries, informal appointments and parents’ evenings. However, if you have concerns about your child’s progress then it is always best to see the teacher as soon as you can.

Quay về trang English For Kids

Other Ways to Say IN CONCLUSION

What are the other ways to say in conclusion? You can use the following expressions:

• To sum up,
• In summary,
• To conclude,
• In closing,
• Finally, it may be concluded…
• To summarise,
• All in all,
• Overall, it may be said…
• Taking everything/this into account,
• On the whole,
• All things considered,
• In sum,
• Everything considered,
• By and large,
• Considering all this...
• In a nutshell,

Copyright at http://www.myenglishteacher.eu/question/what-are-the-other-ways-to-say-in-conclusion/

See more at http://www.myenglishteacher.eu/question/what-are-the-other-ways-to-say-in-conclusion/

Daily trip from the countryside to the city

Like millions of people all over the worlds, five days a week I commute that means I make a regular journey from home to my office in the big city. Maybe you do too? It's something that we have to learn to live with, if we want to go to work and earn some money.
My commute start here - when it's not snowing.
The words " commute" comes from the early days in the US cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia back in the 1840s. As the railways developed, people went to live outside cities and when they travelled into the city to work, they paid a cheaper or commute fare ( the money that we pay to travel on bus, taxi, train...)
Now, the daily commute can be on foot, by bike, by car or like me - on the train. I live about 20 miles outsides London, that's just over 32 kilometres, I have 1 mile walk to the station, a 50 minutes rail ride to the city and another 1 mile bike ride to the office. I spend a lot of my day travelling. So why do I do it?
well, firstly, living in central London and near the office is too expensive for me. And do I really want to live next door to work anyway? Secondly, I decide to move out of London to live outside that I believe it's good for family life. Commuting was difficult at first, but seven years later, I quite like it- it can be relaxing! On my twice - daily train journey, I usually read newspaper. I often listen to the radio and I have sometime a little sleep.
My train to work
These days, I suppose I'm typical ( usually, normal) commuter. I often catch the same time train and I always stand in the exact same place on the platform ( the place where stand when you're waiting for a train).  I want to change my habits. And my aim to try and cycle 20 miles to work to save money and keep fit. The problem is I can never decide when to start.
These days, many companies prefer people to work at home. It saves office space and worker usually like it, they don't waste time commuting to and from the office. The only problem is that people sometime miss the friendship of their work colleagues ( the people who work with you). Is this something you do and enjoy?
Inside a busy commute train
Another benefit of home working is that reduces the overcrowding on public transport. During the rush hour in London, many commute are full because everyone is traveling at work at the same time. Luckily for me, I always get a seat on my train.
anyway, for now, commuting is here to stay. As my train speeds towards London, it's good to know that millions of people around the worlds are doing same thing.
More vocabulary:
- extreme commuters: people who spend a long time travelling to work.
- income: money you receive usually for working
- stressful: making you  feel worried or nervous
- life style choice: a choice about how you live
- following: next, following day is next day
- productively: successfully, usefully 

give the green light to

Mỗi ngày học từ bạn/đồng nghiệp một thành ngữ hay. Hôm nay đọc email, mình gặp một thành ngữ mà hiểu theo tiếng việt bật đèn xanh cho ai đó. Ví dụ: cô ấy chưa chịu nên chưa bật đèn xanh cho chàng trai đến thăm nhà. Trong tiếng Anh, cụm từ này nói thế nào.

Meaning

Khá giống dịch word-by-word, bật đèn xanh trong tiếng Anh có thể nói/viết như là give the green light to sth/to do sth.

give the green light to sth: to give ​permission for someone to do something or for something to ​happen. (cho phép ai đó làm điều gì hoặc cho phép điều gì đó xảy ra)

Ở đây, người ta không dùng turn on/switch on the green light gì đâu nhé.

Image courtesy of http://reallifeglobal.com/give-the-green-light/

Examples

1. The government has given the green light to our tree-planting project, so we can go ahead and start organizing things.
   Chính phủ vừa bật đèn xanh cho dự án trồng cây của chúng ta, vì thế mà chúng ta có thể tiến hành và bắt đầu tổ chức một số việc.
2. The ​council has given the green ​light to the new ​shopping ​centre.
   Hội đồng thành phố vừa cho phép (xây dựng) trung tâm mua sắm mới.
3. My mother will not give me the green light to throw out my school books.Mẹ sẽ không cho phép tớ quăng những cuốn sách học ở trường.
4. Very strong indications are that Cabinet will give the Suriname-based airline the green light to begin flights to Guyana.
   Những dấu hiệu mạnh mẽ đó là Cabinet sẽ bật đèn xanh cho/cho phép hãng hàng không Suriname để bắt đầu chuyến bay đến Guyana.
5. Just under a year ago, ESP submitted a formal planning application for the new site to Malvern Hills District Council. And now the council has decided to give it the green light.
   Chỉ cách đây chừng 1 năm, ESP gởi một hồ sơ dự án xây dựng khu mới hướng địa hạt quận Malvern Hills. Và nay hội đồng địa hạt đã quyết định cho phép công ty xúc tiến công việc.

Usages

1. give the green light to sth
2. give someone the green light to do sth
3. get the green light to do sth

Hãy nghe một bài hát giải trí trước khi bạn đi khỏi blog này. Bài hát có tựa đề Give me the green light.