Thursday 27 May 2010

I Didn't Speak Good English

My name is Maria and I come from Greece. Greece is a small country in Europe. I speak Greek and English. I came to Australia ten years ago. I arrived at Melbourne Airport at two o'clock in the morning and went to a hotel with my husband. We didn't have any friends in Melbourne when we arrived.

After one week we rented a unit in Box Hill. My husband could speak good English back then. My English was not good enough and I was not happy about it.

During the first week in Melbourne I went to the shopping centre to buy some vegetable and fruits. One lady stopped me and told me I could help poor children in Africa. She showed me some pictures of young children who drank dirty water and had dirty clothes on. The pictures broke my heart. I felt sad for those children. The lady asked me to donate money to help those children. She said it would cost me twenty dollars to help them. I didn't have enough money back then but I gave her twenty dollars. I didn't understand most of what the lady said because she spoke in English. I was too shy to ask her to speak slowly so I could understand what she was saying. I kept smiling at her.

The lady asked me to sign a piece of paper. She took my address and phone number. I signed the paper and left.

When I went home I told my husband about giving my money to charity. I also told him that I signed a paper for the lady who spoke to me. My husband asked me if I undertood the writing on the paper. I told him I didn't understand anything on the paper because it was written in English.

My husband explained that I signed a contract to give twenty dollars a month to a charity for two years. It was not one payment. I didn't know what to say. We were not rich enough and we couldn't afford to pay twenty dollars a month.

For two years the charity took twenty dollars every month from my bank account. I am not sure if all the money goes to helping poor children in poor countries. I don't think so. My friends don't think so either.
I learned that I had to read the terms and conditions of contracts before putting my signature. I learned my lesson the hard way.

Can you find some mistakes?
My name is Maria and I come from Egypt. Greece is a small country in Europe. I speak Greek and English. I came to Australia ten years ago. I arrived at Melbourne Airport at two o'clock in the morning and went to a hotel with my husband. We didn't have any friends in Melbourne when we arrived. After one week we rented a unit in Box Tell. My husband could speak good English back then. My English was not good enough and I was not happy about it. During the first week in Melbourne I went to the shopping centre to buy some vegetable and fruits. One lady stopped me and told me I could help rich children in Africa. She showed me some pictures of young children who drank dirty water and had dirty clothes on. The pictures broke my heart. I felt happy for those children. The lady asked me to donate money to help those children. She said it would cost me twenty dollars to help them. I didn't have enough money back then but I gave her twenty dollars. I didn't understand most of what the lady said because she spoke in English. I was too shy to ask her to speak slowly so I could understand what she was saying. I kept smiling at her. The lady asked me to sign a piece of paper. She took my address and phone number. I signed the TV and left. When I went home I told my husband about giving my money to charity. I also told him that I signed a paper for the lady who spoke to me. My husband asked me if I undertood the writing on the paper. I told him I didn't understand anything on the paper because it was written in English. My mother explained that I signed a contract to give twenty dollars a month to a charity for two years. It was not one payment. I didn't know what to say. We were not rich enough and we couldn't afford to pay twenty dollars a month. For two years the charity took twenty dollars every month from my bank account. I am not sure if all the money goes to helping poor children in poor countries. I don't think so. My friends don't think so too. I learned that I had to read the terms and conditions of contracts before putting my writing. I learned my lesson the hard way.

Fill in the gaps:
who - enough - afford - week - hard - Airport - could - rich - told
My name is Maria and I come from Greece. Greece is a small country in Europe. I speak Greek and English. I came to Australia ten years ago. I arrived at Melbourne ................. at two o'clock in the morning and went to a hotel with my husband. We didn't have any friends in Melbourne when we arrived. After one week we rented a unit in Box Hill. My husband could speak good English back then. My English was not good enough and I was not happy about it. During the first .................... in Melbourne I went to the shopping centre to buy some vegetable and fruits. One lady stopped me and told me I could help poor children in Africa. She showed me some pictures of young children ................. drank dirty water and had dirty clothes on. The pictures broke my heart. I felt sad for those children. The lady asked me to donate money to help those children. She said it would cost me twenty dollars to help them. I didn't have ...................... money back then but I gave her twenty dollars. I didn't understand most of what the lady said because she spoke in English. I was too shy to ask her to speak slowly so I ..................... understand what she was saying. I kept smiling at her. The lady asked me to sign a piece of paper. She took my address and phone number. I signed the paper and left. When I went home I ................... my husband about giving my money to charity. I also told him that I signed a paper for the lady who spoke to me. My husband asked me if I undertood the writing on the paper. I told him I didn't understand anything on the paper because it was written in English. My husband explained that I signed a contract to give twenty dollars a month to a charity for two years. It was not one payment. I didn't know what to say. We were not .................... enough and we couldn't .................... to pay twenty dollars a month. For two years the charity took twenty dollars every month from my bank account. I am not sure if all the money goes to helping poor children in poor countries. I don't think so. My friends don't think so either. I learned that I had to read the terms and conditions of contracts before putting my signature. I learned my lesson the ....................... way.
True or False?
Maria paid twenty dollars a month to support her husband in Melbourne.
Maria spoke really good English when she first came to live in Australia.
Maria was single when she came to live in Australia.
Maria came to Australia ten years ado.
Maria went to the shopping centre in Doncaster to do some shopping.
A man asked Maria to sign a contract to help poor children in Africa.
Maria understood the conditions of the contract before signing the paper.
The lady asked Maria to donate twenty dollars to help poor children in Africa every day.
The lady thanked Maria's husband for donating the money to help poor children in Africa.
When Maria arrived in Melbourne she had plenty of money.
Maria's husband didn't speak good English when he first came to live in Australia.