Sunday 30 May 2010

Ramos

Ramos comes from Brazil. He is 30 years old and he works as a real estate agent in Melbourne.
When Ramos came to Australia for the first time he was twelve years old. He came to visit his aunt who lived in Australia. He was fascinated by Melbourne and wanted to live in Australia.
After Ramos finished his high school studies in his country, he enrolled to study at Melbourne University. He worked on improving his English all the time and spent a lot of time studying at home.
He finished a degree after three years and started to work as a real estate agent shortly after that.
It was an advantage for Ramos to speak more than one language. He had many clients who liked him and he sold many houses because he gave honest advice to his customers.
When Ramos was 26 years old he met a young girl who wanted to buy a house as investment.
Ramos fell in love with her and he asked her to marry him. She agreed because she found that he was a nice guy.
Now Ramos and his wife live in the house he showed the young lady to buy. They want to move to a bigger house before their first baby arrives soon.
Ramos works long hours now but every thing will change when the baby is born.

Fill in the gaps: 
country - met - old - baby - clients - nice
Ramos comes from Brazil. He is 30 years old and he works as a real estate agent in Melbourne. When Ramos came to Australia for the first time he was twelve years ...................... He came to visit his aunt who lived in Australia. He was fascinated by Melbourne and wanted to live in Australia. After Ramos finished his high school studies in his ..................., he enrolled to study at Melbourne University. He worked on improving his English all the time and spent a lot of time studying at home. He finished a degree after three years and started to work as a real estate agent shortly after that. It was an advantage for Ramos to speak more than one language. He had many .................... who liked him and he sold many houses because he gave honest advice to his customers. When Ramos was 26 years old he ................. a young girl who wanted to buy a house as investment. Ramos fell in love with her and he asked her to marry him. She agreed because she found that he was a .................... guy. Now Ramos and his wife live in the house he showed the young lady to buy. They want to move to a bigger house before their first baby arrives soon. Ramos works long hours now but every thing will change when the ................ is born.

Can you find any mistakes?
Ramos comes from Brazil. He is 30 years old and he works as a real estate agent in Melbourne. When Ramos came to Australia for the second time he was twelve days old. He came to visit his aunt who lived in Australia. He was fascinated by Melbourne and wanted to live in Australia. After Ramos finished his high school studies in his country, he enrolled to study at Melbourne University. He worked on improving his English all the time and spent a lot of time studying at home. He finished a degree after three years and started to work as a real estate agent shortly after that. It was an advantage for Ramos to speak more than one language. He had many clients who liked her and he sold many houses because he gave honest advice to his customers. When Ramos was 26 years old he met a young girl who wanted to buy a house as investment. Ramos fell in love with her and he asked her to marry him. She agreed because she found that he was a nice guy. Now Ramos and his wife live in the school he showed the young lady to buy. They want to move to a bigger house before their first baby arrives soon.
Ramos works long hours now but every thing will change when the baby is late.

Mark The Guitar Player

 Mark is 43 years old and he comes from Canada. He lives in a small town and he likes playing the guitar in his spare time. Mark has been playing the guitar for many years. He started learning to play the guitar when he was in year two in primary school. Mark played in a band when he went to high school and his music teacher thought he could be famous one day because he played the guitar very well.

Mark's friends also thought his music was different from other guitar players. They urged him to contact music producing companies and see if any of them was interested in producing a music album for him.
Mark didn't believe he could make a career out of music but he continued to play for his family and friends.
One day a music producer came to one of the parties Mark played music at and he liked his music. He gave Mark his business card and after a short time he had his first music album. Surprisingly enough, the album was very successful and Mark made a lot of money. He gave up his career as an accountant in a bank and started giving concerts in different cities in Canada. Soon after that he moved to America and gave concerts there.

Mark's music was played on radio and TV stations in many countries all over the world. He still can't believe how successful he is.

Because everybody knows him now, Mark is not allowed to walk in the street alone. He has a group of bodyguards to protect him because some of the fans are crazy.

He can't go to the shops alone without having his bodyguards with him. They make sure he is safe at all times when he is not at home.

Mark says that his new life as a celebrity is totally different from his life when he lived in his small town in Canada.

Fill in the gaps: 
but - his - because - played - started - lived - short

Mark is 43 years old and he comes from Canada. He lives in a small town and he likes playing the guitar in his spare time. Mark has been playing the guitar for many years. He ................... learning to play the guitar when he was in year two in primary school. Mark played in a band when he went to high school and his music teacher thought he could be famous one day ....................... he played the guitar very well. Mark's friends also thought his music was different from other guitar players. They urged him to contact music producing companies and see if any of them was interested in producing a music album for him. Mark didn't believe he could make a career out of music ................. he continued to play for his family and friends. One day a music producer came to one of the parties Mark played music at and he liked his music. He gave Mark his business card and after a .................. time he had his first music album. Surprisingly enough, the album was very successful and Mark made a lot of money. He gave up his career as an accountant in a bank and started giving concerts in different cities in Canada. Soon after that he moved to America and gave concerts there. Mark's music was ..................... on radio and TV stations in many countries all over the world. He still can't believe how successful he is. Because everybody knows him now, Mark is not allowed to walk in the street alone. He has a group of bodyguards to protect him because some of the fans are crazy. He can't go to the shops alone without having .................. bodyguards with him. They make sure he is safe at all times when he is not at home. Mark says that his new life as a celebrity is totally different from his life when he ................... in his small town in Canada.

Can you find any mistakes? 
Mark is 43 years old and he comes in Canada. He lives in a small town and he likes playing the guitar in his spare time. Mark has been playing the guitar for many years. He started learning to play the guitar when he was in year two in primary school. Mark played in a band when he went to high school and his music teacher thought he could be famous one day because he made the guitar very well. Mark's friends also thought his money was different from other guitar players. They urged him to contact music producing companies and see if any of them was interested in producing a music album for him.
Mark didn't believe he could make a career out of music but he continued to play for his family and friends. One day a music producer came to one of the parties Mark played music at and he liked his music. He gave Mark his study card and after a short time he had his first music album. Surprisingly enough, the album was very successful and Mark made a lot of money. He saved up his career as an accountant in a bank and started giving concerts in different cities in Canada. Soon after that he moved to America and gave concerts there. Mark's music was played on radio and TV stations in many countries all over the world. He still can't believe how successful he is. Because everybody knows him now, Mark is not allowed to walk in the street alone. He has a group of bodyguards to hear him because some of the fans are crazy. He can't go to the shops alone without having his bodyguards with him. They make sure he is safe at all times when he is not at home. Mark says that his new life as a celebrity is totally different from his life when he lived in his small city in Canada.

Studying in Australia for International Students

I was surfing the net and came across this good web site about studying in Australia. It is in different languages and I thought it would be good to know.

Click here to visit the web site.

Saturday 29 May 2010

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup will begin in South Africa in a few days. 32 teams, including Australia, will be competing to win the trophy. South Africa is a beautiful country and it has a population of 47 millions. The matches will be played in nine major cities there.

South Africa was ruled by a white government and black people there didn't have any rights. Many black people lost their lives because they protested against white rule of their country. Police forces used bullets to shoot at them. The law protected white people but the blacks in South Africa had no rights at all. Finally the South Africans enjoyed freedom for the first time when Nelson Mandela became president in 1990 in a free election.

Nelson Mandela is a respected personality all over the world. He spent many years in prison because he campaigned against white rule of his country. The white government called him a terrorist and put him on trial. They sent him to prison on an island in South Africa. Now the island is visited by thousands of tourists every day.

Many people say that today there is one country where locals have no rights like the South Africans under white rule. This country is called Palestine.

For more than 65 years, Palestinians have been dreaming of gaining their freedom like the South Africans. Only time will tell if this day will come or not.

Friday 28 May 2010

Best Movie

I went to the cinema for the first time when I was in year one. I couldn't read fast and the movie was in English. It had subtitles but I still couldn't read the whole lines because they were disappearing fast. I could understand the story though. My two elder brothers helped me understand the movie because they could read well. The movie was called " I am an Orphan". This was the name in Arabic. I am not sure what the original English title of the movie. The cinema ticket cost one cent at that time. There were special offers to schools and sometimes schools offered students ticket for half a cent back then. Yes, there was a coin in my country that was half a cent back then. I can't remember what the film was about because this was nearly 36 years ago.
I saw many good movies but there are some of them that stand out. Titanic was the biggest movie I have ever seen. I haven't seen Avatar but many people told me it is a fantastic one.
When I went to middle school, my favourite movie was called Omar Mukhtar. It was in English but there was a version that was dubbed in Arabic too. The film was about a Libyan resistance leader whose name was Omar Mukhtar. For twenty years he fought the Italians who invaded his country. In the end he was arrested and the Italians hanged him when he was 72 years old.
Most of the big film productions take place in America. Apparently, the film industry is very big there. There is a big film industry in India too. Indian film makers spend a lot of money on producing high-quality movies but the problem is language. That is why they don't have a big share of the market like other big companies that produce English movies.
The latest Indian movie I saw is called "My Name is Khan". It's such a good movie and parts of it were filmed in America. The film was about an Indian man who suffered from a mental illness that affected the way he interacted with others. It also showed the suffering he went through in America because of his religion. The movie also discussed freedom of speech in different cultures. It showed how a successful marriage collapsed because of poletics and how a young boy was killed because of his name.

International Students in Australia

Tens of thousands of international students come to study in Australia every year. They come to get an excellent, world-class education and they study with Australian students. Australia offers one of the best education systems in the world. Schools and universities here encourage students to develop independent learning skills.
All the students who come to study here have different learning styles. In Australia students work in groups and they work hard to submit their assignments on time. Students have to improve their English language to be able to study alongside Australian students.
Most international students study at tertiary courses. Tertiary courses are done after finishing high school. There are also thousands of students who come to Australia to study in primary and high schools. They can study in public or private schools and this normally costs a lot of money.
School fees for a student from prep to year six are A$9500 per student per year. In junior secondary (Year 7 to 10) it costs A$11.500. In senior secondary (Years 11 and 12) it costs A$12.900 per year. Private schools can cost double that money or even more.
There are also additional fees that international students have to pay. They have to pay an application fee of $150 and they also have to get a health cover that costs nearly $400.
Students also have to pay for their school uniforms, books, excursions, accommodation and other things. Students who need help to improve their English before going to a primary or a high school need to pay $7000 for 20 weeks.
It is important for students to do a lot of research to find a suitable school to study in. This will require visiting different schools before choosing one. After finding a good school, a student has to fill in an application form and pay the required fees.
Nearly all schools in Australia have the latest technological equipment. There is not much homework in primary school but in high schools students have to work really hard and study advanced topics in science, maths and other subjects.
Sports, music and physical education are some of the subjects that most of the students like doing. If a student needs help, he or she can ask a class teacher, an educational counsellor, a year-level co-ordinator or the school principal.
Fill in the gaps: 
equipment - courses - finding - most - here - books - study - per
Tens of thousands of international students come to .................. in Australia every year. They come to get an excellent, world-class education and they study with Australian students. Australia offers one of the best education systems in the world. Schools and universities here encourage students to develop independent learning skills. All the students who come to study .................. have different learning styles. In Australia students work in groups and they work hard to submit their assignments on time. Students have to improve their English language to be able to study alongside Australian students. Most international students study at tertiary courses. Tertiary .................... are done after finishing high school. There are also thousands of students who come to Australia to study in primary and high schools. They can study in public or private schools and this normally costs a lot of money. School fees for a student from prep to year six are A$9500 per student ................... year. In junior secondary (Year 7 to 10) it costs A$11.500. In senior secondary (Years 11 and 12) it costs A$12.900 per year. Private schools can cost double that money or even more. There are also additional fees that international students have to pay. They have to pay an application fee of $150 and they also have to get a health cover that costs nearly $400. Students also have to pay for their school uniforms, ...................., excursions, accommodation and other things. Students who need help to improve their English before going to a primary or a high school need to pay $7000 for 20 weeks. It is important for students to do a lot of research to find a suitable school to study in. This will require visiting different schools before choosing one. After ......................... a good school, a student has to fill in an application form and pay the required fees. Nearly all schools in Australia have the latest technological ........................ There is not much homework in primary school but in high schools students have to work really hard and study advanced topics in science, maths and other subjects. Sports, music and physical education are some of the subjects that ................. of the students like doing. If a student needs help, he or she can ask a class teacher, an educational counsellor, a year-level co-ordinator or the school principal.

Thursday 27 May 2010

Giving a Good Presentation

If you are asked to give a presentation at work or as part of your course, there are many things to take into account.
When giving your presentation you need to be aware of your body language. Stand up straight and don't slouch. You need to get everyone's full attention. Good eye contact is essential because everyone attending feels that they get individual attention.
The way you present your work is also very important. Decide what equipment you are going to use. Are you going to use queue cards, a data show or an over head projector. When you speak in the presentation, your voice needs to be projected out to your audience. Everyone needs to be able to hear and understand what you're saying. Your presentation will require special preparation beforehand and a lot of practice.
Begin your presentation with a greeting before you introduce yourself and then give a short introduction so your audience will know what your presentation is going to be about.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. My name is .....  and I work as a business manager at ...... company. Today I will be talking about ......."

" My presentation is divided into three parts. Firstly I will be talking about ........... After that we can have a look at .................. Lastly I will tell you ............."

It's a good idea to divide your presentation into different parts and develop them as you progress. Your audience need to know when to ask questions. You can tell them to ask you questions any time during the presentation or after you finish delivering the information.
Find out how much your audience know about the topic you will talk about before you start. If they know most of the information you intend to present, they will be bored and this can make your presentation a big failure. You need to present things that are new to your audience so they will be more attentive to what you have to say.
Giving a presentation to young children will be totally different than giving one in front of senior managing directors of a big firm. Avoid using a lot of jargon in your presentation. Your information needs to be presented using language that is easy to understand by everyone.
Designing a PowerPoint slide show can take a few minutes or many hours depending on your computer skills and how much information you'd like to include in your presentation. There will be no point in designing a PowerPoint slide show if the presentation venue is not equipped with a computer and a data projector. Also keep in mind that technology can let you down when you need it most. There has to be a plan "B" when you give any presentation.
Save your PowerPoint slide show on your memory stick and also email it to yourself as a backup in case anything goes wrong.
Don't include too much information on each slide of your show. Your audience will be distracted by what you have typed and not pay much attention to what you say.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Using pictures and graphs in your PowerPoint slide show can help you convey your ideas to your audience in an easy way and save you a lot of typing too.
At the end of your presentation, invite the audience to ask you questions. Thank the people who ask you questions and do your best to answer them. If you don't know the answer, don't make it up. Promise to get back to them as soon as you find out but see first if anyone attending knows a good answer. You can save yourself the humiliation of not knowing the answer to a question on the topic you were talking about in a smart way.

" Thank you for your question. Let's see if anyone knows an answer to this in the audience."

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.

Monday 24 May 2010

Hong From China

My name is Hong and I come form China. I am 33 years old and I work as a business manager at one of the world's biggest companies. In China my parents put a lot of pressure on me to study hard and do well at school. They wanted me to get a good job when I finished my education. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters because of China’s one-child policy.

In high school I met a young man and we fell in love. I was charmed by his character and sweet voice. He loved me as well. The only problem was that he came form a very rich family and my family were not that rich. We were a middle-class family.

One day he told me that his parents will never allow him to marry me because my mother was a housewife and my father worked at a factory. That broke my heart. We had to break up and I spent countless nights crying.

I promised myself I would never let anyone in the world look down on me because I don’t come from a rich family. I studied day and night and my marks at school improved a lot. My teachers said I was very talented. They didn’t know the reason why I wanted to be the top student at school.

I got the best marks at school and decided not to enrol at any university in China. I applied for a scholarship at one of the top universities in America and got accepted. My family had to borrow money to pay for my plane ticket. My father had to get a second job to be able to support me. I remember him crying for not being able to support me financially as he wished to.

In America I found the country totally different from China. I had a big culture shock when I arrived in New York. At university I spent a lot of time in the library doing my research. I had to get a job to support myself. I had a lot of determination to become something. Most American students get one or two part-time jobs to be able to support themselves while studying at university.

Mastering the English language was my biggest challenge in America. I wanted to do something about it. I made friends with many students and always spoke in English. I met one girl whose parents were Chinese but she was born in America. She knew my story and gave me a lot of emotional support.

After a few years, I graduated from university and was offered a teaching position there. The money was tempting and I worked there for one year but I wanted to spend some time with my family. My parents were getting old and I wanted to pay them back for what they had done to me.

One day I was walking in the street and I met the young man I was in love with. He stopped me and told me he was sorry for all the suffering he had caused me. He wanted us to work things out together but I refused. I felt that I was the same person he dumped but now I had a good position and earned a lot. These things would never make his parents reject our marriage.

I didn’t want to go through the same pain again. I felt like falling apart but remembered that he let go of me before. He didn’t even try to talk to his parents about the poor girl he loved.

Not long after that I went back to America and got busy establishing my career. I had many difficulties at work because I was progressing very fast at a young age.

I met a Chinese businessman who always travelled to America on business. We fell in love and got married soon after that. I became busy and got a better job for an international company that had different branches in China. They sent me to China to manage their business there. My income was enough to be able to afford a nice apartment in Shanghai for my family. I always remember that my parents suffered a lot to make me the person I am now. I can’t tell my husband or my parents my story because it hurts me every time I remember it. Maybe I will tell it to my children when they grow up and understand life more.
Can you find some mistakes?
My name is Hong and I come form Malta. I am 33 years old and I work as a business manager at one of the world's smallest companies. In China my parents put a lot of pressure on me to study hard and do well at school. They wanted me to get a good job when I finished my education. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters because of China’s one-child policy. In high school I met a young man and we fell in love. I was charmed by his character and sweet noise. He loved me as well. The only problem was that he came form a very rich family and my family were not that rich. We were a middle-class family. One day he told me that his parents will never allow him to marry me because my mother was a housewife and my father worked at a factory. That broke my heart. We had to break up and I spent three nights crying. I promised myself I would never let anyone in the world look down on me because I don’t come from a rich family. I studied day and night and my marks at school improved a lot. My teachers said I was very talented. They didn’t know the reason why I wanted to be the top student at school. I got the best books at school and decided not to enrol at any university in China. I applied for a scholarship at one of the top universities in America and got accepted. My family had to borrow money to pay for my plane ticket. My father had to get a second job to be able to teach me. In America I found the country totally different from China. I spent a lot of time in the library doing my study. I had to get a job to support myself. Most American students get one or two part-time jobs to be able to support themselves while studying at university. The English language was my biggest challenge in Africa. I wanted to do something about it. I made friends with many students and always spoke in English. I met one girl whose parents were Chinese but she was born in America. She knew my story and gave me a lot of emotional support. After a few years, I graduated from university and was offered a teaching school there. The money was tempting and I worked there for one year but I wanted to spend some time with my family. My parents were getting old and I wanted to pay them back for what they had done to me. One day I was walking in the street and I met the young man I was in love with. He stopped me and told me he was sorry for all the happiness he had caused me. He wanted us to work things out together but I refused. I felt that I was the same person he dumped but now I had a good position and earned a lot. These things would never make his parents reject our marriage. I didn’t want to go through the same pain again. I felt like falling apart but remembered that he let go of me before. He didn’t even try to talk to his parents about the poor girl he loved. Not long after that I went forward to America and got busy establishing my career. I had many difficulties at work because I was progressing very fast at a young age. I met a Chinese businessman who always travelled to America on business. We fell in love and got married soon after that. I became busy and got a better job for an international company that had different branches in Japan. They sent me to China to manage their business there. My income was enough to be able to afford a nice apartment in Shanghai for my family. I always remembered that my parents suffered a lot to make me the person I am now. I can’t tell my husband or my parents my story because it hurts me every time I remember it. Maybe I will tell it to my teachers when they grow up and understand life more.
Fill in the gaps: 
My name is Hong and I come form China. I am 33 years old and I work as a business manager at one of the world's biggest companies. In China my ................ put a lot of pressure on me to study hard and do well at school. They wanted me to get a good job when I finished my education. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters because of China’s one-child policy. In high school I met a young man and we fell in love. I was charmed by his character and ............... voice. He loved me as well. The only problem was that he came form a very rich family and my family were not that rich. We were a middle-class family. One day he told me that his parents will never allow him to marry me because my mother was a housewife and my .............. worked at a factory. That broke my heart. We had to break up and I spent countless nights crying. I promised myself I would never let anyone in the world look down on me because I don’t come from a rich family. I studied day and night and my marks at school improved a lot. My teachers said I was very talented. They didn’t know the reason why I wanted to be the top student at school. I got the best marks at school and decided not to enrol at any university in ................... I applied for a scholarship at one of the top universities in America and got accepted. My family had to borrow money to pay for my plane ticket. My father had to get a second job to be able to support me. I remember him crying for not being able to support me financially as he wished to. In America I found the country totally different from China. I had a .............. culture shock when I arrived in New York. At university I spent a lot of time in the library doing my research. I had to get a job to support myself. I had a lot of determination to become something. Most American students get one or two part-time jobs to be able to support themselves .................. studying at university. Mastering the English language was my biggest challenge in America. I wanted to do something about it. I made friends with many students and always spoke in English. I met one girl whose parents were Chinese but she was born in America. She knew my ............. and gave me a lot of emotional support. After a few years, I graduated from university and was offered a teaching position there. The money was tempting and I worked there for one year but I wanted to spend some time with my family. My parents were getting old and I wanted to pay them back for what they had done to me. One day I was walking in the ............. and I met the young man I was in love with. He stopped me and told me he was sorry for all the suffering he had caused me. He wanted us to work things out together but I refused. I felt that I ............... the same person he dumped but now I had a good position and earned a lot. These things would never make his parents reject our marriage. I didn’t want to go through the same pain again. I felt like falling apart but remembered that he let go of me before. He didn’t even try to talk to his parents about the poor girl he loved. Not long after that I went back to America and got busy establishing my career. I had many difficulties at work because I was progressing very ........... at a young age. I met a Chinese businessman who always travelled to America on business. We fell in love and got married soon after that. I became busy and got a better job for an international company that had different branches in China. They sent me to China to ............ their business there. My income was enough to be able to afford a nice apartment in Shanghai for my family. I always remember that my parents suffered a lot to make me the person I am now. I can’t tell my husband or my parents my story because it hurts me every ................. I remember it. Maybe I will tell it to my children when they grow up and understand life more.

Saturday 22 May 2010

Freedom to Insult

In the West there is a new trend that started a few years ago to insult other religions under the pretense of freedom of speech. There is a big campaign nowadays on Facebook that started by one of its users asking people to make drawings that humiliate Prophet Mohamed, the founder of Islam.

The invitation was accepted by tens of thousands of users and this angered muslims in many countries. Massive protests took place in the streets of major cities in Pakistan and in other countries condemning the Facebook page.

Some of the drawings on the internet depicting Prophet Mohamed were extremely offensive. The cartoonists depicted him in different unacceptable forms including portraying him as a dog. The people who drew the pictures said it was their right to say what they thought. Muslims were outraged by the drawings but different newspapers continued to publish them. Delegates from Muslim countries met with government officials in some countries in Europe but nothing was done. Many muslims believe that their governments are the most corrupt governments in the world and they would never take any tough actions against countries that allow the publications of such pictures.

Drawing prophets is strictly prohibited in Islam. Muslims regard Mohamed, Jesus and Moses as great prophets who changed the course of history during their times. They don't make fun of them under any circumstances.

If you would like to read more about the Facebook page, please click here.

Newspaper Article Summary 9

Please read my post on how to write an academic summary by clicking here. After finishing, please read this article here and send me your summary. A reminder that you MUST send the summaries so you can move to the next level. If you choose not to, please reconsider.

Friday 21 May 2010

Academic Summary

We learned in class today how to write an academic summary for an article you've read. It is important to put some details in your first sentence.

You have to tell your audience the title of the article. You also have to tell them the name of the author who wrote it and what year it was written in.

You need to use academic words in your writing. It is not like writing a letter to a friend.

You may use the following:
According to the author, ..............
The author also believes that ..............
The author states that ...............
The author strongly believes that ............
The author suggests that .................
....... and this is due to ............
It has been proved beyond any doubt that ...............
The argument the author makes is that .................
...... and consequently .............
As a consequence, ........................

The following examples are to help you write a good academic summary.

“Child Labour in Egypt” (Mohamed 2010) is an article about using children in factories in Egypt. According to Mohamed, it is not good to use children to work in factories and not send them to schools. Families send their children to work at an early age due to the fact that average incomes are below the poverty line. He believes that Egyptian government should do all it could to stop child labour. The author also thinks that ............

“Students Work Harder in Australia” (Al Shaikh 2010) is an article about overseas students who study in Australia. According to Al Shaikh, students feel homesick because they come from different cultures. He believes that it’s very hard to obtain high marks because of a totally different educational system. He also suggests that having good English skills to study is not easy.

Robbery (True Story)

Maria teaches at Monash University in Melbourne. He husband works long hours and always leaves home early in the morning. Maria has two daughters. One of them studies at university. She is a hard-working student. The other is younger and she goes to high school.

On 19th May, 2010 Maria had a class to teach in the morning at Monash University. She left home early and gave a lecture to her students. After finishing her lecture, she had a headache and didn’t feel well. She decided to go home and have some rest.

When she arrived home, it was nearly two o’clock in the afternoon. Maria opened the big gate and walked along the driveway. She opened the door to her house and was shocked. She saw some clothes thrown on the floor. She could hear someone inside the house. Immediately she heard more than one person leaving the house from the laundry door. She could hear them jumping over the fence and running away. Those people were robbers. Maria called the police and was too afraid to go inside the house. She was shaking and frightened. She also called her husband who left work immediately and headed home.

Some police officers came in a few minutes and Maria went inside the house with them. The robbers got into the house by breaking the laundry door. Inside the house many very expensive things were missing. Maria’s gold was stolen. She couldn’t find her wedding ring and wedding shows. There was also a sum of 1000 dollars that was not there. In her bedroom everything was upside down. The robbers were looking for any cash or gold they could steal. They emptied her wardrobe to look for money. They even emptied the tea jar in the kitchen to search for any thing that has value to steal. Everything inside the house was a mess.

The robbers took down all the paintings on the wall. They were looking for any safe in the house. They wanted to get as much money as they could and leave the house.

When the girls came back home, they couldn’t find their lab top or their expensive digital camera. All their clothes were on the floor. The robber left a kitchen knife on the bed.

Police officers couldn’t find any finger prints because the robbers were using gloves. They also put socks on their shoes to make it hard for the police to find them. They were professional robbers. Maria’s eldest daughter started to cry because all her university work was saved on her MacBook. MacBook is a lab top computer she has recently bought. She spent a few months working on a big project to get her degree. Now she has to start it all over again and she is running out of time. Her university work has to be handed in in a few weeks’ time. Now she has to work day and night to finish it on time.

There is no password on the lab top and this will make it easy for the robbers to sell it. The lab top cost a lot of money to buy but now it is gone. It has all the family’s photos and a lot of the two daughters’ study work.

The family is lucky they have home insurance. The insurance company will give them a new lab top and help them fix the laundry door. The family will have an alarm system installed in the house. They will have an automatic gate and they will buy a dog too.

It will take the family some time to get over what happend. One police officer said the robbers may be drug addictes. They would do anything to get money to buy drugs. The police will do all they can to arrest the robbers.

They hope the police will be able to catch the robbers. They hope the robbers will be caught before they rob another house.

Wednesday 19 May 2010

Newspaper Article Summary 8

Please read the article here and send me your summaries. I know you work hard now to get ready for your tests. We will see what we can do to make your tests less stressful.

Buying a House in Australia

Buying a house is the great Australian dream for many people but it’s often a hard decision to make. Renting costs less money and offers more flexibility. There are different properties to choose from when it comes to renting but when you decide to buy, you can only choose from a smaller number. Deciding to buy a property is a hard financial decision that will affect your lifestyle for many years to come. Unfortunately, buying a property does not happen by finding one that you really like and negotiating the price with the real estate agent. A lot of work needs to be done too.

It’s a good idea to have more than one income in the family. This will make mortgage repayment less stressful. There are a lot of properties that are repossessed by banks every week because the owners couldn’t honour their debts to banks.

Setting a budget seems to be a sensible thing to do. Going over your budget to buy a house that you really like can cost you an arm and a leg. When you default on paying your mortgage, banks normally give you a fine. Repayments rise every now and then and so does rent.

Living expenses can be greatly affected when you decide to buy a property. Just think of all the money you can spend on clothes, birthdays and holidays before you decide to buy. Some people have to take the ultimate decision and do without most of these important things because they have to pay their mortgages for a long time. Rent can also increase when you renew your contract. It’s up to the landlord to decide what rent he or she wants to charge you.

Banks offer different types of loans for you to choose from. They also compete against each other to get your business. Be mindful that if you want to change banks after you sign up for a mortgage with one of them, your bank can impose a big fine on you and you have to pay it. It’s also a good idea to pay more money than your mortgage every time. This will save you a lot of money in interest.

Most of the time properties that are far away from the CBD are cheaper than the ones that are close. People sometimes choose to live far away from the city because they can afford to get a larger house or one bedroom more. The problem is that they have to drive longer every day if they work in or close to the CBD.

Because house prices are too high nowadays, some young people prefer to stay with mum and dad until they are ready to get into the property market. By doing so, they save up for a deposit to buy their dream home.

People who live on Centrelink income and don’t have jobs can apply to live in a commission house. A commission house is a house provided by the government to help people who are unemployed and have difficulty finding work. It is not easy to get one of these houses because there is normally a long waiting list.
Can you find some mistakes?
Buying a house is the great Australian dream for many children but it’s often a hard decision to make. Renting costs less money and offers more flexibility. There are different properties to choose from when it comes to renting but when you decide to buy, you can only choose from a smaller amount. Deciding to buy a property is a hard financial decision that will affect your marriage for many years to come. Unfortunately, buying a property does not happen by finding one that you really dislike and negotiating the price with the real estate agent. A lot of work needs to be done too. It’s a good idea to have more than one income in the family. This will make mortgage repayment less helpful. There are a lot of properties that are repossessed by banks every week because the owners couldn’t honour their debts to banks. Setting a budget seems to be a sensible thing to do. Going over your budget to buy a house that you really like can cost you an arm and a leg. When you default on paying your food, banks normally give you a fine. Repayments rise every now and then and so does rent. Living expenses can be greatly affected when you decide to buy a property. Just think of all the money you can spend on clothes, birthdays and holidays before you decide to buy. Some people have to take the ultimate decision and do without most of these important things because they have to pay their mortgages for a long time. Rent can also increase when you renew your contract. It’s up to the landlord to decide what rent he or she wants to charge you. Banks offer different types of loans for you to choose from. They also compete against each other to get your business. Be mindful that if you want to change schools after you sign up for a mortgage with one of them, your bank can impose a nice fine on you and you have to pay it. It’s also a good idea to pay more money than your mortgage every time. This will save you a lot of money in interest. Most of the time properties that are far away from the CBD are smaller than the ones that are close. People sometimes choose to live far away from the city because they can afford to get a larger house or one bedroom more. The problem is that they have to drive longer every day if they work in or close to the CBD. Because house prices are too high nowadays, some young people prefer to stay with mum and dad until they are ready to get into the property market. By doing so, they save up for a deposit to buy their dream home. People who live on Centrelink income and don’t have education can apply to live in a commission palace. A commission house is a house provided by the government to help people who are unemployed and have difficulty finding work. It is not easy to get one of these houses because there is normally a long waiting condition.

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Newspaper Article Summary 7

This post is for my students at VU only. Please read the article here and send me your summary. I am pleased with some of the summaries you have sent. It is clear that some students need to do a lot of work to improve their English. This is your time to talk to your teachers and ask them any questions you like. They will help you improve your English by directing your efforts in the right direction. Please feel free to email me any time if you need help with your English. Also remember that in learning a new language, most of the work is done by the student (not the teachers as is the case in some countries).

Also remember to use cause and effect words when you type your summaries.

It is also very important to read my presentation sheet on smoking (the one we did in class). Please follow the steps of giving a presentation. You have got two worksheets on that. I want you to follow the steps to deliver a good presentation.

I am so sorry I haven't added the tests to the blog posts. They take a lot of time. I will do so before I see you in class.

All the best.

Teacher Ibrahim Mohamed

Monday 17 May 2010

Newspaper Article Summary 6

This post is for my students at VU only. Please I want you to read the article here. When you have finished, I want you to type your summary and email it to me.
Remember to use cause and effect words.
You can start your summary like this:
According to the newspaper article, ........................
Use as many cause and effect words as you can to meke your points clearer.
Some students haven't sent me any summaries yet. This is unacceptable. Work has to be delivered by or on the due time.

Sunday 16 May 2010

Newspaper Article Summary 5

This post is for my students at VU only. Thanks to the people who emailed me their summaries for the past few days.
I want you to click here and read and listen to the article from the VOA web site. After listening, please email me your summaries.
I will put the test later on. I promise.

Newspaper Article Summary 4

This post is for my students at VU only. I want you to read this article from Voice of America. On the right hand side you can click on MP3 to listen to the text. This will help your English a lot. After that you can type your summary and send it to me via email. Thanks to the people who have already sent their summaries. Remember that sending your summaries is one of the course requirements. You can't go to the next level until you submit ALL your work for this one.
Please click here to start reading and listening.
I will add the test later on.

Good luck.

Saturday 15 May 2010

Newspaper Article Summary 3

This post is for my students at VU only. Please read the article here and send me your summary. I will put the test later on this weekend. It will help you understand the article more. Email me your summaries. Thanks to the people who have already sent the first summary on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Friday 14 May 2010

Newspaper Article Summary 2

This post is for my students at VU only. I want you to read an article by clicking here. After reading the article, I want you to take a test online. After taking the test, I want you to email me a summary for the text. This is urgent and you can't pass my part of the course unless you email me ALL the summaries I ask you to do.
Click here to take a test.

Sunday 9 May 2010

Newspaper Article Summary

This post is for my students at VU only. You are asked to type a summary of a newspaper article and email it to me each week. We have already missed the first week. Please be on time. I want your work to be emailed to me before I see you in class on Friday. Don't send your emails late on Thursday.
Your first article is here already.
Click on the link here and read the article.

Good luck. If you need any help, just email me.