A Letter to Math

in Danny Qiu's FB English Cafe group:

a 5th grade student wrote this in his Maths answer sheet:

Dear Maths,

I'm sick and tired of finding your x
Just accept the fact that she's gone!
Move on dude! :)

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by Ms. Randhani Nirwan

Guy #1    : Look! There's a very beautiful girl sitting alone. Let's go ever there and introduce oursleves. Maybe she wants someone to talk to. I really want to know her.
Guy #2    : Okay.
Guy #1 and Guy #2 approach the girl.
Guy #1    : Hi! Are you alone?
Girl          : Yes
Guy #1    : Are you boring? You must be boring
Girl          : Jerk!
Girl splashes her drink at his face and leaves.
Guy#1     : ??


The short dialogue between the guy and the girl perfectly illustrates a damage from misuse of adjectives. Guy#1's poor understanding of adjective endings costs him a chance of getting to know a pretty girl. If you do not feel a little sympathy for Guy #1, or if you do not understand why the girl is angry, you might want to consider brushing up your English.

But let's review the short dialogue again. As well as being rude, Guy #1's small talk lines-- "Are you boring? You must be boring"-- definitely miss the point he wants to convey. The girl's anger is no surprise to us, but it is a surprise to Guy #1. He does not realize that he has made an incorrect use of English syntax. Clearly he wishes to make an acquintance with the girl. He claims so himself. It is also safe to assume that he is hoping that the girl wants to have someone to talk to; hence he wishes to introduce the topic by asking if the girl feels bored, or so he means to say. But the line "You must be boring" does not make a prediction of the hypothesized boredom the girl may be feeling; the line makes a prediction of the girl's unattractiveness as a conversationalist. No wonder she is outraged! She thinks that the guy thinks that she is a poor conversationalist. Get it? Get it? The girl is angry because Guy #1 uses the adjective "boring", which translates "membosankan" in Bahasa Indonesia, rather than "bored"-- or "bosan" in Indonesian translation-- when what he really means to ask is whether the girl is bored or not.

This is just an example of damages that could arise from misuse of English syntax. The joke may sound deliciously goofy to you when you read it, but it may not be so funny to you if you were the one in a situation similar to that of Guy #1. The guy has clearly stepped off on the wrong foot when he uses mistaken English syntax in his pick-up lines.You do not want to have anyone misunderstand you like that pretty girl in the dialogue misunderstands Guy #1, do you? What the girl calls a jerk, we at A Very Long English Programs Advertisement, inc. call a prospective student.

Join us now! We mix cultures, humor, practical how-to tips with our lessons so that you not only will learn to perform correct grammar English, but you will also learn better pick-up lines.

Cuz I watch a lot of muvees!

What is your favourite movie? 
When I was little, movie watching is not a common activity.
We had to go to the cinema and paid a big amount of money for the ticket,
buy an expensive VCR and buy a video of any movies we want to watch,
or, the cheapest way, to watch on TV.
Though, it seems like the same thing as we do today, TV in the 80s are available only from 4.30 in the afternoon till 12 midnight.
There was no dubbing technology either, so we must watch the movies in its original language, English. It's not easy, but I learn a lot from this.

The earlier time I watched, I didn't really understand what all the characters talked about. 
After awhile I tried to understand the story from the scenes.
Then afterwards, I realised that some words were regularly repeated. I got some misunderstanding once or twice, but as I grow older and able to read, I get the real meaning automatically.   
Before I understand a word's meaning and some theoretical structure of it, I already knew how to use it ^^.


By college years, as my parents enrol me to an English Course Class, I knew how to communicate in English well. 
Not because I was a diligent student, but because I watched a lot of movies.
So why don't you try it out. 
Go watch movie then speak it.
I guarantee fun in this way of learning ^^v

English = Fun ??

Do you like English?

What do you remember the most about the lessons in your English class; Irregular Verbs, Past Tense, Auxiliary Verbs *what on earth is that?*, or nothing at all?

Are we screwed or what!

With the more people speaking the language,

more places using the language,

and worse more jobs requiring the language,

how come we are the only ones who don't know it at all!!!!!

There are actually several fun ways to successfully learn language.

The one way, namely, being EXCELLENT in an English class

is not one of it.

So what are they?

They are using English in doing your Hobbies.

1. Listening to Music

There are so many great Indonesian bands and new songs. Do you realize, though, that some of their music get inspired by some western bands?

So go check out more western bands.

Listen to their music, get familiar with their words.

You'll be surprised on how easy it will be to understand the meaning of an English song, even if your English score at school is only C-

2. Watching movie

Let's challenge our brain into watching Hollywood movies in English subtitles. it might be a bit more tricky then listening to English songs, but after a while, you'll get much better in understanding English conversation..

It'll be like learning English by travelling to America for only Rp75,000

3. Watching sport show

Do you watch sport show; MotoGP, F1 Race, NBA playoffs, or Premier league? Though we mostly concentrate on the game, paying a bit more attention to the English comments will give out some ideas how the game is actually explained in other language that we already know.

4. Making crafts

Making cute bags, cool shoes, trendy hand-made blouses, and more and more stuff can be found everywhere in the internet. Make sure you try the web that uses English.

That way, you learn and practice your crafting skill and improve your English at the same time.

Smart, right?

These are the most common ways we can do to absorb language in a more fun way. One thing that we need to remember is that, practice always makes perfect. SO after we get the models from the songs, movies, sport show, and craft websites don't forget to use it as much as we can.

Keep on using English and before you know it you'll excell!