Sec 4 sem 1 week 4 grammar 101 n exercises

Jiang Education Centre Ace your ‘O’ levels (Sem 2/Wk 3)

Planning a study timetable Follow the steps below to plan your study timetable:

1. Fill in sleeping and eating times:

a. Be regular about this. The lack of a routine schedule for eating and sleeping is sometimes used as an excuse for not studying. For you to be in control you need to train your body to keep efficient eating and sleeping habits. You can do this by deciding what time you will get up, what time you will eat your meals, and what time you will go to bed (at least on the week days). This also helps to reinforce the idea that study is a 'job'.

2. Build in your regular commitments (eg work, travel, family, child care, sport, classes):

a. Make a list of these first - do you work, travel to university each day? Do you attend meetings, play sport, go to church? Do you need to clean, shop, cook, pick up/care for children? Don't under-estimate the amount of time and effort you spend on these regular commitments.

b. It might even be helpful to make a timetable of how you used your time last week, (putting in everything from when you got up to when you went to bed), to help you work out how much time you spend on these activities.

3. Build in family and friends’ time:

a. This way you can ensure minimum disruption to your personal life with maximum time to study. This also allows you to discuss your commitments with your family and friends.

b. Understanding your study needs will be a vital aspect in their support, and remember you will need a consistent system of encouragement and support.

4. Include relaxation and exercise time:

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” - Confucious 6


a. Make exercise a regular part of your timetable. Some form of exercise/relaxation is necessary to develop good positive attitudes. You will find it easier to stick to your timetable if it includes time for socialising, sport, leisure, exercise or whatever your favourite form of relaxation is.

b. A balanced lifestyle is important. Also a semester is a 'long haul', and you need this time to prevent stress, to avoid 'burn out' and to pace yourself.

5. Now, what blocks of time are left for study?

a. Which times you put down for study depends on your own habits to a large extent. You should plan to find at least 8-10 hours per week, all up, for each unit you study.

b. But be realistic and honest with yourself. If you have a favourite music or television programme and know you cannot resist listening to or watching it, include it in your timetable. You are the one who has to keep to your timetable so don't put down study at impossible times.

c. Keeping to your timetable plan will get easier the longer you continue with it. Eventually it should become a habit, part of your everyday routine.

6. Do you need to evaluate your priorities? a. Check your study hours - if you do not have enough (within the guide of 8-10 hours per unit) you will have to find them somewhere, or change your study commitments. You are the one in charge, the one responsible.

b. You have to arrange the situation so that you maintain your sense of purpose and, your commitment to achieve your university goals.

7. Arrange your ‘study’ to increase the effectiveness of your learning:

a. You can start doing the hard work of preparing for exams right from the first week of semester if you take advantage of the idea that you only need 4 or 5 'practices' or active repetitions of



information to place it in your long term memory. Organise your study sessions by working around your tutorials and lectures to build in this step:

i. Schedule a preview session not more than 12 hours prior to each lecture and tutorial (1/2 hour should be fine).

ii. Go to the lectures and tutorials and take notes.

iii. That afternoon or no later than that night, schedule a session where you can review your notes (1/2 an hour should be enough).

iv. Schedule a weekly revision session for each unit. (You need to spend 1-2 hours per week reviewing all your reading, lecture and tutorial notes for each unit). Colour code your units (with all the preview, review and revision times) to help balance and organise your study and to make your timetable easy to read.

8. Keep in mind the time of day you are most alert (are you a morning or evening person?):

a. A good strategy is to plan your study to fit in with your mental and physical peaks.

b. Experiment to see if you are most alert in the mornings or evenings and try to do your study then. If you are tired and have to study, try starting out with an easier task, for example, writing out a bibliography or putting your files in order. You might find that the sense of achievement gained from completing these tasks can build up your motivation to go on to the harder tasks.

9. Work out the demands of assignments:

a. On your semester calendar list your assignments, colour coded with their weighting and due dates. This will help you plan your weekly timetable to accommodate your assignments, even if two or three are due on the same week.



10. Include flexibility:

a. You will need some time allocated as spare study time to cater for the unforseen circumstances which will interrupt your usual routine.

11. Plan each session and set realistic and achievable study goals:

a. Plan each session so that specific tasks can be achieved. For example, summarise three pages or code part of a computer programme.

b. Start the planned task as soon as you sit down. Try the 'half-hour goal' which includes that important review time. What did I just read? What was the main idea? Do a quick mind map revision summary. It is the practise of material that is important for checking your learning so that you can tell whether or not it has reached your long term memory. This review is important too as a 'reward' for completing work. Remember that 'every long journey starts with a single step'.

12. Keep in mind your learning style:

a. Your personal learning style will affect the way you choose to spend the day. Plan around your strengths, weaknesses and demands placed on you by family, friends, commitments etc.

13. Include a weekly planning session:

a. Spend some scheduled time on Sunday or Monday planning your timetable for the coming week, taking into account the specific demands of that week, both social and academic.

14. If your timetable is not working, if you are not following it – change it!

a. If you find you cannot get up, or go to sleep, or study at the times planned, change the timetable so that it will work. It should, in fact, be regularly revised and updated.



15. Discuss your timetable with your family and friends:

a. Let your nearest and dearest know when your study and free times are. When people know that you are studying they might let you get on with it.

16. Only study for as long as you are effective:

a. If you study for three hours but can only remember one hour's worth, you have in fact wasted two hours. You should study only for as long as you are fully productive. Take a short break after ½ an hour or whatever fits your concentration span. Two to five minutes should be enough to restore you to full efficiency - do some relaxation exercises, walk around the room, have a drink of water! The 'half-hour goal' helps you to do this too.

17. Build ‘rewards’ into your timetable if you have trouble concentrating or ‘getting on’ with study:

a. Rewards are important incentives for increasing motivation, so use them to help you keep to task.

b. When you decide what tasks you want to complete in each session also decide on the reward for satisfactorily completing the task. For example, an hour's relaxation might be the reward for reading an article, a picnic might be the reward for completing an assignment.

c. Work it the other way around as well. If the task is not satisfactorily completed then you should not reward yourself. And, if you do not keep to your plan then you should deprive yourself of a reward.

~ this is the easy part – Now get cracking for the English O level is just 115 days away ~

English GrammarCan you imagine constructing a correct English sentence without English Grammar? No, you cannot, because thinking about English Language without English Grammar is like a human



body without a backbone. It would never stand. Grammar in English is meant to make things easier and meaningful. The grammar mainly deals with two forms � descriptive and predescriptive. Development of grammar and using it aptly is the ultimate goal of natural language processing.

Fundamentals of English Grammar

To have a proper understanding of the grammatical rules in English let us first begin with the basic components. When you turn the first page of a book of grammar you come to learn about sentence, phrase, subject and predicate and parts of speech like noun, noun number, noun gender, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection.

Sentence in English Grammar

A sentence is a group of words, which makes a complete sense. A sentence always begins with a capital letter. A sentence should always have a verb. All sentences have subjects and predicates with or without objects.

Example

1. She sang sweetly.

Sang = Verb She = Subject

Sang sweetly = Predicate

2. He went to the market.

Went = Verb He = Subject

Sentences are of four types.

1. Assertive or Statement = I am a boy. 2. Interrogative or Question = How are you? 3. Imperative (Request, Advice and Command) like:

1. Please, give me a glass of water. (Request) 2. You should see a doctor as soon as possible. (Advice) 3. Stand up on the bench. (Command)

4. Exclamatory = How beautiful the picture is!

Nouns in English Grammar

Noun is a naming word. It names person, place, animals and things. There are generally six kinds of nouns � Proper, Common, Abstract, Collective, Countable and Uncountable.


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Proper Noun:

It names particular person or place. It always begins with a capital letter.Example: London, Tom, etc.

Common Noun

It names any person, place, animal or thing Example: girl, boy, city, town, cow, bird, pen, chair, etc.

Abstract Noun

It refers to a particular sense or image. It is something, which we can feel and imagine but we cannot see or touch.Example: air, love, laughter, beauty, anger, etc.

Collective Noun

It is a name given to a collection or group Example: herd, bouquet, flock, audience, fleet, troop, etc.

Countable Nouns

It refers to those, which we can count Example: pen, chalk, rupee, pieces, etc.

Uncountable Nouns

It refers to those, which we cannot countExample: water, hair, cloth, paper, etc.

Noun Gender in English Grammar

Noun genders are basically of two types � Masculine Gender and Feminine Gender

MasculineFeminineBoyGirlKingQueenGooseGanderActorActress

Verb in English Grammar

A verb is a doing word. It is about action. Verbs can be transitive (with an object) or intransitive (without an object).



Example:

The sun rises in the east. (Intransitive) John is flying a kite. (Transitive)

Tense

There are three kinds of tenses � Present Tense, Past Tense and Future Tense. These can be further subdivided into continuous, perfect and perfect continuous.

Simple Present Tense: The cat drinks milk.

Present Continuous Tense (verb + ing): The cat is drinking milk.

Present Perfect Tense: The cat has drunk milk.

Present Perfect Continuous Tense: The cat has been drinking milk.

Simple Past Tense: The bird sang sweetly.

Past Continuous Tense: The bird was singing sweetly.

Past Perfect Tense: The bird had sung sweetly.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense: The bird had been singing sweetly.

Simple Future Tense: I will go to the market.

Future Continuous Tense: I will be going to the market.

However in case of future tense, perfect and perfect continuous are not so applicable.

Person in English Grammar

Person basically deals with pronouns. Persons are of three different types � first person, second person and third person.

First Person Singular Number: I, me, my, mine First Person Plural Number: we, us, our, ours

Second Person Singular Number: you, your, yours Second Person Plural Number: you, your, yours

Third Person Singular Number: he, she, it, his, him, her, hers, its Third Person Plural Number: they, their, theirs, them

Remember, in case of third person singular number an �s� is always added to the verb. For



example, I play, we play, you play and they play but he plays, she plays and it plays.

Adjective in English Grammar

Adjective is a describing word. It tells us more about a noun. There are usually six different kinds of adjectives. These are adjective of quality, adjective of number, adjective of quantity, demonstrative adjective, interrogative adjective and possessive adjective.

Example

Beautiful womanThree pencils Much rice Those flowers This chair Whose name Which houseMy book His car

Adverb in English Grammar

Adverb too is a describing word. It tells us more about a verb. There are generally five different kinds of adverbs with other significant subdivisions. These include adverb of time, adverb of manner, adverb of place, adverb or frequency, etc.

Example:

Susan sings sweetly. I woke up at midnight. He went upstairs. He seldom comes to our house.

Grammar in English is a body of definite rules with mood voice and other significant specifications. Such rules in English Grammar would help you to successfully explore the world of English language with complete confidence.

Loads of English practice at http://www.better-english.com/grammar.htm

Lesson One: Many Sounds In English Are Not In Your Native Language

The main reasons why speaking English is so hard


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This special pronunciation section will explain to you why English is hard to speak correctly and

give you some help on improving your pronunciation. These are the main reasons why English is

so hard. There is a lesson for each one.

Note that the pronunciation examples are in American English accent. In the last lesson you will

find American and British English examples.

These lessons are sponsored by: EyeSpeak English

It is likely that some of the sounds that are common in English are not used in your native

language. The most common ones are 'r' as in 'right', 'l' as in 'light' and the 'th' sound as in

'thing'. The 'th' sound, where your tongue is between your teeth is uncommon in other

languages.

The other sounds that you will most likely find difficult are the 'moving vowel' sounds or

"diphthongs".

Pronouncing Dipthongs

Here are some examples of diphtongs:

hi price eye by

The vowel sound in these words changes as you say them, it starts off as 'a' and becomes 'e'

Here is a picture showing the starting and finishing mouth positions:

Notice that your mouth position changes considerably when saying this vowel. You start off with

your mouth open and your tongue at the bottom of your mouth, and go to having your mouth

closed with your tongue at the top of your mouth.

It is very common for students learning English to have difficulty making both sounds. Many

students pronounce just one one of these sounds, either the starting 'a' sound or the finishing 'I'

sound. To speak well and be understood, you need to make both sounds.

Here is another example of a diphthong:


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This is the sound in words like

'boat' 'goat' and 'coat'

Your tongue needs to start off near the middle of your mouth, with your mouth open. Then your

tongue needs to move back and up slightly at the same time as you close your lips. Your lips

also need to be 'rounded' slightly.

Here is a technique you can use to feel the difference in different mouth shapes:

1. Start by putting your finger on your lips like you are saying 'shhhhh' and telling someone

to be quiet. (Perhaps you don't make this gesture in your culture, or it is rude to do so. Actually,

it can be a little rude in European cultures also, so you need to use it with care. You're most

likely to see it among audiences at live shows, at the movie theatre, or in the library if someone

is rudely talking.)

2. Hold your finger still - don't move it when your lips move. Now make an 'ee' sound. You

should feel your lips come back to be flat against your teeth. Your finger should now not be

touching your lips.

3. Now make an 'au' sound sticking your lips out. You should feel your finger be pushed out,

away from your mouth. This is what 'rounding' your lips means.

4. Now say the word 'goat' with your finger touching your lips, and check that your lips

become rounded at the end of the vowel sound.

5. Well done! You are probably making the vowel sound correctly now.

As you know, the 'th' sound can also be difficult. Here is how you need to make the 'th' sound:



Can you see how your tongue needs to between your teeth so that someone watching you can

actually see the tip of it? Many people find this strange to do, but if you do not "poke your tongue

out" a little in this way, you will not pronounce the sound correctly.

Pronouncing The "th" Sound In English.

The 'th' sound is quite common in English and found wherever the letters 'th' are found together.

Here are two common examples for you:

Mouth Thumb

Usually, It's Better To Order "Rice" Than "Lice".The Difference Between The "r" And "l" Sounds.

The R and L Tongue Positions

The images above illustrate the difficulty in distinguishing the two tongue positions; however

there are important differences:

For 'r':

Your tongue curls up around the edges, and you blow air through the middle of your

tongue.

The top part of your tongue does not touch the top of your mouth.

Your lips should be slightly rounded.

For 'l':

The top of your tongue should touch the top of your mouth.

Your lips should not be rounded

Most people say 'l' correctly however for further help with 'r' you may find the following video

helpful:



Lesson Two: Combinations Of Sounds That Are Not In Your Native Language

The main reasons why speaking English is so hard

This special pronunciation section will explain to you why English is hard to speak correctly and

give you some help on improving your pronunciation. These are the main reasons why English is

so hard. There is a lesson for each one.

Note that the pronunciation examples are in American English accent. In the last lesson you will

find American and British English examples.

These lessons are sponsored by: EyeSpeak English

You most likely know how to say these sounds: 'm' 'p', 's' and 'd'. However do you know how to

say them when they are together? For example have you ever had to say a word like

'glimpsed'

There are FOUR consonants in a row at the end of this word, 'mpsd'. The 'e' is not a vowel. Even

though 'glimpsed' has seven sounds in it, it is only ONE syllable!

Here are some common consonant clusters and examples:

Cluster Examplesbr bridge abrupt brightbd absorbed bribed disturbedfs cliffs beliefsft craft shaft leftmp bump lump camppt egypt except suspectths baths maths pathsnth month tenth seventhnd friend land handsp sponge clasp lispst start last stinglmd filmedlk milk silkstr strength destroy stripvs behaves waves valves

You need to know that when you are saying words with consonant clusters in them it is very

important that you say all the consonants as one syllable. A mistake often made by Asian

speakers among others is to put them into extra syllables. For example:

'glimpsed' could become 'glimp sid'


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or 'bribed' could become 'brib id'

This does not sound correct.

Finally here is an exercise to let you know when you have really mastered this. Try saying the

following:

'The sixth twisty crisp'
