The Linking Verb

Do you know Linking Verbs?

Linking verbs do not express action. Instead, they connect the subject of the verb to additional information about the subject. Look at the examples below:

 Keila is a shopaholic.

Ising isn't something that Keila can do. Is connects the subject, Keila, to additional information about her, that she will soon have a huge credit card bill to pay.

 During the afternoon, my cats are content to nap on the couch. 

Areing isn't something that cats can do. Are is connecting the subject, cats, to something said about them, that they enjoy sleeping on the furniture.

The following verbs are true linking verbs: any form of the verb be [am, is, are, was, were, has been, are being, might have been, etc.], become, and seem. 

Sometimes  verbs are linking verbs; sometimes they are action verbs.

How do you tell when they are action verbs and when they are linking verbs?

 Well, let's learn about it here at 

Lakeside International Academy!

or visit us at www.lsiacademy.com

See you there!!!

Tag Questions

You speak English, don't you?

A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question. The whole sentence is a "tag question", and the mini-question at the end is called a "question tag".

A "tag" is something small that we add to something larger. For example, the little piece of cloth added to a shirt showing size or washing instructions is a tag.

We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: "Am I right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.

The basic structure is:

statement	question tag
+ Positive statement,	- negative tag?
Snow is white,	isn't it?
- Negative statement,	+ positive tag?
You don't like me,	do you?

Notice that the question tag repeats the auxiliary verb (or main verb when be) from the statement and changes it to negative or positive.

A question tag is the "mini-question" at the end. 

A tag question is the whole sentence.

Learn more here at Lakeside International Academy!!!

" Confused with the use of "Either or and Neither nor" ?

    This is one of the grammar mishaps that most of us take for granted but let's try to reconsider it again. Now, let's read and learn!

 Either or is;

• "Either" expresses one noun/pronoun doing one thing and the other noun/pronoun doing another; 
•  is a "positive" word because what is occurring is true.
•  "Either" can be paired with "or", but not "nor"

Example: He wanted to eat  either sukiyaki or tempura.

              I think it is either Suzuki or Sasaki hit the goal.

Neither nor is;

•   can be paired with "nor" but not with or.
•   it is used when you are saying not the first object and not the second object are behaving in a certain way
•  "Nor" can also be used independently when negating the second part of two negative clauses.

 Example: Neither Jane nor Jess attend the wedding.

                I don't like to dance nor to sing.

Now let's try to answer this:

Fill up the missing word;

 "Sussie has not gone to school today, _______ has she done her homework”

What is the answer to this question? Since the statement says that Sussie has not gone to school and has not done her assignment which states a negative idea then the answer is  "nor". Then the correct sentence would be:

"Sussie has not gone to school today, nor has she done his homework”

So, Let's learn more and more words to improve your English speaking skills here at Lakeside International Academy.

 

Pronunciation practice: Distinguishing "a" and "e" sounds

Read the following:   
1. I pat my pet since he made my bed smell bad
2.Dad get the dead cat which had tampered his temper.
3.Shall he put the shell inside this bag?

Were you able to pronounce the words: pat and pet, bed and bad, dad and dead,tamper and temper,shall and shell differently? well if not, you need this pronunciation practice.

Distinguishing "a" and "e" sounds

*The short "a" is pronounced as /ae/. The mouth is opened widely as if you are going to eat something.

*The short "e" is pronounced as it's letter sound /e/.The mouth is slightly opened .

*Short "a" and and "e" sounds are similar .You will learn how to pronounce the short "a" and "e" sound correctly if you will master the mouth and tongue position in saying the sounds. A lot of practice is also a big help..

Let's practice:Read the following.

1. gas -guess

2.man-men

3.axe-ex

4.land-lend

5.marry-merry

Vocabulary words:

*pat          - hit lightly 

*tamper   -destroy

*temper   - mood

*lend        -give

While learning pronunciation, you will also learn new vocabulary!

Improve your English skills 

at

Lakeside International Academy!

Reading skill:Finding the main idea

Finding the main idea is one of the most important reading skill that a reader should develop.If the reader finds the main thought,it means that the reader understood what he/she had read.

Let's know how to get "main idea" 

Where can we find the main idea?


*The main idea can be known in the topic sentence of a paragraph or article.
-In order to know the main idea, you must first know the topic of what you are reading.The topic sentence is the sentence that contains the topic.
*The main idea can be found in the the first sentence,in the middle or in the last sentence. There are also main ideas which are implied,which means it is not directly stated.


              Let's have an exercise


Tell the main idea of the article:

    English is now considered as the most valuable language in the world.People all over the world take every chances to know how to speak English.

    The Japanese community has just started to accept the idea of learning English.In fact, a so-called English crisis is starting to alarm people who had never dared to know the language at all.This is in contrary to the Filipino community.Filipinos are known to be multilingual,meaning they know different languages.English is never new to the Filipinos,even ordinary people understands and can communicate in English. 

    To address to Japan's  maximized demand of learning English and to make use of the Philippines' knowledge of the language, Lakeside International Academy Online Tutorial Services was established.

    The said school offers English lessons to both Child and Adult Japanese through Skype.It is served by Filipino teachers who are trained thoroughly.

    The joint force of Japan and the Philippines to equip people with a good knowledge of English not just establish a good relation between the two countries but also sets a good example of unity amidst the conflicts happening in the neighboring places.

    Why fight for our differences when we can unite with our common interests?Instead of battling for treasures which will just rust and decay in time,let's put our attention to productive endeavors and just like Lakeside International Academy,let's use English to settle the gaps between countries and thus, make this world a much enjoyable place to live in.

  Find out the answer and find out more about the article by enrolling in this website_www.lsiacademy.com

Trial lesson is free!

Reading techniques

                                       Reading Techniques


*People read for different purposes.In order to save time and to  meet your purposes,you would need the help of these reading techniques:




1.Skimming- Reading a written material quickly.It is     about three to four times faster than normal    
reading.
 -To get the idea of a written material by
   reading the first paragraph and last  
   paragraph thoroughly then, quick reading 
   on the other paragraphs.
*We usually skim when reading a newspaper or a magazine.


2.Scanning-Going quickly to your desired information.
 Moving your eyes quickly on the page to look for the idea you are looking for.
-In scanning, you do not need to know the main idea of a written material because you are just looking for a specific information.
*We usually scan when we look for a word in a dictionary or when we look for the verbs in a paragraph.




Question: What reading technique should you use when you want to know the characters of a story?

Know the answer! 

Master how to skim and scan effectively

at Lakeside International Academy!

Reading Strategies

Reading does not only mean sounding  the letters of a word.

Reading needs to make use of skills.

Reading, in it's deeper sense,means understanding the meaning of words.

It is an interaction between the reader and the writer.

When you are able to understand the meaning of  the text, that's only the time that it would be right

to say , that  you had read.

Vocabulary:


text- words
sense-meaning;importance
interaction-communication
unfamiliar -not known
contents- message; what's inside

To help you understand the meaning of a text. Here are some reading strategies:

1.Previewing :Read the title and view the pictures. 

                    -The title gives us idea about the contents.       

                    - Pictures also speak about the message of

                      the text

2.Predicting  : Have a good guess about the contents 

                      using your prior knowledge and using                      

                      your idea about the title.

3.Unlocking difficulties: Stop on unfamiliar words 

                       and try reading the sentence over again.

                       You can mark the words which you do 

                       not understand and look for its meaning in

                       the dictionary.

4.Questioning:Reading is a communication between the reader

                     and the writer. Communicate to the writer 

                     by asking questions about what you had read.

5.Paraphrasing:Tell what you had understood in your own words.

            

*There are a lot of reading strategies...These are just some of it.Just bear in mind, that when you did not understood what you had read,then, there is no reading at all. 

              

   Be a good reader ! Here at

   Lakeside International Academy

      www.lsiacademy.com

                                                                              

                                                            Try it! Trial is free!