Dear Jsajad,

Good morning or is it in the afternoon when you are reading this? Did you know that in English we usually don't say "good day"? It's either 'hello', 'good morning' or 'good afternoon'. If you want to learn more about greetings in English, you should read Alan's essay Well, hello! As for our grammar lesson number 8  -- let's take a closer look at the present simple. This time you are going to learn how to ask "closed questions". A closed question starts with the help word "do" or "does". Here are some examples: "Do you speak English?" "Do you play chess?" "Does your husband work for IBM"? Sunny has created a forum lesson that explains the simple present even more here. As always, I'm waiting for you to create your own questions in the simple present  -- please post them on the forum in the discussion Sunny has started.

In our audio session you will hear expressions related to telephoning, especially the equipment and devices you use to make phone calls: telephone expressions. Jsajad, do you remember what the word 'extension' means? Yes, the telephone number of a person within an organization. If you want to call a particular person at a large company, you need to know their extension, that is, you need to know their particular telephone number. What about you? Do you have your own extension at work? As you know, I always want to hear about your current situation so I can help you even better improve your English. Speaking of which  -- my friend and tutor Alan Townend created a wonderful telephoning test for you. It's called On the phone.

Jsajad, how many of the ten questions did you answer correctly at the first attempt? Some of our students have asked me how they can ask a question regarding the expressions or words in the test. Well, here is how: Next to each test question there is a link called "Do you have a question?" When you click on that link, a little window comes up where you can enter your question. (The window is called "Post Your Message.") Once you have entered your question, click the "send" button below the message window. Now your question appears on the forum and you will get an answer soon. Here is an example. To open the message window, click this link.

OK, that's it for today. Speak to you soon.
Torsten

Dear Jsajad,

You will probably agree that consistency is the key to learning English. Consistency means that you practise your English on a regular basis. For example, it's much more effective to learn English for 10 to 20 minutes every single day than learning English for 5 hours once a month. That's why you receive a short email English lesson every third day. Do you know which lesson number this one is? Yes, it's your email English lesson number 7 and today we are reviewing the "present simple" again.

If you learned English at school or through an English course, you probably remember what "present simple" was all about? Well, it's a "tense" and most learners of English get frustrated with all these difficult words and terms. But simple present should really be simple, shouldn't it? Just take a look at these sentences: "My name is Larry Page and I live in the United States of America. I work for Google. My best friend's name is Sergei Brin and he works for Google too. We both like developing the world's most popular search engine." Now, can you create similar sentences using the simple present? If you need some more information, please read the simple present overview.

And now it's your turn: Go to the forum and and write your own sentences with the verbs Sunny mentions in her forum post. I hope you know how to use the forum? It's very simple. You create a new account by choosing a name and password, click on the email link you receive and you are finished. Here is the registration page again. If you post your sentences on the forum, I will give you some feedback and ideas on how to improve your grammar and vocabulary skills.

In the meantime, we should finish our audio alphabet training. Here are the last letters of the alphabet for you: alphabet training. As you can see, Sue mentions quite a lot of English abbreviations in this audio session. If you want to learn more about the difference between acronyms and abbreviations, you should read acronym vs. abbreviation which explains why "NATO" is an acronym and "FBI" is an abbreviation.

Jsajad, how did you like your last test? How many of the questions did you answer right on your first try? Our new test is all about English articles and I hope you'll enjoy this one.

I look forward to meeting you on the forum.

Best regards,
Torsten

Dear Jsajad,

Today is an exciting day because in lesson 6 we are going to learn how to use the "possessive s". This might sound complicated but it's not. Take a look at these sentences: "My best friend's name is Mike. He is a self-employed data base engineer and works for several companies. Mike's goal is to start a company of his own so he can be more independent." Did you spot the possessive "s"? Here are the examples again: my best friend's name, Mike's goal

So, when do we use the "possessive s"? Read this short text and try to find out which color the possessive "s" is in  -- red or blue? You can tell me your answer on the forum if you like. In addition, you should continue practising the English alphabet because many English words are spelled differently from the way they are pronounced. That's why our next audio session contains the next letters of the English alphabet and you will hear Sue Darville spell her name. Sue also spells some English words that you can try and write down to practise the English alphabet. If you are ready for the new audio session, please click here.

And finally, it's time for our next English test which is all about modal verbs. I do hope you know what modal verbs are? Just try to answer the questions here and let me know how you did. If you have a question about modal verbs, simply click the "Click for Explanation" link next to each test question. Those links direct you to the forum where you can ask any grammar or vocabulary question. For example, if you want to know more about the difference between "must" and "had to", you click on the following link: must vs. had to

As you can see, the forum is an excellent place for you to practise your writing skills and get answers to your grammar questions and I hope you'll start using this tool soon.

Good luck!
Torsten

Dear Jsajad,

How are you getting along with your English course? This is lesson number 5 and today we are taking a closer look at personal profiles. Did you notice the difference between the two words its and it's? The first word (its) is a possessive adjective. For example, you can say "I have a car. Its color is green". The second word (it's) is the short form of "it is": What's the time? It's 6:35. Now, why don't you write a short personal profile about yourself so I get to know you better? I hope you have already registered on our forum? If not, please do so right now. Simply go to the registration page and create a new forum account. This will take less than 3 minutes. Here is the registration page: forum registration. As soon as you create your forum account, you will receive an email with a link. Please click on that link to confirm your registration. Many thanks.

On to our listening training. As you remember, last time we started to review the letters of the English alphabet and here are the next letters. So, can you spell your name now in English? Of course we are also going to take a new English test today. This time you are going to learn the difference between the verbs start and begin. If you are not sure, when to use which of these two verbs, you might want to read Alan Townend's article Start or begin? I know, there will be quite a few new words in this text and if you like, you can ask me to explain them. Simply go to the forum and post your question here.

So, see you on the forum!
Regards,
Torsten

Good morning jsajad, (or is it in the afternoon when you are reading this?) Anyway, here is email English lesson number 3 for you. Today you will learn how to introduce yourself: "Hello, my name is Alan. I'm from England in the United Kingdom so my nationality is British." This looks simple but I often see people make mistakes when they talk about themselves. That's why we have created the personal profile lesson for you. Please read these sentences aloud to memorize the grammar structures. There might be a few new vocabulary words for you such as "founder" or "trading". A company founder is a person who starts a company or website. For example, Bill Gates is the founder of Microsoft. Please also note the difference between "interesting" and "interested in". If you like doing something, you say "I'm interested in doing it." For example, you can say "I'm interested in reading thrillers" or "I'm interested in playing computer games". The word "interesting" can be used like this: "Yesterday I saw an interesting movie." Or "I really like your ideas. They are very interesting." So, please beware of the difference between "interesting" and "interested in".

Now, are you ready for some listening practice? Today, you will hear Sue talk about her daily job activities. Please listen to the MP3 files several times to make sure you understand all the vocabulary. In addition, you can read the transcript of the recording. If you want to use the text in your English class, you can download the PDF document and print it off. Once you've listened to the text, you should be able to answer the following questions: What company does Sue work for? What time does she usually start work? Why does she enjoy the personal contact with her clients? Please post your answers here on the forum.

As usual, there is a new multiple choice test waiting for you today. This time, you have to distinguish between the verbs listen and hear. If you are not sure when to use "listen to" and when "hear", you should listen to hear or listen to?

I hope this was not too confusing for you. Please do let me know what you think about this English course. You know how you can reach me, don't you? Yes, you can get in touch with us on the forum. All you need to do is register on the forum. It takes less than 2 minutes. Just click here. Once you register, you receive an automatic email that contains a link. Please click on that link to confirm your registration.

OK jsajad, stay tuned for your email English lesson number 4.

Best regards,
Torsten Daerr

Dear Jsajad,

One of the words in our previous lesson was "interesting". Now, do you know the opposite of the adjective "interesting"? Yes, it's either "boring" or "dull". Of course I hope that our English course is not dull or boring at all. You probably find it interesting and exciting, don't you? Last time we looked at "personal profiles" and today we're reviewing the possessive adjectives so you can say even more about yourself and other people.

You need to know the possessive adjectives to say that something belongs to somebody. For example: "My name is Jsajad and I work for an IT company. Our boss is a woman from Ontario, Canada. Most of our clients are from Asia and we really value their business." How many more sentences can you create using the possessive adjectives? You have probably noticed that the words "their" and "there" are pronounced the same way but of course they mean different things. Do you know what we call words that have the same sound but different spellings? Yes, they are called "homophones" or "homonyms". Here is another pair of homophones: hear and here. OK, this should be enough grammar for today. It's time for some listening practice again.

Today's audio recording is about the English alphabet. Since many English words are spelled differently from the way they are pronounced, it is very important for you to be able to use the alphabet correctly. In your next email you will receive a link to the second part of our audio alphabet recording.

Jsajad, how did you get on with your last English test? Did you get all the questions right on the first attempt? If not, you can repeat the test as often as you like. Our test today is called end or finish? Let me know how many questions you get right. As usual, I look forward to hearing your comments here on the forum.

You are going to receive lesson number 5 shortly.

Talk to you soon,
Torsten Daerr

Dear jsajad,

How are you today? This is Torsten Daerr again sending you the second of your email English lessons. Do you remember what the first lesson was about? Yes, we reviewed the personal pronouns and now it's time to take a closer look at the "be-verb" again. If you follow this lesson, you can start making simple sentences such as these: I'm from China. I'm Russian. I'm very happy. I'm a successful business person. You might have noticed that English is a rather compact language. This means, we often shorten words. For example, instead of writing "I am from Italy", we write "I'm from Italy." So, if you want to type texts in English, you often need the apostrophe ('). It's important for you to learn how to type properly right from the start. For more information please read How to type fast? In addition to typing you also want to improve your listening skills. That's why I introduced our audio English course to you in my first email. Did you listen to the recording? Did you find out where Sue Darville is from? Yes, she is from Bristol in England. Sue also wants to get to know you better and has recorded this message for you.

As you can see, this text contains a number of interesting words. For example, on the recording Sue says that she lives in a suburb. Do you know what the word 'suburb' means? Also, what is Bristol famous for? And where is the city of Leipzig? jsajad, we would like to learn more about you too. Please go to our forum and tell us where you are from. On the forum you can also meet Laura from Austin, Texas in the USA. Laura wants to become an English teacher so she can help people like you, jsajad improve their English. We hope to meet you on the forum soon. In case you haven't registered as a forum member yet  -- here is the registration page again.

I hope you have a great week. In a few days you will receive your email English lesson number 3. Until then.
Torsten Daerr

PS: I almost forgot: How did score in the English test I gave you last time? Did you get all the answers right? If yes, you should take the next test which is called Drive carefully. Good luck with the test!

It's great to hear that you want to improve your English together with us. We really look forward to working with you. My name is Torsten Daerr and I will be your personal English language coach. Together with my team I have created a wealth of materials especially for you, jsajad. I know you want to improve your English as fast as possible and I'm here to help you achieve your goal. Over the next couple of weeks you will receive short English lessons via email. In each email you will get information about the current lesson topics and Internet links to additional materials such as interactive exercises, MP3 listening audio recordings, short stories, essays, grammar explanations, forum discussions and much more.

jsajad,
Are you preparing for the TOEFL, the TOEIC or any other English language exam? If this is the case, you should start completing the free TOEFL and TOEIC based exercises on our website right now. Here are the links.
TOEFL listening comprehension TOEFL essay writing TOEFL vocabulary tests Sample TOEFL speaking Writing and speaking preparation for TOEFL TOEIC listening comprehension TOEIC Preparation System TOEIC vocabulary tests

We often receive emails and messages from advanced English learners telling us that our materials are too easy for them. jsajad, on our website you will find exercises, articles, essays, audio files and forum discussions for all levels. Just take a good look around and complete some of the tests. In addition, you can take part in the special English course 'English For Winners'.

Now, let's start with our first grammar topic -- the personal pronouns. How did you like this lesson? So, you are already familiar with the personal pronouns? That's great because this means you can try out your first English grammar test. It contains 10 questions each of which has 4 answers. Only one of those answers is correct as the test is "multiple choice". Are you ready for the test? Then please click here. Now, how many of the test questions did you get right? You don't need to worry if some of your answers were wrong because you can repeat the test as often as you like until you get all the answers right. That's the advantage of our interactive tests -- you can practise them many times and you will see how fast your English improves. It's time now for some listening practice.

We have created an audio English course for you that contains 29 short texts. You can listen to every text if you click on the "Listen to" link which you will find at the top and the bottom of every page. The text is spoken by my friend and colleague Sue Darville who also comes from England. Let's start with the Introduction. At the bottom of the text page you will also find a link to a PDF file. If you are an English teacher, you can download the PDF page, print it off and photocopy it for your students.

jsajad,
How did you like your first email English lesson? Could you understand everything that my friend, Sue Darville says in the audio recording? Did you find out what city Sue comes from? I would like to learn more about you, too. What country are you from? If you want to communicate with me, please use our forum. You can register on the forum for free -- it takes just 2 minutes. Simply select a forum user name such as jsajad and a password, for example "jsajadnow". Once you have registered on the forum, you will get an email. Please click on the link to confirm your registration. Here is the forum registration page.

Many thanks for your interest. You will receive your next email English lessons in a few days. Until then.
Sincerely yours,
Torsten Daerr