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United States English Introduction

(Redirected from American English)

This is ENG 099, a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in conversational American English (USA) for EFL/ESL/ELL/ESOL students that was offered in the summer of 2016! :)

We will study English together so our skills can grow like this tree!

Summer 2016 Calendar

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Week 1: Monday, August 8th to Sunday, August 14th

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Please do all of the work below. By Sunday the 14th at 11:59 PM USA CDT, please e-mail the teacher at contact@mr.danoff.org with your speaking and writing homework.

 
The first week we will be studying Adidas and the basic sentence.

Before you begin, please watch this video from your teacher for details about this week's work.

Reading and Listening[1]

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We will study the company Adidas this week. You will read a text about Adidas and listen to a recording.

First

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Grammar[2][3][4] & Punctuation[5]

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We will study the basic sentence this week. You will read a text about sentence grammar and do two exercises. If you want more practice, there are an optional text and video.

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Optional

Read

Watch

Writing & Speaking[6]

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You will use the sentence grammar and punctuation skills you studied to write proper sentences, next you will watch a short video on speaking English, then record yourself reading your sentences and last you will e-mail the teacher your work.

First

  • you will write sentences to answer the following questions:
    1. What is your name?
    2. How old are you?
    3. Where are you from?
    4. When did you start studying English?
    5. Did you like the passage and podcast on Adidas? Why?
    6. Did you the like the grammar and punctuation exercises? Why?
  • You can type your sentences or write them on paper and take a picture of the paper.

Next

Next

Next

  • you will make a recording of yourself reading the sentences you wrote aloud.

Last (SEND TO TEACHER)

 
He's only a little "prodigy" of mine, Doctor.

Week 2: Monday, August 15th to Sunday, August 21st

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Please do all of the work below. By Sunday, August 21st at 11:59 PM USA CDT, please e-mail the teacher at contact@mr.danoff.org with your speaking and writing homework.

Before you begin, please watch this video from your teacher for details about week two work.

 
In week two we will study Nike and the subject of a sentence.

Reading and Listening[1]

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This week we will study the company Nike. You will read a text about Nike and listen to a recording.

First

Last

Grammar[2] & Punctuation[5]

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This week we will study the subject. The Simple English Wiktionary defines it as:

In English grammar, the subject of a sentence is usually a noun that comes before the verb. This noun is usually the thing that is doing the action, and it is usually the topic of the sentence.
In the sentence, "Tom gave the box to Wilma", Tom is the subject.

You will read a text about the subject, do three exercises and review your punctuation work from last week.

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Next

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  1. My sister’s name is Jackie.
  2. Friday is my favorite day of the week.
  3. I like watching Eastenders on BBC 1.
  4. Charles Dickens was a famous writer. He was born in Portsmouth.
  5. Lisa and Chantal are going on holiday to Portugal in May.
  6. Did you go to school today?
  7. My new address is 248 Normanton Road in Nottingham.
  8. When are you going to the hospital?
  9. My doctor is getting a new receptionist. She’s called Louise Robson.
  10. Ben and I are going to look around Leicester Grammar School on Wednesday.

Last

Writing & Speaking

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You will use the grammar and punctuation skills you studied to write proper sentences, next you will record yourself reading your sentences and last you will e-mail the teacher your work.

First

  • you will write sentences to answer the following questions:
    1. Where do you buy your shoes?
    2. Do you like big shoe companies? Why?
    3. Do you like Nike or Adidas or both? Why?
    4. Do you want to buy Nike or Adidas shoes? Why?
    5. What other shoe companies do you like?
    6. Did you like the reading text and listening recording about Nike? Why?
    7. Did you like the grammar and punctuation exercises? Why?
    8. What was your score on the first punctuation exercise?
    9. How do you chat with your friends on your phone and computer? Do you use software? What software?

Next

  • you will make a recording of yourself reading the sentences you wrote aloud.

Last (SEND TO TEACHER)

 
Oh! Sir, stop that dog!

Week 3: Monday, August 22nd to Sunday, August 28th

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Please do all of the work below. By Sunday, August 28th at 11:59 PM USA CDT, please e-mail the teacher at contact@mr.danoff.org with your speaking and writing homework.

Before you begin, please watch this video from your teacher for details about week two work.

 
In week three we will study Puma, the object and the verb.

Vocabulary

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To start this week we will study 5 words that you will find in the reading text and listening recording on Puma.

  1. manufacturer (noun)
    • The Wiktionary definition of "manufacturer" is: one that manufactures
    • And the Wiktionary definition of "manufacture" is: Anything made, formed or produced
      • Example sentence: Puma is a manufacturer that makes shoes.
  2. lifestyle (noun)
    • The Wiktionary definition of "lifestyle" is: A style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group.
      • My lifestyle is active. I run and play soccer everyday.
  3. persuaded (verb)
    • "persuaded" is the simple past tense and past participle of "persuade" which is defined by Wiktionary as: To successfully convince (someone) to agree to, accept, or do something, usually through reasoning and verbal influence.
      • I am happy my mom persuaded me to study my English. Now I can talk to people from countries all over the world.
  4. revenues (noun)
    • Revenues is the plural form of revenue which is defined by Wiktionary as: The total income received from a given source.
      • Big companies make millions of dollars in revenue every month selling shoes.
  5. sustainable (adjective)
    • The Wiktionary definition of "sustainable" is: Able to be produced or sustained for an indefinite period without damaging the environment, or without depleting a resource; renewable
      • Some companies believe sustainable business choices are more expensive today, but cheaper over the next 50 years of the business' life.

Reading and Listening[1]

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This week we will study the company Puma. You will read a text about Puma and listen to a recording.

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Grammar[2] & Punctuation[5]

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We will start this week by studying the object. Wiktionary defines it as:

The noun phrase which is an internal complement of a verb phrase or a prepositional phrase. In a verb phrase with a transitive action verb, it is typically the receiver of the action.
In the sentence, "Tom gave the box to Wilma", The box is the object.

Then we will study the verb. Wiktionary defines it as:

A word that indicates an action, event, or state.
The word “speak” is an English verb.

Most sentences have a subject, object, and verb. We are learning the basics so it will be easier for you to use English!

You will read a text about the verb, do an exercises and review your punctuation work from last week.

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  1. How do I get to the library from here?
  2. The coach for London leaves in about half an hour.
  3. My birthday is in September. I usually go out for a drink with my friends.
  4. What do you want for dinner tonight?
  5. Birmingham is the second largest city in the UK.
  6. I’ll have a Coke please and two packets of Walkers crisps.
  7. If you need to see a consultant go to the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.
  8. Mary Poppins is my mum’s favourite film. She likes Julie Andrews.
  9. I drive a red Fiat Punto and my uncle drives a green BMW.
  10. I joined Morton Park Golf Club last week. It was very expensive.

Writing & Speaking

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You will use the grammar and punctuation skills you studied to write proper sentences, next you will record yourself reading your sentences and last you will e-mail the teacher your work.

First

  • you will write 5 total sentences using the vocabulary words you studied above. For example, "My lifestyle is active." uses the word "lifestyle". You will write sentences with the words:
    • manufacturer,
    • lifestyle,
    • persuaded,
    • revenues and
    • sustainable.
  • then you will write sentences to answer the following questions:
    1. Did you see any athlets at the olympics wearing Adidas, Nike or Puma products? Who? When?
    2. Do you like studying shoe companies? Why?
    3. Do you like the course exercises, reading texts, listening recordings and videos? Why?
    4. Do you have any suggestions to make the course better?

Next

  • you will make a recording of yourself reading the sentences you wrote aloud.

Last (SEND TO TEACHER)

Week 4: Monday, August 29th to Monday, September 5th

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  • Break week, time for everyone to catch up on homework and/or relax.

Week 5: Tuesday, September 5th to Monday, September 12th

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In week 5 we will study English greetings and how to make sentences with a subject and a verb.

Vocabulary

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We will use these words and phrases this week to study greetings.

If you do not know any of the words, please look them up with OneLook Dictionary Search. It is my favorite website for looking up words because it searches many dictionaries at one time. I think is better to find more than one definition for all words.

  1. Hello
  2. How are you?
  3. I’m fine = Fine, thank you
  4. Thank you
  5. You? = And you? (as a response to an earlier How are you?)
  6. Too
  7. Yo = Hello
  8. What’s up? = How are you?
  9. Not much = I’m fine. = Fine, thank you.

Reading and Listening

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This week we will study greetings. We will learn what to say when you meet someone. If you already know English greetings, please use this time to review! Maybe you will learn something new!

You will watch and listen to a video about greetings and read two blog posts.

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Grammar[2] & Punctuation[5]

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This week we will use the subject, object and verb together. You will use what you learned in weeks 1, 2 and 3 together!

You will read a text about subjects and verbs and do two exercises to practice.

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  • do the "Subject Verb Object Place Time 2" exercise on page 61 of the PDF for more practice your skills making sentences with a subject, verb, object place and time.

Speaking

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This week you need to practice the greetings you learned. Find a friend and say the English greetings together! You can talk to someone in your home town or over the internet.

Writing

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This week you will write proper sentences to talk about your speaking work.

First

  • you will write sentences to answer the following questions:
    1. Who did you practice your greetings with? Where did you practice? Online? In your home town? When did you practice?
      • Try to write one sentence with a a subject, verb, object place and time to answer this question!
    2. Did you enjoy practicing the greeting? Why?
      • Write 2 or more sentences to answer this question.
    3. Do you like the greeting? Why?
      • Write 2 or more sentences to answer this question.
    4. Do you know any other English greetings?
    5. How do you greet people in your language in your country?

Last (SEND TO TEACHER)

Week 6: Tuesday, September 13th to Monday, September 20th

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In week 6 we will study USA history and how to make questions.

Vocabulary

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We will use these words and phrases this week for our reading and listening work.

If you do not know any of the words, please look them up with OneLook Dictionary Search. It is my favorite website for looking up words because it searches many dictionaries at one time. I think is better to find more than one definition for all words.

If you do not want to use OneLook, that's OK! Use your favorite dictionary! :)

  1. reason
  2. seek
  3. treaty
  4. diverse
  5. sophisticated
  6. force
  7. participate
  8. power
  9. law
  10. commonwealth

Reading and Listening

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This week we will study the history of the United States of America to learn about the start of the country. You will read a text and listen to a recording about the USA.

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Grammar[2] & Punctuation[5]

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This week we will study how to make questions so you can learn from your friends who speak English!

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Speaking

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This week you will read more about American greetings and farewells, or how to say good bye to people.

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  • practice your greetings and farewells in English with a friend!

Writing

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This week you will write proper sentences about you USA history, making questions and your speaking work.

First

  • you will write sentences to answer the following questions:
    1. Did you like the text about USA history? Why?
    2. Have you studied USA history before?
    3. Do you think the text is true? Why? Do you know different stories about USA history?
    4. Was it useful to study how to make questions? Why?
    5. Who did you practice your greetings with? Where did you practice? Online? In your home town? When did you practice?
    6. Did you enjoy practicing the farewell? Why?
    7. Do you like the formal greeting? Why?
    8. Were you happy with the course?
    9. Do you think your English improved?
    10. What is your English level now?
      • Low Beginning
      • High Beginning
      • Low Intermediate
      • High Intermediate
      • Advanced

Last (SEND TO TEACHER)

Summer 2016 Syllabus

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Policies

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  1. Each week, all homework is due by the date indicated on the calendar.
  2. Students must complete all homework to get a certificate of completion.

About the Course

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This course is taught by Mr. Charlie Danoff and is the third sequence of ENG 099. You can review archives of the first two sequences at http://mr.danoff.org/eng099

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Adidas,Nike and Puma reading texts and listening recordings are from Business English Materials.com: Free 20-page printable handouts, downloads, MP3 listening and online quizzes. Copyright © 2010 by Sean Banville and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Required Grammar texts and exercises are from the Athabasca University Mobile ESL Research Project Copyright © 2007 and Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported licensed.
  3. ↑ The "What is a Sentence" text is from the English Grammar Wikibook.
  4. ↑ The video is from English With Jennifer and has a standard YouTube license.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Punctuation materials from English Banana.com are by Matt Purland and are in the Public Domain.
  6. ↑ The speaking exercise is from the Internet Archive version of ESL 101 and is Copyright © 2010-2016 Saylor Academy. Except where otherwise noted, content on the site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. The speaking video is "Teach English: EFL/ESL Part 3/6" by Richard Graham and has a standard YouTube license
  7. ↑ Book is from the [United States of America State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/publication/2011/05/20110503102620su0.9316457.html#axzz4KCzjdgKt]
  8. ↑ Book is from the [U.S. State Department https://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/everyday-conversations-learning-american-english]
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