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Learning English [Emphatic Expressions - Strong Collocations]

nospam@example.com (George Huang) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:23:42 -0400

Sometime, We need to use the emphatic expressions to stress our opinions to others. Here is a list of some of the most common these intensifiers. These emphatic expressions are used in formal English in written document and when speaking at formal occasions such as business meetings and giving presentations.

Intensifiers	Collocations	Example
Categorically : in every manner, without reserve	categorically deny : in no way did I do something	We categorically deny any involvement in the scandal.
deeply : strongly, with much feeling	deeply regret : I am strongly sorry for my actions.	I deeply regret the loss of your loved one.
Enthusiastically – with great joy	enthusiastically endorse: I happily, and with my whole heart believe in something.	I enthusiastically endorse the local cancer society.
freely – without hesitation	freely appreciate – I certainly understand something	We freely appreciate the difficulties in this market
fully – completely, without any doubt	fully recognize – I am aware of some situation	I fully recognize your need to improve your career.
honestly – truly believing	honestly believe – I think something is true without and doubt	I honestly believe he is telling the truth
positively – without any doubt	positively encourage – I hope that you do something very strongly	We’d like to positively encourage you to buy this stock
readily - without hesitation	readily endorse – I believe in something someone else does without hesitation	Our company readily endorses his run for office
sincerely – with best wishes	sincerely hope – I honestly want something for someone else	I sincerely hope you are able to find employment soon
strongly – with conviction	strongly recommend – I really think you should do something	I’d like to strongly recommend you visi an employment specialist.
totally – without any doubt	totally reject – I refuse to believe or do in any case.	They totally reject any compromise in these negotiations.
utterly – without any doubt	utterly refuse – I completely do not want to do or believe	I’m afraid I utterly refuse to believe anything he says.

Learning English [Tips for presentation]

nospam@example.com (George Huang) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:30:53 -0400

As a businessman, you always present the chance, the project or something to your customers, your boss, your colleagues, But how do it well ? please follow next ...

Above all know your audience and match what you say to their needs. Creating your presentation with your audience in mind[thinking about a person], will assure that your audience will follow you. If your presentation doesn’t appeal to your audience [to speak to someone’s interests]– no matter how well you have developed your presentation – your presentation will fall on deaf ears[to not be heard]. This leads us to the next rule : Know your material thoroughly. Your material needs to be second nature[to do something naturally, with little effort] to you. Practice and rehearse your presentation with friends, in front of a mirror, and with colleagues. If you are speaking in a second language, maker sure that you record yourself and listen a number of times before going to practice with a native speaker.

Remember that you are an actor when presenting. Make sure that not only your physical appearance is appropriate to the occasion, but also the tone your use is well chosen. If your topic is serious, be solemn. However, it’s always a good idea to begin your presentation with an ice-breaker[a short story or joke to put everyone at ease before you begin]. Don’t worry about making friends, rather lead the audience through your materials in a calm and relaxed manner. Speak slowly and clearly, and remember to address everyone in the audience – even the person the farthest away from you.

To achieve the above goals follow these tips when giving your presentation.

Speak with conviction. Believe what you are saying and you will persuade your audience;

Do not read from notes. Referring to notes is fine, but do so only briefly;

Maintain eye contact with your audience. Making direct eye contact with individuals will help them feel as if they are participating in your presentation;

Bring handouts. Don’t just use a pwoerpoint presentation. Provide audience members with handouts of the most important materials so they can keep your most important take always in mind;

Know when to stop. This can not be underestimated. You need to make your case[to state information relating to your position], but continuing for too long will only ensure that the audience forget what you have said.

Learning English [View of Communicating with native speakers]

nospam@example.com (George Huang) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:01:58 -0400

A teacher, who is teaching Business English courses, was surprised by one fact that multinationals invest a surprising amount to teach basic English skills to a wide variety of employees. These learners vary in level form beginner to advanced. They are working in entry-level to management positions. They all strive to improve their command of English, and are usually successful in their efforts. Unfortunately, after attaining a certain degree of fluency they invariably run into the same problem: Communicating with a native speaker! What! What good is all this teaching if they have problems communicating with the people whose language they are supposedly learning?!

There are two interesting points to this observation:

Students often don’t have problems communicating with other non-native speakers.

This is often the case, as other non-native speakers tend to not use idiomatic language and us a limited range of vocabulary. Their grammatical use is often more “bookish”. Students who study English as a second or foreign language tend to communicate their ideas with few cultural references. You certainly would not expect German and Japanese businessmen to use sporting idioms from US culture to communicate their ideas about a sales campaign. Another important point is that non-native speakers are usually more patient with each other when it comes to variations in pronunciation. All of these factors work together to help non-native speakers have a relatively easy time when communicating with amongst themselves.

Native speakers seem to speak English differently.

Native speakers’ use of the language often reflects their own culture bias. They bring standard idioms into play that, in their own environment, seem perfectly natural. They often prefer a highly idiomatic use of the language. Phrasal verbs and slang creep into their expressions. Take for example of the issue of connected speech : “ I’ve got to go to the bank” easily becomes “ I gotta go to bank.”. These minor issues quickly become overwhelming to non-native speakers who are used to standard forms. This, of course, does not mean that native speakers use English incorrectly and speak in dialects. It does however mean that native speakers tend to economize and use English which, especially in today’s hyper-speed world, is constantly evolving in terms of vocabulary, collocation and idiomatic usage.

Learning English [Usage of IN/AT/ON]

nospam@example.com (George Huang) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:00:18 -0400

I hope who visited this blog do not laught at me. I just study this way to study and consolidate my english knowledge....

Usage of IN/AT/ON

IN: 1) Use with cities,countries, stats, 2) Use with space 3) used with months, years and periods of time

AT: 1) Use with place 2) with places on a page of paper 3) with group of people 4) with precise time;

ON: 1) Use with surface 2) with small island 3) with directions 4) with days of the week 5) with specific calendar days;

Learning English[Pefect Form]

nospam@example.com (George Huang) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:39:20 -0400

From now, I will update the tips of learning english I got from other website, I hope it will be helpful to them who is starting learning english. Also I want to consolidate my english knowledge by this way. [PEFECT FORM] There are two types of perfect tenses; Simple Perfect & Progressive Perfect. Simple perfect includes present perfect, past perfect, future perfect, Progressive perfect includes present perfect progressive, past perfect progressive , future progressive perfect. The perfect forms are generally used to represent/express something that happened up to another point in time. (I comprehend that the perfect forms usually represent the activity in progress in the period) The difference between simple and progressive perfect is 1) progressive is only used with ACITION verbs 2) simple perfect expresses finished QUANTITIES, progressive perfect is stressing the continuous duration of specific action mentioned. Example : He has been driving for 6 hours, and he has driven 300 miles. The first sentence want to express the duration of the action - "DRIVE CAR" the emphasis of the second sentence is the QUANTITIES - "300 miles" Present progressive perfect has some points as listed below; 1) emphasize the RECENCY of a past activity; 2) emphasis on the DURATION or LENGTH of an activity; 3) recently finished activity with a present result; Present perfect's points are 1) an actitivty happened INDEFINITE time in the past; 2) emphasis on the QUANTITY of the activity happened; 3) DURATION from past to present; If the case of verbs of living, occupation or vocation, there is no difference between progressive present perfect and simple present perfect For example 1) She has been working hard recently. The emphasis is on the word - "RECENTLY", maybe she did not work hard before. 2) JACK has been painting for 4 hours. "4 hours" is point, maybe the next sentence said, he must have a rest... 3) I have been working in the garden, that's why my hands are so dirty; the progressive perfect provide the cause of next sentence. 4) he has written 3 books Nobody know when he wrote the books; 5) She has read 100 books in this year; "100 books" is what this sentence want to stress; 6)I have been living in this city for 5 years I have lived in this city for 5 years the meannings of the two sentence are same.