Welcome to Amanda's ESL Blog!

Hello!

It’s the beginning of a new semester and I am excited to enhance my grammar skills. Grammar was never my strong point, so I know this class will be a challenge for me. I am also excited to read my classmate’s blogs. It will be nice to learn about everyone outside of the classroom. Throughout this semester, I hope to keep you interested on posts about my daily experiences, cooking and my favorite recipes, my crazy Italian family, and my favorite reality television shows. However, you will have to stay tuned for more gossip.

I bet you are all wondering how I got here. Growing up I always knew I wanted to be a language teacher. No class kept me intrigued like the Spanish classroom did. I went off to Iona College to study Spanish Education. After I graduated with a degree in Adolescent Spanish Education, I was not eager to apply for jobs. I was not confident enough to teach the language. I decided to go back to school full-time for my master’s degree in the TESOL program.  

                I currently live in Lynbrook with my parents and my dog, Boo Boo. My younger brother is away at college, who I miss every day. I work part-time babysitting for my cousin Mike. He has 2 kids who are 2.5 years old and 4 months. I also babysit for another family with twins who are 1 year old. I love spending my time with children and there is nothing else I would rather do.

               

That’s all for now! J

“Make it a great day or not. The choice is yours!”

               

Vocabulary

Enhance: to improve or develop

Challenge: a task; test

Daily: day-to-day; every day

Gossip: conversation or chit chat

Intrigued: fascinated, interested or attracted

Adolescent:  When speaking about adolescent in the field of education it refers to students in grades 7-12.

Eager: enthusiastic or excited

Confident: assured; assertive

Currently: presently; at this point in time

Exercise

1.       I am looking forward to ____________ my grammar skills and continue learning to better my knowledge as a language/ESL teacher.

2.       Now, I am ____________ living at home with my family and babysitting while attending graduate school full-time.

3.       After I graduated Iona College with a degree in ____________ Spanish Education, I was not ________ to begin teaching. I decided graduate school would be a better option for me.

4.       During my high school days, the Spanish classroom always kept me __________. I was fascinated by learning a new language and culture other than my own.

5.       Throughout this blogging experience, I hope to keep you interested by posting interesting __________ experiences and other things that I enjoy doing.

6.       I decided not to get a job teaching Spanish right away because I was not _________ enough with the language to teach it.

Grammar Point

In the second paragraph I used the past tense. Can you pick out the verbs in the past tense and explain why I used this?

Can you tell me what tense I used in the third paragraph and why?