Chinese, Chamber, Classroom Courses

As August comes to a close and I finish my TESOL certification, more distractions rear their ugly heads. One is the start of the fall school semester. Courses in Classroom Management, Mandarin Chinese, and Chamber Music begin. Substitute Teaching begins. Chamber Music class has guitars this term so it looks like I'll be doing double duty. I do seem to thrive on a little stress. The trick is knowing what's "a little". Found a neat site "Skrittle.com" for practicing Chinese characters. Still hoping to learn 800 by next summer.

Grammar Police

Part of the fun in taking the TESOL course is relearning English grammar. Yesterday I became reacquainted with the Gerund (verb + ing = noun) and the difference between possessive adjectives and pronouns. This pen is his (possessive pronoun) This is his pen (possessive adjective). Today is examining tenses (thus named because thinking about them makes one tense).

The Present Perfect Tense. Here is a brief review of the form and function of the present perfect tense.

• When the time period has not finished: I have seen three movies this week. (This week has not finished yet.)
• When the time is not mentioned: Gerry has failed his exam again.
• When the time is recent: Ikuko has just arrived in Victoria.
• Often used with for and since. Greg has lived here for 20 years. Greg has lived here since 1978.
• Formed like this: "have" plus "past participle"