Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Extreme Adjectives

What are extreme adjectives?
'Tokyo's subway is packed at rush-hour.' Oversusing the word 'very' when talking can be boring for the person listening.
For example: "Yesterday, It was very hot, so I went to the park, but it was very crowded. There was a very big dog in the park and I was very scared when it ran by me. I started to feel very hungry so I decided to buy an ice-cream. The ice-cream I bought was very cold, but it tasted very bad. I think it was old. I tried to complain but the seller didn't care. I was very angry! Unfortunately, I was very tired and I didn't feel like arguing. On the way home I stopped in a cafe and drank a cold glass of lemonade. It was very good!"
Instead of using 'very' too much we can use 'extreme adjectives'. These adjectives mean very + adjective. As extreme adjectives have a strong enough meaning, you do not need to use 'very'. If you want to make them stronger, you can use 'absolutely' before the extreme adjective.
Now, re-read the short story above and replace the bold words with extreme adjectives. Click here to do this exercise. You can also try this to have some more practice.

Always look on the bright side of life


Lyrics | Monti Python lyrics - Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life lyrics

Adjectives to express feelings

In this video you´ll find some adjectives we´ve already seen in class along with some others that will help you to improve your vocabulary on this matter.

The pursuit of happiness


In Bhutan,a small Himalayan county, progress is measured by how happy people are, not how much wealth people have.
Should you happen to be interested in knowing more about this news item click here. Not only will you be able to read this opinion article but also to follow the listening, which will definitely help you with your pronunciation.
How happy are you? Try this quizz that will guide you in the right direction for finding your happiness.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Informal and Formal writing

In order to help you with your writing try these exercises to see how well you can use formal and informal language. You can also have a go with this website to practice formal expressions.