MyEnglishTutor

Explained:

Beatrice only uses English in a monthly meeting at work. She wants to improver her English for her private life and overall professional development. "I enjoy drinking[^1] champagne at New Year. My boyfriend doesn't like drinking it. He thinks it's too fizzy. So I asked him whether[^1] he wanted wine or beer." ### Explained: Hamburger or hotdog? Lobster or veal[^3]? What to say when you are asked what you like or don't like. ### Trained: I like eating veal with white wine. I prefer drinking red wine with lobster. He asked me if I preferred caesar salad, tomato salad or seafood salad.
They discussed whether to order crab or shrimp cocktail for starters.
Do you like eating potato skins? Or do you prefer having mashed potato with your meat?

~ Tom asked Harry whether/if he had read the newspaper.

However, after certain verbs and constructions, only ‘whether’ may be used, after the verbs ‘advise,’ ‘discuss’ and ‘consider.’
~ Ben and Julie discussed whether they should buy a new car.

‘Whether’ must be used before infinitives.
~ They talked about whether to get a convertible or a pick-up.

‘Whether’ must be used before the construction ‘or not.’
~ She wanted to know whether or not he was coming.

---

~ Comment below and join the MyEnglishTutor community or sign up for classes.
~ Have Questions?

Explained:

Ines works in HR in a large sheet metal stamping company and needs to make presentations, first to her boss, then to companies or other departments. She specifically wants to improve her grammar skills.

Trained:

Attendance at midnight mass went up (go) this year, according to the Catholic Church.

Question it!
~ Say it:Attendance at midnight mass went up this year, according to the Catholic Church. ~ Question the text ~ What went up this year? Answer: Attendance. ~ What did attendance do this year? Answer: Go up. ~ When did attendance go up? Answer: This year. ~ According to who did attendance go up? Answer: The Catholic Church. Work on it! ~ Make a new sentence changing the subject and object of 'went up' ~ Find another subject of 'attendance' ~ Your answer: ~ Find a modifier of 'go up' ~ Your answer: ~ Find another modifier of 'year' ~ Your answer: Get ready for it! ~ Place, time, characters and situation ~ Place: ~ Your Company 2017 ~ Time: ~ Presenting the quarterly report ~ Characters: ~ You, your boss and another manager ~ Situation: ~ Say how the number of employees has changed. ~ Example: The situation improved suddenly. Sales dropped slowly. ~ Production fell drastically. Costs increased slightly.
~ the rate of absenteeism rose last year
~ the number of sick employees shot up last year
~ the number of employees on payroll shot up due to an acquisition
~ the number of managers we headhunted reached a high of about 50.

What’s next?
~ Schedule a class
~ Make a comment below

---

~ Comment below and join the MyEnglishTutor community or sign up for classes.
~ Have Questions?

Explained:

Using a traffic light system to interrupt a speaker you don’t understand.

Trained:

Brrritain prepares for Brrrexit

People are stuck in traffic outside British ports. "We're going nowhere" It'll take two years to get out" "Conditions are treacherous"

“Are we there yet?”
“It’s Canada plus plus plus”

Before you go on^[1], I’m a bit confused about^[2] the spelling of Brrritain and Brrrexit

Why is it spelt with two R’s^[3]?

• When it’s cold, we say ‘Brrr’

Before you go on^[1] Jason, I didn’t get the word ‘stuck’^[2] in traffic.

What does ‘stuck’ mean^[3]?

• Stuck means you are unable to leave

I’m sorry to interrupt you again^[1], but why does he say^[2] “We're going nowhere”?

It’s obvious they’re going nowhere because they are stuck in traffic^[3].

I’m sorry to interrupt you again^[1] but I’m a bit confused about^[2] why it will take two years to get out of the traffic jam

Why two years? Surely it’s two hours??^[3]

• No, they’re talking about the transition period!

Before you go on^[1], I don’t get the word^[2], “treacherous” - what does it mean?

treacherous adj (person: disloyal) sleale, infido agg
treacherous adj figurative (conditions: dangerous) pericoloso agg

Green

See More

---

~ Comment below and join the MyEnglishTutor community or sign up for classes.
~ Have Questions?

---

1. Red
   STOP - interrupt politely
   "I’m sorry to interrupt you…"
   “Before you go on” ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

2. Amber
   EXPLAIN - explain the interruption briefly
   "but I am (a bit) confused"…
   “I didn’t get your point about …” ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

3. FOCUS- locate the precise language difficulty
   "What was the last word… ‘dis-’…?" ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

Explained:

A. often needs to check[^1] what he hears. He often has difficulty with British accents. ### Trained: She says, It must have been fate that brought us together. He replies, no, not fate, just an algorithm. 1. Question it! ~ Say it:She says, it must have been fate that brought us together. He replies, no, not fate, just an algorithm.
~ Question the text
~ What must it have been to bring you together? Answer: fate
~ Who did fate bring together? Answer: us.
~ What kind of algorithm brought us together? Answer: just an algorithm.

2. Work on it!
   ~ Make a new sentence changing the subject and object of ‘went up’
   ~ Find another subject of ‘bring’
   ~ Your answer:
   ~ Find a modifier of ‘fate’
   ~ Your answer:
   ~ Find another object of ‘bring’
   ~ Your answer:

3. Get ready for it!
   ~ Place, time, characters and situation
   ~ Place:
   ~ A park bench
   ~ Time:
   ~ On Sunday afternoon.
   ~ Characters:
   ~ You and your new girlfriend
   ~ Situation:
   ~ Explain how you met.
   ~ Example:
   ~ You said something and then you lost me. Did you say that fate brought us together? You are speaking too quickly for me. Did you say fate or date? I didn’t catch every word of what you just said. One thing is not clear for me. What exactly do you we mean by ‘algorithm’?

4. What’s next?
   ~ Schedule a class
   ~ Make a comment below

---

~ Comment below and join the MyEnglishTutor community or sign up for classes.
~ Have Questions?

Explained:

A works at the Ministerial Residenz in S. He’s the caretaker there.

It’s Friday afternoon, and I'm looking forward to the weekend; Tomorrow we are opening[^1] the Residenz to the general public. I'm on duty. ### Trained: Describing pictures [picture of a car] ~ John is sitting in the passenger seat; the driver is smoking a cigarette. Do you drink and drive? No, I certainly don't. Do you drive and smoke? Yes, why not? It's allowed, isn't it?

[picture of a bus stop]
~ They are standing at a bus stop; they are waiting for a bus

Do you find that when you wait for a bus… two buses come at the same time?

[picture of someone swimming in the sea]
~ She is swimming in the sea … Is she swimming with dolphins? Is she swimming is shark infested water?

[picture of a beach]
~ She reading a e-book on her Ipad /kindle.

Do you go to the beach when you go on holiday?
No, we don’t have beaches in S. People go to the lakeside.

---

~ Comment below and join the MyEnglishTutor community or sign up for classes.
~ Have Questions?

Explained:

P. lives in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province and works as a manager in WCM (World Class Manufacturing). She helps plants build systems and supports workers with training and improvements. She reports to France and therefore uses English, but mainly in writing and reading; she needs speaking practice. ### Trained: Formal[^1] Email Dear Manager, I'm writing to discuss the agenda for our meeting with our GM. Would you be so kind and confirm the available time with Mr. Xuzhou. In this meeting, we would like to focus on the logic of WCM system.
I would like to propose that the meeting last 3 hours [and no longer].
I would appreciate it if the meeting lasted no longer than 3 hours because I need to catch my return flight @1700.

I would rather not waste your time if you think 3 hours is too short. In this case, I would appreciate it if we re-scheduled the meeting to another time. Best regards, P. Informal[^1] email to colleague Hi Jason! I want to know why the meeting is 3 hours long. I don't want to waste my time. Do me a favour and check if three hours is long enough. I'm fed up with travelling long distances to attend meetings that are a waste of time!

Sorry for being so direct! Just call me if you have any questions,
TY[^2],
P.

[^1] Formal and Informal

Formal	Informal
Thank you	thanks!
I would like to apologize for	Sorry for
I would appreciate it if you …	Do me a favour and …
Would you happen to know if…?	Do you know if …?
Unfortunately I will not be able to	I can’t
I would rather not	I don’t want to
Would you be so kind and	Can you
I’m writing to express my dissatisfaction	I’m fed up with
Please contact me if …	Just call if …

[^2] Abbreviations:

LOL = laugh out loud
BBL = be back later
TY = Thank you
L8R = later
IMO = in my opinion
FYI = for your information
BTW = by the way
CU = see you
BR = Best regards

---

~ Comment below and join the MyEnglishTutor community or sign up for classes.
~ Have Questions?

Explained:

S. is flying to China on Saturday. He will meet his new colleagues for the first time. He needs to practice his cross cultural introductions.

I trust we will make a good team. I hope we’ll be able to work well together.

1. Question it!
   ~ Say it:I trust we will make a good team. I hope we'll be able to work well together.
   ~ Question the text
   ~ What does he trust they will make? Answer: a good team.
   ~ What kind of team does he trust they’ll make? Answer: a good one.
   ~ How does he hope they’ll be able to work together? Answer: well.

2. Work on it!
   ~ Make a new sentence changing the subject and object of ‘went up’
   ~ Find another subject of ‘work’
   ~ Your answer:
   ~ Find a modifier of ‘work’
   ~ Your answer:
   ~ Find another sentence-object of ‘trust’
   ~ Your answer:

3. Get ready for it!
   ~ Place, time, characters and situation
   ~ Place:
   ~ A project kick off meeting
   ~ Time:
   ~ Ten o’clock in the morning
   ~ Characters:
   ~ You and your new client
   ~ Situation:
   ~ Explain your hopes for the new joint venture.
   ~ Example:
   ~ It’s a pleasure to work with you on this project
   It’s a pleasure being able to work with you
   I understand that …
   I thought it would be a good idea to …
   He suggested we talk together.
   I imagine we will touch base later.
   I understand that we will be working together.
   I would appreciate it if we could meet to discuss…
   May I ask you to …
   It has been a pleasure talking with you.

4. What’s next?
   ~ Schedule a class
   ~ Make a comment below

---

~ Comment below and join the MyEnglishTutor community or sign up for classes.
~ Have Questions?.

Explained:

F. welcomes a visitor today and wants to ‘put the welcome mat out’

Trained:

~ F: I hope that your journey - flight - trip was OK.
V: It wasn’t bad, thank you.
F: Before starting the meeting …would you like some refreshments? A coffee or tea perhaps? V: That would be nice. F: Would you like to freshen up? [use the bathroom, take off your coat] V: [nods] F: Let me show you where the bathroom is..If you would follow me .. [Please follow me .. Allow me ..] [They walk down the corridor and meet the boss] ~ F: Let me introduce you to Emilio; Emilio, this is Jason, from the UK. Jason, this is Emilio, the director of ... Or: [knocks on door] ~ F: Come in ! Come in! I won't be a moment … I’m just in the middle of something. Help yourself to some refreshments … you can freshen up in the bathroom; it’s just down the corridor

---

~ Comment below and join the MyEnglishTutor community or sign up for classes.
~ Have Questions?

### Explained:
Heng Jian trains assembly operators in his car factory| |### Trained:| |:-:| || |Speak it| |:-:| | The way to learn is to watch me.

Explain it
The way to learn is to watch me.
~ What is the way to learn? Answer: to watch me

~ Who must you watch? Answer: me.
~ Why must you watch me? Answer: learn. |

Write it
~ Make a new sentence changing the subject and object of ‘went up’

~ Find another subject of ‘is’
~ Your answer:
~ Find a modifier of ‘way’
~ Your answer:
~ Find another object of ‘learn’
~ Your answer: |

Train it
~ Place, time, characters and situation

~ Place:
~ The factory floor
~ Time:
~ When you train a new operator
~ Characters:
~ You and your new operator
~ Situation:
~ Explain how to get the qualification:
~ Example: I want to explain how you get the qualification.|

Speak it

Explain it

Write it

Train it

What’s next?
~ Schedule a class
~ Make a comment below

---

~ Comment below and join the MyEnglishTutor community or sign up for classes.
~ Have Questions?

The CEFR Assessment Levels

PROFICIENT USER	C2	Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations.
	C1	Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.
INDEPENDENT USER	B2	Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
	B1	Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.
BASIC USER	A2	Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.
	A1	Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.

---

~ Comment below and join the MyEnglishTutor community or sign up for classes.

Frequency Asked Questions.