A Spot of GRAMMAR

WISH - VS - HOPE

Wish is most commonly used in hypothetical (or imagined) situations:

I wish that I had a car. (I don't really have a car, but if I did, I would be happy.)
I wish (that) my brother were here. (Unfortunately, he’s not, and I miss him.)

Sometimes wish is used in greeting and expressions of goodwill: (S V IO DO)
We wish you “Happy Holidays."
I wished her "Happy Birthday."
Wish me luck.

Hope can also be used in expressions of goodwill, but the grammar is slightly different:
I hope (that) you have a great trip. (some time in the future)
I hope (that) you had a nice weekend. (some time in the past)

Hope can be used to specify a desired outcome. For future hopes, the possibilities remain open, but for past hopes, the outcome has usually been determined already.
I hope you can come to my house this weekend. (future possibility)
I was hoping that you would come to my house. (but you didn't make it)
I had hoped to see you at my house last weekend. (but I didn't)
I hope to pass my exams. (it is still possible)
I hope it doesn't rain on the weekend. (although it might)
He hopes to be elected as School President. (it could happen)
She hoped you wouldn't leave so soon. (but you probably did)

Wish and hope are also used in certain types of requests and pleasantries. In such situations, wish carries a more definite and formal tone.
I wish to book a ticket to the concert. (right now)
I hope to go back to Europe. (any time in the future)

Quote Me on That

"If you are going to live a life, you may as well live a Rich Life."
http://www.RichLifeAcademy.com.au

Support Grass Roots Sport

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMCKcfeCN_k

An Orange a Day

If your emotional side tends to take control of you in most situations on a daily basis, you may need to work on building up your emotional strengh, so that you can both control it and harness the strength it can give you, rather than being held captive by emotional outbursts. The following tips can help you to find the strength deep inside you, because you already have it all, you just need to find it.

1. Make the decision today. Decide that you want to be strong, to let nothing negatively affect you. Remind yourself of this every single morning.
2.Resolve to change and do it. To succeed you must be willing to change. Be ready to do that. One cannot control what happens externally, but one can change oneself.
3.Believe in yourself. Once you believe you are strong emotionally, you will unconsciously act stronger than before and begin to take control over your emotions. It's about confidence.
4.Look confident. Only you can build your self confidence. The first step is to believe deeply in yourself. Even when you don't feel so confident, at least do your best to portray confidence. This is a booster in itself and it is important that you keep it up.
5.Don't show fear. Act fearless. Confront fears by doing one thing every day that scares you. Start with little things at first and build up to the sky dive, the doing a personal development course that forces you to confront yourself, telling someone how you really feel, good or bad..
6.Don't be afraid of tomorrow because it's made to be a mystery, a challenge for you. Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. Get on with it.
7.Don't be afraid of anyone. Keep in mind that everyone, no matter how strong they look, is afraid of how others will receive them and interact with them. They may not show it because they've learned to hide it and have adopted good coping mechanisms which you can learn. Learn to appreciate being with people, to learn from them, to ask them questions. If your fear starts to overwhelm you and you feel your emotions rising, stop and count to ten. Change the focus by asking other people questions and let them do the talking. They'll appreciate your attentiveness.
8.Be and think positively and be optimistic. Find something good in everything you have, do and hear. Find three good things about every person you meet. Do not hate people. Hatred is weakness and a wasted energy. You don't have to love, just don't hate and always seek the goodness in others. Look at the positive attributes a person has, because nobody is perfect, but they do have good points we can be apreciative of. Take a further step: give a compliment!
9.When you speak, make eye contact, speaking calmly, with confidence, about something you know well, and briefly. People get bored easily. After all, you cannot make someone pay attention to you, you can only convince them to do so. It is like respect, it is earned.
10.Don't let anyone underestimate you. Don't be bitter about it and don't get mean if it happens. Just defend yourself calmly and in a mature way with dignity and self preservation. Once again, count to ten and walk away. Be humble; this is a great strength.
10.Learn from mistakes. Actually they're not mistakes , they're just lessons that you could learn from. Be positive about all that happens. Accept that you are only human too.
11.Watch other strong people, see how they act in a certain way and learn from them. Don't copy their personality, just take a little bit from everyone. Everyone has something to give.
12. Review and improve, adjust. Each night, reflect on what happened that day, and think of ways you can make changes and improvements. It is a very effective way to build on something and develop a greater you.

* Remember, don't be too hard on yourself. Give yourself the space and patience, but just never, ever give up!

Miracle Moments

Miracle Guru DanZen is here to enlighten you with his thoughts...

"The secret is to not want something and wait for it to happen.. it's willing something and putting yourself in the position to receive it.. the universe will bring you the winds but you must hoist your sail."
DanZen – 01/15/2010

Don't Forget the LYRICS

Taylor Swift * * * "You Belong With Me"

1. You're on the phone with your girlfriend,

She's upset

She's going off about something that you said

She doesnt get your humour like I do.

I'm in the room, its a typical Tuesday night

I'm listening to the kind of music she doesnt like

And she'll never know your story like I do.

CHORUS

But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts

She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers

Dreaming 'bout the day when you wake up and find

That what you're lookin' for has been here the whole time.

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you

Been here all along so why can't you see?

You belong with me

You belong with me.

2. Walkin' the streets with you in your worn out jeans

I cant help thinking this is how it ought to be

Laughing on the park bench thinkin' to myself

Hey, isn't this easy?

And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town

I haven't seen it in awhile, since she brought you down

You say you find I know you better than that

Hey, Whatcha doing with a girl like that?

CHORUS

She wears high heels, I wear sneakers

She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers

Dreaming 'bout the day when you wake up and find

That what you're looking for has been here the whole time.

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you

Been here all along so why can't you see?

You belong with me.

Standin' by, waiting at your back door

All this time how could you not know that?

You belong with me

You belong with me.

3. Oh I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night

I'm the one who makes you laugh when you know you're about to cry

I know your favourite songs and you tell me about your dreams

I think I know where you belong

I think I know it's with me.

CHORUS

Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you?

Been here all along so why can't you see?

You belong with me.

Standing by or waiting at your back door

All this time how could you not know that

You belong with me

You belong with me.

Have you ever thought just maybe

You belong with me

You belong with me.

Happy Valentine's Day! May Your Day Be Filled With Sugar 'n' Spice 'n' All Things Nice!

Speak Learn English Blog

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MOBILE PHONE RADIATION NEUTRALISER

Worried about Radiation in Mobile Phones?

You should be.

Exposure to electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone use leads to lasting negative consequences to our body, in particular, on the brain.

Research shows that mobile phones stimulate or cause

Brain Tumours
High blood pressure
Short term memory loss
Damage to the immune system
Damage to your organs

Low frequency electromagnetic waves emitting from mobile phones are the cause. These waves supply heat and radiation, which have a frequency of wave emissions that adversely affect brain function while you are holding your phone to your ear.

It's really frightening, isn't it?
So what can you do about it?
Actually, there is something you can do.

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The PXD Mobichip is the Best Permanent Solution for protection against mobile phone radiation.
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Extract of Research (circa 1990)
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR ELECTROMAGNETIC SMOG RESEARCH - IGEF CERTIFICATES
IGEF Laboratory for Research and Assertion
The evidence for the “PXD Mobichip” protective influence is obtained by the process of biofeedback effect.
Besides, the stress potential reduction, the “PXD Mobichip” influence on the organism rhythmic processes development, as well as the human body adaptability on the outside influences, was also researched.

The Research results have shown that the “PXD Mobichip” informative field harmonizes the harmful influences of the electromagnetic fields at the time of their biological influence on the organism, and it also contributes to sustenance of the human body organism internal balance. The Vegetative Nervous System Total Power is also reduced for more than 50% by using “PXD Mobichip”. It reduces the number of registered consequential pairs of heartbeats intervals, for >50 ms, too, thanks to the “PXD Mobichip” informative field.

Paul Sommer
IGEF Laboratory for Research Manager

My Word!

WORDS AND MEANINGS

ALLEY - a narrow passageway or street
APPETITE - desire to eat
BOAST - brag; say great things about yourself
CATTLE - a general name for "cows"
DRUDGERY - hard, uninteresting labor
DULL - boring, not exciting; not bright or sharp
ENTIRELY - on the whole
GIGANTIC - huge, large, enormous
GOOFY - funny, silly
HATCH - break out of an egg
NAKED - without covering or clothing
OUTRAGED - upset, very mad
OUTSKIRTS - the suburbs, area around a city
PEDDLER - someone who sells things
PORTION - small part or section
ROAM - wander, walk around without direction
SLIM - skinny; thin
STRUGGLE - have difficulty doing something; fight
SWELL - get bigger, enlarge
UPGRADE - improve the quality of something

Note: These are general meanings for the words. You may encounter other definitions depending on context.
Check a dictionary for other meanings at http://www.dictionary.com/ . You may also use the Thesaurus. http://www.thesaurus.com/ . The Thesaurus gives you similar meanings of the words.
Student Task: Make your own sample sentences for the above words. Challenge: Use different tenses.

WEALTH EDUCATION

Gold as a Financial Asset

Gold and other precious metals are assets that are both tangible and liquid (i.e. easily traded), unlike real estate which is tangible but not liquid, or company shares and bonds which are liquid but not tangible.
Considering its high density and high value per unit mass, storing and transporting gold is very easy. Gold also does not corrode. Historically, it was also very easy to verify that an offered coin had the density of gold through the use of Archimedes' principle. Today, however, some metals are denser than gold yet cheaper. While some think gold deserves special treatment based on its cultural value and use as money, others consider gold a commodity, like copper or lead.

A Spot of GRAMMAR

HERE ARE SOME USEFUL TIPS ON HOW TO STUDY GRAMMAR ...

What do I study? These are things you should study.
Words
Verbs, nouns, adjectives, articles, etc.
Sentence Structure. These are the different ways sentences are made.
Basic word order
Clauses and phrases
Subordination and coordination
Collocations
How do I study grammar? These are the different ways that you should study.
Explanations
Understand general and specific usage
Examples
Understand use in sentences
Look at contexts
Exercises
Practice in context
Choosing the right word or phrase
Error recognition and correction
Fill in the blank
Sentence completion
Sentence combining
Reducing wordiness
Writing exercises

Tip:
If you have an English tutor, ask her/him to design your lessons around these basic guidelines.
If you are doing self study, use your grammar book to design a study programme using these guidelines.