The Countless Things That You Can Figure out If You Learn English

The Countless Things That You Can Figure out If You Learn English

English is the most commonly used language all over the world and it can be very useful to learn it. It is not just about being skilled to speak English, it is also about being capable to do so many other things. If you study English, there are so many other actions and things that you can carry out.

Take for example the songs that you pay attention to on the radio. A lot of these songs are sung by international artists from English-speaking countries. If you study then you will be proficient to figure out the lyrics of the songs that you listen to on the radio. You will no longer be simply bobbing your head in time to the beat of the music and listening to the unintelligible English lyrics of the song. When you study you will be able to understand what the words mean and you can even sing alongside to your favorite English songs.

Loro Jonggrang (The Legend of Prambanan Temple)

Long time ago, there was a kingdom named Prambanan. All the people of Prambanan lived peacefully. But then, Prambanan kingdom was attacked and occupied by the Pengging kingdom. Prambanan then was ruled by Bandung Bondowoso of Pengging kingdom. He was a mean king. He also had great supernatural power. His soldiers were not only humans, but also genies.

The king of Prambanan had a beautiful daughter named Loro Jonggrang. Bandung Bondowoso fell in love with her and wanted to marry her. “You’re very beautiful. Would you be my queen?” asked Bandung Bondowoso. Loro Jonggrang was shocked. She didn’t like Bandung Bondowoso because he was a mean person. She wanted to refuse, but she afraid that Bandung Bondowoso would be angry and endangered the people of Prambanan. Then, she came up with a plan. “If you want to marry me, you have to build a thousand temples for me in just one night," said Loro Jonggrang. “What? That’s impossible!” said Bandung Bondowoso. But he did not give up. He consulted with his advisor. “Your Majesty can asked the genies to help built the temples,” said the advisor.

So, Bandung Bondowoso summoned his entire genies soldier and commanded them to help him built a thousand temples. The genies worked in unbelievable speed. Meanwhile, Loro Jonggrang heard from her servant that the building of a thousand temples was almost finished. She was so worried. But again, she came up with a great idea. She asked all of her servants to help her. "Please prepare a lot of straw and mortar. Please hurry up!" said Loro Jonggrang. “Burn the straw and make some noise pounding the mortar, quickly.” All those servants did what Loro Jonggrang ordered them; burning straw and pounding the mortar, making the genies think that the sun is going to rise.

“It’s already dawn. We have to go,” said the leader of the genies to Bandung Bondowoso. All the genies immediately stopped their work and ran for cover from the sun, which they afraid of. They didn’t know that the light was from the fire that burning the straw, not from the sun.

Bandung Bondowoso can’t stop the genies from leaving. He was angry. He knew Loro Jonggrang had just tricked him. "You cannot fool me, Loro Jonggrang. I already have 999 temples. I just need one more temple. Now, I will make you the one-thousandth temple." He pointed his finger to Loro Jonggrang and said some mantras. Magically, Loro Jonggrang’s body turned into stone. Until now, the temple is still standing in Prambanan area, Central Java. And the temple is called Loro Jonggrang temple.

A Mouse Deer and Crocodiles

One day, Mouse Deer went down to the river to take a drink. But he knew that the crocodile might be waiting underwater to eat him, so he said out loud. “I wonder if the water’s warm. I’ll put in my leg and find out.” Of course Mouse Deer didn’t put in his leg. He picked up a stick instead and put one end into the water. Chomp…! Crocodile grabbed the stick and pulled it underwater. Mouse Deer laughed. “Ha… ha…ha… Stupid crocodile! Cant you tell the difference between a stick and a leg?” Then Mouse Deer ran off to drink somewhere else.

In the next day, Mouse Deer wanted to cross the river. He wanted to eat the fruits on the other side of the river. He saw a floating log in the river. He knew that Crocodile looked like a log when he floated. Mouse Deer didn’t want to be eaten by Crocodile when he crosses the river. He had an idea. He called out loud, “Crocodile!” Crocodile rose from the water, “Hello, Mouse Deer. Have you come to be my lunch?” Mouse Deer smiled. “Sorry, not today, Crocodile. I have orders from the King. He wants to invite all the crocodiles in this river to a party. He wants me to count all the crocodiles so he could prepare enough meal for you.”

“Really…? Tell us what to do,” said Crocodile. “You must line up from this side of the river to the other side,” said Mouse Deer. Crocodile then got all his friends and family. They lined up across the river. Mouse Deer then jumped onto Crocodile’s back. “One,” he counted. He jumped onto the next crocodile, “Two.” And the next crocodile, “Three.” Mouse Deer kept jumping until he arrived on the other side of the river. “How many are there?” asked Crocodile. “Just enough,” said Mouse Deer. He laughed as he ran to the forest.

The Growth of English History


English  is  the most  popular language  among  the  other languages.  Almost  half people  in the world use English for communicative functions.  Are  you  interested  in English  too? Sure, because it is used as a universal languange. But  do you  know English  more  deeply?
Do  you  know  about  what  kinds  of English  there  are?  What  is  the  the  oldest  kind  of English  and  who is  called  the English  native  speaker  for  the  first  time?Perhaps  you  do.  Nevertheless,  I will talk about  it  in order that  it  is  beneficial  for  us who  have  not  understood  yet.
Actually,  English  was  brought  to Britain  by Germanic  invaders,  usually called  Anglo-Saxon.  English  was  spoken  by  those  people  after  they  arrived  in Britain.  English  itself  is  sometimes  called  the  old  English It was  a member  of  the West Germanic  family  of  language By  its  form  of speech  language  when  it was  brought  to Britain,  undoubtedly  mixed with  some  local  variation over  wide  areas  of North West  Europe  at  the  close  of the  Roman  period.
Attack  by Anglo-saxon raiders were  underway before  the Roman  left  Britain around  AD 410. A  late Roman  military  title  lor  the commander,  whose  task  was to  guard  the  South-east  coast was "Count of the Saxon shore,  when  the  Roman  garrison  was  withdrawn  from Britain.  However  Anglo Saxon  raids  and  settlement inevitably  increased.  lnvited or not,  the Germanic  new comers  became  increasingly assertive  from  around  AD 450 onwards.
The  encrouchment  of  the Germanic  invaders  was  not rapid  operation.  For  several generation  settlers  spread out  over  the  land  from  the South  and  East.  They  suffered  checks  several  apparently  at  the  hand  of Romano-British  warlord  called  Arthur. But  eventually  they  came  to dominate.
English  was  well  established  in  the  country  in  wealth of  spoken  form,  and  most people  could  have  a little cause  or opportunity  to write it any  way.  lt was  conclude that  English  was  not  expanded  well  in  that  time.
Then  came  the  Vikings  in about  AD  800,  raids  rapidly increase  in  size,  intensity  and duration  until  by AD 860. Viking  armies  were  staying for  several  years  that  time. By  the  late  ninth  century, Scandinavian settlement were being  established  in  the North and  East, and  the Vikings  were  transformed from raiders  into conquerors controlling  roughly  half  the land  of England.  The Viking invasion  created  some pressures  towards standardization  of English.  Yet,  although the permament  settlement  of Vikings  in England  forced  a measure  of uniformity  on the English  language,  it also introduced  further  variety, "Old Norse".  The language spoken  by the Vikings  was like English,  Germanic  language.  At first,  pure nose would have been spoken in Scandinavian  settlement  in England. No  doubt with Danish,  Norwegian,  Swedish, lceland  and  more localized variations.  In time, however the English  Viking  adopted an English  identity.
The  upheavals  of  the Viking  period  in England  had hardly  subsided  when new invasion occured. The Norman  conquest  of 1066 was  not  quite  the  devastatin even  that  it is sometime made  out  to  have  been.
The Norman  were  only four or  five generation removed  from  Viking  for bears.  Culture  in Normand and  England  were  not  entirely  dissimilar  and  at  court  level at  least  there  was  considerable  contact.  Nevertheles because of  the manner  of their  coming  and  language which  they  brought.  The Norman  had  profound  effect on English  not  least  in  ensuring  the  continued  existence and  even  the  strengthening of  dialectical  variety.
The  Normans,  in  spite  of their  Scandinavian  ancestry, spoke French.  The Normans came  to England  not  as settlers,  to mingle  with  the  native population,  but  as a master race,  to rule  and  to exploit. For  some  generations  they had  little  interest  in learning the native  language (English) and  only  a  few  gifted  or privileged English men and women  acquired Norman French,  usually  as members of Norman  households  or  in the  service of  the  Norman administration.  French  was the  language  of a small  elite. English  was  the language  of the  village  and  the  workplace, used  by  the  majority,  the ordinary  and  largely  unlettered people.  lt had  little  need  to be anything  another  local  and homely.  But  slowly, with  the weakening  of  ties  with Normandy and  French, English  came  to be  rehabilitated  as the national  language.
ln 1362,  at  a  time  of  anti-nationalistic  fervour  and  of particular  antagonism  toward French.  The  King's  speech  at the  opening  of parliament was in English  for  the  first time  in  the  same  year,  business  in  the  law courts  began to be  carrried  out  in English too.
In  the  later  part  of  the fourteenth  century, Chaucer in an East  Midland  dialect and  the "Gawain Poet"  in  the North-west  midlands  were the  forefront  of  flowering  of vernacular  literature, in  which English  was married  to borrowed  French  vocabulary  and artistic  forms.  English  was clearly  finding  favour  in high places.  Those  are  the  phase of English growth  from  Anglo Saxon  that  induced  and  created  the  old English until  the Roman period.

The Tortoise and the Hare

The Hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals. "I have never yet been beaten," said he, "when I put forth my full speed. I challenge any one here to race with me."

The Tortoise said quietly, "I accept your challenge."

"That is a good joke," said the Hare; "I could dance round you all the way."

"Keep your boasting till you've won," answered the Tortoise. "Shall we race?"

So a course was fixed and a start was made. The Hare darted almost out of sight at once, but soon stopped and, to show his contempt for the Tortoise, lay down to have a nap. The Tortoise plodded on and plodded on, and when the Hare awoke from his nap, he saw the Tortoise just near the winning-post and could not run up in time to save the race.

Then the Tortoise said: "Slow but steady progress wins the race."

Do you want to listen the story??
Download the Audio book here

Jaka Tarub and Nawang Wulan (A Folklore from East Java Indonesia)

Jaka Tarub was a handsome and diligent young man. He lived in a village near a lake. One day, when Jaka Tarub passed the lake, he heard some giggles and laughs of some girls who were bathing in the lake. He was curious, so he peeped through the bushes. There were seven beautiful girls in the lake. They’re fairies from the heavenly kingdom of kahyangan. Jaka Tarub saw a scarf near the bushes. It belonged to one of the fairies. Jaka Tarub then took it and hid it. 

Crack!!! Accidentally, Jaka Tarub stepped on a twig. “There’s someone!” said one of the fairies. “Let’s get back. Hurry!” she said. They pulled over and wear their scarf. “Where is my scarf?” one of the fairies couldn’t find her scarf. She was the youngest fairy called Nawang Wulan. They tried to search for it, but it was no where to be found. “We’re sorry, Wulan. We have to go back to kahyangan,” said the eldest fairy. “You’ll have to find it by yourself. We’ll wait for you in kahyangan,” she said in empathy. The other fairies then flew to the sky leaving Nawang Wulan behind. Nawang Wulan saw them leaving in tears. She was so sad. 

Cindelaras (A Folklore from East Java Indonesia)

Raden Putra was the king of Jenggala kingdom. He had a beautiful queen and concubine. Unlike the queen, the concubine had bad personalities. She was envious and jealous with the queen, so she planned to make the queen leave the palace. The concubine then asked the royal healer to help her in her plan. One day, the concubine pretended to be ill. Raden Putra called the royal healer to give the concubine treatments. “What is her disease?” Raden Putra asked the royal healer. “I’m very sorry, My Majesty. She is sick because the queen put poison in her meal,” the royal healer lied. 

Raden Putra was shock and angry to hear the explanation. He called the queen and asked her if the story was true. Of course the queen denied, but Raden Putra won’t listen. “Please Your Majesty, have mercy. I really didn’t do anything,” cried the queen in her tears. Raden Putra’s anger ended in a decision. The queen should be banished to the woods and terminated. He did not know that the queen was already pregnant. Raden Putra commanded one of his general to do the punishment. The queen was banished to the woods, but the wise general didn’t have the heart to kill her. He built a simple house in the woods for her. On his way back to the palace, he smeared his sword with rabbit blood, so Raden Putra would believe that he had killed the queen. 

How to Speak English Easily

Speak English is getting more and more important, just because it is the most widely used language in the world. Many people decided to learn how to speak English with different aims: to learn some business, some of them learn it for fun ... Etc

Before you start to learn English, you should know the correct way to do so. When you know the right way, it will be easier, and you will speak fluent English at the end.

How to Study English Verbs With This Special Technique

Studying while you are doing other things is special technique. You need a way to study without a book that is big and heavy. And you need a little special equipment. I recommend the iPod, and you can use other mp3 players too. The great advantage is they are light, small, and you can change the contents easily. Listening to stories on these devices can be a great way to study.

First Impression of The First Day School, 4 Things an English Teacher Should do

In the first day school every teacher got their own rules. It can built such kind of understanding between a teacher and his/her students. I notice there are 3 points that teacher should tell the students to do to make the class conducive especially for an English teacher:

1. Attendance, in Indonesia especially in a private school, students attendance are minimum. Their motivation are lesser than the state school students. So, it is very important to make a bound between a teacher and students to reach the target. If the students miss their target the consequence is they will not be passed or not allowed to follow exam.

2. Dictionary, every time a student follow an English class to have a dictionary is a must. It likes when they go for a Battle they must bring a weapon with them. Otherwise they will be killed or defeated easily. Dictionary will help the students to understand the translation based on the context. Therefore choosing a good dictionary also important to the students. As long as I know the most contextual dictionary (English-Indonesia, Indonesia-English) is John Echols and Hasan Shadilly's dictionary.

3. Time, to be discipline is one of the key for success. Both teacher and student have to be on time with the schedule in order to make the activity goes well as the plan.

4. Activeness, in the students center learning-based, students activeness will make the class active. Every single chapter the teacher gives, students are encouraged to find anything related to it both in group or individually. Teacher will assess them based on their effort and finally from their competencies as the result of the activity.

Useful Websites For Supporting Your Study

Studying using many resources will widen and broaden your insight. Here are some useful websites that will assist you for learning English with exercises:

  1. http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/ (British Council)
  2. http://www.britishcouncil.org/  (British Council)
  3. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk (Listening/reading comprehension)
  4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ ( listenings)
  5. http://englishlistening.com/  (listenings Am En)
  6. http://www.richmond.k12.va.us/ (Reading resources)
  7. http://yahooesp.englishtown.com/ ( daily lesson)
  8. http://es.launch.yahoo.com/ ( video clips)
  9. http://www.lyrics.com/ ( songs and lyrics)
  10. http://webquest.org/  (Everything about webquest,University of San Diego)
  11. http://members.aol.com/ (Exercises)
  12. http://www.isabelperez.com/ ( lots of useful links and exercises)
  13. http://usuarios.lycos.es/ ( links to exercises)
  14. http://eslus.com/ (lots of links to practical exercises)
  15. http://www.eslcafe.com/ ( Quizzes, chat ,...) 

How? Learn to Speak English - Tips and Techniques to Better English

English is the mother tongue of the world and you will find English speaking people on every continent and in every country. If you are reading this article then you are one of those people that DON'T speak English as your first language and obviously this is presenting you with a problem.

Learning English Naturally

Wouldn't it be great if you could just magically learn to speak English without having to work at it? That's what every language learner hopes for, but unfortunately it does take work to learn English. Even more importantly, however, it takes curiosity. For example, one German student who had studied and taught English her entire life, was surprised when she heard someone say, "Give it a try." She had never noticed before that English speakers probably say "Give it a try," much more often than we say, "Try it." Even though she easily understood the meaning of "Give it a try," she had never noticed that common English phrase before, so she had never used it. Once she noticed it, however, she could start to use it and thus took a step towards improving the naturalness and accuracy of her English.

Commonly Misused Words in English - Part 3

Here is the third and final part of commonly misused words in English. As you know, it is important to use words in the right context, so let's look at more words that look very similar but have very different meanings:

Commonly Misused Words in English - Part 2

As mentioned in Part 1, English can be a difficult language, especially if it's not your native language and even native English speakers can find it tricky deciphering the difference between similar sounding words. As a result, it is not uncommon for words to be used out of context. So, let's look at Part 2 of the most commonly misused words in English:

Commonly Misused Words in English - Part 1

English can be a tricky language, especially if it's your second language. Even native English speakers have a hard time deciphering the difference between similar sounding words and it is a fairly common occurrence for words to be misused - you've probably seen a few examples of this in books or online. So, let's look at Part 1 of the most commonly misused words in English:

How to Write English Sentences Using Verb Tenses

The process of writing an English sentence is much easier when the writer starts with a basic thought and systematically uses all the English writing tools to accurately express the complete thought.

English Verb Tenses are tools designed to show relationships with time.

When did an action occur? or will occur? Are events happening together, one after another or randomly?

English Verb Tenses are tools designed to indicate time as part of the content.

How to Write English Sentences using Verb Tenses

SIMPLE PRESENT
1. [verb]
I study English everyday.

SIMPLE PAST
1. [verb + ed]
Two years ago, I studied English in Canada.

SIMPLE FUTURE
1. [am/is/are] + [going to] + [verb]
I am going to study English next year in Canada.
2. [will] + [verb]
I will study English tomorrow.

PRESENT CONTINUOUS
1. [am / is / are] + [verb + ing]
I am studying English now.

PAST CONTINUOUS
1. [was /were] + [verb + ing]
I was studying English when you called this morning.

FUTURE CONTINUOUS
1. [will be] + [verb + ing] 2. [am /is /are] + [going to be] + [verb + ing]
I will be studying English when you arrive today.
We are going to be studying English next year in Canada.

PRESENT PERFECT
1. [has /have] + [past participle]
I have studied English in several Canadian cities.

PAST PERFECT

1. [had] + [past participle]

I had studied English before I moved to Canada.

FUTURE PERFECT

1. [will have] + [past participle]

I will have studied all the verb tenses by the end of today.

2. [am/is/are] + [going to have] + [past participle]

We are going to have studied all the chapters by five o'clock.

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

1. [has/have] + [been] + [verb + ing]

I have been studying English for two years.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

1. [had been] + [verb + ing]

I had been studying English for two years before I moved to Canada.

FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS

1. [will have been] + [verb + ing]

I will have been studying English for one hour by the time you arrive.

2. [am/is/are] + [going to have been] + [verb + ing]

We are going to have been studying for three hours.

Four Suggestions For Learning English

If you have decided that you want to learn English, it was about to begin a trip to the somewhat difficult. While English is one of the most widely spoken languages, particularly in the western hemisphere, it is also one of the most difficult to learn. If you have committed yourself to learn the language, here are some suggestions you can use to make it a little easier.

Problems in Learning English and How to Solve It

Are you having difficulty in learning English? You say to yourself: "If only I could learn English better, then I can do much more than that."? If you answered yes to these questions, and I'm sure you're wondering how you can do so. In this article, I would like to explain some of the problems faced by many English learners, and ways to improve English language which is simple and can be fun at the same time.

Tips for Kids and Their Parents for Studying English

Parents who want to improve their kids abilty in mastering English, these are some useful tips :

First, guide your children to access interactive sites, so that they can communicate with people who have the same interest.


Second, make a schedule for them to do their homework, projects and help them when neccessary.


Third, play English songs that they can catch the lyrics


Fourth, Use computer for playing educational games

Fifth, choose an appropriate program on TV/CD/DVD to the age and level. Cartoons and animation films are something worth to be applied.W
Sixth, Encourage them to read stories for you
Seventh, let your child tell you what they have learned in the school. Ask them to mention pictures in the book they are learning.


Eight, name any objects in the house with their english names. This will make the language becomes real in their mind.
Ninth, ask your children to write new words more than five times each, then let them spell and read it.


Tenth, Help your child to make 'personal dictionary. In a notebook, write a letter of the alphabet at the top of each page. Begins with A and ends with Z. Children can register new words learned in school to the appropriate page. Can draw pictures to illustrate the meaning, and to put into or used in a sentence. This can be a great way to review.

Eleventh, If the parents can not speak English make a conversation when possible
To be realistic about what you can for your child

    * for all students to have knowledge of the positive and negative. This means that students can understand and appreciate more than I can say or write.

    * focus on what children know they do not have forgotten. The allocation of students in many cases, new words. Lilly may remember the "puppet", "jump rope" while Tom remembers the words such as "Dinosaur" or "robot".

    * When children get their mother tongue, and they understand the words before they are able to read and write. This is also true when learning a foreign language.

    * Foreign language learners often go through a 'silent phase' when you start to learn the language. This is normal. That they are listening and note the language. When you are ready, and will speak.

    * learners need to meet several times a language over a period of time before the 'know' it. We do not expect your child to 'know' everything after the first lesson. The teacher will review the words in the next lesson to help students to remember.

    * Studies show that learners who have normal exposure to language before puberty are more likely to be the best language skills (including pronunciation) by the time they are adults.

    * make mistakes is a natural part of the learning process.

Most important of all: remember that children are sponges! Do not expect them to absorb all that has been taught in school. Also, do not be too hard on your kid. Parents must make learning English and fun as possible.

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