Tuesday, 11/24

We had in class essay which also was final test. Mrs. Helen gave several topics about The #1 ladies' detective agency, and we had to choose one of them. I chose topic #1 and I tried to do my best on my final test. Anyway, U guys will have a great Thanksgiving holiday. See U next week :)

Thursday, 11/19

Today, we spent almost time to learn how to find main idea (heart of the topic) in several old topics. This exercise was very very helpful for me on final exam. I have to find main idea of the final topic faster on the final day. Again, I learned one new skill to day. Nice class :)

Tuesday, 11/117

On Tuesday, Mrs. Helen returned back in-class-essay and process essay. We almost got good grades on process essays and it gave us more energy for the rest of semester. Then, we discussed our homework which was argumentative essay. After that, we went home and it was nice class :)

Friday, 11/13

Today was relax day because we enjoyed our last book club. Also, we spent about 20 minutes out side to enjoy with natural, birbs, water. Again, Today was very nice day :). u guys have a great weekend !!!

Thursday, 11/12

Today, we had in class essay and i did not do well on my essay :( .. Besides that, we have to read 7 chapers for book day. See u guys tomorrow

Tuesday, 11/10

Today, we did not do many exercise because we spent most of time in groups to discuss our passive and active voice homework and correct our process essays grammar mistake. After that, Mrs. Helen corrected exerise 10 in passive and active voice sheet. Then, class time was over and Mrs.Helen did not give any home work for Thursday because we are going to have essay in class on this Thursday .

Friday, 11/6

we all went to our library on Friday, and we learned how to find and use our library databases which will be very helpful for our research project. After that we came back to our classroom and divided into small group to discuss our homework which was "the life of E-mail". Then we also discussed a little bit about our research project and most of us have not chosen the research topic yet.

Thursday, 11/5

Today, our comparison-contrast essays were retured, and we had 15 minutes to take and look our essays. Also, we have to write the third draft and turn in on next Tuesday. Moreover, Mrs. Helen handed out passive-active voice papers, correction paper, and sample final exam essay. We spent a little bit time on each one because we did not have enough time to do the rest of them. To sum up, it was nice class :)

Tuesday, 11/3

Today, Mrs. Helen handed out the research project paper and explained a little bit about how we do on this project which was new to me. I think it will be hard because we have to read many sources to get main ideas. After that, we divided into 4 groups and we did pro and con about Marriage Matters topic and drug test topic. Each group had to give good ideas to protect their thesis statement. It was interesting. So, i hope we will have time to do that again!!

Book blog ch 10-15

Question #6 in chapter 11, i do not understand clearly what sentence means. Can someone help me out?
Thax

Thursday, 10/29

Today, Mrs. Helen collected our second draft essays and we corrected several sentences to make them more smoothly. Then Mrs. Helen chose 3 topics which were “marriage Matters”, drug test, and “Boys have it easy”. We discussed only marriage matters and drug test topics, and we had many different ideas coming out. After we finished discussing on drug tests, class time was also over. Moreover, we will have book blog tomorrow, and it will be nice class!!!

Friday, 10/23

Today makes everyone nervous because we have in-class-essay. When Mrs. Helen gave us 2 prompts, i did not know which topic i should choose. I had to decide quickly because i did not have enough time. Finally, i chose laughter topic. I think i did not do well on this essay. However, from the second in-class-essay, i know that i should study harder to pass Esl 91. Anyway, one week is over and i hope we all have a great weekend. In addition, we should spend a little time to relax after one week is busy. Take care!

Thursday, 10/22

Today, we did exercise about paired conjunction such as, both...and, not only....but also, either...or and neither....nor. Then, we divided into 7 groups and discussed topic #2. My group discussion was funny because we gave many differences ideas. When time was over, Mrs. Helen gave us a little bit homework because we are going to have in- class -essay. Therefore, everyone should do to bed early to get more energy for tomorrow. G9 everyone!!! :)

Tuesday, 10/20

Hi !! Today, we continued studying the comparison and contrast essay. Mrs. Han showed us how to indentify between Pattern B (block method) and Pattern A ( point by point method). Then, we made a table chart for an essay comparing between punctuality in America and my country. We had a lot of discussion in this topic, and everyone had many different ideas

Our first prompt discusion in group Q

Hi everyone in my group ! I am sorry about posting my ideas late. In this topic, we have to discuss two things. First , we describe some ways that people act irresponsibly. Second, what do we do to deal with their behavior.
I have some ideas about this prompt, and this is my free write.
1) I talk about my old neighbor when i lived in an apartment
· My neighbor always turned Mexican music too loudly
· i started to get angry with them because i couldn't study.
· Also, i couldn't hear anything from my television.
After it happened several times, I went to their room and talked to them about that. So, they turned their music volume down.
2) I also talk about my new neighbor problem when we move to new house.
· He always parks his car at my parking spot where it belongs to mine.
· I usually come home late about after 9 pm. So, i have a hard time to find a parking spot that is near my home. Also, there are no more available parking spot. Thus, I have to park my car far way to my home.
· I have to walk about 3 minutes from my car to my home !!
I have talked to him about that but it still happens again. So, i will talk to his parents about this problem.
3) Last, i talk about driving car dangerously.
· I have seen many people whom drive their cars dangerously.
· They change many lanes faster without turning their cars signal lights.
· Also, they drive faster and after that they decrease their car speed instantly.
· It is very dangerous because we can hit their cars easily.
I will remember their cars licenses numbers and report to 911 or local police.

This is all my ideas about this topic. If anyone has good ideas or good points, everyone feels free to comment into my blog.
Thanks you guys! Have a great great weekend and start new week luckily.

friday, 10/16

Today is book blog groups. Mrs. Han spent a little time to explain how we are going to discuss several topic essays in group on blogs. Then, we spent the rest of time to discuss novel from chapter 5 to chapter 9 in groups, and each group had to answer 12 questions in yellow sheet. It was a great day !!

Book Blog , chaper 5 to 9

Hi!!! i just finish reading chapter 8 at 1:30 am, and i will read chapter 9 tomorow. In chapter 7, I confuse question number 6, 9 and 10. I couldn't find who is Mna Christie. I hope we will have a great book day with groups on Friday. :)

Tuesday, 10/13

Hi everyone ! Today, Mrs. Helen collected our third drafts essay. Then, we corrected several parallelism sentences, transition errors, and some of them were complicated. After that we divided in small groups and discussed our home work. The home work was about "Conversational Ballgames" which explained the difference between Japanese and American conversational styles. I think her article is very interesting because she compared an Eastern-style conversation Vs Western-style conversation. After we discussed some questions, we went home under rain weather

My plastic bag revised essay

Tuan Nguyen
ESL 91
10/13/2009
Revised Draft
Bans On Plastic & Paper Bags
Plastic bags and paper bags are so convenient, light, and cheap, but they may create new pollution in the future. Nowadays, global warming is a hot topic because it can badly affect our planet. In a New York Times Editorial in 2007, the author writes plastic and paper bags have caused concern among people because of the fear of global warming. Therefore, bans on plastic bags are proposed by lawmakers. Consumers have complained about the new policy because bringing their own bags is inconvenient for them. However, plastic and paper bags both plague environment equally. I totally agree with the author that plastic as well as paper bags should be banned and consumers should be required to bring their own bags for the following reasons.
First of all, I agree with the author that plastic bags should be banned to protect sea creatures. The plastic bags are convenient and free to carry groceries. So, we use 100 billion bags a year. When we recycle plastic bags, they will remain on the earth for 1,000 years. Moreover, the decomposition will result in other contaminants. The plastic bags seem harmless enough to an adult human, but they can kill small animals, such as insects, fishes, and birds. For example, when the plastic bags go into the ground, they break into small tiny particles and enter sewers which eventually go to rivers and oceans. Then these small atoms enter animal food, and thousands of marine animals die each year from ingesting this food. Thus, the number of animal deaths is going to increase in the future with more plastic bags use.
Secondly, I agree that shoppers should bring their own bags instead of using paper bags to save trees. Most paper bags come from tree pulp, so the impact of paper bag production on forests is enormous. We can save millions of trees a year if we use our own reusable bags. For instance, I read an article in the San Jose Mercury News that stated in 1999, 14 million trees which had several functions for humans were cut to produce 10 billion paper grocery bags. One function of trees is releasing oxygen to air, and another function is absorbing carbon dioxide from polluted air. Trees make our air fresher, and our lungs healthier. If we have fewer trees, we will have less oxygen and more pollution air. Therefore, we should ban paper bags because paper bags harm the environment.
In addition to saving trees and protecting sea creatures, consumers try to change to new habit of bringing their own bags. In the author’s article, shoppers complained about banning plastic bags which was inconvenient. For example, when they go to the supermarket, they have to put everything into their own bags, such as tinned food, vegetables, fish, pork and beef meat. So, their bags smell fetid. Then, they have to clean their dirty bags after each time they go shopping. However, this isn't a big problem because cleaning dirty bags takes only about two minutes of their time. Moreover, most people go to the supermarket once or twice a week, and they only have to spend about four minutes to clean their dirty bags. Four minutes isn't much time. Their new habits will form after they do it many times. Furthermore, cleaning a bag for four minutes does not seem bad compared to polluting our environment with plastic and paper bags.
To sum up, each individual can do more to help the environment by using their own reusable bags to save million of trees and protect marine life. In addition, changing our old habits will keep our planet greener. If people continue using plastic and paper bags, what will happen to our planet in the future. So, we must act now before it is too late.

Friday, 10/9

Hi my classmates ! today i though we will have in-class-essay but we just discussed little bit about news. After that, we answered questions about laughter topic. Then, we discussed about laughter bodies outline. It took almost our class time. I think this was good exercise because it made us more thinking how to make a good outline. To sum up, it was nice day.

Thursday 10/8

Today, we received our "plastic bag" essays back. I had a lot of red mark on my essay paper. Mrs. Han gave us one change that we have to revise our essays. Our grades may be better than our first grades. Then, we divided in groups to discuss our homework. Also, we discussed a little bit about present perfect. When class time was over, Mrs. Han gave us parallel structures handout for our homework Thursday night.

Tuesday, 10/6

Today, Mrs. Han made new blog groups. I am in a group Q with Tuyet Anh, Van Vi, Tania and Huong. Then we discussed Greene's essay in group. I think his essay was great and it wrote about unwritten laws. After that we checked 10 questions together and turned it to Mrs. Han. Also, Mrs. Han talked a little bit about parallel structures. We are going to discuss parallel structures in class this week

Friday, 10/2

Today, we spent almost of time for Novel which is The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency. i was in book club blog group with Thien, Elias, Ngoc Tam, and Bich but Bich was absent today. My group had to answer into yellow paper sheet. The questions were about the novel from chapter 1 to chapter 4. After we finished all questions, we went home.

Book blog group

I read 4 chapters in The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency and answered 24 out of 27 answers in the handout. I confused question number 2,4, and 6 in chapter 4. Can someone give me comments about 3 question? :)

Thursday, 10/1

i just finish ESL 91 class homework, Then, i have to write my blog for Thursday. Today, we turned in our "plastic and paper bags" revised essays. I had to rewrite my essay three times. Well, I hope i will get better grade on this essay.

Tuesday 9/29

Hi my classmates !. Today, Mrs. Han returned our summaries and " September 11" paragraphs. Mrs. Han divided us into small groups which had two students. My partner was Tam Vo. Our jobs were exchanging and reading each other first draft essay. Then, we had to fill in evaluation sheet. After that, Mrs. Han showed us about grammar mistakes, stereo types, and fixing some woman in combat hooks.

Friday 9/25

We continued discuss about Adjective clauses exercises which combined sentences into one sentence using as many adjective clauses. This exercise was very helpful to me. Then Mrs. Han gave us Final Examination ESL 91 in Spring 2007. We spent about 15 minutes to find some adjective that we will use in our prewrite and first draft. When class time was over, we had a lot of homework to do for Tuesday and Friday. Moreover, we have to read 4 chapters in The NO.1 Ladies' Detective Agency to answer 27 questions :(

Thursday, 9/24

Today, Mrs. Han returned our "women in combat" essays back. I think not many students got a good grade on this essay ( including me). Most students felt bad about their essays grade. Otherwise these bad grade lets us know that we have to study harder to improve our writing skills.
In exercise 6-7 on page 116, i chose 2 thesis statements #1 & #7

#1: Thesis statement: Learning English isn't so easy
a. I have to follow many different rules in English grammar.
b. I have to practise listening and reading in English frequently.
c. I have to learn and write many new words correctly.

#7: thesis statement : People go to shopping centers for many reasons.
a. They want to relax after a whole week is busy
b. They return something which they don't like. c. They go to their favorite stores such as Macy's, Tommy, Gucci.

Firday, 9/18

On Friday, we spent about 1 hours to discuss "women in combat" in each group. My group is five people. When we discussed about this topic, i disagreed with all of them. Our discussion was very interesting. After we are done that part, we had to write an in class essay about Women in combat topic. Also, we had only "50" minutes for this essay. It was a short time for us to write four paragraphs. So, i did my best. Finally, It was a great day and great class.

Women in combat

Oh my God !! I had done my blog already but I forgot we write about "Women in combat" today. So i have to write again. I think women should not combat at battlefields such as Iraq, Afghanistan. These are very dangerous for women because they do not have strong powerful to fight with enemies. Also, it is not fair to women because enemies are most men military. That is all my opinion.

Thurday 9/17

Today, I got my first paragraph " My Partner" back. It got a bad grade :( .but I do not give up, i will learn from my mistake and i will do the best i can. Also, we corrected our homework in text book and hand down. Moreover, we reviewed connectives that express cause and effect, contract, and condition. I forgot some of them so i have to open my grammar textbook to review again.

Tuseday 9/15

Today, we discussed our summary of "glass door prank". We made two common mistakes. First, it was about articles 'The and A". Another was writing sentence not connect to main idea. But we can learn from these mistakes. Also, we studied in group about coherence that makes paragraph logically and flowing smoothly. Addition, We did practice exercises on page 45. We needed to find a best answer which the author wants us to understand about "who or what". We went home after we have done it. It was nice class, and i have learned more about "The and A".

Friday, 9/11

Hi everybody! I just remembered event 9/11 when Mrs. Han reminded to us on Friday. This happening was very sad to everyone on the World. When we had 15 minutes remaining, Mrs. Han told us to write one paragraph about event 9/11. I hope I will write this paragraph better than the first one!!

Tuesday, Sep 8

Hi every one ! today, we watch the video clip "glass door pronk joke" on Youtube, and we have to write summary about this joke. This video clip is short about 19 seconds but it is funny.

Hola

Hi everyone !! My name is Tuan Nguyen and i am your classmate in Esl 91. I am very happy because i can meet with many my old friends. Also, i study with professional Han,H. I hope we will be happy and enjoy in Esl 91.
Again, Have Fun !!