Home  | About/Contact Us   

    The Quickest And Easiest Way To Learn English - Guaranteed!

Learn English Online  | Online Lessons  | Free Trial  | Membership Upgrade


 
English Essentials Facts
We Have The Experience
More than10,000 students in over 148 countries since 2002 have chosen to learn English using the English Essentials web site.

Perfect For Busy People
The English Essentials English learning system allows you to learn at your convenience.

Learning for 10 minutes every day is better than 70 minutes one day a week (both give you 70 minutes learning per week, but you will get far better results with our system using the first method).

Our Students Achieve Amazing Results
While every student who follows our system improves their English, most usually improve more, and faster than they expected.

Our results range from 50% improvement to a huge 1,100% improvement in one or more areas of English.

This proves that the English Essentials system works, and is powerful.  It makes English learning simple, fast and effective for students of all levels....Learn more.

This page will show you the 7 simple steps to improving your English anytime, quickly, easily.
 
STEP 1)
Watch a 2 minute video.
 
This is perfect to help improve your listening and comprehension skills.  You will also increase your vocabulary with new words and phrases you learn from the video.

This video is:
Lonely Planet - Melbourne


Click here to watch the video (a new window will open)

NOTE: You will need a "flash player" on your computer to watch the video.  If you do not have one, you can get a free flash player by clicking here.

If the video is too fast for you to hear all the words, you can click on the play button below to listen to a slower version.

Explanation Of Vocabulary And
Expressions That May Be New To You
(These will help you understand the video more)

covered = in this context, the word "covered" means researched and wrote about

reputation =  something the person or place is known or famous for

arsty = slang expression to mean "art"

culturally aware = understands different cultures (usually many cultures)

humming with life = very active and busy

facial expression = moving your face into a different position/appearance

pursed lips = the shape of your lips when you are about to take a drink/sip of hot coffee (almost the same as a kissing position)

take a sip of coffee = have (take) a drink (a sip) of coffee

cliché = a common or famous phrase we use to describe a situation

raging coffee addiction = very strong feeling to need coffee (feel that you cannot live without coffee)

Aussie Rules =  Australian football (sport)

given a team at birth = when they are born, they are told which team they will support

what team you follow = which team you support

you better come up with one pretty quickly = think of a team quickly

incredible = amazing

multi-cultural city = a city with people from many different cultural backgrounds

any corner of the earth = an expression we use to mean from all areas of the world

massive = huge

a new wave of African residence = a new large number of African people

vibrant = active and exciting

must sees = things you must see if you go there

big ones = important or main ones/places

Federation Square = a place in Melbourne

Acne, the National Gallery of Victoria = a place in Melbourne

St. Kilda = a (suburb) place in Melbourne

beach side suburb =  a place next to the beach

crazy = too busy

Fitzroy = a (suburb) place in Melbourne

take a stroll down Brunswick street = enjoy walking slowly down the street

coz = slang for "because"

lined with cafes and restaurants = many cafes and restaurants along the street

interesting characters = interesting people

Stencil art = creating images or text from a stencil

huge = massive

laneways = small lanes or alleys to walk down

wallpapered with art = art covering the wall, so it looks like wallpaper

rather = quite or fairly (a little less than "a lot")

boldly = confidence, without shame

the stencil art capital of the world = the city with the most stencil art

dispute = argue or disagree

happy to claim = happy to accept the compliment or comment

 
STEP 2)
Comprehension Check

Let's see how well you understood the video.  Below are 10 questions about the video.

Q1) What company did Sally O'Brien write the Melbourne guide for?
Melbourne
Lonely Planet
Travel Guide
Frommer's

Q2) What are the people in Melbourne obsessed with?
Travelling
coffee
eating
football

Q3) What are the people of Melbourne addicted to?
Travelling
coffee
eating
football

Q4) When do many people choose which football team they will follow?
When they arrive in Melbourne
When they go drinking at the cafes with their friends
When they are born
When they go to the football

Q5) Which race is a new group to settle in Melbourne?
Asian
European
African
Greek

Q6) What does "coz" mean?
because
course
cars
cos lettuce

Q7) What does "vibrant" mean?
vibrate
active
relaxed
boring

Q8) What does "any corner of the earth" mean?
Melbourne
some places
many places
any area of the world

Q9) Which is one of the must sees in Melbourne?
Casino
Cafes and restaurants
Federation Square
English Essentials office

Q10) Is stencil art in the main streets of Melbourne?
Yes
No
Some
Most

Answers

Q1) Lonely Planet
Q2) Football
Q3) Coffee
Q4) When they are born

Q5) African

Q6) Because
Q7) Active
Q8) Any area of the world
Q9) Federation Square

Q10) No

 
STEP 3)
Pronunciation Help

Below is a video of all the words from this month's video that may be difficult for you to pronounce.

Copy the video, so you can pronounce each word perfectly too :)

NOTE: You will need a "flash player" on your computer to watch the video.  If you do not have flash, you can get a free flash player by clicking here.


Culturally aware
 


Stencil art
 


Huge
 


Rather
 


Dispute
 


The letter "R"
 


The letter "L"
 


The letter "W"

 
STEP 4)
Photo Description

This is a great activity to help you practice many of your English skills, including sentence structure, grammar, vocabulary, expressions and  descriptions.

Describe the photo below in as much detail as you can:

Submit your photo description below:

* Remember to use as many of the new words and phrases you learned from the video that you can.

First Name:
Email Address:
Your Description:  

 

This Month's Feature Correction

STUDENT'S VERSION:
there is a big chess at the center of a park. the colors of the pawn are black and white. many people are around there and looking them. someones may be playing game using them. one of players may be the man standing at the nearest the chess. he has a big black bag and black hat. the other player may be the woman who wear blue jeans. because she is seriously thinking with loking the chess. one of audiences rides a bycecle, another is talking with someone with her cell phone the others are a child who has blue bag and right green hat and his mother who has a yellow bag, and she whisper to him something.
there is a restaurant behind the big chess. it has several white parasols to eat something outside.



CORRECTED
VERSION:
There is a big chess game set up at the center of a park. The colors of the pieces are black and white. Many people are standing around watching people play the game.

One of the players may be the man standing nearest to the chess board. He has a big black bag and black hat or beanie on. The other player may be the woman who is wearing blue jeans, because it looks like she is seriously thinking about the game.

One of the people in the audience has a bicycle, another is talking with someone on her cell phone. There is also a child who has a blue top and light green hat. Their mother who has a yellow bag, and she is whispering something to her child. There is a restaurant in the background. It has several white parasols for people to enjoy eating outside.

 

NOTES:

  • It is called "chess game" or "game of chess" or "chess set"
     

  • Set up = a great way to describe the game or activity is ready to use
     

  • Pawn is the name of only one of the kinds of pieces, but not all, so we need to call them "pieces"
     

  • "Many people are standing around" is a good way to describe the audience.
     

  • "Watching people play the game" is a good way to describe what the audience is doing.  I used "watching" because the people and game move.  We watch things that move (TV, movie, sport), and we look at things that don't move (art, computer screen, floor).
     

  • When we use "one of" we must use plural.  So we need to say "One of the players"

    Examples:
    He is one of my friends
    She is one of my students
    I saw one of the actors
     

  • Chess board is the location where the game is played.  So "chess" is not enough.
     

  • If you can see it clearly, the type of hat he is wearing is called a "beanie".  If you are still confused what a beanie is, click here.
     

  • If we use "has" when talking about "wearing" we need "on".  He has a beanie on.
    If we use "wearing", we don't need "on.  He is wearing a beanie.
     

  • We describe photos in present tense, so we need to say "the woman who is wearing blue jeans" rather than "the woman who wear blue jeans"
     

  • "She is seriously thinking about the game" is better than "she is seriously thinking with looking the chess"
    because "seriously thinking about the game" means they are thinking a lot about the game of chess.  "she is seriously thinking with looking the chess" means they are thinking a lot about something and at the same time looking at the chess game, but maybe they are not thinking about the chess game.
     

  • "Another is talking with someone on her cell phone" is better than "another is talking with someone with her cell phone", so when describing people talking with their cell phone, use "on" (They are talking on their cell phone).
     

  • I used "their mother" because I don't know the gender of the child.  We usually use "their" for plural, but we can also use it for singular, when we don't know the gender.  But we wouldn't use "their" for singular for animals.  We would use "it"
     

  • I used "background" when I referred to the restaurant.

    Foreground = The objects in the picture closest to the camera.  Usually they are in focus (clear) and in the bottom half of the photo.

    Background = The objects in the picture further away from the camera.  Usually out of focus (not clear) and in the top half of the photo.

 
STEP 5)
Student Stories

Use the form below to submit your story (written piece).  Your written piece must be related to the video.

It can be a dialogue, experience, your summary of the video, opinions about the video and so on.

* Remember to use as many of the new words and phrases you learned from the video that you can.

First Name:
Email Address:
Your Story:  

 

This Month's Feature Story Correction

STUDENT'S VERSION:
I don't know much about Melbourne, therefore the monthly video was very interesting for me. That Melbourne is the most European of the Australian cities is good to know, so when I will visit Australia I will go there first.

I can't believe the cliche Melbourne people are usually wearing black, because there are also other nice colour to wear. And that they have a raging of coffee addiction and they're always talking about football? I suppose a lot of people from almost any corner of the earth have such a coffee addiction and also a lot of people are talking about football. These habits are very spreading.

I am very interested in watching the laneways which are wallpapered with art. I suppose it looks very artisticly. I've never seen this before. So I will take a stroll down the streets and enjoy the art. I will also take a sip of coffee in one of the restaurants or cafes which are lined along the street. I hope it will taste different to the coffee I know. And I will also speak with the people who live here in this multi-cultural-city. I will ask them for the must sees and maybe discuss with them about their football- team.

 

CORRECTED VERSION:
I don't know much about Melbourne.  Therefore, this monthly video was very interesting for me.  Especially learning that Melbourne is the most European of the Australian cities is good to know, so when I will visit Australia I will go there first.

I can't believe the cliché Melbourne people are usually wearing black, because there are other nice colours to wear. And that they have a raging coffee addiction and they're always talking about football? I suppose a lot of people from almost any corner of the earth have such a coffee addiction and also a lot of people talk about football. These habits are very common world wide I guess.

I am very interested in watching the laneways which are wallpapered with art. I suppose it looks very artisticly. I've never seen that before. So I will take a stroll down the streets and enjoy the art. I will also take a sip of coffee in one of the restaurants or cafes which are lined along the streets. I hope it will taste different to the coffee I know. And I will also speak with the people who live in that multi-cultural-city. I will ask them for the must sees and maybe discuss with them about their football team.

 

NOTES:
Paragraph 1
I just changed the word "the" to "this in the first sentence to make it even more specific.

In the second sentence I added "Especially learning" to give extra expression of how interesting the video was for the listener.

Paragraph 2
I changed "there are also other nice colour" to "there are other nice colours" because using "also" and "other" sounds just a little too much here.  By saying "there are other nice colors" is enough.  We also need "s" at the end of "colour" because we are talking about more than one colour.

The Golden Rule:
Another = one (but not the last one)
Others = the last one or plural

Examples:
One, another, the other
One, another, another, the other
One, another, another, another, the other

One, others.

With "they have a raging of coffee addiction" we don't need "of" between "raging" and "coffee.  It's simply "they have a raging coffee addiction"

I changed "a lot of people talking about football" to "a lot of people talk about football" to make it every day tense.  Every day tense is the tense we use to describe a habit or routine (something we do on an on going basis, such as every day).

"These habits are very common world wide I guess" is a great expression to use. You can use this as a template when describing something is common in general.

Examples:
These actions are very common here I guess
These words are very useful I guess
These problems are very common world wide I guess

Paragraph 3
I used "that" instead of "this" in the sentence "I've never seen that before" because "that" refers to something away from you, and "this" refers to something near you.  if you haven't seen it, I would say it is away from you.

We need "streets" (plural) with the sentence "I will also take a sip of coffee in one of the restaurants or cafes which are lined along the streets" because while the video talked about one street that is lined with restaurants and cafes, you have not mentioned that one street, so your sentence is referring to streets in general (or any of the streets), so we need "streets" and not "street".

You need to talk about Melbourne as a city away from you, so you will need to use "that" not "this" in the sentence "speak with the people who live here in that multi-cultural-city"

EXCELLENT JOB WITH YOUR STORY :)

 
STEP 6)
Forum Discussion

Join in and share your ideas, questions, comments and feelings on the monthly topic in the English Essentials Forum/Bulletin Board.

Before you can type messages on the Bulletin Board, you will need to register.
 

To register follow these simple steps:

1.
Click on the Register button near the top right corner of your screen.

2. You will see an Agreement form. You must agree to the terms of the agreement and say that you are over 13 years old.

3.
You will see a registration form.  Please enter your details.  You MUST enter a username (please choose any username you like), your valid email address and a password (your choice).
PLEASE REMEMBER THESE!

You may also enter other information if you wish, it's up to you.

4.
Check your email and click on the link to bring you back to the Bulletin Board (This will activate your account so you can start posting here).

5. Log In by entering your Username and email address you chose in the registration process and now you are ready to Post.  You MUST Log In to post, so don't forget this part.

  The Bulletin Board Username and Password
Username = community
Password = bulletin

To go directly to this month's discussion topic, click here.

 
STEP 7)
Practice

This is the most important step because if you do not practice, you will not improve your English so much.

If you have friends to practice speaking English with, then you should contact them now and start practicing everything that you have learned in this lesson (The 7 Steps).

If you are like most English students and don't get the chance to practice English, then you should fill in the form below.

By filling out the form below, we will help you find many people to practice your English with.  We will also show how you can improve your English with more 7 Step lessons like this one you did just now.

Are you ready to improve your English fast?

Enter Your Details Below And
We Will Contact You With Help

First Name:
Email Address:
Country:
City:
Phone Number:
Day and Time to Call You:  
Preferred Payment Method: Credit Card        Paypal
Comments (if any):

 

English Essentials
PO Box 69 Park Orchards
Victoria, Australia 3114
Phone/Fax:+613 9876 2319
©Copyright 2002 - 2008 English Essentials.  All Rights Reserved

Site Map  | Privacy Policy  Anti-Spam Policy  | Affiliate Program  | Teach English  | Links