Let’s remove wires

Task: Write a letter to a company that no longer sells your favorite product on why they should offer it again.

Attention to THE general director OF defender.ru:

I’ve been using your bluetooth headset for a few months. I found it here  http://www.defender.ru/products/multimedia/headset/freemotion-b801/ . But when I decided to buy it as a gift for MY FRIEND’S BIRTHDAY, I FOUND OUT that your company no longer sells this device.

I tried to find A replacement but I wasn’t successful in it. It is THE reason why I decided to write this letter.

I believe that this product follows the trend releasing home and office devices from wires. I hope your company will resume sales of this device.

PS: It is not advertising, just English-writing practice

Written special for Anatoly’s blog http://item1000.blogspot.com

The capital letters show some mistakes which were corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

Anatoly

Close to nature

Task: To create story about picture

This person likes to be near nature. What do we need to take a bath apart from water?  

No shampoo, no perfume. There is other stuff, and in this case it is fruit. Old people know that fruit has lots of useful components inside. Even dry fruits could be used with water to enrich it with vitamins.

The next thing which demonstrated our closeness to nature is the cat. As it is well known, pets can communicate with their owners. Moreover, they can heal people. It seems that the two in this picture are happy being together. It could be dangerous to make eye contact with animals because they could perceive it as a threat. But this advice doesn’t work in this photo. They look like friends.

In choosing a title for this picture, I could name it Water/Fruit/Animal Therapy. Is it correct in English? Maybe not, but close to matters of nature.

Written on December 5, 2014 by Anatoly special for blog http://item1000.blogspot.com  , corrected by Verbling Teacher Andrea  during the class on Verbling.   

English: Writing. Context dictionary of future

Task: You have just discovered a great new product/service. Write an email to your friend recommending it.

Dear Audrey, hello. I know that you are interested in using new technologies for studying foreign languages and I think this product could be interesting for you.

In fact it is not A product, this is just AN idea of creating A context dictionary with pictures or icons which could help to memorize translationS.

Traditional online dictionaries as a separate application compete now with context dictionaries which ARE includeDED IN  Internet browsers like Safari, Chrome etc. But they don’t have pictures and our visual memory does not work for THE purpose of expending new vocabulary.

If you are interested in this idea let’s make a deal: your knowledge in languages and my programming skills is enough TO CREATE this application. I’m sure people would be grateful TO us.

This is an example OF how this dictionary could work:

Anatoly

Written special for Anatoly’s blog http://item1000.blogspot.com

The capital letters show our mistakes which was corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

English: Writing. Complaining in a hotel

Write a complaint letter to a hotel manager about your terrible recent experience.

Hello Mr.Smith,

I’m writing you about my experience of spending two weeks in your hotel. I hope it WILL improve the level of service which your hotel offers.

In general, we liked the service. We had a few negative emotions and here they are:

Food: We had a wide choice of fruits only if we woke up early in the morning. The staff in the restaurant didn’t REFILL THE FRUIT BAR at all.

Swimming pool: We were not always able to USE THE places near THE swimming pool because they were occupied by towels.

Room: There were some moments when the air conditionING didn’t work.

Everything else was great.

Thank you for all,

Anatoly and family.

The capital letters show our mistakes which was corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

English: Writing. Short description OF studying with Verbling

Task: Your friend is new to Verbling. Write an email to them explaining how Verbling works and giving them advice on how to best use it.

Hello Jon,

You asked me about Verbling and here is my short description:

Verbling is an online school which provides classes for people who are interested in studying foreign languages. Now they offer English and Spanish. I guess they are thinking about OFFERing other languages too. I know about it because once they sent me AN offer to teach Russian. But for now they concentrate ON only two languages which I mentioned before.

They use Google plus hangoutS as a platform for the classes. The restriction of 10 participants in EACH Google plus hangout works WELL because studying in very large groups is not so effective.

The most important features which we can use in Google plus hangoutS ARE a very good quality voice chat and screensharing.

But it is possible in Google plus hangouts to watch videoS together, to paint, AND to play several games.

IT’S ALSO very important THAT WE ARE ABLE to use tablets and smartphones.

The teachers who work there DO their jobS very well. The styles of teaching are very different AND the classes ARE USUALLY very informative and interesting.

I think that it is very important in studying languages to keep a strong motivation AND to maintain an interest in studying.

My advice for you - try it.

Anatoly  

The capital letters show our mistakes which was corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

English: Writing. About Wes Anderson

Task:

You have the chance to write one letter to your favorite singer/actor/celebrity. Write a letter to him/her telling why you are his/her biggest fan.

Attention to Mr. Wes Anderson

Dear Mr. Anderson,

Thank you for the opportunity to write you a letter. I just finished watching the movie where you wrote a screenplay: “The Grand Budapest Hotel”. This movie was made in a very unusual style. I’m trying to understand what made this movie so distinguishED from other ONES.

I think that the CAMERA operator in this movie made IT WHAT IT IS. THE camera pays attention to every character in the movie. The protagonists in this movie ARE very different and the way they communicate with each other is very interesting.

The plot is a mixture oF reality and fantasy. But it is a fantasy which converts inTO reality.

I’d like to HIGHLIGHT the colors which were used in this movie.

It seems that THE camera WORK, THE colors, etc are not so important. When I choOse a movie I’m usually looking for the plot in the first PLACE.

And I prefer something real, not fantasy, not AN abstract plot. But here IT is different. The way IN which this movie was made is the main  reason why I liked IT.

Thank you Mr. Anderson for your job,

Anatoly

Here is the link to the information about Wes Anderson:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0027572/

The capital letters show our mistakes which was corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

English: Writing. About movie "Walk the Line"

Task:

Write an email to your friend recommending a book/movie/TV series that you recently read/saw.

Hello Jon,

You asked me to recommend A movie which you could use not only as English listening practice but as an interesting and informative exercise. My recomendation for you is “Walk the line”. It is a biographical movie about  A legend of country music from Arkansas: Johnny Cash. After watching this movie I found some documentarIEs about Johnny Cash and compared the performance of the actor TO THE hero’s real life.

This film shows the rhythm of country music and the rhythm of life in THE AmericaN countryside.

I hadn’t known much about that style in American music before. This movie helped me to understand it.

I think listening TO THE lyrics from this movie is also very useful for your English.

Here IS the link for the video clip where A performance of the actor wAS merged with A real Johnny Cash performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmlQ0YEztLc

Anatoly

The capital letters show our mistakes which was corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

English: Writing. The idea for a new cell phone application.

Task:

Write a description for a new cell phone application you would like to create.

It seems difficult to find space for any new application today. But let’s try.

I’m thinking about something which I could USE. For example during vacation, we often have the necessity to find excursions from A definite PLACE. What DO we do? We look for residential travel agencIES, A train or a bus station with THE schedule and prices. We ask other tourists what they haVE seen.

The idea is to create a special application for that use.

I AM aware that there is a lot of other applications and sites ON THE Internet where we can find this information. But I don’t know A resource which Is completely dedicated TO this task.

One condition for success is that travel agencies and transport companies could UPload their information to the database.

I have my own experience when we were on vacation in Italian Milano Marittima and we spent a lot of money for the excursions before we discovered that buying family tickets for buses and travelling this way WAS much, much cheaper. We visited many fabulous Italian cities without spending A LOT OF money and kept our financIAL resources. And now I can suggest this way OF travelling using this application.

Anatoly

The capital letters show our mistakes which was corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

English: Writing. About Prezi.

Task:

Write an email to your boss about a new idea you have to save the company time and money.

Dear Mr.Smith,

I’d like to suggest you A NEW TOOL for the presentation of our new business plan instead of traditional Microsoft Powerpoint. It is Prezi. Most people use it as a free online service. Here are some benefits of using this tool.

1. It is a very original way TO PRESENT. We can use THE effect of masshtab for A visual impression. For example, imagine how graphically WE COULD DEMONSTRATE the context of the problem.

2. We can use a video there. What we WOULD need is to download the video to Youtube.

3. We can PRESENT it TO large audienceS using the online presentation METHOD which this site provides.

4. Our presentation could be DIFFERENT from others and our chances to receive money from our investors would increase.

Anatoly

By the way, this is a link to this site http://prezi.com TheIR slogan is “Create zooming presentations that make you more engaging and memorable”

My first presentation:

http://prezi.com/t_fpafpxkysh/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

The capital letters show our mistakes which was corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

English: Writing. Keeping your money with Google.

Task: Write an email to your boss about a new idea you have to save the company time and money.

Good day Mr. Smith,

I’m writing you because I’d like to suggest a cheaper way TO organiZE seminars than we used before.

I’M TALKING ABOUT using Google plus hangout as a tool.

Here are some benefits:

It’s free for non commercial use. Maybe it would cost some money for companies; I’m not sure.

It is not necessary to install a special program for users.

We can use there good features LIKE “screen sharing”, watching videoS together (AT the same time LIKE we would IF WE WERE in one room).

And what is really important: very good SOUND quality.

I think this idea would be approved by our CEO, because he likes new technologies and as I know he loves keeping money very much.

Anatoly

The capital letters show our mistakes which was corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

English: Writing. A gift from Google.

Task: You are a business manager. Write an apology email to a client about a problem with the service and how it will be resolved.

Announcement from Google

Dear clients and users,

We apologize for yesterday’S OUTAGE of our service. This is a short PIECE OF information about THE reasons of this problem.

We work constantly TO IMPROVE our services and yesterday we were switching the main cluster of THE servers for THE new one, but THE AMOUNT of electrIcity wasn’t enough in the area where we worked.    

 

We are awarE that the short OUTAGE of our services could make some problems for our customers. We apologize for it and as a compensation we’d like to offer for our users who HAVE BEEN USING google services more than 5 years A 50% discount for our new product “Google glass”.

We know that progresS goes through the successes and failures and we ask our customers “believe IN us”

Your Google

The capital letters show our mistakes which was corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

My review about movie “It’s a wonderful life”

Task: You are a famous movie critic. Write a review for a movie that you recently watched.

“It’s a wonderful life”. It sounds LIKE a very positive expression. It seems that people who keep this idea in mind never have any problems. No stress, no depression.

But this movie is not easy TO WATCH. It describES a difficult part of life. The main character there Is On the verge of committing suicide. He Is broke, he Is so angry AT himself, AT the world that he outrageS HIS family, AND his wife that he loveS very much.

And the life gIVES him a chance to see what could happen if he DIDn’t exist.

He realiseS that without lots of great deEDs which he did, the world would be different, much worse than reality.

And when he returnS to reality, many people who ARE grateful for his kind deEDs brING him money from large sumS to 1 dollar.

And he realizeS that he lived a great life, he LEARNS that from hopeless situationS, AN exit exists and kind deEDs lead to happiness.

This movie was made in 1946 by Frank Capra and IS included in the list of the WORLD’S BEST movies.

It IS A must-see.

Anatoly.

The capital letters show our mistakes which was corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

English: Writing. What kind of a job do I want

Task: Write a letter to your boss requesting that you be transferred to another department at your office.

Attention to the General director of Moscow-tour Ltd Mr.Ivan Brawn

from employee of AccountING Department Anatoly Learner

Dear Mr.Brawn

I decided to write this letter after I LEARNED that programming is A much more interesting job for me than my current position.

As you know our Department  HAD A big success after we implemented A new  program for accounting. While I was working with the team of programmers, I started to realize that I WAS able to achiEve good results in programming. I tried to write some scripts on Visual Basic for printing the payment orders and my colleagues appreciated it (they have been using it for 6 months).

I believe that having two skills (accounting and programming) could be useful for our company. I AM REQUESTING the new position in our IT Department.

Thanks for your attention,

Anatoly

June 14TH, 2014

Russia, Moscow

The capital letters show our mistakes which was corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

My review about the movie “Grease (1978) ”

This is an old movie. I watched it a few months ago and I remembered it. “Why is this movie still in my memory?”, I ask myself. No complex plot, nothing special in special effects … This movie is about the life of teanagers in the USA in 1958 with a traditional set of typical jokes. But, this movie is great.

First of all, this movie translated to us the atmosphere of that time in the USA. The young generation spent time dancing, riding in beautiful cars, playing in love. The Vietnam war would be in the future, people enjoyed and expected a better life and the audience can step easily into the fabulous atmosphere of that time.

Second, the performances of the songs in this movie are excellent, especially the song “Summer Nights”.

Finally, it is a gorgeous performance by the actors John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

These features made the film so unique, which allows us to place it in the category of “iconic movies”.  

Let's watch or rewatch it.

Anatoly

This story was corrected by the teacher Lisa

English: Writing (June 12, 2014)

Task: You have the chance to write one letter to your favorite singer/actor/celebrity. Write a letter to him/her telling why you are his/her biggest fan.

Attention to Ms. Meg Ryan

Hello Meg,

I participated in the competition about movies and I won a prize: the possibility to write A letter to my favorite actress. It is why I dared to write a letter to you. I highlightED you aMong other actresses after watching the movie  "You've Got Mail".

This role was about an average person but you filled it WITH deep meaning . I suppose that the main idea of your character was “to be positive”. It is why this person found her happiness, AND why she was interesting for others.

I liked how you showed your emotions in this movie. They were sincere and very touchable.

Using the opportunity to write this letter, I’d like to say Thank you for this role.

I’m posting this letter to my blog and hope it could proMOTE your works in cinematograPHY for THE wide audience.

Your sincere admirer,

Anatoly.

The capital letters show our mistakes which was corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

English: Writing 7/06/2014

Task: Write a letter to an investor about a new invention you have created.

Dear Sir,

I read about your successful previous projects when you set up venture companies for providing innovative ideas. THIS is ONE reason why I’m writing you.

I’d like to SUGGEST you organize the company for producing wireless headsets.  

I THINK that this gadget could be demanded by THE market. And we can make specific devices for sportsmen. Note how many people now use WIRED headsets and how uncomfortable they feel, especially when they are EXERCISING.

We have technology now and all we need: to create A very attractive design. Creating a cool image is very important. After some investment in advertising we can start our sales.

Please, let me know if this offer is interestING for you.

(Or:

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS OFFER)

Anatoly.

The capital letters show our mistakes which was corrected by teacher Audrey Ross

English: Writing Practice Class (A favorite place in my town)

Task: What is your favorite place in your town? Explain

Sometimes people ask me about places which I could advise for them while visiting Moscow and about my favorite place. Usually, I answer that there is the obligatory program for tourists in Moscow like the Kremlin, the ballet, etc and places which I personally like.

So, on the picture above is my favorite place in Moscow, the Moscow River. It is difficult to imagine that in the centre of such a big city there is a very large green area. We can relax here listening to the twittering of the birds, observing the sailboats, and looking at the people who are walking by (the passersby).

The river bends many times, we can go on one side of the river and after crossing a bridge return to the starting point on the other side.

I like to take a bicycle trip on a sunny day in this way. During the trip, I take some photos and the best of them are shared on my Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/anatoliy.learner

There is a song about my city where the singer asks listeners about what is the longest street in Moscow. We can guess the answer … Yes, it is the Moscow River :)

This text was corrected by the teacher Lisa