Lesson 2
Dear Teni,
Thank you for your second message. My comments and corrections follow.
Sincerely,
Prof. Sue Garreis
Dear Prof. Susan Garreis
Hello
Thank you for your corrections.
I think my English skill is very bad.
> Your English skills are good. I hope this course will make them better.
> I hope you will learn something about America along the way.
I am on FaceBook. Search for M. Susan Garreis. If you send me a friend request, I will accept it.
-> Yesterday (Monday, May 19th), I ‘ve send you a friend request and I hope you will accept it.
> I accepted your friend request. I am sorry it took so long for my reply.
My facebook link is https://www.facebook.com/nhthien88 and I had uploaded my family’s picture on it.
> What a lovely family you have! Feel free to look.
I like to live in a large city because of its convenience.
> Large cities can be very convenient. I grew up in a small town and have lived in small to medium towns most of my life.
> I enjoy seeing people that I know on the street as I do errands.
How do you commute to campus?
-> I always go to Abiko Station by train and go to school by bus.
> Japan has excellent public transportation. In the US, some large cities have very good public transportation. Washington DC has a really Metro system.
> Outside of the large cities, public transportation is not great. We rely very much on cars to get us where we need to go.
I assume your family is still in Vietnam. Do you get to visit them?
-> My family is in Vietnam now. Every year I come back once and visit them.
> What time of year do you visit your family? During the summer break?
Do you have a favorite soccer team?
-> My favorite football team is Manchester United in England. I play football with my friend every Saturday at Shinagawa Station.
> That sounds wonderful! Manchester United is a great team. They are world famous. Even I have heard of them. Most Americans like baseball. This is baseball season. It is a summertime outdoor sport. My favorite team is the Orioles. They are headquartered in Baltimore Maryland. (http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=bal&tcid=mm_mlb_sitelist) More and more Americans like soccer. My grandson has played soccer for years.
With best wishes
Nguyen Hung Thien
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<Homework>
1. What browser do you usually use for these lessons?
I usually use Google Chrome or Firefox as my browser for these lessons.
2. Do you know how to use
a. Word b. Excel
I know how to use Microsoft Office very well. But I cannot use Microsoft
Access.
3. Can you read PDF documents with Adobe Acrobat Reader?
I can read PDF documents by my computer.
4. Do you usually do these lessons at home or at school?
I usually do these lessons at home.
5. What kind of connection to the Internet do you have
a. At home b. At school
a. I have a cable and wireless connection at home.
b. I can use wireless connection at school.
6. Do my corrections of your English appear in italics?
Yes, I can see the italics and different color in your corrections.
7. Do my comments appear in regular print?
Yes, of course.
8. Have you ever been abroad?
I have been abroad to Japan, Korea.
I would like to visit Singapore in the future.
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This weekend was a very busy one for me and for most Americans. It was Memorial Day weekend.
Very early on Saturday morning I drove from my home to my daughter's home in Delaware. We went to a garage sale sponsored by a former soldier's group. It is a fund raiser for the group. Members bring things they no longer want and sell them to people who want them. For example my daughter, Kate, and I bought books, some shirts and jewelry for my older granddaughters (her nieces) and some small kitchen items for Kate's kitchen. The sellers make some money for themselves, give some to the sponsoring charity (the former soldiers' group) and gain some empty space in their houses. Garage sales are an American summertime tradition. They started about fifty (50) years ago. They are called garage sales because people cleaned out their garages. In the US we store stuff in garages, not cars!
In the afternoon we went to a long time friend of my daughter's. We celebrated her daughter's graduation from college. We have known the graduate and her family for many years. There was a barbeque (hamburgers and hot dogs cooked on a grill outside). The graduate received presents, usually money. We had a great time.
On Sunday, Kate and I went to a brunch (breakfast + lunch = brunch). One skips breakfast and eats the meal in the late morning. One of her good friends was celebrating his thirty-eighth birthday. There were eight of us at the table in a local restaurant called Bob Evans. My Belgian waffle was delicious. (http://www.bobevans.com/Menu/Category/2/Breakfast).
Immediately after brunch we drove to Maryland to pick up Kate's brother, Alex (my #2 son and Kate's #2 brother), and his two children, Sean and Emma. We drove to Baltimore to the home of my cousin, Mark. Mark and his wife held a barbeque to honor the memory of his sister, Patty. Patty died in April. She was sixty (60). We used many picnic items that Patty had: tablecloths, table napkins, plates, silverware. We had a red, white and blue (US national colors) theme for the food and drink and our clothes. We talked, laughed, remembered Patty and saw family members we hadn't seen in a long time. We were there from three in the afternoon until eleven at night. It was a great time and a good way to celebrate Patty's life.