Zafar Syed is a researcher at Toronto University Canada. He is 43 years old. Zafar is married and has three children, two boys and a girl. He got his B.A from Canada and M.A in ESL from the University of Hawaii. He spoke to us from Toronto Canada. Students asked him about the best way to learn English. How we could improve our reading, speaking, writing and listening. "The most thing is to practice" Zafar said. It is like football if you do not practice you will lose. You should use English as a tool to do other things. We make mistakes beause we are learning. It is all right to make mistakes if you will learn from them then not make them again. He asked the students to do their best because they have a very good school.
"Make your family.. make your country.. proud that you are doing what is best for you and best for them" Zafar said.
Tony Gurr is the PD Coordinator at the IAT. He spoke in our class 10.05 and also to another class G 10 in Fujairah online about the strategies he used to learn Turkish as a second language. He said you must practice. He told us that some people think that the most important thing is to study grammar but you should know vocabulary too. He has read stories for children in Turkish. He advised students to watch English movies without the subtitles. Chatting in English can help you improve your English only if you pay attention to grammar, spelling, and try to correct your mistakes. Students from both classes asked him questions about learning a second language after he finished his talk.
Yesterday we went to Al Ain Mall. The first thing we did is that we went to the cenima and watched "Big Mama House 2". It was very good movie. It was a comedy film. After that we went to play bowling. Later we went to the resteraurant and we had dinner. We spent a very nice time and we were funny. It was a perfect activity. I like it and I want to do it again to spend a nice time with our good teacher Mr. Ahmed Moustafa. He is the best teacher at the IAT.
The starting skills book is almost perfect. The writer of this book is Terry Phillips. The colors and the pictures are good and the design is also nice. It can help you a lot. There are many new words and very useful. The skills in the book are also helpful. There are eight themes in every book. We have three different books one for listening and speaking, one for reading and writing and the third one is for vocabulary and grammar. I think this book is better than any other book.
In starting Skills there are three books. The first one is reading and writing. The second is vocabulary and grammar and the third one is listening and speaking. The best thing about Starting Skills in English is that the books are very easy. The pictures are very good but some pictures need to be changed. The good picture helps you to answer the question. At the end of the book you can find vocabulary lists. It is important vocabulary. There are ten themes in every book. Every theme is in three pages. I can improve my vocabulary at the end of the book. There are some very good questions to improve your English.
Marriage in the UAE is very easy. you must first find a good woman. Then you must make sure that this woman your mother prefer for you. Then you must talk to her father. Then her father ok the wedding. In the wedding everybody is happy. In the wedding, you must bring food for all the people. When the wedding finishes you take your wife home .
I want to travel to the USA or London, because there are beautiful places and fresh air. I heard about New York. They said it is a beautiful city but in some places its dangerous people and dangerous towns. There is a good place like Disney land in London and fashion shows also in London. I want to visit the museum and the parks also I want go to the beach to play football and swim in the sea.
On Saturday my teacher Ahmed Moustafa let us speak to Ms. Sherry Mohammed, a student in the US. She tells us about English. Some students talked with Ms Sherry. I told her that my English has improved because I speak only English with my teachers, friends and others. We asked her about travelling.
In the past, our customs & culture were that you must get married as fast as you can and when you can and if you have money too. It says don’t give very expensive dowry as sheikh Zayed & Prophet Mohammed say. Before you can get married more easily than now. You should get married when you are about 20 years old. In these years, marriage is very hard because some people are not all right because they think when someone want marry their daughter he must pay very high dowry. You should have a high salary. Most families when someone come and wants to marry one of their women. They ask for a very expensive dowry and put very hard rules about marriage. Most men get married at the age of 25.
Marriage in the UAE is like this. You go to the family of the girl and you tell them about you and you ask about the girl when they agree. The first thing they choose the money and where dose house and about the when the marriage and where.
I will go to the Germany. I will go to the museum with my family. I will go to the dome with my friends. At the dome, you can see many things. There are many things in Germany. I will go to Bonn. Bonn is very good city in Germany. I will go to the zoo in Germany. I will go to shop with my family. You can go to the sea. In the sea, you can swim there. Also you can visit the museum. You can go from a place to place by train. You can buy the ticket from the train. Also you can go to the beach.
The pictures in the starting Skills Book are nice. We have five themes in the book. The design is very beautiful. The book is very interesting and easy to learn for students. The teacher explains the book very well and I understand from the teacher. The three books are not the same. The first book reading and writing the second book listening and speaking and vocabulary and grammar.
I went to a trip to Oman. I went to museum. And I went to a very nice place. In Oman, we have a very good place. In this trip I went to the park. I went to visit the shopping mall and I saw many good places.
I visited Turkey last holiday. My trip in Turkey is beautiful for me. I will speak about my trip program in Turkey. In the morning, after I have breakfast, I go out of my home to tour some cities and go back. In the afternoon, I did not go any where I just sat at home. At night, I went out to the Cornish and went back. I visited Bursa. Bursa is very cold.
Sherry Mohammed…is about 30 years old. She speaks English very well. She lives in USA. She has studied abroad in Canada, America and the United Kingdom. She went to these countries with her family. She is half American and half Lebanese woman. She has spoke to us in class online. Then she talked about her profile. After that we asked her a number of questions about herself, why is English language important? We answered her. That English is the most important language in the world. Most countries use this language and you can meet many people from different parts of the world by speaking this language. She has advised us not to be afraid and worry about Grammar, vocabulary and speaking mistakes. Read English stories. Read books even if you don’t understand them. Watch English programs and English films. Just be the way you feel is good and right.
New York is a charming city that won’t disappoint you. I want to go to New York because we have very cold weather. It is a very nice and big city . It is alive 24 hours a day.
Marriage is a very important thing for the human life. Before marriage, we go shopping to buy perfumes, clothes, shoes and many other things. When the wedding starts, we invite our friends, cousins, all family members. During the wedding , we usually have a singer because marriage is our enjoyment.
I want to visit Switzerland because it’s a beautiful country. There I can find good weather and good services. In Switzerland, I can find what I need like hotels and malls. There are many things I want to visit like Milan Club, shooting club, hunting club, zoo, parks, mountains and skating rinks .Also I want to visit Toon city and many islands. In Milan Club I want to see the stadium .Then I want to shoot in shooter club. After that I want to go hunting. Also I want to see the animals in the zoo. Also I want to buy a house there .I want to walk in the Park. Then I want to climb Mountains. I want visit Toon because there are beaches and beautiful sea. I will go by plane.
I want to visit Qatar. My favorite country is Qatar. You want to visit Qatar because it has wonderful parks . It has wonderful sea and beaches and you can play with sand. It has modern buildings like Villas. You can see your friends and play with him. You can go shopping everyday. You can visit the museums and forts. If you go there, you will be safe. You can go to the desert, and play with cars. The life in Qatar is relaxed. Qatar is a wonderful country. It has a new club to play sports .Those clubs have nice chairs. Qatar has nice hotels. These hotels have beautiful swimming pools .
I want to visit Qatar. My favorite country is Qatar. You want to visit Qatar because it has wonderful parks . It has wonderful sea and beaches and you can play with sand. It has modern buildings like Villas. You can see your friends and play with him. You can go shopping everyday. You can visit the museums and forts. If you go there, you will be safe. You can go to the desert, and play with cars. The life in Qatar is relaxed. Qatar is a wonderful country. It has a new club to play sports .Those clubs have nice chairs. Qatar has nice hotels. These hotels have beautiful swimming pools .
My plan is to visit England because my brothers and sisters went there. I will go there to study and do some tourism. I will go there after I finish studying in the U.A.E at the I.A.T. At the same time, if there is any free time. I will go to malls and cinemas. I will go to visit museums there also. There is a good university. It’s Manchester University. There are fantastic places and natural places. My brothers and sisters advised me, after you finish studying in the U.A.E you should go there to study abroad to complete studying and to get a perfect degree.
Yesterday Ms. Sherry spoke about herself. She said when I was a child I studied very hard to improve my English. She gave some advice for the class. She said that the class should speak English and listen to the BBC in English. One should improve his English. If you speak good English, you can go anywhere to complete your studies. She said when you go back home you must study very hard because if you do not study you will not get easy work. This was all my advice to you.
Last summer I went with my brother and his friends to Thailand. At first, we booked a ticket on Emirates airlines. We went from Dubai Airport. We flew from Emirates at 7 pm. We arrived at 1a.m. In Thailand, my brother have a friend there they waited for us at the airport. We stayed at the best hotel in Thailand. We booked four rooms. In the next day, we went to Thailand restaurants we ate local food. Then we went to many shops. After that we went to many museums. After that we relaxed on the beach and swam also we went fishing there. We went to the restaurants to eat lunch when we finished we returned back to the hotel. We slept for two hours then we went to the Park and the zoo we saw many animals. After we went shopping we went back to our hotel. In the next day, we went to a beautiful island in Thailand we saw the local people how is their life and how can they fish with their hands. We knew more about their country. We stayed there for two days. Then we came back to Al Ain Airport.
In china, I will the visit the zoo and the museum to see the china history. I will join them at the spring festival and play games and dance with them. I will go to the best restaurants and eat delicious food. I will go to the shopping and buy some presents to my friends. I will stay in a nice hotel. I will see the Great Wall of China.
I had a real trip. This trip was last year. I went to Oman. We went at 6 a.m. we went by a car. It took us four hours. We were there at 10 o'clock. We visited the museum. Also we visited the parks. We played volleyball in the beaches. We went to many of the hotels. Also we went to Salala. We visited all the places in Oman. After that we came back home.
I visited KSA. I went to Jeddah, Mekka and Aseer. I visit Jeddah Lake. I visit to Aseer Mountain. It’s a very good mountain. I visited Al Atehad Club. I visited to Al Haram. I visited nice buildings and green parks. I visited these places with my uncle. K.S.A is a very nice country.
The activities I will do in England are, first of all I will study and practice my English skills like speaking, listening, grammar, vocabulary. I will read many books. I will try to make my English better. I will speak English and correct the mistakes. My hope is to speak English like a native speaker. After that I will to travel around the country. I like to go skiing with an expert to teach me how to ski. Then I will go to Manchester Mountain. I will go climbing with an expert to teach the right way to climb and the best tools to use in climbing. After that I will go to visit some museums in Manchester to know about old England. Also I will visit famous restaurants in Manchester. I will go to Manchester United club to watch Manchester United matches. I hope to meet English people as much as I can to make my English perfect.
I visited Syria last summer .I spent some time in Al Zabdani .It is a village in countryside in Damascus Mountains. It is the coldest village in Damascus. It has many springs like Brada spring, Zarzar spring and Beqeen spring. Also I visited Halab it has a beautiful historical places like Halab fort, Salah Aldeen fort and an old swimming pool .It has nice weather it is better than the weather in Damascus. I visited Hums but I did not spend much time there so I did not know much information about it. I visited Alladeqia. I had a large sea meal .The taste of fish is different from here .I swam in the sea. I enjoyed Syria.