Elizabeth's English Lectures (CEO, A-listers Academy/ALA)

Many students of English as a Second Language   (ESL) do not just learn speaking. They also want to take English exams. The most popular English exam among employees in Korea and in Japan is the TOEIC exam, or Test of English for International Communication. Here is another sample of a TOEIC question.  Customers with concerns about the safety of the product are advised to call the ________ as soon as possible. A.      Manufacture B.      Manufacturing C.      Manufacturer D.     Manufactured Again, this is a vocabulary test but this is much easier than the vocabulary question in TOEIC Lecture 2 because all of the choices (words from A-D) here are related. Let’s dissect the question. The blank that needs to be filled in with the appropriate word is contained in this phrase:   “to call the __________ as soon as possible.   Disregard the phrase    as soon as possible --- it’s an adverb, and it does not affect the blank that needs to be filled in. So, we are left w

  Many students of English as a Second Language or ESL do not just learn speaking. They also want to take English exams. The most popular English exam  among employees in Korea and in Japan is the TOEIC exam, or Test of English for International Communication. Read our blog posts to know more about these lessons!       CRI Inc. __________ all employees to wear identification badges at all times when inside the plant. A.      Suggests B.      Wishes C.      Needs D.     Requires   This is a vocabulary question. For some test-takers, maybe the word choices are familiar, so let’s “attack” (I love the word attack, hahaha) this question from the point of view of the test-takers who are not so familiar with the words, and those test-takers who are not so familiar yet with the structure of the English sentences.   To begin with, let’s look for some clues, and here they are:   CSI Inc. – This is a name of a company, and it’s the subject of the sentence. The other clu

Many students of English as a Second Language do not just learn speaking. They also want to take English exams. The most popular English exam  among employees in Korea and in Japan is the TOEIC exam, or Test of English for International Communication.   Starting today, we will post sample questions from different sources so that we can give tips on how to spot the correct answer immediately. Enjoy learning TOEIC with us!        In order for __________ to provide the necessary benefits, dentists associated with the university’s insurance policies must be shown a valid student ID card. A.     Those B.      Them C.      Their D.     That   Choice B,  t hem,   is the right answer because: FOR is a preposition, we need the Objective Case of Pronoun Them= Dentists If we substitute the pronoun them with the noun, it would be like this:   In order for the dentists to provide the necessary benefits, …..   More examples: In order for the farmer s to produce good

  Staedtler mechanical pencil and the equally nice black one whose name/brand has become too faded to read                                                                     the many lead holders still  full of lead                                                                       I lived in a time when owning a mechanical pencil, even the most affordable one, was really cool. As a university student, I really wanted to have a mechanical pencil but my then-antagonist pockets never allowed me to.   When I got my very first serious job I wanted to have them, for at that time my pockets were already a little friendly to me, but I deemed it impractical to buy one. I had bills to pay and some people to support.   Now I have two mechanical pencils. One is Staedtler and the other’s name/brand has become too faded to read (apologies to the company that made the black one), but both pencils were given to me by my Japanese friend, so I am sure that the black one is of a very high quality me

                                                    Yes, this is  how keep track of my activities for the day!  I love writing on a piece of paper, I love being old school. If there was an Olympic competition for being the most old school, I’d be a gold medalist. Despite all these advanced, modern ways to keep track of meetings and other reminders, I still love to write my reminders and tasks on this pad paper for third graders. I still love the “feel” of a real piece of paper. I love the sound it makes when I flip the pages. I love the smell of my Pilot marker. I love pasting pieces of paper on my wall. They are very mentally stimulating for me. Also, this pad paper reminds me of my life when I myself was a third-grader, with pigtails and scars. Talk about growing up in late 80s into the 90s. There are some things I just can’t let go, things that I keep in my heart, no matter how technologically advanced the world will become.

  my external hard disk drive that had been under my bed for almost a decade  A few weeks ago, I tidied up my place from top to bottom and I found this external hard disk drive that had been under my bed, collecting dust. And because I am a Neanderthal, I did not how to use it. As usual, I called my computer technician friend to come and see it if it’s still working.   When he plugged it in, there was the “tsk…tsk-ing” sound. He figured he just needed to replace something inside.   He did not want to throw it away because the memory size is one terabyte. He brought it home and after a day, I got a message from him, at past two in the morning, stating that he had fixed my external hard disk drive, retaining its memory size.   I don’t even know what to store in here. Maybe, my life story? Hahaha!  We can now store anything on Google Drive or Cloud, but it’s still good to have an external hard disk drive, especially if it’s one terabyte!  

  my digital camera, with a reflection of my wide forehead as a bonus pic  hahahahahaha!!!                                                                                digicam battery and charger  Some years before the invention of the smartphone, we took pictures with a digital camera. This Lumix Panasonic digital camera makes me nostalgic because it was kind of given to me by a friend who had to go back to Japan in 2014. He did not give it to me formally but this camera was one of his many belongings that he couldn’t take back home to Japan, so he left those items in my care and I was instructed to do whatever I wanted to do with them. I told him that I wanted to have this digicam.  I have traveled to many places, alone, with this digital camera. I captured moments and images with this reliable old school device. I have a smartphone now, just like everyone else, but I will never, ever get rid of this digital camera. It has become a part of my life story.  

  There are the seemingly small things that help me get through the day. Upon waking up in the morning, while having my steaming black coffee, I write my schedules and reminders for the day on pieces of paper and paste them on the wall. Yes, I am so old school! My grip is strong which is so uncommon for a teeny-weeny girl like me, and so my dominant hand does not like the “feel” of a pen.   It’s just too tiny for me and I can’t write well. And so, my friends, Pilot permanent markers, enter the picture. Yes, even on a small piece of paper, I use Pilot permanent marker! And, I even use Pilot permanent marker when taking down notes during my classes! What I like about this brand is that, it’s refillable. I just need to buy a bottle of ink and presto, I can just refill my pens as often as needed. How about you? What small things help you get through your crazy, productive day?   P.S.   Aw, there’s a bonus… Pilot ink smells good. It doesn’t offend my nostrils. Hahaha!

My Baby Maki plant on my desk  Some people who work from home have their lovely fur babies beside them when they’re working. I have my green baby near me, right on my desk. I call it Baby Maki. My place is not that big, and I spend a great amount of time tidying it up early in the morning before I work. Also,  I beautify it the best way I can. There are indoor plants on the window sill and still, there are some on my art table. This Maki, however, is the one closest to my heart because it’s having a difficult time growing baby leaves. I give it extra care and I put it right next to me. I’m not sure whether or  not the care I am giving it is suitable but anyway, I hope it will grow to be a sturdy Maki tree!    

  Many students of English as a Second Language or ESL are quite confused with the difference between TIRED OF and TIRED FROM . TIRED OF simply means something is no longer interesting. It has become too common, too boring for you, and sometimes, you are even repulsed by its presence. Let’s imagine that you really love pasta. But, if you eat pasta for breakfast, for lunch, and for dinner every day, you will eventually get bored with it. In this case, you are tired of pasta, or you are tired of eating pasta. You no longer get excited eating pasta. Note:  The expression  TIRED OF  can also be used with people.  Example: I am tired of my boyfriend. I want to break up with him and date a more interesting guy.    The expression TIRED FROM means you are physically tired, your body is tired. If you work hard in your garden the whole day, of course, you get very, very tired. In this situation, you are tired from working in the garden the whole day.   Take a look at the follow