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Learn about Gerunds and Infinitives

Date: Jun 27 2012

Grammar: Gerunds vs. Infinitives

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Not long ago, people used to get pretty excited when they saw the mailman coming. The mail used to bring letters, magazines, and sometimes even money! But these days, as more and more of our lives have moved onto the Internet, we hardly seem to use the real mail anymore. It’s just too slow. There’s even a nickname for it in English because of how slow it is in comparison with email and other forms of instant communication: snail mail. Still, some people don’t want to see the mail disappear altogether. Hear Amy and Ella talk about mail.

在不久以前,人们曾经一看到邮递员的到来就十分兴奋。邮递员通常会带来信件、杂志,有时候甚至是金钱!但现如今,我们生活的方方面面都转移到了互联网上,很难再使用真正的邮件。因为它的速度太慢。英语中甚至出现了邮件的昵称,因为与电子邮件和其他形式的即时通相比,邮件速度太慢:蜗牛邮件 (snail mail)。当然,还有一些人不希望邮件全部消失。听听玛尼和艾拉谈论邮件。

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Ella

Ella

Amy

Amy

Ella:  So, where I live, we don’t have mailboxes at our house. I have to have a post office box, and I just find it such a hassle to check it once a week. I refuse to go to the post office more than once a week to check the mail.

Amy:  Oh my gosh, really? Checking the mail is like the highlight of my day. I love coming home and seeing what’s in the mailbox.

Ella:  I just…I dread having to open a bill, and when I see all those coupon magazines and stuff, things I’ll never use, I’m just like, “This is a waste of paper and killing trees.” I hate receiving mail. Just send it to my email or send me a text.

Amy:  Yeah, I understand getting kind of annoyed by junk mail. But for me, even bills, it’s kind of exciting to open up a bill and see what your gas bill is that month. Just the act of, you know, opening up an envelope. And there’s nothing better than getting something you actually want in the mail. Like what about getting a paycheck in the mail? That’s awesome.

Ella:  That’s what direct deposit is for. Then I don’t have to keep track of everything, because it’ll all just be in a very convenient little file folder online somewhere. So then I don’t have to keep all these papers and junk mail and deal with the mailman. I mean, the only thing I like to receive is probably a package, but besides that, the mail can just stop.

 

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Discussion

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Ella lives in a house without a mailbox. She has a post office box that she checks once a week. Even though she only checks it once a week, Ella finds the mail annoying. She hates getting junk mail and bills. She would rather get all her mail online.

Amy disagrees. She thinks it is exciting to get the mail. She loves opening up envelopes and thinks it is better to get physical mail than email. Her favorite thing to get in the mail is money!

Do you like to check the mail? What are your favorite and least favorite things to get in the mail?

 

Comments

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marija luiza

Mexico

Mail is exciting. It is something increidible. Of course I love it, but just to recieve souvenirs for friends around the world, because they can not send it on email haha. The least favorite thing is that in my country the service is just rubbish, i have to wait for more than 1 or 2 moonths to recieve it. It is annoying. Anyway, It has more important things.


11:50 PM Sep 02 2012 |

La Princesse de la vie

Egypt

I think a way or another, mail will vanish entirely soon.  besides, no one knows what will vanish also as a result from this ongoing technology. We are about to really move all our lives to be on the internet. What is next?

08:01 AM Jul 08 2012 |

ErinDong

ErinDong

United States

i like sending emails to my friends. but i feel very dissapointed when i don’t recieve anything. i love to check the mail because there are usually packages and magazines when i check the mail!!!!! Laughing

09:20 PM Jul 02 2012 |

SuYuchen

SuYuchen

China

I like sending emails with other online, but I prefer to send snail mail to my friends. It is very excited for me to look forward the letter. Even for a long time. I think it’s great. We can write to each other and get to know more about other without the computers. I wonder I will get some good pen pals. Are there anyone have same wish with me?

05:40 AM Jul 01 2012 |

1 person likes this

ramonhsc

Brazil

I think it´s cool… Even though you´re not expecting anything in special, receiving mails is nice… except for all those bills, I´ve been receiving lately.. hahaha

04:57 PM Jun 29 2012 |

elaeli

Indonesia

These day I never get mails from my friends but look back ten years ago I still receive mails from my friends. It was exciting feeling when I opened the envelope and what is gonna be inside. Especially it is from your love one…hehe…

08:08 AM Jun 28 2012 |

1 person likes this

S&W

S&W

China

Both the physical mail and the email are my faveorite.First the physical mail,My family have a lot of physical mails that were the letters belongs to my father and my mom.They share those best memory with me .I also like those letters .The second is email ,Now i connect my friend with email and i also look forward to receive their mails.The least favorite things i don’t want get is adertisement email.

07:24 AM Jun 28 2012 |

1 person likes this

yifangwang

China

I remeber when I was a student in the high school,receiving the letter from the friends was the happiest thing for me.You know,as a student ,we couldn’t  get any information outside the schol,only the letter could bring us some interesting topics that brighten us life .We often shared our letters as well if there were some topics that would make all of us excited

05:58 AM Jun 28 2012 |

1 person likes this

kavenlin24

kavenlin24

China

fuck..what is it

03:53 AM Jun 28 2012 |

durra ahmed

Iraq

i was having a box mail in apost office cause in our country we don’t recieve mail at home cause i didn’t give my friends my home address  .. so now i leave it and make my friends and relatives send letters at yahoo mail even cards …i think it’s better cause it’s easier than mail box in my country …but if im at another country i’ll be happy to recieve aletter and i cut the envelope ... read it ..go fast to my table and hold a pen and a paper ..reply to the sender ..it was beauty feeling    

09:27 PM Jun 27 2012 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

I can´t remember the last time that I got  a written letter in my mail box, ok, we are living in  a time of  not only fast food ,also,  instant communication ,we are only a click apart , the only mail that I receive  are the less  desirable  bills  from the utilities companies ,they never fail  and comes  as an landslide  each month.  I treasure the love letters that my father sent to, at that time  his fiancee , my mother kept them neatly tied inside a tin box ,how sweet . and is a pity that this way of communication  is almost lost  because of the internetCry

09:26 PM Jun 27 2012 |

ana.p94231

ana.p94231

India

I like checking mails especially for various discount coupons…:) I love coupons which I can use on weekends for shopping. for example discount coupons in restaurants, coupons on beauty products and cosmetics and gorcery also.


Ana.  

06:55 PM Jun 27 2012 |

1 person likes this

Andressa Holland

Brazil

Well, as BastetPrada I also haven’t lived in those times when write letters was common, but I have received some letters, and I can say that virtual email won’t be so excited as receive a letter from someone that you like or receive a backpage that you was waiting anxiously! It’s so exciting! 


I have a sister that lives in a monastery now, and we call her regularly but we also  write several letters to her, and is so exciting when we receive her letters at back! Nothing compares! Receive a letter is touching!


I think that the emails are good in “formal situations” and the letters are perfect when you wanna do something more personal! 



And I agree with MemoTheHun, CrizsearchPatricialli, Mania_16 and i love life said everything!


And I thought that what huatoan212 said was so beautiful! I liked the way you analyzed it!

06:03 PM Jun 27 2012 |

~MemoTheHun~

Germany

Well, as far as I don’t get any bills or any other ** I am ok with getting mails but writing mails to other persons for personal reasons is rather old-fashioned today. You have Email, Smartphone (WhatsApp, Sms, Email, Yuilop etc..) to use and sending a mail would just be weird.

03:14 PM Jun 27 2012 |

Crizsearch

Crizsearch

Indonesia

I love writing rather than typing so can you guys imagine how much I really love sending letter at that time. But now writing letter is not common anymore. But we still have mail box and snail mail is still exist. we also still deal with postman, package, etc :D . And my favorite thing is opening package, hehe…..

I also love sending email to my friends, and receiving their replies are always got me excited. Just like opening a present :D.  We talked a lot, getting advices and also sharing nice moments. I love to check those mails. I subcribed to some English sites to get weekly / montly letters, Their latest update and I almost checking all of them Wink

02:46 PM Jun 27 2012 |

sanaa2000

sanaa2000

Egypt

Although we r live in asmall village,we  havent mail & rarely see the mailman.People here use the mobile to communicate with each other,cuz they dont know alot about the internet or the e-mail.I prefer to hear agood news on my e-mail.& the best one, when someone sends me e-mail & says:Hi,I will marry uWink

02:44 PM Jun 27 2012 |

Patricialli

Mexico

I like checking my mail ,I love when I got Magazines ,free samples of products but I hate when I got bills :/ ,junk mail bothers me too but sometimes is lot of good coupons .

02:43 PM Jun 27 2012 |

samirah

samirah

Saudi Arabia

i dont like to check my mail at all,I remember when i was young, i used to correspond with my friends in vacations and we promise each other to keep these messsage up until we become older .

01:08 PM Jun 27 2012 |

merllan

merllan

Bulgaria

I like to check my mail. I am happy when I find a letter from my friends.


 

12:31 PM Jun 27 2012 |

nfrtary

nfrtary

Egypt

well i didn`t receive snail mail before or send it to anyone becuase i grew up and i couldn`t catch this perioed but i think conventional  mail is not bad for gifts and cards but iof course if i want to send letter to some one the easiest way to complish it quickly it`ll be E-mail or text but you know i hope that i could live in this period and send and recive mails from my friends 

12:09 PM Jun 27 2012 |

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