Bassima equals smile

English Learning Resources

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 16:46:00 +0000

This is a follow up blog to my old one titled "How I learnt English", I wrote this as an email to a friend who approached me the other day, seeking some tips and tricks on how to improve her English and also if I can share with her some free resources.
I divided my email into four sections to guide her through it, so without further ado here is what I've sent to my friend.

• Listening: it is the primary step in learning and improving, no matter how much you listen to English you always need more, I will list down podcasts and radio shows that I frequently use:

1. English at Work intermediate level.

2. Professionals podcasts, (advanced level) very good for work environment.

3. English Pronunciation Podcast, very useful website to help you level up your speaking and listening skills. (US)

4. Here are some programs on BBC radio 4 that will help you obtain knowledge of the way people discuss in English:

- Woman's Hour.

- You and Yours.

- File on 4.

5. Finally, you need some drama :) 15 minute drama show on the BBC is great when you are busy cooking or cleaning around the house.

These were variety of websites and podcasts I always refer to enhance my language, most of them are British English.

• Channels on YouTube: In the past, I had nearly 40 channels for English learning, but nowadays I often watch some videos when I am bored of reading and listening.

1. Anglo-Link: all about Grammar!

2. books and quills: nice channel about book reviews.

3. English Jade: general English tutorials.

4. English with Lucy: really fun channel, varied lessons about idioms and phrases.

5. Lisa Eldridge: this is makeup tutorials channel, for the well known makeup artist Lisa, it will help you with cosmetic vocabulary.

• Reading: if you are reading a novel or a non-fiction from a physical copy, you'd better search for its audiobook and try to listen and follow along with your finger, it is painstaking work but I grantee that your level will boost in no time.

1. BBC Future: articles about science, health, and technology.

2. Teacher development: information about training courses, CPD framework, publications, research database and many other resources to help with professional development.

3. East of the web: nice website for reading short stories, I recommend you to read the Contemporary stories for kids.

4. Reading skills practice: practise and improve your reading skills. There are activities for different levels, so find your level and make a start.

• Other Resources:

1. English Tips: massive website for English, you will find everything on this site, English lessons, exam materials, e-books, coursebooks, etc.

2. Future Learn: offers many courses on different subjects, I think these courses suits you:

- English for Academic Purposes.

- An Intermediate Guide to Writing in English for University Study.

- Academic Integrity: Values, Skills, Action.

- Logical and Critical Thinking.

- English as a Medium of Instruction for Academics
- Understanding language: Learning and Teaching.

3. Answers: a handy website where you can ask anything and find answers for your questions.

I think that's all I can think of at the moment, I took my time writing this email, because I wanted to give you the best of what I have been practising my language with during 6 years.

However, bear in mind that it doesn't matter how many books and resources you pile up in your pc, or bookshelves, if you don't devour and study them; it's likely that you won't progress at all.

I have two mottoes that I follow and found them useful to help me when I feel lazy: "If there is a will there will be a way", and "use it or lose it".

Finally, I wish you all the best in your studies, and I hope that you will achieve and accomplish your dreams.

Yours Sincerely,

If you have any other good recourse please share them with me in the comment section.

Lessons from Tuesdays with Morrie

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 06:39:00 +0000

Last week I had the pleasure of reading the splendid book 'Tuesdays with Morrie' , it took me up and down into a spiritual trip.
The book talks about Morrie Schwartz a professor who died 20 years ago with Lou Gehrig's disease, he shared with Mitch Albom his theories on various subjects such as culture, family, forgiveness, death, and marriage. Albom wrote this novel to help pay the immense medical bills for Morrie.

The little wave

One of the most powerful messages I read this year, it's very simple yet it has great meaning; is the story about the little wave:

" a little wave was bobbing along in the ocean, having a grand old time. He’s enjoying the wind and the fresh air – until he notices the other waves in front of him, crashing against the shore. “My God, this terrible”, the wave says. “Look what’s going to happen to me!”
Then along comes another wave. It sees the first wave, looking grim, and it says to him: “Why do you look so sad?”
The first wave says: “You don’t understand! We’re all going to crash! All of us waves are going to be nothing! Isn’t it terrible?”
The second wave says: “No, you don’t understand. You’re not a wave, you’re part of the ocean."

Albom had the chance to visit his old professor at frequent times throughout the remaining months of his life. He wrote down all the things he learned during this time, and gathered them into his novel.

This book is a page turner, I expressed many powerful emotions while reading the topics that Morrie discussed with Mitch.

He has done something I wish I could do, he exposed himself to the society around him, his fears, tears, and his illness! He was truly a brave man.

However, his proverb "Death ends a life, not a relationship.” demonstrate it's value as he lies dead in his grave when people still cherish his memory.

I want to share with you four lessons I learnt from Morrie:

The 1st lesson on love:

Morrie said: "The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.”... “Let it come in. We think we don’t deserve love, we think if we let it in we’ll become too soft. But a wise man named Levine said it right. He said, ‘Love is the only rational act.'”

In truth, I strongly believe that love is the main message Morrie wanted to convey. Love in its pure form, being alive worth nothing if you don't have the ability to spread love around you, so "love one another or die".

The 2nd lesson on wealth:

Money is the devil of all times, yet it's pretty precious, valuable, worthy of respect, but Morrie taught me that:

“You can’t substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness or for a sense of comradeship."

another lesson about love! Not surprising at all, because buying new expensive things in hope to substitute the longing for love in our hearts is not the solution.
All in all, wealth can't buy happiness and health. It's a life fact, but many chose to give it a mess!

The 3rd lesson on living:

What makes a perfect life? Is it great achievements, cheerful moments, or huge income. Maybe all of these together, and perhaps none of them, but Morrie has an adorable idea, he said:

"Be compassionate, and take responsibility for each other. If we only learned those lessons, this world would be so much better a place."

Here is a clever hint of how to be part of the ocean.

The 4th lesson on teachers:

Teachers like the ocean of life, they appear massive and risky, but they have great treasures within them. They have an endless impact of their beliefs on generations of young lives, "they to be honoured than parents because they teach the art of living well".

"Teacher to the last"

that what Morrie wanted to be written on his grave stone. Indeed, it was true, his principles reached thousands of people in the rolling seas of life.

Finally, Tuesdays With Morrie is a tiny book with immense moral reflections, every time I read it, I find something new that startles me, and sharing these lessons with you made me feel like I'm part of the ocean too.

Far Beyond| sequel to the Giver Quartet

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Sun, 22 Feb 2015 02:36:00 +0000

Far Beyond by Bassima

Morning breeze entering swiftly from the window made Gabe curl more with his coverlet, "It's Sunday, I'm not doing anything today" he thought, then he covered his head to prevent sunlight from hurting his eyes.

"Daddy, daddy, wake up granny is expecting us today" little Matty jumped on his father's bed while shouting and sitting on his father's belly. Gabe peeking from under his cover "oh, not today Matt, why don't you go with your mother and I'll follow you later on?" He said. "But daddy you said last week you'll help me catch a birdy so we can put it in the cage granny made for me" Matty said.

He added "also mummy cooked a special breakfast this morning, it's packed and ready for us to have it together at granny's". Gabe rolls his eyes "all right, let me wash my face and we'll go together".

Sipping her chamomile tea, and looking toward the path waiting for her son and his family to join her, Claire's thoughts drifted far away, she murmured the name Einar and to her surprise, she felt such a longing, nostalgia for Lame Einar, she wondered if he's still strong and tough to look after the herd, how he looks like now after all these years? Does he think about her at all? Like she does, sometimes.

She would never have met her son, if Einar refused to help her that night after he recounted his gritty story with his father and the reason why he wanted to climb out, in his shed, they were sitting together on heap of skins and discussing the possibility of her success to climb, he pointed to her " It be better, I think, to climb out in search of something, instead of hating what you’re leaving."

If it wasn't to her affable friend she would still nursing people's injuries, and deeply crying and sympathising her own loss.

Later that day, an old man walked pass Claire's cottage he heard the laughter of merriment and joy spreading from the Cott, he was satisfied to see a rainbow going over the house and fading in the horizon.

The giver, novel, writing challenge, English, Lois Lowry

English As Second Language

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 18:00:00 +0000

#100HappyDays Challenge - Day 5

Marhaba/ Hello to your beautiful faces :)

The world is never the same after I gained English, I used to speak, read, and think in one language, I was a typical monolingual person.

English has widened my sight toward life, it is a window that allowed me to view the world like never before.

Five years ago, I had oddly divergent theories about the OTHERS!

First of all, I thought there were 2 languages, Arabic, and English, I did not know it is almost 6,500 or even more spoken tongues on earth.

Secondly, westerns meant only the US for me, I had no clue that almost each country has its own local dialect, I was convinced that everything belong to the US.

Thirdly, I was absolutely sure all Muslims and Arabs are the best of mankind, and other people are wrong, bad, and they are slaves to their sexual habits, therefore I ought to hate them regardless any human actions they do or show, because they are the wood of Gehenna!.

Fourthly, non-Muslim women were all prostitutes, and no one respects them, they are dolls for media, and they spend their lives in immorality fen without honour or dignity.

Lastly, I truly apologies if I offended anyone by mentioning these thoughts, but this is what I grew up believing and learning, obviously I was misled by my society, they thought by implanting the wrong ideas and false facts, they would prevent followers from expanding their vision and realise that they lack a massive amount of their rights.

Nowadays, I believe not everyone has to be good or bad, and moral principles are different from one culture to the other. Being affiliated to a specific religion doesn't give me the right to hate on others, and be rude to them.

The universe was here before us and it'll remain after we vanish, there is space for everyone to practise what they consider truth without insisting to convert the planet into their own dogma.

I am happy I speak two languages and the second one helped me reach to this belief before it is overly late.

Beauty Obsession

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 18:00:00 +0000

#100HappyDays Challenge - Day 4

Hello there gorgeous people

Today, I spent two hours organising my room, the painstaking part was at the dresser, I had to arrange my makeup kit, sort everything nicely, and get rid of the unwanted items.

While doing that I thought of writing about beauty aspect in my life, so I took this picture to insert it in my post later on, meanwhile I was thinking whether I'm a beauty freak or just a normal young woman. I do care about my appearance a lot, I rarely go out without slapping a little bit of foundation, mascara, and blush on my face.

I believe women should get into makeup, owing to the fact that ever since we were young girls we gravitate toward lipsticks, blushes, and nail polishes. Being pretty is just something runs in our blood, it won't make us shallow or less intelligent if we buy a lip gloss now and then.

In Ramadan this year I used to watch a TV show, in one episode they showed how in some countries, people get obsessed with being beautiful and perfect which led them to come up with peculiar beauty standards that no one thinks it's ever existed.

In the show, they stated that society usually looks at an individual better than they imagine and feel about their appearance, therefore we usually focus on our flaws and how we appear more than others do.

However, I do not like it when some people exaggerate their react about makeup and say it is only for superficial girls just because they don't like wearing it, or perhaps don't know how, I believe in balance.

I am thrilled because I am not obsessed with my body-image, though I am glad I can afford buying make-up, it makes me happy and confident.

#100HappyDays, Day4, Beauty, makeup, body-image,Bassima

Wealth Is Health

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 18:00:00 +0000

#100HappyDays Challenge - Day 3

Hello Happy reader,

I hope you are well, and doing great :)

Yesterday, my mother in law went for walk with her daughter, they walked for about an hour and came back, today at breakfast she was very tired her knees and bones are aching she was in such anguish.

Realising how weak and fragile she'd become brought back such dreadful memories, and made me thankful and appreciating the wellness I am blessed with.

Being quite sound and young are the most valuable gifts in my life, every day passes I grow older and there is no way of living that day again at all. Before my mother's death I've never thought of cancer as a real killing illness, it was something I often learn about in some awareness reports, or hear someone mention it now and then, I've never encountered with a person struggling with cancer.

However, my mom was ill, she kept getting weaker and pale and no one told me she was fighting with this life sucking disease, until one day I read some of the hospital reports that were in her closet.

I read the most disturbing, terrifying, and shocking tow words in my life "Throat cancer", when I asked her is that true? why didn't you ever tell me? there must be something to do, she looked affectionately at me "there is no time, I am dying, you must not tell your siblings" she declared, I saw horror, sorrow in her eyes, and it was palpable she is departing this life, she tolerated this fact because "there is nothing we can do".

A few months later, my mother passed away and left us, the scar of her leaving will never heal, and she will forever be alive in my heart.

Lastly, if you and your family are healthy and in a good shape be thankful and happy for that.

I am happy because I am aware of how important being well and healthy.

#100HappyDays, health, wealth, cancer, shape, death, bassima

I Can Read

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 18:00:00 +0000

#100HappyDays Challenge - Day 2

Good evening happy friends.

I truly feel happy and lucky when I say "I can read", it might be an absurdity to state that nowadays, because in this modern world - almost - everyone can read, an illiteracy is not a widespread problem anymore.

Nevertheless, I was very close to be uneducated person, and that was for some silly conflicts I talked about before in my Prom Queen post.

However, with my father help I started to learn at about 9 years old, first it was really hard and I didn't feel excited because well I was studying at home.!

Years passed, today I am 26 years, and my life revolves about reading, books, authors, and booksfair, I never studied a school book in my childhood nor carried a heavy satchel. My family, friends, and fellows always come to me when they need an urgent literary essay for school, or anything related to writing.

It makes me happy when I tell someone "I've never been to school", and see how they react, the "how?, why? really?" astonished questions often make my day, but inside me it emphasized my sensation that I'm an abnormal individual.

Anyway, I'd prefer to be abnormal, and unusual rather than living life in darkness and never catch the sunshine of knowledge.

I am a happy I can read, and they say:

"a person is never old to learn."

#100HappyDays, reading, writing, illiteracy, #amreading,Bassima

Charming innocence

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 18:00:00 +0000

#100HappyDays Challenge - Day 1

Hello Lovely friends..

I finally got the courage and gathered my strength to do the 100 happy days challenge, it is normally done on Instagram, but I've decided to do an extended version on Blogger because I desire to liven up my dead blog, I usually post reviews about books I've read and some important events in my ordinary life.

The first post is always tricky to start with, but just today I was going through some family photos and I saw this ravishing picture of my sister and little niece.

It made me recall all the delight and happiness, these two brought to our lives just by being girls.

In my childhood, my family were not as open minded as now, thus photography was one of the many forbidden things, I don't have photos of my earlier years when I was an infant, toddler, or even a six year old little girl, the only photo I have is a black and white one in my passport's when I was about 8 or 9.

Nowadays, I try to snap as many pictures as I can for my little sister, I don't want her to grow up with memories only printed in her mind , I also see myself in her photos, she resembles my missing childhood.

Despite all the regulations and principles that control my life as a girl here, I am always happy and positive because with all this restriction I know my family relies on me and they are proud of what I've become as a grown up woman.

I am happy because I am the eldest baby girl in my family.

100Happydays, Diary, memories, little girls, Saudi Arabia, Bassima

Review The Giver | Lois Lowry

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 17:33:00 +0000

The Giver's cover

Hello Blog Friends :), I hope you are doing well and working hard on your new year resolutions list.

Recently, Shizusan, Shishimesan, and I started reading Lois Lowry's books, and we have begun with the well-known novel 'The Giver'.

I got this book last year at a bookfair, I found the description on the cover intriguing, so I bought it. Later on when I told my teacher about it, she pointed out that it is the first novel of an exhilarating series followed by "Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son" and she highly recommends us to read the whole set.

Anyway, three weeks ago we finished The Giver, and we really enjoyed going through its chapters despite how some paragraphs sounded funny and ridiculous, such as the telling of feelings ritual every night, and when someone makes a mistake or causes trouble they must apologise by using an customary formula.

Like in my case: "I apologise for making you read this useless post" and everyone must reply in unison "We accept your apology, Bassima!".

On the other hand, the most shockingly gloomy part of the story was when Jonas (plus us for sure) found out what it really means to "release" someone out of the community, I remember when Jonas watched a recorded tape of his father doing a release of one of a pair of identical twins, Shizusan and I couldn't read that section, so Shishimesan read that dreadful painful part, while we were sobbing and rubbing our eyes. (Women!)

However, if you are willing to improve your English vocabulary, and your level is between intermediate and advanced, I think this is a very useful novel to practise, it is well written and the language is straightforward.

It is not a heavy going book that forces you to check up almost every single word, it is interesting, catchy, fictional, and we went through the book swiftly without any difficulties.

I made notes for the new vocabulary I've learnt while reading, they're in a PDF document , organized chapter by chapter, with some examples, I will insert the link to download the file at the bottom of this post.

Of course the novel is not out of copyright, so I cannot provide any links to download the book.

If you wish to read more information about the setting, plot, and awards check out the giver article on Wikipedia HERE

I would like to send a special thank you to my reading mates from Japan, Shizusan, and Shishimesan -who joined us recently-, for lifting up the burden of boredom and making my Mondays the best ever in my life. Love you guys xoxo

View and download The Giver Notes (on Google drive)

Tags: Learn English, Reading, The giver, Lois Lowry, Vocabulary, Notes, Bassima

My Visit To Fakieh Aquarium

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 15:13:00 +0000

Hi there Blog friends =)

It has been a while since I have posted here; I know I am a terrible blogger but my excuse that writing after a long period is better than giving up the whole blog thingy, right?

Today blog is sort of a diary; I want to share with you what I've seen in my last visit to Jeddah city, I often go there because Jeddah is an open minded city! Yes I feel more freedom there, and it is always busy and noisy at night, and I adore city life and busy streets.

My husband took me there about 3 weeks ago, we spent three days, and on the last day we went to Fakieh Aquarium, it is the first one in Jeddah and Saudi Arabia. I was anxious to go there because I've seen some videos and photographs of it on Instgram.

And for you out there who don't know what does "Aquarium" mean, here is a brief definition:

Place: a building where fish and other water animals are kept for people to visit.

Container : a glass container filled with water that fish are kept in.

see my post is not pointless after all, you have learnt a new word!

Well, for me it was the first time that I ever visit such a place, it was amazing, and I felt like I am diving underwater especially when we walked through the shark tunnel.

I filmed most of the fish containers there, because we arrived in the afternoon the building was almost empty and we took our time there with no rush at all.

The only negative things about Fakieh Aquarium that it is not long, it took us about twenty minutes to walk in the whole building.

And the tickets are a bit too much 50SAR per a person, even for toddlers, and it doesn't give you access to the dolphins shows you have to pay another 50 SAR if you want to attend it.

However we were not too excited to see the show, so we skipped it, and when they started we were out sipping green tea in the cafe, and the show lasted only for like 20 minutes.

Well, I made a seven-minute video of what I have seen there, it is my first try to edit videos on Windows Movie maker, I think I did pretty well and I am happy about my little clip.

I will insert it here for you to watch what Bassima had seen at Fakieh Aquarium in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia.

Thanks for reading and watching, and hope to see you very soon. xxx

P.s: I write these blogs to improve my writing skills, please don't hesitate to correct my mistakes, thanks in advance.

Tags: Fakieh Aquarium, fish, Jeddah city, movie maker, diary.

Writing Challenge: A Mistake I Used To Make

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 20:55:00 +0000

Greetings Blog friends, today I am taking a part in the writing challenge by Tara Benwell on the Englishclub website.

I used to have a very bad English accent, my R sound was very heavy, and it was hard for me to pronounce words like "train, rain, Spain", also I never knew the difference between "B and P".

All that is from the past now, and how I did it? It was simply by listening to the Radio as much as I can.

I used to listen every day while I am surfing the internet, and when I go to bed, or when I am in the kitchen, it was hard at the beginning but after a few months I really loved listening to the radio and it helps my pronunciation a lot.

I wrote about my listening experience last year and you can find the post here.

Thanks a lot. and bye for now :)

Prom Queen!

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Thu, 30 May 2013 12:15:00 +0000

Hello there, so it is summer time which means the end of the school season, Whooo! some of you are graduating from primary school, middle school, and others from high school, well congratulations to all of you out there, you really don't know how lucky you are. I frankly envy you.

As for me it was the dream of my life to see myself going through school stages and invite my friends to my graduation party, but my life has taken another path though I am not complaining because I don't yet know what the future holds for me .

When I was a little girl my family could not get me into school due to immigration problems and the lack of important official documents like my birth certificate etc...

I spent my childhood watching my neighbours's girls go to school every day, I remember that I used to stand at our door and watch them going, some go by car, others go walking, I tell you it was hard for little Bassima seeing this every morning.

But the hardest thing for me has happened only once. One day my aunt was going out to buy some grocery stuff, she asked if I wished to accompany her. I agreed promptly, it was around 11am, so off we went to the supermarket.

We finished shopping and I was helping her by carrying some bags for her. As we neared the house I saw a bunch of girls toddling towards us.

I recognised them immediately; they are my friends, they live around my house, at that moment I really wished that God would open a hole in the ground so I could jump into it and hide my face.

I didn't want them to see me carrying shopping bags instead of a school satchel.

So I handed my aunt her dreadful shopping bags and tried to hide my clothes under my cloak. however, as they passed us I knew they saw my lack of school uniform and they looked at me and I saw pity in their faces :(.

So, from that day until now I've never forgotten the girls' look, and how I felt such embarrassment, I hated myself, and I wept oceans of tears at that night, it was an awful sensation.

I believe that this scar has sculpted my personality and the way I act now, it really hurts me that I am 25 years old now and only two weeks ago I got my first certificate from "Adult education" which equals primary school.

WOOT!

It is three years since I entered this program which is only the first step toward my big dream.

I am glad that it is over now, and I will spend the next three years studying at home to get the Middle school certificate, then another three years to gain High school.

fingers crossed and I hope I won't die before this time.

on the left is my brother he is 12 years old, he has graduated from 6th grade this year, so I feel like 12 again :)

Bottom line, perhaps in a few years I'll post here telling you about my prom night and how wonderful it was.

until then wish me good luck because I really need it. Xoxo

Tags: Prom, queen, school, certificate, adult, education, diary, Graduation.

Review The Woman In White

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:10:00 +0000

Title: The Woman in White.

Author: Wilkie Collins .

Re-told by: Richard G. Lewis.

Publisher: Oxford - Bookworms series - Level 6.
Quotes:
“My hour for tea is half-past five, and my buttered toast waits for nobody.”

“The fool's crime is the crime that is found out and the wise man's crime is the crime that is not found out.”

Hello Blog friends ♥

I've recently finished reading this book with my friend Shizusan, I wanted to read this book because I've seen its film few years ago and it was a catchy one. I've read it was one of the most successful novels written by Collins, so I was excited to start reading this book for better understanding of the story.

I read it every Monday chapter by chapter, Shizusan and I did not find any difficulty going through the book. I was expecting it to be a heavy going book because it is on level six, but the writing was simple and we understood most of the vocabulary.

The Woman in White is a crime fiction kind of novels with the hero Walter Hartright, and it was told by different narratives, I liked this style because it makes me see the story from multiple aspects of view.

The events of the story takes place in the 19th century, it starts by Walter Hartright (the hero) who recently has accepted to be a drawing teacher for two ladies at Limmeridge House. walking late on the street to London when he met with a strange lady she was dressed in white, she looked frightened and tired, he helped her on her way to London but afterwards he knew that she has escaped from an asylum.
The next day Walter arrived at Limmeridge House and met with his employer Mr. Fairlie, and his students: Laura Fairlie, Mr Fairlie's niece, and her half-sister Marian Halcombe. To his shock he realised the obvious likeness between Laura and the Woman in White who knew later that her name is Anne Catherick.

Soon Walter fell in love with Laura, but Walter didn't know that Laura has promised her father to marry Sir Percival Glyde, Marian knowing that Laura loves her teacher advisees Walter to leave Limmeridge House before any harm could be done to both of them, so he quits his job and went back home.
After that Laura got married to Sir Percival and became Lady Glyde, but she was still in love with her teacher, after their honeymoon Laura and her husband returned to Blackwater park in Hampshire, Marian came to live with her sister, Count Fosco and his wife who's Laura's aunt came to live at Blackwater, too.

Marian knew that Sir Percival has financial problems, he tried to force Laura to sign a document that's allows him to use her £20,000, but Marian stood up for her and prevent him with the help from Fosco.

After that the story gets more excited, Marian discovers Mr. Glyde and count Fosco's plot to obtain her sister's money, but unfortunately she got typhus fever and was unconscious for about a month.
During this time Sir Percival fooled Laura to go to London and stay at Count Fosco's house, and a few days after her arrival she passed away.

When Marian has got better she was shocked by the news of her sister death, she didn't know what to do, so she asked Hartright to help her, then a trip of inquiries and investigations led by Walter Hartright and Marian against Sir Percival and Count Fosco has started.

The story is really good and breath taking, if you are looking for a crime plus romance story I advise you to read this book, you'll learn a very useful new vocabulary.

Thanks to my friend Shizusan for reading the book with me, I enjoyed every minute.

A tale of two cities vocabulary

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Mon, 28 May 2012 19:13:00 +0000

Today at 7am KSA time, Shizu and I finished reading the simplified version of A tale of two cities by Charles Dickens, published by Penguin Readers level five (classics/ British English).

It is the second book we finished reading this year, we are so happy and eager to start reading the new book "Woman in White by William Wilkie Collins". it is a simplified book from Oxford Bookworms library (level 6).

Here are the vocabulary I learnt from the book:

Download Word file of the vocabulary:

Click here!

A Tale Of Two Cities notes

Introduction

- Influence (verb): to affect or change how someone or something develops, behaves, or thinks.

- Anxiety (noun): an uncomfortable feeling of nervousness or worry about something that is happening or might happen in the future.

And: something that causes a feeling of fear and worry.

- Increasingly (adverb): more and more.

- Underlie (verb): to be a hidden cause of or strong influence on something.

(underlying, underlay, underlain)

- Fiction (noun): literature and stories about imaginary people or events.

Fictional (adjective).

- Industry (noun): the production of goods in factories.

And: all the companies involved in a particular type of business.

- Wealthy (adj): rich.

- self-preservation (noun): behaviour based on the characteristics or feelings which warn people or animals to protect themselves from difficulties or dangers.

chapter 1

- absence (noun): when someone is not where they are usually expected to be.

- Courtyard (noun): an open area by a building with walls or buildings around it.

- Signal (verb): to make a movement, sound, flash, etc. which gives information or tells people what to do.

(present participle UK signalling, past tense and past participle signalled)

- Hatred (noun): when you dislike someone or something very much.

- Presence (noun): when someone or something is in a place.

presence of mind: the ability to deal with a difficult situation quickly and effectively.

make your presence felt: to have a strong effect on other people.

Chapter 2-3

- Pride (noun): a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction that you get because you or people connected with you have done or got something good.

- Intelligence (noun): the ability to learn, understand, and think about things.

- Quantity (noun): the amount or number of something.

- Accuse (verb): to say that someone has done something morally wrong, illegal or unkind.

- Sworn (adj): formally and officially stated as being true.

- Delicate (adj): needing careful treatment, especially because easily damaged.

And: needing to be done carefully.

- Quarrel (noun): an argument.

Verb: to have an argument with someone.

- Shipyard (noun): a place where ships are built or repaired.

- Jury (noun): a group of people in a court of law who decide if someone is guilty or not.

Chapter 4-5-6

- False (adj): not real, but made to look or seem real.

- Tiring (adj): making you feel tired.

" I've had a very tiring day."

- worn-out (adj): extremely tired.

Also: Something that is worn-out is so old or has been used so much that it is damaged too much to repair.

- Disused (adj): not used now.

- Pure (adj): not mixed with anything else.

And: describes a colour which is not mixed with any other colour.

Also: describes a sound which is clear and perfect.

And: clean and free from harmful substances.

- Restless (adj): unable to be still or relax because you are bored or nervous.

And: not satisfied with what you are doing now and wanting something new.

restlessly (adverb), restlessness (noun).

- Marquis (noun): (the title of) a British man of high social rank, between a duke and an earl.

- Stairway (noun): a set of stairs and the structure around them.

- Latecomer (noun): a person who arrives late.

- Aristocracy (noun): the highest social class, usually in countries which have or had a royal family.

- Misery (noun): great suffering or unhappiness.

Chapter 7-8-9

- Mismanage (verb): to organize or control something badly

mismanagement (noun).

- Secrecy (noun): when something is kept secret.

- Firm (adj): not soft, but not completely hard.

Also: strict and making certain that people do what you want.

firmly (adverb) firmness (noun)

- Inquire (verb): to ask for information.

- Separation (noun): when two or more people or things are separated.

And: an arrangement, often legal, by which two married people stop living together as husband and wife.

- Misgovern (verb): to govern a country badly.

misgovernment (noun).

- Sadden (verb): to make someone feel sad or disappointed

Chapter 10-11-12

- Gallows (noun): a wooden structure used in the past to hang criminals from to kill them.

- Destruction (noun): when something is destroyed.

"We are all responsible for the destruction of the forest."

- Guillotine (noun): a piece of equipment used to cut off criminals' heads in the past.

- Inquiring (adj): (of someone's behaviour) always wanting to learn new things, or (of someone's expression) wanting to know something.

"You have a very inquiring mind, don't you?"

"He gave her an inquiring look."

inquiringly (adverb)

- Deceive (verb): to make someone believe something that is not true.

deceive yourself: to refuse to accept the truth.

"She thinks he'll come back, but she's deceiving herself."

Chapter 13-14-15

- Patriot (noun): someone who loves their country and is proud of it.

- Cell (noun): the smallest living part of an animal or a plant.

And: a small room in a prison or police station where a prisoner is kept.

- Ashes (noun): sb's ashes the powder that remains when a dead person's body has been burnt.

- Merciless (adj): cruel, or showing no kindness.

- Harden (verb): to become hard and stiff, or to make something become hard and stiff.

Also: to stop feeling emotions about someone or something, so that you seem less kind, gentle, or weak.

- Quarrel (verb): to have an angry disagreement with someone.

Chapter 16-17-18

- Fraternity (noun): a feeling of friendship between people.

In the US: in the US, a social organization of male college students.

- consist of sth (Phrasal Verb): to be formed or made from two or more things.

- Produce (verb): to make or grow something.

" This plant will produce small yellow flowers in the spring."

And: to cause a particular reaction or result.

" Nuts produce an allergic reaction in some people."

Also: to take an object from somewhere so that people can see it.

"One of the men suddenly produced a gun from his pocket."

And: to control how a film, play, programme, or musical recording is made.

- Reclaim (verb): to get something back from someone.

- Representative (noun): someone who speaks or does something officially for another person or group of people.

- Misfortune (noun): bad luck, or an unlucky event.

"That was the worst film I've ever had the misfortune to see."

- Defenceless (adj): weak and unable to protect yourself from attack.

- Forbid (verb): to refuse to allow something, especially officially, or to prevent a particular plan of action by making it impossible.

(forbidding, forbade or old use forbad, forbidden) old use

- Sentence (verb): to give a punishment to someone who has committed a crime.

- Émigré (noun): someone who has had to leave their country permanently, usually for political reasons.

- Committee (noun): a small group of people chosen to represent a larger organization and either make decisions or collect information for it.

- Unlawful (adj): not allowed by law.

The Power Of Listening

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Mon, 28 May 2012 18:16:00 +0000

a pic form http://education-portal.com

Whenever you ask someone about the most important aspects of learning English they will probably tell you to read, write, listen and speak. No one can deny the importance of these abilities; however, most of students concentrate on building their vocabulary and improving grammar skills by reading and writing.

On the other hand some might find it too difficult to communicate with others by speaking, a bunch of students wonder why their friends who are very poor at English Grammar and writing are much better than them in speaking and communicating with people.

Therefore, they ask the common question for English learner how I can improve my speaking skills. What is the best way to get a beautiful clear accent?

Obviously, there is no magic solution or an instant remedy to voice your thoughts fluently and without hesitation.

To improve your speaking skills you must start from the very beginning by listening to English Radio Stations.

Some students might lower the importance of listening to these radio stations. However, they should know that native speakers have unusual accents that can be very hard to understand. With the radio stations, they will get the chance to listen to daily conversations so they can add a great listening experience to their English practice.

On the radio, you will listen to variety of topics and different people every day therefore you will be getting more vocabulary and better understanding of the language.

When you decide to start listening to the radio stations it won't be as smooth as you were expecting, this means you ought to take some steps aimed to make the listening progress simpler and more convenient, this way you can learn the language more quickly without missing the fun part.

Following my suggestions should make the listening process much easier. First pick up a program that its subject interests you, it could be about politics, gardening, cooking, athletics, or humour; make a vow that you will listen to the program everyday.

During the listening pay attention to the host expressions and the way he discusses the subject issues every day. Also, try to repeat some words and idioms that you heard on the radio and look them up in a dictionary, if you are not sure how to write them, speak them in Google translator using your mic.

Note that it is highly recommended to record the programs and listen to them over and over to improve your English level, it is better than listening to something new every time.

Apart from focusing on chosen programs, listening to the music that played on the radio stations can be very useful, try to understand the lyrics and sing the song along with the singer. In addition, Drama series on radio stations are a nice way to enjoy listening to the radio and to get better accent by trying lip-sync the actors' dialogues.

Learn English as babies learn the language the more time you spend on listening the more speaking skills you will achieve, do not get frustrated if you cannot understand every single word you listen on the radio.

Listening to radio gives you the best chance to learn English from native speakers without travelling to their countries. Getting access to radio stations is very easy nowadays you can listen from your mobile, laptop, car, or your tablet.

Listening to English radio stations is a fantastic idea to improve your English and to have a lovely clear accent, so without any further ado check out the links below the article and start your journey to the best English learner zone. :)

Useful Links:

BBC podcasts

BBC Radio Four

English Pronunciation Podcast

My favourite programs on the BBC radio four:

The Archers

The news quiz

Great lives

15 minute drama.

pick of the week (every Sunday).

Update:
Thank you Jola for correcting my mistakes.

Tags: Learn English, Listen to English Podcasts, Radio Stations, perfect accent, BBC, Drama, English Article, Bassima equals smile blog

Romantic Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 20:07:00 +0000

Hello good fellows... welcome to another post in my blog Bassima equals smile =).

In today's blog I am going to tell you about the trip to Jeddah city I went with the nicest guy ever my husband <3. First of all we had very stressful times in the last two months, it started with me on January feeling a tremendous pain in my left side and after going to the hospital the doctors' diagnosis was that I have a ureteral stone, then I had a surgery, it cost loads of money all this happened alongside my husband's half term exams, we were extremely busy dealing with these abrupt calamities, and my husband got bad marks in the exams so we seemed to be stuck in a rut. Long story short; after we repair our money situation, I decided it is time to stop getting stale and go for a chill out.

We planned to go down to Jeddah city to stay two days there, on Monday nineteenth of March I bookmarked at a nice hotel near by the beach, I've done the research about the best restaurants around the beach, and phoned my friend who lives there to ask her about where I should go shopping for a cheap good clothes.

We set off our trip early in the morning at about eight o'clock, on that day the weather was so strange it was dusty the sun was looking like a moon because of the dust. On the highway my husband had to drive carefully because of the visibility wasn't clear but it was fine, I taped a short video for the road here see how the it was dusty, I felt like we were driving in the middle of the mist.

At 9am we arrived in Jeddah, first we headed to the pain clinic because my husband had an appointment there, after that I called the hotel to let them know we are coming, we didn't know where the hotel exactly is so we used Nokia maps for the first time against my husband willing because he doesn't trust technology. Around 11 am we got at the hotel hungry and sleepy, we ordered breakfast it was good and fill our empty stomachs. After having brunch we watched the news on the television, and then in the afternoon we took a nap.

At four in the afternoon we left the hotel and went to the beach, as I said before the weather was dusty, there weren't too many people at the beach, the sea waves were calm and there is no sound of the currents at all. We stayed there sipping hot coffee and cracking nuts, and of course we had a long wife and husband gossip!

When the darkness fell on the beach we decided to go walking, we walked slowly until we reached our car, then we went to the restaurant at about 8 pm. The place was highly recommended by one of my husband's friends, its name is Yeldizlar Restaurant (The stars restaurant), it is Lebanese place, and they serve tasty Arabian dishes. The overview of the restaurant was lovely and the light spots were soft and their lighting fell on the tables in a delicate way. The smells were nice also.

After I had the yummiest dinner ever, we had ice cream for pudding, then we took a taxi and headed to the shopping mall, we got back to the hotel after midnight around 2 am I reckon. We stayed awake till the daylight, and then we slept.

In the afternoon we finally woke up, I had to back up our stuff, and my new clothes, then we dashed towards the beach, the vision was getting clearer that day so we spent the time wandering around and looking to people fishing there, we took many photos there, then we bought shrimp sandwiches for lunch and they were freaking moist and delicious!

2nd day in the afternoon

At 4 pm it was time to say goodbye to Jeddah and its dusty beach, and go back to Mecca, we drove home happy and delightful. The purpose of the trip was successfully accomplished and we still call the memories of those two days till this very day, I am so lucky to have a man like my husband who desire to do anything just to see me happy and satisfied, so to you my dear husband: Whatever life may bring to us I will always love you.

Note: I write these blog posts to improve my English writing, so please do not hesitate to correct my mistakes.

Tags: romantic trip, jeddah beach, travel, shopping, restaurant, yildizlar, stars, Alhmmra palace, English writing skills, improve your english writing, diary

English Fairy Tales notes on PDF

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:36:00 +0000

Hello World :)

I am so glad to tell you that Shizu and I have finish reading the delightful book English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, We had fun reading this book and laughed too much about some silly tales, the book was very useful for our English because it is written in old fashioned English style, at first it was hard and difficult but after few tales we had less difficulty with the book. We used to read the book every Monday, I usually make notes for the difficult vocabulary in the tales we are going to read and send them to Shizu, so when we've finished I realised that I've got useful information and I shall share them with the next readers of the book.
I sorted all the notes in one PDF file, and put the contents on the first page. The file contains notes for these following tales:

Tom Tit Tot Tale

The three sillies Tale

Rose tree Tale

The old woman and her Tale

How jack went to seek his fortune Tale

Mr. Vinegar Tale

Nix Nought Nothing Tale

jack Hannaford

Binnorie Tale

Cap o’ rushes Tale

Teeny-tiny Tale

Jack and the beanstalk Tale

The story of the three pigs

The master and his pupil Tale

Titty mouse and tatty mouse tale

Jack and his golden snuff-box Tale

The story of the three bears tale

Jack the giant killer Tale

Childe Rowland Tale

Molly Whuppie Tale

The history of tom thumb

Mr.fox Tale

Lazy Jack Tale

The strange visitor Tale

Laidly worm of spindleston heugh

Basically I put the words definition, its type, an example, and a photo for some words. Here is a snapshot for one of the pages:

Click on the picture to see its full size

Now without any further delay here are the links:

Download The English Fairy Tales Book from HERE.

Download the Notes from HERE.

Alternative link for the notes is HERE.

I hope you will find these notes helpful while you are reading the book.

Bye for now :)

Tags: English fairy tales,notes,on PDF file, read,and,enjoy,the book,with better,understanding, for its,vocabulary,we love English,links,are on,google docs,BassimaAlansar

How I learnt English.

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:14:00 +0000

I ran into learning English to save my brain and soul from getting lost and going down, first it was like a saving rope to occupy myself to forget about my mother death and all the problems I had in 2009, now I am really glad that I climbed that rope because learning English became everything in my life.

Is it possible to learn English on your own?

Yes, of course. I learnt English at home through the Internet depending on myself and the help I got from my online friends. If you really desire to learn the English language you have to follow these three steps first: 1- true intention to learn, 2- continuity, 3- be patient.

How I started learning English?

I started learning English in the end of 2009; I had no idea at all about the language so I had to start with the Alphabet, numbers, common conversations, and the names of the things around me. Then I started to search online for the best way to learn English at home, it took me a long time but I found many useful tips about the best way to learn English, I also got lots of good free resources, groups and websites. After about three months I fell in love with ENGLISH though I was at the very beginning steps, but don't you agree that love what you are doing is the best way to go through it.

In 2010, I knew exactly what shall I do to start developing my learning processes, I focused on listening to English dialogues and programs on radio, TV, and my phone as much as I can, this step is very important I can't even tell how much it helps me listening to English almost all the day every day, I got to use to the "tune" of English sounds, and gradually I begun to catch some words though I don't understand them. Besides listening I was reading daily simple conversations and short stories, here are the first websites I used for listening and reading:

1- For listening I choose BBC radios because I decided to follow the British accent, I used to listen to BBC world news radio but later on I found that BBC radio four is best because it has variety of good multiple programs. My advice to you is to turn on the radio on the live stream and listen to it but don't bother yourself to understand only LISTEN:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/

2- For reading simple dialogues I signed up in Livemocha website, it is a very good and useful place to start learning from, they have four courses for free, each course has 5 lessons, in a lesson you will listen to forty sentences, and review them, then you will have to do some exercises in writing and speaking, if you finish these steps you can move on to the next lesson, and the good thing in this website that its members are able to see your submissions and correct them for you, they also can rate your work.

http://www.livemocha.com

Free ESL stories is very good for beginners, I read most of the short stories there.

http://www.rong-chang.com/qa2/

Foreign language vocabulary is very good to learn new vocabularies

http://www.languageguide.org/?lang=eng

BBC learning English website helped me very much, especially The Flatmates section.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

What to do next?

As I read on the internet the best way to remember what you have learnt is to review and practice, for me it was very hard to start practicing with other people and students, I was afraid and terrified of the idea of typing to others in English, what if they laugh at me? What if they make fun of my writing, what if they hate on me? And all these crazy questions, I remember first times I typed to someone in English my fingers were quivering which made it hard to type the right letters, but I forced myself to type and chat with my friends on MSN, and after a while I moved to Skype, then on a good website called Sharedtalk, it is a language exchange network I used it for chatting, and later on talking when I got the courage to speak to people.

Here is its link: www.sharedtalk.com/

Nowadays I always practice writing by chatting on Skype with my friends, or in English learning groups, I learn everyday from correcting my mistakes.

How I look up the new words?

For the new vocabulary I first look them up in the dictionary, and listen to the pronunciation, then see their translation in my language, finally I try to write them down and remember how to spell them, here is the websites I use for looking up the new words:

Cambridge Dictionary

English online translator

How I say, very good for pronunciation

Answers.com, it is a treasure never loses it.

Google translator

These days I only use Cambridge and Google translator.

What is my daily routine?

I Read books with friends on regular pieces every Saturday, Monday and Wednesday in my own reading club on Skype. I listen to my favourite programs on BBC radio four, the news quiz, and the Archers. I write blog posts to improve my writing skills. I chat on Skype and correct my mistakes. I watch interesting videos on YouTube, and here are the links of my favourite channels there:

Misterduncan's Channel, for learning English, he has very funny and useful video lessons

Charlie McDonnell's Channel (entertainment)

Dope2111's Channel (beauty)

FleurDeForce's Channel (beauty)

JoeyGraceffa's channel (vlogs)

Shaytards's channel (daily vlogs)

The fine bros's channel (films & entertainment)

BrittaniLouiseTaylor's Channel (entertainment)

There are many more, but these are my top channels. This is almost what I do to practice and improve my English every day, if you would like to know about the books I read please view my previous post "Books are delicious".

Keep improving, never stop!

It is been nearly three years since I started learning English and to be honest with you guys I never ever thought I'd write about my learning experience one day, I took Mr.duncan advice to think of English as a part of my body that I can't leave without it like my eyes or my tongue I would be miserable without them. Also my teacher Margaret one day said "any use of English is good", therefore I try to surround myself with English everyday by reading books, listening to the radio, POP songs, and writing blogs, watching videos on YouTube, and recently I begun to use virtual worlds like Second Life, my point here is if you do different activities in learning English you will not get bored after a while because you do more than one thing, humans get bored easily so if you felt like that stop learning for a few weeks and rest your brain, then come back with new plans and more energy but remember never quit learning and destroy what you have been building for many years.

English is a powerful language it is not only a way to communicate with others or to get a better job, it is an enormous gate to knowledge and better understanding for the planet, it helped me to be an open minded girl and made my voice and thoughts reached to people in the other side of the world, it is really a fun and a great way to increase your vision about the mysterious world. When I think of myself now and before I realise and see how English changed me, I started learning on my own accord to run from my sorrows and sad notion but now I am very glad I took this path because the result of it is so wonderful and I am very eager to continue learning English because it is like the sea the more you drink from it the more you get thirsty. I am thirsty for more English; I intend to never stop learning English, and I hope you too will do the same my dear reader.

Please write to me and share with me your story of learning English, did it change your life? I hope so.Thank you all for reading, and here is Mona's post about her own experience in learning English, please read her post and don't forget to leave encouraging comments after you read.

Happy with English by Mona

tags:how I learnt English, on my own, through the internet, World of English, English is easy, I love English, I want to learn English, how did you learn English?, free resources

Dinner invitation

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:17:00 +0000

Wednesday 10/2/1433 AH

So how did my day go today?
I had to get up early around 8 am, because Aosy and I were suppose to read , we read The Wheel on The School every Saturday and Wednesday at 9 am in the morning, so I woke up at 8 am and met Asoy at 9 am, we read three pages of chapter six, the reading was good, we finished at 10:30 am.

I had breakfast and did some house work, and then went to bed again until 2 pm in the afternoon.

yesterday when I was sitting on the ground, my book is on my knee and my red pen lay ready to mark the difficult words, and I was extremely busy preparing for today's reading while having some hot green tea I got an invitation from my friends she wanted me to have dinner at her house on Wednesday, so Today at 4pm I got ready and her son came and pick me up, she lives a bit far from my house like 30 minutes by a car.
I was at her house from 5pm until 1am after midnight, we really had such great time together, I helped her how to use the new mobile she bought recently, and fixed the Wi-fi in her laptop, and install WhatsApp software in her phone, she was quiet please with it, and I was glad I could help her.

I got home at 1am, then I talked with my husband, and after that I started my laptop, checked out my email, and had a little chat with Mr.Roger while I was typing this entry, he is going to see the dentist tomorrow, poor thing!

I must got to bed now because I am going to visit my grandmother tomorrow, so night night.

Thoughts about new year and friendship

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:16:00 +0000

Tuesday 9/2/1433 AH

Hello World,

At every beginning of a new year people ask about "what you learnt last year?", and "what is your resolutions for the new year?". I saw these two sentences a lot in the past few days, and it made me happy and excited for the new year, because it made me flashed back at the passing year to think about my resolutions and wishes for 2011, fortunately I have them written in my diary on Friday 14 Dec, 2010, so l am going to go through them and check up on them.

1- I want to Carry on learning English as possible as I can. (done)

I am proud that since I started learning English at the end of 2009 I never give it up, or distract myself by learning another language, so English is on the peak of my list!

2- I want to Read every day at lest 10 pages. (undone)

umm, well I read last year but not everyday as I wished, I think the problem with me is that I am a visual person I find myself like to watch videos more than reading.

I've read few Arabic books, and in English I finished reading two books I think, I have a pile of books waiting to be read this year, but I'll focus on the English books only because I really want to take my English to a higher level.

3- I want to Learn something new, and I am thinking to learn how to use the Excel application. (undone)

well I bought a CD for Excel tutorials but I never bother to unpack it :/, I hope when I learn Maths very well I might be eager to learn this application. (I hope so)

however, I learnt how to build in Homewood, it is a 3D virtual world -like second life game-, it gives its residents the ability to create whatever they want, I learnt how to build a house, and I built two houses there, I also got an idea about making skins, clothes, and sculpted objects there, I enjoy working on this kid of application because I like designing and art though I am not a good artist! but I will be in the future.

That wasn't bad, right?? so for this year 2012 my resolutions are:

1- level my English up, I took an online test the other day, and my results wasn't that good, so by the end of this year I shall be on the advanced level.

2- I want to take more tutorials on Photoshop, and learn the basics about photography art.

so I got two goals to concentrate on them for this year, it should be easy.

I want to mention something I believe it is worth thinking of "on-line friends", they are those strangers we meet almost everyday on the Net, they come from different backgrounds, countries, and religions, they have a variety reasons for using the Internet just like any person would have, anyway I've been using the internet for nearly 10 years now, I made friends on several forums, MSN, Skype, Facebook, and lately on SL, but the most important friends for are those I met on Skype when I started learning English, we gathered in one group for one reason "practising English", first we were just usernames chit-chatting in the group, but after 3 years now I can say they are mean everything to me, they accepted me for the person I am, and they helped with my English very well, at the beginning we were friends with benefits, but nowadays there some of my friends I can't imagine my life without them, no matter where they live, no matter what religion they are, I LOVE them, and I am so delight and thankful I had the chance to be a part of their life.

I consider my on-nline friends as real friends because whenever I need tips, help, or even want just release the painful emotion I suffer from I find them listening honestly and willing to help as possible as they could. so from this entry I would like to send a huge thank to:

Margaret (UK), my online English teacher, my life never was the same after we knew each other better, you mean a lot to me more than you think, you don't know how it is hard to think of something to write for you, you helpt me with my English more than any one could do, you've been encouraging me, and you believed in my talents, with you I am not afraid to tell you about anything because I know you never judge me, when I feel confused or lost about anything I always run to your IM window because I am absolutely sure that you'll be there listening to me, and you'll do your best to help. I LOVE you Margaret and I hope someday we will meet in person, God bless you.

Jola (Poland), though you think we are different, and we squabble most of the time about silly things, but I like you, and I hope we stay friends forever.

Detlev (Germany), you are an honest man stay as you are, don't change a thing, thank you for being my best male friend.

Aljory (KSA), because we live in the same country I am really looking forward to meet you someday, I wish you all the best with your studies at the uni.

Mr.Roger (UK), thanks for listening to my grief and sorrow, I really felt better after that day I talk to you about my mother death.

Shizusan (Japan), I amazed by your positive spirit, though you have hard responsibilities to your family, but you decided to look at the bright side, I always wait anxiously for our reading on Mondays, because you take it seriously and never miss a date unless you have an urgent situation, I learnt a lot from you, Thank you for reading English fairy tales with me. <3

Asoy (KSA), I met you in the last of the passing year though you told me we had met before in 2009, and we used to chat on MSN, I couldn't remember you at all, so I am thanking you again for coming back because you are a wonderful girl, you are so sweet and lovely, I love how you gave up many things for the sake of your family, and I like your excitement to learn English, a month ago you was just a name in my contacts list but today I have your phone number, and we know a lot about each other, you and me are like sisters more than friends, I am glad I met you, and I hope we'll stay sisters till the last day of our lives.

wow I am getting emotional looking at your names my dear friends, so in 2011 I am thankful for my good and honest friends, my best wishes to you for healthy, successful, and happy year, I wish all your dreams come true this year.

I am also thankful for my husband he is the best friend and hubby ever, we've been together for ten years now, he always has been here for me, encouraging, advising, and looking after me, I know I make him mad almost everyday, but no matter how we are angry or mad at each other we promise to not go to bed with problems and this plan had really worked.

I don't have anything else to type, I want to wish a good year for everybody on this planet.

night night.

Higher intermediate!

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:05:00 +0000

Monday 08/02/1433 AH

well it is Monday the second day of the new year, yesterday I couldn't sleep early I was tumbling in my bed until 3AM in the morning, when I realised I won't sleep, I pulled myself out of the bed and started my laptop.
I didn't start my Skype I took an English online test instead of chatting or watching videos on Youtube as I usually do, the test took me an hour to finish it, my scores were 35 out of 50, and my level is higher now, I was please with the result at the first sight, because I thought I will be on the advanced level due to the hard work I did this year especially on the reading part, I've been reading many articles and books with Shizusan, Asoy, Jola, Detlve and other friends during the last year.

however I showed Margaret the result, she thinks it is alright but she advised me to focus on prepositions and the phrasal verbs, she said I mix them, and I rather copy other's people mistakes a lot!
Margaret also sent me some Grammar books, she said if I read a page per a day, I can finish the book by the end of this year.

About 7:30am I finally went to bed, and I slept and slept and slept and slept until two o'clock in the afternoon, when I got up I did the same boring routine wash my face, brush my teeth, have breakfast or lunch whatever its name it is food!

I am writing this entry around 8pm in the evening, today I determined to blog about the new year and what I learnt in 2011, but I haven't start yet, instead I listent to David Copperfield's play on BBC radio 4 extra, and chatted about it with Margaret about Dickens writing style in ELIP group on Skype, I also logged in SL and have a little chat with Jola at her skyboxs..

so I am thinking I should stop typing now and go and fetch a cup of green tea, then start typing about the new year and my resolutions for this brand new year, I hope I won't distract myself by something else.

night night everyone :)

Bassima on the Internet:

books are delicious!

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:28:00 +0000

Hello everyone

No one can deny that reading books is the most common hobby around the world, without reading we will be silly human beings, that is a simple fact.
For us (English Learners) the most important part to develop our learning progress is to READ as much as possible. If we want to increases our vocabulary we need to read, therefore I'd love to share with you lists of the books I have read, and the books I am reading at the moment, and finally the books on the shelf waiting for me to eat them yummy!

First: Books I have read.

1. The Golden Goose and other stories, Retold by David Foulds. (level one)

Description: Three brothers go to cut wood. The two older brothers come home with nothing, but the youngest one, Dummling, has a day of surprises. A new friend gives him a bird with golden feathers. The golden goose leads Dummling through many adventures, until he finds a beautiful but serious princess, who never smiles or laughs. How does Dummling make her laugh?

Two sisters, one kind and polite, one rude and horrible, go to get water from a spring. Much later, the kind girl becomes rich and goes to live in a palace. Her older sister goes to live alone and never speaks again. What happened to the sisters at the spring?

Find out the answers to these questions, and read many more strange and magical stories in this collection of fairy tales.

2. David Copperfield by Charles dickens. (level three)

Description: "David Copperfield's father dies 3 months before his birth. His mother, very young, pretty, and inexperienced, raises the boy with the help of her loyal maid, Clara Peggoty. Things go well, young Davy is growing up in a happy, loving home – until his mother marries again. Mr. Murdstone, Davy's stepfather, believes that “firmness” is the only way of dealing with boys. He ends up sending Davy away to a boarding school run by a cruel schoolmaster Mr. Creakle.

When Davy's mother dies, Mr. Murdstone decides that even this kind of education is too good for his stepson and promptly gets rid of him by sending him to London, to work at a blacking factory. Davy is only 10 when that happens. After many trials, he decides to run away and search for his aunt, Betsy Trotwood, who eventually adopts him.

The second part of this novel shows the grown-up David Copperfield, he has completed his education and is apprenticed as a clerk to work in a law firm. He meets his boss's daughter Dora and falls in love. His feelings are returned, but Dora's father is furious when he finds out about the engagement. Meanwhile, David's aunt goes bankrupt, the family loses most of their possessions, and David has to work even harder in order to provide for himself and his loved ones.

3. The Call Of The Wild, By Jack London. (level three)

Description: . . .And Buck really was crazy now. He had fire in his eyes, and he wanted to kill . . . In the end, Buck couldn't stand up. He couldn't see or hear. He was almost dead.

In this way, Buck's new life in the cold north of Canada begins. He has to learn many new things, and the lessons are hard. But Buck is a strong, intelligent dog and he wants to live.

Buck meets dangerous men—and dogs—in this difficult, snowy country. He changes because he has to change. But can he really be happy there?

Second: Books I am reading.

4. English Fairy Tales, collected by Joseph Jacobs. (advance)

Description: WHO SAYS that English folk have no fairy-tales of their own?

The present volume contains only a selection out of some

140, of which I have found traces in this country. It is probable

that many more exist.

5. Wheel on the school By Meindert Dejong. (advance)

Description: Why do the storks no longer come to the little Dutch fishing village of Shora to nest? It was Lina, one of the six schoolchildren who first asked the question, and she set the others to wondering. And sometimes when you begin to wonder, you begin to make things happen. So the children set out to bring the storks back to Shora. The force of their vision put the whole village to work until at last the dream began to come true.

Third: Books waiting to be read.

6. A Tale of Two Cities By Charles Dickens. (level five)

Description: This great story is set against the background of the French Revolution. Two men – one French, one English, but very similar in appearance – are in love with the same woman. The three of them, like the people of France, are faced with the dangers of life at a time when the guillotine never rests.

7. the gifts and other stories, By O. Henry and others. (level four)

Description: The New Oxford Progressive English Readers offer a great selection of classic novels and plays from renowned authors that have been abridged in the form of easy-to-read stories for children to enjoy.

8. The Knife Markets of Sanaa.

From National Geographic with a CD.

9. Birds in Paradise.

From National Geographic with a CD.

10. The Story of Beautiful Girl By Rachel Simon. (advance)

Description: It is 1968. Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability, and Homan, an African American deaf man, are locked away in an institution, the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, and have been left to languish, forgotten. Deeply in love, they escape, and find refuge in the farmhouse of Martha, a retired schoolteacher and widow. But the couple is not alone-Lynnie has just given birth to a baby girl. When the authorities catch up to them that same night, Homan escapes into the darkness, and Lynnie is caught. But before she is forced back into the institution, she whispers two words to Martha: "Hide her." And so begins the 40-year epic journey of Lynnie, Homan, Martha, and baby Julia-lives divided by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love.

I hope you found my list is good and useful for you, of course there are other books I have read with friends in some English learning groups, but these books in the list are the ones I liked personally.
Please leave a comment response and tell me what your favourite books, or what the books you recommend me to read.
Thank you very much.

Bassima =)

Bassima on the Internet:

Nix Nought Nothing with notes

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:12:00 +0000

Hello world.

again here is a post about one of the English Fairy Tales, this time I will put notes about the Tale of Nix nought Nothing , I've read it with Shizusan on one of our reading dates.
now without any delay here are the notes, I hope it will help you with your English learning.

- Laddie (noun): Scottish informal for LAD = a boy or young man.

- Whirlpool (noun): a small area of the sea or other water in which there is a powerful, circular current of water which can pull objects down into its centre.

- Giant (noun): an imaginary creature like a man but extremely tall, strong and usually very cruel, appearing especially in children's stories.

Also: giant (adjective): extremely large.

- Dashed: To break or smash by striking violently.

- Bonny (adjective): beautiful and healthy.

- Fond (adjective): having a great liking for someone or something.

"She was very fond of horses."

- Beast (noun): an animal, especially a large or wild one.

- Drain (verb): f you drain something, you remove the liquid from it, usually by pouring it away or allowing it to flow away, and if something drains, liquid flows away or out of it.

"We drained the pond and filled it with fresh water."

"Drain (off) any liquid that is left in the rice."

Also: to make someone very tired.

"The long journey completely drained me."

- Prong (noun): one of two or more long sharp points on an object, especially a fork.

- Sprung (verb): past participle of spring= to appear or start to exist suddenly.

"Thousands of new businesses have sprung up in the past couple of years."

informal "Where did you spring from? - I didn't see you come in!"

- Briar (noun) also: brier: a wild rose bush with long stems and sharp thorns.

- Hair dagger:

- Cautiously (adjective): in a cautious way = describes someone who avoids risks.

- Fled (verb): past simple and past participle of flee = to escape by running away, especially because of danger or fear.

"She fled (from) the room in tears."

Also: flee the country = to quickly go to another country in order to escape from something or someone.

- Lodging (noun): a temporary place to stay.

" The price includes board and lodging" (= meals and a room to sleep in).

lodgings (UK informal also digs): a room in someone's house that you pay money to live in.

- in vain: unsuccessfully or uselessly.

" I tried in vain to start a conversation."

- Wed (verb): (used especially in newspapers) to marry someone.

The Tale of binnorie with notes

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:42:00 +0000

Hello World Of English
The tale of Binnorie is one of my favourite tales, I read it few weeks ago with my nice friend
Shizusan from Japan.
click here to read the story.
Here are the notes, I am sure they will help you to understand this English Fairy tale:

- Woo, ing, ed (verb): to try to persuade someone to support you or to use your business.

"a political party trying to woo young voters"

- plight your troth: to (promise to) marry.

- Plot, ting, ted (verb): to plan to do something bad:

"They plotted to bring down the government."

Also means: to make marks on a map, picture, etc to show the position or development of something.

- Heir (noun): a person who will have the legal right to someone's money and possessions when they die:

"He is the heir to a huge fortune."

- Sink, sank, sunk (verb): to go down or make something go down below the surface of water and not come back up.

"During the first wave of attacks, they sank three enemy ships."

"My feet keep sinking into the sand."

"The sun sank below the horizon."

- Hasten (verb): to make something happen faster than usual.

hasten to do sth: to hurry to do or say something

"I was not, I hasten to add, the only male there."

- Hush (noun): a period of silence:

"A hush fell over the room."

- Yonder (adverb): in that place or direction.

- Snap (verb): BREAK: If something long and thin snaps, it breaks making a short, loud sound, and if you snap it, you break it, making a short, loud sound:

"The twigs snapped as we walked on them."

"She snapped the carrot in half" (= into two pieces)

snap (sth) open/shut/together, etc: to suddenly move to a particular position, making a short, loud noise, or to make something do this:

"She snapped the book shut."

"The suitcase snapped open and everything fell out."

SPEAK ANGRILY: to say something suddenly in an angry way:

"I don't know what you mean," he snapped."

"I was snapping at the children because I was tired."

LOSE CONTROL: to suddenly be unable to control a strong feeling, especially anger:

"She asked me to do the work again and I just snapped."

ANIMAL: If an animal snaps, it tries to bite someone:

"The dog was barking and snapping at my ankles."

Keep an eye on my blog, I will add new notes very soon.

bye.

The Tale of Tom Tit Tot with Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Bassima Alansary) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:31:00 +0000

Hello World... I love reading English Fairy Tales and I like to make notes about the difficult vocabulary.

Today I will put a list of notes about the tale of Tom Tit Tot, Click here to get the link for the tale

So let us read the notes and I hope they are will help you with your English learning, and make you understand the tale.

- Malice: the wish to harm or upset other people.

with malice aforethought: to illegally harm someone with malice aforethought is

to have thought about it and planned it before acting.

- Twirl: to (cause to) give a sudden quick turn or set of turns in a circle.

EX: "She danced and twirled across the room"

- Passage: (also passageway) a usually long and narrow part of a building

with rooms on one or both sides, or a covered path which connects places

- Shriek: a short, loud, high cry, especially one produced suddenly as an expression of a powerful emotion.

- Skeins

- Victuals: Food and drink.

That is all for today, but of course I will put more notes for the other tales, so you better keep an eye on the blog.