Mr. Charles's e-classroom

Could somebody tell me when to use 'fewer' and 'less'?

2012-09-14T21:21:00.001-07:00

Students often don’t know when to use less and when to use fewer in a sentence. Here are how to get them right.

Use fewer if you’re referring to people or things in the plural (e.g. houses, dogs, students, children). For example:

People these days are buying fewer books.
Fewer students are opting to study science-related subjects.
Fewer than thirty children each year develop obesity.

Use less when you’re referring to something that can’t be counted (non countable) or doesn’t have a plural form (e.g. money, air, time, music, rain). For example:

It’s a better job but they pay you less money.
People want to spend less time in traffic jams.
Ironically, when I’m on tour, I listen to less music.

Less is also used with numbers when they are on their own and with expressions of measurement or time, e.g.:

Their marriage lasted less than two years.
Ramayana is less than three miles away from Unigraha.

Me and my friends or I and my friends?

2012-09-12T06:14:00.002-07:00

The two personal pronouns I and me are often used wrongly, usually in sentences in which I is being used with another noun. Here are some tips to help you get it right:

1. Use the pronoun I, along with other subjective pronouns such as we, he, she, you, and they,when the pronoun is the subject of a verb:

He went to bed.
We waited for the bus.
Budi and I are going for a coffee.

In the last example, the pronoun I, together with the proper noun Budi, forms the subject of the sentence, so you need to use I rather than me.

2. Use the pronoun me, along with other objective pronouns such as us, him, her, you, and them,when the pronoun is the object of a verb:

Andy thanked them.
The dog followed Budi and me to the door.

In the last example, the pronoun me, together with the proper noun Budi, forms the object of the verb follow, so you need to use me rather than I.

3. Use the pronoun me, along with other objective pronouns such as us, him, her, you, and them,when the pronoun is the object of a preposition:

Wati spent the day with Harti and me.

Me, together with Harti, forms the object of the preposition with, so you need to use the pronoun me rather than the pronoun I.

Why does my teacher keep asking me to have a good and reliable dictionary? Do I really need it?

2012-09-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

English is not our first language. English is not even considered a second language in Indonesia. It's a foreign language. One of the stumbling stones that makes it so difficult to learn academic English is the the short of vocabulary.

Having a large vocabulary can help you communicate clearly and effectively.There is no better way to improve your vocabulary than to read books. Read a variety of books, and when you find any unfamiliar words, look them up in a dictionary. In other words, a dictionary is a very important tool for anyone who is learning a new language. With a reliable dictionary you can do the followings:

look up the meaning of an English word you see or hear
find the English translation of a word in your language
check the spelling of a word
check the plural of a noun or past tense of a verb
find out other grammatical information about a word
find the synonym or antonym of a word
look up the collocations of a word
check the part of speech of a word
find out how to say a word
find out about the register of a word
find examples of the use of a word in natural language

Improve your English by reading NEWS ARTICLES!

2012-08-31T04:37:00.000-07:00

Unlike years ago, you can have access to news in English whenever you want. If you are interested in particular area of the world, you may even want to dedicate your reading time to those sections of the news. In most cases, you can find free news resources on the internet. These may also be an excellent place for you to find the names of other websites that have additional information that you might be interested in.

Over the years, the internet has created a tremendous amount of access to materials written in English. If you want to have fun and improve your reading skills at the same time, these can provide you with hours of interesting materials to practice on. In the process, you may even uncover new information about a hobby, or meet people from around the world that share your interests.

Here are some suggestions:

http://www.nytimes.com/

http://www.usatoday.com/

http://www.ccnmag.com/

http://dsc.discovery.com/

http://www.time.com/time/

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/