American English Language School

  Every year on January 1st, people around the United States make New Year’s resolutions to bring in the New Year.   History tells us that people have been making New Year’s resolutions since the days of Babylon, 4,000 years ago. The ancient Babylonians celebrated the coming new year with a 12 day celebration. They would make promises to the gods, pay off their debts, and return any things they borrowed during the celebration. If they did as they said they would do, they would receive good luck from their gods during the new year. This is considered the first New Year’s resolution.   Although most Americans make New Year’s resolutions, only 7% of them will actually keep up with them. Check out these tips to stick to your New Year’s resolution this year!   1.       Be Practical   Most people will make resolutions about either eating better or exercising more. However, they will make resolutions that they could never possibly meet.   Setti...

After you are familiar with the structure of the TOEFL test, you will need to start preparing for each section. The first section of the test is the reading section. As we had previously mentioned, the reading section will take between 54 to 72 minutes. This section contains three or four reading passages and each passage will have 10 different types of questions. The questions will ask different things, so it is useful to know the different types of reading questions on the TOEFL.   1.       Factual Information These types of questions are based on the text from the passage. They focus on specific details, facts, and information that you should be able to find written in the text. You will need to find the answer with the correct information stated. 2.       Negative Factual These types of questions are also based on the text from the passage. However, these questions ask what information is not true. 3.   ...

  “My goal is not to be better than anyone else, but to be better than I used to be.” - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer This week our students at American English Language School in Los Angeles (www.aels.edu) learned about goals and lifelong learning. We went over how to define success in our life by determining what is the most important parts of our lives. There is family, employment, money, friends, entertainment, and education. The answer is personal and there is no right or wrong way to determine your success. Some students agree that family is the most important and their biggest success, while others find their careers and employment to be their biggest success. Of course, at any point in your life, your factoring of success can change. There are diverse ways to express your future and goals. We have less definite ways that use the words “I want to, I hope to, I wish to” plus the end plan or goal. For example, “I want to travel abroad.” This is only expressing my desire to take th...

This week our class went over the characteristics of a good student and good employee. We also talked about different jobs, skills needed for specific jobs, evaluations, job ads, and how to use different machines in an office environment. This topic helps students get an idea of what work life is like in America. We decided that good habits formed attending school carry over (apply) for good habits at your job.   First, coming to class or work on time is essential. There is a saying “If you are five minutes early, you are on time. If you are on time, you are late.” Punctuality is important in school, so you do not miss important information. Being to work on time is important, so you do not miss any important information as well as be prepared to start work on time. Furthermore, it is important that you show up every day. School is typically Monday through Friday, but work can be at different times on different days. It is essential that you show up every time for work. Your employ...