Getting a job - 8 common questions and guides to answer them

Getting a job - Top 10 interview questions and ideas for answerinf them.

This site will guide you through the process of writing a cover letter to apply for a job using a template and giving advice along the way.

Getting a job - Writing a great cover letter

Getting a job - How to write a cover letter

Success - worksheet

What is success

What will success look like for you in the future?

Make a plan that describes your successful life in detail. (Your dream)

1.    How old will you be?

2.    Where will you live?

3.    Who will you be living with? (partner/wife / husband/ children/friends)

4.    What job will you be doing?

5.    What will your house look like?  Will you be renting an apartment or own your own house?

6.    Will possessions be important for you?  Will you have the latest of everything?   Or…….

7.    Will you choose a simple life and have only what you need.

8.    What will you be like personally (strong, healthy, have lots of friends)

9.    How much money will you have?

10.  What values will you see as important?

Write your plan as though it has already happened.

E.g., I am 35 years old and live in Hawaii with my husband and four children.  I live on the waterfront and earn money by writing very successful novels. In my spare time, I paint and surround my home with art works that I have made (and sell).  My husband has his own successful business as an engineer. We have both had a good education and will make sure that our children get a good education also.  I am a keen gardener and everything I plant grows to perfection.  As a family, we enjoy working in the garden together. We give surplus produce to neighbours family and friends.  We live on a small lifestyle block and live largely off the land by fishing keeping hens and some farm animals and growing our own vegetables.  There are no weeds in my garden and there is always something flowering. I make a point of meeting up with friends once a week to relax and have fun.  My family is very important to me.  We are strong and healthy and share a rich happy and comfortable life.

Success - Motivating video for success - Steve Jobs

Punctuation Period (full stop), Exclamation mark, Question mark

Writing skills - Sentence fragments - run on sentences and comma splices

Writing skills - run on sentences and comma splices.

This site shows how to correct run on sentences and comma splices.

This site gives information  on sentence fragments and 'Run on's

This website (Grammar Revolution) has some useful information on 'Run on sentences'

Letter writing - Formal and Informal

Writing skills - Run on sentences

Writing skills - sentence fragments - sentence run on and comma splices

Writing skills, - Run on sentences and comma splices

Writing skills - comma splices

Harajuku Fashion Street Tokyo - Japan

Pronunciation, - The phonetic alphabet

Pronunciation - BBC Learning English

Sentence construction, - Complex sentences

English songs to learn - Lorde - Royals

Sentence construction - Types of English Sentences

Regent Theater - Dunedin - Annual book sale

Love reading?  Love a bargain?  Then the Regent Theater  24 hour- Annual book sale in Dunedin is for you.  More than 250,000 books are sold at this sale and 75% of them cost only $1.00.  The other 25% might cost $3-$5.00 or could even go up to several hundred dollars depending on how rare or valuable / collectible the book is. The sale runs from 12 o'clock midday on the Friday and goes all through the night till 12 o'clock midday on the Saturday. Snack food and drinks are available in the foyer area of the theater and live music plays for the duration of the sale.
Check the sale out this winter.

50 MOST COMMON MISTAKES in English Grammar - Error Identification & Correction

English verb tenses

PUNCTUATION MASTERCLASS - Learn Punctuation Easily in 30 Minutes - Comma, Semicolon, Period, Etc.

Sentence construction - Three sentence types - simple, compound and complex

Sentence construction - Three sentence types - simple, compound and complex

Sentence construction - the four sentence types

Simple, compound, complex, and  compound -complex

How to improve your grammar

How to improve your grammar

Relaxing music with bird and water sounds

Relaxing music with bird and water sounds

Relaxing music

Relaxing music

Relaxing water and bird sounds

Water and bird sounds

Grammar - adverbs and adjectives

Adverbs and adjectives

Grammar Focus

We use adverbs to intensify the meanings of adjectives.

Affirmative

She is busy.
She is very busy.

It is fun.
It is really fun.

The test is hard.
The test is so hard.

Negative

He is not nice.
He is not very nice.

It is not nice.
It is not expensive at all.

Middle / So-So

He is not tall.
He is not that tall.

My town is not big.
My town is not so big.

Tenses - Past tense - Irregular

Past tense  - Irregular verbs

Base Verb	Irregular Form
bring buy catch come cut do drink drive eat find get go have hear know lose make meet pay put read ride run say see swim take tell think	brought bought caught came cut did drank drove ate found got went had heard knew lost made met paid put read rode ran said saw swam took told thought

http://soundgrammar.com/learn/L3-CEFR-A2/L3-07-PastTense.htm

Tenses - Past tense

Past tense

Grammar Focus

Past tense verbs usually end with an -ed ending but only for affirmative sentences. For questions and negative statements we use did to express the past. See below.

(Q) Where did you work?
(A) I worked in an office.
(N) I did not work in the city.

There are three ways to pronounce the -ed ending.

-ed = /t/

I washed the dishes
I walked to work.
I worked at my desk.
I talked to my friend

-ed = /d/

I cleaned the room.
I enjoyed the movie.
I mowed the lawn.

-ed = /id/

I wanted to go.
I decided to stay.
I needed to sleep.

Negative

I did not work.
I didn’t sleep much.

(do not = didn’t)

http://soundgrammar.com/learn/L3-CEFR-A2/L3-06-PastTense.htm

Tenses - Future - with 'going to'

Future - with 'going to'

Grammar Focus

be + going to + base verb
We use this structure, going to , to talk about future plans or intentions.

The words going to is often spoken as gonna in natural speech. Normally, we do not use this form in written English.

Questions
What are you going to do?
When are you going to get here?
Who are you going to see?
Where are you going to stay?
Why are you going to do that?
How are you going to get there?

Affirmative
I am going to call you.
You are going to be fine.
She is going to make a lot of money.
He is going to be sorry.
It’s going to rain soon.
They are going to come by taxi.
We are going to get in trouble.

Negative
I’m not going to say anything.
You’re not going to regret this.
She’s not going to work tonight.
He’s not going to call you.
It’s not going to happen.
They’re not going to play.
We’re not going to make it.

Y/N Questions

Are you going to eat that?
Yes, I am.
No, I’m not.

Is she going to play?
Yes, she is.
No, she isn’t.

Tenses -

Grammar Focus

Future Tense

We use the modal will to refer to the future.

(Q) What will you do next year?
(A) I will quit my job.
(N) I won’t work here anymore.

(Q) Where will you be next year?
(A) I will be in Europe.
(N) I won’t be in Asia.

(Q) Who will you go with?
(A) I will go alone.
(N) I won’t go with anyone.

(Q) When will you leave?
(A) I will leave in September.
(N) I won’t leave until the 22nd.

(Q) How will you get there?
(A) I will fly of course.
(N) I won’t take the train.

(Q) Will you have a phone?
(A) Yes, I will have a phone.
(N) No, I won’t unfortunately.

Short Answers

Yes, I will.
No, I won’t

be sure / think / hope

I am sure I will miss home.
I think I will have a good time.
I hope I will make new friends.

will not = won’t

Tenses - Present continuous

Present Continuous

We use the present continuous when an activity is in progress.

(Q) What are you doing?
(A) I am working.
(N) I am not having fun.

(Q) What is she doing?
(A) She is working out.
(N) She is not breathing hard.

(Q) What is he doing?
(A) He is watching TV.
(N) He is not paying attention to me.

(Q) What are they doing?
(A) They are playing cards.
(N) There are not talking to each other.

(Q) What are you doing?
(A) We are getting ready to leave.
(N) We are not planning on staying.

(Q) Are you working?
(A) Yes, I am.
(N) No, I’m not.

Continuous vs. Simple 
We use the present continuous tense for an action that starts and finishes within a reasonable time.

We use the present simple tense for an action that is repeating or ongoing.

Tenses - present simple

Simple Present + WH Questions

We use the present simple to talk about actions that happen on a regular basis.

(Q) What do you do?
(A) I work at home.
(N) I don’t work in an office.

(Q) When do you get to work?
(A) I get to work at 8.
(N) I don’t arrive until 8:30.

(Q) Where do go on the weekend?
(A) I play soccer in the park.
(N) I don’t stay at home.

(Q) Who do you talk to every day?
(A) I talk with my friends.
(N) I don’t talk with my sister.

(Q) How do you get to work?
(A) I drive to work.
(N) I do not take the bus.

Simple Present + Y/N Questions

(Q) Do you live close to here?
(A) Yes, I live down the street.
(N) No, I live far away.

Short Answers
(A) Yes, I do.
(N) No, I don’t.

Tenses - Present tense - Third person singular

Simple Present - Third Person Singular

The third person singular form refers to men, women and things in the singular form, just one person or thing.

You need to add an /s/ to the verb or auxiliary verb /do/. See the examples below.

She

(Q) What does she do?
(A) She works at a bank.
(N) She doesn’t like her job.

(Q) Does she work near here?
(A) Yes, she does.
(N) No, she doesn’t. (does not)

New Zealand icon Fred Dagg

The black singlet and gumboots, as kiwi as it gets with Fred Dagg.