| Ingredients:
Stir for 5 minutes. Add green onions and garlic stir for 2 minutes more. Combine the chicken broth, salt, ginger and vegetables thoroughly. Pour the mixture over the chicken. Wait for 3 minutes before adding the cornstarch and water mixture. Then just wait until the chicken and the vegetables are ready to serve. |
| |
Enjoy the recipe!!!
It was 7:10 in the morning, I still remember the hour just as if it was yesterday. I was in my bed when I opened my eyes. At first sight everything looked normal, as a regular day, but it was not.
I heard something outside. A mysterious noise that was surrounding the house. That noise was in all the places, also on the roof. I did not know what was going on, but I had the most terrible sensation. I got up from my bed, and I approached to the window very slowly. I was not sure, but took strength from my insides, and then I took a deep breath, opened the window and there it was.
Water was falling from the sky. A soft breeze soaking everything it touched. It was exactly as the bible describes in The Apocalypses.
I did not know what to do. I could not move for a few seconds. I was paralyzed and scarred watching that terrible scene. Everything I knew told me that I should not go out to the street, much less to school in this situation, It was very shocking to me. I had to choose between my life and my education. And I think I made the wisest choice. I went back to sleep.
After I went back to sleep, I dreamed for a couple hours. I dreamed that I was walking in the street when suddenly, the sky turned dark and started to rain, I could not hide under a tree, much less go into a house, because suddenly everything disappeared. The city began to transform into a desert where there was not anywhere to hide from the water. Everything was sand, and the water managed to reach me. And every second that the water soaking into me. It made me feel weaker and weaker.
When I woke up from the nightmare, it was 11:00 in the morning. I still remembered what I had been dreaming seconds before. I was still scared, but everything looked better., The noise had disappeared, and then a smile grew on my face. I felt comfortable.
After I woke up, for the second time that day, I started to get ready to go to my afternoon class. I took a shower. I got dressed, I made some breakfast and got all my stuff ready to leave. I climbed down the stairs and when I opened the door, you would not believe what I saw. The danger hadn’t gone. It was still raining.
I could not believe it! My bicycle was wet. I just stood in the door watching that terrible scene again, but this time the breeze was stronger than the first.
Perla, my dog, did not know what was going on, and ran outside to the street. Before I could stop her, she was on the sidewalk down the street. I could not believe what that was happening. She was in danger, and afraid. She began to run away from me. I did not know what to do. I reached deep inside and found the strength to go to her rescue, but when I reached her, her feet were muddy. That is what happened.
Now Perla is not the same as before. She had changed and I couldn’t help her.
Perla, this is for you.
You will always be my bitch.
Proud of Myself
Hi, my name is Deth.
First of all, I would like to say "Good Morning" to the ladies and gentlemen who are present in this room. Especially, I would like to say "Thanks" to Mr. Richard Blum, my handsome and smart teacher who is always patient with all his students' mistakes.
Now I'm going to write about what I've been doing in the
According to what I mentioned above, sometimes I think I'm a strong man when I compare what I've been doing to others (I'm not looking them down but just telling you the truth)
Let me tell you more. I got this job just 3 months after I first got to the
The points of this article are:
I can live by myself freely.
I make more than 3 thousand dollars every month.
I still make time go to my English class everyday.
My Own Opinion
You can live without English but you can't live without money in the
If you're a person who has good knowledge of English you might find an upscale job.
Thanks for paying attention.
About Me
Hi, my classmates. How are you guys doing? My name is Penny. My name sounds like a little coin. Also, my Thai name sounds like Penny, but the meaning is the “full moon”. I come from
I will have been in the
I just like people who come from other countries to start a new life here...but how can we begin again?
Before, when I first came to the
I hope I will find a job in which I can use my skills. I have skills in arts. I can draw, paint, print and sculpt. However, my skill level now isn’t enough to get the job I want. I need more skills in English and computers. That is why I come to adult school.
I would like to tell everyone more about me. I will write on the Blog again when I have time.
By the way, thank you Richard for letting students write on blog so that we can know more about our classmates. Also we can practice how to write and to use a computer.
(^^)Penny
Portraid (50 cms x 80 cms)I Understand
by Thuong Thi Tran
Hi ! teacher, classmates.
I met Hanh when I started a new job in
At that time, I went to work in a nail shop in
I asked her, " You are just 20 yrs old. You are still young. Why don't you go to English school, I think that would be good for your future."
She said, " I want to but I need money to pay for many things, and if I have some extra money I will return to my hometown for a while because I miss many things there very much."
I understand that because I had the same feeling as her in the first few months when I came to
Then, later my wish came true. I returned to my hometown two times. But the second time, there were a lot of changes in my hometown. Some of my friends were moving away to other places - even my brothers and my sisters, too.
And there are many other changes. I didn’t recognize many people and places at all. Perhaps, it's only in my memory. And when I was in my old hometown, I had a feeling that I missed some things in
I hope, in a short while, Hanh will feel better. I told her," Don't look back. You should look forward. You will be happy with your beautiful future."
I believe that.
My favorite place is “National Park Cupatitzio Hillside” This Park is staying in the city of Uruapan, Michoacán Mexico. Why? Because this places is very fresh and colorful. Other things to me are. It has a “Cupatitzio River” running along it. It is beautiful river its water is very crystalline and to be transparent the sound of water is delightful and magical. There are many trees. And other important plat in this park is “banana with bone” it is important because we know bananas only small seeds of black color. The tree is very old maybe some tree are hundred of years old. In this park there are many different bushes. These plants give to aspect romantic this place. It is beautiful. In this place so there are many different fountains of different size these fountains is working with gravity of water this thing is very important because it does not use of electricity other sources power. Also there are beautiful waterfalls inside of the park.
Many people put up small stands, they are selling souvenirs. But many people have visited this park they have bough to different handicraft for friend and relatives. I am recommending to visit this place.
Last week, my baby daughter was sleeping on her stomach next to me in bed when I woke up. I got up and changed her diaper. The urine leaked out of her diaper. It wet her clothes, her pillow, our sheet, and the bed. I wanted to give her a bath, but she was very hungry. I made some formula. She drank it before her bath.
Hello class 101
I’m Alejandro from
When I first came to the
Exactly like in the
For all these reasons, I think we are very lucky to be here in this school, and we are very lucky also to be in the 101 class, with Richard, somebody how really worries that their students learn to speak, read, and think in English. Thank you!
And I believe that we, as students, should be contributing in some way.We can offer ideas to do some personal or group activities. For my part, I propose we could learn some songs. I have a guitar and I could learn the chords and maybe somebody could play another instrument or something else. Perhaps Richard could dance to the song, no?
Alejandro Campa
Over summer vacation I took my children to swimming classes. A couple of days, I took them ice skating.
Just a few days before school started we went to the State Fair in Sacramento.This fair begins about August 17th and ends on Labor Day. .I've been there three times. You can have a lot of fun with your family.
At the State Fair there is a lot of entertainment for little kids and for adults, too. I rode on ride called "The Experience". I didn't want to go on it, but my daughter wanted to go and my son said that he wouldn’t ride with her. I decided to ride on it with her.
Oh my God! We were upside down. I thought I was going to die. It was a very bad experience for me.
Also, there were animal exhibitions, horse shows, an American rodeo and many others things you could see and do there.
I graduated from
After a few days, I became a professor’s assistant. I listened to the professor’s course. Then I taught a math practices course. The first time I taught the course, I was nervous, because I was so short. I needed to write some questions on the blackboard. I had to stand on tip toes and stretch my arm to reach the blackboard. I corrected students’ homework. After a couple of years, I taught a course in basic math for two years.
The first year, I got wage ¥47(yuan) for a month. The second year, I got to raise to ¥55 (yuan). I was very happy.
In 1958 Sun-Dong university separated into two parts. One part moved to Ji-Nan, It is called
At the end of June this year, my family and I visited my younger brother who lives in
We rented a van. On June 28th, we started to drive at 2:00 a.m. from home and we anticipated we would arrive at brother Lai’s home before 9:00 a.m. We hoped that we could enjoy breakfast together in
My youngest son drove the car. He drove along Highway 5 southbound. When we approached
We worried about what might have happened to the car. My son drove the car onto the shoulder of the road. We got out the car and saw that a stream of engine oil was flowing from the bottom of the car and some smoke appeared from the rear of the car. We knew that we couldn’t continue to use this van to get into
Almost at the same time, three cars also stopped on the roadside and turned on their emergency lights.
My son called with the car rental company. They promised they would send another van for us within half an hour. We had to wait!
While we were waiting for the other van, a police officer drove up. He asked us what had happened and he told us that the other three cars also hit the same unknown object and had different problems.
We waited for a half hour and, then, for another half hour. Finally, after two hours, a driver brought the replacement van to us.
Originally, the clerk of the car rental company told this driver that we were near
By the time we got to my brother Lai’s home, it was nearly 11:30 a.m.
A breakfast became a lunch!
Here are some notes from our debriefing discussion:
King suggests that we bring a microphone and loudspeaker so that everyone can hear announcements.
Victor suggests that someone should coordinate student volunteers so that everyone that wants to help has a job.
Tania suggests that more activities are needed so that people do more than just eat.
Kai Yan noticed that some schoolmates wasted food and threw it everywhere. He suggests that we talk to all students, in their classes, before the picnic and discuss picnic manners.
Cam Hong suggests dancing. Last night she went to the event at
Yan Hua also wants more activities. She wants some organized hikes. She would like to explore
Yan Hua suggests that we put signs (ARC/Shoong, 750) on the buses so that students are not confused.
Victor wants us to tell everyone, before they go to the picnic that there will be “No doggie bags.” “Eat as much as you can, but don’t bring food home.” Some students took sodas, etc. and put them in their backpacks.
Alberto suggests that we tell students to speak more English at the picnic.
Tania suggests that people be told to be careful with the garbage.
Alberto suggests that we talk to students, in classes before the picnic, and tell about how the tradition of the Jean Mulligan Neighborhood Centers Picnic and BBQ started. We should show pictures of Jean and of the tree that we planted in her honor.
In
When we arrived at my husband’s home, his sisters, brother and their clans had already come together to celebrate the holiday. We had a big dinner. After we finished that dinner, we talked with everyone, and we enjoyed the delicious tea.
We asked each other, “How are you?” “How about your health?” “How about your job?” and “How is your family?”
My husband spoke with a six years old boy named Xuefeng. He is my husband’s brother’s son.
My husband asked him, “How are you?”
The boy answered, “I am good.”
“Did you go to school this year?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Did you take the test at the end of this term?”
“Yes, I did”
“How many students in your class?”
“There’re more than forty students.”
“What number did you make in your class?” (In
“Six,” Xuefeng answered.
“Six? You didn’t do too badly!” my husband said.
“Counting from the back” Xuefeng looked at the floor and spoke softly.
Everybody had a big and long laugh.
Hi, classmates, recently our teacher, Richard, taught us about the present perfect tense. I felt that it was not easy to make use of the present perfect. So, I wrote down some examples of sentences for my understanding and reviewing. Our teacher made corrections for me. And he asked me to post those sentences on the blog. I thought, if it is helpful for our classmates, I am willing to post it.
Present Perfect Tense
Subject + have (has) + past participle
Usages:
1, recent past action that is important now. (Just, already)
2, past experience, indefinite (now) past time. (How many times, ever, never)
3, past experience (past action or situation) that continues now. (Since, for)
4, with yet.
5, with a superlative.
6, with “the first”, “the third”, etc.
7, repetition of an action.
Examples:
Usage 1:
Key words: just, already.
1, I’ve just gotten up.
2, I’ve already bought one. I don’t need two.
3, Taame has just learned that his friend is alive.
4, Susan has just gotten back from
Key words: finish, realize, come cook, take, run.
Sam: I have just cooked some spaghetti. Would you like some?
Dean: No, thanks. I have just (means recently) finished eating lunch.
Pete: Hey, the next time you go to the post office, would you pick something up for me?
Gwen: It’s too bad you didn’t ask me sooner. I have just come back from there.
Keith: Can you give me a ride to the store now?
Jim: I’m sorry, but my car has just run out of gas.
Woman: Excuse me, sir. Has flight 663 left yet?
Man: Yes, it has already taken off. Why do you ask?
Well, I’ve just realized that I have left my carry-on bag on the plane.
Usage 2:
Key words: How many times, ever, never.
1: “Have you ever gone there?”
“No, I’ve never gone there, but my uncle has traveled there many times.”
Key words: Have, think, hear, study, eat, be.
Emily: Have you ever eaten tempura?
Laura: No, I haven’t. What is it?
Emily: It’s a Japanese dish. It’s fried vegetables or fried fish.
Laura: Really, I have never heard of it.
Emily: You should try it. It’s delicious.
Vic: Have you ever studied a foreign language? (Present Perfect – indefinite)
Carl: Yes, I studied French when I was in college. (Past – definite)
Vic: Have you ever had a chance to use it? I mean, have you ever been (traveled) to
Carl: Unfortunately no. I have never traveled (have never been) a broad.
Ben: I’m sorry I’m late, but I had car trouble again this morning.
Jean: Why do you keep that old car? Have you ever thought about getting a new one?
Ben: Sure, I’ve thought about it many times, but I have never had (don’t have) enough money to buy one.
Usage 3:
I have been studying (Perfect continuous) here for two years.
I have studied here for two years, but I’m going to go to Laney this summer
Use Since with a beginning date or time (yesterday, 2:00 am, 1993).
Use for with a period or length of time (2 weeks, 1 minute, 3 years, decade)
I live in Oakland. (Present Tense)
I moved here five years ago. (Past Tense)
I moved there in 2002. (Past Tense)
I have lived in
I have lived there since 2002. (Present Perfect Tense)
Apples are on sale. The sale started on Monday.
The apples have been on sale since Monday.
We know the mayor. We met him ten years ago.
We have known the mayor for ten years.
I began to work at this office two years ago. I still work here.
I have worked at this office for two years.
Henry has a huge house. He bought it when he moved here.
Henry has owned a huge house since he moved here.
Keith plays tennis. He learned how to play in 2003.
Keith has played tennis since 2003.
Keith has played tennis for 4 years.
Usage 4:
1, Ben always eats dinner at 7:00 pm. It’s 6:45 now.
Ben hasn’t eaten dinner yet.
2, The weather report predicted rain for today. The sky is dark, but the ground is dry.
The rain hasn’t fallen yet.
It hasn’t rained yet.
3, The monitor says the plane will arrive in 10 minutes. The plane is still in the air.
The plane hasn’t arrived yet.
The plane hasn’t landed yet.
According to the monitor, the plane hasn’t landed yet.
4, We are all very hungry. The stew is on the stove. It needs to cook some more.
The stew hasn’t finished cooking yet.
5, I wanted to speak with Dr. Adams yesterday, but I didn’t have time. I need to speak to him.
I haven’t spoken with Dr. Adams yet.
6, The big game is tomorrow. I forget to buy my ticket this morning. I need a ticket.
I haven’t bought my ticket yet.
Usage 5:
1, Key words: long, trip, take.
That was the longest trip that I have ever taken.
2, Key words: good, mojito, drink.
That was the best mojito (that) I have ever drunk.
3, Key words: expensive, car, drive.
It was the most expensive car I have ever driven.
4, Key words: delicious, meal. Eat.
That was the most delicious meal I have ever eaten.
5, Key words: beautiful, flower, see.
It was the most beautiful flower I have ever seen.
6, Key words: expensive, shirt, buy.
This is the most expensive shirt I have ever bought.
7, Key words: busy, day, have.
It was the busiest day I have ever had,
8, Key words: fun, movie, see,
It was the funniest movie I have ever seen.
9, Key words: hard, time, experience.
That was the hardest time I have ever experienced.
10, Key words: bad, day, have.
Yesterday was the worst day I have ever had.
Usage 6:
1, This is the second time that you have given me yesterday’s paper.
2, It’s the third day that I have seen Frank and Tony, but I still have trouble remembering
their names.
3, that is the fourth time that you have dropped a ball in this game. Are you trying to set a
new record?
Usage 7:
Paolo: Yeah, it’s crazy. We’ve had six tests so far this month. (Key words: six…so far)
Weiping: You know, in my biology class, the teacher has given only one test this semester.
(Key words: one…this semester)
Maybe so, but I’ve had a lot of classes like that here. (Key words: a lot)
One month ago, I went to
The bus was almost full so we couldn’t sit together. I sat next to an Asian guy. After a few minutes a black guy came up, and said to the Asian guy, ''Stand up and find another seat!''
The Asian guy stood up quickly and found another seat. When the black guy sat next to me, I was scarred. I worried about my English because my English isn't very good. Sometimes I can't understand the people.
After a few minutes, he asked me, ''Are you from
I answered, “Yes.”
He said, “Me, too. I am from
After that he took out a small knife. I asked, ''What is that?''
'He answered, “It's a knife.'' '
I said, “I see but what are you going to do with it.''
He answered, ''Nothing, but sometimes I use it to kill people.”
While we were talking the bus stopped and the Asian guy got off. Before he got off he said a bad word to the black people. Then all then black guys got off the bus. The Asian guy didn't run so the black guys caught him quickly. The black guys beat the Asian guy and then the police came.
By Sadia Nur
Last year I visited my aunt. She lived in
.
Every night when we tried to sleep they were noisy. One night they made a lot of noise. I went upstairs to their apartment and knocked on their door.
One girl opened the door. When I tried to speak to her in my language, she laughed at me. She spoke to me in the Kenyan language . After I went back to my aunt’s apartment, they were noisy again. I couldn't sleep all that night.
The next night, they did the same thing. They made a lot of noise, just like night before. I went back up to their to the girls’ apartment. One girl spoke to me in Somali, my language. We said many bad words to each other.
While we were talking, another girl spoke in another language. Then she said '' I will kill you'' in Somali. When she raised her hand to her head. I thought that she was going to hit me, so I smacked her. I thought to myself, ''Smack her before she smacks me!” I didn't know she is only trying to scratch her hair.
That was the biggest mistake in my life, but it was an accident.
By:Sadia Nur
Sometimes English drives me crazy.
Last Saturday I heard one new word on TV. That word was [appreciate]]
Then I wanted to memorize that word. I went to the mirror to practice the word. While I was talking to myself in the mirror, my brother saw me, but he didn't come into my room. He saw me but he didn't interrupt me. He went back to the living room
What happened was that when my brother saw me he thought that I was not OK. He thought I was going crazy.
All that day, my brother treated me in a different way. He asked me many questions. At night, after dinner, he asked me, ''Sadia, what was going on with you this morning. Why were you talking to yourself''
I laughed and then I explained it to him.
By: Sadia Nur
Thanks, teacher Richard, for helping us to review the present perfect tense.
Now, I understand a little more about it. The present perfect tense has seven usages:
#1. Recent past action that is important now
#2. past experience indefinite past time
#3. Past experience that continues now
#4. With yet
#5. With a superlative
#6. With “the first”, “the third”
#7. repetition of on action
We have already reviewed usage number one. The key words are just and already.
Usage number two key wards are ever, never, and many times.
Usage number three key wards are for and since.
I took my last vacation to
My whole family came together in remembrance of her. I felt very sad that week.
One week later, I left
I bought a new house in
“How do you make a living in
“Is there really freedom in the
“Is it safe to live in
“How do you study English?”
“Why did the
My friend’s husband is a sport teacher in college. Their daughter is a teacher, too. She is teaching English in a different college. That day all of my friends made me very happy.
So, I felt different on my last vacation.
There once was a foolish man. His name was Ahmed.
Ahmed worked in a store. Ahmed wasn't a smart man, he was also a coward.
One day he went out and he saw a fat man carrying a guitar.
Ahmed wasn't too smart so he thought the guitar was a big knife.
He said to himself, ''This man lives in town and I am working in the store maybe someday in the future he is going to go to the store and kill me. I have to do something to protect myself.''
He went back to the store and took all the money and he also took a knife to protect himself. He wrote a letter to the owner of the store.
He wrote, ''I am going to go home. Don't follow me. If you follow me I will kill you.''
When he arrived home, he said to his wife, ''Today, somebody tried to kill me. Maybe that person is going to follow me here. You have to listen to me carefully. I am going to hide under the bed. If anybody comes to house, and asks you where your husband is, tell them that I am dead.”
“If he asks you when I died, tell him that I died yesterday. I am going to listen to you so don't make any mistakes!''
His wife said, “OK.”
After a while, two men knocked on Ahmed's door. His wife opened the door.
The men asked, “Where is your husband?”
She answered, “He is dead.”
The men asked, “When did he die?”
She said, “The day before yesterday.''
When Ahmed heard her say “The day before yesterday” he yelled and said ''No! No! Say yesterday Say yesterday''
Then the men heard him and came into the room but Ahmed killed his self with the knife before the men could reach him.
Before he died, he said, ''A coward dies twice.''
Hi, teacher, today I have a funny story I want to tell everyone.
This morning, my friend and I went to
My friend asked her, "Excuse me ! Are you Chinese?"
She said "No, I'm not. I'm Vietnamese."
My friend was very very surprised and said, "But I saw you reading a Chinese magazine and you are a black woman."
She smiled and said, "I was born in
She is a black woman but she knows a lot of Chinese words. She said she understood everything in the magazine.
A few weeks ago. I called my friend and she told me this story. She is from
She told me about her first day in school when she came
She said:
I was fifteen years old when I came to the
A few weeks before school started, my aunt, my uncle, and some of my dad's friends came to visit us, and they brought a lot of presents. I was surprised when I found clothing in one of boxes.
The clothes were nice but ordinary. They weren't special or fancy except for one dress. It was a dress of lace. There was lace surrounding the neck and the sleeves and lace on the bottom. I was very happy when I saw this dress.
On the first day of school I wanted to look my best and impress the other students. I wanted them to make friends with me, so I put on my fancy dress of lace.
When I got to school, all the students stared at me. They were laughing and saying something in English. I didn't know why they were doing this. I thought that maybe they had never seen an African girl in a dress before or that they wanted to make friends with me but were too embarrassed to come over.
In the classroom, an American teacher spoke to me in English and pointed at my dress, but I didn't know what she was saying so I just smiled. The whole morning she didn't let me walk around or stand up. I had to sit all the way in the last row in the back of the room. During lunch, when all the others students had gone, a teacher from
I was so embarrassed that I almost burst into tears. That morning, when I left home, I thought I looked good but I didn't. Instead, I embarrassed myself on my first day of school. I felt like not going to school anymore.
This embarrassment taught me not to try to impress others or I might end up making a fool out of myself. I also learned the difference between a fancy dress and a nightgown!
