Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Paola

I’ve known Paola for only three weeks and I can say that she is really a nice and intelligent girl. She was born in Sinaloa – Mexico, this city is located in the Northeast of the Country. She has been living there since she was born. She doesn’t have brother and sisters, so when she was a child, she was used to play alone or with her imaginary friend called Alexsandra. Her childhood sometimes was very sad because she hadn’t had anyone to play with. She is the youngest from her family, all her cousins are older than she. She lives with her mother. The city where she was born is quiet, calm, small and safety place to live. She loves there and she has been missed a lot the city, friends, family and of course her boyfriend. Sinaloa city is close to the beach, about 30 minutes driving, and she loves beach as well. Her mother is the most important person and her life and her best friend. She can be confident with her mother. She doesn’t believe that friendship between girls could be sincerer, in my opinion she is right. Men’s friendship is more trustfully than the women. Most difficult day in her life was when her grandmother died. Her grandmother was like her second mother, Paola really loved her. She and her boyfriend have been dating for 5 years and half. When the relationship had completed six months she won a dog called Urso, it is a Golden Retriever, and she loves him. Both are graduated in Industrial Engineer at Sonora University and she had been studied there for 4 years. When she had already graduated she decided to come to Toronto to improve her English, because she is planning to apply a job in an International Company and Mastership, which the books are in english. After getting a job and finished her Mastership she will get married. She loves kids, because of that she is planning to have two. The most interest trip that she hade made was in Disney World. She had been there with her mother and grandmother, she enjoyed a lot. It was three exciting days. Paola loves dancing and reading, when she was a child she had been dancing Ballet for ten years. Her child dream was to become a professional dancing, but her carrier as engineer is most important nowadays. She likes Band music (typical music from Mexico) and Pop Rock. Now her dream is to take her mother to Europe one day. She told me about one funny day in the university. She was leaving the Administration office with her hands with a lot of books, when suddenly she had fallen down in front of several handsome guys. She became red like a tomato, but the good thing was the guys had helped her to stand. Paola is improving her english now and as soon as possible she will be a good professional engineer.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

About Alexandre

Alexandre has been in Toronto for just three weeks and this is his first an last session at PGIC.He was born in Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has two sisters and one brother, all of them younger than him.
When he was a child, he used to dream about being a car racing pilot, but that dream hasn´t come true yet. His major is Administration and he also has a degree in foreign trade. He works at an american company named Sherwin Williams in the financial planning area.
He went to the soccer world cup in France with some friends when he was 28 years old but they weren´t able to see any game, at least not inside of the stadium because the tickets were very expensive, so they have to see them on a big screen outside of the stadium. But it wasn´t that bad because he had the chance to meet people from Brazil and party with them for a few days.
The craziest city he visited during his trip was Amsterdam, he was very amazed of the kind of “bars” they have there, because instead of having a normal menu with drinks and food to offer to their clients, they had an only mariguana menu, where you were able to choose between mariguana from many parts of the world, and the funniest thing about all this, was that people were not allowed to get or drink any alcohol in there!!! He also had the chance to visit Spain and Holand too but during the trip they had to sleep in hostels because it was cheaper.
His best friend´s name is Fernando, they have been friends for 18 years and they have traveled several times together to many beaches in Brazil and they went to Europe together.
Alexandre loves rock music but once, when he was at his favorite band concert, something very dangerous happened to him. He wanted to see the band nearer so altough his friends told him not to do it, he walked trough the crowd until he got very close from the stage, he was so happy seeing the band and singing when suddenly some people started to figh and he was in the middle of the fight so he almost got hit but his friends rescued him.
Nowadays he is married. He met his wife at his work because they used to be work partners. They had been dating for a year when they decided to get married. He has a 6 year old son and his wife is expecting another baby boy but he wants to have a baby girl someday. He would like to have the chance to send his son abroad to study english in the future.
At the moment he lives in Sao Paulo, but he thinks is a very stressful and dangerous city to live in because traffic jam, assaults and murders are an every day deal. He would like to go back to his hometown to live in the future, because is a safer city and he wants the best for his wife and son.
He decided to come to Toronto to improve his english skills because he wants to success at work and in order to do that he needs to write, speak and read in english.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Who is Cindy

When I prepared for English language study course in Korea, I met her at our agency which is in Busan city. We lived in same province in Korea. That is why we were able to her at same agency. Our schduale was almost same. We was able to help each other.

She was born in 1985 years. Her hometown is Ulsan city which is northwest Kyeongnam provinceand. her family are father, mother and older brother. Before, she entered to university, she had lived in Ulsan with her family. She must have moved out to Busan because of university. Her major is chemical engineering. Her hobby is sleep, watching TV and using computer. That's so boring! That's why she decided to study in Toronto.

She had arrived in Toronto at Feb 23. In my case, I arrived at Feb 26. She arrived 3days earier than me. We had met first time on Toronto city tour's day that was school activity. I like taking a picture. When we met, I usually took her picture. Of couse I had took other student. We didn't meet since the day. I don't know why we wasn't ablt to meet. But, We have assigned same class this session. We had been Niagara fall with our friends. and I was able to know her story.

2 months ago, she had lived in homestay. now, she have moved out to Finch with Rachel. When she moved out, she was able to make other friends in her new house who are one Korean male and one Japan female. They were so kind. So, she was satisfied new house. They spent all of night with talk and alcohol. Then, they was called by "Family". When she went to Buffalo for shopping, she had bought other family's cloths which is same of her cloth. I think that is kind of uniform in her home. Anyway, all of her family had been to Wonder land with theirs unicorm. They had a good time. Unfortuanlly, Japan female had came back to Japan 3weeks ago. Cindy had felt pretty sad. She had cried. now, she is ok. Because of our classmates!

About Jieun

I met Jieun last session. She is my classmate both of AM and PM class.This session is her second session but she was in another school before. She met her boyfriend in her ex-school, and they have kept a good relationship until now. She was born in 1987. Probably(Perhaps?, I wrote it because I'm not sure if she is youngest Korean girl or not) she is the youngest Korean girl in PGIC. She is so cute. She asked me to write she is cute. She is so self-confidence.(Nevermind. Just kidding.)

She studied nursing in university before she came here. Actually she didn't like to study nursing. Most of her cousins are nurse and she has watched them. In her thought, they looked always busy and exhausted. But(x) her mother had recommended her to study nursing and as time goes by she realized merits of nursing. Now(x) she(She) likes her major (now).

She had lived in korea(Korean) with her family. She doesn't have any sibling. When she was young, she went through difficult times. She usually played alone, so she didn't know how to get along with her friends. She was a little bit selfish and she cried easily. When she was a middle school student, she met a good teacher. Thanks to her teacher, she could be changed and became a nice person.

She has been staying in Toronto for travel and to study English. When she was a high school student, she had hated English, so she didn't want to study English at all. But(x) English is very important to get a job and Korean people tend to evalute someone's intelligence by a score of English test, so now she has been studying English in Toronto.

In Toronto, she has been living with her friend in North York. She usually goes shopping with her roommate or watches TV with her friends. She likes an America sitcom 'Friends'. She is crazy about shopping, so she has spent lots of money for shopping.
(Mark, in this case, can I use 'crazy on' NO I usually used 'crazy on' but I wasn't able to find 'crazy on' in my dictionary.)

She has a boyfriend. As I wrote before, She(she) met him at another school. They have dated for 4(?) months. She is going to go to Toronto island with her boyfriend next week. She said to her boyfriend that she wanted to ride a bicycle, because she had learned how to ride bicycle last week. Before last week, she wasn't able to ride a bicycle. I think her boyfriend is so cool and quite attentive to her. It's very hard to have such a nice boyfriend. She's lucky.

In the future, she will be a nurse. Many people said to her that being a nurse is not an easy way. Sometimes she wants to change her major but she said she is ok because she is strong. I don't doubt that she can make it. She is young and has good friends. She is amiable, so if you want to be a friend with her, probably she will be your good friend. So, why don't you try to be a friend with her? You should be hurry. It's her last session in PGIC!

about carrick

He came here on March. He finished his military service this January and came here as soon as possible. He named myself after a famous soccer player Micheal Carrick in Manchester United. Before he came here, he was a university student. His major is Electromagnetics, electronics and computer engineering. To study his major He had to go to a library and studied his major just in a desk. But since He had been here to study English, He usually joined school activities or went to pub or coffee shop. He was able to enjoy the conversation studying English, so He prefer studying English to his major. It doesn’t mean that he hate my major. He selected his major to get a stable job and He satisfied with it.


He has an older sister. They often fought and argued when They was young. In most cases, He lose the arguing and fighting. Actually They still argue sometimes and He always lose until now. Of course, They haven’t fought since He went to middle school. Her major is sculpture, and she had a job when He was in military service. She worked for cosmetic company. It’s popular job among Korea women but she wanted to continue study, so she quitted her job.
Now she is in graduate school.


His father works for Agency of Defense Development. His father's job is related to army and actually his family doesn’t know what his father does in his office. It’s confidential. He had totally had no idea about his father's job before he went to military service. During military His father worked in security department so He was able to understand a little about His father’s job.
His mother is housewife and she want to be a Korea literature teacher for young children. She had already graduated her university a long time ago, but her major was business. To study Korea literature, she had entered the university again, and graduated 2 years ago.
She’s so active, energetic and always take care of their family.
He think He is so lucky because He has a peaceful family.

A little while about Sueli



I had never seen Sueli before we started to study at Pacific Gateway. One day, we had had a conversation before the rain started and she told me a lot of things of her life. She has been studying English for five years.

In Canada, she was able to travel a lot and to see places that she had never heard about before. The best place that she had gone was Natal before the trip to New York, wich she made with her classmates. She told me that her favorite kind of music was rock and roll, she started to like because of her cousin.

Her major is computer science and she has been working in this area for seven years. She needed to travel a lot therefore she was able to visit places in all of Brazil, like; Brasilia, Recife, Porto Alegre, Joinville and Curitiba.

When we were talking, I perceived she was not well. I had asked for her in the beginning of the talking if everything was alright, but I decided to ask again. After ten minutes insisting, she told me. She had just discovered that she was pregnant!

Before our appointment she had made a drugstore test and it was positive. She was so worried because our family would not like this, she and her boyfriend are not married. All of this happened in the last May when she went to Brasilia. She was traveling for job and she decided to go with her boyfriend, to enjoy more the time with him, because she had scheduled a trip to Canada in the end of the month.

In the last weekend we went to French Canada (Quebec, Montreal and Ottawa) and I was able to see that she is a good person, friendly and respectful with everybody. In the second day, we went to Montreal where we saw the “Cirque du Soleil”that she had talked about before we arrived. The first time I heard about, I was not excited, however, she spoke a lot and I decided to go.


It was incredible. I saw things that I have never imagined that I human being was able to do.

Now I can say, it was the best thing I have done here, thanks Sueli!

Andre's experiences

Andre is my classmate from PGIC English course. He is from Brazil and he has been living in Sao Paulo since he was born. When he was a child, he had had to be an archeologist, but he changed his mind. When he was 21 years old, he graduated in Business Administration at Mackenzie University.

Andre has been working in a Human Resources department for four years, and his position is trainee. He has been studying English language for two years but until that, he had never learned English or other foreign languages.

Last year, he decided to go to Canada to learn English and improve his skills. The trip to Canada is his second travel for a foreign country. Before he went to Canada, he had gone to Uruguay and Argentina in his vacation. He loved these countries and enjoyed a lot, but in his opinion, Brazil has many places better than countries of South of America.

Andre has been traveling a lot in Brazil because of his job. Since he started work in the Human Resource department, he had gone to Manaus, Caraja, Porto Alegre, Vitoria, Brasilia, and Aracaju. Before he went to Manaus and Caraja, he had thought these cities were dirty and horrible. However he changed his mind when he arrived there. He learned many things in these cities and he had opportunity to learn more about other cultures. In his opinion, Caraja is an exotic place because there are many indigenes and it is not necessary to pay for foods, clothes.

In his free time, Andre has also traveled a lot. Before he went to Canada, he had traveled to Parana, Rio Janeiro, Florianopolis, Blumenau, Belo Horizonte, Mato Grosso Sul, Sao Luis and Pernambuco. In his opinion, the best places to take vacation are Sao Luis and Mato Grosso Sul.


Sao Luis has beautiful beaches and a famous tourist point called Lencol Maranhese. This place is like a desert with water, a paradise place to relax and enjoy a lot with friends. Mato Grosso Sul has many rivers that you can fish a variety of fishes, and also see exotic animals like crocodiles, alligators. It’s a good place to do a safari in Brazil. When Andre went to Pantanal, he had been afraid of doing a safari, so he just stayed in a board to see the fishes into the river.

Andre has also been enjoying a lot since he arrived in Toronto. He had two historical moments here: when he saw the baseball play game and when he traveled to French Canada. Two weeks ago, Andre went to the Roger Center to see the baseball play game (Blue Jays against NYC). When he just arrived there, Andre and his friends bought some beers to drink, but after two hours, the security guide invited him to go out. He did not understand what was happening, but we went out. After that, he became famous.



Last weekend he went to French Canada with his friends and spent three days traveling to Quebec, Montreal and Ottawa. During these days, he went to the night clubs, Cirque du Soleil, Parliamentary Building and many others tourist points, but he also have drunk a lot.

The Andre’s dreams are win the lottery to not work anymore, and just drink and travel around the world to enjoy a lot. Before it happen, he has been working and studying so hard to get a good salary.

Who is Sarah?

I interviewed Sarah. We first met on the level test day. After interviewing her, I felt she was a delightful girl. She told me that she wanted to make people smile. Actually her personality was affected by her mother. Her mother always tried to teach her about importance of smile like a Korean saying "Nobody can spit to smile face." Sarah had kept in her mind that saying since she was a child.

She has lots of hobbies. First of all, eating is her favorite one. Especially she likes barbecue steak and Korean Dak-Galbi Chicken. She thought eating food as a new adventure. She liked to eat food that she had never eaten. When she was eating, she forgot all of her worry and stress.

She lives in home stay now. It has 4 bedrooms. One is for home stay parents. The others are for students. She is satisfied with everything of her home stay. The only thing she doesn't like is a friend who lives next to her room. He snores all the night and it sounds like a pig. He always teases her. Except for him, she likes everything of her home stay ; kind host parents, good cooking so on. She always wants you guys to visit her sweet house.

She thinks the most important thing in her life is making good friends. If you guys need a real friend, don't hesitate to have a talk with her. Sarah can be a good friend. She told me she was not special. But I think she can make you special and smile.

A nice guy

This man who has a black short hair and a strong smile, likes a lot a TV program called Country Music. Some years ago he had bought an expensive and big screen only to watch it. When he was child he had a dream, this dream was to become a famous singer. His childhood was in Brazil. He had been here in Canada for six months to study english and his is improving a lot.
Last week he had gone to Vancouver to ski, I think it was the most dangerous thing that he had done. Last holiday he went to French Canada with his friends. When he was there he had been drinking a lot, because of that he didn't enjoy the trip.

Interview Jack

Today, I will tell you about a person who is very special. Is he famous? No. Is he handsome? Absolutely not! Here’s another clue. He always pretends serious and cynical. He is Jack!

When you look at him for the fist time, what kind of first impression did he make on you? In my case, I thought that he would be very cold and I couldn’t familiar with him. However do you know that? He is the youngest of his family. Moreover he is precious and cute the last son. Also, he has four older sisters. His parents were looking forward to having a son. End of the long waiting, finally 21, August 1981, they had a son and he grew into man. He is no less a person that Jack!
Usually the last son is thought precious and is loved the more. So he is supposed to be girlish because of four older sisters. However he said, “It's totally wrong.” Even if personality is made by someone who is around, but it’s clear that he is always trying to calm down in any situation and to think over a matter. Thinking over and over is a good way to live together but it takes long time to decide a question. Therefore he said that sometimes he misses the good chance. So far, he doesn't know if that kind of personality is good or not, but he can just say that it's his character.

He likes to find a new place where the delicious food is sold or has good scenery. Sometimes He was disappointed to the place he visited. However purpose of trip is to go with someone who he likes. Therefore the place doesn't matter to him. If you want to go somewhere and you need some company, request to him. However nowadays he is not able to travel. As he is getting older, the more burdens he feels about future. He thinks he is pressed for time. Now, he wants to free from bondage that is student and wants to enter in public affairs as soon as possible.

The person who I told you does not have any special powers. He cannot fly like superman. He cannot dunk basketballs like Michael Jordan. Also, he is not perfect. However, if you get to know him, I think you will learn many more special things about him. The time left to him in Toronto is only two months, so he would like to make a more special experience for the rest of the time. If you are familiar with him you are able to have lots of fun with him as well. He will also help you whenever you have a problem. Hence, don’t hesitate!

Kurt's Life (Rodrigo Callado)


Kurt is a guy who is twenty two years old and very tall. I am not sure but I would say that he is about 190 centimeters tall. Even though he is so young, he has lots of interesting stories, most of them eerie, to tell to his friends and to his grandsons.


Before he came to Canada he had already been to the Philippines to study English, where most of his spooky stories happened. In the Philippines, he was going to a school placed on a land which had placed a family’s house some years before, but that house had been burned and all the family died because of the fire.


Since all the family died inside the house and, later, the school was built there, the ghosts of the family were still living in that place. So after the school was built they started walking inside the school and in the dormitories of the school.


Once he was taking a shower and, when he entered his room after the shower, there was a female ghost. It was a blond woman and she was very well dressed brushing her hair. He was shocked!!! Even after he had turned the lights on, the woman didn’t disappear. So he started running naked and shouting at the dormitory rooms.


This is one of my favorites Kurt’s stories. Besides these stories Kurt also likes to talk about sports and girls. His favorite sport is basketball, he says he is very good at basketball and I don’t doubt because since he is very tall, he must be a good player.


He likes Brazilian girls, they don’t like him though. And this is one of his life’s problems. He might be a looser if he keeps falling in love for Brazilian girls.


Although that, Kurt is a happy guy, I guess. Since he has lots of friends, which is a consequence of his kindness, there is no big reason to be sad.

"Professor" Carrick

He is my best friend. We have known each other for 7 years. When I met him in the swimming pool by accident, he had been swimming for about 3 hours. He looked like he was exhausted, so I gave him a cigarette which was his favourite brand. He said to me that he had quit smoking since he had a heart test in the hospital. The doctor had said that he was hurting himself. He said that even though he had been smoking for about 7 years, he was willingly to try to quit smoking. I thought that he had made the right decision. I hope his body can start with fresh slate. Good luck, Carrick!!

What happened to her hair ! (Lydia)

Sue went to have her hair cut yesterday. While the hairdresser was cutting her hair, she fell asleep because she was so tired. When the hairdresser finished her job, her hair had been just like that. The hairdresser failed her hair! By the time Sue started to cry, the hairdresser had already left. She wanted to complain but it was impossible. It is water under the bridge, though. All she can do is just to grin and bear it. She knows her hair will grow like before. Now Sue can smile just like that picture. What a easygoing person!

My friend Michael

My friend Michael is from Korea and he has lived there all his life. Since he was a child, he had always wanted to be a famous hollywood actor, that's why he's here at PGIC studying english. When he had just arrived to Toronto airport, he got lost for two hours until he finally was able to find someone to help him.
Last holiday he went to Hawai with his girlfriend, but when they had been there for just 3 days, he had to go back to Korea because he got very sick.
His most expensive possesion is a ring his grandfather gave him before he came to Toronto, but one month ago, he had been drinking beers with some friends when he almost lost the ring because he lent it to his friend and forgot to ask for it when he went home.
His favorite music is rock and he loves extreme sports.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

My Travel to N.Y.

I’ve been here in Toronto for two weeks. Last weekend I went to New York, it is amazing city.
My trip tour has started on Engliton Station at 9:30pm. At 11:30pm I and the guys from the tour were in the board. The guide, who is called Cristin, has asked us to stay quiet and seat down. The board guards don’t like any kind of noise.

After the board our first stop to relax and eat has come. Actually I wasn’t starving, but I have eaten a sandwich at Tim Hortons. Some hours ahead and we have our second stopped, which took us thirty minutes.

Saturday morning, after eleven hours traveling we have arrived in New Jersey, where our hotel was located. Everybody got off the bus to left the stuffs there. So everything was ready to go. We had been very really excited for the first contact with New York. The bus has left the hotel to our destination, the “Big Apple”.
Couple of minutes later, suddenly N.Y city has turned up in my left side. I was able to see through the bus window, for the first time in my life, the City. Slowly New York has been growing up in my eyes.
We arrived there about 9:30am. Cristin the tour guide, who I mentioned at the beginning, has started to do a good explanation about the sightseeing.
When the explanation has finished we got off the bus to walk around in the Times Square, Broadway, Fifth Ave, and others famous places in downtown area. Everything is big in this city. We have been walked a lot.


In the afternoon 5.30 we were supposed to take a public transportation to back to the hotel. So we did it. Later on 8.30pm we came back to downtown, some of us had gone to a Broadway show, others like me has just walked around. At night Times Square is really, really beautiful. Everything shines, it was completed crowded. There wasn’t a place even to take a picture. Sunday we have gone to Greenwich Village, Soho, Chinatown, Financial district, etc. Mid day we took a boat to see the Statue of Liberty and part of N.Y. city. In the afternoon the time to visit the Empire State Building has arrived. Getting into the build cost us US$15. So we paid and have been stand in the line for a couple of hours. The view on the top is fantastic. We have seen the whole city over there.
Finally our last day has arrived, which were Monday, and we has gone to Central Park for a fast walk tour before coming back to Toronto. Central Park is huge, beautiful and very well organized. Time to go! Everyone had gotten on the bus.
After this weekend I can say: “If you go to New York, It’ll be better take your comfortable tennis shoes”.

Monday, June 4, 2007

My Friend Lydia

We have known each other for about two months. When I first met her at Pacific Gateway, she seemed like she was uptight . She already had good abilities including speaking, listening, and reading skills, even if it was at the beginning of the first session, and she wasn't nervous at all during her presentation. Although we were just acquaintances, it was enough to make me impressed .
I found out more about her, however, when she had made lots of funny events. For instance, we went to Pacific Gateway to check our Am&Pm classes at the end of the third session. When we went through the door, new students had just finished their first test in Pacific Gateway, so we tried to walk quietly. When I was about to go down the stairs which connected from the ninth floor to the eighth floor, I heard some strange sounds. She had just smacked into the wall. Ouch! She was almost crying when I reached to her. She was a little bit careless and clumsy. After lots of funny events, we were able to get close to each other, even if we hadn't known each other for a long time.

One day, I asked her what was the happiest memory since she came to Toronto. Without hesitation, she said she was extremely happy when she first ate Korean food in the Christie area with us after school activities. I totally agreed with her. While waiters were serving food, we were pigging out on our food as much as we could . When we realized that we had eaten too much, we looked like pregnant women. We weren't able to stop laughing each other.

I have never had a woman friend as a best friend. Even though making a best friend is never as simple as it seems, I'll willingly try to make a best friend as I've always done.

Sunday, June 3, 2007

His Nickname Is ‘Photo Jae’ - by Cindy

Someone said that photo has an attractive. If you are addicted to camera, you can't come out of camera. Jae said to me this one. I want to tell you about one of my friend Jae. Toronto downtown walking tour was our first time to meet after I came here. I had an idea that Jae has a nice digital camera. Everyone called him 'Photo Jae' after first activity.

By accident, he and me had gone to Niagara Falls with some friends to see fireworks. He took splendid pictures for us. Once he had found good place, and then we posed in front of his camera. Sometimes while we were walking on the road, he would suddenly take a picture. After he had taken a picture, he said “Move, Move!”, then we moved another place. He was our photographer. Of course, it was free! That day, we didn’t need to take a picture by ourselves.

What I could see photos of Niagara’s night view, I owed to him. As I saw, when he took a picture, he looks like a professional photographer. Thank you for your service.

His father has worked in Camera Company, so he had been interesting in camera since he was younger. He has studied taking a picture for one year. To buy new camera equipment, for a time he spent his almost money which he had earned by part time job. He said that he can remember easily at that moment through the pictures, so he likes taking a picture. He has been thinking that he needs a physical study about a photograph. He is always endeavoring to take a good picture.

I can’t forget hearing something to him. That was ‘Neither a camera nor skill is necessary to take a good picture. These are additional things to take a picture. The most important things are feeling and composition. Even though a camera has a good lens, if a feeling or a composition is not good, it is not superb picture.’ I agree with your opinion. I hope that you’ll catch a beautiful on film.

Two dollar Hotdog in Kurt's life (Lydia)

I have a best friend who has a really special experience about $2 dollar hotdog. His name is Kurt. Let me tell you about his story. It happened just one month ago.

One day Kurt had been walking down the street alone. When the school was over, he hadn't had a lunch. He was too hungry to walk anymore. He thought that he was able to eat anything. While he was walking, he saw $2 dollar hotdog stand on the street. He was so happy that he didn't hesistate to buy it.

When he orderd the 2 dollar hotdog, he realized that he had left his wallet at home. What a pity! Suddenly he felt frustrated. He couldn't stop watching people eating a hotdog. Poor Kurt! He had had neither money nor any energy to walk more. When he had started to smoke on the street, he found his friend, Hwan, walking to him.

Hwan had also been walking along the street. Kurt asked Hwan to buy him that hotdog carefully. As I know, Hwan is so kind guy. Eventually, Hwan decided to buy Kurt the hotdog. Kurt couldn't help freeloading off Hwan. When Hwan handed him the hotdog, it had been so hot that Kurt didn't drop all but just a piece of pickles.

Thank God! The moment that he ate hotdog had been one of the happiest moments in his life, he said. That two dollar hot dog had never ever made him feel happy like that before. As he finished eating it, unfortunately, he droppend one last bite of sausage on his shirt!

Oh, Dear! It was his favorite shirt. He felt depressed again. He was not hungry anymore but his feeling was not that good because of the 2 dollar hotdog that had made a spot on his shirt. The Hotdog had been his happiness just few minutes ago.

Recently, he hasn't eaten hotdog. I don't know why. That two dollar hotdog had made him not only happy but sad, though. Two dollar Hotdog means a lot of thing to him. Hey, Kurt, how about $2 hotdog for a lunch ,today?

What a cute guy, he is! I've never met this kind of guy before. I just feel happy to have known Kurt. Our friendship will be lasted as long as we make efforts.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

PAST PERFECT

[had + past participle]

Examples:
You had studied English before you moved to New York.
Had you studied English before you moved to New York?
You had not studied English before you moved to New York.

Complete List of Past Perfect Forms

USE

1 Completed Action Before Something in the Past
The Past Perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past.

Examples:


I had never seen such a beautiful beach before I went to Kauai.


I did not have any money because I had lost my wallet.


Tony knew Istanbul so well because he had visited the city several times.


Had Susan ever studied Thai before she moved to Thailand?


She only understood the movie because she had read the book.


Kristine had never been to an opera before last night.

We were not able to get a hotel room because we had not booked in advance.

A:Had you ever visited the U.S. before your trip in 2006?

B: Yes, I had been to the U.S. once before.


USE

2 Duration Before Something in the Past (Non-Continuous Verbs)
With Non-Continuous Verbs and some non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, we use the Past Perfect to show that something started in the past and continued up until another action in the past.


Examples:


We had had that car for ten years before it broke down.


By the time Alex finished his studies, he had been in London for over eight years.


They felt bad about selling the house because they had owned it for more than forty years.

Although the above use of Past Perfect is normally limited to Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, the words "live," "work," "teach," and "study" are sometimes used in this way even though they are NOT Non-Continuous Verbs.


IMPORTANT Specific Times with the Past Perfect


Unlike with the Present Perfect, it is possible to use specific time words or phrases with the Past Perfect. Although this is possible, it is usually not necessary.


Example:


She had visited her Japanese relatives once in 1993 before she moved in with them in 1996.


MOREOVER


If the Past Perfect action did occur at a specific time, the Simple Past can be used instead of the Past Perfect when "before" or "after" is used in the sentence. The words "before" and "after" actually tell you what happens first, so the Past Perfect is optional. For this reason, both sentences below are correct.


Examples:


She had visited her Japanese relatives once in 1993 before she moved in with them in 1996.


She visited her Japanese relatives once in 1993 before she moved in with them in 1996.


HOWEVER


If the Past Perfect is not referring to an action at a specific time, Past Perfect is not optional. Compare the examples below. Here Past Perfect is referring to a lack of experience rather than an action at a specific time. For this reason, Simple Past cannot be used.


Examples:


She never saw a bear before she moved to Alaska. Not Correct


She had never seen a bear before she moved to Alaska. Correct


ADVERB PLACEMENT


The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc.


Examples:


You had previously studied English before you moved to New York.
Had you previously studied English before you moved to New York?


ACTIVE / PASSIVE


Examples:


George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license. Active
Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic's license. Passive
More About Active / Passive Forms


EXERCISES AND RELATED TOPICS:


Verb Tense Exercise 11 Simple Past and Past Perfect
Verb Tense Exercise 12 Simple Past, Present Perfect, and Past Perfect
Verb Tense Exercise 13 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous
Verb Tense Exercise 14 Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous, and Past Perfect Continuous
Verb Tense Exercise 16 Present and Past Tenses with Non-Continuous Verbs
Verb Tense Exercise 17 Present and Past Tense Review
Verb Tense Practice Test Cumulative Verb Tense Review
Verb Tense Final Test Cumulative Verb Tense Review