Bargaining in the U.S.

In the United States, we normally don't bargain in stores. I've heard that sometimes if you try to bargain in stores, you can get the price down, but I've never tried to do it. We do bargain for the most expensive things, like a house or a car, but I'm not very good at this, either. When I bought a car, I took along by friend's husband to help me. Men seem to have an easier time bargaining for cars than women do. We also bargain for used items at yard sales and flea markets.

Unit 3: The Most Important Invention of the Past 200 Years

For me, there is no question that the most important invention of the past 200 years has been the computer, and specifically the Internet. The Internet has completely changed the way we access information, communicate with each other, study and work.

When I was a student, we typed everything by hand, and to get information we had to go to a library and search through file cards and shelves of books. It was a very slow process. Now, research has become fast and easy, and any kind of information you need is at the tips of your fingers.

When I was young, there were only two ways to communicate with someone far away--by letter, which was slow, and by phone, which was expensive. E-mail has changed all that.

When I was young, I had a job as a file clerk; all day long, I filed papers in cabinets or found files that other people needed. This job no longer even exists; all the files are on the computer!

Of course, the computer brings new problems that we didn't have before. The Internet is the source of a lot of lies and junk, as well as wonderful information, and we all have to be smart enough to know the difference. Sometimes people become addicts of e-mail or social networking, and spend all their time online instead of connecting face-to-face with their friends and family.

But, for better or for worse, the computer and the Internet have changed our whole society in the same way that the printing press changed everything around 550 years ago.

Unit 2: Past Time: A Change of Career

When I was a student more than 40 years ago, I thought that I wanted to be an elementary school teacher because I liked children so much. I enrolled in a teacher training program; I thought that I would complete the program and then get a job teaching in an elementary school in Vermont, where I lived at the time.

I took all the education courses and got good grades. The final course was practice teaching; for the last semester of the program, we had to work as an assistant teacher in a classroom with a more experienced teacher. To my surprise, I couldn't stand it! Even though I like children when I am working or playing with just one child, a whole group of twenty-five of them drove me crazy. I realized that I had made a mistake, and would have to find another career.

I joined the Peace Corps, and went to teach in an adult education program for women in Morocco. Later, I also taught English as a foreign language in a Moroccan school. I found out that I really enjoyed teaching grown-ups, and that is what I have done ever since.

Unit 1: Present and Future Time: My Dream Vacation

Some day, I want to take my little dog and go to France for a vacation. I always take my dog with me when I go on vacations, and France is a very dog-friendly country; dogs are allowed in hotels, cafes and on public transportation.Of course, I will have to be sure that all his vaccinations are up to date and that I have the records with me.

I will choose one place to stay and study French for several weeks. I know some French already, but I would like to speak it better than I do now.

I don't know what I am going to do with my dog while I go to class. Often, he hides in my handbag and nobody knows he is there. Maybe I will be able to take him to school with me.

Welcome!

In this blog, you can follow my writing assignments. At the end of each unit in Focus on Grammar, I will do the writing assignment.