Here is the summary of my classes this week.
In Beginning English, I taught my students how to describe locations in the neighborhood. I explained how to add more information about positions and locations after using basic sentence patterns. As a result, they can now produce longer sentences more smoothly. I hope they will be able to give directions confidently when asked.
In Business English, I taught my students some useful networking idioms that I thought they should know. I helped them memorize the idioms by explaining their origins or by giving them clues to help them imagine their meanings from individual words in them.
In Technical Writing, I listed some redundant words that should be avoided in manuals. For example, “present” and “actual” (as well as their derivatives) can often be omitted because their meanings are already conveyed by the verbs. I also explained that many verbs, such as “exist,” “lie” (in “lie in”) and “constitute,” can be replaced with the verb “be.” I wanted to emphasize that “be” is a versatile verb.
In Engineering English, I taught my students about static and dynamic principles. I explained the definitions of load, stress, and strain, and then different types of forces, deformation and failure. Because they were already familiar with these principles, it was easy for them to learn the corresponding English terms.
・Keywords: deformation, extension, tension, compression, bending, shear, torque
・Key sentence: Stress is the internal force per unit area that develops within a material when an external force is exerted on it. (or … when an external force is applied to it.)