Comments

Hello Helen, Happy new year and Christmas wishes to you. Sounds interesting when speaking of cooking homemade chicken tikka, I also like to make one at home. As for today's home work, the tenses you have used in your post are simple present tenses, present perfect tense,simple past tense and also the conditional form of the past tense and future tense. Prsesnt tense is usually used for introduction and the situations which are always true. It would be a pleasure to talk to your father in our virtual classroom and hope he will enjoy it too. Best wishes, Naheed

Hi Helen, you have such a beautiful daughter really :) She's lovely. I'll try the homework which you gave for us. So, the tenses which I caught up: 1. The Past Simple which show complete action e.g. How did you spend you New Year Eve? 2. The Present Simple which we use when we talk about things in general, what happen repeatedly e.g. What do you do? 3. The Future Simple : we use when we decided to do something e.g. I will give you... 4. The Present Perfect: we use when is connection between past and now e.g How long have you been blogging ? 5. The Past Continuous which we use when we are in the middle of the action at the certain time e.g. : Were you partying...? 6. The Present Continuous : in this case for future arrangements : " My father is coming ..." Anyway it will be nice to get to know your Dad:) By for now .Ewa

Hi Helen! It´s nice to here form you again. The pictures are great. Isabel is really cute. Best wishes, Ana Paula.

Hi Helen, I'm happy to learn that you're the teacher blogger this month. What a good way to start 2009! Isabel is lovely and the photos are amazing. I wonder about Sri Lanka. It sounds too far to me. What pushed you to choose that destination? Best wishes, Cris

Hi Helen, here we are again. I liked your wonderful pics, specially the first one with Isabel eating rice. She is radiating happiness by all her pores, just lovely. Once more I've enjoyed your skill of story teller when you have explained the barbaque. Regard verbal tenses, you have used: Simple Present, Present Perfect, Past simple, Past Perfect, Past Continuous, Conditional and Future. See you soon, Toni

Hi Helen! It is nice to read your post. Your daughter is lovely. I wish you a Happy New Year. And to your husband and daughter too. I hope to hear you soon.

Hi Helen! I am a bit in a hurry but I’ve just managed to finish homework. Happy New Year to you and your family How did you spend-past simple-to talk about a completed past event in the past My mouth was constantly watering-past continuous- to describe the situation that existed at the time How long have you been blogging?-present perfect continuous- an activity started in the past and may or may not be finished. I would have loved to have been-unreal conditional- something that might have happened in the past, but didn’t I will give you a few basics now-future simple-to talk about willingness here My father is coming to stay with us for 3 weeks-present continuous-to talk about future activities and events that are intended or have already been arranged.

Hello Helen, today is january 3rd and it's the first time I read the blog this year, first of many I hope, because it's always great to be learning English with you. Your daughter is really cute. Wasn't she afraid of Santa in that picture? Kids this age usually cry when they see this red figure before them. And, pardon me for saying, but this Santa's face looked a little scary, didn't you think? Well I guess in such a joyful atmosphere she mustn't have even noticed that. Friends Naheed and Ewa have already given good answers to the homework. I'll try to add something, if I can. "Here she is with Santa Claus." in this sentence you used the simple present tense. I found it curious because you were referring to a past scene. But I guess it's because you were describing what was happening at the moment the picture was taken, was it? Good bye for now Helen and happy new year.

Hi Helen, I learnt the word "in äwe" in the photo you posted. About the usage of in awe, could I say:" Helen,I am in awe of you." Is it polite? Does it correct? Another question, what is the differnce between picture and photo? If I want to say something about the photos/pictures that you posted on the blog entry, which one is a proper usage, picture or photo? Best wishes, James.

Hi Helen I send you my belated greetings and wish you and your family happy new year. I will try to write comment regularly during this period. Isabel looks very cute. Has she started spoken? If she has.. Which language does she speak? She will be bilingual. I wonder how you deal with it. Your family relationships seems to be good between yours and ones in law. They visit you and your home. Isabel is very lucky. She can learn many things from two cultures. She will form the culture belonging to herself. This is a richness. By for now. :)))

Hello Helen, wih you very happy new yaer and Christmas. Your daughter is really looking beautiful. Be happy. Deepak

Hello Helen, wish you very happy new yaer and Christmas. Your daughter is really looking beautiful.Now the homework. Past tense : So, how did you spend your christmas and new year? Simple present : How do you do? present perfect continuous : How long have you been blogging

Hello Helen, Happy New Year!! This month I will try to participate regularly in this blog. In December it wasn't possible for me, there were so much to do. The Photos of your little daughter are so nice and she's very cute. Here in Germany the wetherreport predict a lot of snow and very deep temperatures, till -20 degrees. I think, you have high temperatures.So I'm looking forward to your next blog, have a nice time..

Dear Helen, A Very Happy New Year to You and to all Your family. I'm glad that you are back again. Your post is really abundant in tenses. I can see -Simple Present (I can't wait to get aquainted with you.). You are describing a simple fact. -Past Simple (So, how did you spend your Christmas and new year?). You are asking about some completed facts from previous days; -Past Continuous (Were you partying on Copacabana beach with the thousands of others on new years eve?!) You are asking about an activity in the past; -An imaginative situation in past (I would have loved to have been there.); -Present Perfect (We have been here since August 2008 ...) You lived there in August 2008 and you live there now; -Present Perfect Continuous (How long have you been blogging?). You are asking about duration of an activity that is still happening; -Future with “will” (… I will give you a few basics now …). You decided at the moment of writing; -Future with present continuous (My father is coming to stay with us …). You are writing about an arrangement with your father; Generally, you wrote about past time. That is why Past Simple tense and Past Continuous tense you used almost everywhere. We are used to eating wafers with honey, pie soup, mushroom soup, fried fish (carp) and potatoes salad for Christmas lunch. Isabel is really photogenic girl. I like that picture with you and Isabel in the restaurant. I can feel relaxed atmosphere there. I'm looking forward to meeting your father. Best wishes, Dusan.

Hallo! Happy New Year and all the best for You Helen and every student blogger all over the world. Christmas in our coutry is rather cold that is why I dream to spend next one in warm country just to get to know how it is to welcome new year lying on the beach without risk to freeze to death. Bye.

Hi Helen, it sounds like you had a wonderful holiday season. Thanks for telling us about it. Isabel is an adorable little girl. What a coincidence! In the picture the Santa Claus with Isabel is looking just like the Santa who visited us on 6th December in our village. Best wishes,

Hi Helen! I've just scrutinised your entry. I couln't stop laughng and acturally fell off the chair when I was reading third paragraph of it that isabel went on a sugar fixed rampage due to the alcoholic Christmas pudding.That's all, and I am looking forward to meet your father, too.

Hello Hellen!Welcome to 2009.Happy 365 days!Pictures from Christmas very nice.I see,your family spent it jouful,and I think Isabel did not scared Santa Claus and from this time she loved him.Mum is very photogenic on the photo with candle. And now homework: 1.I live in Clombo-the present simple tense/generally,when we do something always/. 2.Is eating-the present continuous tense/when we are doing something now/. 3.It worked amazing-the past simple tense/when we did something in any time ago and action finished/. 4.I will give you-the future simple/when we want to do something later/. 5.If you come up-conditional I/when we say about condition,we will do something/. 6.We have been here since-the present perfect tense/when action finished but it has conection still with present time.Have you good week!Best wishes,Waldek. i

Hello helen it is a pleasure to read your blog as usual.I am sure it will be a pleasure to chat with your father too.I have just come back from a holiday in Madrid and I enjoyed it a lot. About your challenge you used a lot of tenses:Simple past tense to tell how you spent Christmas and New year's eve.Past continuous tense for an action in progress in the past.Present perfect continuous for an action which ,started in the past,is still in progress in the present. Simple present tense for daily routine actions,Present continuous tense with a future meaning ,for arrangements.,and future tense with will for predictions.You used also the conditional present and perfect for hypothesis. It is all for now bye byeand happy new year.Maione

Hi Helen, Happy New Year. I must tell you first I have completed two of the novels you have suggested in the first level. Paulo Coelho’s Veronika decides to die and Aravind Adiga’s the White Tiger. Right now I am reading Orwell’s Animal farm, Manohar Devadoss’s a Poem to courage and Letter between Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlas Nehru’s two alone two together. I follow your method of reading three books simultaneously. I feel great when I finish one book. I just read and understand the context. I have never tried to understand the grammatical part of writing and new words. Is it any way to help improving my language? If I try to find out the meaning of each word which I didn’t understand it will take long time to finish the novel. I will give you the comments of the books later. You know I am unlucky. I was expecting news from BBCLE to be a student blogger after joined the contest. But the chance went to Marcos Santos of Brazil. Any how I will continue to join in the race. I really enjoyed reading your Christmas and the New Year celebration.

Hi Helen, It is pleasure to read your blog.My home town is in Nepal but now i staying in Netherland with my husband.Could u please give me some good ideas which help me to improve my speaking and writing english language? Now i am facing probbles because of those skills. Thank you,

Hello Helen, happy 2009. What a pretty child! If milk rice is what I´m thinking of, I like it very much, but didn´t know it is a traditional dish of Sri Lanka. Is it made with sugar?

Hi Helen Your daughter is beautiful. I am not very knowledgable about tenses so I will not try it. I just wanted to say that all the photographs are great. Best wishes Rabail UK