Comments

Hello Sarah! It´s quite cold in Shanghai, isn´t it? Well, here we´re enjoying very sunny and hot days. Then in the end of the afternoons a heavy shower falls down. Anyway, I´ve never thought about the first words in English I´ve learnt. Hmm... come to think of it, I guess they were hello, thank you and please. I´ve learnt them in my first day at the English course. Oh, it was quite difficult to pronounce the th sound in thank( it´s still hard till today :-)). Best wishes, Ana Paula.

Hello Sarah! It´s quite cold in Shanghai, isn´t it? Well, here we´re enjoying very sunny and hot days. Then in the end of the afternoons a heavy shower falls down. Anyway, I´ve never thought about the first words in English I´ve learnt. Hmm... come to think of it, I guess they were hello, thank you and please. I´ve learnt them in my first day at the English course. Oh, it was quite difficult to pronounce the th sound in thank( it´s still hard till today :-)). Best wishes, Ana Paula.

First picture looks great! Good to hear you had fun. All the best,

Hi Sarah! I took notice of the sentence 'there is limited internet access here' and I remembered how some years ago ('some' for me is much, much longer than for you, judging by a picture of you) I looked up to people for having been able to make use of the Internet. Now, I could hardly imagine someone having problems with Internet access. Everything changes so fast! You ask whether we remember the first words we learnt in English. It's ages since then and I'm not sure what exactly the first words were, but some of the first ones were one, two, three...ten, which I learnt by heart by repeating them many times. And the very first sentence, as far as I remember, was 'I am Adek'. When I started to learn English I was 12; it was standard then. Now in Poland a lot of children start learning foreign languages, mainly English, when they are in playschools. I'm beginning to feel melancholy, so I’d better end my letter. All the best to you.

Hello Sarah ! it must be freezing there but i'm sure you make it warm with your beautiful smile. Anyway, i've never thought of the first words in english i learnt. hmm let me see. they must have been "bike" , " teacher " and " thanks ", yeah i learnt them in the place where i learn english. it was kind of hard to me to get used to pronouncing " thanks " also " teacher " as my teacher of english was british and british have a different accent from americans but i love it when she pronounces it i sounds so cool i think i've fallen in love with her accent =). i wish i could speak like her and write like you do you must be an excellent teacher. i'm going to leave you some words in spanish that are pretty hard to pronounce they are " carro " ( car ) " perro " ( dog ) and " ferrocaril " ( train ) the " rr " is way too difficult to say you can ask Lyly even here in Peru there are thousands of people who can't do it right well i better go eat ! dinner's ready at last that's what my mom is saying best wishes :D Farid Pangos

Dear Sarah, It's really interesting to visit new countries. But I think the first difficulty one experiences in a new country is due to the difference in languages. However miming does really help in those cases:) As a foreign language I started learning English from my mother, may be when I was only 4 years old. So I cannot remember the word which I learnt first. But I can surely tell about my daughter. Her first word in English was "cow", she is only 2 years old now:). Recently I got busy with my work, so I missed the chance to tackle the new challenges you gave us. However, I need to be more persistent. Wish me luck. Take care. Bye for now.

Hi Mai Su Lan, How long will you be in China teaching English to the teachers and students of Nursing College? Are you alone in teaching or anyone assisting you? Teaching eight hours a day will be a tedious one. Chinese have become more interested to learn English in recent years. What was the reason? I was in the 3rd standard in my native place. The medium of instruction of the elementary school was Tamil. It is our mother tongue. It is one of the prominent languages in India. You can not expect the teachers will be teaching good English in that school. I still remember the name of the teacher who taught me first English lesson, wearing dhoti and the way he sat on the chair with funny pronunciation. He taught me the rhyme ‘hot cross bun’. I think that was the first words I learn in my school days. I can’t remember any other word I learnt before that. It still in my mind that the picture of the poem, the bun and cross in the middle of the bun. Do you think the way I learn English was funny. Learning English is totally different one in now a days. Even the toddlers in the pre kinder garden are being taught in English. But I very much like the way we learn through this wonder blog. Don’t you? It is also a feeling students are sitting in front of teachers and learning enthusiastically. Have a nice weekend.

hello sarah, have a very wonderful stay in china. i look forward more information to read from you. best wishes, sunzieve

Hi Sarah, I hope you're enjoying in Shanghai. I think you're job is quite tough, hasn't it? Have you been anywhere else in Asia? How is the weather of China? Well, i don't remember exactly what was the first word that i learnt but I think it was ‘what is your name’, I don’t know but I just guessed it:). Anyway, we’re still learning new words each and everyday. Waiting to read your another blog entry soon. Have a nice day!. See ya, Mahjabeen.

Hi Sarah! Nice to hear you are well, and it sounds you’ve been coping well with a new life in China. With respect to your homework, I had taken English lessons only three times when I met my husband first time in a hotel in Seoul in Korea, and I intelligently managed to make a full sentence ‘ Are you rich?’ The answer was ‘no’ so I picked up the tap. What an expensive English words I learnt! I can’t wait to read your reflection on your China experience. Hope you have a good weekend!

Hi Sarah, it might to be amazing to know a different culture, hope you enjoy your weekend!

Hey Sarah^^ I presume you haven't heard from me yet; however, I'm willing to change that...if you don't mind. Well, I suppose I would be more than content if could be in China right now as It's kind of boing here in my "dead-end" village. It's semesterbreak now, and I have nothing to do excepr for concerning myself with some weighty tomes I have to read for University. At any rate, with regard to your question, I've never given much though to what the first word that I learned in English was; still, apart from the usual words (e.g Hello, My name is, Thank you), which I think everybody learns first, I remember the word biro, which I believe I have never used again since. Anyway, let's stop the chit-chat and come back to more important things: Have a nice time in China and try to come back alive and well^^ All the best André

hello Mai Su Lan,i am so excited after reading this post.Zhengzhou is a big city,and it is getting more beautiful nomadays.I have been there for dozens of times.Reading bbc blogs is my favorite,but i have never gone aboard. so many places are strange to me.When you mention about Shanghai and Zhengzhou which I am so familiar with,you can imagine how excited i am. i'd like to say:welcome to China.

The first words in English... We have many words in English linked to our daily routine so that we hear them earlier than at school. Moreover I've always been connected with music since childhood. I used to get many words from them so it's hard to be precise at remembering the first words. So what I remember is a song with the word "kiss" "what's in a kiss, have you ever wondered what's in a kiss..." or something like that and I also remember the first dialogue in English. We used to memorize them. I hated that! " Do you live near here? Yes about five blocks from here." The limit internet access by your side seems to me so scary. You look elegant in the picture. Regards

Hi Sarah, my first English sentence that I learnt was "This is a book." It is the lesson one of the junor high first year English text book in Taiwan. How long will you stay in China? Is it your first time to China? How did you flight to Shanghai? none stop? How long did it take? How much did the flight cost? You don't need to say anything if thses question are personal. As a westerner in China, you would be very popular. Have a good stay in China. See you, James.

Hi Sarah! It is my first time here. One teacher recommended this site in order to improve my English. It will be in my favorites.Congratulations for your work! God bless you!

Hi Sarah! The first words were: pen, star and love. I was little because my sister was still in primary school and she was attending an English course. How long are you going to stay in China? I really like the pics of Shanghai. Catch up with you soon and good week!!

Hi Erika, Welcome to the site! I'm not sure if you've been blogging before, so apologies if we've met before, but it's nice to meet you. How long have you been studying English? Hyoshil - your comment made me laugh! That's a great first sentence to have made in English. Mahjabeen - hello there. Just one point: do you mean "your" or "you're"? Thanks for your comment. I've never been to Pakistan, although I'd like to in the future! To answer your question, I almost feel ashamed to admit that I've been to India, Thailand, Bali, Maui - and now China! I'm very lucky in this respect: my mother is a flight attendant (air hostess), so we've been able to get cheap travel. I count my blessings. Hi Filippo, How's life going in Italy? I have it in my head that you are in Milan at the moment, is this correct? As for me, I'm leaving China on Thursday, and am very sad because I feel like I will be leaving behind something precious: my new friend Xiao Lei. She's been my secretary, manager, teacher, assistant and friend all in one! Irreplaceable. She’s the one standing next to me in the photograph. I’ve met so many nice people over the last week. One man didn’t speak English, but somehow we established that we got on well, and it was quite sad to say goodbye. Actually, I’m particularly interested in how we understand, judge and communicate with people using body language. I’d like to discuss body language with all of you soon, as I think the diverse meanings of gestures across cultures is truly fascinating. So put your thinking caps on!

I think this blog was interesting because we as studentes or teacher s can learn vocabulary more practical.

Hello, I was reading your article, trying to improve my English a little bit, and a question came to my mind. You said: "although I have learnt a few words", when do you say "learnt" and how do you use "learned"? Thank you for your help, Best Whishes, Hortense

Hello, I was reading your article, trying to improve my English a little bit, and a question came to my mind. You said: "although I have learnt a few words", when do you say "learnt" and how do you use "learned"? Thank you for your help, Best Whishes, Hortense