This is the first lesson for my English as a Second Language Course. Please go to https://myaua.org/course-overview/courses-content/ to view all courses available.

1. Learning English |
Your First Lesson
Jeremiah Ebenzee Spence, M.Sc.
MyUltimate Wizz Instructor
Albany Unified Academy (MyAUA)
jspence@myaua.org
www.myaua.org
www.facebook.com/myaua.org

2. Introduction
• Originally from Albany, GA which is where I
live now.
• I have several years of teaching and tutoring
experience.
• Currently , I lead an educational services company
called the Albany Unified Academy (MyAUA) where I
offer exam prep, tutor English and various other
subjects, including science and social studies. I
also offer containing education courses to pesticide
applicators, custom writing services and web design.
• Education
• Attended Georgia State University (Atlanta, GA)
where I earned a Master’s degree in biology in 2008.
• Completed undergraduate work at Albany State

3. Teaching Style
• Repetition with lots of examples is key and will be
used throughout my lessons to teach and review content.
• I use interactive engaging techniques including song
and pneumatic devices.
• Uses video conferencing technology which offers
safety and convenance.
• Uses free online resources, including those in
Preply.
• Expectations of student behavior is set early on.
• Build rapport with students to learn their needs and
goals for learning.
• Time management is important to maximize your learning.

4. Getting to know you
• We may have gone through some of these
questions before.
• Where is home for you? Where do you live now?
• What is your native language?
• What other languages do you speak?
• What is your educational background?
• What’s your profession?
• What are you goals for learning English?
• Have you taken English lessons before?

5. English Placement Results
• Words in blue italics are the correct answers.
• They grew up in Michigan.
• Grew is past tense of the word grow.
• For example: The trees grow together. I grew up in
Albany, GA. Where did you grow up?
• Present Perfect Continuous Tense
• If we had left earlier yesterday, we wouldn't
have been late.
Pronoun Verb
she, he, it
I, you, we, they
Has (singular)
Have (plural)
been working.

6. Subject-verb agreement
• We are a family.
• Subject-verb agreement is critical for good
English.
• are is second person singular present and
first, second, third person plural present
of be.
• It is to be combined with plural subject:
• We are hopeful.
• They are hopeful.
• Cars and planes are fun.

7. Subject-verb agreement
• I am completely disgusted that this miscreant who
dishonestly took money from the elderly is not
being brought to trial. Disgusted is a verb formed
from the word disgust. Verbs show action.
• The smell caused great disgust with her.
• I am disgusted by the smell of rotten eggs.
• Rotten eggs are disgusting.
• He’s obviously lacking in any human compassion and
should be publicly condemned.
• Publicly is an adverb formed from the word public.
He publicly apologized.
As a politician, he is a public figure. Politician is a
noun. Nouns indicate person, place or thing.

8. Subject-Verb Agreement
Next time, we will need to leave by 5:45 in
order to get there by 6:30.
• Leave is a verb, used here as 3rd person
present tense.
• Will she leave early?
• She left the party. Left is past tense.
• We are leaving at 5:45 am.
• gerund /ˈjerənd/ a form that is derived from a
verb but that functions as a noun, in English
ending in -ing, e.g., asking in: Do you mind my
asking you?.

9. Adverbs
• We reached out to the suspected driver who said
he was bitterly disappointed to be subjected to
such rumors and dismissed them as utter
nonsense.
• Bitterly is an adverb, which is a word or
phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective,
verb, or other adverb or a word group,
expressing a relation of place, time,
circumstance, manner, cause, degree, etc.
(e.g., gently, quite, then, there ).
• Bitterly is formed from the word bitter, which
is an adjective. Adjective modify nouns.

10. More on gerunds
• Having broached the subject, James was loath to
reinitiate the conversation about funding,
feeling that he had thoroughly made his point
in the previous meeting.
• Having is a gerund of the verb have.
• I am having a good time.
• I had fun. Had is past tense. 
• See Expresso English for more examples.

11. Fill in the blank
• It has long been known that love and its
chemical reaction can play havoc with our logic
when taking a leap of faith. In this particular
case, if the decision had been taken before he
fell madly in love, it would have put Andrew
Howard on an entirely different path. So when
it comes to apportioning blame, we can put this
partly down to the pure foolishness of a
hormone overload. In keeping with the mantra
it's better to beg for forgiveness than ask for
permission. That is why this generation is no
further forward in achieving a sense of true
fulfillment.

12. Fill in the blank
• At first glance , a pidgin language might seem
overly simplistic, even elementary; however, there
are a number of good reasons for this. Perhaps, it
would be useful to consider pidgins as 'baby-
languages' or languages that are just beginning to
emerge in order to satisfy a specific
communicative need. They are generally marked by a
lack of distinct grammar rules, or they may appear
to employ rules that contradict each other because
they are from different origin languages. And this
is important to keep in mind - pidgins are hybrid
languages. People don't generally set out to
create a pidgin; rather, these unique, developing
languages arise out of need. Even now, people need
to communicate that they want some staple things:
food, a place to sleep, and maybe, new clothes.
Well, if they don't speak the local language, they
are going to rely on any communication tools they

13. Fill in the blank
• The joys of Christmas shopping. December is a
period of great profit for any kind of shop.
Each year they earn more and more money on
presents and gift certificates. Last year I
bought gifts for all members of my family and
spent more than 500 dollars. This year I have
decided to shop in advance, hoping for some
discounts. My wife shopped before the end of
November every previous year and had saved up
to 60% compared to other people. So, I will
have bought all the presents till the end of
this month. This time tomorrow I will be
looking for some jewelry for my wife and toys
for my children. I will purchase something for

14. Honorific Titles
• Miss.– is used to reference a single, unmarried
woman.
• Ms.– is used to reference a single, unmarried
woman or when the martial status is not known.
• Mrs.—is used to refer to a married woman.

15. Mango Languages
• Offers free language learning software
depending on your location.
• Go to https://mangolanguages.com/ to sign up
for a free account.

16. Questions, Comments, and
Feedback
•Please share your questions,
comments, and feedback.
•Until then, I hope you book other
full lessons with me.
•Thank you!