Yesterday <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms65JQTBCcQ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms65JQTBCcQ</a>

These words are such poetry, and this could be the greatest song of the 20th century. Good words to put in your head.

Meet George Jetson <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yjy-fnsmWR4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yjy-fnsmWR4</a>

Another classic cartoon with stellar music. The show itself was a futuristic remake of the Flintstones, which was a remake of the Honeymooners... Wonderful 60's  futurism!

Can you write the words?

Jonny Quest + <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kwmfm7fBx8">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kwmfm7fBx8</a>

Once in a while a children's cartoon has such good music that it becomes a classic- few bands dare to cover the theme from Jonny Quest, but the Reverend Horton Heat does such a screaming good job of this one that I had to include it even though there's no words! 

And as a bonus- a theme from another cartoon 'Stop the Pigeon' with maybe a verse or two of words for the truly hard-core to write!

Sunny Day... (Sesame Street) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4BF4VUHFt4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4BF4VUHFt4</a>

Sesame Street was a classic children's TV show in the 1970's. It had massive influence, we all watched it and we all sang that song.

Can you write the words? (no fair googling them!)

You Really Got Me (The Kinks) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2GmzyeeXnQ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2GmzyeeXnQ</a>

The Kinks were a classic sixties pop band. Ray Davies has a great delivery- the words of this song are so simple, and so smooth, but the rhythm makes it powerful. This is a fun song to sing in the car!

(I have NO idea what is on this video after the Kinks- some strange flag dancing)

OK,, go! Can you write the words?

Useful words and sentences to study? Paivaa! Olen Zooey, Americalainen, Seattleista. Opiskellen Suomea ja rakastan soitaa musikkia. And... I am very much a beginner. From here I can ask about what time it is, details at the train station, buying things in a shop... but I'm not quite ready to talk to a human being in real time. I'm taking classes with a native and very good teacher, and I have a pretty good start on grammar- partitivii and such. What I'd like to do is be able to chat in Finnish- I can't quite yet, mainly because I'm still slow learning vocabulary. I'd love to see suggestions for words and phrases that you find come up particularly often. We have learned basic greetings and things like "Mita Kuulu?" but I'm looking for the next group of words I should learn. I'd also welcome useful phrases, especially as they can be examples of things like passive tense. Keitos! Nakemiin, Z

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood... Can you write the words? We're back, sports fans, for another game of 'Can You Write the Words?' This week our featured movie clip is from a beloved children's TV show called "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood". Fred Rogers worked with little kids, and he knew how to talk to them. And little kids loved him, and he'd talk about important topics. It was one of the first programs to teach children on TV, not just entertain them. In fact, Fred Rogers was an important figure in fighting to make educational programming possible in the US. Here's the clip- this is the way the show started, every day. And a new show every day of the week! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEH2xPcGpVE (if that link doesn't work, try searching on Youtube for these keywords:) Mister Rogers 1555 1985 OK, now watch the video and try to write out all the words! (here's another clip of Fred Rogers being a real life hero, arguing for PBS (public broadcasting, educational TV) to the US Congress. What a model of moral strength and courage! For extra credit, those who want more to write, try writing the song he recites at 5:36 . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXEuEUQIP3Q ) A big apology to my friends in China and other places that can't get Youtube. Can you help me find another site you can reach which has english language video clips i can use as examples?

Do you think grades are important to learning a langauge? When I studied French in high school, it was a class with tests and quizzes and homework and grades, just like math or any other class. Now I'm taking Finnish classes that are given by a church in the evenings, and I just noticed- we have no grades. There is no passing or failing. I've taken the beginner class several times, in part because I need extra practice but also because different teachers have taught different things when they teach the class. When I feel I'm ready, I'll move up to the advanced class. So do you think grades are important for language? Would you be happier if you had them or didn't? Great answers! The church setting was new to me too, it's not my church and I wouldn't have thought of classes there. But it makes sense, it's a Finnish language church that serves a community of older immigrants for whom it's a cultural center- and their children and spouses who are interested in learning the language can do so. Because it makes them closer to their family, it does fill a daily purpose, but it was new to me too.

Past Perfect tense A friend asked some good questions about how to use the Past Perfect tense in English, and I looked it up to be sure. We got into some good discussion so I thought I'd share it here. "How can I use the past perfect tense correctly?" it's easy use the helping verb 'had', and then make the verb past tense. I had seen you had gone he had run we had finished they had been this all means a state of completion- that even at that past moment the action was complete. In other words, there are two past times implied- one distant past in which the action happened, a more recent past in which the action was done, and the present. actually... be careful to check irregular verbs. 'been' above of course, but also drink: 'he drank, he had drunk' . I'm not exactly sure what that is coming from. Regular verbs are regular of course. posted 2 days agoOne thing that helps the past perfect is the adverb 'already', which very often is used with this tense. "At age four he had already learned the entire alphabet." "Is the adverb 'already' required or not?" no! it's not required! actually there is a stereotype of some 'foreign accent' (to americans) in which already is constantly used, in the present tense. Already is a very strong word, in practice. you are either being extremely sure of something 'I already made sure of the details' or you are angry. 'I asked you to do this already!' Perfect tenses are really only used to specifically comment about the time aspect. Already is like THE adverb for perfect tenses. 'When I saw the movie I had already read the book.' 'I am already working on that problem.' 'You will already have learned surgery when you graduate from medical school.' In each case, the time aspect is the main point of the sentence. Contrast this incorrect use of perfect, which sounds 'non native' even though it isn't grammatically wrong. I am already being here on this beautiful day. better: I am here on this beautiful day. Do you understand the difference? If you reported to your boss that you were doing X, Y, and Z work, that woudl be fine. But it you said you were doing those things 'already' then it sounds like you were defending his claim that you hadn't started work yet. This is really interesting to think about! Thank you for bringing it up!