Silicon Valley
I will send out some handy tips and useful exercises for adults learning to navigate and use the English language each week. Please feel free to share this newsletter with friends and colleagues.
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley. The term “Silicon Valley” refers to the area in which high-tech business has proliferated in Northern California, and it also serves as a general metonym for California’s high-tech business sector.
Continue reading about Silicon Valley on Wikipedia.
Listening Tip
Language Level – B2/C1
Watch this interesting video about the history of Silicon Valley and how it got its name:
Grammar Tip
Language Level – B1
Make vs. Do
Use “make” when you create or produce something. It focuses on the outcome of the task.
Use “do” for actions you must do, like jobs or work, and for general activities, especially activities you repeat often.
“Do” relates to physical tasks and activities that are vague or indefinite, while “make” refers to a specific outcome or object created by that activity.
Let’s Practice!
Fill in the blank with the correct form (tense) of either make or do
- John worked hard and ____ his best at his job, but he still wasn’t promoted.
- The teenagers were ____ such a noise that the neighbor called the police.
- So many chores to ____! I need to clean the bathroom and the kitchen, vacuum, and change all the beds.
- Sorry, I ____ a mistake. The restaurant isn’t here but on another street.
- It’s late, and we should go home. Let’s ____ a move.
- If you don’t speak English, you’ll find it hard to ____ business in the US.
- He ____ a promise to his grandmother that he’d never fight anyone ever again.
- I called the hotel and ____ a reservation for two people for Saturday the 16th.
Vocabulary Tip
Language Level – B2
We continue to add to our vocabulary words from the Oxford 3000.
A list of 3000 words someone should know if they are taking the CEFR (Common European Framework Reference) language tests.
- Hell (n)
- Hesitate (v)
- High (n)
- Hire (n)
- Hold (n)
- Hollow (adj)
- Holy (adj)
- Honor (n,v)
- Host (v)
- House (v)
Practice this vocabulary with Quizlet.
Reading Tip
Language Level – B2
Google has become so popular, that the company name has become a verb in the English language. When you want to find information, someone might suggest you “just google it.”
Did you know Google was originally named Backrub?
Find out more about how Google started in a garage in 1995 by reading this article. https://about.google/our-story/
Weekly Challenge
Language Level – B2
Correct the sentences.
Rewrite the sentences below, correcting the errors:
- The most difficult a challenge is, the most I enjoy it.
- The early you start working on the project, sooner you’ll finish.
- In the meeting I expressed me to desire you to finish this week.
- The hottest it is, the thirsiest I become in the summer.
- The more angry Peter gets, the lesser sure I become of how to react.
- Further you swim in the mornings and evenings, the fitter you’ll become.
- More successful my sister gets, the more stressed she gets.
Questions?
