What could a question-and-answer service be?

When I was young at primary school and at secondary school, I thought that it would be great if free solutions were available. No Internet. There was no Internet. All I could consult was dictionaries, reference books, my teacher and my classmates.

Years later, the Internet has become very popular. I would like to set up some free websites to help people learn English. http://my.radiier.info/ is not the full-of-advertisement thing in your mind. You just don't see any advertisement at this site.

Many online marketers use "help" as a tactical way to boost business. At least at the beginning stage, I am not doing this. It's a genuine ads-free website for the English language.

I thought that a question-and-answer website is the very basic of its kind, consisting of very basic functions for asking and answering questions.

How could I do that? I spend after-work time to do it. No one can really ever live only on the Internet. Offline activities are still important for me to earn a living.

With a genuine question-and-answer platform in mind, what questions do I accept? Well, I am better at a "general" kind of translation. I still try technical stuff if you need some assistance. I can do English-Chinese translation for your reference. I can also do Chinese-English translation. Added to this, I accept proofreading things in English. I can check for grammatical errors and writing styles.

What do you need to do? Make you questions clear. "What is a verb?" kinds of questions are very broad. I can only respond by giving examples and illustrating the concept with my examples. "What is the difference between X and Y?" kinds of questions are more realistic in getting a more sensible response. You need to be specific.

Why do you need to register? It is for security purposes. I tried to provide no-registration service and I estimated that 70-90 per cent people gave me fake email addresses. I couldn't stay in touch with them in any case. They left some questions and I just posted them on my site one-to-two years ago, hoping that someday they would return and see the answers. Your email is the most important piece of contact information I can use to contact you. I don't spam. I don't like being spammed either. I send emails with the "from" address ending in "radiier.info". When you need to verify your email, put this domain name into the whitelist.

Will I put advertising on this site? Hopefully the least amount if possible to keep it running, for example, for paying the server renting cost. There are many small sites in the world full of advertising and people simply hate them. Visitors just stay away from advertisements. To keep this site running, I think of providing English classroom services online. If you have an idea. Please comment.

Hope that you are happy with my site.

Ways to learn English in a low-cost environment

Tutors are expensive. If you need to hire a tutor, it may take you hundreds of Hong Kong dollars for an hour. Whether you are a parent, a teenage student or an adult learner, you may be looking for cheap or free solutions online for making your English better.

http://www.wordreference.com/ provides an interface for translating dictionaries between English, Russian, Spanish and German. http://translate.google.com/ even provides more languages for machine translation. http://www.merriam-webster.com/ offers free English definitions to English words.

If you are looking for a thesaurus, http://www.visualthesaurus.com/ is made with an interesting "thinkmap" interface for you to query on a trial basis.http://www.yourdictionary.com/ freely allows its visitors to type any words for their definitions and synonyms.

My site at http://my.radiier.info/ lets you ask questions on the English language. It is free. You just enter questions. I then respond. This is an interesting experimental use of setting up online learning resources.

談經濟說法

在媒體常聽到經濟說法，以下是一部分：

1. 失業率 unemployment rate
2. 需求 demand
3. 供應 supply
4. 經濟強盛 strong economy
5. 經濟增長 economic growth
6. 國民所得 GDP

英語等於失敗時

英語等於失敗時

英語等於失敗，是一句灰心的話。學不好帶來失敗感，失敗帶來灰心，灰心的人越是學不好。

率先要解決學不好的障礙。在未學好英語之前，先要令自己減少失敗的經驗。

為了減少失敗的經驗，可以先增加不同類型的學習方式。

一字一句的讀，還未見成效，嘗試一下視覺學習，多用圖像。

配合多用圖像的要求，可以繪圖腦圖。

畫腦圖的一個目標，就是在平面上，用圖像結合文字成圖，透過文字和圖像的空間表現出關係。

文字、圖畫放得近，可以表示相關，可以表示相似等的意思。

視覺上加快了學習的速度，失敗感會減少。

Infinitive (English grammar)

Infinitive (English grammar) 動詞原形 或叫 不定式 (英語語法)

In the form of a mind map, how do you associate "infinitive" with a "verb" without "s", "ing" or "ed"?

用繪腦圖的形式，你如何由 infinitive 聯想到不加 s、ing、ed 的 verb (動詞)？

(http://www.mindmapapp.com/edit_mm/edit_mm011.html)

Why mind map (for learning English)? (in Chinese)

為甚麼要用腦圖學英語？

甚麼是腦圖？腦圖的特點？為甚麼要用腦圖學英語(語法、詞語)？

http://mindmapapp.com/why_mindmap/why_mindmap.html

Rich (vocabulary)

You can click here to view an animated / editable mind map.
你可按此看動畫腦圖 / 便於編輯的腦圖。
你可按此看动画脑图 / 便于编辑的脑图。



Rich (vocabulary)
富有 (詞語)
富有 (词语)


is wealthy (富有的、有錢的)
can buy (購買) many things
possesses (擁有) many things
does not worry about (擔心) lacking (缺乏) money (錢、貨幣)
has (有) a lot of money



is wealthy (富有的、有钱的)
can buy (购买) many things
possesses (拥有) many things
does not worry about (担心) lacking (缺乏) money (钱、货币)
has (有) a lot of money

About a book (vocabulary)

You can click here to view an animated / editable mind map.
你可按此看動畫腦圖 / 便於編輯的腦圖。
你可按此看动画脑图 / 便于编辑的脑图。


Vocabulary about a book
有關書的詞語


positive 正面的:
funny 滑稽的
interesting 有趣的
fantastic 幻想的
exciting 刺激的
mysterious 神秘的


negative 負面的:
boring 沉悶的


not positive / negative 不正面的 / 負面的:
strange 奇怪的
unusual 與眾不同的
factual 事實的




Vocabulary about a book
有关书的词语


Positive 正面的:
Funny 滑稽的
Interesting 有趣的
Fantastic 幻想的
Exciting 刺激的
Mysterious 神秘的


Negative 反面的:
Boring 沉闷的


Not positive / negative 不正面的 / 反面的:
Strange 奇怪的
Unusual 与众不同的
Factual 事实的

Time (vocabulary)

　　

You can click here to view an animated / editable mind map.
你可按此看動畫腦圖 / 便於編輯的腦圖。
你可按此看动画脑图 / 便于编辑的脑图。

Time (vocabulary)
時間 (詞語)
时间 (词语)


one
one o'clock
ten past one (one ten, 1:10)
a quarter past one (one fifteen, 1:15)
twenty past one (one twenty, 1:20)
half past one (one thirty, 1:30)
twenty to two (one forty, 1:40)
a quarter to two (one forty-five, 1:45)
ten to two (one fifty, 1:50)








How do you say the time "1:27"?
怎樣說這個時間： 1:27？
怎样说这个时间： 1:27？

twenty-seven past one
one twenty-seven


How do you say the time "1:31"?
怎樣說這個時間： 1:31？
怎样说这个时间： 1:31？

twenty-nine to two
one thirty-one

About

Vocabulary items below:

about
大約
大约

approximate

around

similar

like

same

Simple future

Simple future
簡單將來式

You use the simple future to talk about things in future.

代表將來，代表尚未發生：
用 will + verb (infinitive)
用 is / am / are going to + verb (infinitive)


註：infinitive 稱為“不定式”或者稱為“動詞原形”，不加 s 、不加 ed 、不加 ing ，又不是過去式、過去分詞。

Infinitive

Infinitive

不定式或稱動詞原形
不加 s
不加 es
不加 ing
不用過去式
不用過去分詞


不定式或称动词原形
不加 s
不加 es
不加 ing
不用过去式
不用过去分词

Important (Vocabulary)

Think of related vocabulary items. 想出相關的詞語。　 想出相关的词语。

Vocabulary items: important, essential, serious, interesting, valuable and expensive 詞語：重要、必要、嚴重、有趣、有價值和昂貴。 　 词语：重要、必要、严重、有趣、有价值和昂贵。

Agreement

Agreement
前後呼應
前后呼应


They + have

NOT They + has

She + has

NOT She + have

Amusement park

An amusement park

Some common vocabulary items like "Ferris Wheel" are shown above.

一些如“摩天輪”的常用字，在上面顯示出來了。

一些如“摩天轮”的常用字，在上面显示出来了。

Article

An article can be "a", "an" or "the".

冠詞可以是“a”、“an”或者是“the”。

冠词可以是“a”、“an”或者是“the”。


[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_(grammar)]

Question phrases

A question may be either a linguistic expression used to make a request for information, or else the request itself made by such an expression. This information is provided with an answer. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question]

Proofreading a diary entry about school picnic

The sentences were chosen from a diary entry about a school picnic.

Proofreading

Adjective and linking verb (Little Ming, Little Fong and Elderly Keung)

(After school, along the corridor outside the staff room)
﹝放學後，在教員室外的走廊﹞
(Little Ming, Little Fong and Elderly Keung are talking.)
﹝小明、小芳和大強在談話。﹞

Little Ming: Excuse me, how do we use an adjective?
小明：請問要用 adjective ，可以怎樣用呢？

Little Fong: An adjective is for describing a person, an event or a thing. A linking verb is used in English to show an adjective.
小芳：adjective 是用來形容人、事、物，英文要用 linking verb 來表示。

Little Ming: What is a linking verb?
小明：甚麼是 linking verb？

Little Fong: A linking verb is used to "link" to an adjective. That is what a linking verb is used for.
小芳： linking verb 是連接動詞，拿來跟 adjective 來用，就最好不過了。

Little Ming: What word is a linking verb?
小明： 甚麼字是 linking verb ？

Little Fong: A linking verb is "is". For example, Jenny is clever. Peter is clever.
小芳： linking verb 有 is，例如： Jenny is clever. Peter is clever.

Little Ming: What is another linking verb?
小明：還有甚麼是 linking verb 呢？

Little Fong: Mmmmm...
小芳：還有……

Elderly Keung: Also "look". A good example is "John looks handsome." John really looks handsome.
大強：還有 look，如似 John looks handsome. 就是一個例子了，John 看起來很英俊呢！

Little Ming, Little Fong, Little Keung: Ha ha ha...
小明、小芳、大強：哈哈哈……