English 101 - Parts of Speech (series 1)

     My first day at school with each high school class started with a review of different parts of speech. It was mostly a disappointment that needed a question rephrasing, hints, and translation for them to remember or rather let them know what it is all about. Sometimes they interchanged it with figures of speech when they started answering metaphor, simile, etc. I can't blame them during their primary/intermediate days, most of them only spent 3 hours in school due to a lack of school rooms. I hope upon writing this, some of them will stumble upon it if not to give them the site's name.

Parts of Speech is a term used for the 8 categories into which words are classified according to their functions in a sentence. This term has been labeled by linguistics into word class or syntactic category. Parts of speech are divided into two, namely, Open classes and Closed classes. Open classes are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Closed classes are pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjection.

1. Noun - a word that names a person, a place, a thing, an animal, an idea, or an event. (it is important to note that noun 'names a' not 'name of'. Noun actually give names, not the name of...  
2. Pronoun - a word that takes the place of a noun. The noun that the pronoun replaces or refers to is called the antecedent.
3. Verb - a word that expresses an action or a state of being.
4. Adjectives - words that describe a noun or pronoun.
5. Adverb - a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
6. Preposition - a word that expresses a relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence.
7. Conjunction - a   word that connects an individual word or group of words.
8. Interjection - an exclamatory word or phrase that can stand by itself although it may also appear in a sentence.

 Examples:

1. Nouns: teacher, Emily, city, Manila, cellphone, Sony, dog, Snoopy, compassion, love, birthday.
2. Pronouns: I, me, you, he, she, it, who, which, all, any, few, several, everyone, somebody.
3. Verbs: get, take, hopes, appear, seem, is, was, are, were, have, will, can, may, must.
4. Adjectives: happy, new, tall, helpful, many, more, prettiest.
5. Adverbs: quite, very, so, too, slowly, always, gracefully.
6. Prepositions: in, on, about, over, behind, under, inside, outside.
7. Conjunctions: and, but, or, while, that, thus, so that, however.
8. Interjections: oh! wow! alas! aha! hooray!..

* The category of each word in the Part of Speech is based on how it was used alone or in a sentence.

image credits to the owner

How to Remove Chiggers?

What are chiggers? Actually, they are from the family of mites, Trombiculadae. Chiggers are small, red bugs mostly found on the tips of grasses. This six-legged parasitic larva feeds not only on humans but also on rabbits, toads, turtles, quails, and other insects. Chiggers do not actually bite but inject digestive enzymes into the skin and chew up the tiny parts of the inner skin causing irritation and swelling. Chiggers affect warm-covered bodies and bites are often found clustered behind knees and tight undergarments.  Some exceptional cases have been found in the eye causing conjunctivitis. Protection from chiggers is necessary but prevention is better to avoid getting bites or allergens from chiggers. So, how to prevent chiggers from breeding in your yard and getting a bite off you?
 

chigger bites

The Chigger Habitat

Chiggers usually thrive late in summer, in dry tall grasses and thick vegetation. To avoid being bitten by chiggers, people should wear long pants and socks or boots. Anything that would cover the skin is necessary so as not to make you a chigger host. 

A natural way of removing chiggers

• If you have a lawn yard, regular mowing and pulling weeds are simple yet effective in getting rid of chiggers. Prune trees, bushes, and shrubs to allow more sunlight to go through and discourage chiggers to live.
• Flood the remaining grass, bushes, and shrubs in a mixture of soap and water to kill them off. Do it every week for a month. 
• Small mammals, such as mice, hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, cats, small dogs; reptiles, and amphibians are favorite hosts of chiggers. If you have some of these as pets in your house, do not allow them to hang around your garden or yard, to discourage chiggers from living in your yard. Remove water or a source of water and dense bushes from your yard that will invite reptiles and amphibians. 
• Prepare a natural, organic pesticide to ward off chiggers. Diatomaceous earth, made from soft sedimentary rock can be sprinkled into your yard. 
• Sulfur powder drives away chiggers due to its potent smell. Sprinkling some in your shoes and socks drives them away. 
• Household vinegar can also be personal protection from chiggers by applying it to the feet, legs, and midsection parts of the body.

 Chemical repellants

• Spraying DEET (diethyltoluamide) into your skin is one of the most effective insect repellents that can be used against chiggers. Before going on for a walk in tall grasses and shrubs, apply DEET that can last for two to three hours. Just be careful to follow the instruction when spraying or applying. 

• Permethrin repellents can only be applied in clothes against chiggers to stick into your clothes. Permethrin lasts for several days, even after second washing. Just follow the instruction for applying Permethrin repellents.

If chiggers have reached your houseplants, take them outside and soak them in a mild insecticidal soap with a safety label for houseplants or edible plants. Do it weekly for a month. 

Apply insecticide on hotspot areas with weeds and tall grasses with the following contents: 
bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, esfenvalerate, chlorpyrifos, diazinonbifenthrin, carbaryl, and cyhalothrin.

For extreme infestation, call a pest control professional. They are licensed and trained to use strong chemical formulations. Just be sure to find the authentic company or persons so as not to jeopardize your family's health and safety.

Rosetta Translation, The Professional Translation Agency

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     Rosetta Translation Company complied with the ISO 9001:2008 International Standard for Quality Management and DIN EN 15038 quality standard for translation services. Rosetta Translation is a member of the UK Association of Translation Companies and the American Translators Association.   Rosetta is headquartered in London and serves its corporate clients through its 5 global offices in London, Shanghai, Paris, New York, and Luxembourg. Clients of Rosetta can benefit from this global coverage which means better, faster services as well as a truly integrated global solution to their clients’ language requirements.

GreenPeace Green Tips on Recycling Bottles

     I have received a Christmas card from GreenPeace as a token for the great year of action and change. Since I have a passion for landscape photography, I join an organization that would protect something we enjoy and has been entrusted to us. I think nature's wonder should stay for us to enjoy it more. It has been four years since I signed up to be a volunteer for this environmental organization. And being a volunteer is not only limited to donations but to sharing/disseminating the information through social media and joining the fight for a greener and safer environment. Along with the card that they sent me, they are issuing a regular newsletter for their supporters. So there goes my blog about what GreenPeace has just recently sent us on recycling plastic bottles.

     According to GreenPeace, plastic bottles take at least 1000 years to break down. Wow.. it would take iPhone to innovate as many versions as they could have until none. So, what can we do to these bottles? Here are some tips...

Coins/Jewelry /Small trinkets Organizer
1. Cut the bottoms of 2 bottles approximately 5-8 cm but it depends on the type of bottle to be used and what is intended for.

2. Combine the two plastic bottles' bottoms by attaching a zipper between the two ends by gluing them on both sides. You can add up some designs to the organizer.




Candle Holder
1. Cut off the tops of two bottles. Make the one shorter than the other.
2. Glue the two mouth ends of the bottles together, with the bigger one at the bottom.
3. Design with a ribbon or shoelace the glued portion.

 Follow these tips, take pictures
 and send them to us to be featured here.




For any recycling ideas, click  here 

 Join us and help protect our environment

One Hug: Ease Out Pain

Image credits to wdrfree.com/stock-vector

     A hug, a pat on the back, the touch... somehow... ease the pain, the fatigue, the stress.

    I have two daughters, I don't know if it is because they are of the same gender as I am that they could feel if I am not feeling alright. One is 17 and the other is 8, yet they would always ask me if I am okay or not which sometimes I wanna hide what I really felt inside, My older daughter when she was just 8 years old then until she went to college was more sensitive with all the things that a female really feels. Now that she's too busy with her studies, my younger daughter is more than what I can or rather we can think of, she always amazes us with all her trinkets and a-dos, smart girl yet sensitive and sweet enough to observe and absorb what is happening around her. Whenever I am in physical pain, even a throbbing pain, somehow it eases out and comforts me. A hug as we all know is something that can be given and yet can also be given back. I do the same with my daughter whenever she is sick, in pain, or in distress. 

   Truly, one hug from someone we know who really loves us turns our fear and our pain into something positive. Letting us know that someone is there for us. A hug can say what words cannot. A hug gives us an emotional lift from whatever pains we have. And maybe we can stop and look around us, let's give our best hug to the one we care for.. and to someone who needs it.

Arctic Region's Role in Climate Change

     Arctic region is found in the northernmost part of the earth and is made up of countries like

Greenland, Iceland, Sweden , Finland, Norway, Canada, USA and some parts of Russia. Different type of animals also make their home in the arctic which includes the polar bears, wolverines, squirrels, birds, walrus and sea lions. Despite its cold climate, the Arctic has a number of natural resources, including fish, oil, gas and various minerals.. and this is where the problem goes...

     Major companies capitalizing on Arctic's natural resources threaten its fragile ecosystem due to offshore drilling and destructive industry, thus, climate change is already affecting Southeast Asia.

How does it affect Southeast Asia?

First, Arctic region plays a critical role in regulating the global climate, acting as the "world's refrigerator" and keeping the planet cool. Second, Arctic's ice acts as a "giant mirror", bouncing sunlight and heat back into the atmosphere, so without it, the effects of climate change will become unstoppable.

     As the ice melts, climate changes are on its way, affecting Southeast Asia with higher temperatures, decreasing rainfall, rising sea levels, greater frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. All these changes lead to widespread flooding, landslides and drought. Climate change is putting more energy in the form of heat, into the world's weather systems. And this energy speeds up the whole system, increasing the number and intensity of storms. One example is the typhoon Bopha (typhoon Pablo) which is categorized as Super Typhoon 5, the strongest tropical cyclone ravaged Mindanao in the southern part of the Philippines.

    Unless we protect the Arctic by voicing our opinions and signing up to make an impact, climate change will become even more severe. I care.. so I have added my voice to the millions who already made themselves heard! If you don't care who else will..

Sign the petition now..

or  Know more how to be a Greenpeace volunteer..

Life Seems so Unfair

     Sometimes life is harder because some people around you made it that way, for the reason we sometimes didn't know or maybe just to hurt others. Most of the time people who have done crazy things to other people get the best of what they want. People act on their own self, only mothers can't.. and it's very rare for a mother to think only on her own. Life seems unfair when somebody who had hurt you physically, made you think lowly of yourself, whom you had helped in keeping the boat from sinking..and yet you have to give way for everything that somebody had ruined. Life seems so unfair when somebody who has done cruel things and is abusive of their powers or strength amassed fortune or sympathy. Is it really fair?
     But come to think of it, life may seem unfair yet the choice to make it fair or not, to do good against evil is a choice.  And that the greatest revenge is not doing evil against evil, tooth for a tooth and eye for an eye...it's forgiveness and doing what's best to keep peace at yourself...