English 101: The Continous Tenses of the Verb (series 1.C5)

          *image credit www.tes.com

     Previously, I have written here the simple tenses of the verb then followed by the perfect tenses of the verb, now we will proceed to continuous tenses also known as progressive tenses of the verb.  Continuous tenses of the verb show an action that is in progress was in progress or will be in progress at a certain period. Continuous tenses are formed by the 'be'-verb + -ing form of the verb. 

Be-verbs: 

am,  is, are + -ing form of the verb = for present tense

was, were + -ing form of the verb = for past tense

will be + -ing form of the verb = for future tense

Past Continuous Tense > it indicates a continuing action that was happening at some period in the past.

Examples:
     1) I was playing mobile games when I heard the sad news.
     2) At the stroke of the clock, they were singing joyously in the place.
     3) She was laughing hard until she fell off the stage.
     4) You were sleeping when she arrived.


Present Continuous Tense > it indicates that an action is still happening now, always happening, and may continue to happen in the future.

Examples:

     1) Eejay is washing the dishes while he plays music from his mobile phone.
     2) I am thinking of what to prepare for today's lunch.
     3) The PlanetShakers are going to perform live at Araneta Coliseum.
     4) Are we taking this jacket on our way to Baguio City?


Future Continuous Tense > indicates an action that will happen in the future and will continue to happen at the expected length of time.

Examples:
     1) He will be sleeping the whole day after all his tasks.
     2) I will be talking at a conference this Friday.
     3) We will be taking Diane and Joan to the party.
     4) Susan and Peter will be joining us later this afternoon.

** Present and Future Continuous use action verbs only and not stative verbs. Stative verbs are state of being that does not show qualities of change. It includes emotions, possessions, and thoughts.

Break Free

image credit to interprizegroup.com

🎶"I want to break free. I want to break free from your lies, you're so self-satisfied I don't need you. I've got to break free. God knows I want to break free..."🎶

     This is the famous song of the equally famous band, The Queen. But no, I am not thwarting a romance nor wanting to break free from a lost love. It is something else. It is what I have been contemplating doing for years, maybe three years to be exact. But to no avail, it has been three long years and I'm still stuck with it.
     I love to talk, I love to impart knowledge, I wanted to share, I wanted to encourage especially those who did think that life is harder and seems to be no way out. In those days when I was in a different field, how I long wanted to become one of the so-called noble professions. Those were the days when the name of the profession speaks for what it is. Now being here, I have become one, in spirit and in its supposed ideals. But being on it, I have to embrace everything.. from the extra hours we put to deliver to the extra effort and fare we go through making a visit that could also endanger our lives (I have almost experienced one but my intuition got it), as well as to the extra money we put forth to make this profession adhere to its purpose.

     As years went by, the concept that once defined this profession is no longer reliable. The extra hours used up by this profession yet being underpaid added another insult to injury. Paper works, i.e., reports, documentation, forms to fill up, and an online system which to use, should come from our pocket. These reports are to be sent to higher up for budget allocation, performance evaluation, promotion, ranking, program evaluation, results, etc. All of these are being printed out and submitted on specific due dates at the hype of a cashless and paperless society brought about by information technology. Imagine the access to an online system yet it has more papers than you can imagine. The pressure and tension it gives for the additional burden to beat the deadline, and the inconsistencies of the rule in preparing forms, reports, and documents are inevitable. 

     The main responsibility of this profession is not a problem, but the additional burden of painting the system effectively plus the caprices of some people around in the hierarchy makes this profession famous for its suicidal news.
     So now as the song goes.."I want to break free.." Yes, I wanted to break myself free from all the tensions and stress it caused me. I wanted to go beyond what I am capable of. My value and principle do not adhere anymore to the profession I have chosen and I have stayed for almost 8 years. I need to do things that I should have done 3 years ago. I know myself more than anyone else, my ingenuity and resourcefulness will do it, with my touch of sensitivity and generosity, and my God.
     "I want to break free from your lies, you're so self-satisfied I don't need you." Yes, I wanted to break free from its lies, from its make-believe world. The fantasies of changing lives. The tedious paper works that need to be done in due time. All sorts of activities are related to students and schools but unrelated to the quality they may bring to the very core of their professional existence. The cover-up by each of us for the school, leaders, and system advocates to create a positive image for them just for mere financial rewards and for some who want to be promoted from their ranks (well some of them are well-deserving as we know them yet some are not, due to 'add & subtract' scheme of documents presented to earn points). The assertiveness of my spirit to stop things but I can't. Voices must be heard.
     Yes, I need it that is why I am still here because of the stability it gives but I don't need it if it causes a lot of stress and quality time for family. If worrying, anxiety, and stress can give us joy and earnings, I would be happier and richer by now. If I don't do it now, when could it be? I don't wanna have regrets later on if I won't break free. Just let me end the school year with grace and passion.. because.."I've got to break free." God knows I want to break free..." 

Do You Believe in Doppelganger?

image credit to firsttoknow.com

     

     Maybe one of us has seen one or many times a person close to us or has some connection with us in two different places at the same time. You might be thinking you are being fooled by that person or your own eyes. But how could be that possible? I have come to know some bizarre things about doppelgangers from a Philippine movie, The Healing. Bizarre as it was, the movie depicted the doppelganger as a sign that someone with that image is nearing death and that the real person and his doppelganger should not meet face to face or else that person will die. But where does the word doppelganger come from? It was a coined word by the German writer Johann Paul Richter, Doppel meaning double, and ganger meaning goer, which refers to specters or ghosts. Doppelganger is then a double of a living person which brings bad luck, or some call it, the apparition of a living person.

     But what made me write this topic at once? I don't really know if I have to believe this. I have researched and read stories about doppelganger encounters. The reason? Some people close to me have seen maybe my doppelganger, and my daughter has seen her brother. In my first instance, when I was asked by an ex if I had been to a mall, he followed it but seems lost in the elevator. At that time the mall is too far from where I am staying and never went out that time because of chronic migraine. In the second instance, I called the school I'm teaching so that I cannot report for work, even crying due to a severe headache. Then, the next day one of my co-teacher swear she saw me and met me near the school's gate but our guidance counselor refutes that I was really absent that day. The third instance, was when my daughter saw her brother, (my eldest) standing near the kitchen. But at that time, my son was in Bulacan for a swimming getaway. Then later that afternoon, he texted me and told me he was nearly drowned and someone had just got his hand to help him.

     We have passed on it as mere doppelganger jokes, relating it to what we have watched in a movie but then found myself reading stories about it. I found out that most people who have someone's doppelganger mean that the real one is undergoing sickness or depression or extreme sadness, But I also found out that it's a myth as depicted in Ancient Egypt, Norse, and Breton mythology.

        So believing in it or not is up to you, on how you perceive things, how you understand what's beneath, and how your faith can take you into its realm.

Articles I have read:

http://paranormal.about.com/od/Doppelgangers/a/doppelgangers.htm

http://listverse.com/2013/08/30/10-disturbing-tales-of-doppelgangers/

http://www.thecontroversialfiles.net/2015/04/true-stories-of-doppelgangers.html

Try this quiz for fun about your doppelganger:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/hattiesoykan/where-does-your-doppelganger-live?utm_term=.qj698ZyWj#.bxJ2WD0pj

#doppelganger #ghost #double #mythology #bizarre #paranormal #encounter

Philippines' DepEd K-12 and SHS Program

     It is actually read as K to 12, Kindergarten to Grade 12. The Philippines was among the three (3) countries and the only one in Asia that offered the 10-year education cycle before entering college. The Philippines before had six (6) years of primary (grade 1-3) and intermediate school level (grade 4-6); four (4) years of high school labeled as 1st-year high=freshman, 2nd-year high=sophomore, 3rd-year high=junior, and 4th year=senior. Kindergarten then is not compulsory, yet schools are offering three levels for Kindergarten, hence, nursery > kinder > preparatory, or nursery > kinder 1> kinder 2, depending on the school rules and policies. 

     Until 2012, Republic Act 10157, known as the Kindergarten Education Act ratified by Congress and signed by President Benigno C. Aquino Jr., compulsory education for five (5) years old before they enter formal schooling, as is considered the developmental years to ascertain their formal school readiness. Likewise, the Republic 10533 - Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 was signed and approved last May 2013, yet implemented a year before for those who have enrolled in grade 7.

     Questions and disagreement have been posed by some parents and students, however, the 1st batch of K-12 Grade 11, Senior High School is currently taking the different tracks the DepEd (Department of Education) is offering. This year's 1st batch is expected to complete the K-12 in 2018. 

image credit to DepEd website

The following information about K-12 and Senior High School (SHS) are enumerated below:

• K-12 is an educational mandatory for parents and school agencies to start education for the children at the age of five (5) through Kindergarten to ascertain the readiness of children for formal schooling. Primary education begins from grade 1 to 6, then four (4) years of Junior High School, and another two (2) years of Senior High School.
• A student who has finished K-10 but does not want to continue in Senior High School may do so but he/she will miss the opportunity of earning a high school diploma, thus, he/she will be called a Grade 10 Completer.
• It does not cost anything to enroll in Senior High School in Public/Government Schools. Tuition fees in private schools are also paid by DepEd thru its voucher program, however, they can top it up with some miscellaneous expenses which students will have to pay separately.
• All Grade 10 Completers from public/government schools get a Voucher for enrolling in a Private or Non-DepEd Senior High School. However, payment of tuition fees is coursed from Government to School Agencies.
• All Grade 10 Completers from private schools who are ESC (Education Service Contracting)* Grantees also get a Voucher for enrolling in a Private or Non-DepEd Senior High School.
• After finishing Senior High School, graduates can apply for employment, be an entrepreneur, pursue higher education (college) or middle skills development (short courses/TESDA)
• Senior High School offers four (4) Tracks from which Grade 10 Completers can choose depending on their interest:

1. Academic Track
2. Technical-Vocational & livelihood Track (TVL)
3. Arts & Design Tracks, and
4. Sports Track. 

• If students will have to choose Academic Track, they have four (4) strands to choose from [1] Accountancy, Business and Management Strand (ABM), [2] Humanities & Social Sciences Strand (HUMSS), [3] Science, Technology, Engineering,& Mathematics Strand (STEM), and [4] General Academic Strand (GAS).
• If students choose Technical-Vocational & Livelihood Track (TVL), they also have four (4) strands to choose from Agri-Fishery Arts Strand, Home Economics Strand, Industrial Arts Strand, and Information & Communication Technology Strand. Each strand has its specialization** depending on what the school agency has to offer.
• Arts and Design Track has six (6) strands: Music, Dance, Film/Media/IT, Visual Arts, Indigenous Arts, and Theater Arts.
• Sports Track includes subjects such as Safety & First Aid, Understanding Human Movement, General Coaching course, Sports Officiating, Fitness Leadership, Sports/Recreation/Fitness Management, Student-Athlete Enhancement & Formation, Fitness Testing * Exercise Prescription, and Recreation Leadership. However, there is a particular sports specialization and fitness to choose from depending on what a particular school has to offer.

* http://www.pnjkis.edu.ph/educational-service-contracting-esc-program

** http://www.deped.gov.ph/k-to-12/curriculum-guides/Technical-Vocational-Track

The Choices We Make

     In this life, we dreaded things we usually do. We hate the things that cause us pain, trouble, hassle, and difficulty. But the irony of it all, we are what we choose, we are the cause of our choices. 

      We are bothered by floods and landslides, yet we are the ones cutting the trees, digging the land, and throwing out garbage around without thinking. We are worried that our seas and natural resources are losing their grandeur, yet we are the ones destroying them, polluting them, and creating chaos with the balance of nature. We encountered nuisance people, yet we forget to discipline our children, listen to the elders, and even give out a smile. The choices we make are ours but the effect of these choices is for everyone to either be blessed or suffer. 

*credit image to GettyImages

    When things go wrong we tend to blame other people or God for our mishap, yet we never think for a moment that our choices made it. We tend to do things by following other people, going with the flow just because the majority of people are doing it, yet what we have to lose is our dignity and character. We have made the choice of not standing up to what is right, instead, we made a choice of doing something to make it right. There is a big difference between doing the right thing and enabling something to make the wrong things right. For all the mistakes, for all the choices we made, we sometimes have the option to make it right, but this is not always the case, one wrong choice leads to another.

  The choices we make lest we know, one should remember to think twice..think through..think wisely..think about these things.. is it right? is it the truth? who will be affected? what are the consequences of choosing it?..picture it..imagine it..and best of all seek HIS guidance.

The ALDUB Magic

      It has been a year since the ALDUB is a byword not only in the entertainment world and our homes but even as well in the cyber world through social media. The ALDUB phenomenal love team is Alden Richard and Maine Mendoza, the power couple that spans the world, and created noise through different social media, especially Twitter. Celebrities even outside the Philippines began to ask curious what is ALDUB.

     The power couple has so far received ten (10) awards, aside from the solo awards they
each has received since last year. They are also the most sought brand endorser, as a couple and solo garnering thirty (30) commercial ads from different companies in just one year. Bigger companies such as Mcdonald's, Coca-Cola, Bear Brand Adult Plus, Mitsubishi, and Cadbury are among those whom they have endorsed. Successful as it is, they have been on the cover of various magazines from local to international such as Reader's Digest and Forbes magazines. Just recently, in time for its 1st anniversary, the power couple ALDUB, also known as MaiDen or MaiChard leads the YES! Magazine 100 Most Beautiful Artists of the Year. ALDUB is also recognized by Guinness World Records as the Most Used HashTag in 24 hours on Twitter, for its #AlDubEBTamangPanahon (AlDub at the right time) with 40,706,392 tweets in October last year.

     The ALDUB Magic continues .. the power couple celebrated its 1st anniversary, (July 16) on its home tv station and program, GMA Channel 7 & Eat! Bulaga is the number 1 noontime variety show in the Philippines. For the record, Twitter created customized social media emoji for ALDUB for every tweet with its hashtag #ALDUB1stAnniversary, the 1st in Asia. Twitter only does this for NBA FInals, Game of Thrones, and Marvel Movies. And weeks before the anniversary, ALDUB shoots their first solo movie in Como, Italy for their anniversary offering to their fans, the ALDUB Nation. "Imagine You & Me" garnered Php 21 million (almost $ 500,000) on its 1st day of opening.

* The hashtag #ALDUB1stAnniversary garnered 6.6 million tweets in 24 hours on July 16. Real magic!


WATCH: ALDUB 1st Anniversary

English 101: The Perfect Tenses of the Verb (series 1.C4)

     After detailing the Simple Tense of the verb, we now go to perfect tenses. Perfect Tense is another set of verb tenses. Perfect tenses are actions already completed. As the word implies, perfect means  "completely done" or "made complete". So what's the difference between simple and perfect tenses? The perfect tense is used when the time of an action is not specified, while the Simple tense is used when the details of the time or place of action are given. For perfect tenses, we have the Present Perfect Tense, Past Perfect Tense, and Future Perfect Tense.

It is important to know the regular and irregular verbs with their equivalent past participle in constructing a sentence with perfect tense.

Present Perfect Tense > this is an action completed concerning the present. It is used to express an action that has just or already happened, how often the action has happened, or to emphasize a past action's result or consequence.

Forms: he /she /it /singular subject noun = has + past participle of the verb ;
            I /you /we /they /plural subject noun = have + past participle of the verb

Examples:
          1) She has blown her hair already.
          2) It has happened twice.
          3) Pete has discussed a new lesson.
          4) I have just bought a new cellphone.
          5) We have gone here many times.
          6) The basketball players have shown their best in that game.


Past Perfect Tense > this is an action completed concerning the past. It is used to show an action that has happened before another action happened in the past.

Forms: subject(s) = had + past participle of the verb

Examples:
     1) They had won the game when he fell.
     2) He had studied the layout before he arrived at the meeting.
     3) The children were sad since she had left the convent.
     4) The men build this dam because the plants had been dying from drought.

* the italicized words are the actions in the past, while the underlined words are the actions completely done in the past before another action.
* conjunctions such as when, before, and since, because are also used to show action in the past perfect tense.


Future Perfect Tense > this is an action completed concerning the future. It is used to show that an action will have been completed at some time in the future.

Forms: subject(s) = will /shall + have + past participle of the verb

Examples:
     1) You shall have arrived by 5:00 in the morning.
     2) He will have been here for three weeks to finish the work.
     3) Joy and Kate will have known each other this coming week.
     4) Won't they have stayed here tomorrow night?

*won't = will not