ESOL Online Understanding Verb Tenses

ESOL Online Understanding Verb Tenses Daily ESOL Courses for Learning English: Marking Time with Tenses ChaptersBefore Delving into the TopicDoing it Like Other TonguesWhy Time Descriptions Are Not Needed in EnglishGetting Back to That DebateSome languages around the globe do not require verb tenses to show when an action happens. Nor do they demand a different verb form for each specific pronoun.Afrikaans, Scandinavian languages and Mandarin Chinese are just a few languages whose verbs do not change form, either in conjugation or for any tenses.Is your native language among those whose verb forms don't change, no matter the subject or the time the action occurred? If so, the need to constantly alter the verb when speaking and writing English must be bewildering, especially because there are several ways to mark time in the English language.We'd like to explore them with you.Time descriptors are not necessarily needed in English Source: Pixabay Credit GeraltRegardless of any possible ulterior motive, the one teaching English to you is absolutely correct: language nuance exists within t he context of what is written or being said.The information you can find  through context includes when actions happen, and the general tone or mood of the piece.We will discuss mood in our next section. Verb tenses are the best indicators of time in the English language.Consider the three simple tenses: past, present and future. Using one or the other to describe when an action happens provides the reader/listener with enough information to determine the timing of the action or event.Perhaps that is why so many people who are learning English as a foreign language content themselves with using only the three simple tenses.However, verb tenses go further to give a broader picture - more context.The progressive tenses indicate something currently happening (until the action was interrupted).The continuous tenses signal something ongoingThe perfect-progressive tenses give emphasis on the result of an action.Verb tenses help the speaker/listener give actions definitive time frames. Set ting the MoodIn English, verb constructions can be used to set a mood â€" a tone that gives further meaning to a sentence or paragraph.There are a total of five moods, but here, we focus on only one: the subjunctive mood.This type of phrasing is usually found in more formal English constructions. You might have read a sentence like this:To gain fluency in the language, it is recommended that the English learner practise speaking skills daily. Subjunctive mood uses: a dependent clause + passive voice + conjunction + independent clause (with modified verb, to suit the mood)Typically used verbs for this construction include: suggest, demand, insist, recommend, and ask.Can you write a subjunctive mood sentence?Learn more about English Grammar Clauses in our dedicated blog.A Note on Passive VoiceSubjunctive mood sentences include the use of a passive voice clause, as shown above. What is meant by passive voice?This sentence construction puts the focus of the phrase on the object, rather than on the subject.Today's English lesson was taught by Mr. Smith â€" passive voice.Standard English sentences call for focus on the subject, like so:Mr. Smith taught today's English lesson.Active voice is a much more direct way â€" the recommended way to express oneself in English.We will discuss passive voice in depth in our next Daily Dose of English Learning article.Getting Back to That DebateEarlier in this article, we mentioned that grammaticians of British and American English are hotly debating whether verbs in English actually use any tenses  at all.The general consensus seems to be that English only uses two tenses: past and present.English linguists are hotly debating whether the English language has verb tenses Source: Pixabay Credit: GeraltIn fact, that agreement extends to the belief that fewer than half of the world's languages actually use clearly defined tenses, as opposed to aspects.What does that matter to you, who is taking English courses in London? Not much, o ther than you will most likely have to recognize and identify verb tenses on any English test you take.Developing your English skills should be less a matter of books and theory, and more a proposition of speaking the language as much and as often as possible. Although an understanding of English grammar is most certainly important, it is not necessary to know every single aspect and rule in order to speak everyday English.In fact, the more you speak, the more the language constructs will naturally come to you, with no special effort on your part.To truly improve your English, we suggest that you focus on your English pronunciation and vocabulary, learn to use English words in proper context, develop strong writing skills and overall literacy, in addition to your grammar lessons.What mood is that sentence written in?If you don't have time to take face to face lessons you can also learn English online with a tutor.

English homework help websites for college grades can bring you to acquire better grades

English homework help websites for college grades can bring you to acquire better grades After our schooling is over we have to concentrate on the next big phase of our life and that is the college. Since school days it is very essential that one should keep their base firm in studies. The entire process of learning process should start from the initial years of school days. The school days were fun filled and still base is always created through the help of school and its teachers. Every subject has its own attributes and thus it makes any subject different from the other. For me from the very initial days of my studying, English was an intense part of my life. As ours was an English medium school so the priority to English was given more than any other subject. It can be said that English at that point of time was our mother tongue as well. It was like eating English, sleeping English and learning English. English as a subject and its divisions For many students English may seem a boring subject and its importance is less understood. But for me English has always been one of the most important and interesting subject. English is divided into two types of papers. One is the literature part and the other is the grammatical part. Both the part is lot different from the other. Each part has its own base and need in educational life of a student. The literature part encloses you in the world of mystery, fantasy and many more such places where it is not possible for any person to reach in real life so easily. Literature has the capability to take us to such a land. On the second part is grammar. Grammar is lot more different from literature. It can be said that grammar is the base of English and when you have learnt grammar well then you can play with words anytime and every time. But it is not that easy to learn and know grammar. You need an expert professional teacher who will help you to know the depth of the subject and deal with every problem very efficiently. Good teachers and its search A good professional teacher can help any student to arrive in with the essential help and support that is needed for student to learn the subject better way. Private teachers as well as online teachers, both are available in today’s timing. It depends on the student as to which one of them to avail. Private tutor is one of the good way but you have to search the teacher as to where you will come in terms with a good and qualified teacher. It is a time taking work and thus it needs extra amount of energy to find someone like this. Online teachers are available with ease and with less misuse of energy. It also takes less wastage of energy as well. It is a new way of learning and is gradually gaining lot of popularity with the passage of time. If you are less familiar with the entire concept of what is online teaching and how it can help a student better, then you have get help through reading some of the points below. Some points to help you know online tutoring better • Online sites help you to learn any subject better. The availability of the good teachers can be found when you hire a reputed and good online teacher for your help. The qualified teachers are only entertained by the people who are sitting at the interviewer panel. This helps the institutes to have some gems among themselves. • The efficient teachers can help a weak student also to engage in the subject well and know the subject on a much better note. The efficiency of a teacher is known when they can turn or change a student from being weak student into amongst the top rankers. English needs practice and thus good teachers keep this fact also in main and make it a point to help them to practice. • Good teachers also help you to complete various types of projects that come your way during your school or college days. You can get help for your assignments as well. These are some of the crucial parts of learning better and in a much faster way. Today every school comes up with such type of extra help as well. These types of help are not possible in case of a private tutor. • The process of online tutoring is of one-on-one service. It is a new type of service and this service provides you with having every individual teacher for each individual student. This is one of the best services that a student can ever get. The weak students are mostly benefited with such service as they can open up with their problems in front of the teachers and they can clear their doubts or solve their problem that pops us their way. • The online teaching institutes are open all round the clock and the teachers are always present. The 24*7 process of learning can be easy for any student to solve their doubts whenever they want. The availability of the teachers all round the clock can be said as one of the best and unique service that is not at all possible from any other teaching help that you get. Reputed TutorPace and its attributes Among-st the list of various types of such institute, you can trust upon TutorPace for its high level services that it provides. It is one of the reputed institutes that can help you with all the mentioned services above and that also within very less price. The charges are so less that it can be easily afforded by the parents of a middle class parent as well. You will come across English homework help websites for college grades from TutorPace and its efficient teachers in the middle of various other services as well..  

What are the Best Drawing Pencils

What are the Best Drawing Pencils How to Choose your  Artist Pencils ChaptersA Brief History of the PencilChoosing the Right Pencil TypesArt Pencils: Brands and QualityRound Out Your Drawing SkillsA man is only as good as his tools - Emmert WolfeDoes that mean that top quality pencils will guarantee you a masterpiece pencil drawing?Not necessarily.You won't find any art teacher recommending magic charcoals or paints, although plenty would recommend taking art lessons.That is where you will find magic!A few art classes will most certainly help you learn basic drawing and art fundamentals.Before you enroll â€" or just after, you might consider investing in a few implements every visual artist requires for his métier. You may wonder:What would be considered a suitable starter kit for an absolute beginner drawing class?Which pencils should you select?Should you buy a kneaded eraser or an ordinary rubber?What tools are used to create shading? A line drawing? A pen and ink drawing?What size and type of graphite pencil would be best?Oh, the questions a burg eoning artist might ask!Posing them to any art supply store clerk might yield dubious results: is s/he there to sell things, or might she be an artist herself, and therefore knowledgeable on the topic of art supplies?It is almost endemic to the field that each artist has his favourite brand of colored pencils and drawing paper.You, the novice artist, have not yet developed such fetishes. You are still at the doodle stage, trying everything out, on the quest to see how this medium or other works for you.As long as you are open to suggestion, let Superprof offer up a few...A pencil used for writing is substantially different than one used for art Source: Pixabay Credit: StockSnap there are no hard and fast rules on how to contour or outline, and there are no exact shading techniques to recommend.As your style evolves from doodles and stick figures to pencil portraits, you will discover the right pencils for your style: for contour drawing, for shading, for outlining and for cross hatc hing.Art Pencils: Brands and QualityIt is important to choose a well-known, reputable brand of pencils and colored pencils for your basic drawing lessons.  Just as a painters need great brushes to make the most of their  paints, a pencil artist needs good pencils to make great art.Some 'leads' may be exceedingly grainy, inadvertently making tiny furrows on your drawing paper. Later, as you paint your drawing with watercolors, these lines would be revealed, creating an undesirable effect.Another reason to invest in quality pencils is that the lead is less likely to break off, saving you money in the long run.No two pencils will have exactly the same hardness, even if they are from the same manufacturer.It is therefore important that you spend a bit of time trying out various pencils before settling on any particular ones.While shopping around for pencils, you may benefit from sellers' advice.Or, if you are wary of sellers â€" whose primary job is to move inventory, you could talk to other portrait artists or art school enrollees in the store, who might have more experience buying quality goods.If you are an absolute beginner, you might investigate a few name brands with strong tradition and good reputation in the art world.These are a few name brand art supplies that have stood the test of time and proven themselves repeatedly:Faber Castell: these pencils should be a part of any artist's basic kit, especially the 6H and the 8BDerwent also offers quality graphite pencils. These graphite pencils are available from 8H to 9bStaedtler: the Mars Lumograph models are particularly high-end. The 6H and 8B are especially sought after, in art circles.Kooh-I-Noor: Also a well-known brand in art instruction. Their 1500 series makes any perspective drawing a work of art.H-type pencils are generally used for technical drawings Source: PixabayRound Out Your Drawing SkillsIf graphite pencils are elemental in any artist's arsenal, other implements are equally essential, to draw anything from simple shapes to the human form.With other media, from charcoals to hematite, you can learn other drawing and sketching techniques.Hematite PencilsThese pencils are pigmented with varying degrees of iron oxide found in the same-named rock.Colours derived from this type of rock range from ochre to beige, including orange. You can buy hematite in pencil form; also as chalks and pastels.This type of art instrument is recommended in drawing portraits of a living model, because it allows for deep, rich textures.You might be interested to know that the great master, Leonardo da Vinci, was a proponent of using hematite when creating his works of art.Why not have a framed painting of his on your wall, to inspire you?CharcoalThis medium is an absolute must if you are learning how to draw!As their name implies, charcoal â€" pencils, sticks or crayons, is made by thoroughly charring wood in a form.This char is then combined with gum or wax binders, to achieve varying degrees of h ardness and darkness.The more binder content, the less dark the markings.A charcoal pencil makes for great crosshatching. Depending on the type of paper used, it will also be possible to obtain the finest lines.Rough texture will retain more charcoal. Charcoal on toned paper, especially when used in conjunction with Conté crayons, provides brilliant contrast. Drawing with charcoal makes it possible to get a realistic design and work facial expressions.Once finished, you will have to use a fixative to ensure the holding of the drawing in time.The main drawback of working with charcoal: it is messy.The Pierre NoireMade of ampelite, otherwise known as cannel coal, this black stone pencil yields a deep, dark and dull black effect.This drawing tool was very popular during the Renaissance art movement.It is excellent for face drawing, dimensional drawing and any type of drawing that calls for refinement and precision.Used for figure drawing, its effect is comparable to charcoal, while be ing less messy and offering more exactitude.Non-Photo Blue PencilsA drawing rendered with such a blue pencil has the unique property of disappearing when scanned or copied.These are the pencils of choice for the illustrator or cartoonist.Step by step drawing done in blue line prior to the inking of sketches makes those first, tentative strokes invisible once the   drawing is scanned into a computer for rework.Another advantage of the blue pencil? It is easy to erase and disappears completely, even without being scanned or photographed. Ideal for creations you want to share over an  interactive whiteboard application!Mechanical PencilsWe would be remiss if we did not mention this alternative to the graphite pencil that you have to sharpen.The 'leads' for these pencils are available in different hardnesses and thicknesses, to suit all pencil drawing techniques.However, the time consuming task of changing leads during your drawing tutorial would serve not just in foreshortening your in spiration, but in taking time from your lesson.Still, some who are learning to draw prefer mechanical pencils. You might be one of them but, remember: in the long run, this writing instrument can be more expensive than simple graphite pencils.Finally, to maintain your pencils, do not forget to invest in a good sharpener, but also a tool to blur, the appropriate gums and a sketchbook.With all of this drawing material, you will have no issues with indecision.You will be able to draw a landscape, draw a face, draw animals, draw a still life, draw the human body and even draw cartoons.You only have to learn drawing basics; and then, you can create paintings on canvas!Happy Drawing!Looking for drawing classes in the UK? Search for a private tutor on Superprof:Drawing class London.Drawing lessons BirminghamDrawing lessons Glasgow

American Idol Season 12 Not What it Used to Be

American Idol Season 12 Not What it Used to Be Sign up successful In my opinion, Ms. Minaj has been anything but professional.  After storming off the set like an attention-seeking child,  inexcusably  showing up late to a live taping and then later threatening to quit the show, its no wonder why ratings have dropped dramatically.  Its questionable if FOX is feeding the outlandish behavior of Nicki Minaj simply in order to gain viewers.   The whole point of American Idol is to tune in twice a week to support and vote for your favorite contestant.  Using violence and immature outbursts as means to boost ratings on a television show designed to inspire and unify American pop culture fans during the process of  determining the next winner is counterproductive. American Idol is clearly going through some major growing pains and Minaj may just be the shows teenage antics.   For a reality show that once pulled in 37.44-million viewers, Idol has a lot of making up to do before Season 12 closes. In other Idol news, the results show on March 28, 2013, marked the shows 450th episode.   The singing competition inspired many other reality shows with the same idea, including   NBCs The Voice, currently in its 4th season, and FOXs X-Factor, moving into its 3rd. While no other singing competition show has seen American Idol-level ratings, if viewership continues in the same downward direction, I wouldnt be surprised if  Idol was surpassed as the #1 singing competition show. What do you think about American Idol Season 12? Do you think show is measuring up to past seasons? Leave a comment below! Dylan M., TakeLessons staff member and blogger  You might also like Nail Your Audition for X-Factor and More 5 Insider Tips for The Voice Auditions How Can American Idol Help in Music Lessons? Photo by CHRISTOPHER MACSERAK

Why I Volunteer - Fiona Ss Story

Why I Volunteer - Fiona S's Story Meet triple-threat Fiona S: volunteer, tutor, and qualified teacher. Before volunteering at Deptford Green School with Tutorfair, Fiona worked at the school as a secondary maths teacher. We help her tell the rest of her story below. I begin my chat with Fiona by admitting that I don’t know much about her volunteer experience. She kindly fills me in, “I’ve been tutoring at Deptford for probably a year now, after school on Mondays and during lesson time.” I go to scribble this down quickly when she continues, “I also tutored at a local charity in Camberwell [the Southside Young Leaders Academy] for probably six months, supporting talented black boys in the area. Then I volunteered with the On Track Project, teaching maths to students who are at risk of being permanently excluded, probably for another three months.” While I’m amazed at the time and energy Fiona has dedicated to the education of young people, Fiona herself doesn't appear fazed. “It’s just nice to keep my hand inâ€"to keep connected to schoolsâ€"and to teach on my own terms. It’s a system that allows me to give back and not tear my hair out,” she jokes. It’s a system that is easier for many students, too. As a tutor, Fiona is able to focus on those who most benefit from the extra tuition, but she doesn’t make the sessions mandatory. “I really like that balance; you don't have to be there, but if you want that extra help, then come,” she explains. “I think it's very refreshing to have a bit more freedom. It’s more of a choice, and that creates a very different balance between you and the students.” I ask Fiona if she can think of a particularly exceptional tutoring moment that was fostered by this new relationship between her and her students. “Oh, I’ve got loads. I’m just trying to choose one,” she answers easily. “I really like working with small groupsâ€"that's the fun of teachingâ€"and tutoring back at Deptford Green it gave me the opportunity to tutor students that I’d taught before. There was one student who was very disruptive in class, but being able to work with him one on one, he was a completely different child. That’s what I enjoy the most, working with the students who are really difficult in class, but then they get to be treated differently, and show how special they are.” I know I should let Fiona get back to her fantastic work, but I have one more question. Although it doesn’t sound as though she needs another reason to volunteer, I ask her if there is anything she would like to say to someone who is thinking about volunteering. She says, “I’m really interested in working more with children in care, and volunteering allows me to gain more experience with this group of young people. That’s how I feel about volunteering in general: it's just an amazing way to get experience in a sector you want to work in. You get to specialize and it's on your own terms.” We couldn’t have said it better. Thanks, Fiona! If you're a tutor, teacher or an aspiring educator looking to make a difference, visit the Tutorfair Foundation to find out how you can join the future of tutoring.

Common Wrong Answer Choices on the SAT and ACT Reading

Common Wrong Answer Choices on the SAT and ACT Reading ACT SAT Prep and College Admissions Blog Many to-be ACT and SAT takers absolutely dread the Reading section for a series of totally fair reasons. The passages can be mind-numbingly boring. Questions about tone and author’s purpose seem cruelly subjective. So many of the questions have various answer choices that seem fine. The fact of the matter is that Reading sections on standardized tests tend to be more intimidating than they are legitimately difficult. Sure, the people who write these tests design the Reading section to be dry, but they also write questions and answer choices following some easily identifiable tropes and patterns. Oh, by the way, real people write these exams! There are only so many tricks that test writers have available when coming up with incorrect answer choices. This guide will help you identify the answer choices you should be suspicious of, helping you feel more in control when confronting an unfamiliar reading passage. But First: Why Identify Common Wrong Answer Choices? Many test takers tend to approach the reading comprehension questions on a standardized test the same as they would ordering lunch. They read through all of the whole menu of options for each question and then choose the one that seems most appealing. The people who write these tests hope that’s exactly what someone taking the test will do. A big part of their game is providing test takers with a number of answer choices that look appealing on first glance. Basically, the people who write these tests are banking on the fact that you know the clock is ticking and you have to choose whatever you think is the best choice fast enough in order to get a shot at the remaining questions. Identifying common wrong answer choices is a great way to beat these standardized tests at their own games. Sometimes, this will help you choose between two answer choices that look equally appealing. Sometimes, it will help you make snap judgements on a question you find really difficult, and therefore help you increase your chance of guessing correctly by eliminating an answer choice you know likely isn’t correct. Identifying common wrong answer choices helps a lot as part of a good process of elimination strategy. Common Wrong Answer Choices, Explained Too extreme: This can apply to questions asking you to describe characters in a story or ones asking you to draw conclusions about a study described in an expository passage. Take answer choice B in this problem: Scary things come to mind when you hear global catastrophe. Always ask yourself if it’s easier to support the more extreme answer choice or the less extreme one. Here we also have answer choice D, which reads political problem. A more extreme â€" and therefore harder to prove â€" statement is not as good of an answer as an equally accurate and more flexible one. Generalizations: Similarly, beware of answer choices that allow for too much interpretation. You will need to choose an answer that is reasonably specific. Answer choice A from this question is a good example of such a generalization: The phrase “always largely fictitious” sticks out like a sore thumb. Always is in and of itself a generalization and you want to be wary of any answer choice that starts that way. Always is hard to support unless explicitly stated in the page. Even worse, though, is this part of the phrase largely fictitious. What does that even mean? Is it totally fictitious or largely, but not entirely, fictitious? How could something be always mostly but not entirely fictitious? Half right means all wrong: Watch out for answer choices that contain some valid information alongside something that doesn’t really match the passage. These tend to be the most tempting wrong answer choices, since they look appealing when you’re just trying to pick something and move on. This is a hard one to provide an example question for since you really need the context of the passage. But remember, if just part of an answer choice can be supported by the passage, it should always be tossed out in favor of an answer choice that can be entirely supported by a passage. The better answer choice should be the one that’s hardest to eliminate. Off-topic: Sometimes an answer is bad because it really has nothing to do with the question being asked or the information in the passage. Looking for this type of common wrong answer choice can prove helpful on science-oriented passages, where lots of jargon and unfamiliar science concepts make things confusing. Consider this one: The question asks about small comets, but answer choice A talks about the sun and electricity. It doesn’t make any sense that electricity or the sun would have anything to do with comets, so you can just eliminate that one. Definition is too literal: This one will either apply to vocabulary in context questions or to ones asking what a phrase means. Take this question: Without having read the passage, the most alluring answer is B, since a movie projected in a dark theater is “a show in light.” That’s why this answer choice is here! It doesn’t actually make sense given the passage, but if you skimmed or didn’t really understand what happened in the story then it might make some sort of sense to you. Avoid answer choices that define a word or phrase too literally without any support from the passage. Conclusion Being able to identify common wrong answer choices is an important part of your overall test taking strategy. This skill will improve your time, your accuracy, and lessen stress. When you're able to glance at previously confusing and distracting answers and identify them as incorrect right away, that's one less obstacle to overcome on your way to a fantastic SAT and/or ACT score. About the Author Mike S. is one of our most experienced test prep tutors. Click below for moreinformation on our SAT/ACT test prep packages: SAT ACT

Alo7.com

Alo7.com Alo7.com Founded by Dr. Pengkai Pan, who holds a PhD from the MIT Media Lab, Alo7s initial angel investors include digital pioneer Professor Nicholas Negroponte, who is the MIT Media Lab Founder, and several international venture capital companies. Alo7 is the largest digital English Language Teaching (ELT) product and solutions provider in China, with more than 10M registered users and more than 5,000 training school partners. We are revolutionizing the way English is learned and taught throughout China, from how schools are managed to how schools and homes are connected in the mobile Internet age. Alo7 aims to be one of the largest online education platform by end of 2018, as large educational institutions in China are all Alo7s partners. Currently, these partner schools are using Alo7s digital curriculum in the classroom setting and have started to offer Alo7s online tutoring services to their existing student bases, with an aggregated number of users easily exceeding one million. In November 2017, Alo7 received funding from Qualcomm, Legend, etc.

What really matters for the March SAT

What really matters for the March SAT The countdown is on: What really matters for the March SAT The countdown is on: What really matters for the March SAT For the past year students, educators, and parents have been wondering what will happen when the redesigned SAT is introduced in March 2016. March is finally just around the corner and students’ questions and concerns are now a reality. Unfortunately, there will be one class of students who will essentially serve as guinea pigs to see how the new test is will work and help the College Board produce a new “average” score. This is likely extremely overwhelming for students applying to college and can produce more anxiety than is necessary. There are a few things students should consider to find out what truly matters for this new SAT. 1. Scoring Guidelines Many students have mentioned their concern over the new scoring guidelines. As of January 2016 a perfect score on the SAT is 2400. In March, a perfect score will be 1600. So will colleges think that a student didnt do as well because they can now only score 1600? Absolutely not. Up until 2005, the top score was 1600 and colleges have been used to judging students on the scale for decades. Students should not concern themselves with the new scoring guidelines in general but rather think about where they will fit as compared to their peers. 2. Obscure Vocabulary Do you know what an iconoclast is? Perhaps not, but I bet you are familiar with the words rebel and critic. Students of generations past have spent hours upon hours flipping through flash card of overly complicated words that they perhaps will never use again.  Although some vocabulary words on the exam where useful and used in academia and in life, most of them belong to a category dubbed “SAT words”. On the new SAT students wont have to spend quite so much time memorizing words but they will still need to learn words in context. This is a good news/bad news situation for many students. The good news is that the obscure vocabulary is a thing of the past. The bad news is that students who think they get a free pass to skip vocab study will probably have quite a surprise on test day. Learning vocabulary in context is complicated and important and deserves plenty of attention (READ: 8 SAT Essay Tips from a Private Irvine SAT Tutor). 3. Guessing This is one of the coolest changes of the redesigned SAT. How many times did students sit down with their tutor and try and figure out exactly when they should guess on a question and when they should skip it? What if they can eliminate two answers? What if they have it down to two but theyre just not sure? This took up a lot of time during test prep and a lot of time on the actual test. Starting in March students will be able to go ahead and take a guess if theyre unsure of an answer. This is really good news for students who often just barely picked the wrong answers and became very frustrated. Now that students wont be penalized for guessing its important that they adjust their test prep study to align with this new strategy. 4. The essay is optional so I dont have to do it, right? On the Redesigned SAT the essay will be optional and separate from the writing section. Students across the country are now jumping for joy thinking they dont have to practice writing or spend any time on it on exam day. Just because something is optional on the SAT doesn’t mean that universities count it as optional. Before students skip over their essay prep its essential they research the websites of any and all colleges they wish to apply to and see if the essay is required for admission (READ: 5 Awesome SAT Apps). 5. So does this mean the new SAT is easier? Many students think that perhaps the new SAT will be easier. Although for some, this may be the case, for most it will still be extremely challenging. Students will still be tested on their math and English skills, they will still need to focus their concentration for several hours, they will still need to know vocabulary, mathematical formulas, and be able to analyze text quickly and effectively.  Additionally, students taking the essay portion will need to be able to thoroughly analyze a passage and respond to it with thought and depth. The Redesigned SAT is no joke and students are encouraged to prep as far in advance as possible. In fact, students taking the exam in March should probably have already commenced their studies. Its never too early to book your Irvine Private SAT Tutor. Call us today for more information. All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at pr@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us write.