I try to keep to a weekly schedule. The guest room on Mondays, the master bedroom on Tuesdays, the living room on Wednesdays and so on. I have OCD and get panic attacks when I see my apartment getting too messy or when I cannot keep up religiously with my cleaning schedule. But personally, I think the cleanliness or tidiness of one's dwelling reflects how one relates to others in general because our actions and character is a manifestation of our smallest and most mundane of habits.

Hi Ng, I am not sure about the culture in your school. We give someone "a big hand" when we clap enthusiastically and cheer to show our appreciation, such as after an exciting performance, presentation or demonstration: something that shows an impressive effort. Since a person of authority has merely walked in, would it be better get your students to stand up, greet and welcome him verbally?

A (1) Life after the Death...

(2) One day, some students ask their teacher, "Is there life after death? What happens after death?" (3)
The teacher smiles, but he does not answer. Then they ask that him why he is avoiding their question. from answering

The teacher tells them, "Pay attention! People who are interested in about the life after the death are not able to do anything in this life. They need another eternal life."

One of students asks again, "Anytime (4) In any case, you should answer our question: Is there life after the death?"

Then the teacher answers, "This should be the is a main question (5) instead: Is there a life before the death?"

Hi Leyla,

I assume that you have chosen to use the literary present tense to bring your readers' mind to the events immediately as they unfold. This is a refreshing change!

May I share some suggestions for your writing: 

(1) As you are writing a general statement, the articles (a, the) are not necessary – you are not referring to a specific death. This also happens to be the title of your writing. There are different styles of capitalising titles. In general, we capitalise the first letter of each word, with the exception of articles (e.g. a, an, the), prepositions (e.g. of, on, for) and coordinating conjunctions (e.g. and, but).  

(2) We separate expressions of time from the rest of the sentence with a comma (,). Examples: Last week, I went for a movie. / By March, the results will be out. 

(3) As you have several dialogues between the teacher and the students, I inserted the quotation marks so that the distinction between the dialogues and the rest of the story is clearer. 

(4) We use "in any case" to mean regardless of what may happen. 

(5) I added "instead" because the teacher is trying to bring in a second question to replace the first one. We use "instead" to introduce an alternative to something previously mentioned. 

I hope this helps you. 

I would choose Saturn because of its mesmerising rings. 

Hi Jordana, For your first question, it depends on what you want to express. The to-infinitive (to be rich / to be happy) indicates a "future state" or "speculation". The gerund form (being happy / being rich) indicates a "fulfillment". Another example: I won't forget to write. (expressing something to be done in the future.) I won't forget writing that (describing a completed act.) For your second question, the word "concern" suggests that the team members are concerned about a future situation that has yet to materialise. Therefore, I would personally choose the to-infinitive form.

You can also write: "I had a back pain many years ago and it has recently recurred."

You can also write: "I had a back pain many years ago and it has recently come back."

One of my good friends is a Japanese man who studies economics at a university in the US.

He has lived abroad for seven years or so, and that's why he is much more open-minded as compared to (1) my other my Japanese friends who stayed in haven't left Japan.

Speaking of his physical characteristic (2) By the way, he looks so slim although he eats *like a horse. Every girl around him feels (3) envious jealous of his (4) figure. shape

However, I think that the glasses he usually wears don't suit him. If I were him, I would (5) put on / wear contact lenses in to make (5) myself look cooler.

Hi Yuko, 

Just some suggestions for your writing here:

(1) You have a noun phrase "my other Japanese friends" here. The word "my", as a determiner, comes before other pre-modifiers such as "other" and "Japanese" before you introduce the main noun "friends". 

(2) Though there is nothing wrong with your introductory phrase (Speaking of his physical characteristic), it sounds formal. Since you are writing informally about your friend, perhaps you can use "By the way" to divert the readers' attention to a side topic.  

*This is an interesting simile!

(3) "Envious" might be a more suitable word here – We are "jealous" when we resent the fact that someone has something that we don't. There is an element of dislike for the person because find the situation unfair or feel that someone does not deserve their achievement. On the contrary, "envious" is a yearning for something that someone else has without the negative emotions. 

(4) We use "figure" to talk about a person's bodily shape. 

(5) We "put on" some trendy clothes, "put on" some makeup or put on some accessories such as earrings and wristbands to jazz up our outfit. You can also "put on" or "wear" your contact lens.

(6) We use reflexive pronouns when the subject and object of a verb are the same. In your case, the subject is you ("I"). The object is referring to you too. Therefore, the word "myself" is needed. Example: I (subject referring to you) made myself (object is referring to you too) a cup of tea. 

I hope this helps.