¿De dónde eres? is informal. If you are speaking to a peer or someone that is on the same social status as you, you use the informal. Use formal for teachers, girlfriend/boyfriends parents, people of higher athority, etc. The formal way to say where are you from is, ¿De dónde es usted?

First notebook entry: Introducing myself

I'm Michelle, I like English when I was young . I leant English many years but it's not good. This time I want to improve my English so I come to UK to study six months .

I'm Michelle.  I liked English when I was young.  I have been learning English for many years, but I am not good. (or I tried to learn English many years ago, but it did not work.) This time I want to improve my English so I can come to the UK to study for six months.

Good job.  Keep practicing!

It's a military term. It means that someone has been injured in battle. It can mean killed but not always. And it's usually yelled out or screamed.

In my culture, if you call a woman a dog, you're telling her she is ugly. If a man calls another man a dog it means that he has been successful in a relationship, most likely in a sexual way. The man will say "You're a dog."

Puedes cocinar crab cakes. Es uno de los platos típicos de los Estados Unidos. No tenemos muchos platos originales, pero eso es uno. Es un pastel muy pequeño de carne de cangrejo picado y los puedes servir con ravioli. Son muy ricos! :-D http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/crab-cakes-recipe/index.html

A public body works for the government but is not necesarily a part of the government. An institution is any group that is devoted to a particular cause or program, such as college. A school is an institution. In terms of sociology an institution is a pattern of accepted behavior, so a family can be called an institution, but not a public body. Public body is a term that is exclusive to a group that works for the government but is not necesarily a part of the government as stated previously. Hope that helps!