Session 38
August 5, 2026 · Intermediate
- Your life story & what shaped you
- discipline & commitment
- word families (literacy, ascend/descend)
- describing people
1 Corrections
How you said it, the natural version, and why. These are your own sentences.
How you said it
His age is more than 24.
The natural version
He is over 24 (years old).
We say He is 24 or He is 24 years old — not "his age is 24." For "more than," use over or more than … years old.
How you said it
I met the top of another school.
The natural version
I met the top student of another school.
Add student: "the top student of the school." ("I was top of my school" is fine as a set phrase, but here top student is clearer.)
How you said it
Our family started to become self-dependent.
The natural version
Our family started to become self-reliant (independent).
The natural words are self-reliant or independent — "self-dependent" isn't standard English.
How you said it
You must study personally.
The natural version
You must study on your own (by yourself).
To study alone, say study on your own or by yourself. "Personally" means "as a person / speaking for myself," not "alone."
1b Already right
These needed no correction at all.
The mosque saved me from bad friendships.
A beautiful, natural sentence — correct exactly as you said it.
2 Grammar tips
ascend / descend / descendant
ascend = go up; descend = go down; a descendant = someone from an ancestor.
We descended the hill. / They are his descendants.
The "il-" prefix (not)
il- means "not": literate → illiterate. Learn the family together.
literate (can read) → illiterate (cannot) → illiteracy (the state).
Talking about age
Use be + number (+ years old) — not "his age is." For "more than," use over.
He is 24. / She is 30 years old. / He's over 24.
encourage someone to do
Use encourage + someone + to + verb.
My father encouraged us to pray.
self- + adjective
self- means "about yourself." Use self-reliant, self-confident (not "self-dependent").
Hard times made me self-reliant and self-confident.
handsome vs beautiful
handsome describes men; beautiful usually describes women and things.
a handsome young man / a beautiful garden
3 New words and phrases
4 Pronunciation
- ·commitmentStress the middle, MIT: "kuh-MIT-ment."
- ·suburbanStress on BUR (but "suburb" alone stresses the first part: SUB-urb).
5 Practice sentences
01When I was young, we were very poor, and our situation was not the best.
02My father became ill, so our family had to become self-reliant.
03The mosque saved me from bad friendships and shaped my personality.
04My father encouraged us to start praying, and it made me more self-confident.
05In our suburban area, many people were illiterate and couldn't read or write.
06I was the top of my school because I had discipline and commitment.
07I'm still committed to my job, and I take every task seriously.
08I want my son to study on his own and obtain his license this year.
09He's a handsome young man, but I care more about his character.
10They claim to be descendants of the prophet, and they even keep a family tree.
11Success is not necessarily about money — but the hard work is always worth it.
12To obtain the license, you must pass the preparatory year first.
6 Model sentences
Read these out loud three times.
We were very poor, and after my father became ill, we learned to be self-reliant.
The mosque shaped my personality and saved me from bad friendships.
Discipline and commitment made me the top of my school.
In the suburban areas, illiteracy was common, so education felt precious.
My father encouraged us to pray, and it made us more self-confident.
They claim to be descendants of the prophet and keep a long family tree.
Success is not necessarily about money; sometimes it's about staying committed.
It was hard work, but obtaining my degree was worth it.
7 Mini-dialogue
- A
Who shaped you the most when you were young?
- B
My father, without a doubt. We were very poor, and he taught us discipline.
- A
How did it shape your personality?
- B
He encouraged us to pray, and the mosque saved me from bad friendships.
- A
That's beautiful. And your studies?
- B
I had commitment, so I became the top of my school — even in a poor, suburban area.
- A
Was it all worth it?
- B
Not necessarily easy — but yes, completely worth it. It made me self-confident.
Read A, say B's line yourself, then check.
8 Homework
- Writing: Tell your life story in 6 sentences — who or what shaped you — using shape, discipline, commitment, and self-reliant.
- Word families: Write one sentence each for literate / illiterate / illiteracy, and one each for ascend / descend / descendant.
- Speaking: Say these words out loud three times each and record yourself — illiterate, literature, descendant, suburban, equation.
- Grammar: Write 3 sentences about people's ages using "is … years old" or "is over …" (never "his age is …").
- Vocabulary: Use handsome, beautiful, and self-confident correctly in three sentences about people you know.
- Real use: This week, use not necessarily and worth it in real conversations.
9 Self-check
I enjoyed telling my own story — how being poor and going to the mosque shaped me, and how our family became self-reliant after my father became ill. These are the words I most want to remember.
I keep making small mistakes with age — I said "his age is more than 24" instead of "he's over 24." I also learned it's "self-reliant," not "self-dependent."
One thing I want to practice more: the word families like literate / illiterate / illiteracy and ascend / descend / descendant. And I'd like to check when to say "not necessarily."