What Does "Tutor Mike" Know?
Mike, a robot English tutor, knows many things. Here are lists of things he knows. You are welcome to ask him all kinds of questions to test his knowledge.
English Learning
- Grammatical Terms - "What is an infinitive?" "What is a conjunction?" "What is the past tense?" Mike knows almost all the grammatical terms used in an English grammar book.
- How to Learn English - Mike can give you advice regarding language learning: how to remember new words, how to improve your pronunciation, how to write a good essay, and so on.
- Check for Grammatical and Spelling Errors - When you type in what you want to say, Mike checks for common grammatical and spelling errors English learner make. If you type in "studing," "writting," "heared," "tommorow," "Does she will ..." and "Can he has ...", Mike can point out your errors and ask you to correct them.
- Irregular Verbs - If you don't remember the past or past participle of an irregular verb, you can ask Mike to tell you.
- Consonant Letter Doubling Rule - If you add "ing" to a verb, sometimes you need to double the last letter of the verb. For example, "planning", "running", but "raining". If you ask Mike, he will explain the rules to you. If you make a mistake, he will ask you to correct it.
- "A" and "an" - If you say "a apple", "a honor" or "an university", Mike will correct you.
- Infinitives and Gerunds - Some verbs can be followed only by gerunds and some can be followed only by infinitives. If you type, for example, "I enjoy to talk to you," Mike will tell you that you've made a mistake.
- Plural Nouns - You can ask Mike what the plural form of an irregular noun is. For example, if you ask "What is the plural form of "hypothesis", Mike will tell you that it is "hypotheses".
- American Spellings vs. British Spellings - There are certain spelling differences between American and British English. If you are not sure, ask Mike.
Languages and Cultures
- Ask Mike how to say certain words ("hello", "thank you", and "please") in Spanish, French, German, Chinese, or Japanese.
- What is the official language of (country)?
- What is the national flower of (country)?
- Who invented (telephone)?
- Who is the author of (a well-known book)?
- What movie won the Oscar Award in (2017)?
- Who won the Nobel Prize for (chemistry) in (2017)?
- Which team won the NBA Championship in (2017)?
- Who won the World Cup in (2010)?
- When is Thanksgiving (American holidays)
Government and History
- The US Government officials' names.
- The U.S. Constitution questions.
- Who was the (third) President of the United States?
- Whose face is on (one-dollar) bill?
- What is the currency used in (country)?
- What happened today in history?
Geography
- Mike knows which city is in which state in the United States.
- Which (state, city, country, or continent) is the largest?
- What city is the capital of (country/state)?
- In which continent is (country) located?
- What is the population of (country/city)?
General Knowledge
- Mike can tell you what is the fastest/largest/heaviest (animal) in the world.
- Mike can give you information about famous persons.
- Mike knows how many feet are in a yard, ounces in a pound, quarts in a gallon, pints in a gallon, square feet in an acre, and so on.
- Mike knows how many days are in each month.
- Mike knows the lifespan of (cat).
Functions
- Mike can remember certain things you tell him, such as your name, age, birthday, birthplace, your favorites, sports you like to play, and so on.
- Mike can solve certain logical problems. If you ask him questions like "Dave is taller than Mike, but Dave is shorter than Jeff, who is the shortest", Mike can give you a correct answer.
- Mike can count words if you ask him "how many words are in my question". He can also tell you how many letters in a word.
- Mike can tell you which letter comes after or precede which letter in the English alphabet, and which month comes afer or precedes which month.
- Mike can tell you the current time. You can even ask him what date yesterday was, and what date it will be tomorrow.
- Mike can do some simple calculations.
