Just a quickie
Hi everyone – just a quick post today to reply to some of your comments. Hope everyone is well and having a lovely weekend! We have had a very Louie-friendly couple of days. Yesterday we went to a playgroup in the morning where there were lots of exciting toys to play with and new children to meet. Then in the afternoon we went to our friends’ daughter’s 4th birthday party. They had a bouncy castle and lots of yummy food and cake. Louie stuffed his face :-) Finally this afternoon we’re off to another birthday party for our friends’ one year old. Babies everywhere! Louie is over the moon!
And now for some replies to your comments...
Antonio: I’m glad to hear you’re feeling more confident about speaking to people. I think the key is just practice practice practice – and also try not to worry too much about making mistakes :-)
Ana Paula: Yes! You’re so right about reading – it really is one of the best ways to improve your language skills. I’ve also read ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time’. I really enjoyed it. I recently finished a book called ‘Eat Pray Love’. It’s quite good, perhaps you might like it… I also love the sea and really miss it here in Delhi. I love going to the beach, even in the winter.
Paulraj: Yes I agree, the terrorist attacks that we are experiencing all around the world aren’t much fun at all. I was interested to hear about the scheme of donating irons to pressing wallahs – sounds good and much better than free TVs.
Sanja: well done for answering the ‘even’ questions!
Pilar: I also quite like ironing but it’s difficult to find the time and so much easier to take them down the road! I’m sure I’ll be doing lots of ironing when we move back to the UK with a family of four :-)
Hyoshil: Of course I will excuse your mistake! The weather doesn’t bother me much more than normal, even though I’m pregnant. I’m glad it will be winter when the baby is born though – I can’t imagine being nine months pregnant and also having to cope with the heat! I think they’re called bank holidays because all the banks are officially shut! I suppose there might be another reason as well though… not sure.
Adriana: that’s the problem with learning ‘coursebook English’ as opposed to the English that really is spoken on the street! We teach you to be much too polite compared to other people! :-) I’m looking forward to your blogs!
Mellisa: I hope you saw my answer to your question about the crocodile and alligator phrases. As for the abbreviations, they’re really more common in spoken language than in written as they are quite informal. Try and look at the context and that should help you to guess the meaning if you’re not sure.
Myen: hmm… I’m not sure what you mean about making those parts of the sentence the subject. Can you explain what you mean again?
Wisarut: you’re absolutely right about different types of English being needed for different situations – it starts to get very complicated, doesn’t it!
Mady: welcome to the blog and thanks for your comments. Have a look at the home page of the learningenglish website and try each of the different areas to see what is best for you. You can do lots of different things depending on which skills you want to develop. I recommend looking at The Flatmates as that includes reading and listening as well as grammar and vocabulary. Everything on the website is very useful!
Kay: I think you can change the example you gave ‘hate not to do something’ to ‘hate not doing something’ – I think that works better. So for example, ‘I hate not getting home on time’ or something like that. For the second one ‘Need not to know’ it would sound better to say ‘don’t need to know’, I think!
More in a couple of days!
Amy
Might as well put in the definitions from last time…
Thought-provoking: causing you to think about or consider something
Half-asleep: not asleep but not quite fully awake either!
Chore: a task or something you have to do, usually related to housework. Usually used when you don’t like what you have to do but you have no choice.
The time of your life: you use this expression to describe the best thing you have ever done. ‘I had the time of my life at university’
Craving: a very strong desire for something, often food. Very common when you are pregnant! Some people have cravings for very strange things, like toothpaste!
Dressing: a kind of sauce that is made for a salad. Often includes oil and vinegar but not always.
Finely: in very small pieces
Mushy: soft, without any hard or firm bits
and just three little phrases for today…
To stuff your face
To be over the moon
To cope with something
Comments
Hello amy, just to tell u that i am a new learner and pleased to see that sort of methods learning english
Hi Amy, I think (Louie is over the moon!) means : Louie is very happy (To cope with something ): to deal with it. (To stuff your face ):make it working hard by eating too much food
Hello Amy, I'll try to give my answers, hoping that you'll check them. To stuff your face - To fill your mouth full of food you adore To be over the moon - To be extraordinary happy or delighted To cope with something - To have to face with something not very pleasant for you
Hi Amy!!! I´m happy to see that you and your family are enjoying the weekend. Oh, and especially the cute Louie, it seems he´s having a whale of a time, isn´t he? :-)Today Amy the sun is gorgeous! The sky is so blue and the roses in the garden are smelling a sweet perfum. By now is 12:50 pm, and this afternoon is gently inviting me to go to Guararema, a city near Mogi( my hometown) which has a marvellous landscape, and a wonderful park, where you can seat on a bench and read a book or just have a delicious icecream and chat with friends, while you hear birds singing softly and a waterfall following it course calmly. Oh, that´s really good, isn´t it?! Ah! By the way Amy, I´ve searched at my virtual bookstore for the book you recommend and I´ve found it. Therefore, I´ve read the 'Eat Pray Love' synopsis and I´ve found the book very interesting. I liked it because the author goes in a trip to three different cultures to study three different aspects of the author own nature. Definitly I´m going to read this book. Thanks for the recommendation :-). Enjoy your Sunday, Ana Paula.
Hi Amy!!! I´m happy to see that you and your family are enjoying the weekend. Oh, and especially the cute Louie, it seems he´s having a whale of a time, isn´t he? :-)Today Amy the sun is gorgeous! The sky is so blue and the roses in the garden are smelling a sweet perfum. By now is 12:50 pm, and this afternoon is gently inviting me to go to Guararema, a city near Mogi( my hometown) which has a marvellous landscape, and a wonderful park, where you can seat on a bench and read a book or just have a delicious icecream and chat with friends, while you hear birds singing softly and a waterfall following it course calmly. Oh, that´s really good, isn´t it?! Ah! By the way Amy, I´ve searched at my virtual bookstore for the book you recommend and I´ve found it. Therefore, I´ve read the 'Eat Pray Love' synopsis and I´ve found the book very interesting. I liked it because the author goes in a trip to three different cultures to study three different aspects of the author own nature. Definitly I´m going to read this book. Thanks for the recommendation :-). Enjoy your Sunday, Ana Paula.
Dear Amy, After a short break I am writing my comment again. Last few days I was unable to concentrate myself in writing comment. When I check comment written by other, I am not able read any of them. Regarding reading books to learn language, I have very little extra time that is I am working about 10-12 hours a day in night shift in my office and it take about an hour for to and from house to office. Rest time is used in my daily routine work. I will try my best to read some good books in near future. Here is meaning of words. To stuff your face -to eat a lot to be over the moon-to be very pleased to cope with something-to deal with problems or difficulties, esp. with a degree of success
Today i came across this blog and y enjoyed it a lot.(and i also learn some tips really interesting. I am not good at computers, so i hope to find the site again some other day. thanks.
Hello to every one, i'm really gald that i find such as website, it help me so much, in my idea the key of learnging english is study as more as you can, and so you should find the new words,and also here is some another good way you should get a teacher for yourself to teach you, best luck
Amy's writeup was so `like been there with her situation'. you actually come across these simple phrases while reading but rarely use them while conversing.I'm speaking for myself .
Hello Everyone, I really enoy your blogs but was wondering how i could participate. I think ther is a competition that I ought to win in order to take part in the student's blog, right? Well, to stuff your face means to eat a lot. You know, this reminds of Babel, when the bridegroom stuffs bride's face with cream, did you watch that scene? To be over the moon, this occurs when the castles you built in air are materialized, and so you feel so happy. To cope with: to deal with, i guess. Have a nice day
How was your day ? Glade to talk to you again. I give my regard to your family. However I would like to know about your pet. In the previous month teacher Kent introduce her pet with all of us in this site in order to give a little bit assignment or something like that. Her pet is so gorgeous and lovely namely smoky. Would it be okey,if you let's me say hello with him. Thank you in advance.One more thing I would to ask you with word " another " that you hightlight in the beginning of the entry today. I understand what you want to communicate but I use the word " other" or one,ones instead of "another",don't you think? Keep me pose. Take care...
Hi Amy!Firstly I hope I send in my comment on the right place to be published. Unfortunately, the one I wrote to Yumi on Monday 27,I placed below the Datum and it didn´t appeared. I waited for its appearance long, then I concluded it has to be written below the article. I full agree with you that Yumi wrote thought-provoking blogs. At the same time she always cheered me up with her young spirit and spontaneity in asking you questions about using the language in a real communication. I´ve read your advice about writing skills and agree again that it is useful to wait till the next day for spotting better our mistakes. My first comments - about three four sentences - I constructed for a few days a half year back. And, they weren´t without mistakes! Now, when I want to comment I write the idea sometimes into the comment space directly because of losing courage to put it in the next day. But the comment area is wonderful place, you can always look up your writing again for better reflection. And this is only area where I may use and brush up my weak English. So, dear Amy you are doing well and I am very pleased to read and learn about various interesting subjects you tell us with the same young spirit as lovely Yumi did. I love especially the foto with your Granny!
Lovely picture from the Taj Mahal... One of the Seven Wonders! Dear teacher Amy, I saw on the BBC the next phrase, describing some news:"heaving floors" I thought that the word "heave" was only used as a verb in sentences like "She heaves a sigh after seeing a mouse", but I don´t understand how it can be fixed with the word "floors" What does it mean? Greetings
Well... I dont speak english as perfect as all the comments (sorry my mistakes) but i would like to say how easy it is when we talk about everything ! Amy, i hope that you have many party's like that :) I really liked the definition of some words... Thanks a lot! many kisses, Flávia
Hello. Amy. This is kiljun Han. Well.. this is my first time to visit the site, But it's really terrific. I have a Q for you. What does 'common thread' mean? I can't find it in dictionary. And 'come money out of one's ear' What does it mean? I don't get it. Please help me. Thanks
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