A mystery and a bargain
Reading what you wrote about nightlife in Spain, Silvia, I was reminded of something that's always been a mystery to me - how do people manage to get up and go to work in the morning after a whole night of eating, drinking and nightclubbing? Maybe the siesta helps, but you can only really have a siesta if you've been awake and active in the morning, I suppose. I find that after a few days in Spain my biological clock breaks down completely and I end up wandering round in a state of permanent tiredness!
One of the pairs of shoes in the photos is indeed a bit worn-out. It's an old photo and when it was taken those shoes had walked many, many miles.
I'm a loyal customer of one particular shoe manufacturer - can't tell you which one, 'cos that would be advertising! Their shoes are particularly well-made and durable, and quite expensive, but they have a lot of sales where you can pick up real bargains if you search through to find the right size and the right design. When I'm in England I always have a look. I got the best bargain ever last year when I found a pair of suitable-looking shoes priced at £5. The full price would be about £60 or £70, so I thought there must be some mistake. But no, it turned out that the reason these shoes were so cheap was ...... Can you guess? ..... because they weren't really a pair. They were two different sizes. But they didn't look different, except for the obvious fact that one was left and the other was right. I tried them on and walked around the shop a bit and they seemed OK, so I bought them. And I've been happily wearing them ever since. Maybe my feet are two different sizes, who knows? And maybe the two shoes will find their partners one day, when I meet somebody who bought the other non-matching pair?
Answers to questions from last time:
A journey that takes three hours is a three-hour journey.
A holiday that lasts one week is a one-week holiday (or a week's holiday).
A course that lasts four years is a four-year course.
This time, something about contractions. Look at these sentences and decide whether you can contract the subject and verb or not:
0 (example) I have never been there. > I've never been there.
0 (example) But I have. - (You can't contract 'I have' in this case')
1 Sorry, I have to go now.
2 You must not tell anyone.
3 I have dinner when I get home in the evening.
4 The programme will be starting soon.
5 There are no tickets left.
6 No, it is not.
7 One is all right but the other is rubbish.
8 If I could help you, I would.
9 I had had three coffees by the time she arrived.
10 Here is one idea.
11 This is something that has always confused me.
12 I have a look whenever I go to England.
13 What is the difference?
Ana Paula asks: "Could you give us some tips to brush up our English speech please?" Hmm ..... a big question. Here's one idea: If you like watching films in English, choose one character you can identify with in a film that you've got on DVD or video, and choose one scene where that character has an important role. Imagine that you have to stand in for them, so you have to imitate their accent, tone of voice, words, pausing, rhythm, emphasis, intonation, gestures, facial expression, movements - everything, in fact. Practise being their double while you're watching a short extract from the film, and playing and speaking the role in parallel with them. Then, when you've learned the scene, you can practise it whenever you like, wherever you are. (You might get some funny looks from other people, of course!) As a next step, try improvising other scenes, other situations you might imagine yourself in, as if you were that same character.
Maybe other readers have other suggestions about how to practise English speech?
Monika: I went to the exhibition of old Flanders masters at the National Museum in Warsaw. It isn't my kind of art, but it's always educational to see so many eminent paintings from one period gathered together. You asked: "What is difference between these phrases:'a pair of socks' and 'a couple of socks?" A pair of socks means two matching socks, two socks that belong together, one for each foot, but a couple of socks just means any two socks that don't make a matching pair.
Pary: I've seem Iranian films in cinemas in Poland and Britain, and on TV in Poland. Yes, the name Makhmalbaf definitely rings a bell.
Christine: 'Information' isn't really the same as in German, because in German, and in European languages generally, it can be plural. But not in English. Not yet, anyway.
Lewis: When I wrote "when you’re in front of it" I meant when you're standing in front of it in a gallery.
Tomorrow, a bit more about Poland.
Jonathan
Comments
Hello Jonathan In my amateur opinion, the ability of spaniards and other hispanic people to go working after a whole party night is not biological. It's just an habit and a way of living... A cup of coffee or two and an aspirin helps too. These are my answers to your question about contractions: 1 no, 2 yes, 3 no, 4 no, 5 no, 6 yes, 7 no, 8 no, 9 yes, 10 no, 11 no, 12 no, and 13 yes. I'm waiting to learn more about Poland and have a question. Is there someting from its communist still visible? Good bye.
G’day Jo, So You’re wearing shoes of different sizes ! Very funny! The answers for contractions could be 1.sorry, I’ve to go.2.you musn’t tell to anyone.3. I’ll have dinner when I get home in the evening 4. The programme will be starting soon. 5. There are no tickets left 6. No, it isn’t 7. One is all right but the other is rubbish. 8. If I could help you, I would 9. I had three coffees by the time she arrived. 10. Here’s an idea. 11. This is something that has always confused me 12. I‘ll have a look whenever I go to England. 13. What’s the difference? Your tips on how to practice English speech was nice. I will try that. Cheers, Praveen Raj
Hi Jonathan and all loyal readers , How are you today ? Jonathan your mysterious shoes bargain sounds absolutely fantastic , I know sometimes some thing like that happen but £ 65 is another bargain ? I 'm not good at bargain but I 've heard that some people are really good at it and they can save such a big money in this way . Does any one has any tips to help me ? About Speaking English I think there are two important point , at first we have to listen naitive English programs , news , movies as much as we can for being familiar with correct pronounce and then we have to practice and speech as much as we can . Having active English speaking partners is a good way to practice what you ' ve learnt . Those were my suggestion .Some homework about Contractions is really helpful , although when I want to speak English I hardly ever can use contracted form. Yes I know that practice makes perfect and when I speak English , I have to care about grammar . 1 Sorry, I have to go now .2 You mustn't tell anyone.3 I have dinner when I get home in the evening.4 The program will be starting soon.5 There ' re no tickets left.6 No, it is not. One 's all right but the other 's rubbish.8 If I could help you, I would.9 I had had three coffees by the time she arrived.10 Here s one idea.11 This 's something that 's always confused me. 12 I have a look whenever I go to England. 3 What 's the difference? Have fun and laters .
Hi,Jonathan I've enjoyed today's blog very much and I've knuckled down to your homework.Here you go.2.you mustn't tell anyone.6.No,It isn't. 7.One's all right and the other's rubbish. 9.I'd had three coffees by the time she arrived.10.Here's one idea. 13.What's the difference? By the way,are you ready to fly back to England for Chrismas? have a good day!
Hello Jonathan, your story reminded me of how I once saw an even more unusual specimen of bargain. It was a pair of shoes on a bargain shelf in a shoe store. The pair looked perfect to me, only... both shoes were left. How are you supposed to understand that, I ask? And if the rules of logic are anything to go by, I dare suggest that there is another such pair, only right. And I wonder where it was at the time when I was regarding the "left" pair. Perhaps, it had found an owner? Sincerely, Ana
At first sight, I thought they're very easy, later I found out they're not that easy. Here are my answers, but I'm not sure if all's correct: 1 Sorry, I have to go now.(no change) 2 You mustn't tell anyone. 3 I have dinner when I get home in the evening.(NC) 4 The programme will be starting soon. (NC) 5 There're no tickets left. 6 No, it's not/ it isn't. 7 One's all right but the other's rubbish. 8 If I could help you, I would.(NC) 9 I'd had three coffees by the time she arrived. 10 Here's one idea. 11 This is something that's always confused me. 12 I have a look whenever I go to England.(NC) 13 What's the difference?
Hi,Jonathan first of all i would like to wish all of you a very happy christmas and happy holidays in advance :). I've been reading teacher's blogger from last one month but im writting for the first time. I've enjoyed all of your previous posts and todays post also specially about ur different shoe sizes ,interesting :). These are my answers: 1 Sorry, I've to go now.2 You mustn't tell anyone. 3 I've dinner when I get home in the evening. 4 The programme will be starting soon. 5 There're no tickets left. 6 No, it's not. 7 One is all right but the other is rubbish. 8 If I could help you, I would. 9 I had had three coffees by the time she arrived. 10 Here's one idea. 11 This's something that has always confused me. 12 I've a look whenever I go to England.13 What is the difference? Bye and have a G'day. Regards- Mahjabeen
Hello Jonathan! How are you? I loved your tip to brush up our speech, thanks :-). While I was reading your blog I thought about which character I would like to play. I want to play George Bailey( I´m a big fan of James Stweart).I love his speeches in this film. Oh boy, that´s going to be fun!!! I can´t wait to start :-). Let me have a go at the homework. 1 Sorry, I have to go now. 2 You mustn´t tell anyone. 3 I have dinner when I get home in the evening. 4 The programme will be starting soon. 5 There´re no tickets left. 6 No, it isn´t. 7 One is all right but the other is rubbish. 8 If I could help you, I would. 9 I´d had three coffees by the time she arrived. 10 Here is one idea. 11 This is something that has always confused me. 12 I have a look whenever I go to England. 13 What´s the difference? Goodbye Jonathan, see you tomorrow, Ana Paula.
Hello,Jonathan. I found your story about your shoes absolutely wonderful. Thank you for giving an answer for my question. I thought about the meaning of these phrases at the same way like you but I hadn't managed to confirm my suspicions in any dictionary. I'm happy that you were at the National Museum. I agree with you that it is educational to see different kinds of art. We must adore old masters because they became fortune's darlings. The God touched them and now we are able to unravel the mystery of their art to us. (sometimes not) But it depends on us. Now my homework. 1. no change. 2 mustn't. 3. no ch 4. no ch 5. no ch 6. it isn't 7. one's ... the other's 8. no ch 9. I'd had 10. here's 11. no ch 12. no ch 13. what's. Bye.
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