Hi Cristina!
Hello Cristina,
How lovely to hear that you are going to be the student blogger this month. I am really looking forward to chatting and to getting to know you better, as well as learning something about Argentina. Steve and I have always talked about visiting your country and it is one of our ambitions to go there. But I didn’t realize that beaches in Argentina were cold and windy, so I won’t pack my bikini when we come, ho ho. And I enjoyed the pictures of your sister doing yoga with the children. I am not very bendy or flexible, so even the thought of yoga makes my joints ache :-)
Your story of your family life really touched me. Your mother must be an amazing woman and I imagine that you, your mum and your sister are all very close. And thank you for the pictures of Argentina in the snow. My first attempt to post a picture on this blog failed (as some of you have pointed out...) so I need to work out how to do this. Watch this space!
You asked me when I first came to Thailand and about being homesick. I first came to Thailand, on holiday (to meet Steve – he was travelling at the time) in 1999 and we have been coming and going, on and off, ever since. We initially came here to live in 2003, but were tempted to move away to India in 2004. We realized after Rachel was born that we missed Thailand a lot, so moved back here permanently in late 2006. I have never suffered from homesickness! I miss my family and friends, but I don’t miss the UK very much. That’s not to say that I didn’t like living in the UK, I just love travelling and enjoy living in different places. You said that you had imagined living in other places, Cris. Where have you thought of going to? Maybe Chile, for the beef and wine :-) I think my husband would be in heaven there!
I am already extremely impressed by your writing. You seem to have a rich vocabulary and you made excellent use of a variety of conjunctions and time markers. I especially like your use of phrases containing ‘not until’ e.g. it was not until my husband and I started travelling and ‘if’, for example, ‘If you walk 4 blocks down you get to the South…’. Can you have a look at the following 2 'IF' phrases for me. Is there anything you would change?
(1) If you want to see snow you have to go to that region. --> I personally would replace ‘have to’ with ‘should’, but you could also argue that this change is not necessary. Can you see why I would make this change?
(2) If it weren’t so cold as they are I would go and live there. --> Does the agreement work here?
Also, the following phrases need rewording (no clues, but look at the italicised words and think about how these need to be changed). These are all small slips – otherwise, your writing is quite accurate.
1. I was born in Buenos Aires and I have been living here all my life.
2. During my time at university, I’ve met my husband
3. Hope you have spent a wonderful weekend
4. …after walking 15 minutes in a speed of 6 km per hour
5. To see people enter a restaurant to dinner at 11pm
6. “the sushi” are in fashion now (actually, I had sushi for lunch today. I love it!)
7. Not only it opened my mind, but it also helped me improve all my skills as well.
You asked me about the difference between ‘specially’ and ‘especially’. Well, according to the dictionary, ‘especially’ is used less than ‘specially’. There are two main cases when we would use specially, and not especially
(1) To indicate something out of the ordinary, e.g. He has been SPECIALLY trained --> meaning ‘in normal circumstances he would not have been trained’
(2) To indicate that something is being singled out for a particular purpose e.g. The word was SPECIALLY highlighted for you --> meaning, ‘it was highlighted so that you could see it easily (for whatever reason)’
When there is the concept of ‘individuality’ or ‘something outstanding’, either specially or especially can be used e.g. He is SPECIALLY / ESPECIALLY good at his job --> meaning, ‘he is extremely good at his job’, perhaps better than other people.
‘Especially’ is used when we want to single something out in particular, to be specific about it. So for example, in your phrase ‘Some of the provinces, ESPECIALLY the northern ones….’ I feel we should use ‘especially’. This is because we are not talking about all of the provinces, we are talking specifically about the northern ones.
Does this explanation make sense? Please let me know if this is clear. For reference, I used COLLINS English dictionary with help for the definitions, published by Harper Collins, 1979.
Now, over to the homework I set everyone. Cris, you were correct in your definitions of ‘know’ and ‘meet’.
Silwal, you are correct – determiner ‘a’ is missing in the phrases (1) to work in ___ multicultural environment; (2) to work in ___ growing company.
I asked Vladimir to reword (1) There isn’t any doubt / doubts; (2) who is / are the teacher blogger (choose the correct word for each sentence), which he did correctly. ‘There isn’t any doubt’ and ‘Who is the teacher blogger’. Well done for spotting the additional mistake, Vladimir.
Hi Katie Tran – I went to Vietnam 9 years ago. I bet it has changed a lot since then. I loved Ha Noi and Danang. Good to hear from you and enjoy the blog.
James asked, what does ‘not sure what yet’ mean, with reference to my post of 4th April. I meant ‘I am not sure yet what I will cook’ --> i.e. I haven’t decided what to cook.
Ernesto – you make a good point. It’s ‘down to’ for north to south, and ‘up to’ for south to north.
Roasalba – I am interested to hear what you say about New Zealanders and idioms. There are different expressions and idioms between different English-speaking countries. Can you give us any examples of idioms that people have not understood?
Ana Paula – did you have fun with the key word transformations? I notice that you did change ‘a hard’ to ‘the hardest’.
Tanya asked for a synonym for the word exhaustive. Its always best to look at a word in context to understand meaning. So, in the phrase ‘an exhaustive list’ (i.e. a list that contains every possible detail and fact) you could replace ‘exhaustive’ with ‘complete’, ‘comprehensive’ or maybe even ‘full’.
Hi Bi. Thanks for the details about Vietnam. I have two questions for you. First, why are there no vehicles in DN? The second is, what can I see in Hue? (Look at your post – I have reworded some of the things you wrote. Can you see what I have reworded?)
Hi Supriya. Your answer is correct. Right means ‘correct’. For example, she gave the right answer. To write means to write on paper. The correct preposition is looking forward to, e.g. ‘I am looking forward to your visit’ (meaning, ‘I can’t wait to see you’). But, if you want to express that you have been looking forward to the visit for a period of time, you can say ‘I have been looking forward TO your visit FOR a long time’. But you can’t say ** ‘I have been looking forward for your visit’ **
Michelle – your sentence ‘I chose to learn French as my third language’ is correct.
Merce – your are right. People is an uncountable noun, so the correct phrase to use is ‘How are the people’.
Well done Miao. Furniture is indeed an uncountable noun, and your definitions of ‘live’ and ‘leave are correct.
Vlad – I often get get recipies from the internet as well.
Chiladi – wow, that’s a big trip, to visit Thailand and Argentina in the same year. Good luck!
Hi Adriana – hope you had a good weekend. What did you ‘get up to’ (i.e. what did you do?)
Hi Sullen – did you do much studying AT the weekend (not ** ‘IN the weekend’ **)?
Hi Beatriz – hope working in the cybercafé wasn’t too bad. Please tell me how your life in South America is different TO mine (not ** ‘different OF’ **)
Hello Eugeny – so, you are a violinist! I play the ‘cello. Well, like you, I used to but I haven’t played it for a while.
Hello Mahjabeen – Thanks for pointing out my mistake. I meant to say, ‘my husband HAD emptied a pound of mince into my chilli’.
Now, here is a quick quiz for Monday for everyone. What vocabulary can you remember from last week? Using your own words, can you define what the following verbs mean? You can check the answers yourself, by referring to my previous posts.
To pamper
To mooch
To rule out
To live the high life
To amble
To nip out
To waffle on
To chuckle
To deal with
OK, Cris and readers. I’m off now for some coffee and to read a cookery magazine. Looking forward to your next blog, Cris. Please tell me more about your travels with your husband. Best Wishes and speak to you all soon,
Anne.
Bendy (adj) – able to bend, flexible
To ache – hurt
To be touched by something (verb) – here means to be emotionally moved by something
To be close to someone (verb) – here, means to have a very strong emotional bond with someone
Watch this space (informal expression) - coming soon i.e. I will post a new photo soon
Coming and going, on and off – visiting every so often, visiting now and again from 1999 to now
Initially (adv) – first, at first
In late (adj) 2006 – towards the end of the year 2006
Rich (adj) – here, means wide or extensive
Comments
Hi, Anne How did your weekend’s plan go? Did you manage to have a quick coffee in Starbucks? I love eating and cooking like you and I also like to invent new dishes. Whenever I introduce new fare my husband doesn’t mind being a guinea pig as long as the food has meat in it. Anyway, I must stop waffling on food and I should knuckle down to your homework. I am so glad that some of my words drew your attention and your wish is my command. Here you go, my son is full of beans and as fresh as a daisy means he’s lively, full of energy and he’s a vigorous and tireless child. Anne, am I spot-on? If so, I hope my answer can help some of my virtual cyber friends to improve their English as I’ve always improved my English and learnt many things from their letters. Thank you for your generous attention and see you soon!xx I sent my comment to you last night but it hasn’t been published yet. I am trying to post it again today. Cross my fingers!! PS: I am afraid I can’t see your kids’ picture. if you don’t mind would you attach another one, please?
Hi Anne, and anyone kind enough to read my note. I have a question about Thai food. I've heard that they're in favor of sweet cuisins, is it really so?
Hello Teacher, just curious to know what your major was in university?
Hello, Anne! Thank you for your work with such a big class and all explanations for me personally. There is my homework: 1).To pamper – to allowed a child (or a man) doing whatever it (or he) wants, carry out all whimsicality. Sometimes it can turn into folly (for the person who are pampering). 2).To mooch – to doing nothing, hang about and also to skulk and to steal. 3).To rule out – to exclude, to expel and to prevent. 4).To live the high life – to have a comfort and all facilities and entertainment which you are needed.5).To amble – go for unhurried walk. 6).To nip out – to rush out of the door, to go out very quickly for a short time. 7).To waffle on – to twaddle, to prattle – to have a light conversation. 8).To chuckle – to giggle quietly. 9).To deal with - to have to do (with).
Hi,Anne,I wait the blog for two days ,and happy to read it .At the same time I wonder to know why do they have homework but me ?
1.After we had been heard about a fantastic report of my son from his teacher we pampered him to buy some toy cars. 2. I’d love mooching on golden beaches in summer and ambling beautiful gardens in autumn. 3. I’ve been trying to rule my husband and my son out fighting over chocolate and I always fail. 4.i sometimes need to nip out supermarket after I’ve been to because I very open forget to buy things I really need. 5. I from time to time get annoyed when my husband endlessly waffles on cars on the phone with his brother.6.I chuckled when Anne said Steve is a carnivore.7.The other day when my neighbour found a fox with four cups in her shed she didn’t know how to deal with them. I now and again had to rake my brain while I was doing your homework but it was challenging. Thank you and see you soon!
Hi teacher Anne! Thanx for pointing out our mistakes. Im sure that you are enjoying your stay in the city of white elephants :). I've seen on television that it has many beautiful, neat and clean beaches. Its one of the favourite places of toursits. Right?. Where will u like to go in Thailand?. Whats your favourite place? Tc and bye
Hi Anne: How are you? What about your Monday? In Spain now it's five o'clock p.m.. Today I have finished my work, so when I have arrived at home I have switched on my PC and I have seen your comments and the entries from Cris and the other "blogmates". I have read Cris's blogs and I have writen my comment. As all of you can see I try to be many times in the blog. At least for me it is very very useful for my English. Anne: Could you explain all the readers how is educational's system in Thailand? What is the most spoken language? (Sorry if I make mistakes writing English) Bye bye. See you soon Mercè
Hello Anne. I am very pleased to read your blog and it really helps me enrich the amount of vocabulary. I will watch this space.
Hello Anne. These are my answers to your homework. To pamper: To look after babies. To mooch : Walk or drive around just for relax. To rule out : Don't do something, because there are not appropriate conditions. To live the high life : To have a luxurious style of life. To amble : To walk at slow pace. To nip out : To go urgently to some place. To waffle on : To much speak about a subject. To chuckle : To laugh. To deal with : To have bussines with someone. Good bye.
iam so glad to improve my knowledge of english in such a way.I hope I will enjoy this kind of communication as long as possible.
Dear Anne, Today, I read your blog several times and can’t decide what I should write in comments. Sometimes I feel really exhausted when I can’t concentrate properly and mind start to roam here and there. Your welcoming blog to Cristina gave me an idea to your can write very nicely to praise others works and guide other properly what should be written and how it should be written. Reading what other has written and make it corrected really need full dedication and devotion to work. Here are meanings of words you have asked: To pamper: to treat somebody in a special way to make him/her happy and giving them whatever they want. To mooch: walk aimlessly To rule out: stop something from happening To live the high life: exciting way of living spending money in superior things To amble: to walk in relax way enjoying scene and scenery To nip out: go quickly for short time To waffle on: To talk or write in a long way without giving proper information To chuckle: to laugh quietly To deal with: do a business PS: I will not be able to write comments for few days.
Hi Anne! Even though my neighbour bothered me all the day playing terribly bad the drums, I could have some fun doing the key word transformation yesterday :-). I think I need to practise more. I´m going to do the exam in the end of this year. Therfeore, I´m focusing my attention in my weak points. Oh... we have homework today :-): To pamper: to treat somone very well; To mooch: to walk; To rule out: to prevent something from happening; To live the high life: to have a great time/ to live in luxury; To amble: to walk in a relaxed way; To nip out: to be in a hurry; To waffle on: to talk a lot; To chuckle: to laugh quietly(Oh my gosh! Today I was trying to remember this word in order to tell it to a friend.) To deal with: to do business with. Good night Anne ( it´s night here). See you tomorrow. Ana Paula.
Hi Anne, Practicing Yoga won’t make you ache in your joints. If you regularize it, your body becomes more flexible. I am not an expert but I love enjoying yoga. It’ll be little hard to start initially. Once you commence it surely you love to do it spontaneously. There are varieties of yoga in India. Each one is different from others. All try to unite and to concentrate. You might have known about some of the Gurus in yoga in my country. Many foreigners are visiting India to learn yoga. I wish you to succeed your aim of visiting Argentina. It’s really a challenging one to visit and to live in other countries. Not so many people choose to live like that. Which one was attracted by you to visit and live In India for some time? Rule out: over night rain ruled out the possibilities of resuming 2nd day of the cricket match on time. Mooch: lots of crowd were all along the commercial street due to the annual clearance sale. I could not mooch around and returned home early. Amble: after finishing all the rituals over the bed of Ganges, the devotees usually amble down into the river,chanting prayers and dip themselves. They believe that their sin will be forgiven for doing this. To chuckle: some of the comedy show on the TV on Sunday made me to chuckle.
Hi Anne! You know, it's very interesting to learn something when you don't expect it. I have 2.5 year son. When he was younger, we always used diapers "Pampers". But I never even realized what the name mean. Now I know that to pamper mean to indulge, to spoil. Thank you Anne.
After we had been heard about a fantastic report of my son from his teacher we pampered him to buy some toy cars. 2. I’d love mooching on golden beaches in summer and ambling beautiful gardens in autumn. 3. I’ve been trying to rule my husband and my son out fighting over chocolate and I always fail. 4. I sometimes need to nip out supermarket after I’ve been to because I very open forget to buy things I really need. 5. I from time to time get annoyed when my husband endlessly waffles on cars on the phone with his brother.6.I chuckled when Anne said Steve is a carnivore.7.The other day my neighbour found a fox with four cups in her shed she didn’t know how to deal with them 8. I used to live the high life because I lived the capital of Korea in Seoul and l enjoyed the food delivered to my doors, going to theatres and cinemas and singing rooms with family or friends after a few drinks. I’ve missed the hustle and bustle of the city life as I live in a sleepy town and the town hasn’t got much to do but it is a good and safe place to bring up children. . I now and again had to rack my brains while I was doing your homework but it was challenging. Thank and have a good day!HYOSHILXX
Hi Anne, abacked and happy to see the word “British Raj” in your text “Delhi is city of contrasts. Some of the most beautiful parts of the ‘new city’ were designed by the British architect Lutyens during the British Raj” I am ecstatic to note that you learned many Hindi language words during your short stay in India. Is word “Raj mean rule” is now a English word? Do you have working knowledge of Hindi (spoken). I submit my home work recently set by you on vocabulary. : Today when I was having mooch around market, an idea occurred to my mind that my small pay rules out to live a high life here. So I should try to settle in UK. Pampered with this idea, I nipped out to home. Shared the idea with wife. After listening me, first she chuckled and then straightway ruled out my decision by saying “ you can not leave me India alone” As I have too much waffled on my fancies let us deal with some other matter. I thank you spotting my mistake in comparatives. Today, I flicked grammar book written by Martin and it seems that I should have write “lessen homesickness” . I am still not confident whether I should write as “you must have face least language problem” in spite of “ you must have face less language problems” while making super comparison.
Hi Anne! It's my first comment on your blog. I wonder what you had do with your family in the last weekend ... Maybe like your last blog, taking your children to aquarium ?:) The hot weather really make me want to stay at the home all day, as I hate to sweat. But I am a student and have to go to school, so I can't do that. haha, looking forward to your next blog.
Thanks for taking time to correct my mistake. I do not like dancing,but I tried yoga before,I gave it up finally because I had to prepare my A level exams.I love music,and I learn piano and violin.By the way,I like UK's culture.I have a friend who comes form Uk.I learn oral English from her,and I teach her Chinese sometimes.I am really enjoy it!
Hi Anne ,Nice to meet you! This is my first comment to you ,It´s great to read from the place were you live and I like so much your explanations about uses and meanings of the vocabulary, actually I´m in an English course and I really apreciate if you could explain me about indirect request , only if you have time of course, thanks in advance! Cheers from Mexico.:-)
Hi Anne & everyone. Most Indian are vegetarian as Hindu religion prohibits eating of meat but I am carnivore as well as vegetarian. I love to eat meat. Whenever I eat meat its participles make a room between teeth (Is there an another expression of this sentence?). To extract meat participles I use tiny wood stick. Overuse of tiny wood stick makes teeth bleed. If I does not do this exercise, my teeth will decay and develop cavity. This is the reason I scared to eat meat these days. I rewrite lines of my text posted yesterday “Today when I was having mooch around market, an idea occurred to my mind that my small pay rules out to live a high life here. So why not try to settle in UK. Pampering myself with this idea, I returned home and shared the idea with wife. After listening me, first she chuckled and then straightway ruled out my decision by saying “ you can not leave me India alone” I nipped out to market again decadently. As I have too much waffled on my fancies let us deal with some other matter” Have a good day. Bye.
I have never had the opportunity to live in any speaking-english country for different reasons ,yet i am very into learning English. It'sso wonderful to be able to talk to you and to learn more and morevocabulary ,to read your interesting stories
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