Month: March 2011

If you snooze, you lose!

Here are some fun sayings that you can learn.  I like them because they rhyme and because they are quite useful.


If you snooze, you lose!

This means that if you wait too long, you may miss an opportunity.

Tim – Hey, I was going to sit there!
Sally – Well, if you snooze, you lose!

See you later alligator.

This is a fun way to say bye.

In a while crocodile.

This is the response to See you later alligator.

What’s the plan, Stan?

Even though the person you are talking to is not named Stan, you still use the word Stan because it rhymes. This phrase is used to find out what someone has planned for that day.

Sorry, Charlie!

This is like above, even though the person you are talking to is not named Charlie, you still say Charlie to them. This is a sarcastic way to say sorry.
Little girl – I wanted the last corn chip.
Mother – Sorry, Charlie!

Wednesday’s Slang!

It’s Wednesday, as promised, I’m going to make a post about some useful slang words.

 

bazillion

This is a huge number of something.
My son dropped the bag of candy and a bazillion pieces fell all over the floor.

biggie

This is something that is important.
It’s no biggie that you couldn’t make it to my party.

party

This means to celebrate.
Let’s go party tonight and hit all of the clubs!

rugrat

This is a small child.
I’m sorry I can’t go out tonight. I have to watch my rugrats.

10 ways to say hello in English

There are oodles and oodles of various ways to say hello in English.  Here are my top 10 ways to say it.

1.  hi!

It’s plain, simple and to the point

2.  hey (or hey there)

I think I use this way to say hello more than any other way.  It’s very informal.

3.  what’s up? (or wazzup, or s’up)

You may have wondered how you answer this question. You can either say, ‘nothing much,” say what you are doing or just ask it right back without answering it.

4.  how’s it going?

I use this one quite often with my friends.

5.  yo!

I like using this too when I’m being silly.

6.  howdy!

Texan all the way. Yeehaw!!!

7.  what’s cookin’?

You can even take this further and say, “What’s cookin’, good lookin?”  I wouldn’t use this unless I was saying it to a close friend and trying to be funny.

8.  what’s shakin’?

I wouldn’t use this one either unless I said it to a friend and was trying to be funny.

9.  how are you doing today?

This is used a lot.  It’s nice, polite and very friendly.

10.  good morning or good evening

You could use either of these; however, I don’t hear people say good evening as much as good morning.

Clothes or Cloths

Do you know the difference between the words clothes and cloths?

Test yourself and see:

1.  I bought some new _______ for my daughter to wear today.

2.  I have been using new ______ to clean the kitchen counter, but now they are very dirty.

 

If your answers are: 1. clothes and 2. cloths, then you are correct.

 

clothes

These are things a person wears like shirts, pants, dresses, etc.

cloths

These are pieces of fabric. They can be used for cleaning or other similar tasks. There are many specific types of cloths. A tablecloth is the piece of fabric for the table. A washcloth is used to wash your body in the bathtub. A dishcloth is used to wash or dry dishes.

Here are a few examples:

Lend vs. Borrow

Someone tweeted me this week asking me to explain the difference between lend and borrow.  I thought that other people might have this same question so I thought I’d write about it.

lend

This word means that a person was allowed to use something for a certain amount of time and will eventually return it.  (Given to someone.)
I would love to lend you my dress. I just need it back by next week so I can wear it on a special date.

borrow

This word means that you are taking something from someone and will eventually return it.  (Taken from someone.)
Tom borrowed a shovel from me and he never returned it.

As you can see the words are very similar. The difference is the direction of the action that is taking place. Look at the picture below and see if it helps to explain these words.

Some Slang

Here are a few slang words that you can use, just be careful with some of them as some are negative.

dirt

This means gossip.
You have to tell me the dirt on Penny. Something is just not right with her.

drag

This is someone who is boring or someone who brings everyone down.
Fred is being such a drag. Let’s not invite him to go out with us next time.

wuss

This is someone who is weak and/or timid.
Don’t be such a wuss.  Just come horseback riding with us!

wimp

This word means the same thing as a wuss. Someone who is weak and/or timid.
You are such a wimp. Just be a man and do your thing.

Conversation Exchange

I ran across a neat little website the other day when I decided to try to find some people to help me practice my French. It’s called Conversation Exchange. The site’s purpose is to link people together who are trying to practice different languages. You can find people who want to have pen pals, correspond over IM or skype or want to meet in person. The choice is yours. You will be able to practice English with fluent speakers while also helping them with another language that you know fluently. The best thing about this site is that it’s free and even though there is some advertising, there is not too much.

If you have used this site before, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought about it.

Three Ways to use Facebook to Learn English

 

 

 

 

Have any of you started to use Facebook yet?  If you haven’t started yet, I just wanted to let you know it’s another great place, like Twitter, to practice your English.

There are lots of ways to utilize Facebook, so you can practice English.  Below are three ways to learn English on Facebook.

1. You can connect to other English learners through joining groups and pages.

Here are a few pages to ‘like’:

The English Guru – This is my Facebook page. I try to engage people by having interactive conversations. I also post links to aid you with your English learning.

Livemocha – I just love Live mocha’s website. Their page on Facebook is a great resource as well.

EnglishBrnoCZ – Nina posts a lot of great links, tips, and videos that will help you in your English learning journey.

2. Posting your status

You can post things that are happening to you that are important, funny, interesting, etc.   Then, your friends can respond back to you and you can have a conversation.  Having a conversation on Facebook is nice because you can see the entire conversation and multiple people can join in the fun.

3. Connecting and reconnecting to English speaking friends

You can connect to your Twitter friends and other friends who speak English on Facebook. You can talk with your friends via Facebook email, IMs, posting on their wall or replying to their statuses.

All in all, Facebook is a great social media tool, not only to find long lost friends, but a great place to make new friends and practice English.

Animal Sounds in English

Have you ever noticed how every language interprets and spells animal sounds slightly different?  Here’s a list of some animal sounds in English.

Cat – meow

Dog – ruff, bark

horse – neigh

duck – quack

rooster – cock-a-doodle-doo

bee – buzz

mice – squeak

turkey – gobble

pig – oink

sheep – baa

goats – meeeh, baa

chick – cluck

cow – moo

donkey – hee-haw

frog – ribbit

bird – chirp