Jul 26, 2013

Tiring vs. tiresome

If a task is tiring, it makes you feel tired. Many things can be tiring, like waiting in line, filing out forms, doing certain kinds of housework.

Tiresome is an adjective that describes a person or activity that makes you feel bored and/or annoyed. So it's a bit different from tiring, because there's a more negative and emotional meaning. Here are a few examples:

You: How are you?
Your friend: Not that great. I've been in a really tiresome meeting for the last two hours, talking about the same things over and over again and not getting anywhere.

*****

You: Do you ski?
Your colleague: Not really. I used too, but the whole process was just too tiring. All that preparation and expense for such a short time actually skiing!

Jul 24, 2013

Practice made visible

I've posted a lot here about practice being important to improving your English. Here's a nice video about someone learning to dance in a year, by practicing a little every day.





What I really appreciate here is the very beginning. It's not often that we get to see someone doing something from the start, or near the start. I think this leads us to believe that others are born masters, and we won't be able to achieve what they can. For me, seeing someone at the beginning of learning to dance is inspiring.