Phrasal verb: ramp up

To ramp up something is to increase it. For example: Police are ramping up security for the president's visit. Or, we're ramping up our efforts to make people aware of this program. Here's a sentence from an article about the situation in Egypt: "American and other world leaders were also ramping up pressure for an orderly transition to a democratic system."

Verb tenses and time

One of the challenges in learning a foreign language is remembering the verb tenses. For me, there are two primary issues: remembering how to form each tense, and knowing when to use it. The first issue is probably best addressed with repetition, until it's easy to remember the form. But the second issue can be more problematic. When two languages, like Spanish and English, have similar structures, it's easy to imagine that the use of tenses is the same in both, but this isn't the case. So making "direct translations" from one to the other isn't always successful. From a more philosophical perspective, one of the questions here relates to time. When is now? When is the past? Is there a difference between the near future and the distant future? It could be that it makes sense to think about concepts of time when trying to master verb tense usage, and to be clear where the differences are between your native language and the one you're trying to learn... What do you think? Aside from memorization, do you have any tips or habits that have helped you learn the verb tenses?

Iffy and -ish

Iffy is an adjective that comes from the word if. It means that something is uncertain. Here's an example:

Bob: Will you have that report ready for the meeting tomorrow?
Mary: Well, to be honest, it's a bit iffy right now because I'm still waiting for the sales figures.

Mary uses iffy to say that she's not sure.

We use -ish as a suffix to make a time or date less certain and exact.

Bob: How's it going?
Mary: Better. I have the numbers and I should finish on time.
Bob: Great! Do you want to have lunch?
Mary: Sure! What time?
Bob: 1:30ish? I have to be back by 3:00
Mary: Okay, see you then.

Bob says 1:30ish to mean around that time; 1:30 more or less.

State of the Union Address

Last night, President Obama gave his State of the Union Address for 2011. This is a speech that the president gives every year to give his view of the state or situation of the country. Address is another word for speech.
You can watch some or all of the address here, and you can visit the White House Website to learn more, and also to ask questions. When I visited the site, I found it interesting that the White House offers an iPhone application, so people can receive updates.

Can-do vs. Naysayer

Can-do is an adjective and we often see it combined with attitude. A person with a can-do (or can do) attitude is one who remains positive in the face of challenges, one who believes that things can be done with effort, and that obstacles can be overcome. This is the kind of person who responds positively to ideas and makes things happen. A can-do person is the opposite of a naysayer. "Nay" is an archaic form of "no," so this word means a person who says no to things routinely, even things that have a lot of potential. In other words, a naysayer is generally negative about new ideas, while a can-do person is generally positive. As you might expect, a can-do attitude is considered valuable in professional life, and some job descriptions include it explicitly.
The image here is of the famous Rosie the Riveter, an iconic figure from WWII America.

Things are looking up

Things are looking up is an expression which means that a situation is improving. You can use it by itself or add a person or organization, like "Things are looking up for Marcel... He got a wonderful review in the newspaper and some major galleries are interested in his paintings."

The Godfather: "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."

Recently, I watched The Godfather again. When I say again, you have to understand that I've see this movie many, many times, really too many to count. It's a brilliant film, and every time I see it, I find something new. I always love the acting, the script, the photography, and the great soundtrack by Nino Rota. But this time I noticed something else: there are a lot of characters, including Vito Corleone, who are not native speakers of English. This is very authentic and very American. America is fundamentally a country of immigrants. Immigrants from Europe and China were the most numerous in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and throughout the 2oth and 21st centuries, people have come from other parts of Asia, the Middle East, Mexico and Latin America. One of the effects of this is that there are a lot of Americans who speak English as a second or third language. When I reflect on this, I remember one of my favorite bosses and people, Ali. He came to the US from Iran in the 1970s and stayed to live, work, marry and have a family. His native language is Farsi and he also speaks Arabic, and English is his third language; it's possible that he also speaks French or German. I don't know how much formal study he has had, but I know that his communication in English is fantastic, filled with his personality, way of thinking, and wonderful sense of humor. Watching The Godfather reminded me of him, and of all the people speaking English in America. If you haven't seen it, or haven't seen it recently, I highly recommend the film. You'll hear a lot of accents and some classic expressions, like "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."

Lust after

To lust after something is to want something very, very much. You might lust after a person, but we use this verb more often with things that we would like to possess, like a car, a handbag, an iPad. If just thinking about the thing makes your mouth water, you lust after it! Advertisers and marketers have the challenge of making us lust after things, and I think this is a difficult job, especially when there are so many things to choose from!
Right now in Barcelona, we're having the big winter sales, which give people (the quick ones, anyway) a chance to buy things they've been lusting after but couldn't afford before. New coats, boots, nice sweaters, etc. Personally, I'm not really lusting after much these days, but you never know when I might see the perfect leather jacket... What about you? Are you lusting after anything right now?

Peeps

Peeps is an interesting word.
Its original meaning is this: marshmallow candies in the shape of rabbits and baby chickens, which are usually served around Easter. These peeps are very sweet and kids like them a lot. They come in bright yellow and pink. You may be asking, what is marshmallow? It's a light, spongy, very sweet confection made of corn syrup, gelatin, sugar, and starch and dusted with powdered sugar.
The second and more important meaning of peeps, as defined by the slang dictionary, is "people". But usually not just people in general. When someone says peeps, they usually say "my peeeps," and this means my group of friends, etc. Or someone could say, "the peeps," which would also mean the regular group of people.
So, who are your peeps?

Not out of the woods yet

To not be out of the woods yet is an expression which means to not be free of dangers or difficulties yet. For example, "Our sales have improved a lot since last month, but we're not out of the woods yet."

Fabulous vocabulary!

If you want to improve your English vocabulary, I have an online resource for you! Yes, it's vocabulary.com! I'm impressed by this site and the way it's organized, and you can absolutely improve by using it. Hope you enjoy!

Reality check

My expression for today is reality check. This is a noun, and it means to stop doing or thinking something in order to get a more realistic perspective. For example, if someone is obsessing over something, you might say "you need a reality check." Here's an example from a Yahoo! horoscope:

"Your unconscious mind is a little hyperactive today, so don't trust your senses if they're telling you something crazy. You may need to get a reality check from a trusted friend before you know which way to turn."

This is a typical example, and the idea is that you need to ask your friend for some perspective.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States. This is a holiday to commemorate Dr. King, and it was intended to be a day of service, not a "day off." You can learn more about Martin Luther King Jr. at Wikipedia. Below, you have two videos. The first one is of the "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, DC on August 28th, 1963. The second is a brief presentation of King's biography.


Martin Luther King "I have a dream" @ Yahoo! Video

Vulnerable

Vulnerable is an adjective, and the Merriam Webster Dictionary gives the following definition:
1: capable of being physically or emotionally wounded
2: open to attack or damage : assailable
The noun form is vulnerability.
This word comes up a lot in the TED talk below, by "researcher-storyteller" Brené Brown. I don't like everything about this talk, but there are some things which I think are really important here, in terms of what she has to say about fear and vulnerability. Also, she speaks very informally, and she uses expressions like "I was like" to mean "I said." Although this isn't perfect English, it's definitely the way a lot of people speak! I recommend using the English subtitles, and I would be very interested in hearing your opinions about this.

Waffle

My word for the day is waffle. This word is both a noun and a verb, but they are completely different!

The noun refers to a delicious breakfast pastry, which is kind of like a thick pancake, except that it's cooked in a special iron device. It's served hot with (usually) butter and maple syrup, although you can often have it with fruit and whipped cream. I have to admit that I really like waffles! When made properly, they're kind of crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Mmmmm.

The verb refers to decision making. To waffle is to be indecisive about something, and to move back and forth between opinions, generally when trying to decide between two options. You might waffle on which sofa to by, or whether this is the right time to get married. When asked about your decision, you could say "I'm still waffling," meaning that you were still thinking about the choices. Some people think it's bad to waffle, others think that it's good because it gives you time to make the right decision. I think it depends on the situation. When the building is on fire, waffling is probably not good. But with big life decisions, some waffling is probably just right.

Birthday words: expressing age

If today is your birthday, I hope you have a great celebration, and that everyone remembers your special day!

When we speak of age, we use the verb to be, for example, "I'm 43." You can use this in the past, for example, "when I was six." You can say "six years old," but you don't have to, because people will understand that you're talking about age. However, with babies, when you're still counting months, it's customary to say "six months old."

On the day of your birthday, your age changes, and we use the verb turn. For example, "he just turned seven." We also use this with things, like "Wikipedia turns 15," which means that Wikipedia has existed for fifteen years.

With other kinds of celebrations of time passing, we often use the word anniversary. You can have a wedding anniversary, an anniversary at work, etc. For example, "yesterday was my eighth wedding anniversary."

Awesome!

Why didn't anybody tell me about the great blog 1000 Awesome Things? Well, it's okay, because I discovered it today thanks to TED. You can discover it at http://1000awesomethings.com/. Awesome means really, really great, and this blog is a collection of things that are awesome. This is a very subjective collection, but I think most people can find one thing here that they agree is really great! The other awesome thing is the way the blog is written, in very informal, current American English. You can learn a LOT of English reading this blog, and that is AWESOME! Also, there's a nice video on TED of the author, Neil Pasricha. Hope you enjoy it!

Back

We use back with other words to give the sense of return. Here are some expamples:


He was gone for a while, but now he's back. (Be + back = be here again)
I'm going out but I'll be back soon.


I need to give back the book.(Give + back = return something)
Could you give me back the DVD you borrowed?


When are you coming back? (Come + back = return to this place)
She came back to work today.


I'm in a meeting right now; could I call you back in an hour? (Call + back = return a call)
When I called him back he was on the metro.


P.S. This post is dedicated to JL, who has just come back to work. Welcome back! We missed you!

Acronyms explained: ROI

ROI means return on investment. You will often encounter this in business articles. For example: "Businesses looking to optimize the ROI for training have found that shorter courses are more effective."

Good read

A good read is a book you can't put down. It might be a novel, but not always. Now, when the nights are long, it's a great time to get in bed a little early with a good read. If you're interested in sharing your opinions about what you're reading, and maybe interacting with other readers, you might be interested in http://www.goodreads.com/, which is a social networking site devoted to books...

You know, etc.: fillers in English

You know is one example of a "filler" in English. We use it to fill a space when we need a second to think. I imagine that every language has these, and I notice that most people have their favorites, the ones that they use habitually.

It's very easy to import fillers from your first language into English, but the result is something like, "Hi, o sea, hello, I'm calling to talk to Edward, vale? I am Jorge..." The best strategy here will be for Jorge to learn the fillers in English. Then he can say, "Hi, I mean, hello, I'm calling to talk to Edward, ok? I am Jorge..." Jorge needs to have some fillers in English because we all need them; they give us time to think about what to say next. The most common ones are you know, I mean, well, and like.

Of course, it's possible to overuse fillers. For example, "I was, like, really worried about the exam, like, but then, like, Raquel was like, it's like really easy, like don't worry, and I was like, super relieved, but like..." Unfortunately, this way of speaking is very common for native speakers, especially young people, and it can make understanding them really difficult! Somehow, you have to delete all those "likes" in order to understand what the speaker is saying.

Nonetheless, I encourage you to choose one or two fillers that you feel comfortable with, so you can use them when you need to hesitate. If you catch yourself importing fillers from your native language, look for a substitute! Your listeners will thank you!

Relentless

My word for today is relentless.

To relent is to stop. When we add the sufffix -less, it makes it negative, and so this adjective means without stopping. If a person is relentless, they won't stop, no matter what happens!

We can change relentless into an adverb by adding -ly. For example, "it rained relentlessly during our vacation."

I think that one's feeling about this concept depends on the situation. Sometimes we admire a person for being relentlessly positive or optimistic, but sometimes not. Also, when you see this word in the news, the context will usually tell you whether the relentless person or thing is considered to be good or bad. A relentless pursuit of the cure for cancer seems good, while a relentless pursuit of money and fame might not seem so good, depending on the person's behavior...

P.S. This photo is from the film "The Limits of Control," directed by Jim Jarmusch

from Fast Company

Fast Company has two nice articles you might enjoy. The first one is about New Year's resolutions for innovative teams. The second one is a list of recommended business books. Of course Switch by the Heath brothers was on the list, and if you haven't read any of this one yet, I really recommend it! Here are the links:

http://www.fastcompany.com/article/10-new-years-resolutions-for-innovative-teams

http://www.fastcompany.com/pics/best-books-business-owners-2010

Worth it

The American Heritage Dictionary defines worth as a noun which means: 1.The quality that renders something desirable, useful, or valuable: the worth of higher education. 2. Material or market value: stocks having a worth of ten million dollars. It's also an adjective used to describe the value of something: this book is worth a lot of money!

We have some important expression with worth. We say that something is worth the trouble or worth the effort. The shortest way to say this is "it's worth it" or "it's not worth it."

It's worth practicing these expressions a little bit, because sometimes expressions which repeat words like "it" are difficult to remember, and they may sound strange to you at first. But it's worth the effort!

Happy New Year!

I hope that if you have celebrated the New Year, you've had a wonderful time and that 2011 is off to a great start.

Many people make New Year's resolutions. These are plans for taking up new activities (like exercise) or giving up bad habits (like smoking). The stereotype about these resolutions is that they don't last very long; the gym is full of people for a few weeks and then most people return to their previous habits.

I really only have one resolution this year: to be very careful with how I spend my time. My idea is to focus on the people and activities which are most important to me, and to make sure I have enough time for them.

If you're reading this blog, one of your ongoing resolutions may be to improve your English. If that's the case, time will be an important factor. Not because improving takes so much time, but because constancy is important. Whatever you're doing, such as taking classes, studying on your own, or trying to maintain or improve your level by reading, etc., the regularity of the time you invest is probably more important than the amount. On the other hand, if you know that you need two straight hours a week to start thinking in English, then that should be your goal.

As always, I recommend the links to the right as good sources of daily or weekly doses of English. And finally, a lot of people say that one of the most important elements of pursuing a goal is to celebrate small victories. I encourage you to set some goals for yourself, or to collaborate on them with your teacher, and try to recognize when you've attained them. This can be as simple as understanding more of the news, or learning a new verb or expression. Recognizing that you've done it will encourage you to do more!