Expression: Give up the ghost

When an object stops working forever, we can say it has given up the ghost. For example: "After ten years, my car finally gave up the ghost yesterday."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mistakes in English: do you really need to apologize?

If you know me, you know that I'm taking a wonderful Spanish class. My teacher is fantastic in every way, and in the past few weeks, spending an hour and a half together on Wednesdays, she has taught me a lot, provided a supportive space to practice, and generally encouraged me to the extent that I'm already speaking a lot more whenever I have the chance! Thanks, María!

One reflection I've had during these classes is that maybe we don't need to apologize for our mistakes if they don't offend anyone. I mean that if we use the wrong verb tense, or pronounce something incorrectly, or don't understand something, maybe we don't need to apologize, because these are natural parts of the learning process. We're taking a class because we don't know something, so why should we apologize when we make mistakes?

Is there any time when we should apologize in class? Well, maybe if we weren't paying attention, or forgot to turn the cell phone off, or were late to class. Those would all be good reasons. But not when we make mistakes.

So what should we do? What about smiling and going on, correcting the mistake ourselves or asking for help? What do you think?

Lexis: active and passive

I'm reading a marvelous book called Learning Teaching, by Jim Scrivener. This book was recommended to me by one of the greatest people I know, and it's absolutely a must if you're interested in language teaching. Here are a few things I have found interesting from the learner perspective:

Lexis

One of the most useful observations in the book is about the concept of lexis. Lexis is all the words, collocations and phrases that compose a language. These parts of language fall into two big categories, active and passive. This means that we have some words we use all the time, and others that we don't use often (or ever) but know and can recognize.

Active vs. Passive Lexis

An example of this in my case would be a word like "microscope". I never use this word! but I know what a microscope is, so if I read or hear this word, I understand it. I think it's accurate to say that the majority of my lexis is passive. I know a huge number of words and expressions, but I only use a very small number of them on a daily basis. This is true in my native language, and it will also be true in any language I learn. What do you think? Is this true for you? What percentage of all your native words and expressions do you use on a daily basis?

Learning Strategies

The value of thinking about active and passive lexis when you're learning a language is that you can classify new vocabulary, and this will probably affect your strategy with learning. You need to have a good active vocabulary which allows you to communicate in everyday situations. This vocabulary should be accessible and increasingly automatic for you. So you may need to put in some extra effort here if you can't remember the words and expressions. But as you continue, you'll also be learning a lot of passive lexis. It makes sense to pay attention to this, and connect it to your active lexis when you can, but also not to worry too much if you have trouble remembering all the words. When you encounter new lexis, it may help to ask, active or passive? For a scientist, "microscope" is probably active!

Why Is Passive Lexis Important?

As you learn, you'll naturally increase both your active and passive lexis, and your passive lexis will be important, especially when you're reading or listening to other people speak. In fact, increasing your passive lexis may be one of the most important elements in understanding what you hear, so using resources like TED and the BBC can be very helpful. You may never have occasion to say "at sixes and sevens," but if you know what it means, you'll undertand it when someone says it!

Expression: Self-fulfilling prophecy

A prophecy is a prediction that something will happen. A self-fulfilling prophecy means that you make a prediction, and then the thing really happens, because you make it happen. The idea is that because you believe that things will occur in a certain way, your behavior adapts to your belief, and that makes the thing come true.

Do you agree with this idea? I'm not sure it's true in every case, but I think it happens sometimes. For example, if someone is very insecure in a relationship, and afraid that his or her partner will leave, he or she may start behaving in ways that make the relationship more and more difficult. Finally, the partner might really leave! Have you ever witnessed anything similar?

Many people think that that what you believe conditions your actions, which then affect outcomes, while other people think that what happens is simply chance, luck or destiny. What do you think? Have you ever experienced a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Schlep

To schlep is to carry. Here are some examples:
The meeting room was changed at the last minute, so we had to schlep all our stuff to the new room.
Did you schlep all these things by yourself?
We helped our friend move, and it took all day to schlep his boxes to the new apartment.
This word may look difficult to pronounce.The trick is that the c is silent. So you make the sh sound, like sheep, and then add the l.

Expression: So far, so good!

So far means until this moment. So good means that things are going well. So far, so good is an expression which means that everything is going ok until this moment; nothing bad has happened yet and the status is positive.
What's the feeling of this expression? People use it when they want to say that everything is going well but the future is uncertain. Of course, the future is always uncertain, but some people like to emphasize this more than others.
So if someone asks you the status of a new project, for example, you could say "So far, so good" if everthything is going well.

Peace of mind

We have peace of mind when we feel calm about something. Solving a problem can give you peace of mind, or coming to the end of a project or challenging situation. When we're worried about something, we don't have peace of mind. Our mind is constantly disturbed by the thing we're worried about, so peace of mind is the absence of mental stress or anxiety.
What do you do to restore your peace of mind? A lot of people like to go to he mountains, or the sea, in order to have some quiet time in nature. Other people like to clean! Personally, I find that taking care of some things that need to be done is a good way to have peace of mind; reading certain books, or seeing a friend can do the same. Sometimes it's enough just to do something fun for a while, to get a new perspective.
There is a nice post about having more peace of mind here.

Get the hang of it

To get the hang of something is to learn how to do it, especially by practicing. Sometimes, I think I'm getting the hang of teaching! As an adult, it's difficult to remember just how much practice was needed to learn things that now seem natural, like riding a bike, cooking, or driving a car. Getting the hang of something takes time, patience, repetition, and real desire to learn. Many people believe that artists are simply talented, but I think that artists practice a lot to get the hang of using the methods they need to create their art. The same is true with writing: you have to get the hang of it! Part of learning English is getting the hang of learning it. I mean that by practicing, you learn the best way to learn. Also, you get the hang of how different grammar structures work, or how to use new vocabulary. The main thing is to be patient with yourself, don't worry too much when you make mistakes, and keep practicing!

Schmooze

To schmooze to converse informally or chat and it also means to chat in a friendly and persuasive manner especially so as to gain favor, business, or connections.
This image is from a professional event in Portland, Oregon, so it relates to the second meaning. You could say that this kind of schmoozing is networking.
But you can also just schmooze, especially at a party or in a cafe or bar. Just chat with people and share a few jokes together!
This post is dedicated to Montse, who reminded me of this wonderful word!

Each other

Each other is a way to express a feeling or state shared by two people or two groups of people. Here are some examples:

I like him and he likes me. We like each other.

She knows him and he knows her. They know each other.

We met in 2008. We've known each other since then.

We don't like them and they don't like us. We don't like each other.

Show up

To show up is to arrive or appear. Here are some examples:

We were worried about Amber, but she finally showed up at midnight.

How many people showed up for the meeting?

Well, I'm glad you showed up!

They're amazing; they showed up late for their own wedding!