Fork in the road

A fork in the road is what you see in this picture: a place where the road you're following splits in two directions.

We also use this expression to talk about a moment in life when two options are open for us, and we have to choose one.

Have you ever come to a fork in the road, a situation where you had to choose between two directions for your life?

Keep it up

Keep it up is a phrasal verb which means to continue. People often use the imperative form to encourage someone to continue doing something. Here are a few examples:

Your boss: Wow! Your sales team had a great month!
You: Thanks! Yeah, everyone really worked hard and we were able to get all the goals at the end.
Your boss: That's fantastic. Keep up the good work!


Dear team,

Great job last month! I really appreciate the way everyone worked together, especially through some difficult moments. I want to thank everyone for your hard work and fantastic attitude. Now we just need to keep it up for the rest of the year!

Thanks again,

John

*****

I think that when you're trying to learn a language, especially once you have an intermediate or higher level, it can become difficult to continue. But I believe that if you keep it up, working along steadily, you will have consistent and lasting improvement. So don't give up!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I'm especially thankful, for my family and friends, for my colleagues, and for all the generosity and patience I receive.

I hope your day is marked by things to appreciate, and that you have some time to enjoy the people, places and activities that make you really happy!

Expression: Skating on thin ice

If you're skating on thin ice, it means that you're saying or doing something dangerous. You're taking a big risk, usually more in the emotional sense than in the physical one. For example, you might be talking about a difficult subject like religion or politics, and somebody could warn you that you're skating on thin ice. Here are a few examples:


Bob: What did you think of the meeting?
Irene: I was surprised when Jessica criticized the holiday party... She was really skating on thin ice!
Bob: You're right. Did you see the look on Celia's face?

*****

Dear Angela,

After thinking over your ideas for the presentation, I'd like to make a suggestion: aren't we skating on thin ice if we give our opinion without any data to support it? Don't you think the board of directors will question our sources and assumptions?

Let me know what you think.

All best,

Jim

*****

As you caqn see, this expression is usually in the continuous form, and you can use it in the present, past, or future continuous. Sometimes people shorten this expression and simply say: "you're on thin ice."

Resilient

My word for today is resilient. This is an adjective which means strong and able to survive. A person can be resilient, so can a material, or even an idea. The noun for this adjective is resilience.

This word comes up in an important way in the TED talk below. I found this talk really interesting and inspiring, and I hope you will too.

P.S. Many thanks to Sebastian Badea for introducing me to this talk, and to the Friday conversation group for being so awesome!

Expression: Hang in there!

When we say, "hang in there", we mean that we recognize a situation is difficult, and we want to encourage the person or people to continue, to keep going, to not give up.

Sometimes people also use it to explain that they are continuing in spite of difficulties. Here are a few examples:

You: How are you?
Your friend: Not so good. I have a huge amount of work to finish, and I think I'm getting the flu.
You: Oh no! Well, hang in there!


Bob: How's it going since you and John broke up?
Mary: Well, I'm hanging in there.
Bob: That's good. I know it's really difficult!

Steps to better listening in English

About understanding people speaking in English, I have good news and bad news.

Since people often prefer to hear the bad news first, here it is: understanding native speakers is really hard.

In fact, it's really, really, really hard! And you know why. Because they speak quickly, use a lot of phrasal verbs and expressions, and because they have regional accents. They don't separate the words, and it seems impossible to figure out anything, or you hear something different from what they're actually saying, and eventually you lose your focus.

I know.

The good news is that you can improve your understanding with practice.

Maybe you'll never be able to understand that guy from Scotland or New York perfectly, but by structuring your listening and practicing, you can improve a lot.

Here are five steps to take:

1. Find a listening resource that you like. This is important, because if you like it, you'll use it more. This could be a CD with a book, or something online. Here are two online resources that are well designed:
BBC Words in the News, TED.

2. Plan to use your resource when you have time to repeat the activity twice or three times (or more). Listening to something only once doesn't give you the opportunity to remember much or to learn any new words or expressions.

3. Use your listening with text or subtitles. You may prefer to read subtitles or text the first time, or you may prefer just to listen and see what you hear. I think the most effective way is to listen once without text, listen again with text or subtitles, and then do it one more time to focus on parts that are difficult. Having the text or subtitles that you can pause is a great way to check your understanding.

4. Start identifying different accents. If you listen to English speakers from different countries, it can be interesting to try to notice the some differences in the way they speak. For example, many Americans pronounce the "r" very clearly at the end of words like "never". On the other hand, many British speakers don't, which changes the sound of the word a lot.

5. Use the same sources repeatedly. It takes time to get used to the way people speak. Give yourself this time, and try to be patient. After all, it took years for you to learn your native language, and people were speaking to you in it every day!

I would love to hear from you about any other listening practices you've found to be effective...

Silent E

I just can't help but post this incredible tribute to "silent e" from The Electric Company. I learned a lot from watching this program as a child, and this video is a great example of their fun and creativity...

Revamp

My word for today is revamp.
This is a verb, and it means to change and improve something.
Check out a few examples:

Maria decided to revamp her CV before she started looking for a new job.

Our favorite restaurant has revamped the menu, but we don't like it as much as before.

If you want to revamp your living room, what about painting one wall a bright color?

The adjective for this verb is revamped.So in the image here, we can see the revamped painter's hook.

Have you revamped anything lately?

Colleagues, coworkers and workmates

These are all words for the people you work with.

Colleague is the most formal of the three. People usually use this word if they work in an office, or at a university, etc.

Coworker and workmate are the exactly the same, and you could use them for any work context. Sometimes you'll see it spelled co-worker. The only difference here is that Americans usually say coworker, and British people often say workmate.

I'm really lucky, because my colleagues at InfoJobs are fantastic! What about you... How would you describe your coworkers?

Happy Birthday to novelist Bill Coulton

Today is Bill Coulton's birthday. In addition to being my father, he's one of my favorite novelists.

If you haven't read any of his books yet, I really recommend them Also, he has some recent new releases! They're all beautifully written, full of adventure and memorable characters. To check out Bill Coulton's novels, click here.

When I was growing up, it was traditional to bake my father a chocolate cake for his birthday, with chocolate frosting. I don't know what he has planned for today, but I hope it includes something delicious...

Improve your English by reading!

Are you trying to improve your English?

It may surprise you, but one of the best ways to improve is to read.

Reading helps you to learn new words and expressions, and to internalize the structures of English.

Even if you only read for a short time, several times a week, you will get some benefits!

And the best part is that if you read something you find interesting, you'll enjoy it so much that you won't even realize how much you're learning!

One interesting option for you might be a reader. These are short books which are written especially for different levels of English. Here's one example, Penguin Readers.

Of course, reading blogs is wonderful, but having a book or ebook makes it easy to read something longer, wherever you are. When you read a chapter, your mind has the chance to really focus, and if you make this a practice you'll notice that you know things you didn't even realize you had learned!

Expression: For the time being

For the time being means for now, for this time in general, until something changes.  Here are a few examples:

For the time being, we'll continue meeting on Wednesdays, even though Jeremy can't come.

They've decided not to move for the time being, in order to save money.

Although we realize that a lot of people aren't satisfied with the current system, we'll maintain it for the time being, until we find something better.

Review or revise?

To review something is to look at it, read it, or talk about it again. You can review a lesson  to be sure you understand it. You can review the things you talked about in a meeting to be sure that everyone knows what they need to do. You can review a document to be sure there aren't any mistakes.

To revise something is to make changes or corrections. You can revise any written document: a manuscript, a report, a presentation.

You can also revise things related to financial information, like budgets and quarterly reports, in order to correct or update the information.

These verbs are obviously closely related, and we often review a document and then revise it.

Here are some examples of the usage of these two verbs:

"Could you review my sales report? I want to be sure there aren't any errors."

When the phone rang, James was revising his manuscript.

There were a lot of mistakes in the report, which showed that the manager hadn't reviewed it.

We revised the sales forecasts for the fourth quarter after reviewing the results of the third quarter.

Note: You can also use the word review as a noun or verb to talk about a written opinion about a film, book, restaurant or work of art. For example: Bob writes restaurant reviews for The New York Times. Or, Bob reviews restaurants for The New York Times. As you can see, when we use review as a noun, we usually put the another noun before it to explain the focus: movie review, book review, theatre review, etc.

TED online education talk: Coursera

If you haven't seen it yet, I really recommend this talk by Daphne Koller, one of the founders of Coursera.

Expression: Night owl

An owl is the kind of bird you see here. Owls are usually active at night, when they come out to hunt for food. They have specially-designed eyes which allow them to see well when many animals are not able to do so.

A night owl is a person who likes to stay awake late at night (sometimes all night) to work or play; in essence, someone who's more active at night than during the day.

We often talk about ourselves as morning people or night people. Personally, I'm more of a night person. How about you?

The opposite expression, for people who are very active in the morning, is early bird.

Amazing new resource: Coursera

Have you taken a look at this yet? It's Coursera, an online portal for free university courses. Here's a description from their site:

We are a social entrepreneurship company that partners with the top universities in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. We envision a future where the top universities are educating not only thousands of students, but millions. Our technology enables the best professors to teach tens or hundreds of thousands of students.
Through this, we hope to give everyone access to the world-class education that has so far been available only to a select few. We want to empower people with education that will improve their lives, the lives of their families, and the communities they live in. 

To learn more, visit them here.

Its: possessive

Things don't have a gender in English. So to make a possessive that relates to a thing, we use its. Here are some examples:

The company has moved its headquarters to Bangkok.

Even though she didn't buy the car, she was impressed by its features.

He chose the hotel for its excellent design.

If your native language has gendered nouns, this will probably sound strange to you. Nonethless it's important to pay attention to possessives, to use his, hers, and its correctly. One special note: with animals, we often us its unless the animal is known to us as a pet, etc.

The lion raised its head at looked at me.

Our dog can't find her favorite toy.

In the first sentence, you could use her head or his head, but its is commonly used when the animal is a stranger.

Heck, darn and gosh

Heck, darn and gosh are all words created to substitute for other words, with the idea of being more polite.

Heck is a substitute for hell. So you can change common expressions using hell, such as "What the hell is going on here?" to "What the heck is going on here?" and the meaning will be the same, just more polite and with a little less force.

Darn is a substitute for damn. So you might hear "I don't give a darn" or "I can't find the darned keys."

Gosh is a substitute for god. Sometimes people say "Oh my gosh" instead of  "Oh my god."

It turns out that this happens in Spanish too, this practice of substituting more polite words that have a similar sound, and the efffect is very similar.

I admit that in some cases, using darn or gosh sounds kind of old fashioned, and I'm not suggesting that you should do it. But if you see an old film, or spend time with people who don't like using any kind of "bad" language, you should be able to recognize these words.

Phrasal verb: Step up

To step up is to do what needs to be done, especially in a difficult moment.
It can mean to make an extra effort, to take responsibility, or to show courage, depending on the context.
As with most phrasal verbs, step up is an informal way to express this concept, so you would be likely to hear it in conversation, or see it in a blog post or email that has an informal style. Here are a few examples:

You: I was impressed by the way that John stepped up in the meeting, weren't you?
Your colleague: Yeah, especially when he defended Patty. That was great!

******
Your boss: This is an important project, and we need everyone to step up. I'm counting on you to meet the deadline with excellent results.

******
Dear Bob,

I'm writing to thank you and your team for stepping up and delivering a great campaign. Everyone did a wonderful job and the results so far are very good. Please let the others know how much we appreciate the extra effort and great teamwork.

All best,

Joshua

******
The verb here, step, is regular. Step up, stepped up, stepping up, etc.

Expression: To weasel out of

A weasel is a "small slender active carnivorous mammal that is able to prey on animals (as rabbits) larger than itself. They are mostly brown with white markings, and in northern forms turn white in winter."

We also use the word weasel to mean "a sneaky, untrustworthy, or insincere person."

So, to weasel out of something is to escape it or evade it. The idea here is that you said you would do something, and now you don't want to, so you look for a way to weasel out of it. Here are a few examples:

I promised to help Arthur move, but I'm so tired I'm going to try to weasel out of it.

Eames was always very good at weaseling out of things, and nobody every got angry with him.

If you commit to this, don't try to weasel out of it later, OK?


Note: the quoted definitions above are adapted from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

What about pronunciation?

English pronunciation is a difficult subject. It's difficult because when you're learning to speak, you'll be influenced by your teacher, by the listening materials you have, and by the radio, films, etc. You may have noticed that pronunciation is very different in England, India, Australia, and the United States, and even within all of those countries!

Wherever you learn to speak, and from whom, you may have difficulties making yourself understood by people with different accents. Accents affect vowel sounds especially, but they also affect intonation. The same sentence said by people from around the world will sound different every time.

So what should you do? I think the best way to work on your pronunciation is to practice the sounds a lot, and to work on words or sounds that are difficult for you, and try to make them as clearly as you can. Then, if you usually listen to British English, try listening to American English and practice pronouncing words and sentences that way. If you become familiar with both, or with the acccents of the people you'll be speaking to, it will be easier to recognize words, and to make yourself understood.

The most important thing, if someone doesn't understand you, is not to let it bring your confidence down. When I've traveled in the UK, sometimes people haven't understood me, and I've had to repeat my sentence or question. As English is my native language, I didn't let these little problems affect me very much! Just remember that communication is the most important thing, be patient, smile, and repeat your words.

The BBC has a nice online resource for pronunciation which you can access here.

Expression: Nothing to write home about

People used to write letters to their families when they were away, and this was commonly called "writing home".

The expression nothing to write home about means "nothing special" and we use it to describe things that are not unusual. I think we use this expression especially for experiences that weren't as good as we expected them to be. Here are a few examples:

Although they enjoyed the evening, the restaurant was nothing to write home about.

E.J. Clark's latest novel is, unfortunately, nothing to write home about, which will surely disappoint the thousands of readers who made her first book such a success.

You: How was the concert last night?
Your colleague: Nothing to write home about.

One-upmanship

One-upmanship is behavior in which someone tries to get an advantage by doing, saying, or having better things than someone else (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).

This a essentially a competitive behavior, and it also has a verb: one-up. An example of one-upmanship would be a conversation in which you tell a funny story, and the other person then tries to tell a funnier story. This person is trying to one-up you.

One-upmanship is not generally considered to be positive. It can be annoying to experience, especially in certain contexts. This behavior is often associated with people who always want to be the star. On the other hand, it can be fun if you're in the right mood, and if the other person is someone you enjoy competing with.

Probably one-upmanship is most unfortunate when it's related to competing in terms of wealth or possessions. If I feel I have to impress you with my watch, my car, or taking you to the most expensive restaurant in town, what does it say about me?

Bill Coulton's new book STALKER

I'm very happy to announce that STALKER , the latest novel by Bill Coulton, is now available on Amazon, in both Kindle and paperback editions.

This is a thrilling book! I'm reading it now and I really recommend it.

To order STALKER, click here.

Film recommendation: The Guard

Did you enjoy Pulp Fiction?

If so, I really recommend The Guard.

This is a great Irish film, very funny, with a wonderful script and marvelous acting.

The Guard is also a great film for non-native English speakers, because you get to hear Irish, American, and British accents.

I saw The Guard at the Verdi Cinema in Gràcia; if you're reading this in Barcelona, you can view the times here.

If you've already seen the film, or if you go to see it, I would love to hear your thoughts about it!

Fee, fare, fine

A fee is the money you pay for a service. So lawyers and designers have fees. A designer might say, "my fee is based on the project." Many professionals have an hourly fee, which may or may not be negotiable. You could also pay a fee to enter an event (entrance fee) or a fee associated with a bank account, or in order to be a member of a club (membership fee).

A fare is the money you pay for transportation. We can combine this word with the kind of transportation, such as bus fare, train fare, plane fare. For example, bus fare in Barcelona today is two euros. One compound noun we use frequently is airfare, which means the price of a plane ticket.

A fine is money you have to pay for breaking a rule or a law. You could have to pay a parking fine, or a traffic fine, because you didn't follow the rules. For example, the fine for parking in a red zone in California is very high. Athletes may have to pay a fine if they break a rule of conduct. Fine can also be a verb: a company may be fined for breaking the law.  

Nickname

A nickname is a name that we use for a person in place of his or her real name. We do this, usually, out of affection, but sometimes out of a more negative impulse. An example of an affectionate nickname would be calling Pablo Sandoval (the baseball player you see here) Kung Fu Panda. Sometimes they just call him "The Panda."
An example of a negative nickname would be calling someone a name referring to being fat, or having some kind of physical or mental problem, or referring to a mistake that the person made in the past. Actually, this negative usage is reflective in the word nickname: to nick someone is to hurt them a little.
Do you like to give people nicknames, affectionate or otherwise? Do you have a nickname yourself?

Old-timers, newcomers, newbies and rookies

If we imagine a company, or a club, or a team, the people who have been there for a long time are called old-timers. The people who have arrived or joined recently are newcomers. Sometimes the newcomers are also called newbies.
This image is from the baseball film Bull Durham. Tim Robbins is the newcomer and Kevin Costner is the old-timer brought in to help him improve. In sports, newbies are usually called rookies.
Which one do you prefer to be, the old-timer or the newbie?

Summer English ideas

It's possible that summer isn't that much different for you than the rest of the year. But just in case you have a little more time, or want to vary your routine a little bit, here are some ideas:

1. Read a magazine about a subject you're interested in. Even if you're a beginner in English, I guarantee you'll learn some vocabulary this way. Whether you like cooking, running, or computers, you'll learn a lot of new words!

2. If you have the chance to travel to an English-speaking country, ask people to speak English with you! This message is addressed especially to Spanish speakers; your language is soooo popular now that people all over the world will try to welcome you with it.

3. Learn some songs in English. Get the lyrics off the internet to make sure you really know all the words.

4. Organize a movie night or an English pub night with some friends.

5. Play Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble in English (it helps to have a good dictionary with you).

6. If you usually put on the subtitles, try watching without them!

7. Read a children's or "young adult" book in English. This is fun and you can learn a lot!

Do you have any other ideas? I'd love to hear them!

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Rusty

Rusty is an adjective we use to describe the condition of this truck, but we can use it for other things too. If you used to do something easily, and now it's more difficult, you can say that you're rusty. Being rusty at something is usually an effect of not practicing for a while. You could be rusty at riding a bike, or cooking soemthing complex, or playing a sport. It's very common for your English to get rusty if you don't practice very much. Fortunately, if you learned something once, and learned it pretty well, it's not incredibly difficult to recover your skill, it's only a question of starting to practice again. This truck may never roll down the highway again, but you can regain your fluency in English with some practice and some patience!

Make hay while the sun shines

Hay is the stuff that you see in this image. Farmers use it with horses and other animals. As you can see, and have probably seen in person sometime, this is essentially a kind of dry grass. So, it makes sense that it would be difficult to process correctly in the rain, and therefore we have the expression "make hay while the sun shines" which means to take advantage of good conditions to do something that you need or want to do. I think it's a good practice to make hay while the sun shines, because you never know when things will change. It's easy to procrastinate (especially for me!), imagining that tomorrow or next week will be just as good as today for doing something. But sometimes tomorrow or next week isn't as good: you may not feel well, you may have other things that are more urgent, etc. The same is true for enjoying life. It's easy to postpone things that would bring you pleasure, with the idea that there's plenty of time. But if the sun is shining, why not make some hay?

Review vs. revise

Although these two verbs seem to be almost the same, in fact we use them differently. To review something is to read it or look at it again. To revise something is to make changes in it. Here are some examples to help illustrate the difference:

Although he said he had reviewed the lesson, he couldn't answer any questions about the material.

Dear Bob, I've revised the press release and attached it to this email. I hope you agree with the changes!

Could you review the budget before we send it? I want to be sure everything is correct.

They realized that the timetable for the conference was unrealistic, so they revised it and sent the new infomation to everyone.


You can see that you could use both of these verbs to describe different steps in one process: after reviewing a composition that you had written, you could revise it and (hopefully) make it even better!

Throw your hat into the ring

To throw your hat into the ring is to apply for a position, or take part in an election; the idea is to say that you would like to compete with others to obtain a title, post, or job. For instance, sometimes a new job in a company is advertised externally and also internally, and this gives employees a chance to throw their hats into the ring.




A few examples:

You: What do you think about the new sales director opening? Do you think I should throw my hat into the ring?

Your boss: Absolutely! I think it would be a great move for you at this point.

*****

After a lot of consideration, Rebecca decided not to throw her hat into the ring for Mayor; she felt that it would impact her personal life too much.

*****

Me: Are you glad you threw your hat into the ring for sales director?

You: Well, I'm not sure yet! The process is more complicated than I expected... But I hope the outcome will be great.

Me: Whatever happens, I'm proud of you!

*****

As you can observe, we usually put for to connect the action with the post or position.

"Chorizo words"

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of having lunch with eight very cool colleagues.
At one point, we started talking about all the words that have come into English without being translated.
For example, chorizo. This is a Spanish word, and we don't translate it. It's worth noting that chorizo from Spain is totally different from chorizo from Mexico, but the point is that chorizo is chorizo in English.
It turns out that these words are called loanwords, and we have a lot of them in English. You can find a nice list of loanwords from Spanish here.
Loanwords is the correct way to refer to these words that have been adopted in English, but I may keep calling them chorizo words anyway, at least for a while.
Do you have any favorite loanwords, in English or in another language?

This post is dedicated to every InfoJobber who has ever come to an English lunch... I've enjoyed your company every time!

The early bird gets the worm

The early bird gets the worm is an expression that means if you get up early in the morning, or arrive somewhere before the others, you will have an advantage.
America is famous for keeping early hours, especially compared with Europe. Spain may have the latest hours, especially when it comes to meals (lunch at 2:00 pm, dinner at 10:00 pm), so Spaniards are sometimes surprised when they travel.
The sign here is a typical one that you might see in an American restaurant, giving a discount to people who come to dinner between 4:00 and 5:00. You could see the same kind of discount for breakfast or lunch.
I have to confess that after living in Barcelona for a few years, it's hard for me to imagine having dinner at 4:00 pm! Here, we might still be finishing lunch...

Quit smoking

When you stop smoking, we usually say quit smoking, or give up smoking. After quit or give up, we use the verb in the -ing form.
There could be many things to give up or to quit, but smoking might be at the top of the list.
I'm writing this because I was just at the English Lunch that we have once a month here at InfoJobs, and we were talking about smoking, and giving it up.
Here in Spain, you can't smoke in restaurants or bars anymore, but a lot of people here still smoke. Maybe not as much as they used to, but they haven't quit yet. I can sympathize, because it seems very difficult to quit!
Nonetheless, It worries me about some of my colleagues. I really care about them, and I don't want them to have health problems later on that they could avoid by quitting. I hope that they'll decide to quit as soon as possible!

This cartoon is by Gary Larson, from The Far Side, and this post is dedicated to my mom, who finally quit smoking after over sixty years!

Paradigm shift

A paradigm is a concept or a way of understanding things, a model. A shift is a movement, a change of direction. So a paradigm shift means a change of concept.

I had a pardigm shift the other day when I read the Valve Handbook for New Employees. Valve is a game company, and the way they work is really different. I recommend reading this if you're interested in collaboration and new paradigms for work and for companies.

Have a great rest of the week, and if you have a paradigm shift (related to something in the Handbook, or anything else) it would be interesting to hear about it.

Fritter away

To fritter away is to waste or squander something. You could fritter away a lot of money. You could fritter away your time. The key idea here is that you're wasting money or time slowly, bit by bit. Here are a few examples:

John inherited a lot of money from his grandfather, but he frittered it all away.
Don't fritter the weekend away watching TV!
It's easy to fritter your money away if you're not careful.
He was supposed to save money during the summer, but he frittered his paychecks away going to clubs.

Jaywalk

To jaywalk is to cross the street outside of the crosswalk (or zebra crossing), and without a traffic light, or against a red light.
When I was in high school, there was a policeman who used to hide with his motorcycle near the school, and wait for kids to jaywalk. Then he would come zooming out and confront the jaywalker, and write him or her a ticket (with a fine that had to be paid). I don't know how much this activity changed kids' habits, but it was memorable!
Of course, jaywalking can be dangerous. One friend who jaywalks routinely will never do it if there are children waiting to cross the street, so as not to give them a bad example.
What about you? Do you jaywalk? Is it typical in where you live? Is it dangerous?

"I'm rubber, you're glue!"

A few weeks ago, one of my favorite colleagues asked me what this expression meant and I had no idea! So he looked it up and we discovered that it means: when you say something about me, it bounces off of me (because "I'm rubber") and sticks to you (because "you're glue").

Your colleague: "Late again... Typical!"
You: "I'm rubber, you're glue. You're almost always late!"

Expression: Bogged down

A bog is a place that has a lot of mud (wet earth). The problem with a bog is that you can get stuck there, unable to move. Have you ever driven a car into a very wet and muddy place, and gotten stuck? Being bogged down is a lot like that: it means that you can't move very well or very quickly. It works as an adjective, and we usually use it with the verbs be or get. Here are a few examples:

The project was going very well until we got bogged down trying to choose a provider.

Don't get bogged down by the details! You have to focus on the main objective.

The team was bogged down and couldn't seem to produce any interesting work.

Using a possessive without an object

You can use a possessive without an object if you know what the object is.

You: Whose jacket is this?
Your friend: It's Bob's.

You can also use a possessive pronoun without an object if you know who you're talking about.

You: Whose guacamole do you prefer, mine or Jessica's?
Your husband: Of course, I prefer yours.

Finally, when you're talking about a person's home, you don't have to use the object if you're using the person's name or title.

You: What are you doing tonight?
Mary: I'm going over to Bob's.

So when you read or hear things like "I always spent summer at my grandma's" or "the party will be at Mary's," you know that these possessives refer to homes.

Fickle

My word for today is fickle. Fickle is the opposite of loyal. It's an adjective we can use to describe a person, an animal, an organization or group, and behavior in general. Fickle is fairly negative, because we usually prefer our colleagues, cats, and customers to be loyal. Here are a few examples:

Your friend: "Nice cat!"
You: "Yeah, she's nice, but she's really fickle. I think she would go home with anyone who offered her something to eat."

Marketing manager: "Our data shows that people between the ages of 19 and 25 are fickle when it comes to mobile phones: they care more about the phone's functionality than about being loyal to any particular brand."

So... Are you more loyal or more fickle?

The wisdom of The Wizard of Oz

A brain, a heart, and courage... What else will you need? Maybe someone who recognizes these things in you, or reminds you that you already have them. Someone who remembers (or will remember) and remarks on the moments when you showed great heart, or intelligence, or bravery. Do you have this person? Are you this person for someone else?                                       

This post is dedicated to Jaume Gurt!

Beginners

Some of you know that I recently went to Georgia to visit my parents. I look forward to this trip all year long, and it's always a high point of the year.
What makes it so meaningful is the effort that my parents make for my visit. They do everything they can to show their affection, and to make the time as lovely as possible; given that we spend the other 350 days of the year far apart, I think this effort is very beautiful.
On the flight over to Atlanta, I watched only one film, Beginners.
It had been recommended to me, and if you haven't seen it yet, I think it's really worth your time. Everything about this film was appealing to me, and if you've seen it, or when you see it, I would love to hear your thoughts about it.
Leaving my parents at the end of our visit is always really tough, and it gets tougher every year. So it has meant a lot to me to have received such a warm welcome back to Barcelona, and to be reminded again of why I'm here...

Getting up there

We use the getting up there to comment on a person's age. It means "you're getting old" but in a nice way, or an ironic way, if we're talking to the person directly. If we're talking about someone's age without him or her present, then it could be ironic, or just a comment on how old they are. I think the concept of up in this phrasal verb is referring to the high number of the person's age. Here are a few example in different contexts:

You: How old are you now?
Your nephew: Ffff.... Four.
You: Wow! You're really getting up there!!!

Bob: It's Sue's birthday tomorrow.
Matt: Really? How old will she be?
Bob: I don't know, but I think she's getting up there...
Matt: What are you talking about? She can't be over 35!

"Now that my grandpa is getting up there, he's going to move in with my uncle. I don't know how they'll get along, but it seems like the best solution."

Frugal

My word for today is frugal. This is an adjective and we use it to describe a person who conserves money, someone who doesn't waste money. The noun is frugality. As always, here are a few examples:
Although my boss is frugal, he'll spend money on training for our team.
"You should be more frugal! Then you wouldn't always be trying to borrow money!"
Yvonne's frugality was legendary; she only bought the things she really needed and nothing extra.
It's important to note that frugal is neutral, and can be positive depending on the context.

Rethinking education and school

Presentation Zen has an interesting post with videos on this subject. If you're an educator or a parent, I recommend it!

Money: win, earn, make, spend and waste

These are the typical verbs used with money:
Win money: to receive money by playing a game, gambling, or participating in a lottery.
Earn money: to receive money by working for it.
Make money: people or companies receive money for their work, services, or products. When we say a company makes money, we usually mean that the company is profitable.
Spend money: to use money to buy something.
Waste money: to spend money in a way that doesn't bring value.

Here are some examples:
Bob won $2,000 in the lottery!
I think I could make more money if I improved my skills.
Our company made more money last year than the year before.
We spent a lot of money going out last wekeend; maybe we should stay home tonight.
These shoes are really uncomfortable! I wish I hadn't wasted my money on them.

Stop Stealing Dreams

Seth Godin's new book is available for free here.

Swim upstream

To swim upstream is to go against the general direction, and so to find resistance to your ideas or actions. This expression comes from rivers and fish: salmon swim against the current (upstream) in order to reproduce. It seems like it would difficult for fish to swim like this, but they do it! So we use this expression to talk about going against the general way, belief, or trend. Here are a few examples:

Although I tried to convince my colleagues that washing their hands would help prevent colds and flu, I realized that I was swimming upstream.

After many years of swimming upstream in the company, Joe finally decided to start his onw business.

I think if you're willing to swim upstream for a while, you can convince people eventually.

Snap out of it!

To snap out of it is to move quickly back to one's normal or usual condition. People often use this as an imperative; if they think you're acting strange, or under a bad influence, they'll say "Snap out of it!"

One of the best movie scenes with this expression is from Moonstruck. The Nicholas Cage character is in love with the Cher character, and she thinks his love is crazy, especially because he's younger than she is. Here's the clip:

In the same boat

In the same boat is an expression which means in the same situation.
Here are some examples:
You: I have so many meetings! I can't get my work done!
Your colleague: Yeah, we're all in the same boat.
*****
Him: I was completely lost, and I went up to some people to ask for directions, but they were in the same boat! So we decided to walk around together for awhile, and we ended up spending the rest of the day together.
****
"On the first day of a new job, it's natural to be nervous. Just remember that we were all in the same boat when we started!"

Field Trip!

A field trip is an excursion that you take as part of a course or class.
Not long ago, Marc and I took a field trip to the Fundació Joan Miró for our Friday English class.
Since Marc is a very creative and innovative Catalan guy, I thought he would enjoy the big retrospective show of Miró's work, and I knew I would enjoy hearing his thoughts about it, since Marc always has interesing ideas and insights.
Thanks for going on a field trip, Marc! I hope we have many occasions for them as we go along!

Dreaming in English

One of my favorite people has been watching a lot of TV programs in English recently. I think she often puts on the subtitles in English, which is very helpful in terms of learning new words and expressions, and also understanding characters who talk really fast!
Of course this is a great practice in itself, but it has a surprising side benefit: sometimes she dreams in English. So she might wake up with a word in her mind, remembered from a dream. She writes this word down, and then looks it up and learns the meaning.
I don't know if you've ever experienced anything like this, but I have. Reading for an hour or so in Spanish before going to sleep often has a similar result for me. And the best part is that these practices are a kind of mental immersion in language, which continues while you're sleeping... What a great way to learn!
I've noticed recently that this English dreamer's speaking has really, really improved, definitely due to watching TV programs, but also because of these dreams.
So, why not try a little English before bed?

P.S. This post is dedicated to JL, a great learner and a spectacular person. And the image is reblogged from eros & thanatos.

Hype, hoopla and hullabaloo

These three words are all nouns, and they all mean excitement (some people would say noise) generated by an event, a new book or film, a new trend, etc. Hype is the most commonly used, and it can also be a verb. Hoopla and hullabaloo are more old-fashioned, but I think they sound great, so why not use them sometimes just for fun? Here are a few examples of the usage:

You: "What's all the hoopla about?"

Your colleague: "The company has just won an award."

***

You: "I never go see films that have a lot of hype; I find that they're usually disappointing."

Me: "Yeah, I know what you mean. But sometimes hype is justified, don't you think?"

***

There was a lot of hullabaloo about John's new restaurant when it first opened, but the hoopla died down when people discovered that the service there was terrible.

***

Marketing Director: "I think we should hype the new features as much as possible, don't you?"

Communications Director: "Absolutely, and the sooner, the better!"

P.S. The image here is from www.businessinsider.com

Ouch!

When you hurt yourself in a way that isn't very serious, or when someone else hurts you a little(by stepping on your toe, for example), it's typical to say "ouch".
We also say this sometimes as a comment, about someone's injury, or also about an insult or sarcastic response. Some examples:
You: What happened?
Me: I burned myself cooking last night.
You: Ouch!
Me: Yeah, it really hurt!
************
You: What did your boss say?
Me: He said I should spend more time working and less time blogging.
You: Ouch!

P.S. Ouch has the same sound as down, brown, and couch.

Today

...I'd like to wish you a happy Groundhog Day!

Whether your winter will be long or short, I hope you enjoy it!

P.S. This image is from Wikipedia

Folks

Folks is an informal way of saying people. This is a common word in the American south, and in the west, especially in places like Texas. Many public speakers use this word to try to get close to their listeners. Here are some examples:
"Most folks in this town prefer to have the shops open on Sunday."
"Folks, I'm going to talk to you today about education..."
A lot of local folks didn't know about the new plan for the city center.

P.S. If you listen to President Obama's State of the Union Address below, you will hear him use this word.

Howdy!

Howdy is an old-fashioned, informal way of saying hello, usually associated with the American old west. Some people still say it, and many people believe that it originally came from shortening and informalizing the expression "how do you do."

2012 State of the Union Address

What is studying?

What is studying?

Is it the same as doing homework?

Did you study when you were in school?

Are you studying now?

Is it the same as practicing something, like a musical instrument, a sport, or an art form?

What is it and why should I do it?

Elizabeth Gilbert on Nurturing Creativity

I've watched this TED talk a couple of times now, and I really like some of the things Elizabeth Gilbert has to say about creativity, what ancient cultures believed about it, and how those ideas might be relevant today.
I hope you find it interesting, and remember that you can turn on subtitles in English or other languages, and that there's also an interactive transcript you can use.
Enjoy!



P.S. This is post 300. Thank you for reading this blog and encouraging me to keep going!

The more you practice, the more you learn

The concept of this expression is to repeat "the more" with different verbs, to show a direct relationship between them. You could also use "the less". Here are a few examples:
The more you speak English, the more you understand.
The less you work, the less you improve.
The more you save, the more you have for the future.

More or less are used when we want to compare. So you could use another comparative with the same structure, for example:
The longer I live here, the more I like the city.
The more I practice, the better I become.
The greater the investment, the greater the return.

You could also change the comparative to show an inverse relationship:
The more I learn, the less I feel I know!
The more you sleep, the less tired you'll be.
The longer I live, the fewer fears I have.

The Year of the Dragon

Tonight at midnight, the Chinese New Year begins. This is a Year of the Dragon.
If you'd like to read more about the traits associated with Dragon Years in the Chinese Zodiac, click here.

Word of the day: Outsmart

To outsmart someone is to be smarter, or more intelligent, than they are. If you've seen any of the cartoons with Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, you may remember that Roadrunner always outsmarted Coyote.

There are a number of other verbs with this prefix, and in general they mean to exceed your opponent, or your own expectations, in the activity. Some examples: outrun, outperform, outspend. A few sentences:

My opponent outsmarted me and won the game.

Outspending the competition dosen't guarantee success.

The new product sales outperformed our expectations by 5%.

He chased her for three blocks, but she outran him and disappeared.

Nibble and sip

To nibble is to take very small bites.
To sip is to take very small drinks.

The puppy nibbled on my fingers, but he didn't hurt me.
The guests nibbled on cheese and olives, and sipped wine.
When I first saw her, she was sipping tea in the corner of the café.
He didn't have much of an appetite, so he nibbled on her salad.

Squander

Squander is a verb which means to waste. We usually use it with money, opportunity or other resources, and the concept is to waste these things with a bad result. Here are some examples:
He quickly squandered all the money he had received from his father.
This meeting is important for us and we don't want to squander the chance to get this client.
If she hadn't squandered the opportunity she had to learn new skills, maybe she would have a better job today.
"This is a great opportunity for you... Don't squander it!"

Word of the day: Potluck

A potluck is when people get together and everyone brings a dish that they make themselves. People usually try to organize it so that there will be salads, appetizers, main dishes and desserts, instead of 20 plates of brownies. What's fun about it is getting to try different things, and also to talk about the recipes, and this is a popular way to serve food at a party. So, if I invited you to a potluck, what would you bring?

Whether or not to take an official English exam

There are many exams that you can take to measure your fluency in English. Some are from the University of Cambridge, and others, like the TOEFL and the TOEIC, are from an American organization called ETS.
Should you take one of these exams?
In my opinion, it's important to know why you want or need to take one.
If you want to go to an educational program that requires an exam, then it's necessary. Some jobs require you to demonstrate your level with an official certification. In these cases, it makes sense to take an exam because you need it to do something you want to do.
On the other hand, if you're learning English, you may start to feel that you want to take an exam to have a concrete measure of your progress. If this is your case, it's important to research the different exams and see which one is right for you.
Here are a few questions to consider:

• Do you prefer general English, or something focused on business?


• Do you feel more comfortable with British or American usage?


• How much time and money do you want to dedicate to preparing for and taking the exam?


• What will you do if you don't pass?

In my experience, these questions can be helpful in focusing your efforts and giving you the best chance to achieve your real goals If you're taking classes, your teacher can also help you to find a tests that's right for you. Also, you may discover that you don't need or want to take an exam, and that's great too, because it frees you to spend your time pursuing English fluency in your own way!

Do the trick

The noun trick is often associated with magic; a magic trick is an action which transforms something or someone, or makes someone or something disappear. The phrasal verb do the trick means to solve a problem or to change something, generally for the better. We usually use it with things, actions or processes, for example: I had a terrible headache but a couple of aspirin did the trick. Here are a few more examples:
Are you trying to lose weight? A few small changes may do the trick!
My car wouldn't start, but charging the battery did the trick.
If this doesn't do the trick, don't worry, we'll try something else.

People

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

Dwell on

To dwell on something is to focus on it obsessively. This could be in thought, but also in words, either written or spoken. If you dwell on something, it means that you keep thinking, writing, or talking about it for a long time. Usually, the feeling of this phrasal verb is not entirely positive, although I suppose that many problems are solved because people dwell on them! Maybe the sense is negative because other people are sometimes bored by repetition, so if you dwell on something long enough, they'll become irritated. Here's an example conversation:

Him: "That happened years ago! Why do you keep dwelling on it?"

Her: "Well, I guess I'm still upset about it!"
Him: "I don't see that dwelling on it is going to make you feel any better!"

The image here is Automat, by Edward Hopper.