I was like

This is not easy to explain.

Sometimes when people are telling each other about something that happened, they use this expression to say what they said or how they felt. You have to experience this to really understand how it works. Here is an example:

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You: What did you do last night?

Your friend: Well, my brother called and he was like, do you want to hang out, and I was like, I'm kind of tired and he was like, I can come over and we can watch TV and I was like, OK if you bring some food and he was like, Thai food? So he came over and we just hung out. What about you?

You: I was like, really tired too, but I had to meet some friends of John's who are visiting. They were like, we want to have tapas and I was like, it's going to be hard to find a table and they were like, that's no problem, we don't mind waiting, and I was like, I do, but I was cool about it and finally we found a place by their hotel.

***

This is a way of speaking that is very common among young Americans (people in their 20s or younger). It may seem strange to you, but once you learn to hear it, it will be easier to understand people when they speak. You can also start using this sometimes... it's very colloquial!

Flimsy

A wonderful person recently reminded me of a wonderful word: flimsy. This is an adjective, and if we're talking about an object (like a fabric or other material), it means "light, thin and insubstantial; lacking solidity or strength." If we're talking about an idea, theory or argument, it means "lacking plausability, unconvincing". Here are a few examples:

Mary's flimsy umbrella was no match for the strong wind and rain, and it broke a few minutes after she left the house.

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Hi Bob,

Thanks for your message about the meeting with Tom and Dave. I think the presentation is good in general, but I'm concerned that the product section is a bit flimsy. I don't think what we have will convince them to upgrade; could you review it and see what you can do to make it stronger? Thanks!

All best,

Anne
***

Salesperson: Can I help you?
You: Yes, I'm looking for some summer curtains.
Salesperson: Are you looking for anything specific?
You: Well, I want something light and summery, but not so flimsy that it will fall apart after one summer.
Salesperson: Right. I think we have some things over here that might be just right.

Flimsy is a regular adjective, so: flimsy, flimsier, the flimsiest.

Imperfect and effective

Over the past few weeks, I've been watching a TED talk by Dan Ariely. The talk is very effective, and I'm posting it below. He makes some interesting points about recognition and motivation, and although some of the insights shouldn't be new to us, the experiments he describes give vivid proof that demotivating people is very, very easy. 

Dan Ariely is an Israeli American, and he's a professor at Duke University. If you watch his TED talk, you may notice that his English is imperfect. I think you'll also feel that his presentation is effective. 

My message to you is that when you need to speak to people in English (or an any language that isn't native for you), the most important thing is to connect with people and communicate from the heart, with conviction.  Don't worry about being perfect. It's hard communicate very much if you're too focused on perfection!

It seems that there's a problem with embedding the video, so here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aH2Ppjpcho

Warm up your English

When you need to attend a training session or conference, or make a phone call in English, it makes sense to warm up first.

This is easy to do! Spending ten or fifteen minutes listening to something online is a great way to change your mind over to English. You could also chat with someone, or even just read for a few minutes. Anything you do to move your thoughts into English will help a lot!

Confusing nouns: Travel vs. trip

Travel refers to the concept of travel more than a single experience of travelling. A single experience of travelling, like going from Barcelona to Madrid, is a trip.

So when you come to visit me in Barcelona, I'll ask you: "How was your trip?"

And when you leave, I'll say: "Have a great trip!"

Sometimes people use the noun travel in plural, when they are speaking of a lot of trips, but this is kind of unusual. Nonetheless, you could ask someone: "Do you have any interesting travels coming up?"

When you're talking about a single instance of travelling, though, trip is the one to use. Here are a few examples:

You: How was your trip?
Him: It was really long, but everything went fine.


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To: Advertising Departament
From: Finance

Hi everyone,

Due to the current financial situation, we've decided to suspend all business trips starting on May 1. If you have a trip planned for after that date, let us know and we'll see what we can do. Please do not schedule any further trips until the suspension is lifted.

If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know!

All best,

Financial Team

Ramp it up

To ramp it up means to increase your effort, or to make something grow.

Usually, I think it's great to find safe spaces for improving your English, non-threatening ways to practice. In general, these kinds of opportunities, like classes, self-study, and language exchanges are the best way to improve.

But what about taking a risk?

My idea today for how to ramp up your English is to enroll in a Coursera online course. They have an amazing selection of courses to choose from, and a lot of people around the world, with all levels of English, are participating.

Why not you?

P.S. This image is from clarityfortheboss.com

All work and all play

This afternoon I had the pleasure of watching this video with Neus, one of my favorite people. What's interesting here, in my opinion, is the analysis of how different generations have approached their work lives. It would be interesting to hear your thoughts about this; do you agree with the ideas?

By the way, you can also find this video subtitled in Spanish. Hope you find it thought-provoking.

P.S. The title comes from an expression: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."