Expression of the week- same old same old

Hello, hello!

I heard the expression of the week on a TV show about cars. While I was looking for the video of this show on Youtube I found the video of a song.
The title of this song is the expression of the week- same old same old. Before I explain it, let me just express my opinion about this song and this singer: AWESOME!!!

So watch the video, enjoy the song and then read the explanation of the expression "same old same old".



 So, same old same old is an expression used to say that a situation or someone's behaviour remains the same, especially when it is boring or annoying; to say that nothing has changed, on the contrary, it is just the same.

Example 1:
A: Hi Jack, how is everything?
B: Same old same old (everything is the same)

Example 2: The husband says to his wife: "I'm going to stop drinking that much". The wife, who knows her husband so well answers: "yeah, same old same old. (you always say that, but you never change)

Example 3: I bought the new Corolla, but it was same old same old. (there were not many differences, it was like the old model)

Got it? (did you understand it?) I hope this post has helped you and that your life is not same old same old.

See you next time!

Expression of the week- to run some errands - Correction

Hi everyone,
after a long time, the Expression of the Week is back.
And today's expression has everything to do with our busy lives.

Definition: to have some things to do, like going to the bank, going grocery shopping, taking the clothes to the dry cleaner, picking up the kids from school... something quick!

Example1 : I can't go to the movies with you today, I still have some errands to run! (the same as- I still have some things to do.)

Example2: Before we start our trip we have some errands to run.

NOTE: We normally  say "some errands to run"

I hope this post can be helpful. If you have any questions, just let me know.

This post has been corrected because the expression was not spelled correctly. I apologize for the inconvenient. You can check the definition and the spelling on this link:
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/run+an+errand

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi everyone,
today is thanksgiving day. Do you know what that is? One of my students (Nairajane Ellery) made a research and wrote this nice text explaining everything.
Before you start reading it, I'd just like to say that I'm thankful for many things in my life: my family, my website (www.skypeclassesluisa.com), my students, my friends, the food I eat every day, for being healthy...
And you, what are you thankful for?

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the name for a traditional event widely celebrated in North America. It has begun with the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians. Some pilgrims left Plymouth in England in 1620s and 1630s emigrating to the US and arrived at the Massachusetts Bay. After a brutal winter coincident with their arrival, which killed some of their people they started their settlement with the aid of American Native Indians, who taught them how to cultivate the land, extract saps from trees, catch fish in the river, etc. So, in November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, a celebratory feast was organized by the Governor William Bradford, which invited also the Indians tribes. This celebration although not called Thanksgiving is assumed by historians as being the First Thanksgiving event. Dishes prepared for the feast mainly consisted of traditional Native American spices and cooking methods and fowls. Further, for this fist celebration, a Native American guest brought five deer. Unlike the modern Thanksgiving celebrations, the meal did not include pies and cakes because they had a shortage of sugar. Anyone can learn more about this settlement visiting the museum Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts.

In 1789, George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the US government and he called upon American to express their gratitude for the happy conclusion to the country’s war of independence and the successful ratification of the US constitution. Here, the focus on successful harvest is missing. This has also happened in Canada where Thanksgiving was firstly celebrated by the explorer Martin Frobisher who has tried to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean and then instituted a Thanksgiving celebration to thank for surviving the perils of his journey.

However, after French and American (from New England) settlers have arrived in Canada, Thanksgiving celebrations were directed to express their thanks for the good harvests.

 

 

Although Thanksgiving celebration has been subjected to the influence of governors during the revolutionary period, the President Roosevelt  (US) finally fixed the Thanksgiving holiday to the fourth Thursday of November. In Canada Thanksgiving was fixed to be a statutory holiday on the second Monday of October. Either in the United States or Canada, Thanksgiving celebrates harvests.

Thanksgiving are also for one reason or another celebrated in Germany, Grenada, Liberia, Japan, the Netherlands, Korea and Norfolk Island (pertains to Australia). South America does not celebrate Thanksgiving.

In US this celebration involves a family dinner and large meals centered around a big bread-based stuffed and toasted turkey (main dish), mashed potatos, gravy, pumpkin pie, drinks and happiness.

However, as a main feature of American people, consumerism cannot be forgotten during such celebration. Then, in this respect, retailers established the Black Friday shopping which used to start around 4:00 and 5:00 pm and was said to be the beginning of Christmas shopping season. Nevertheless, last year Black Friday started at Thursday midnight and this has raised some objections because families say it is happening too early and this frustrates Thanksgiving celebrations as shoppers are eager to leave the family dinner to line up in the shopping doors for getting the best offers.

 

 

 

 

Creativity

Hi everyone,
I've just seen a video that I'd really like to share with you.

I just loved it! Creativity really does take time and I would also say that tired minds can't produce much. As a teacher,  I have been through moments where my creativity just disappeared. I was exausted and no matter how hard I tried no ideas came to my mind.
Our minds need breaks, vacations, change of habits! Let's take care of our minds!

Halloween

What do you know about Halloween? When and where did it start? Why is it celebrated? A student of mine researched about it and we discussed that in our class. It's a really amazing story. Below is the worksheet we have used.

HALLOWEEN HISTORY

 

1.Read the history of Halloween:

Where did Halloween come from?
There are many different ideas about Halloween's origins. Some say it dates back nearly 6,000 years, while others argue that Halloween has a much shorter history. What most agree on is that Halloween's original focus was more about harvests than horror.

Some say the tradition began with the Celts, who lived thousands of years ago in what is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France. The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1, which marked the end of summer and the beginning of the dark, cold winter (the only two seasons the Celts recognized.) To help protect themselves and their crops during the long winter, the Celts carried out a joyous harvest celebration called Samhain (pronounced sow-in), which means "summer's end." Some say Celtic priests burned crops and animals as part of the celebration. They also supposedly wore costumes and told each other's fortunes at this time.

How did the name 'Halloween' come about?
By the 800s, Christianity had spread into Celtic lands and Pope Boniface IV named November 1 "All Saints' Day." It was a day to honor those who died for their beliefs. The celebration was also called "All-hallows" or "All-hallowmas" (from an old English word "Alholowmesse," meaning All Saints' Day). People began to call the night before it "All-hallows Eve." This name eventually became Halloween.

 

Why did people start trick-or-treating?
Trick-or-treating most likely dates back to early All Souls' Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor people would beg for food. Families would then give them pastries called "soul cakes" in return for their promise to pray for the family's dead relatives. Children eventually took on this tradition, known as "going a-souling," and they would visit houses in their neighborhood for drinks, food and money.


 

Where did the idea of wearing Halloween costumes come from?
Dressing up in Halloween costumes also has European origins. Hundreds of years ago, people believed that ghosts roamed the streets on Halloween night, so they wore masks when they left home to fool ghosts into thinking they were other spirits.
On Halloween, people would also place bowls of food outside their homes to please the ghosts and discourage them from entering their houses. Over the course of several centuries, people gradually began to eat these goodies themselves (and leave nothing for the ghosts!).

Where did the name 'Jack-o'-Lantern' come from? The name "Jack-o'-Lantern" comes from an old Irish myth about a famous trickster named Stingy Jack, who was not allowed into either heaven or hell because of his trickery. So, according to the story, the devil gave Jack a glowing piece of coal placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to light his way at night. As the legend goes, Jack has been roaming the face of the earth ever since. The Irish named this ghostly figure "Jack of the Lantern," which was later shortened to "Jack o' Lantern."

Why are Jack-o'-Lanterns made out of pumpkins?
Hundreds of years ago, children in Scotland and Ireland made their version of Jack-o'-Lanterns out of turnips. They'd hollow them out, carve faces on them and place candles inside. Then they would carry them around at night to scare away wandering evil spirits like Stingy Jack. All of this changed, however, when European immigrants came to America and saw that pumpkins made better Jack-o'-Lanterns because of their bright orange color, round shapes and soft insides. Can you imagine carving faces into a tough old turnip.

 

2. Answer the questions below

 

a) What is the original focus of Halloween?

b) Who began the tradition of Halloween?

c) What did the Celts celebrate on November 1?

d) What were the 2 seasons that the Celts recognized?

e) Why did the Celts carried out a harvest celebration?

f) What does Samhain mean?

g) What was celebrated on All Saints’ Day?

 

Happy Halloween!!!

Summer Spaghetti

Hi everyone!
I know this is not a culinary blog, but we can learn a lot from recipes, besisdes we all love a good meal. This recipe is perfect for a hot summer day, or any day! :-)
Now, I present my Summer Spaghetti Recipe:

Ingredients:


• 200g shrimps
• 5 tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves
• olive oil
• herbs
• salt
• pepper
• juice of half a lemon
• 250g of spaghetti

Preparation:
First, boil the shrimps for 5 minutes (no more than that). Then, dice 2 tomatoes and put them in a bowl. After boiling the shrimps, mix them with the tomatoes, add olive oil to cover the tomatoes, salt, pepper, the herbs (I like to use basil) and 1 peeled clove of garlic. Let this marinate for a while in the fridge (the longer the better, but if you don't have time, it will taste good too).
Blend the other 3 tomatoes with olive oil, the other clove of garlic, salt and the lemon juice. ( you can do this in a blender or with a mixer). Mix it with the diced tomatoes and the shrimp.
Cook the spaghetti as you like, and finally toss it into the sauce.
You can add shredded cheese if you like.

Enjoy your meal!



Vocabulary:



lemon
 

herbs

spaghetti

garlic clove
 



shrimp

pepper
 

tomatoes





olive oil


So, did you like the recipe? Did you prepare it? How did it turn out? Did you prepare it differently? Do you have any questions on how to prepare it? Leave your comments here!

Song activity to practice the simple past

Want to practice the Simple Past? Here is a fun activity:

 

Click on the links, listen to a part of each song and complete them with verbs in the past:

 

Someone Like You

Adele

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQl3WQQoQ0

I ___________ that you're settled down
That you ______________ a girl and you're _____________ now
I ______________ that your dreams _____________ true
Guess she _________________ you things, I _____________ give to you

 

Because You Loved Me

Celine Dion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDcuRgk-JEI

For all those times you _________ by me.
For all the truth that you __________ me see.
For all the joy you ___________ to my life.
For all the wrong that you ___________ right.
For every dream you ___________ come true.
For all the love I ____________ in you I'll be forever thankful baby.
You're the one who ___________ me up.
Never let me fall.
You're the one who ___________ me through, through it all.

Till There Was You

The Beatles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Izz_MMbqk

There ________ bells on a hill
But I never ________ them ringing
No I never _________ them at all
'Til there _________ you
There ___________ birds in the sky
But I never _______ them winging
No I never _________ them at all
'Til there ________ you

 

Leave your answers, doubts or comments here!

 

Raise and Rise / Lay and Lie

Last week a student asked me the difference between Raise and Rise / Lay and Lie.
I prepared a worksheet for him and I decided to post it here because it might help other people too.

First, look at the pictures and the sentences. Try to discover their differences:

The horse raised its paws to see the sun rise

People rose from their chairs to applaud

He is lying down and laid the magazine on his lap

The pillow is laid on the bed


Do you already know the difference? So tell me, should we say:

 My pen was lying on the table or My pen was laying on the table???
Our dog never lies down when told to do so or Our dog never lays down when told to do so???

 Tom is so depressed that it will be hard to rise his spirits. or Tom is so depressed that it will be hard to raise his spirits??

The river rises each spring. or The river raises each spring???

 

Confused?? Let me give you the definitions:

·         Definition of to raise:  The verb raise means “to lift to a higher position.”

 Raise is transitive; it almost always has an object. Things are raised by something else.

To raise, raised, raised

 

·         Definition of to rise: The verb rise means “to go to a higher position.”

 Rise is intransitive; it never has an object. Things rise by themselves;

To rise, rose, risen

 

·      Definition of to lay: to put or place; it is transitive; it almost always has an object.

To lay (I lay the book on the table.),laid (Yesterday, I laid the book on the table.),laid (I have laid the book on the table)

To lay, laid, laid

 

·         Definition of to lie: to recline; it is intransitive; it never has an object

To lie (I lie on the bed), lay (Yesterday, I lay on the bed.),lain (I have lain on the bed for many hours)

To lie, lay, (this is the problem: the past of "lie" is "lay") lain

Leave your answers, comments or doubts down below. I'll be glad to check them and to answer your questions.

                                                          











Expression of the week- In French

Special Expression of the Week in French

Expression du jour: "Avoir la frite" !

Croyez-vous que ça veut dire que tu as mangé une seule frite à midi?


PAS DU TOUT!


Cette expression courante de la langue française signifie être en forme, se sentir plein d'énergie.
Elle peut s'utiliser également à la négation pour dire ne pas être en forme.


Ce sont en fait des triplés car on peut également employer les expressions "avoir la patate" ou "avoir la pêche" pour dire la même chose!


Beaucoup de blagues sont ainsi faites sur les Belges, réputés pour manger beaucoup de frites.


Alors vous vous sentez comment aujourd"hui? Vous avez la patate? Vous n'avez pas la frite?

 

This post was created by Caroline Joly, french teacher at www.skypeclassesluisa.com

Expression of the week - pick...up

Hello, hello! Sorry for taking so long to write here on the blog. I promise to post more this week to make up for the last one.
The expression of the week was chosen because many students of mine ask me: "how do you say...?"
And several times what they want to know is "pick...up"
This expression can be used in different situations:

1. A friend calls you:

friend: Hey, do you wanna go to the movies?
you: Sure! At what time?
friend: At 10:30pm. Is that alright?
you: Yes, but there is a little problem. My car is broken!
friend: Don't worry, I'll pick you up!
you:Thank you! See later!

It means that your friend will go to your house and will take you to the movies.

2. Your dog pooped (defecated) on the street, you are going to have to pick it up.

It means that you have to lift the dog's poop and put it in a bag. ( This is something that people usually forget to do)

 

3. After one year living in Argentina I finally picked up the pronunciation of the RR.

 

It means that I understood the pronunciation of the RR

 

There are other usages for this expression and you can check them out on this link:

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/pick-up

 

 

E-mail language

Teaching business English makes me develop my vocabulary as each area has its own technical terms. It's great fun, but it's also challenging!
A lot of the communication in the business world nowadays is through email and that's where many doubts come up.
Because of this I decided to list here some expressions you can use while writing an email:

To start:
Dear Mr./ Mrs./ Ms...
Hello ...
Good morning/ afternoon/ evening...

To refer to previous contact:
Following our meeting (phone call), I'm writing to...
Sorry for taking so long to answer.

To say thank you:
Thanks for replying so quicly...
I appreciate your help on...

To refer to an attachment:
Please find attached
I'm attaching

To ask for a reply:
I look foward to hearing from you
Please get back to me ASAP

To finish:
Best Regards
Regards
Sincerely

 Activity-Complete the folowing e-mail with the expressions listed above:

__________ Mr. Stevens,

_________________________________, I'm writing to inform you that the order you placed won't arrive on time. I apologize for the inconvenience, but we had problems with our supplier.
_________________ a bonus discount for you next purchase.

_______________
Mary Richards

You can leave your answer on the comments! I hope this can be helpful!

Website Launch- www.skypeclassesluisa.com

I'm proud to announce that my website is ready. It took us 3 months to prepare it, but we made it.

First, I'd like to thank Vitor Carvalho, who designed and programmed the website, the teachers who have already decided to be a part of this project: Caroline Jolie, Juan Gabriel Ruiz Luis and Linda Lemus and my students who wrote beautiful testimonials- Suelen Lopes, Fernando Braune, Nairajane Ellery, Ana Ellery and Germano Braga.

My friend Marie Grammare who is working on the translations to French and my boyfriend Andrés Bertona who not only did the translation to Spanish, but also helped me think about the details of this new challenge.

Besisdes, I'd like to thank my parents for always supporting me in all my projects.
Finally, this is the link:
www.skypeclassesluisa.com
I hope you enjoy it!

ESL VIDEO Activity- Sex and the City

One of the things that has helped me a lot to learn English is to watch TV series and movies in English.
I still do that to keep my English up dated.
Because of that I have created one activity with a video that talks about the movie Sex and the City. I used the service of the website www.eslvideo.com to create this activity.

Here is the link:
http://www.eslvideo.com/esl_video_quiz_high_intermediate.php?id=12230

Hope you enjoy it and if you have any doubts, just write them here or on the activity itself.

Expression of the Week- sleep on it

A few weeks ago I was watching a movie with a student of mine and I saw a scene where the characters used the expression - sleep on it.
I edited the scene and added subtitles in some parts.
Watch the video below and try to discover the meaning of this expression.

Write your comments, questions or suggestions!

Something new! + Going to the doctor Activity

One of the things I love about teaching is that we are always learning. This week I learned how to use the technology to help me with my skype classes. A French teacher that will be working with me at my virtual school  presented me to the technology.
That's right! A virtual school. There will be teachers from all over the world teaching all kinds of languages. I'm recruting teachers at the moment. So, if you are interested, contact me through the email: contato@skypeclassesluisa.com
The website will be on very soon!
Going back to what I was saying.There is a website (http://www.eslvideo.com/) where you can use youtube videos to create activities and I have already created my first activity. It was designed for one student in particular, but it can help you too.
Click on the link and you will see it:
http://www.eslvideo.com/esl_video_quiz.php?id=11993

Leave your comments! See you soon!

Expression of the Week - 24/7

So this week I went a little crazy and decided to make a video to explain the expression of the week. It's very playful because I used all the fuctions of the program I have for making videos.

I hope you had fun watching this video and that you could understand the expression.

See you soon!

Difference between Cearense and British people

I have just seen this image on facebook and I started laughing hard.
The man is drowning and needs someone to help him, but he can't just scream: "Help!" The British are known for being very polite people and they always apologize (in british "apologise) for everything.
On the other hand, I am from Brazil and was born in a city called Fortaleza which is in the state of Ceará. Beautiful city, really wonderful beaches, but we have a little problem:when we speak we use the imperative 100% of the time! It's not because we are rude, it's just the way we are.
So, picture number 1 would be completely accepted in Ceará.
If you are in England remember to use the magic expressions: excuse me, I wonder if, I'm afraid I can't..., I'm terribly sorry, please and thank you

How are things in your country or city? Which picture would best describe it?

Conversation Activity- Laughter :-)

It's really a shame that I can't have nice discussions here on the blog. I know it's complicated to post comments and most people don't feel secure when they have to give personal information.
If you are a Facebook friend and would like to give your opinion, suggestion or leave a comment about the topic you can write it on Facebook too, ok?!
Anyways, this week a video from Youtube caught my attention and I used it with some of my conversation students.
                                                 Medical Benefits of Laughter

Did you watch it? What do you think about the research presented on the video?
According to this research what happens to our blood vessels when we laugh?
Do you agree with this research?

Just in case you haven't laughed today, here is another video that might help you a little:

Leave your answers and your comments!

Thanks for reading!

Accents

So, you already have a good level of English, you can carry on a conversation, you understand people and people understand you. However, there is something making your life harder: The Accent!
Yeah, accents are something else! I'm going to post here some videos of different English accents:

American (New York) accent

British accent

Australian accent

New Zealand accent

Irish accent

Wow! There are many other accents around the world and we can even identify differences within one country. But, what I want to know is:

Which accent seems easier for you? Do they have anything in common? Do you try to make any accent when you speak English? If so, which one? Leave your answers and your comments.

See you soon!

Expression of the Week - A.S.A.P

This week a funny thing happened, more than 2 students of mine asked me what A.S.A.P stands for. Because I don't believe in coincidences I decided to post here on the blog in case anyone else in the world was looking for the definition of this abbreviation too.
Fisrt, when you don't know what an abbreviation means, you should ask:
What does... stand for? In this case: "What does "A.S.A.P" stand for?
A.S.A.P stands for As Soon As Possible.
In case you don't know, As Soon As Possible means the earliest moment possible, as fast as you can do it.
I will use an email as an example:

Hello Paul,
how are things? I'm sending you the results of the analysis. I'd like you to write the report and send it to me A.S.A.P.
Regards,
Jack

Hope this expression has helped you in any way! Leave your comments!!!

Expression of the week- Track and Field

Dear followers of the blog,
sorry for not posting anything in more than 10 days. I was working as an interpreter in an event of Track and Field.

The track at UNIFOR-University of Fortaleza

It's the 8th year that I work. A great experience because I get to practice my English with native speakers and this year I got to use my Spanish too. There were athletes from USA, Canada, Bahamas, Jamaica, Croatia, Lithuania, Portugal, Morocco, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Cuba,Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria and Ethiopia .
Thanks to the team of interpreters who worked really hard, to UNIFOR (University of Fortaleza) and to CBAT (Brazilian Confederation of Track and Field)





So, the expression of the week is Track and Field. Did you already discover what it means?

If not, I will give you a definition:

DEFINITION: It is a sport of various competitive activities of running, jumping and throwing such as:

400 meters with hurdles

100 meters

High Jump

Hammer Throw

Javelin Throw

Shot put

Pole vault

And others more. Track and Field is a beautiful and old sport that has its roots in human prehistory since running, jumping and throwing are natural forms of human physical expressions.