...Until We Meet Again

Well, this is it:  the very last post of the semester and of 2014.

 

The idioms we've had the past couple of weeks are:

 

• to be snowed under
• to work your fingers to the bone
• to bring home the bacon
• to be a number cruncher

We had these tongue twisters (https://soundcloud.com/alemany-teach/fall-2014-final-pronunciation):

           Four furious friends fought for the phone.

            There was a young fisher named Fischer
            Who fished for a fish in a fissure.
            The fish with a grin,
            Pulled the fisherman in;
            Now they’re fishing the fissure for Fischer.
 

            Freshly fried flying fish

             Freshly fried fresh flesh

            A flea and a fly flew up in a flue.
            Said the flea, “Let us fly!“
            Said the fly, “Let us flee!“
            So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
            Friendly Frank flips fine flapjacks
 
            Fat frogs flying past fast at five to five (4:55)

            Flee from fog to fight flu fast!

            Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.

            I am not the pheasant plucker, I’m the pheasant plucker’s mate. I am only 

            plucking pheasants ’cause the pheasant plucker’s running late.
 

  We talked a lot about punctuation.  If you want to practice go here.

Here are some words we learned.

 

 

Remember, you can always contact me at dselleck@ccsf.edu.

 

Until then:  

 

And I wish all of you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Feliz año nuevo

新年好

Chúc mừng năm mới

明けましておめでとうございます

с Новым годом

नया साल मुबारक

feliz ano novo   

ปีใหม่มีความสุข 

bonne année

መልካም አዲስ አመት 

  سنة جديدة سعيدة

I can't believe it's December!

It's almost winter and we've finally gotten some rain here.

During the past two weeks we've had these idioms:

• to let someone down
• to make it
• back talk
• to skate on thin ice
• to straighten up
• to be chicken
• to be a chicken
• to chicken out
• to turn out
• fraidycat
• there's something to that

We practiced these words.


And we worked on the following tongue twisters:

1.    Give Mr. Snipe’s wife’s knife a swipe.

2.   Will you wash Wendell on Wednesday, William?

3.   Who washed Washington’s white woolen underwear when Washington’s wash­er­woman went west?

 4.   Twelve twins twirled twelve twigs.

 5.   While we were walking, we were watching window washers wash Washington’s windows with warm washing water.

6.   Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.

 7.   Welsh wristwatches wear well in wild Wales.

  8.  Of all the felt I ever felt
      I never felt a piece of felt
     Which felt as fine as that felt felt
     When first I felt that felt hat’s felt.
 

Click on this link to hear me pronounce them: https://soundcloud.com/alemany-teach/friday-december-5-2013

Happy Thanksgiving Week

Since we've been concentrating on job interviews this week, we don't have a lot of vocabulary.  You can practice (a rather strange assortment of words) here.

This week's idioms were:

• to be bummed out
• to throw in the towel
• to give someone a hard time
• to let someone have it
• to clean up (pronoun) act

I will take next weekend off for Thanksgiving  and be back in December.  Until then I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving, in my opinion, is the best holiday we have, and it's a holiday for everyone everywhere because it is not from any religion or any culture.  It is simply a day to say thank you for everything you have:

your family

your health

the roof over your head

the food on your table

your friends

your work

your school 

your ability to read in at least 2 languages

and ....

And , I want to say Thank you to you for reading this.

Let's Get A Job!

This week we've been talking about jobs in the US, applications, and job interviews.  Click here for our vocabulary (there's a lot!)

Also this week we had these idioms:

• to crack me up/ to crack up
• to blow it
• to be ripped off/ to be a rip off
• to have it in for someone
• to be on the same page

And, here are this week's tongue twisters.  They make no sense, but they're a lot of fun!

1.     Seven slick slimy snails, slowly sliding southward.

2.    Chicken in the car and the car can go, that is the way you spell Chicago.

3.    The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.

4.    If two witches would watch two watches, which witch would watch which watch?

5.    If you understand, say ""understand"". If you don't understand, say ""don't understand"". But if you understand and say ""don't understand"". how do I understand that you understand?

6.    Whether the weather: Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not.

7.    Whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot, We'll weather the weather whether we like it or not.

Here's the link to hear me pronouncing them:  https://soundcloud.com/alemany-teach/tongue-twisters-4

Back to Business

This week we discussed ways to interrupt in meetings -- and had a lot of fun doing so.  Here is the vocabulary we studied.  Remember if you can't get to the premium activities,  log in as VOTPstudent.  Your password is 750.  You should be able to do all the games and take the vocabulary test too.  If you have a problem, please tell me or email me at dselleck@ccsf.edu.

We also studied these idioms & expressions over the past week:

• to put something on the back burner
• to have a pity party
• to rub (it) in
• to be on a slipper slope

It's Been An Exciting Week...

in San Francisco!

First the Giants won the World Series and there was a GIANT parade Friday for them. And to give you a taste of a Giants game and why Giants fans don't stop believing, here's Steve Perry singing:  

 Friday was also Halloween.  In honor of Halloween we read this is class:

Two Witches 

       By Alexander Resnikoff

　

There was a witch.

The witch had an itch.

The itch was so itchy.

 It gave her a twitch.

Another witch admired the witch, so she started twitching though she had no itch.

Now both of them twitch, so it's hard to tell which witch has the itch ,and which witch has the twitch.

If you want to hear me reading the poem, click  here.

And this week in class we had the most wonderful presentations from all the students.  All I can say is:

• Way to Go!
• You Knocked Them Dead!
• You Rock!

We'll be back to our regular work next week and more vocabulary.

It's almost Halloween!

Halloween is on Friday, but who can think about that when the S.F. Giants are in the World Series!  Right now it's tied - 2 games to San Francisco and 2 to Kansas City.

GO .........

In other news, we've been planning presentations.  I did a presentation on the Beach Chalet.  

Get information here: http://www.beachchalet.com/ 

Be sure to visit if you can or at least check out the great murals

here.

This week's idioms were:

• to come clean
• to make fun of
• a big deal/not a big deal
• to stick to (review)
• a piece of cake
• to get out of hand
• in a nutshell
• a long story        

Finally, here are this weeks vocabulary words:https://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=20686419&x=c0313

Have a good week and happy trick or treating!

Time Flies...

I can't believe we're half-way through the semester already!

This week our idioms are:

• give it a go
• give it a shot
• go to bat for someone
• fill me in
• cheer up!
• on the other hand

Do you know what they mean?

You can practice the other vocabulary we learned here.

And here are 5 tongue twisters: (Remember these are silly sayings that work on your pronunciation.  They don't make any sense!)

1.     Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?

2.    Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair, Fuzzy  

      Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy, was he?

3.    How many cookies could a good cook cook if a good cook could cook cookies? A good cook could cook as much cookies as a good cook who could cook cookies.

4.    How many cans can a cannibal nibble, if a cannibal can nibble cans? As many cans as a cannibal can nibble if a cannibal can nibble cans.

5.      I thought, I thought of thinking of thanking you.

6.     Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,  Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Click here so you can hear me say them:  https://soundcloud.com/alemany-teach/more-pronunciation-october-19