Rude Questions, Germs, and other Vocabulary

This week in class we talked about questions that are considered rude in the U.S.  Like:

How old are you?

How much [money] do you make?

How much do you weigh?

Why aren't you married?

Why don't you have children?

What size are you?

Are you expecting? (pregnant)

If someone asks you questions like that, you can respond with:

   That’s personal.  (polite) 

    I’d rather not say. (polite)

                                               It’s a secret! (polite & funny)

                                               None of your business! (rude)

We also listened to a great song called, "I'll never fall in love again"  (Listen to the song to find out why.) sung by Dionne Warwick.

Here are the lyrics:

What do you get when you fall in love?
A guy with a pin to burst your bubble
That's what you get for all your trouble
I'll never fall in love again
I'll never fall in love again

What do you get when you kiss a guy?
You get enough germs to catch pneumonia
After you do, he'll never phone ya
I'll never fall in love again
Don't you know that I'll never fall in love again

Dont' tell me what's it all about
'Cause I've been there and I'm glad I'm out
Out of those chains, those chains that bind you
That is why I'm here to remind you

What do you get when you fall in love?
You only get a life of pain and sorrow
So for at least until tomorrow
I'll never fall in love again
No, no, I'll never fall in love again

I'm out of those chains, those chains that bind you
That is why I'm here to remind you

What do you get when you fall in love?
You only get lies and pain and sorrow
So for at least until tomorrow
I'll never fall in love again
Don't you know that I'll never fall in love again
I'll never fall in love again

And, finally,  click here to practice some vocabulary and idioms about the body.

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Happy Ground Hog Day!

February 2, 2014

February 2 is Groundhog Day. Groundhogs are small brown furry animals. They live under the ground, and they eat grass and berries.  Groundhog Day is based on folklore. The folklore is that if the groundhog comes out of its hole and sees its shadow then there will be six more weeks of winter weather. But if the groundhog comes out of its hole and doesn't see its shadow, then there will be an early spring. 

and 

Happy Lunar New Year -- 

It's the

When you're finished celebrating these two holidays, you can practice this week's idioms and vocabulary here.

This Week's Idioms and This Shirt

Greetings!

Click here to practice this week's idioms.

Mary Chapin Carpenter is a wonderful singer-songwriter.  This week we listened to her song This Shirt which tells a great story of her old shirt.

Here are the lyrics:

This shirt is old and faded
All the color's washed away
I've had it now for more damn years
Than I can count anyway
I wear it beneath my jacket
With the collar turned up high
So old I should replace it
But I'm not about to try
This shirt's got silver buttons
And a place upon the sleeve
Where I used to set my heart up
Right there anyone could see
This shirt is the one I wore to every boring high school dance
Where the boys ignored the girls
And we all pretended to like the band
This shirt was a pillow for my head
On a train through Italy
This shirt was a blanket beneath the love
We made in Argeles
This shirt was lost for three whole days
In a town near Buffalo
'Till I found the locker key
In a downtown Trailways bus depot
This shirt was the one I lent you
And when you gave it back
There was a rip inside the sleeve
Where you rolled your cigarettes
It was the place I put my heart
Now look at where you put a tear
I forgave your thoughtlessness
But not the boy who put it there
This shirt was the place your cat
Decided to give birth to five
And we stayed up all night watching
And we wept when the last one died
This shirt is just an old faded piece of cotton
Shining like the memories
Inside those silver buttons
This shirt is a grand old relic
With a grand old history
I wear it now for Sunday chores
Cleaning house and raking leaves
I wear it beneath my jacket
With the collar turned up high
So old I should replace it
But I'm not about to try

Martin Luther King & Idioms

Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. in the USA.  He was and is a very important person in U.S. history.  If you want to get more information about him, click here.  If you want to see a short clip of his famous "I have a Dream" speech, click on the video below.

And if you want to practice some vocabulary (mostly idioms) from the first week of school, click here.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Denise

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

...and welcome back.

This semester, this blog is going to be geared for intermediate ESL -- Levels 5 - 6.  We'll be learning a lot of vocabulary, idioms and focusing on learning past participles and the present perfect tense.  (For example, I have taught English for 22 years.  You have studied English for 2 years.)  I plan to post something every weekend, starting the weekend of January 18.

See you then!

Denise

 

 

 

The end of the book, camping and more....

Well here we are at the end of the semester.  I'm sad; how about you?



Before we leave, we still have some work to do.  Click here to practice Units 9 & 10.

It's too cold to go camping now, but when it's nicer a great place to go is Samuel P. Taylor State Park
which is very beautiful and very close to San Francisco.  Click here for more information.  You can also go there for a picnic.

And finally, it's time to wish everyone 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

 سنة جديدة سعيدة

 
See you in 2014!