Taking a load off (#idiom)

Taking a load off

Monday is President’s Day, a holiday in the U.S., so we’re getting a three-day weekend, which means I finally get to TAKE A LOAD OFF. It’s been so busy at work lately that I’m making it a point to take it easy this weekend. Sure, I still have a list of things to do, but… Read more »

Christmas 2015

It’s Christmas!

We’re having an unseasonably warm Christmas here in New York City. It’s strange, but no one’s complaining. Most of us are enjoying it, especially as we know the brutal wintry weather will eventually return. I, myself, have been busy lately, so Christmas this year means slowing down, taking it easy, and getting plenty of rest…. Read more »

Pasta dish for English vocabulary lesson

It’s Thanksgiving!

It’s Thanksgiving once again! I wish you all a day of fun, great food, quality time with family and friends, and plenty of things to be grateful for. If you are celebrating Thanksgiving, you will most likely pig out on a huge meal with some fantastic desserts. You will probably have seconds. You will be… Read more »

Image of autumn leaves for English lesson on the future perfect

Reviewing the Future Perfect

. We’re halfway through November. The autumn leaves have fallen, and winter is fast approaching. The year 2015 is almost over, and we just have a month or so before the new year begins. Do you have anything that you want to accomplish by the end of the year? Are you working on a task… Read more »

cute pumpkin photos for Halloween post

Is Halloween becoming less scary? :-|

Halloween has always been a spooky holiday where people put up creepy decorations and wear scary costumes. When you think of Halloween, you think skeletons & vampires & haunted houses & witches flying in the dark. People get pumpkins and carve Jack ‘o lanterns that are supposed to give passersby chills, right? SPOOKY, CREEPY –… Read more »

photo of lunch for #vocabulary lesson

Calling in sick & feeling under the weather

I’ve been home feeling under the weather the past two days. I think I caught my cold early last week when I started sniffling off and on. I must say I did a pretty good job keeping it at bay until Sunday, when it suddenly got worse and my nose started to run nonstop. 😐… Read more »

image of the simple present and the present progressive from a grammar booklet

Have you mastered the English present tenses?

The Simple Present and the Present Progressive/Continuous are the first two tenses that you learn when you first start studying English. Because of this, many students who have been studying English for a long time don’t want to practice them anymore because they think these tenses are too easy. Unfortunately, even advanced students can have a… Read more »

photos for English lesson on the slang phrase "the skinny"

Here’s the skinny on “the skinny”!

You probably already know that the word “skinny” also means “thin,” which is the opposite of “fat.” A person who doesn’t need to lose weight and who probably needs to gain weight is skinny, right? However, did you also know that the phrase “the skinny” is slang for “information” about some topic? That’s right! This… Read more »

photo to teach English vocabulary

Are you a night owl or an early bird?

People are usually either a night owl or an early bird. If you love to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, you are definitely a night owl. On the other hand, if you prefer to hit the sack early and get up early the next day, you can call yourself an early… Read more »

PB&J photo for an English vocabulary blog post

Becoming FOND OF blueberry jam

I usually make a PB&J to take to work every day–or my wife does it for me. 🙂 Recently, we decided to try blueberry instead of my usual raspberry, but I quickly realized I wasn’t too fond of the flavor. 😐 I like blueberry in pies and cakes, but it just didn’t go with peanut… Read more »

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Latest

  • pun: “to the core”

    Here’s the second photo that I took from a poster at Whole Foods Market. As in the first one, we’re sure the PUN (play on words) is totally intended. On this one, the pun is in the phrase “to the core“; it has a couple of meanings. 1. The core of an apple or any… Read more »

  • pun: over easy

    Here’s one of two photos I took at Whole Foods with clever PUNS (play on words). On this poster, “over easy” has a couple of meanings.  1. Eggs cooked “over easy” is a fried egg flipped over gently and served with the YOLK (the yellow part) still RUNNY (liquid).  2. “A price that goes over… Read more »

  • Made from scratch

    MADE FROM SCRATCH – prepared from basic ingredients (flour, water, sugar, …) I found this cool idiom on a poster at Whole Foods. I go there QUITE A BIT (often) to get some work done, take advantage of their free wifi, and have some of their prepared dishes. They’re A BIT PRICEY (a little expensive);… Read more »

  • New Survey: next lesson on verb tenses

    We had a nice TURNOUT (number of visitors) for my last lesson on the past perfect tense, so I thought of preparing another small lesson on verb tenses. For my students, the future perfect and the future perfect progressive tenses can also be challenging, so I’m considering doing one of these next.  What about you?… Read more »

  • the past perfect tense

    The past perfect can be challenging for some English learners. It can be tough to figure out exactly when or how to use it. But it’s really not very difficult. Basically, the past perfect tense occurs before the past tense and is usually used when you tell a story that happened in the past. When… Read more »

  • Survey: next pronunciation lesson

    I recently went through our stats here at the small blog; it tells us which posts are getting the most visitors. It turns out that a pronunciation lesson that I posted in February this year for the vowel sound /æ/ (as in cat) is among the most popular. So, now I’m contemplating of preparing another… Read more »

  • Are you tolerant or judgmental?

    Ad on the New York City subway Once in a while, I come across clever ads in subway trains that make me CHUCKLE. This one is from Manhattan Mini Storage (No, I don’t work for them.) It’s STEREOTYPICAL of New Yorkers. Most of us are indeed TOLERANT of other people’s ideas and beliefs, and we… Read more »

  • TT4BS /I/ (hit) & /i/ (heat)

    Hello, folks! In this TongueTwisting4BetterSpeech, we will practice both the short vowel sound /I/ and the long vowel sound /i/. It’s always good to practice the sounds separately especially if it’s a bit challenging, so you can go to our April 3, 2012 post to practice /I/ and to our April 10, 2012 post for /i/.If you’re… Read more »

  • New exercise at the small guide site

    Our story continues with our newest exercise at the small guide site. Our main characters, John and Kate, are back from their quick jaunt (short trip) to Chicago. Click the TryThis! link above and head over to the small guide site to read about how their trip went. Try the new exercise and practice the following… Read more »

  • Lie vs lay

    The English verbs lie and lay are tricky and are often confused even by native speakers. I hope this blog post will clear up this confusion for you, and perhaps you can bookmark this page so you can return to it and brush up on the rules if you forget them. The first thing to… Read more »