Would you take a 20% pay cut to have more time?

Many people are increasingly finding that being in the 'rat race' isn't for them, and work to find alternative ways to make a living. Would you take a 20% pay cut if it meant less stress and more free time to do whatever it is you enjoy?

 

Have you ever...

Have you ever made an "impulse purchase" that you later regretted?

 

What did you buy? Why? 

Prefix Challenge

How many English prefixes can you come up with that have a negative, or opposite meaning, for example, 'anti' - as in 'antibiotic'?

 

I can think of 10 (including the one above), but maybe you can come up with more!

 

 

 

 

 

Here we are!

"Here we are" is an interesting English expression.

 

Can you describe an example of a situation when you can use "Here we are"?

 

Erin

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today the United States wakes up to Thanksgiving, one of our national holidays.

 

What are you thankful for?

 

 

Halloween Joke

Happy Halloween to English learners around the world!

 

Jokes are often very difficult for language learners. Jokes use word play and sometimes even omit certain words. Some require cultural knowledge. The listener must be able to understand the true meaning and fill in the gaps.

 

Here's your English Halloween joke:

Question: Why didn't the skeleton go to the party?

 

Answer: Because he had no-body to go with!

 

Can you explain why this joke is funny?

 

Erin

The Difference Between Bring and Take

This post covers the difference between 'to bring' and 'to take'. Not all languages have two separate verbs for to <em>bring</em>, as in: Bring me some coffee - and to <em>take</em>, as in: Can I take this plate to the kitchen? 

 

If your first language only uses 1 verb for both concepts (Italian is one example), it can be difficult to figure out which one to use in which situation.

 

Here's how you need to think about 'bring' & 'take'.

 

With 'bring' the emphasis of the action is on you and where you're physically located. In the example above, I want someone to bring ME the coffee. Think of movement towards you.

 

With 'take' the emphasis of the action is on someone (or something) else and where they are. Again, in the example above, I want the plate taken away from me. Think of movement away from you.

 

Confused?

 

Here are some more examples to help:

Please bring the mail into the house.

Please take the dog out for a walk.

Can you bring me with you to the movies (emphasis is on my movement)?

Can you take me with you to the movies (emphasis is on your movement)?

I'm going to take my mother out to dinner.

I want to bring back unique souvenirs from Egypt this summer.

 

Think about who or what you want to emphasize: you and movement towards you or someone/something else and movement away from you.

 

You can use a similar strategy for the verbs 'to come' and 'to go'. <em>Come</em> is similar to bring and is used for movement towards and <em>go</em> is similar to take and is used for movement away.

 

See if you can come up with your own examples!

What can you say to your boss if you don't have what you need?

Imagine that you're working on a project. You're called into a meeting to give an update on the project to your boss. The boss asks you for some particular details about the project.

 

The problem is that you don't remember those details. They're back on your desk or on your computer. What can you say to your boss in this situation?

 

There are a couple of sayings you might use:

 

For more idiomatic English, there are several expressions that involve body parts.

For example, you might say, "I don't have that information at my fingertips."

 

Or

 

"I don't remember off the top of my head."

 

Another one is:

 

"Off hand, I don't recall."

 

Or "I can't say off hand what the numbers were."

 

You can follow up with any of these by saying, "Let me check and I'll get back to you."

I use these all the time.