Lesson 319--Urge

 

To urge someone to do something is to strongly recommend it.  There is a strong emotional part of this word that makes it a little closer to begging.

examples

I urge you to reconsider.

Thomas urged his brother to give up smoking.

Greg's wife constantly urges him to lose weight.

adjective (urgent) = it must be done right away.

Lesson 318--The Gravy Train

This expression refers to easy money given for little or no work.  It also refers to perks that some workers get.

examples

The mayor said he would end the gravy train at City Hall.

Bruce liked his job.  He called it riding the gravy train because he mostly got paid for standing around and doing nothing.

Lesson 317--take a toll

Studying has taken its toll on these studens

Great expressing to explain the negative effect something is having on you is "to take a toll" or "to take its toll."

examples

All the work Melanie did in the garden really took a toll on her body.  She was sore for a week.

Abusing alcohol took its toll on Dan.  He looked much older than he was.

The doctor warned all the children that smoking takes a toll on a person's lungs and heart.

The students complained that too much homework was taking a toll on their social lives.

Lesson 305--I Feel like I am (just) Spinning my Wheels

 

This expression is kind of like being stuck in snow, and your wheels aren't gripping.  You are pressing the accelerator, but you're not moving.  You are doing things, but nothing is happening and no progress is being made.  You're working but not getting the results.

Jim.  How's the new job?

I feel like I am spinning my wheels.  I go to work every day, but nothing gets done.

We can't keep having this conversation.  I feel like I am spinning my wheels.  Why can't we solve this problem?

Lesson 258: More about "the"

There seems to be lots of confusion about the definite article: The

As a result, we have another round of when to use "The".  Today I will focus on some when to use the and not use the for similar things.

seas, oceans, and rivers: article

lakes: no article

 

The Atlantic Ocean

The Amazon

The Black Sea

 

Lake Ontario

Lake Biwa

 

continued

mountain:  Usually no article (there are some exceptions)

groups of mountains: article

 

The Matterhorn (exception)

Mount Everest

Mountain Logan

 

The Alps

The Andes

The Laurentian Mountains

Countries are a special case.  When the countries name contains words like republic, union, state...often including the preposition of:  article

When a country's common name is used: no article

The United States of America.

The Republic of Korea

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The United States of Mexico

 

Canada

South Korea

Spain

Finland

Hopefully these examples will help you.  If you have any questions, leave them in the comment box below and check back often to see if I have answered your questions.

Lesson 249--Using Time as an adjective

 

 

Time is something special in English.  We have so many expressions and idioms that involve time. We also express time in so many ways.  Today's lesson focuses on using time to describe things.

When we normal talk about time, or duration we use plural nouns.

examples

It takes three hours to get there.

My vacation will last for about four weeks.

Jim's personal best marathon time is 3 hours, 24minutes and 17 seconds.

However, when we describe things using time (like all adjectives) we only use the singular form.

It was a three-hour trip.

Maria is taking a 6 week course at the university.

It is a 2 hour and 14 minute journey from my house to work every day.

 

The best part is that we can use either form.

Daniel is six years old.

Daniel is a six-year-old boy.

Maria works 40 hours a week.

Maria has a 40 hour work week.

Lesson 246--Making Nouns from Adjectives

I always tell my students that learning word forms is important.  If you learn the noun of an adjective, the meanings of the two words are closely related.  So, today, I am going to start doing my best to help.

Below you will find 20 adjectives and their nouns.  In this case, all of the nouns end with the same suffix --ness.  It should be easy to remember them.  Good luck (because you never know when there will be a test).  If there are words that you do not know, I suggest looking in the dictionary.

Adjective	Noun
dark	darkness
restless	restlessness
inventive	inventiveness
quick	quickness
inquisitive	inquisitiveness
hopeless	hopelessness
destructive	destructiveness
helpless	helplessness
frank	frankness
cheap	cheapness
awesome	awesomeness
awkward	awkwardness
foolish	foolishness
hideous	hideousness
nervous	nervousness
ruthless	ruthlessness
kind	kindness
neat	neatness
shy	shyness
lonely	loneliness

 

Lesson 241--Some advice

 

 

Today's lesson is a little different.  Instead of teaching you a phrase, or some vocabulary, I just wanted to give you some advice.

• When you have mastered something in English, like answering "I'm fine." and used it successfully a few times, you should try something new.  "Great!" or "Fantastic!" or "Pretty good."  Don't be afraid to experiment.

• When you get asked the same questions every day  ("How was school today?"), prepare for them, and give longer and different answers.  "It was great because we learned about the 3rd Conditional."

• If you learned a new word today (or any day) learn words that are related to it.  If someone teaches you destroy, you should learn destroyer, destruction, destructive, destructible, indestructible, destructively, and indestructibly.  The meanings of all these words are approximately the same.  If you dictionary doesn't tell you this information, it isn't a good dictionary.

• Try to find a collocation dictionary.  It will change the way you look at English.

• If you have trouble with prepositions, read a newspaper article and highlight all the prepositions.  You will remember more of them this way.

• If you want to practice reading in English, get a book translated from your language into English.  You won't have to worry about names and cultural issues because you will already understand them.

Good Luck on the Speaking Exam

They look happy

Good luck on the speaking tests everyone.  I know you will all do well.
Just remember:

1. You have practiced.
2. You know what to say.
3. You and your partner work well together.
4. Your best is good enough.
5. I am confident, so you should be too.
6. There are no bad pictures.
7. Even if you hate the pictures, keep talking.
8. Fourteen minutes is not a long time.

a familiar picture

Before the test:

• speak English in the lounge to each other
• laugh and relax