If somebody calls you a 'chicken', what do they mean?

If somebody calls you a 'chicken', what do they mean? A. a coward B. a leader C. a teacher http://t.co/ZrufMgBojG
— ESLhiphop (@ESLhiphop) June 13, 2013

The perfect British accent. Does it really exist?

The perfect British accent – does it really exist? http://t.co/2jSt30x2jH
— The English Campus (@macmillancampus) June 21, 2013

Tick Tock Rock

Learn the hours as the hands go round the clock.

Idioms

Source:  http://thelanguagepoint.com/english_collections/show/Idioms

To be the bee's knees

If you think something is the bee's knees then you think it is the best, or really good quality.  You could also say "She thinks she's the bee's knees" which means that you think someone is arrogant or self-centred.

The pot calling the kettle black

"That's the pot calling the kettle black" is a phrase you can use if you hear someone criticising someone else when they are not perfect themselves. It could be a gentle warning that we are not all perfect!

To keep your eyes peeled

Sounds painful! But if you ask someone to keep their eyes peeled, you are asking them to look carefully for something.

To pull someone's leg

If you tease someone, or try to trick them by telling a little lie, then you are  pulling someone's leg. It's always meant in friendly way. If you don't believe what someone has told you, you can also ask: "Are you  pulling my leg?" to show that you don't believe them.

To have kittens

To have kittens is an expression used when you have a sudden surprise which makes you feel worried, anxious or slightly fearful. "I nearly had kittens when I realised I'd left my passport at home"

To give someone the hairdryer treatment

Made famous by Sir Alex Ferguson when he was manager of Manchester United. If he was angry with his players, he would give them the hairdryer treatment at half-time - that is to say, he would shout at them very loudly, very close to their faces, to express his anger.

To have your finger in too many pies

If you have your finger in too many pies, you are involved in too many projects at the same time, and as a result you are not doing any of them very well. 

To be caught red-handed

If you are caught red-handed, you have been found in the act of committing a crime! It probably comes from the idea of criminals being found with blood on their hands, before they had time to clean it off.

To chicken out

Poor little chicken! To chicken out of something means to decide not to do something because you are afraid.

To catch (or have) forty winks

Nothing to do with a twitching eye! If you catch forty winks it means you are having a nap, a snooze, or a very short sleep, often during the day.

The green-eyed monster

This is a way of describing jealousy or envy.  You can also say you are 'green with envy'.

I'm all ears

Don't think that you have suddenly turned into an alien creature with ears all over your body! If you say "I'm all ears", it means you are giving someone your complete attention, and will not be distracted by anything else
.

It's an animal but also something you shout. Find out when you use it:

BBC Learning English

Duck!

 

Thousands of plastic ducks float down the River Thames in the Great British Duck Race. Photo: Anthony Devlin/ PA Wire

Today's Phrase

If you tell someone to duck it means that they should lower their head because something is about to hit them.

Examples:
As I walked in the door someone shouted "Duck!" But it was too late and I hit my head.

The batsman shouted "Duck!" as he hit the ball right at where the spectators were standing.

Take note

To duck out means to try and escape or get out of doing something.

Example:

Sorry, I've got to duck out of this meeting, I've got too many other things to do.

Interesting fact

The yellow duck in the photograph was among around 250,000 other blue plastic ducks floating along a one kilometre stretch of the River Thames near Hampton Court Palace in London. This Great British Duck Race raises money for charity.

Source:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/2013/06/130611_todays_phrase_duck.shtml

Take Me To The Mardi Gras - listening quiz

Learn #English with songs: Take Me To The Mardi Gras - listening quiz ow.ly/hscvu #esl #efl #twinglish #engpls
— english247 (@english247) 10 de junio de 2013

The Norwood Builder Chapter 4

‘To get’ is a verb we use a lot in English. Do you know how to use it?

‘To get’ is a verb we use a lot in English. Do you know how to use it? Here’s a quiz for you. bbc.in/189WHgc #ELT #Quiz
— BBC Learning English (@bbcle) 7 de junio de 2013

An expression that will come in handy when life is hard: keep your chin up!

BBC Learning English
The English we speak

Rob tells Vera to 'keep her chin up' when she hurts herself. Will this help her to feel better? Listen to the programme to find out what this phrase means.

 www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theenglishwespeak/2012/10/121030_tews_95_keep_your_chin_up.shtml

How to make small talk during greetings

BBC Learning English
How to...

In this programme, we look at some handy topics and phrases to use when you've said hello to someone, but want to continue the conversation. What kinds of things are suitable for small talk during greetings, beyond the usual 'how are you?'
After you have listened to the programme, get some more practice with the quiz below.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1142_greeting/page5.shtml

Clothing vocabulary: accessories - word bank

Clothing vocabulary: accessories - word bank ow.ly/cUJnO & picture quiz ow.ly/cUJnP #esol #kids #twinglish
— english247 (@english247) 7 de junio de 2013

Across The Universe - prepositions quiz

Learn #English grammar with songs: Across The Universe - prepositions quiz bit.ly/t6i8Lk #esol #esl #engpls #efl #twinglish
— english247 (@english247) 6 de junio de 2013

Phrasal verbs

Summertime is great because we can relax and hang ____ with our friends.A. upB. inC. out fb.me/2bS0vEirI
— ESLhiphop (@ESLhiphop) 12 de junio de 2013

The Norwood Builder (Chapter 3)

Chapter 3 of The Norwood Builder is available now! Will Holmes unravel the mystery of the missing builder? ow.ly/lLkll
— Macmillan Education (@MacmillanIATEFL) 6 de junio de 2013

How does plastic affect environment?

What can we do to make the situation better?

BBC Learning English

6 Minute English

Plastic pollution

Join Dan and Kate this week as they talk about pollution. How is plastic affecting the environment and what can we do to make the situation better?

This week's question:

How many pieces of plastic are there in each square kilometre of the world’s oceans? Is it:

a) 22,000 pieces of plastic
b) 38,000 pieces of plastic
c) 46,000 pieces of plastic

Listen out for the answer in the programme!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2010/02/100218_6min_plastic_page.shtml

Linking words and phrases

Source: http://library.bcu.ac.uk/learner/writingguides/1.33.htm

You can use words or short phrases which help to guide your reader through your writing, and to link sentences, paragraphs and sections both forwards and backwards. Good use will make what you have written easy to follow; bad use might mean your style is disjointed, probably with too many short sentences, and consequently difficult to follow. Your mark could be affected either way.

The best way to "get a feel" for these words is through your reading. Most textbooks and articles are well-written and will probably include a lot of these cohesive devices. Note how they are used and try to emulate what you have read. Do make sure though that you fully understand their meaning: incorrect use could change completely what you're trying to say. Try to use a variety of expressions, particularly in longer pieces of writing.

Don't forget "AND"! Two short sentences are often best connected together with this little word.

There follows a list of words and phrases that can be used. The list is not exhaustive, and BE CAREFUL: although grouped together, none is totally synonymous. Their position in the sentence can also vary; this is where your reading and dictionary come in.

Listing	Giving examples	Generalising
first, second, third	for example	in general
first, furthermore, finally	for instance	generally
to begin, to conclude	as follows:	on the whole
next	that is	as a rule
Reinforcement	in this case	for the most part
also	namely	in most cases
furthermore	in other words	usually
moreover	Result/consequence	Highlighting
what is more	so	in particular
in addition	therefore	particularly
besides	as a result/consequence	especially
above all	accordingly	mainly
as well (as)	consequently	Reformulation
in the same way	because of this/that	in other words
not only ... but also	thus	rather
Similarity	hence	to put it more simply
equally	for this/that reason	Expressing an alternative
likewise	so that	alternatively
similarly	in that case	rather
correspondingly	under these circumstances	on the other hand
in the same way	Deduction	the alternative is
Transition to new point	then	another possibility would be
now,	in other words	Contrast
as far as x is concerned	in that case	instead
with regard/reference to	otherwise	conversely
as for ...	this implies that ...	on the contrary
it follows that	if so/not	in contrast
turning to	Stating the obvious	in comparison
Summary	obviously	Concession (sth unexpected)
in conclusion	clearly	however
to conclude	naturally	even though
in brief	of course	however much
to summarise	as can be expected	nevertheless
overall	surely	still
therefore	after all	yet

Here are just a few examples of some of the words in action:

REINFORCEMENT

Desktop computers are cheaper and more reliable than laptops; furthermore, they are more flexible.

RESULT/CONSEQUENCE
Prices fell by more than 20% last year. As a result, sales increased by 15%.

GENERALISING
On the whole, his speech was well received, despite some complaints from new members.

CONTRAST
The South East of the UK often has the coldest weather in the winter. Conversely, the North West of Scotland frequently has the mildest temperatures.

CONCESSION
It was a very expensive holiday, the weather was bad and the people weren’t very friendly. Nevertheless, we would probably go back to the same place.


Transition word exercise

Always ask yourself what the exact relationship is between the sentences or parts of sentences. Are you leading to the result of something? Are you making a deduction? Are you introducing some contradictory evidence or ideas? Your choice of word or phrase obviously depends on this. And always check in a good dictionary if you're not quite sure about a word's use or its position in a sentence. Remember that punctuation will affect what you use.

Insert the best alternative

1 Polls show that Tony Blair is the most popular Prime Minister this century. ______________ , there are even members    of his own party who are uneasy with his approach.

In particular

However

For instance

2 There are some slight variations in temperature, but ________________ 26 to 27ºC should be expected.

consequently

otherwise

as a rule

3 The two main Channel Islands, ________________ Jersey and Guernsey, are much closer to France than to England.

for example

namely

in particular

4 It was announced that nurses' working hours would be increased by 25%. ______________ , even fewer trainee nurses     are expected to join the profession.

As a result

So that

Likewise

5 Sales of CDs have experienced a small but steady fall over the past 12 months. _____________ , vinyl records have    seen an increase in their share of the market, up to 1.7%.

Above all

Correspondingly

In contrast

6 The Vice Chancellor explained that in light of the current financial climate and because of unexpected bad debts, it would be necessary to peg salary levels at their current level for all grades of staff. ______________ , no-one was getting a pay rise.

Nevertheless

In other words

Similarly

7 It is clear, therefore, that the situation in Brazil will improve only slowly. ______________ the economic problems being experienced in Japan, the outlook is slightly more optimistic.

Furthermore

In comparison

With reference to

8 In order to try to reduce car use in the inner cities, the government has announced new restrictions on company parking spaces and ______________ , a new tax on individual car use.

as well as

in addition

in the same way

9 Essays must be handed in by the deadline, ______________ they will not be marked.

obviously

otherwise

as a result

10 ______________ it has been shown that fractures can occur at even relatively low pressures, the use of the material should not be completely discounted.

Nevertheless

Because

Even though

Learn English prepositions with songs

Learn English prepositions with songs - Under The Boardwalk, by The Drifters ow.ly/lHjHO #k12 #esl #esol #twinglish #engpls
— english247 (@english247) 6 de junio de 2013