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How do your friends behave at social events? Is one of them the life and soul of the party, chatting, laughing and dancing with everyone? Or perhaps you know a party pooper, someone who spoils other people’s enjoyment by refusing to join in and have fun. This week we’re looking at language that relates to spending time with other people socially.
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Click on the picture below to find out the meaning of the idiom HAVING A WHALE OF A TIME. Once on the site, you can click on Follow at the bottom of the page to receive more pictures and explanations of idioms FREE.
It’s time for Christmas Carols! Carols is the name we give to Christmas songs, especially religious Christmas songs. 
For many people, Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. For others, it is simply a festive time to spend with family and friends. For many Christians, it is a combination of both.
I am featuring two of my favourite Christmas carols this year. Firstly, Oh! Holy Night, sung by one of my favourite singers, Josh Groban. Click on the picture on the right for a lovely video to watch as you listen. Click here for a video with lyrics.
Oh! Holy Night is a very old carol (1847) so the word order may seem a little strange.
Secondly, I have chosen a cover of the Mariah Carey carol, All I Want for Christmas is You. The version I like best is the one sung by the young girl in the movie Love Actually. Click on the picture of the amorous couple below to listen to and watch the video from the movie. For those of you who are keen on revising grammar, I provide details of the lyrics below the picture. Until my next post …
I wish you a Very Merry Christmas 
a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year! Every sentence in this song is a Simple, Compound, or Complex sentence. They are colour-coded as follows:
Simple Sentences Compound Sentences Complex Sentences
Dependent Clauses – underlined
Song: All I Want for Christmas Is You from the film Love Actually
How often do you use the word “Very” to add emphasis to an ordinary word?
How about trying out some dynamic new words? (Don’t you think that “dynamic” is preferable to “better”?)
Once again, GrammarCheck.net have created an easy-to-use, helpful Infographic to boost your English. Keep in mind that the recommended words are not the only possibilities, and that some in the “very … ” group are examples of incorrect usage; for example, “very complete” and “very raining”.
Do you think that Reflexive Pronouns are confusing? If so, read on. The good news is that they are limited in number and limited in use. We only use Reflexive Pronouns to reflect back on someone or something, just like a mirror.
The monkey can see its reflection.
Look at the monkey in the picture.
1. The monkey is looking at itself.
2. It is looking at itself.
3. Itself is looking at itself.
4. The monkey is looking at the monkey.
∗ Reflexive Pronouns cannot be subjects in a sentence because …
First, a different word is the subject, and second, the Reflexive Pronoun refers (or reflects back) to the subject. So, sentence #3 is incorrect.
Sentence #4 seems to refer to two monkeys, so the meaning is incorrect.
Reflexive Pronouns:
Singular: ♦ myself ♦ yourself ♦ himself ♦ herself ♦ itself ♦ oneself
Plural: ♦♦ ourselves ♦♦ yourselves ♦♦ themselves
Mi Pham is really enjoying himself. In fact, all the children are enjoying themselves.
A: “Would you like to try some of this delicious bread? I made it myself.”
B: “Really? You made it yourself? Of course I’d love to try some!” ∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼
“Try some of our new 
Rosé. We sell most of the wine we produce but of course we keep quite a bit for ourselves!
Do you like the wine label? Louise designed it herself.
Help yourselves to whatever you feel like! As you can see, there is plenty of luscious food and wine, most of it produced by us here on the farm.”
∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼
∗ Can you see the subject in the sentence?
Help yourselves to whatever you feel like!
No? You can’t see the subject?! Don’t all sentences have to include a subject?!
Yes, that’s right. English Sentences must include a subject and a verb. The only time that you don’t see the subject is in Imperative sentences where it is implied. The subject is always You and the sentence starts with the verb:
(You) Help yourselves to whatever you feel like!
(You) Enjoy yourself at the party.
(You) Take care of yourself.
∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼
The Reflexive Pronoun myself is often used incorrectly as a subject.
For example:
The top chef and myself made a Christmas cake. X
The top chef and I made a Christmas cake. √
We made a Christmas cake. √
∗ Remember that Reflexive Pronouns cannot be subjects in a sentence. Also, the top chef and myself are two different people, so myself does not refer to anyone. Reflexive pronouns are like a mirror reflection. They reflect back on someone or something. * Reflexive Pronouns cannot be used alone!
The Reflexive Pronouns myself and yourself are also often used incorrectly as an object.
For example:
The chef made the cake for myself. X
The chef made the cake for me. √
I‘ve done all this work for yourself. X
I‘ve done all this work for you. √
If you would like more information, you can contact myself anytime. X
If you would like more information, you can contact me anytime. √
If I need more information, how can I contact yourself? X
If I need more information, how can I contact you? √
It would be worthwhile for both yourself and your husband to inspect the apartment. X
It would be worthwhile for both you and your husband to inspect the apartment. √
Other Reflexive Pronouns are sometimes used incorrectly; however, myself causes the most problems! This is because native speakers get confused with ‘I’ and ‘me’. For more information, click here.
However, Reflexive Pronouns can be used correctly as an object. Look at the difference between correct and incorrect usage:
For example:
1. I should look after myself better. √
She is not cooking mussels for herself.
2. I should look after me better. X
3. Did you hurt yourself? √
4. Did you hurt you? X
5. Madonna loves herself. √
6. Madonna loves her. X
7. We can look after our children ourselves. √
8. We can look after our children us. X
9. The mother is cooking mussels for the family, but not for herself. She doesn’t like mussels. √
10. The mother is cooking mussels for the family, but not for she. X
11. Does one ever truly know oneself? (formal / non-specific) √
12. Does one ever truly know one? X
∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼
For more information, examples and practice exercises, click here, here, here, and here.
New Zealand fur seal, “All my words are vowel sounds!!” Photo by Karen Lau on Unsplash.com
Back by popular demand is a lesson I did four years ago. Follow my instructions, practise regularly, and your pronunciation will improve. The practice is necessary as you are training your mouth to make new, different movements. It is physical practice like learning to surf or drive a car.
The students who were in my class (from Asia, Europe and South America) were all able to produce the 20 Vowel Sounds during the lesson. However, if they didn’t practise after the lesson, they would have forgotten most of it because the practice also retrains your brain. It is important for this new information to be stored in your long-term memory and this can only happen with repetition and revision.
When you watch television, repeat phrases or words you hear. This is an easy, convenient way to practise and check your progress. Press PAUSE and repeat difficult sounds until you are satisfied with your pronunciation.
Are you ready? In just 20 minutes you will learn the 20 English Vowel Sounds.
For a clear picture of the English File Phonetic Chart, click here and for practice exercises, click here.
∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫ ∫
In a post published April 26, 2015, I recommended A guide to understanding persuasive language, provided by the University of New South Wales, Australia. This guide provided excellent advice on developing writing and speaking skills.
Unfortunately, this link is no longer available, but don’t despair! I have found a well-written, concise guide on Literary Techniques by the BBC which focuses on how to use descriptive language techniques effectively. Click on the picture below for the link.
Making friends Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash.com
This university graduate has high hopes. Photo by Bùi Thanh Tâm on Unsplash.com
The English language is full of collocations and idioms.
By collocations, I mean words that naturally go together like ‘high hopes‘, ‘heavy rain‘, and ‘make friends‘. We don’t say ‘tall hopes’, ‘huge rain‘ or ‘produce friends‘.
Idioms are expressions whose meaning cannot be predicted by the words in the expression; for example, ‘to kick the bucket‘ which means ‘to die’; and ‘to be under the weather‘ (‘to feel sick’).
Today, I’m focusing on a song which contains numerous collocations and idioms. This means that you can enjoy fabulous music and improve your English vocabulary at the same time. Too easy!
Have a look below at the lyrics to the song High Hopes by Panic! At the Disco.
The collocations are shown in pink and the idioms are blue. Sometimes, it’s not clear whether a group of words is a collocation or an idiom. Don’t worry. Think of them all as expressions that need to be remembered as a fixed chunk. The idioms are linked to an online idioms dictionary. As always, you can listen to the song on YouTube. Click here for the official video. Click here for the video with lyrics.
[Chorus]
Had to have high high hopes for a living;
Shooting for the stars when I couldn’t make a killing.
Didn’t have a dime but I always had a vision;
Always had high high hopes.
Had to have high high hopes for a living;
Didn’t know how but I always had a feeling
I was *gonna be that one in a million; (*going to)
Always had high high hopes.
Brendon Urie
[Verse 1]
Mama said
“Fulfill the prophecy.
Be something greater.
Go make a legacy.
Manifest destiny.”
Back in the days,
We wanted everything.
Mama said
“Burn your biographies.
Rewrite your history.
Light up your wildest dreams,
Museum victories.”
Everyday,
We wanted everything.
[Pre-Chorus]
Mama said
“Don’t give up; it’s a little complicated.
All tied up, no more love and I hate to see you waiting.”
[Chorus]
[Verse 2]
Mama said
“It’s uphill for oddities,
The stranger crusaders
*Ain’t ever **wannabes. (*aren’t / **want-to-be)
“No matter how hard your dreams seem, keep going. You might even have to climb up the side of a building in downtown LA, but it’ll all be worth it at the top.
Stay up on that rise … ” Brendon Urie
The weird and the novelties
Don’t ever change.”
We wanted everything.
Stay up on that rise.
Stay up on that rise.
Never come down.
Stay up on that rise.
Stay up on that rise.
Never come down.
[Pre-Chorus]
[Pre-Chorus 2]
They say it’s all been done but they haven’t seen the best of me,
So I’ve got one more run and it’s gonna be a sight to see.
[Chorus]
Click on the picture below to find out the meaning of the idiom TIME FLIES. Once on the site, you can click on Follow at the bottom of the page to receive more pictures and explanations of idioms FREE.
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