Tag: English

Michael Jackson: Thriller

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ThrillerIn my opinion, Michael Jackson’s Thriller is by far the best tune to play during  Halloween.

Indeed, no matter what your opinion is about Michael Jackson, the man,( ”OMG, what a nutjob!”)  you can not deny that he was a second-to-none performer with incredible dance moves and an amazing voice.  Just check out his video and you will know exactly what I’m talking about.

So, can I improve my English by listening to tunes? Absolutely!  If you listen to songs and read the lyrics at the same time, you will definitely improve your listening comprehension, your knowledge of colloquial vocabulary, and as importantly, you will get a free physical workout at the same time. I mean, who doesn’t try to do the Michael Jackson dance?!  However, be careful, it’s highly likely that you will not improve your grammatical accuracy!

To cheer up

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cheer-upTo cheer up is a phrasal verb which means to make someone feel happy.

The other day a friend tried to cheer me up by sending me this picture. etch a sketchHe said in his email that when he saw this it reminded him of me. And I thought, ok I might not be a technological genius, but seriously, I’m not delusional. I know I don’t have an i-pad and it’s very rare that I run out of wine, so now I’m wondering, was he trying to call me a moron? Furthermore, considering I’ve known him for over 20 years, he knows that all he needs to do to cheer me up is to post me a divorced George Clooney in a flatpack! I’m just that simple!

What not to forget:

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Floating beer coolerWhen going to the beach there are a few items that are essential to take.
1.Parasol / Beach Umbrella
2. Towel or a sarong
3. Sun tan lotion / sun screen /sun block
4. Cool box / Eski with ice and beer
5. Beach bats or beach ball
6. The weekend newspapers
7. Music
However, according to one of my clients, the most essential thing to take is a rabbit! No, I’m not pulling your leg, take a look at the beach bunny:

beach bunny

LISTENING: The House of the Future

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Living Tomorrow: The House of the Future- It’s a steal at 22 million Euros!
house of the futureDespite the fact that I’m not that into technology, I can’t stand wasting time so I really liked the fact that in this house I can order and pay for food from a kitchen smart board, I can immediately find out more information about what I’m eating and I can watch the news and check the weather forecast in an intelligent mirror while I’m brushing my teeth. However, on the other hand, all the cool and high-tech gadgets would just collect dust as I’d rather talk, touch, and smell people than get jiggy with a touch screen. Furthermore, 22 million Euros, are they pulling my leg? I could buy a small island for the same money.

Click here to check out this technology driven house. What are your feelings? Are you a techno-junkie? Or, are you more like me, a techno-avoider?

LISTENING: Is Technology Killing Your Memory?

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It is often alleged by experts that we are killing our ability to remember things because we rely too much on technology to find out, process, retain and recall information.Unfortunately, this is true for me, since I started using technological devices to remind me of birthdays, telephone numbers, what food to buy and when I should phone my mother, I don’t remember a thing. I even have my home address saved in my mobile just in case I can’t remember where I live. On the other hand, I always forget to take it out with me.google effect
However, surprisingly, this research study suggests that technology is not frying our memories. Rather, they suggest we are actively choosing NOT TO REMEMBER facts and information, instead, we are choosing to remember where to locate the information if we need it in the future. This is what they call the: Google Effect.

Listen to the video and make up your own mind. Don’t forget you can follow the typescript if you can’t understand a word the narrator is saying.

SPEAKING CHALLENGE: GROUPON BEST DEALS OF THE DAY

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GrouponSeriously, who hasn’t, at one point, been addicted to GROUPON?!

Last year I received more emails from Groupon than any other company or person. I used to waste hours and hours checking out the daily offers and reading product descriptions of completely useless things like this man’s backstrap!  What the hell is that?back strain

Your speaking challenge is to tell me about 3 things that you have bought through GROUPON.  And, don’t tell me you haven’t bought anything, because your nose will grow to the size of Pinocchio’s. I want to know about: the most exciting thing, the most useless thing and the most expensive thing.