Magic Tricks you can use to impress friends and family

Magic Tricks in English

In 2015 we will need different words to talk about the future -- What words will you use?

In 2015 we will need different words to talk about the future

UP Has Many Meanings

 This two-letter word in English has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.'  It is listed in the dictionary as an [adv.], [prep], [adj.], [n] or [v].

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP?  Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?  We call UP our friends, brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.  We lock UP the house and fix UP the old car.

At other times, this little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, get UP to no good, kiss and make UP after an argument, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing:  A drain which is acting UP, must be opened UP, because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.  We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look UP the word UP in the dictionary.   In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. 

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used.  It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. 

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP.  When the sun comes out, we say it is clearing UP.  When it rains, it soaks UP the earth.  When it does not rain for a while, things dry UP.  One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now . . . my time is UP!

4th Intense Hour: Zero Marginal Cost Society: the Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons and the Eclipse of Capitalism -Pro & Con Arguments

The language used to make pro and con arguments is the focus of this 4th  hour.

First, let's consider the following:  Jeremy Rifkin proposes that the end of capitalism is on the horizon. In this Hard Talk episode host Jeremy Sakur asks Rifkin to explain his theories then offers strong rebuttals. Rifkin's book Zero Marginal Cost Society: the Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons and the Eclipse of Capitalism is used as the frame for the Hard Talk discussion.

Pros & Con Arguments: Practice by doing the following
"Are we entering the post-capitalist age?" is just one of the questions debated on the show. For language learning practice while watching the program:
1) You can listen for the language used by Rifkin and Sakur as they make their pro and con arguments/points regarding capitalism's demise. (You can also select one of the other main points in the discussion as your focal point).
2) You can write down the phrases you find interesting or unusual.
3) Notice whether you use the phrases you hear in the program when make pro and con arguments.
4) Are there any phrases you would like to use in the future? If yes, make a note of them and then use them to make pro and con arguments of your own concerning the discussion in the Hard Talk program.


Some Helpful Language when making pro & con arguments

Expressing Both Sides
pros and consadvantages and disadvantagesplus and minus

Providing Additional ArgumentsWhat is more,In addition to ..., the ...Further, Not only will ...,
but ...
will also ...Similarly,
AdditionallyAnotherAlsoMoreover

Showing Cause-Effect (words about things which make other things happen)So,
thus
Therefore,
hence
Consequently
Due to

Contrast/Opposition (words that signal a conflict or problem)

However, but, though
On the other hand,
Although .....,
Unfortunately,
Conversely
Yet
Nonetheless, nevertheless

Ordering

First of all,
Then,
Next,
Finally,

First, Second, Third,

Next, following

Summarizing

To sum up,
In conclusion,
In summary,
All things considered,

Expressing Your Opinion

In my opinion,
I feel / think that ...
Personally,

An interesting resource for great examples of pro and con arguments.

ProCon.org is a website that provides relevant information on both sides of common controversial topics.   It has over 1,000 different topics from the death penalty to steroid use to government bailouts and each topic provides both the pros and cons of each side of the issues.  Besides being interesting topics that you can read up on they contain good examples of the type of language used to make pro and con arguments.

Next post will be on grammar --

3rd Intense hour -- Past Simple & Past Continuous Tense Review

The rules for verb usage can be found in thousands of places on the internet. The following is a very basic guide using excerpts from web pages I think are clear and concise.  I have inserted a link to BBC English Council's website where you can see the rules below explained in different terms and do a quiz to test your understanding. Let me know if you need additional clarification or information.  (The chart below also shows the past perfect which will be discuss later in the 4th intense hour post.)

PAST SIMPLE

The past simple tense describes finished actions and states*. When the action happened may be mentioned or may be clear from the situation.

Finished actions  "I checked the figures carefully yesterday“.

Past habits “I played tennis when I was younger”.

Actions following one another ” I arrived at the hotel, checked in and went straight for dinner”.

The tricky parts of this tense are normally the pronunciation of the regular verb -ed endings  (for example: kicked /t/, decided /id/ played /d/) and  learning the past tense of the irregular verbs (for example: go – went, buy – bought, tell – told and so on). (See a list of irregular verbs here.)

*(States or stative verbs describe states or conditions which continue over a period of time: like, love, hate, want, need, hear and see are examples of stative verbs. These verbs are not normally used in the progressive (+ing) form. 

Right:   'I've always liked tennis'

Wrong: 'I've always been liking tennis'. )

PAST CONTINUOUS: The past continuous form is used to tell about an action in progress at a particular time in the past.  Click here for more examples and a quiz to test your understanding. Let me know if you want exercises and more information about how to use the past continuous.

Action in progress at a particular time
“I was waiting for a taxi for over one hour”
(People say this but it must be part of a before and after situation to make sense. Fx "I was waiting for a taxi for over one hour when it began to snow."  Otherwise,  the past simple is used more in this context. It’s more natural to say and hear “I waited for a taxi for over one hour”)

Several situations in progress happening at the same time
“The company was suffering heavy losses and many employees were losing their jobs”

Background information
“I was trying to call you but there was no reception in the area”

Action in progress interrupted by another action which is in the past simple
“I was watching television when the phone rang“

We often use the time expressions “while”, “when” and “as” with the past continuous to mean ‘during the time that something was happening‘

• “While/when we were developing the prototype, we carried out some tests”.

BUT if you mean ‘at the time that’, we only use “when” with the past simple

• “She was shocked when I told her the news”

Past Simple or Past Continuous?
Sometimes you can use either tenses. The past simple suggests a separate, complete action while the past continuous emphasises the duration of the action.

“We discussed the report and agreed that we needed to adopt a more direct strategy.”

“We were discussing the report for an hour. Eventually we decided to adopt a more direct strategy.”

2nd Intense Hour -- Idioms

You can lead a horse to water (but you can't make him/it drink).

something that you say which means you can give someone the opportunity to do something, but you cannot force them to do it if they do not want to I made all the arrangements, bought the ticket, and even took him to the airport, but he just wouldn't get on the plane. Well, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.-

An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words.  Here's a good place to look up idioms.

There are estimated to be at least twenty-five thousand idiomatic expressions in the English language.

These are pretty common:
  The devil is in the details.  I can't keep my head above water.

See the 100 most frequently used American idioms.

Next posting: April 21

1st hour -- Where am I and why am I here? -- Quiz no. 3

You are at the place where information about grammar exercises, etc. will be placed.  You are here because you have 17 Hours to use toward improving your grammar, and whatever else you want to work on. The 17 hours are those we spend together discussing your work, plus the time it takes me to go over what you have done. You can and/or will invest more than 17 hours doing exercises, homework, etc. So, in fact, you have a pretty good opportunity to actually get a valuable mini course with your 17 hours -- plus whatever extra time you would like to devote to homework, reading, etc.

First: Test yourself  Click here for Quiz No. 3.  Or cut and paste https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/45659535/Grammar%20Quiz3.docx

 Fill out the blank with the answer you think is correct, save it, send it to me.
--Do not search for answers if you are uncertain.  Don't guess the answer.
--Write n/s in the blank space.
--Your results will be used to determine which areas of grammar to begin studying.

Second: Return the Quiz by Wednesday March 26.

Write if you have questions.