Dec 17, 2017 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: Bah humbug! The phrase Bah, humbug! comes from the Charles Dickens’ story A Christmas Carol and is said by the main character Scrooge, who doesn’t like anything about Christmas. People can be called a scrooge when they don’t like spending money. You might say ‘Don’t be such a scrooge’ or ‘He’s a right scrooge’ (and let’s face […]
Dec 14, 2017 Chunks, Intermediate word of the day Intermediate word of the day: struggle Today’s word is struggle. Struggle is all to do with difficulty, and with fighting or working hard to get what you want. Struggle is a verb: you can struggle with a problem (find a problem difficult or work hard to solve it). Struggle is also a noun – learning English can be a struggle sometimes! […]
Dec 11, 2017 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: cut your teeth I usually try and avoid central London at this time of year. Streets like Tottenham Court Road are jam-packed at the best of times, but in the run-up to Christmas, they start to resemble the ninth circle of hell! Desperate dead-eyed shoppers elbow their way past each other, frantically searching for bargains; the pavements are […]
Dec 6, 2017 Chunks, Intermediate word of the day Intermediate word of the day: agenda Today’s word is agenda. The main meaning of agenda is a list of all the things that need to be discussed and considered at a meeting – or all the things that need to be done or considered in general. Anyone who works in an office or works for a company that holds regular meetings […]
Dec 3, 2017 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: all the trimmings If there’s one thing I’ve learned over twenty years of teaching foreign students here in the UK it’s that English food is misunderstood and much-maligned. The usual comments I’ve heard revolve around the idea that there’s no such thing as English food; it simply doesn’t exist! Students point to the fact that so few restaurants […]
