15 PHRASAL VERBS about sickness in English
source: Learn English with Benjamin [engVid] 2018年4月18日
Are you sick? Are you coming down with a cold? Sickness is common, and you need to know how to talk about it. English speakers use a lot of different phrasal verbs to talk about different aspect of getting and being sick. In this lesson, I will teach you 15 phrasal verbs that will help you talk about sickness. We will look at the meaning of "throw up", "pass out", "break out into", "pass away", and more. These are common expressions used by native English speakers and will be very useful to you. So click the video to learn some phrasal verbs to add to your conversations!
LEARN ENGLISH | DISCUSSION SERIES 2 : Topic - Time Off Work
source: Helena Daily English 2018年4月24日
Do you think people have enough time off work?
Not at all. I think the opposite is the case. Research has shown that most people are working longer and longer hours than ever before...
Understand Fast English Speech with Friends: Joey Kisses a Man
source: Learn English With TV Series 2018年3月22日
This funny lesson with Friends will help you have fun learning to understand fast English speech without subtitles. Joey isn't so confident about his kissing and he gets some help!
Learn to talk about learning a language in 6 minutes! (intermediate level)
source: BBC Learning English 2018年3月15日
How do you learn to speak a language?
Many scientists believe that knowledge of another language can boost your brainpower – so what are we waiting for – we should all be learning another language. But that's easier said than done as acquiring this new skill can be hard. 6 Minute English looks at the reasons for learning a new language and hears from an expert who has a tip for making it easier.
# materials below: from http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/feat...
This week's question:
Approximately how many languages there are in the world altogether? Are there…
a) 70
b) 700
c) 7,000
Listen to the programme to find out the answer.
Vocabulary
master: learn thoroughly or learn well
fluent: speak well and without difficulty.
frequency: how often something occurs
inflections: changes to the basic form of words to show changes to the way they are used in a sentence
lemma: the simplest form or base form of a word
Transcript
(Note: This is not a word for word transcript)
Rob
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English– the show that brings you an interesting topic, authentic listening practice and vocabulary to help you improve your language skills. I'm Rob…
Neil
Watashi no namae wa Neil desu. And that means 'my name's Neil'.
Rob
So Neil, here's a question for you – can you speak any languages other than English of course? I think you can!
Neil
Un poco de español that means a little bit of Spanish. Some Japanese, which I tried at the beginning and also a bit of Czech language - Dobrý den, jak se máš?
Rob
Very impressive. So what tips can you give for learning to speak another language?
Neil
Well, practise, practise, practise – and don't be afraid of making mistakes as I no doubt have.
Rob
Of course. Well my aim this year is to master the Spanish language. Master means to learn thoroughly.
Neil
Muy bien! Well you're not alone. A survey by the British Council found learning a language is a new year's resolution for about one in five Britons in 2018. So learning Spanish is a good start Rob but do you know approximately how many languages there are in the world altogether? Are there…
a) 70
b) 700
c) 7,000
Rob
Well I know there are many but surely not 7,000 so I'm going to say b) 700 – but don't expect me to learn all of them.
Neil
I won't Rob. But I will give you the answer later. So, we all know learning another language is a good thing – it brings us many benefits.
Rob
Yes, we can communicate with people from other countries and when we're travelling we can understand what signs and notices say. So we don't get lost.
Neil
That's right – but many scientists also believe that knowledge of another language can boost your brainpower. A study of monolingual and bilingual speakers suggests speaking two languages can help slow down the brain's decline with age.
Rob
All good reasons. But Neil, learning another language is hard. It would take me years and years to become fluent in say, Mandarin – by fluent I mean speak very well, without difficulty.
Neil
Well this depends on your mother tongue. In general, the closer the second language is to the learner's native tongue and culture in terms of vocabulary, sounds or sentence structure - the easier it will be to learn.
Rob
But whatever the language, there is so much vocabulary to learn – you know, thousands and thousands of words.
Neil
Maybe not Rob. Professor Stuart Webb, a linguist from the University of Western Ontario, may be able to help you. He spoke to BBC Radio 4's More or Less programme and explained that you don't need to do that…
Professor Stuart Webb, linguist, University of Western Ontario
For language learners in a foreign language setting – so for example if you were learning French in Britain or English in Japan, students may often really struggle to learn more than 2,000, 3,000 words after many years of study. So for example, there was study in Taiwan recently that showed that after nine years of study about half of the students had still failed to learn the most frequent 1,000 words. Now they knew lower frequency words but they hadn't mastered those most important words.
Neil
So Rob, don't waste your time trying to learn every single word. Professor Webb spoke there about research that showed students knew lower frequency words but weren't learning enough high frequency words.
Rob
Right, and frequency here means the number of times something happens – so the important words to learn are the high frequency ones – and how many are there exactly?
Neil
Here's Professor Stuart Webb again…
Professor Stuart Webb, linguist, University of Western Ontario
For example, with English, I would suggest if you learn the 800 most frequent lemmas – which is a word and its inflections – that will account for about 75 per cent of all of the English language. So that learning those 800 words first will provide the foundation for which you may be able to learn the lower frequency words.
Rob
Fascinating stuff. And good to know I just need to learn about 800 words – or what he calls lemmas.
Neil
Yes a lemma is the simplest form or base form of a word. And the inflection here refers to how the base word is changed according to its use in a sentence. Knowing these things give you a foundation – the basics from which you language learning will develop. Simple
Rob
Thank goodness I am learning just one new language!
Neil
But how many languages could you potentially be learning Rob? Earlier I asked you, approximately how many languages there are in the world altogether? Are there…
a) 70
b) 700
c) 7,000
Rob
And I said 700. Was I right?
Neil
No Rob, you were wrong. There are around 7,000 recognised languages in the world but UNESCO has identified 2,500 languages which it claims are at risk of extinction.
Rob
A sobering thought Neil. Now shall we remind ourselves of some of the English vocabulary we've heard today. Starting with master.
Neil
To master a new skill, in this context, means to learn thoroughly or learn well. "Rob hopes to master Spanish before he starts a new job in Madrid."
Rob
That's news to me Neil! But it would be good to be fluent in Spanish – or any language – or to speak it fluently – that's speaking it well and without difficulty.
Neil
Now our next word was frequency. Here we are referring to high and low frequency words – so it means how often they occur. Examples of a high frequency word are 'it', 'the' and 'and'.
Rob
And our next word is inflections. These are the changes to the basic form of words according to their function in a sentence. Such as adding an 's' to the end of a word to make it plural.
Neil
And don't forget lemma which is the simplest form or base form of a word before an inflection is added.
Rob
And finally foundation which means the basics your learning grows from.
Neil
That just leaves me to remind you that you can learn English with us at bbclearningenglish.com. That's it for today's 6 Minute English. We hope you enjoyed it. Bye for now. Na shledanou. Hasta luego. Ja-ne.
Rob
And in English, goodbye.
Neil
Goodbye.
Bad Dates: Episode 4 - Flirty date
source: BBC Learning English 2018年1月26日
In this episode, Daniel is on a date with someone who shows a little too much interest in the waiter. What phrases does he use to move the conversation along? Watch the video to discover some key dating language.
# materials below: from http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/co...
Useful dating language:
--Confirming the date's name: Sorry, you are Laura?
--Suggesting what to order: Should we get some drinks?
--Expressing pleasant surprise at seeing someone: I haven't seen you here before.
--Making small talk: What do you do for a living?
--Complimenting someone: You're obviously very good at your job.
--Politely asking for help: I'm so sorry to trouble you, would you mind...
--Making an excuse to leave: Oh, I totally forgot. I've got to meet a friend!
Transcript:
Daniel
Hello!
Laura
Hi!
Daniel
How are you?
Laura
Good, thanks. How are you?
Daniel
Very well. Sorry, you are Laura?
Laura
Yes, yes. Sorry, I should have made that clear.
Daniel
She was very chatty. She came in. She had a big smile on her face. I mean, what more could you want?
Laura
Right.
Daniel
Should we get some drinks?
Laura
Yeah, yeah. Let’s, erm…
Daniel
Glass of white?
Laura
Yeah!
Daniel
Yeah.
Laura
Two glasses of white.
Daniel
That’d be great. Excuse me?
Waiter
What can I get for you?
Laura
Oh, I haven’t, I haven’t seen you here before. I’ve been here quite a few times.
Waiter
Oh, I’m quite new.
Laura
OK.
Waiter
Can I get you anything?
Laura
Sorry, yes. Two glasses of wine.
Waiter
Two glasses of white wine, absolutely. Coming up.
Laura
Oh, thank you.
Waiter
It’s my pleasure.
Laura
Oh, no. It’s my pleasure!
Daniel
Thank you very much.
Daniel
I wouldn’t say it was a good date. Well, she seemed a little bit more interested in the waiter than she did in me.
Laura
Anyway, so what do you do for a living?
Daniel
I work in advertising.
Laura
Oh, nice. Cool.
Waiter
There you are. Two glasses of white wine.
Laura
Oh, thank you! That was so prompt. You’re obviously very good at your job. How long have you been doing it for?
Daniel
Advertising?
Laura
Sorry, I was just… I was talking…
Daniel
Oh, sorry you’re talking to the waiter.
Laura
Sorry.
Daniel
If anything, it got worse. She kept finding excuses to call him over. She wouldn’t stop looking at him. I felt like I wasn’t there.
Laura
Yeah.
Daniel
Oops, sorry you dropped your fork.
Laura
Oh God I have…erm…
Daniel
Let me get that, let me get that.
Laura
No, do you know… no, don’t put yourself out. Do you know what? I’ll ask the waiter to get it. He seems so friendly, I’m sure…
Daniel
He looks busy
Laura
Let’s just find out. Excuse me?
Waiter
Sorry?
Laura
I’m so sorry to trouble you, would you mind… I dropped my fork.
Waiter
There you go, actually let me get you another one. This one’s dirty.
Laura
That…thank you! That is so sweet of you. I’m sorry I’ve taken you away from another table, and you’ve come all the way here and picked up my fork.
Waiter
That’s not a problem. I’ll be back in two seconds.
Laura
Thank you. That was nice, wasn’t it?
Daniel
Picking up your fork?
Laura
And getting me a new one.
Daniel
That’s true, yeah. You did call him over.
Laura
He came very quickly, didn’t he? Sorry?
Daniel
You just keep looking over there?
Laura
I just thought I saw someone I know.
Daniel
The waiter?
Laura
Do you know what? Now you say it. It’s just the waiter, but I thought he was someone else I know, but he must just have one of those faces…very attractive faces.
Daniel
Oh… oh, I totally forgot.
Laura
What?
Daniel
I’ve got to meet a friend.
Laura
Oh no!
Daniel
Yeah, I’m gonna have to run off.
Laura
Oh no!
Daniel
Sorry, I’ve double booked you. I’m really sorry.
Laura
Erm… well I’ve still got all my food, so I might stay.
Daniel
OK.
Daniel
I don’t think so, no if I’m honest. She’s not for me.
Recommendation
source: VOA Learning English 2018年3月15日
College admission experts say most U.S. colleges and universities require letters of recommendation. Learn what it is in this week's News Words.
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