Schedule English: Remind and Remember
| This is an entry in the “Schedule English” series. There will be more about schedules all week!
This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3) |
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There’s a lot of information in your head. You probably know hundreds of people’s names, and a lot of birthdays. If you’re married, I hope you know when your anniversary is, too. But, even if that information is in your head, can you always find it when you need it? I know I can’t. That’s part of what my schedule is for: to let me know when a birthday or anniversary is coming.
Today, we’re going to talk about vocabulary for describing how we manage that information.
Before You Start the Recording
Think about a time when you forgot something important. Did you get in trouble? How well can you tell the story in English? What did you do to make sure that you didn’t have the same problem again?
Start the recording to learn some vocabulary that’s perfect for this situation.
After You Listen To the Recording
Many of my students know the word ‘remember,’ but are surprised to learn ‘remind.’ Was remind a new word for you, too? Think again of the situation when you forgot something important. How would you use these words to describe that situation? Let us know!
Vocabulary
Remember: You probably know more than a million pieces of information, but you’re not thinking about all of those million pieces of information right now, are you? Your brain somehow keeps all that information organized in the background and, when you need it, it can find it for you. Finding that information is called remembering. Sometimes you know the information is in your head, but for some reason, you can’t find it. You ‘can’t remember.’ It happens to us all, from time to time. To help you remember important information, it’s good to have a reminder.
Remind: Did you ever forget a meeting? Probably, you didn’t forget it 100%. You knew there was a meeting, you just forgot that it was today. Or, you knew there was a meeting, but you were too busy to look at the clock until it was too late. It would have helped if there was something to help you think of the meeting before it was too late. Or, in other words, you need something to remind you of the meeting. To ‘remind’ someone is to help them remember something they already know: the alarm clock reminds you that you need to get up now. Outlook Express can remind you when you have a meeting. I hope Bite-Sized-English.com reminds you of the vocabulary you already learned. Another meaning of remind is when one thing makes you think of another thing: when I see someone on the street who looks like best friend in the U.S., that person reminds me of my best friend.
