This entry is part of a series about connotations. This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class.

Most teachers—and students—know that taking a few minutes ‘off’ to play a game, or just chat, can help you re-stock your energy before getting back into the ‘work’ of learning English. But, is it okay to take a few minutes off at work? Is working without stopping always the best thing to do?

In today’s installment of the connotation dictionary, Î want to talk about how you can describe working—or not working—with different connotations. After all, what’s the difference between:

• An industrious worker,
• A conscientious worker
• Screwing around, and
• Blowing off steam?

I know that you want to know all about these things, so feel free to download (as a PDF) and use the second part of the connotation dictionary: ‘people at work.’

This entry is part of a series about connotations. This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class.

After talking about what a connotation is, it’s hard to learn to use a connotation. After all, speaking English masterfully means using the language not just to convey meanings, but to convey feelings.

How can you learn these feelings?

I’ll get into general answers in a bit (that’s a code for: I have some ideas, but none of them are really good), but there’s something I’ve started doing for my students and that I want to share here: my connotation dictionary.  (Downloadable as a PDF)

Today, we’re going to discuss problems.

We all have problems at work, but what are the other words you can use? What feelings do they convey? Is there a difference if you say that. . .

• I have a problem at work.
• The situation at work is difficult now.
• We face a few challenges at work.

These are all things you can read and learn about in the first installment of the connotation dictionary: ‘work problems.’

Note: I know that there are a few English teachers who read my blog. I’d be thrilled if you gave me some feedback on this. How do you convey connotations? Is a resource like this useful? What do you think of the ’story format?’

This entry is a part of the series about hidden meanings. I’ll be adding more as time allows. This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercise. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

I said in the last post that the connotation of the word is the ’second meaning’ of a word. A connotation will say if a word is positive, or negative. It will include the feelings of approval—meaning you think something is good—and disapproval. (That means the opposite, of course.)

Let me try it with a more poetic example: if you think of a conversation as paper, and think of the words meaning as what you write on the paper. . . the connotation will be the color you write the word in, and if you write it in bold, italics, or UPPERCASE. And these things, we know, can change the meaning of the word.

In the recording today, I’ll talk about connotations more exactly, and I’ll use a few examples. And, in the coming posts, I’ll try to include a few more concrete examples.

For now, here are some exercises.

1. If something at work isn’t going well, what words would you use to describe it? How would you try to describe it in a positive light?
2. One of your colleagues is known for working hard—long hours, no breaks—but not very quickly. (The work he does, though, is good work.) Can you describe this colleague positively? Can you describe him negatively?
3. You’re at a job interview and they want to know what you did at your last job. What you actually did was make hamburgers and put them in paper wrappers. Is it possible to describe this job so that it sounds like a good work experience?

There are a lot of words in English. A lot of them have almost the same meaning, or meanings that are related. But, often, picking one word over the other can weaken the meaning of your sentence and—in the worst case—even hurt feelings.

Consider a few questions:

• Would you rather be faced with a challenge or a problem?
• Would you rather that someone called you a ‘natural leader’ or a ’skilled leader?’
• If someone takes five minutes to make a decision, would you call them ‘deliberate’ or ‘indecisive?’

Our problem—I’m sorry, I mean our challenge—is that these word pairs have very similar meanings, but can result in misunderstanding if you don’t choose the right one.

What’s the difference? The difference is the connotation of the words. We’ll talk more, soon, about the meaning of connotation, but for now it helps to say this: the connotation of a word is its ’second meaning.’ Often, we use the words ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ to describe this: a challenge is a positive thing, a problem is a negative thing. But it can be more than that.

Why does it matter? If you’re speaking to a native—or fluent—speaker who is aware of the connotation of the words you use, it’s very possible that misunderstandings can happen when you say in English what you’d normally say in your native language.

In the next days and weeks (I don’t know how fast I can prepare stuff) I want to talk about this idea. We’re going to start with some vocabulary to describe this, we’re going to cover specific examples, and we’re going to talk about how you can find out connotations on your own. (After all, every word has some kind of connotation.)

Normally, I’ve organized my lessons at Bite Sized English into different levels: from pretty simple to native level. The lessons we work on for this topic will be all ‘native level.’ You’ll need pretty good English to really make use of them. (Though, it never hurts to learn the extra vocabulary.)

This entry is part of a series about fraud. 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)

We’ve been talking about fraud and identity theft all week, so you can probably guess what I’m talking about today. But, here’s how the story starts: I get a surprising email from my bank, and pick up the phone to make a phone call. . .

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Okay, I had what might be considered an ‘innocent’ run-in with identity theft—or maybe it was ‘only’ credit card fraud—but it was enough to make me paranoid. Where do you think that the theif could have gotten my credit card information? What do you think I should do to make sure it never happens again?

This is a post in a series about Thanksgiving. It’s a good week to be thankful! 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)

It’s black Friday. Are you frightened? No, it’s not Friday the Thirteenth and it’s not the darkest day of the year (that’s in December.) What’s so black about today?

You might know about black Tuesday, and think that you’re supposed to jump out of a building today. You’re not. What are you supposed to do on black Friday? Well, if you’re crazy—and my mother and sister both are—you’ll shop today. Insanity.

Today is black Friday in the U.S., and if you still don’t know what black Friday is, don’t worry. That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Is there a similar day to this in your country? Is there a ‘Christmas shopping season?’ When does it start? Do you like shopping during this season? Most people tell me that they hate shopping at Christmas. . . so, why do you think they don’t do their shopping earlier?

This is a post in a series about Thanksgiving. It’s a good week to be thankful! 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)

Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S., and I have to say that this is my favorite of all the American holidays. It has nothing to do with the Thanksgiving story, and everything to do with spending time with my family, and looking at the bright side of life for a weekend.

All but one of my brothers and sisters will be together today with my parents at my parents house, and you can bet we’ll be eating a lot. And we’ll be telling old stories and driving my wife crazy. But none of that is why this is my favorite holiday. To find that out, you’ll just have to listen to the recording.

This entry is part of a series about idioms. There will be more all the time! 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)

Did you ever have a day, or a week or even a year when everything seemed to go wrong? I’m sure that, if you did and you told a friend, they probably said something like “look on the bright side: you could be dead” or “think positively, at least you have your health.”

I will be honest and admit that, when I’m feeling sorry for myself, I can’t stand those people. I want other people to agree that my life really is the hardest that there ever was. That’s not what this idiom is about, though, it’s about looking on the bright side.

As you listen to this recording, try to catch the ‘original’ meaning of the word ‘blessing.’

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Is there a similar saying in your own language? What do you tell someone who’s having a bad day or week? Are you the kind of person who can count his blessings or do you—like me, sometimes—focus on the negative a lot?

This entry is part of a series about fitness. Get ready to sweat this 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)

I already talked about the all-or-nothing mentality that some Americans seem (to me) to have about fitness. So, when the time comes to talk about ‘balance’ in fitness, maybe I’m talking about moderation? That would be a good topic to talk about, but it’s not today’s topic.

Today, we’re going to hear an excerpt from a podcast . . . that’s really a radio show. (It’s a live radio show that’s released as a podcast.) That means, we’re only going to hear a few minutes from a much longer show. But, the topic is balance.

The show is called The Saturday Morning Workout, and the hosts work at a fitness studio called Fitness Together.

What do you think they will be talking about when they talk about balance?

After You’ve Heard the Recording
What do you think? Did you have the right understanding of what ‘balance’ is? Are your own workouts ‘balanced’? (I will tell you this: since I heard this podcast, I try to do more than just jog. I don’t know if my workouts are balanced, yet.)

This entry is part of a series about idioms. There will be more all the time! 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)

Many of my students don’t like to discuss sports. . . because they don’t play sports. They don’t have the time, and don’t see a need to learn any ’sports’ vocabulary.

I also don’t play many sports, but I insist on my students learning some of the vocabulary.

The reason is that, in their native languages, they need sports vocabulary, but for more than just describing sports! A lot of our ‘figurative’ English comes from sports and—because people see both sports and business as win-or-lose ventures—a lot of business idioms are grounded in sports.

Today, I’ll talk to you about two sports phrases, what they mean in the sports they’re associated with, and how we use them as idioms.

Here are our two idioms for today:

• Strike Out

• Fumble