This entry is part of a series about shopping. More shopping 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)

I like to shop online, but how safe is it? A lot of my students would never pay for anything over the Internet, because they’re worried that someone might be able to intercept their credit card or bank information and take all their money.

I don’t have much money to take, so I never really worried about it. To me, being able to buy books in English on Amazon—when there isn’t a single book store in Dresden that has them—is definitely worth the risk. After all, what good is money if you can’t find the things you want to buy?

Even my mother—who I think is the most old-fashioned person in the world—is starting to shop more and more online. She says that the stores near her house just don’t have the things she wants to get, and so she has to shop online.

But, what happens if someone does get your credit card number? Is it possible for someone to take all your money? What about privacy? Are you worried that the government or your neighbors will know where and how you spend your money?

How safe do you think it is to shop online?

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 grew up in the U.S., and now I live in Germany. In the two countries, I feel like sports and fitness are looked at differently.

I think everyone knows—unfortunately—the stereotype of the fat American. And, my experience in the U.S. was that some people were very fit, they were crazy about their fitness, and other people didn’t try to be fit at all. In Germany, on the other hand, I feel like most people try at least to be ‘normally’ fit. There are a few people who are crazy about their fitness, and a few people who don’t try at all.

So, in the U.S., it seems like people are at one extreme or the other, and in Germany most people are in the middle.

But with sports, it’s the different. Most Americans I know love to play a sport when they have time, if they’re good at it or not. After all, an American would say, it’s all about having fun. The Germans I know, however, either don’t play a sport. . . or they train to be as good at it as they can be.

To me, it’s interesting that two related things—sports and fitness—can seem to be opposites in the two countries that I think I know well. How are sports and fitness seen in your country? Are they important? Do many people—and I mean adults, not just kids—play sports in your country?

This entry is part of a series about older workers. We’ll defy stereotypes 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)

I teach English to a lot of people who think they are old. Some are grandparents, others have children as old as I am. And every one of them is able to learn English.

So, I was surprised to learn that most of them think they will never be able to find another job. In Germany, they tell me, companies don’t hire people who are over forty-five or fifty years old, and so, my students would never even consider looking for another job.

The logic, they tell me, is that companies think older workers have two problems: first, their training is out-of-date and they’re difficult to train. Second, because they’re older and will retire soon, it’s not worth the company’s time and money to train them.

The ideal job candidate, my students tell me, is twenty years old and has thirty years of experience.

What do you think? How easily can an older worker find work in your country? If you had a company, would you hire older workers? Why, or why not?

This entry is part of a series about shopping. More shopping 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)

You probably know the word ’shopping’ in English. You don’t need to learn English at all to learn it: it seems to be a part of every language I’ve ever seen. Shopping.

I have to say that I don’t like to shop the old-fashioned way. You know, the way where you drive into the city, walk around, look in different stores. I never find exactly what I want, and I always have to buy the ‘next best’ thing. . . that is, I have to buy something that’s close to what I want, but not exactly right.

When I shop online, though, things are different. It’s possible to buy books in English here in the middle of Germany. I can always find exactly what I want, and comparison shopping is as easy as a few clicks. . . not a few kilometers of walking or driving.

You can guess what I’m going to say: I prefer shopping online. Because I normally know what I want before I go shopping, I don’t need to look around in stores. I just look around a few websites to find the thins that I want, give them my credit card information, and wait for my shopping to come to me.

How do you prefer to shop? Are you an online shopper, or do you prefer to shop ‘offline’? What’s the last thing you bought online? What kinds of things do you only buy offline? Or online?

This is an entry in a series about the military. It’ll be a week in uniform!  The other entries in this series are: Gung-Ho Vocabulary Military Phrases Idiots in the American Army? 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)

My Grandfather was in the American Army. My father was in the American Army. My brothers were in the American Army, and, yes, I was in the American Army.

I hated the Army. Many people do. Now, though, it’s years later and I think the Army was a good experience for me. Some people think that sending a ‘trouble’ kid (that’s a nice way of saying a ‘bad kid’) to the military is a good way to ‘make a man out of him.’ (And that’s a nice way to say: the military will teach him to do what he’s told, and to behave.) I don’t know if that’s true.

For me, the Army was good in two ways. First, even when I hated it, I liked knowing that I was doing a lot of the same things that my grandfather had done. When I was little, my grandfather was a hero of mine, and I liked the connection to him.

Second, as a bookworm, I wasn’t a very ‘active’ person before I joined the Army. But, in the Army, I learned to push myself in a way that only athletes do. And, even more, I learned to work as a part of a team, and to do difficult jobs, even if I didn’t want to.

Later, in college or in my first jobs, it was good for me to have been in the Army. Where I had to get up at five in the morning in the Army, an ‘early’ class in college was at eight. And the jobs that I had as a student were difficult and frustrating jobs, but they only went for eight hours.

From my Army experience, I knew that I had ‘what it takes’ to do these things that other people thought were so hard. And from that knowledge, I got a kind of self-confidence that I’m still very thankful for.

Learning English often means learning to describe your job. Some of my students only want to talk about their jobs in English. Others seem to want to talk about anything but their jobs. This week, I hope you’re one of the people who likes to talk about their jobs. It’s this week’s topic.

Like almost all work vocabulary, you can use this vocabulary to describe a lot of other things, as well. So, even if you’re one of the English learners who likes any topic better than the job, it will be a good week for you.

Specifically, we’re going to learn the vocabulary to discuss some of the positive parts of your job. Some of these will be concrete things: something you actually get. Other things will be more the things you feel.

It’s going to be a week of vocabulary—no grammar this week—and the week’s going to end on a bit of a change. Friday I’m not going to talk about my job benefits, or the benefits of anything. Friday we’re going to talk about something different altogether. I used to do more ‘Everyday English’ here at Bite Sized English, when I’d talk about my life. And I want to re-start that tradition. I won’t tell you what I’m talking about on Friday, except to say this: I won’t be talking about my baby.

I’m looking forward to this week! I hope you are, too!

You know that learning English isn’t easy. But you know it can be done. I’m sure there’s someone you know, a friend or colleague, who has learned to speak pretty good English. Doesn’t knowing that they can do it make it seem a little bit easier?

For a lot of different things in life, I like to pick a person who I think does that thing really well, and to try to be like that person. For example, I want to cook like my mother. I’d love to be as organized as my wife. I wish I were as talented as my little sister or as funny as some of my friends. It’s normal, I think, to use other people as the ‘measuring stick’ that we judge ourselves by.

Do you think that this is a good idea? What are some ways that it can help you? What are some ways that it can really make problems for you? Write what you think in the comments!

All week we’re going to be talking about this, and related topics. This week’s lessons won’t fit together as well as some have in the past, but I think they’re on interesting topics. . . and on Friday we’ll be hearing about one of my favorite people, so that’s good, right? First, today, we’re going to start with a lesson on what role models are, and tomorrow we’re going to talk about two phrasal verbs. Then, on Wednesday, we’re going to talk about that word in the title of this post: mentors. On Thursday, I’ll use the word ‘mentor’ to continue my series on How To Learn English. Finally, like I already said, on Friday we’ll be hearing about one of my favorite people.

I’m looking forward to this week, and I hope you are, too!!

Photo Credit:
The photo above is from Flickr.  It was taken by KellyB, who made it available under a Creative Commons license.  Thanks, KellyB!

You probably know that another word for ‘car’ is ‘automobile.’ From that word, we get ‘automotive.’ It’s an adjective describing everything that’s connected to cars: there’s the automotive industry, there are automotive mechanics, and you can bet that there’s automotive English!

If you have a car—and if you’re like me—you probably talk about your car a lot in your native language. Well, shouldn’t you be able to talk about it in English, too? To get ready for this week, you will probably want to look at the first time we started talking about cars here at Bite Sized English.

This week, we’re going to talk about a specific car topic: we’re going to talk about the English you can use to describe the work you do to keep your car running. After all, your car is an important part of your life. . . when it doesn’t work, you have a problem!

We’ll start today with some basic vocabulary for this topic: ‘at the garage’ and ‘breakdowns.’ Tomorrow we’ll learn another word ‘maintenance,’ and some of the words you can use when you talk about it. Then, on Wednesday, we’ll have one more lesson on the verb get. I promise it will be the last. . . for a while!

Then, on Thursday and Friday, we’ll talk about two idioms you can use when talking about your car. . . but also for a lot of different topics.

It should be a good week. I’m looking forward to it, and hope you are, too!

Photo Credit
The photo above is from Flickr.  It was taken by grewlike and made available under a Creative Commons license.  Thanks, grewlike!

There are a lot of different ‘areas’ in life that seem just like every other area. . . but they have their own vocabulary. Medicine is one of those areas, and so is science. This week, we’re not going to be talking about medicine or science. We’re going to be talking about insurance.

For most of us, Insurance isn’t a hobby. Or a job. But, for better or for worse, it’s a part of modern life. And learning fluent English means learning to talk about all of your life in English. So, get ready for a week of vocabulary for discussing English.

We’re going to start, today, with a simply explanation of what insurance is, in case you’re not familiar with the word. Then, tomorrow, we’re going to talk about the basic vocabulary you can use to talk about the insurance in your life. On Wednesday, we’re going to visit the verb ‘get’ again, to learn two more things you can say using it. (It’s a really versatile verb. What do you think we’re going to be talking about a week from Wednesday?) Then, on Thursday, we’re going to do even more vocabulary so that, on Friday, we can put it all together.

Friday I’ll talk about something almost everyone has an opinion on: how we organize health insurance. Specifically, I’ll be talking about the U.S. system, and some of the problems it has, but I’ll want you to use your new vocabulary to let me know what you think!

Are you ready for another week of English? Let’s go!

Photo Credit:
The photo above is from Flickr.  It was taken by wireheadinc and made available under a Creative Commons license.  Thanks, wireheadinc, for the photo!

I think English is a wonderful language—and not only because it’s my native language—it’s a language you can use for travel. It’s a language you can use to learn more about your favorite hobbies on the Internet. It’s a language you can use to communicate with people all over the world. . . not just in the U.S. or U.K. or another ‘English speaking’ country. People in Germany speak English, as well as in India or in China.

Even though you can use English for a lot of things, one of the things that my students need English for the most is their work. There’s a lot of English to cover for talking about work—and, with time, we’ll cover it—but this week we’re going to focus on talking about our schedules. In the first listening exercise, you’re going to get a clear definition of the word schedule, as both a noun and a verb. And we’re going to talk about something related to a schedule: the to-do list.

But, we’re also going to cover the vocabulary you can use to describe your schedule and the differences between the meanings of each word. We’ll continue talking about the ‘get verbs’—you can use them for almost everything, and certainly for schedules—and we’ll talk about two verbs that my students often confuse: remember and remind.

At the end of the week, you’ll hear about a problem my wife and I are having with our private schedule. . . and that’ll be the end of a long week of English for work.

Better Topic Ideas
If you have ideas for a topic that you’d like included. Remember: you can always let me know. I prefer to go over the topics you suggest. As per request, I’ll try to talk a little more about the different sides of Business English.