Bite Sized English

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?

November 24th, 2009 | Category: English Three, listening, phrases and idioms | Leave a comment

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.)

November 20th, 2009 | Tags: balance, fitness | Category: English Three, listening | Leave a comment

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)

Like all things, fitness vocabulary can be used for more than just fitness. A lot of what we’re going to talk about today could also be used to described something like. . . learning English. (After all, you’re here to learn English.)

Still, today’s recording is going to introduce you to five terms that can be used to describe fitness, but you’ll hear a lot of examples that aren’t just for learning English. To help you—and because some of these words are a little crazy to spell—here’s the vocabulary we’ll cover in this recording:

• Excel / Exceed

• Endurance

• Cardiovascular

• Plateau

• Conserve

November 19th, 2009 | Tags: fitness | Category: English Two, Vocabulary, listening | Leave a comment

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?

November 18th, 2009 | Tags: fitness | Category: English One, Topic, spoken | Comments (1)

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

November 17th, 2009 | Tags: fumble, strike out | Category: English Three, listening, phrases and idioms | Leave a comment

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)

There’s a belief—and I don’t know if it’s true or not—that companies won’t hire older workers. I know that many of my ‘older’ students wouldn’t ever consider looking for a new job, because they think they’re too old.

Because I’m a big believer is positive thinking and the idea that anyone can do anything they really want to do, I found this recording from Secrets of the Job Hunt. It’s full of advice for older people who’re looking for a job.

Before you start the recording, get ready for short statements. . . and a lot of changes in voices. The recording is a collection of messages that people people left by phone.

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Which advice do you think was the best? The original recording, some of the advice included changing your hair and getting Botox treatments to look younger. I think that’s crazy, but how far would you go to avoid being considered ‘old’ in a job interview?

November 13th, 2009 | Tags: job hunting, older workers, work | Category: English Three, listening | Leave a comment