Archive for July, 2012
What’s the weather? Posted by Gabriele on Jul 22, 2012
What’s the weather like where you are today? Here, where I am in Washington, DC the weather forecast is: 93 degree Fahrenheit Partly Cloudy Humidity 48% In plain English one would say today’s weather is: hot and muggy. Below I have presented some important weather related vocabulary so you can more accurately talk about…
In the news: Drought in the United States Posted by Gabriele on Jul 19, 2012
It is summertime in the United States and so hot dry weather is expected and normal, but according to new data the hot dry weather that many Americans are currently experiencing is not normal. In fact, this dry weather is part of the biggest drought in the USA since the 1950’s. So, what is…
Practice with Some Synonyms (Part II) Posted by Gabriele on Jul 17, 2012
Yesterday I presented to you a passage that could be partially rewritten using a number of synonyms for various words that I highlighted. Below you will see two versions of this passage: yesterday’s (with words with potential synonyms in bold) and today’s (with the replacement words in italics). Take a look at these two versions…
Practice with Some Synonyms Posted by Gabriele on Jul 16, 2012
One great way to increase your English vocabulary is to learn synonyms for common words and vary the different words that you use to say the same or almost the same things. Using a more varied vocabulary makes what you say more interesting for other people to listen to. We all want to be more…
American ID cards and documents Posted by Gabriele on Jul 15, 2012
You may or may not be aware that in the United States we do not have a national identification card or ID*. Although national ID cards are compulsory** in many countries and often must be carried with a person at all times, this is not true in the United States. In the United States a…
Vocabulary Old and New Posted by Gabriele on Jul 13, 2012
I was recently reading an article* about how technology has been changing our lives and how older products (and ways of doing things) are being replaced by newer products (and ways of doing things). This brought up some very interesting English vocabulary that I would like to share in this blog. Below I will introduce…
Summer Peach Cobbler Posted by Gabriele on Jul 12, 2012
It is summertime and that means it is time for cobbler! So, what is a cobbler? A cobbler is a dessert. This dessert originated in the American colonies, before the United States became its own country. Early English settlers in America created cobblers when they were unable to find the ingredients and cooking equipment they…