Hurricane Katrina Retrospective Posted by Gabriele on Sep 1, 2015
In the United States, the city of New Orleans is commemorating (both celebrating and mourning) the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina; a natural disaster that devastated this city and the surrounding towns of the American Gulf Coast. The 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina has been in the news a lot in the United States. Over…
Talking Shit in English Posted by Gabriele on Aug 25, 2015
‘Shit’ is not a polite word in English, but it is a common word none-the-less and therefore worthy of a little attention here on the blog today. Shit is considered a swear word or a bad word in English, and so it is best not to use it around people you don’t know well. Shit…
English idioms involving clothing Posted by Gabriele on Aug 18, 2015
This post is one for all the “fashionistas” (or people who love clothes and fashion) out there. Today we are going to look at clothes from hats to shoes, but we aren’t going to talk about specific clothing vocabulary, we are going to look at idioms and expressions that involve clothing. So, even if you…
Great American Cities – Chicago Posted by sasha on Aug 17, 2015
After covering a few east coast cities (New York, Boston, D.C., Philly) and a few west coast ones (San Francisco, L.A., and Las Vegas), we’re moving to the Midwest for the next stop on our tour of “Great American Cities” as we pay a visit to Chicago. Name: It is believed that the name of…
Pronunciation: English past tense -ed Posted by Gabriele on Aug 11, 2015
Here is a short lesson about the pronunciation of the past tense ending –ed suffix used in English. It is common for ESL speakers to mispronounce words in the past tense, but after reading this post I hope any confusion you have about the different pronunciations of the regular past tense –ed ending are cleared…
Davy Crockett an American Legend Posted by Gabriele on Aug 4, 2015
Today I’m going to introduce you to an American folk legend: Davy Crockett. You’ll know a picture of Davy Crockett when you see one, because he is almost always portrayed wearing a raccoon (or “coonskin”) hat and carrying a gun. Davy Crockett is a legend with many fantastic stories told about him, but he…
Great American West Coast Road Trip Posted by sasha on Jul 29, 2015
Over the past year, we’ve been talking about American national parks and some of the USA’s great cities, such as New York, Washington D.C., and Boston. Today we will combine these two to talk about something else that is a very American summer tradition – a road trip. A road trip is usually a long…