100 Best Movie Lines In 200 Seconds

Quiz Book

As I promised, I have prepared a quiz book to use when watching the 100 Best Movie Lines In 200 Seconds compilation by Liquid Generation, (below). Click on the picture on the right to open the PDF quiz book. You can download it to your computer or simply print it out.

The quiz book, like the video, is divided into different genres, Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thriller, Romance, Drama and Action. Each line, or quote, from the video is in the quiz book but they are written in random order. While you watch the video, write the number of the clip on the right side of the print, next to the quote. Some of the quotes are difficult to hear, some are very easy, but all of them are good for English listening practice.

The answers and movie titles are in the back of the quiz book, on pages 8~10, so you can check your answers after watching the video a few times. Also, if you have any suggestions for other movies that you think should have been included in the Liquid Generation compilation, write them in the comments below.

Topic Talk Links

Here are the links that I promised. After we have used the material in class you can go to these links and get translations of the questions and the audio files to use at home.

First, CLICK HERE for Japanese translations of the questions, and key vocabulary for the units. Only use these after our lessons when you want to review the material, (after I have given you the scripts).

Second, CLICK HERE to download the audio files (in MP3 format) that we use in class. There are two audio files per lesson, Practice and Listening. The Practice track is a chance to listen and repeat the questions. The questions are read once slowly, then once at natural speed. Repeating these is good practice. The Listening track is the same as the track that we use in class.

Practice Practice Practice & more Practice

• How many hour does David Beckham practice soccer each day? 
• How many golf balls does Tiger Woods hit everyday?
• How many hours a week does a tennis player practice?
• Can a basketball player throw the ball into the net without practicing for hours and hours?

Watch the video and see the amazing things people can do if they practice
(NOTE: You may have to go to YouTube to see the video.)

Now, ask yourself: 

"How good do I want to be at English?"

It is hard work and you need to practice, practice, practice and practice some more...but, you will be successful if you do your best!

English Blues

Here is a video I saw on EFL Classroom 2.0, called Bad Case Of English Blues. Maybe this is how you feel sometimes too!

Cooking Methods

This post explains some different cooking vocabulary that came up in one of our lessons. It is not a list of all methods of cooking, just some of the most commonly used.

Cooking in an oven

Bake: To cook something in an oven, inside another container. The top of the container is usually open. Examples are:

bake a cake

bake a loaf of bread (loaf is one of the counters for bread)

bake a pie

Roast: Essentially to roast is the same as to bake, however, the food is usually not placed inside a container, or the container is large enough for the food to be open to the heat allowing it to become well cooked on the outside but moist on the inside. Examples are:

roast a joint of meat

roast vegetables

Cooking with water or liquid

Boil: To cook in bubbling, hot water. Examples include:

pasta

vegetables

eggs

Blanch: To put into boiling water for a very short time to cook the food just slightly.

Poach: To cook gently in hot, not boiling water.

Simmer: To cook over a low heat for a long time so that the liquid bubbles just a little.

Steam: To cook in the steam rising from boiling water.

Cooking with direct heat

Grill: To cook food over a direct heat, usually a flame. Examples include:

grill food on a barbecue with charcoal

grill food over a gas flame

Broil: Used in American English to explain grilling where the heat source, or flame, is above the food. In British English, the term grill is used.

Sear: To cook meat on the outside with very high heat for a short time, sealing in the juices.

Cooking with oil, fat, butter, etc.

Fry: There are a few ways to fry food.

Pan Fry: To prepare food in a pan with a little oil, or fat, to stop the food from sticking to the pan. For example:

Fried egg

Fried sausages

Steak

Deep Fry: To prepare food in enough oil to cover the food. For example:

Tempura

French Fries

Fish & Chips

Food prepared on a hot plate with a little oil is also fried (for example, teppan-yaki).

Borrow, Rent or Lease?

The questions from the previous post were:

① Why do we borrow a book from a library but rent a movie from the video store?

② What is the difference between rent and lease?

Question ① is the easiest to answer. 

• When we borrow something, it is not in exchange for money.
• When we rent something, we have to pay for it.

So, you borrow a book from a library, but you rent a movie from the video store.  In both cases, it is only for a short time.  You do not (or should not) keep the thing you are renting or borrowing.

Question ② is a little more difficult to answer.

• Both renting and leasing require us to pay money, they are the same in that way. The differences are:
• When we rent something, we do not own it, the owner gives us permission to use the thing for a fixed period of time only.
• When we lease something, ownership is also transferred to us for a fixed period of time.

So, the DVD from the video store belongs to the video store. It is not yours but you are allowed to use it for a short time. However, if you lease a car it belongs to you until the lease agreement, or contract, comes to an end.

I hope this helps clear things up for you!

Lend or Borrow

Lend and borrow are some of the most frequently confused verbs.  Look at the image above.  There, you can see the direction of the actions. There are some example sentences in the past tense below.  

• Mr. Green typed an email and sent it to Mr. Red.  
• Mr. Red received the email from Mr. Green.
• Mr. Green lent his car to Mr. Red last weekend.
• Mr. Red's car was in the repair shop, so he borrowed Mr. Green's car.
• Mr. Red sold a computer to Mr. Red.
• Mr. Red's computer was old, so he bought a new one from Mr. Green.
• Last month, Mr. Green gave Mr. Red a birthday present.
• Mr. Red got a birthday present from Mr. Green last month.

I hope this helps clear the confusion a little!

A couple of related questions I have been asked recently:

① Why do we borrow a book from a library but rent a movie from the video store?

② What is the difference between rent and lease?

Think about these questions and I will post answers soon.

English Pronunciation

Are you having difficulty with English pronunciation?  You are certainly not alone! Here is short clip from the film Pink Panther (2006). Inspector Clouseau (Steve Martin) is trying to master American pronunciation by practicing a short, simple sentence.  

Adjective Order

Adjectives are used to give more information about a noun.  Look at the sentence below.

The children are playing with a ball. 

Does that sentence describe the picture on the right very well?  Not really.  One way to improve the sentence is to use an adjective to describe the ball.  For example:

The children are playing with a big ball. 

The children are playing with a red ball.

That's easy, right?  How about when you want to describe the ball's color and its size.  Or its color, size and the material it is made of, in this case rubber?  Do you know what order the adjectives should be used?

As a general rule adjectives appear in the order in the table below. Click on the table to see a larger version.

Adjective Order in English

Travel English

I have had a request to put some useful travel English here. Instead of writing a long list of useful phrases and key vocabulary, click on the picture below to go to the travel section of TalkEnglish.com.  Here you can click on the topics in blue, Airport, Car Rental, Hotel, etc.  This will take you to another page with useful phrases etc. You can then click on the sentences in blue to hear a recording.

TalkEnglish has lots of other great study material too. Take your time and have a look around the site!

NOTE: If you are an iPhone or iPad user, you will not be able to hear the audio files because they require a Flash Player Plugin. You should be able to hear them on any computer though!

CLICK PICTURE

Tag Questions

What are tag questions?

Tag questions are positive or negative statements with a short question at the end.  Being able to use them correctly will greatly improve your spoken English by making conversations more natural. Broadly speaking, there are three reasons to use tag questions.

① When we want to check that a piece of information is correct, for example:

You were born in Hiroshima, weren't you?

He is from the USA, isn't he?

You don't work in a bank, do you?

Because these are real, yes/no questions they have rising intonation at the end.

② When you want to keep the conversation moving along, you want the other person to say something.  In this way, tag questions are used as a communication strategy.

The weather is nice today, isn't it?

The man over there is very tall, isn't he?

The music is very loud, isn't it?

These are not real questions. When you say something like this it is not to check if the information is correct, you know that the weather is nice, you can see the man is very tall and you can hear the very loud music.  Because they are not real questions they have falling intonation at the end. 

③ There is a third kind of tag question the will will look at later, (see the bottom of this post).

How do we make tag questions?

• Usually, a positive statement, (You were born in Hiroshima...) is followed by a negative tag, (...weren't you?). 
• A negative statement, (You don't work in a bank...) is followed by a positive tag (...do you?).
• If there is no auxiliary verb ( 助動詞 ) we use do in the tag.
• He plays soccer, doesn't he? = (He does play soccer, doesn't he?)
• They like beer, don't they? = (They do like beer, don't they?)
• The verb in the statement and tag should be the same tense.
• The music was very loud, wasn't it? (past tense)
• The music is very loud, isn't it?  (present tense)
• You have listened to the music, haven't you? (present perfect tense)
• He will listen to the music tomorrow, won't he? (future tense)

CLICK HERE for a tag questions quiz at EnglishClub.com 

③ The third kind of tag question is the most difficult to master. When we want to be sarcastic, or express disbelief, it is possible for a positive statement to be followed by a positive tag. Below are some examples.

A: Mary says that she is the best looking woman in the school.

B: Oh she does, does she?

A: I will earn one million dollars next month.

B: Oh you will, will you?

A: He says he's the best, does he?

A: You think your funny, do you?

TV Commercials

I have been thinking about an engaging way to introduce global issues into an integrated studies through English course.  I started to look at TV commercials, or adverts in the UK, (short for advertisements), as an interesting way, not only to introduce different issues, but also highlight cultural differences.  

One commercial from the USA, for the Nissan Leaf, caught my attention.  I thought you might be interested in it and I have little challenge for you:

After watching the commercial: 

1. Summarize it and explain what global issue it highlights.

2. Do you think it is a good commercial for Nissan Leaf?  Why or why not? 

If you interested in learning about how this was made, click on the video below.

How often do you...?

I was asked a question yesterday about How often do you...?

There are a couple of ways to answer questions like this.

① The first way would be to use adverbs of frequency like the ones below:

Always

Usually

Often

Sometimes

Occasionally

Rarely

Seldom

Never

Have a look at the simple Q&A dialogue below.  Notice that the adverb of frequency comes after the be verb and before the main verb!

② The second way is to give a more concrete answer by saying how many times you do something. Look at the patterns below:

Notice the 'Hmm, about...'  

You use about when the number of times you do something is NOT decided exactly.  So, for example, I eat sushi about three times a month, but I go to guitar lessons twice a week. (My guitar lessons are decided, Thursday and Saturday, every week but when I eat sushi is not decided.) 

I hope this helps you, for more information CLICK HERE to go to ESL Gold.

Gender & Job Titles

Today I had a conversation about job titles. Recently there is a lot of confusion about the correct names to use when describing occupations. In some English speaking countries there has been a shift towards gender-neutrality.  Gender- neutrality challenges the use of male and female nouns and pronouns.  This is especially noticeable when we look at jobs.

Of course, there are many jobs that do not imply any gender, teacher, singer, author, poet, musician etc. There are also some that have both a male and a female job title but recently women have rejected the female title, preferring to use the male title. A few examples are:

Actor & Actress

Recently actor is being used by many women

Fisherman & Fisher Woman

There is a gender-neutral job title, fisher, however this has been rejected by many women who prefer the title fisherman

Horseman

Horse Rider is the gender-neutral title, however, like fisherman, many female horse riders prefer the title Horseman

The three examples above seem to be exceptions to the general trend of gender-neutrality.

In & On; Prepositions for Transportation

Do you know why we say the following?

Get in a rowing boat. BUT, Get on a ferry. (both sea)

Or

Get in a taxi. BUT, Get on a bus. (both land)

Or

Get in a fighter jet. BUT, Get on a 747. (both air)

Many students learn that you get ON a bus or ferry but IN a car or taxi.  However, when they come across an unfamiliar form of transportation they are not sure what the correct preposition to use is. (Even many high level, or advanced students have some difficulty)  This is because they have never been taught the rules about when to use in & on with transportation.  Instead, they have just memorized example sentence patterns.  So, here I will give you the rules.

Rules for using ON

If passengers can stand up, use on.

*skateboard

*train

*bus

*tram / streetcar / trolley

*coach

*cruise liner

*ferry

*surfboard

*escalator

*plane

Rules for using IN

In is used for enclosed spaces that are impossible, or difficult to stand up in.

*car

*taxi

*limousine

*kayak

*Toyota Prius

*jet fighter

*helicopter

I hope this helps!  Oh, and if your looking at the picture at the top of the page and thinking about the bicycle...can you stand up when riding a bicycle, or a motorbike, or even a horse?

AED Training

Last week I had a refresher training course in CPR and how to use an AED.

(CLICK HERE FOR JAPANESE INFORMATION ABOUT CPR).

(CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION IN JAPANESE ABOUT AEDs).

After the training I began to think that not enough people know how to do CPR, and even if they do, they may panic and forget what to do.

I was looking on line and found a TV commercial by the British Heart Foundation. The actor, and former footballer, Vinnie Jones teaches how to give CPR. (Cultural note: In the commercial he is playing a gangster.)  The British Heart Foundation is putting an emphasis on giving an effective heart massage.  After watching this, even if you don't understand the English, (the accent is very strong), you surely will not forget.  

HINT:  Listen to the song!

Click to watch it below.

Play Go & Do

This is an answer to a question about the correct verbs to use for sports or similar leisure activities. The three most common verbs for such activities are Play, Go & Do.   Have a look at the slide below (you can click it to make it larger). 

The next slide, (again, you can click on it to make it larger), explains the rules for using play, go & do.  Of course there are some exceptions, but generally these rules apply.

Now, think about the rules.  You can print off the slide below. Draw lines from each sport, or activity to the correct verb.  Good look, and if you have any questions feel free to use the comments below.

Music

I always tell people who are learning English to find something that they are interested in and ‘do it’ in English.  For example, if you love manga, find some in English, (actually, you would be surprised how many Japanese manga have been translated into English!)  If you like movies, watch them in English, with English subtitles.  If your hobby is cooking, watch cooking shows from English speaking countries on You Tube and make the recipes yourself.

Another popular way to learn English is through songs.  I have found a really fun site, LyricsTraining.com 

On this site, you can choose a song video you want to watch, and listen to.  Press play, listen to the song and type the missing words into the lyrics.  The songs are divided into Easy, Medium & Hard and the games are divided into Beginner, Intermediate & Expert.

Click on the picture below to go to the site and challenge yourself! 

Finnair Cabin Crew

I came across this video whilst reading Metro Magazine, an on line magazine that can also be picked up for free all over London, (paper versions).   Staff on a Finnair flight from Helsinki to New Delhii performed a Bollywood dance to celebrate India's Republic Day. The video below was posted on You Tube and has already been viewed by more than 1.5 million people. To read the Metro Magazine article CLICK HERE, or just watch the video below. 


Imagine if the staff did that on your flight!

BBC: Young Japanese 'decline to fall in love'

CLICK HERE to see a video from the BBC News web site about young Japanese men and women.  It suggests that young Japanese men are not interested in forming romantic relationships and that Japanese women are becoming 'stronger'.