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Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verbs. Yuck. A phrasal verb is a verb plus a preposition or adverb which creates a meaning different from the original verb. Basically, when some words are used together, they form a new “word” (they have a meaning that has NOTHING to do with the two words that are combined).

common phrasal verbs

UsingEnglish has a great way to practice common phrasal verbs>>

The verbs in the list below all have several different phrasal verbs associated with them. The number in brackets represents the number of phrasal verbs available containing that verb. Clicking on a verb will take you to a quiz of between 5 and 10 questions designed to test your understanding of the phrasal verbs in that group. If a group has more than 10 phrasal verbs in it a random selection of questions will be presented for that verb.

http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/phrasal-verbs/quizzes-verbs.html

 

You basically have to treat these as “new” vocabulary. Train your brain to recognize them together and then pull up that meaning. See, right there! Pull up. Do you know the meaning of pull+up? Sadly, some phrasal verbs have more than one meaning 🙁 So context is also very important. If you google it, you will see this:

pull up

Does that exercise (shown in the picture) fit with my sentence? Train your brain to recognize them together and then pull up that meaning.

What do you think?

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YouTube

YouTube is an AMAZING tool for language learners! YouTube combines visuals and audio to really stimulate the senses.  Much more entertaining than the standard old grammar book!

#1 Browse

Search for videos about things that interest you. If you are interested in cooking, watch some videos about cooking in English. Check out different accents from around the world– it can be really fun (even for native speakers)! Search for keywords: ESL, Learn English, British English, Grammar, English Pronunciation

Spend sometime and find the channels that you like.

#2 Subscribe

When you find a channel that you really like, click on subscribe.

subscribe

Every time you are on your YouTube homepage, videos from the channels that you subscribe to will be featured.

#3 USE IT

As with learning anything, practice makes perfect. The more you hear English, the more you are going to understand it. Listen to a video and repeat what you hear. Try to mimic the sounds that you are hearing perfectly. I tell my students to repeat what they hear and look in the mirror.

EVERYDAY set some time aside for YouTube. Your English is not going to magically improve overnight. It takes time and practice– but using a tool like YouTube can make it fun and interesting. The best part about YouTube is that you learn other things while you are improving your English (like how to make a chocolate cake!)

Beginner tip! If you are a beginner, search for videos in your native language and turn on English subtitles.  Try this out and then move on to videos with English audio and English subtitles.

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FREE Skype chat

Everyday I get at least 2 messages inquiring about my services.  98% of those are people who want to speak with me for free.  In a perfect world, with no rent to pay or no need to buy food or clothing, I would be more than happy to talk to people all day for no charge.  As we all know- this is not the case.  This is my profession and how I make a living.

I understand that some people do not have enough money to pay for private English sessions so I have offered many opportunities for people to “earn” free lessons by showing their dedication to improving their English.  This link has been shared hundreds (probably over 1,000) times https://www.facebook.com/SkypEnglish4U/notes and then I never hear from the people again.

This is frustrating for me because I am offering my services for free, which I do not have to do at all, and yet… nobody takes me up on this offer.  I wonder why this is… Do people not have the time to click on the links I share on facebook and read them or try the activities that I share?  If so, they probably do not have enough time in their busy schedule to dedicate toward improving their English.

I believe in working for what you want and showing dedication.  If you want me to give up my spare time to help you to achieve your language goals (for free), then you have to prove to me that you are serious about it.

I share links on facebook and twitter to help as many people as possible.  Please take advantage of this!

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year-in-review

We all survived the end of the world on December 21, 2012… so I figured it was time to start blogging again!  I guess I can start with a recap of last year.

January 2012- I returned to America  because my boyfriend had to serve 9 months of mandatory time in the Greek Military.

February 2012- I started working at the front desk of a Holiday Inn Express near my mom’s house to help out a friend who needed an expert customer service representative.  It was really fun and I enjoyed interacting with the guests.

March 2012- I did SkypEnglish4U in the morning and worked at the hotel at night… Keeping busy was my main objective.

April 2012- After working so hard for a few months, I decided to travel to Thailand to join some friends of mine that were traveling there.  We spent some quality time on the beach (and pool side) on the island of Koh Tao.  I also got to catch-up with my Bangkok friends and it was really great to spend time in BKK– it’s an amazing city!

May 2012- On my way home from Thailand, I stopped in Tokyo for a few days.  I had the best tour guide EVER and we saw everything in the short time that I was there.  She made sure that I was able to try all of the “foreign friendly” foods, which has now spoiled me for life!  Once you have sushi in Japan, it is hard to enjoy the “other” stuff.

June 2012- I started working a 3rd job doing some administrative/data entry work for Intrax.  I was very busy with my three jobs and at the same time busy packing up, because my mom had sold her house.

July 2012- I traveled to Greece to join my boyfriend while he had some time off from the army.  We visited two islands — Paros and Santorini, stuffed ourselves with awesome Greek food and soaked up as much sun as possible.

August 2012-  Because my mother had moved to New Mexico, I moved in with my father in southern Wisconsin.  I attended a few baby showers and a wedding shower and continued on with SkypEnglish4U (I really love how portable my job is!).

September 2012- Toward the end of the month I drove with a friend of mine to New Mexico.  I found a lovely new office for SkypEnglish4U (totally took over my mother’s office) and also found some time to lay by her swimming pool.

October 2012- WORKED.  A LOT.  This was a great month for me because I was so busy.  I would like to thank the country of Brazil for that!

November 2012- My mother and I drove to San Diego to visit some family (and shop) near the beginning of the month.  Later on, we celebrated Thanksgiving with a visit from Grandma and thoroughly enjoyed the feast.

December 2012- On Dec 3, my boyfriend flew from Athens, and I from New Mexico, and we met in Chicago.  The next day we flew to Jamaica to celebrate the wedding of my step-sister.  After that trip, we spent some time in Wisconsin and got to enjoy a white Christmas.  After that, it was back to Greece to celebrate the New Year!

 

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