Author Archives: Terry

23 Sep

when in Rome

Who taught : Carol

When in Rome (source: eternallycool.net)

Do you know what is one of things that non-native English speakers have a hard time to catch or understand? It is number.

For example, phone number! Living in the U.S., it is inevitable to make many phone calls to talk to customer services of any company. I remember I had to make phone calls to Comcast to talk about my Internet service’s monthly charge when I first got here. They talked about numbers like my plan and monthly charge and told me other phone numbers to which I need to make phone calls. It was so hard for me to catch all of the numbers they were mentioning. So, I thought about it, asking me, “Why is it so hard? And how can I get better?” And, I realized that I was thinking in Korean. For instance, every time I went shopping and see price tags, I was speaking the prices in Korean in my mind. To fix that issue, I decided to think every number in English. One of the hardest numbers is my credit card number. So long to think in English. 🙂

But, that is not the only thing to think in English. If you want to be able to speak English well enough to have conversations in business context, you should speak pretty fast. Even with the situation that you are just hanging out with your friends, you should be able to speak English fast. If not, it is hard to be involved in conversations. So, HOW can you speak English faster? The answer is easy. You gotta think in English in your daily life. Even better, you want to dream in English. Now, let me give you a tip! Start with number. Try to count phone number, card number and address, etc. in English. Then, try to spare some time like 10 or 20 minutes every evening and rewind your day in English. Let me give you my example!

This morning, I had an waffle made by Jessy. It was good. After breakfast, I went to school to teach students. Oh… I stopped by a Starbucks to grab a coffee. How about lunch? Subway foot long sub is too much for me. I could not finish it at all. I wonder how my American friends can finish it. They must have bigger stomachs. 🙂 Walking with Jessy after dinner was good. The weather today was so awesome. The end!

How is it? So simple, isn’t it? It is like an elementary school student’s diary. You can do this. As President Obama said, YES WE CAN! I can guarantee that the more you think in English, the faster your English would be. I am not talking about correct grammar here. To be honest, when it comes to speaking English, grammar does not really matter. The point is ability to communicate. You should practice English so that you can communicate with your friends.

I met a lot of non-native English speakers in America who have lived really long enough to be able to speak English well but actually not. You know why? It is simple. They have not practiced English. Some of them do not even want to practice at all. Well, they say “When in Rome.”

The full expression for “when in Rome” is “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” But, you would rarely hear the full expression. Again, we need to speak faster. 🙂 You can use this one in any situation that most of the people around you do the similar thing. Suppose that you went to a party where all of the people drink beer, then you might say to the host, “I want to drink wine but when in Rome. Let me have a beer.”

My friends out there! From today, let’s practice to think in English! That will make a big difference.

21 Sep

Nickel and dime

What is quarter?

The answer is 1/4 or 25%. Then, what is the quarter of 1 dollar? That is right. It is 25 cents. People in the U.S. and Canada call 25 cents quarter. In fact, you would hardly hear 25 cents. They mostly call it quarter.

United States coin (source: wikipedia)

How about 1 cent? Penny. (I do not know where this is from. Does anybody know?)

How about 5 cents? Nickel. (This is because the coin is made from nickel alloy. It used to be made from silver but then there was a shortage of silver so that it was changed to nickel alloy.)

Shall we keep going? 10 cents is dime. (It is because this coin is the smallest in diameter.)

A dollar is a buck. This one’s etymology is pretty interesting. So, buck is male deer. In 1856, people stated to use this word to mean dollar because buckskin was used as a unit of trade between Indians and Europeans. And, they dropped “skin” from “buckskin” as they use.

One grand is 1,000 dollars.  Some people also call it “large” or “stack.” Well, the word grand itself means basically large. And…..Back then, 1,000 dollars was a large sum of money and thus people call that amount large or grand. Now, people still call 1,000 dollars “grand.” Besides, it is really easier and faster to say “one grand” instead of saying “one thousand dollars.” You would hear this one a lot in the United States too.

Out of all there slangs, you know which ones are the hardest ones to distinguish each other. They are nickel and dime. But, if you can remember that dime is the smallest in diameter and know that 10 cents is the smallest coin, you can distinguish them better.

But, very interestingly, there is an expression called, “nickel and dime.” For example, if you have any customer, trying to get as much as possible from you without paying a lot. You can say like, “He has a tendency to nickel and dime. So, you better be careful with him.”

Here is the definition :  Cause seemingly hidden ongoing expenses which, over time, add up to a large expense.

Have you ever looked at the United States coins closely? If you do, you can find the following two expressions.

1. E pluribus unum : It is Latin for “Out of many, one.” and this is a motto of the United States. You can find this one on the seal of the United States too.

2. In God we trust : Until this became the official motto of the United States by law in 1956, “E pluribus unum” was recognized as the motto of the United States. Now, this is the official motto of the United States.

I guess these could be one of the questions that would be in the U.S. citizenship exam? It is just amazing how much I can learn, writing posts for my blog.

19 Sep

Jones

Who taught : Jake and Andrew

Jones is one of the family names you can find here in the United States. Original meaning of Jones is “son of John.” There is no problem with name, Jones. But, people in America use this word as a verb many times.

For example, I have really been wanting to have Vietnamese Pho soup for a few weeks. And finally, I had it this afternoon. It was very good. While eating, I told Pat, Rachel and Jessy, “This is so good. I have been craving for this one for a while.” You all know the expression, craving for. Right? It basically means you want to have something very much.

Jonesing for (source:www.arhband.com)

Now, instead of saying “craving for,” you can use “jonesing for.” I could have said like, “This is so good. I have been jonesing for Pho soup for a while.”

I believe “jonesing” has even a stronger desire than “craving.” Do you know why? It is because of its origin, I guess. Here is what I found on the Internet about how people started to use this word to mean strong desire for something.

In early 1960’s, the word, “jones,” first appeared in African-American slang, it was as a noun meaning “a drug addiction, especially to heroin.” There are a few different stories why this word became to mean it but there is one story I can believe.

It may be that there once was an infamous drug dealer by that name, of course, or that “Mister Jones” was a common euphemism for one’s local heroin pusher.

In 1970’s, people started to use this word to mean, “gotta have it.” Since I have no experience of any type of drugs, I do not know how badly addicted people would want it. But, I believe it should be something so strong that people cannot wait any more. Am I right? Hey, I know some of you people out there have some experience. So tell me! Am I right? 🙂

Well, maybe smokers would know how it feels to jones for smoking when they try to quit. That is the feeling of this expression. Let’s now then practice, shall we. “Honey, I jones for iPad. Can I buy it?” 🙂

17 Sep

quiche or quickie

Who taught: Andrew, Jake and Carol

Quiche (source: www.rosieleescafe.co.uk)

Do you guys all know who George W. Bush is? I believe so. He is a former President of the United States. OK then… here is another question. Do you know what the Bushism is? What do you think it is? It sounds like Bush’s political policy principles he set up during his presidency, doesn’t it? It has nothing to do with any political stuff. Here is the definition of Bushism on Wikipedia.

unconventional words, phrases, pronunciations and semantic or linguistic errors that have occurred in and defined the public speaking of George W. Bush

Here is one example for you. On Jan 11, 2000 he said, “Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?” when he gave a speech in Florence, South Carolina. What do you think? Doesn’t it sound familiar, my non-native English speaker friends? I have made so many mistakes like that, wrong BE verb, when I am speaking. It is quite hard to use the correct BE verb, especially with the choice between “is” and “are.” But, he was a former President of the United States and he is an alumnus of Yale and Harvard. So, I guess you do not need to worry about your wrong BE verb too much when you speak.

In relation with the Bushism, I heard another joke from Carol. I do not think this is a real story but who knows it could be. 🙂

1. Bush wins the election. He and Cheney are having lunch at a diner near the White House.

2. Cheney orders the Heart-Healthy salad.

3. Bush leans over to the waitress and says Honey, “Could I have a quickie?”

4. She’s horrified! She says, “Mr. President, I thought your administration would bring a new era of moral rectitude to the White House. Now I see
I was wrong and I’m sorry I voted for you,” and she marches off.

5. Cheney leans over and says George, I think it’s pronounced ‘QUICHE’.

Do you get it? Maybe not! OK. Let me give you a little bit of context here. So, Dick Cheney served a former Vice President of the United States under George W. Bush. In America, there is a food called, “quiche.” It is French food and a baked dish that is based on a custard made from eggs and milk or cream in a pastry crust. It is Jessy’s one of the favorite foods. As you can see, it looks very similar to quickie. Then, what is quickie? Quickie is from another word quick. But, it has a total different meaning from quick. It means a very quick paced version of sex. I am not sure how quick it should be to be qualified as quickie? Maybe it depends on a guy? 🙂

Now, the issue is pronunciation. Quiche’s pronunciation is /ˈkiːʃ/ whereas quickie’s pronunciation is /kwiki/.

It is not a surprise at all for Bush to make a wrong pronunciation. Apparently, the waitress did not want a quickie with Bush. One question for my American friends! “Could I have a quickie?” Do people even ask this kind of question in the real world?

14 Sep

donkey

Who taught: Alex, Sangeetha, Ari, Juan, Pat and Rachel

Donkey (source: www.shadowridgedonkeys.com)

A small warning for today’s story! I do not like to use this kind of expression but it does not mean that you do not need to know the expression, right? Are you ready?

A few days ago, Jessy and I visited Ari’s place and there I learned one thing totally new. I mean the thing I did not know at all.

“ASS”

When you hear this word, what do you think of first? In my case, it is butt. But, apparently, it also means a silly or stupid person. Do you know why? It is because ass is donkey and donkey represents silliness in English. Well, more precisely, jackass is a donkey. I am sure many of you heard the following kind of sentence in American TV shows.

You, Jackass! Get out of my sight!

Yeap! It is basically same thing as “You, Donkey!” I am not sure what donkey represents in other languages. I think donkey is also recognized as a silly animal in Korean. But, I doubt we use it to people. Does any Korean have different opinions?

Well, I guess some non-native English speakers out there might already know that ass is donkey but it was the thing I have never known. It was quite shocking to know that ass is donkey. In my brian, I have never connected ass to donkey at all. It has been always butt. Do you know why? It is because the word, asshole. Asshole is anus. If asshole is anus, ass should be just simply butt. Isn’t it? What do you think? Is asshole also from donkey’s anus?