Word of the Week: by the skin of your teeth

Definition: when you do something and you only just succeed or nearly fail.

Synonyms: closely, almost, more or less.

Examples: - I succeeded the test by the skin of my teeth.

-     I avoided getting hit by the car by the skin of my teeth

Links:

http://daysgoneby.me/dyk-true-meaning-escaped-skin-teeth/
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/by-the-skin-of-your-teeth

Word of the Week: to feel under the weather

Definition: to be or feel ill.

Synonyms: diseased, sick, unhealthy, run-down

Examples: - I got cold, I am feeling under the weather

-                                              -You are working too much, that is why you feel under the weather

Links:

http://www.grammarly.com/blog/2014/baby-its-cold-outside/

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/be-feel-under-the-weather

Word of the Week: to hit the nail on the head

Definition: to say exactly what explains a situation or problem.

Synonyms: right on, straight out, precise.

Examples: “-Are you disappointed because you could not take your exam?

-                                                  Exactly, you hit the nail on the head.”

Links:

http://emoticona.com/1024/vector-cartoon-illustration-of-a-angry-moodie-character-hitting-a-nail-on-the-head-by-johnny-sajem-620.jpg

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hit-the-nail-on-the-head

Word of the week: to kill two birds with one stone

Definition: to succeed in achieving two things in a single action

Similar phrases: A win-win situation, the best of both worlds.

Examples: - I will go to the restaurant and drop this letter off at the post office on the way; that way, I'll kill two birds with one stone.

Links:

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff428/thuansoldier/SharePoint2013/killing-two-bird.png

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/kill-two-birds-with-one-stone

Word of the Week: to make a long story short

Definition: telling something briefly, coming to the main point

Synonyms: to shorten, abbreviate, summarise

Examples: To cut a long story short, I got the job.

Leave out the details, make this long story short.

Links:

http://www.spindelvisions.com/shop/img/cms/css1535/page_title_blog.png
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/long-story-short

Top 5 Free Apps for Learning English

Do you want to progress in the language of Shakespeare or simply refresh your memory on some English?
Here is a list of the best applications, a good way to improve your English ANYTIME, ANYWHERE and for FREE!

1 - Duolingo

This application is having great success by using the language of computers to teach you English. Thousands of teachers are even using it to enhance their lessons. Accumulate points with your correct answers, practice your mode against the clock and reach the next level. According to Duolingo's founder Von Ahn, getting to the end of the app corresponds roughly to level B2 ("Advanced User") in the European Framework of Reference for Languages. Funny and addictive!
https://en.duolingo.com/

2 - Memrise

Memrise allows you to learn languages and vocab with more 300,000 courses and over 200 languages available. Each course is presented in three stages: discovery of the subject, memory and revisions. Memorisation is performed also through "mems" - mnemonics offered by the Internet. The review phase is based on the skills acquired by the user or not: you review only uncompleted points. You can also customise your own courses with many multimedia flashcards and adapt the app to your personal learning style. In addition to being a complete solution, this application is really fun.
https://www.memrise.com/

3 - Learn to speak English

The official free TalkEnglish.com  app, “Learn to speak English” is a serious too for learning to speak English especially, with 8,000 audio files. This app will help you achieve your goal with many features and functionalities such as click, listen and repeat, or a record and play back tool. Different English categories are available: the basics, business, grammar, pronunciation, etc.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/learn-to-speak-english/id955106394?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=talkenglish.com.standard&hl=en

4 - LearnEnglish Podcasts

Learning by listening is what this app offers. With 40 episodes and over 20 hours of free listening about a large choice of themes, LearnEnglish Podcats offers an original way to learn everyday. Note that on the website, in addition to Podcasts, you will find some others topics including Listening, Learning tools, Games or a section for Kids.  A complete reference offer!
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps

5 - FluentU

FluentU is an innovative app offering online immersion using real-world video content that's entertaining and current. All captions are are subtitled and translated.  Handy: to learn an in-context definition along with example sentences, just click on the word! And as the icing on the cake, every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they're learning with the same video. On the program for you are music videos, commercials and TV Shows.
http://www.fluentu.com

Source
http://www.fluentu.com/english/blog/best-apps-learning-english-esl-students
http://busyteacher.org/12155-9-best-mobile-apps-for-esl-students.html
http://appadvice.com/appguides

A Taste of Home

When you're away from home, food can be one of the biggest things you miss.  Eating unfamiliar food is an adventure for a while, but sometimes you just want a taste of home.  There's a good reason we talk about comfort food.

In a British city it's usually possible to find international supermarkets, while some countries like Italy and India are well represented in mainstream supermarkets as well, and many local high streets now have Eastern European shops.  In more rural areas though, international food can be harder to find.

But if you can find the right ingredients (and have access to a kitchen), preparing your own food and cooking for others can make you feel more at home, and help you share your culture.  Why not have an international dinner party with some other students?

Learning vocabulary about food can be surprising - you may find that some foods from your country are called the same thing in English, or that there is no English word for them at all.  Pizza is international!  So are sushi, samosas, moussaka, tagine and tapas.

For cooking in English, as well as finding your ingredients, you need to know what to do with them.  So here is a handy set of kitchen verbs to help you.

So, what foods from home do you miss most when you're away?  Can you get food from your country in the UK?  Do you ever cook for your friends?  Please leave a comment below - I'd love to hear from you!



Photos taken from http://flickr.com/eltpics by @thornburyscott, @grahamstanley, Christina Martidou and @sandymillin, used under a CC Attribution Non-Commercial license, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0