Idioms

IDIOMS- Mike and Molly - Carl is Jealous

This clip is full of idioms
Here are some explanations for various idioms and phrases taken from this hilarious clip.
You almost flattened a small dog-
-Mike fell on top of a dog and almost crushed it.

Tatoo it on your eatin' hand
-Mike is always eating, so Carl tells him if he tattoos something on the hand he uses to eat, he’ll have a constant reminder of it.

Play the fat card
-have things said about him for being fat, or make excuses for himself because he’s fat

Play the hand I’m dealt
-when playing cards, everyone is dealt a “hand” of cards. Carl is saying that he has been given what he has been given, and he is in good shape, as opposed to Mike.

Old married couple
-a couple, husband and wife, who have been married to each other for a long time

Bickering
-constant arguing, and a term often used in reference to a couple.

guys bustin' each other’s stones
-two guys saying critical things to each other, but in a good humored way

..”so you can take one of your little ´bat naps´”
-A nap is a short period of sleep and in this case Carl throws in the term “bat” because they are talking about being Batman and Robin.

Twist my words
-change something I’ve said

Cop-hatin' gang bangers
-criminals who don’t like policemen

“Do you want your little school teacher to take the grade A double yoke to the back of the head?”
-Do you want Molly to get hit in the back of the head with an egg?  (this was asked after Mike makes the comment that they’ve never been shot at, only around Halloween with eggs.)

I hear what you’re saying.
-I understand what you’re saying.

"The Enjoyment of Summer Changed"- The Diary of Three Sisters

Translated by Masaharu Yamauchi, edited by Rebecca Silva
“Summer vacation is just around the corner.”

I’m getting excited about the first summer vacation since moving to the Kanagawa prefecture in April. Although the summer vacation in Kanagawa is supposed to be longer than in Iwate, I feel it might be shorter, because I have many things I want to do during the summer vacation－watch horror movies, watch fire works with my friends, and so on.  

During an ordinary summer vacation, I spend time lying around at home or playing with my friends after coming back home from the club activities that the school provided. Since there was a small department store near my home, what I did there was the same－play on the same corner and talk with my friends in the food court－it was like a routine job.

But I had one thing that made me happy. There was a shop that sold dumplings filled with sweat bean paste in winter and sold shaved ice in summer- it was smothered in a lot of ‘Calpis-Lemon’ syrup, which was very delicious. If I could go to Ofunato City during summer vacation, I would go there to eat it definitely.

Our Hometown is Far Away ― The Diary of Three Sisters

translated by, Masaharu Yamauchi, from the Asahi Newspapar, Japan                      

山内　雅晴

edited by, Rebecca Silva

‘The fear of aftershocks comes to mind’  

Five months have passed since the big earthquake happened. I still remember clearly the experience of the earthquake, and I think I won’t ever completely forget.

What bothered me most after the earthquake was the problem with water and electricity.

Since we couldn’t flush the toilets, we poured water that the army brought in a big tank into buckets and used them after two or three people went to the toilet.

 Five days later, I could take a bath. In an emergency, I thought I wouldn’t die if I didn’t take a bath for a while. But I had a hard time because my hair became so greasy. The bath that we three sisters took wasn’t hot, it was almost cold water, that made us shiver, but I felt nothing less than happiness.

Also, I have coming to my mind the fear of aftershocks. It was soon after that powerful aftershocks followed a large number of times a day, not just a few times.

But I gradually came to understand that big aftershocks followed －we needed to decide whether to evacuate or not－according to how strong the aftershocks were. ‘Wobbly’ isn’t a big deal. But the aftershock that starts with small vertical vibrations followed by a roaring from underground becomes powerful.

Recently my concern grows very big every time I hear the news predicting a big earthquake and powerful aftershocks. Since simply worrying doesn’t take you anywhere, I think we have to decide where we evacuate to and how we will contact other family members in preparation for future earthquakes.  

（Nanako）

◇

The life of these three students who suffered from the big earthquake and the nuclear power plant disaster, and transferred to the Kanagawa prefecture have seemed to settle down gradually.　But they have lived a life that they could have never imagined living over the last year.

This is a commentary about how they feel on a daily basis in the Kanagawa prefecture that is far from their hometown. We have three sisters who moved to Fujisawa city in the Kanagawa prefecture from Ofunato city where the big tsunami hit.

(From top to bottom) Mariko Hayashizaki(17), Nanako(16), Sayako(13). March 11^th, they suffered in Ofunato city, Iwate prefecture. Although all family members- 5 including the parents - were safe, their house was partially destroyed by the tsunami. For three weeks, they moved around from shelters to their grandmother’s house,  and so on. At the end of March, they transferred to Fujisawa city.

Punch Line

The idiom, Punch Line, is used in a recent CNN Video about U.S. Governor Chris Christie's weight.

Let's Face It

Let's Face It- The idiom is used in CNN video interview with EU President Jose Manuel Barroso

Idioms- Soft Spot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d3iSA_7SDY

Newsworthy Idioms

Minamisanriku Diary (from the Asahi newspaper)

Photo: A truck loaded with household belongings on its carrier  ‘Sorry for doing well’
Translated by: Masaharu Yamauchi

山内　雅晴

Edited by: Rebecca Silva

In the devastated area, as a reporter, there are two questions I have to ask sufferers: ‘how about your house?’ and ‘how about your family?’ I sometimes feel heart broken when I ask these questions that evoke the depth of their hollow sorrow.

I got a similar feeling when I asked Ms. Hiromi (35) these questions. She bowed her head saying, “I’m sorry. Both my family and house are ok.”

Her house, that was built on a highland, was spared the damage from the tsunami. But, the next day after I met her, her family moved to the next city. “We can’t live in Minamisanriku where there is no water supply and most of the shops have been flooded by the tsunami. Above all, when I walk in the town, I feel like being told, ‘You have good luck, because both your family and car are ok.’ and bursting.”

The other day, when her son tried to bring a baseball uniform to join a baseball practice, she told him, “Your teammates won’t have them. You have to think more.” After she said this, she was about to break into tears and put her arm around him. “Sorry. You have done nothing wrong.”

She told me that she would come back someday…. She looked over her shoulder many times from a truck that was loaded with her household belongings while driving away from the devastated town.   

(Hideyuki  Miura)

Piece of Cake

A Cry of Hope

-An initial cry echoed in a town that was filled with rubble and debris…..

Translated by: Masaharu Yamauchi, from Focus magazine, Japan                      

山内　雅晴

Edited by: Rebecca Silva

Words sometimes show their cruel fangs.

“Hang in there.” “I support you.” Encouragement given to the sufferers.

But, they had already hung in there. How could they hang in there anymore?

There is nothing like a hope that is formed from ‘warmth’, not empty words.

“She was born on an unforgettable Spring day. People treated us very kindly, and that’s why we had to express much thanks to them. My husband and I talked about that. We named her ‘Sumire’ (it is composed of three Chinese characters that represent congratulations, beauty, and thankful.) to convey our feelings for her.”

“In an evacuation center, I was blessed with a lot of kindness. Some people brought portable heat packs and put a stove on for me even though it was forbidden because of the oil shortage.”

Parents’ smiles and Sumire’s sleeping face are a shining ray of recovery.

Existence beyond helpless words.

A tiny life brings big hope to the devastated area. 

Silent Aftermath - Yamauchi Masaharu

“The scene where human figures had evaporated within a 20km radius of the Fukushima Nuclear Plant－and one can hear only the voice of the wind”

All sounds were gone from the town where the nuclear power plant is, and three weeks had passed since the big earthquake happened. Only the sound of the wind blowing strongly could be heard in a dead calm main street. There was a Siberian Husky lying down on the center line of a two lane road. And then a mongrel dog came along on the sidewalk, and another one from out of nowhere. All of them were still wearing collars. They were looking at me as if they were asking something, standing in front of an arch saying ‘Bright Future Nuclear Energy.’
Not only were dogs stranded. I found a cowshed within a ten kilometer radius from the nuclear power plant. I approached and said, ‘Hello’, but no response. When I stepped into the cowshed, it smelled pretty bad. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I recognized that there were some cows standing motionless or crouching on the floor. Looking closely, I realized the cow lying down in front of me didn’t have eyeballs. Birds or something must have picked at them. Six cows that appeared to be just lying down were dead. 　

Facts About the English Language

English is currently one of the most widely spoken and written languages worldwide, with some 380 million native speakers. English is spoken by one out of every six people in the world. It is the primary language of the United States, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand and, partly, Canada.

English is an Anglo-Frisian language brought to Britain in the 5th Century AD by Germanic settlers from various parts of northwest Germany. The original Old English language was subsequently influenced by two successive waves of invasion. The first was by speakers of languages in the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family, who colonised parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries.
-English Language, all about the English language

Speak English Please!

Cultural Communication Conflict - Gestures

Learn to Pronounce the "l" in American English

Congratulations Student Adelaide!

English student, Adelaide Pereira, heads up a team of feisty women in Aveiro, Portugal, who were recently recognized for their hard work and great success.  Tempo-Team is a European company for temporary employment outsourcing.

 Adelaide's efforts to improve her English are also to be praised.
Congratulations Adelaide!

Royal Wedding News

Royal Wedding Report

"Royal wedding my pants" is a play on words for "wetting my pants."  A play on words is when we use words that sound similar to say one thing and mean another, usually in a humorous context.

Bombshell - a big piece of shocking news

Elope- run away and get married without a ceremony or guests

Animal Sounds

Every language has it's own way of expressing various animal sounds.  In English we say "bow wow" for the sound a dog makes, and in Korean they say "wow wow."  Check out the following link to see all the Animal Sounds in Different Languages.

Silva English Online- The Shwa

Words that Sound the Same

Everybody Loves Raymond "How They Met" - Raymond and Debra

This is a video about how Raymond and Debra first met.

Vocabulary: futon, frame, smother, joke, guys, clipboard, shrimp

1.       Why does Giani (the man delivering futons with Raymond) ask Raymond what he’s doing after they set the futon mattress on the floor?

2.       What does Raymond say he’s going to one day be?  Why does he tell Debra this?

3.       After Raymond drops the mattress on Debra on the sofa, he makes the comment that he doesn’t know what he’s doing because he is going to one day be a what?

4.       What does “run for cover” mean?

5.       What does Raymond do to try and find out if Debra has a boyfriend?

6.       Giani says “stranger things have happened.”  In this context, he is referring to stranger things happening than what?

7.       What finally motivates Raymond to ask Debra out?

8.       While Raymond goes to get the clipboard, what does Giani reveal to Debra?

9.       The China Star is what?

10.   What is it that the old woman at the restaurant is screaming? 

11.   Was it easy for Raymond to ask Debra out?

12.   Raymond mentions that he doesn’t like to go to the Chinese restaurant two days in a row?  What does this mean?  But if he does go two days in a row, what is it he does?

13.   When Raymond knocks at Debra’s door, she says, “coming” but what is it Raymond thought she said?

Facing the Aftershock

Read my article by clicking on the text below:
The people of Japan in the face of disaster

Silva English Online-Noun or Verb?

Check out my article: Carnival in Portugal

Idiom Work

Dollar's Reign=  The dollar being number one in the world
Nears and End= It's close to being over.  Soon it will no longer be the number one currency in the world.
Check out the article in the link below:
Foreign Exchange Report

Student Writing

History of me

何家榮

Kawing, Hong Kong

I have been studying piano for more than twenty years. I heard about the piano when I was four.  A classmate of mine in kindergarten who started learning piano at the age of four influenced me in learning piano.  Her father gave her a piano as a gift at her birthday party which made me wish to have a piano as well. 

At the age of eight, I finally started learning piano and owned my first piano. At the beginning, I studied and practiced really hard, but after a couple of years, I felt tired of playing it. In the following few years, my parents continued to force me to practice piano. Finally, I reached the Advanced Diploma level of piano in 1996.

In 1997, I attended a music foundation course in one of the universities in Hong Kong. The two year course provided me with a lot of musical knowledge, including western music history, music analysis, coral singing and performance techniques.  All of these reactivated my interest in music and also exposed me to the musical world on a higher level.

I graduated from a university in the UK in 2003, majoring in music. After that, I came back to Hong Kong and started my career. I am currently a performer, an educator, and a music producer. I enjoy my work and would be very happy to share my experiences in music with everyone.

The Last Lions

Silva English Online- Egyptian Belly Dancers

Student Writing

An unconscious habit

　無意識の癖

Masaharu Yamauchi

山内　雅晴

Last month, I went to the blood donation center to donate plasma for the 95^th time. For me, providing blood that is as pure as a baby’s blood to society is my mission, I think.

So going there once or twice in a month is a routine event in my daily life. That day, as always, I took a medical examination given by a doctor, checking my blood pressure and taking a blood sample before donating blood. A plasma donation takes twice as long as a normal blood donation－almost one hour. They need to separate the plasma from the blood in a separator. And the separated blood is returned to my body. Although I like donating blood, I still don’t like being given a needle for a donation that is thicker than a normal one. Anyway it worked out well.  Also today, my blood was properly provided to society. The last process is to check the blood pressure by using an easy manometer to measure it binding my wrist like a watch. I didn’t expect this to cause trouble. Since the position where I put the device on my wrist is the same as my watch, I loosened the watch but didn’t take it off my wrist. A few minutes later, it displayed that my pulse was normal. And a nurse said, “Thank you for your cooperation. Please go home carefully. If you don’t stop feeling dizzy, call us.” And before leaving the center, we are supposed to be given a gift (toothpaste set, towel, socks, etc) from the reception clerk. When I got a toothpaste set and started to leave there, I realized that I didn’t have my watch on my wrist. I imagined I must have forgotten it on the chair. I returned to the desk and I told her that I may have forgotten my watch on the chair. Although she checked it, nothing was found. I tried to keep calm and said, “Thank you. I will look for again.” In my mind, I became upset and I started searching in my pockets. But nothing was found. I couldn’t recall what I did after loosening my watch. A few minutes later, I found it on the upper part of my arm. It was very embarrassing for the clerk and me.

Silva English Online- Pronounce words with the -ed ending

Translations in Paris

Practice the "R" sound.

Pronunciation- RUNYOURWORDSTOGETHER

Video Clip English Lessons- HAVE FUN!

You Tube English Lessons
Enviado por Rebeccasilva7. - Descubra mais vídeos sobre vida universitária.

Student Writing- Mr. Masaharu Yamauchi-山内 雅晴

One Birthday’s event

　When I entered high school in the army camp that belonged to the Defense Ministry, a drill sergeant told us in a stately manner about basic army rules: one of them was that you weren’t allowed to go to the hospital outside the camp on your own initiative without permission from the camp’s dispensary in the case of becoming sick.
One day after 9 years had passed since joining the army, I had a toothache in the lower right area of my mouth. And following the army’s rule, I went to the camp’s dispensary. I entered the dentist’s room for the first time in one decade. After checking my mouth, a young dentist, who was a second lieutenant, said to me, “The cause of the toothache was a wisdom tooth that was in the lower right back of your mouth. To remove the pain, we need to pull it out. Since it has grown in horizontally, at this stage it would be very difficult to pull it out using my current technique. But fortunately, next week the most predominant dentist in the army, who is a cornel, is supposed to come. I advise you to make an appointment so he will treat you.” I agreed with his idea. The day I made the appointment was my birthday and I imagined it would be an ordinary day except that I would grow one year older.
The day came. I went to there with a feeling that I wanted to avoid pulling it out, but had no choice. And a nurse told me to sit in the patient’s chair and wait for the dentist. A few seconds later the dentist appeared and we exchanged greetings that were used in normal life in Japan. I was confident that I didn’t make him angry. He said, “Let’s get started. At first I’ll inject a few narcotics around the wisdom tooth, so you’ll feel little pain.” As far as I remember, at least two shots he injected didn’t work. Although I said they didn’t work, he ignored my plea. He tried to keep pulling it out using a special tool like a big screwdriver. I couldn’t help but cry. I imagined it was torture or an operation in an abandoned field hospital. If it was torture I would definitely have told everything I knew or done what he said. But he kept doing it in silence. It would be called death throes. Over one hour later, I realized I had survived.