Students of spoken English often wish for a more complex vocabulary, believing that by using long words in their conversation, others might consider them as being ‘well educated’, and perhaps even a little ‘intelligent’.

Maybe this is true with certain people, but we would like you to consider the argument for striving for ‘simplicity’ and ‘ease of understanding’.

Getting others to understand your ideas, thoughts and feelings is not an easy thing to do; even for native speakers.  By keeping things simple, clear and precise, we encourage greater understanding.

Here’s a quote from the chapter ‘The Case for Short Words’ from Richard Lederer’s book ‘The Miracle of Language’ (page 34).  It gives us some good advice:
“Here is a sound rule: Use small, old words where you can.  If a long word says just what you want to say, do not fear to use it.  But know that our tongue (spoken English) is rich in crisp, brisk, swift, short words.  Make them the spine and the heart of what you speak and write.  Short words are like fast friends.  They will not let you down.”

When considering ‘keywords’ that best express your ideas, thoughts and feelings, try giving preference to ‘small, old words (well known and commonly used words)’, and strive for better understanding.

Photo Credit:  Sebastian Fissore

This idiom is a commonly used one.  Perhaps you have heard it before.  Do you know its meaning? If someone told you the sentence, “Oh, I’m over the moon today”, what would they mean?

For those of you who are not sure about the meaning, it means that that person is so happy (very happy, overjoyed).

Here are some examples…

I got my exam result this morning.  You know, I’m simply over the moon about it.  I can’t wait to tell my parents the good news.

Vincent is over the moon these days.  He just bought a new house.

Here’s a conversation example…

Photo Credit: A. Feldmann

Sheila: Jane, I’ve got some good news to tell you.

Jane: Really? I can’t wait.

Sheila: I’ve just been promoted! I’m now the head of the Sales Department at our headquarters.

Jane: Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.  You must be over the moon!

Sheila: Thanks.  Yes.   I guess I am over the moon.  You know, I’ve waited for this to happen for so long.  I still can’t believe that it’s finally happened.

Extra idiom practice…

There is a similar idiom which can be substituted for this one in sentences.  Can you guess it?

It’s ‘on cloud nine‘.  In fact, you can put ‘on cloud nine‘ in all of the above examples and still keep the original meaning.

Well, it’s now your turn to add some examples.  You’ve got two idioms to practise this time.  Keep them coming!

If you want to ask somebody about their opinion on a particular subject,  how would you ask the question?

Let’s imagine that you want to ask someone’s opinion about  ‘surfing’… how would you ask their opinion?

We’re sure that you can think of at least one way to put forward the question…

Can you think of a few different ways?  How did you go?

Maybe we can help you out -

Here are a few ways you can ask the question.

The usual ways…

1. What’s your opinion on surfing?
2. What are your views on surfing?
3. What’s your perspective on surfing?
4. How do you consider surfing?

More casual ways…

1. What do you think about surfing?
2. How do you feel about surfing?
3. What would you say about surfing?
4. What’s your take on surfing?
5. How do you see surfing?

Particular kind of opinion…

1. What’s your honest opinion about surfing?
2. Would you tell me your informed opinions on surfing?
3. Please tell me your personal opinions about surfing…

As you can see,  there are so many ways to ask someone about their opinion.

Can you think of any other way to ask someone for their opinion on a subject?

Out of the blue is a commonly used idiom. Do you know it?
It’s used to describe an event that happened (or is happening) unexpectedly, without warning or preparation.

Photo Credit: Christian Sherratt

Here are some examples:

“Out of the blue, my parents decided to buy me a brand new car for my birthday.  I’m so happy.”

“I hate it when out of the blue, things start going wrong.”

Conversation example

Jim: Melissa, you’ve been a good secretary at our company for two years now.  Unfortunately, I have to let you go. We’ll pay you 2 months salary.

Melissa: Do you mean that you’re firing me?

Jim: Yeah, I’m afraid so. Out of the blue, our company lost millions of dollars this week in the global financial crisis.  This has forced us to fire most of the staff.

Melissa: This is terrible! You know I really love this job.  This whole thing is out of the blue for me. I still can’t believe it.

Jim: I know…I’m really sorry.

See if YOU can create some examples like these…  after you have created them, you can write them in the comments section below!

People often use idioms in spoken English.  If you can learn to understand their meaning and learn how to use them, it can really boost your spoken English skills.

What’s an idiom?

First of all, you may be wondering…what’s an idiom? Well, an idiom is a phrase (group of words) where the exact meaning is not easily understood from the words used. We’ll show you what we mean with an example…

Photo credit: Hannah Boettcher

Example: ‘Cost (someone) an arm and a leg‘. Can you guess the meaning of this idiom?

Let’s imagine that your friend is showing you his new mobile phone (cell phone).

You: “How much did you pay for it?”
Your friend: “It cost me an arm and a leg!”
Is the meaning clearer to you now? When you look up the meaning of the idiom in a dictionary, you’ll find that it means ‘very expensive‘.  Did you guess it right?

You can also use this idiom in a sentence like this:
“The trip to Paris is going to cost me an arm and a leg.  I’ll have to save up for it!”

How to learn idioms…

Three things to remember when learning idioms:

1. Learn the meaning of the new idiom in English that you already understand – this helps you to get the full and actual meaning of the idiom, without an approximate translation.
2. Learn how to use the idiom in a particular situation (look at an example) – if you don’t know how to use the idiom, it’s useless to you.  It’s better not to use it if you can’t use it well.
3. Start using the idiom in conversation with others as soon as possible- ‘use it or lose it!’ – if you don’t start using it immediately you’ll soon forget it, and all the time you spent learning it would have been wasted.

We’ll be looking at some of the commonly used idioms, in a series of articles about idioms.  Keep visiting the site for more idioms…

While you’re here, see if you can add another short dialogue that uses the idiom, ‘cost (someone) an arm and a leg‘, in the comments section below…

Hangman is a great way to help you with your vocabulary.  This particular website http://www.hangman.no/ has some useful features.

Here’s how it works:
FIRST, select English (the British Flag)…then
PLAY GAME allows you to play the game under a particular subject like ‘Movie Hero’s’, ‘Musical Instruments’, ‘Cartoon Hero’s’, ‘Frequently Misspelled Words’ etc.  There’s also a ‘Two Player Game’ where you can type a word to be guessed by your partner.  Also, you can use a ‘play code’ to play a ‘word list’ that has been prepared in advance by yourself or a friend (see below).
CREATE WORDLIST allows you to create your own word list and save it.  The programme will give you a ‘play code’ that you can use when you go to the site; or you can give it to someone so that they can play your word list.
ENTER CODE allows you to enter the ‘play code’ to play a saved ‘wordlist’.

The aim of the game is to guess the word (or words), by choosing the correct letters. If you choose a letter that is not in the word, you get one step closer to being ‘hung’ (not nice!). You have a total of 10 guesses.
So, let’s begin the game. You need to type a letter from your computer keyboard (we suggest you begin with the vowels (a e i o u); but really, it’s up to you how you play).  If the letter is correct, it will be entered on one of the ‘dashes’ at the bottom of the screen, just above ‘Guess a Letter’.  If the letter is incorrect, you will take one step to being ‘hung’.

‘Hangman’ can help you to:
   Review new words
   Remember ‘spelling rules’
   Enlarge your Vocabulary
   Understand some ‘Cultural Aspects’ and…
   Have Fun with English!

English films can help your spoken English in many ways and vocabulary is just one of those areas. Films are really a series of dialogues set in different situations. Even a short segment (part) of a film can help you improve your vocabulary a great deal. We can illustrate (show you) this by taking a segment from a fairly entertaining romantic film called, “The Holiday” (2006). It’s a film set in both the US and the UK, and stars leading Hollywood actors including Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black. Cameron Diaz and Jack Black speak with an American accent, while Kate Winslet and Jude Law speak in a British accent. The film is set during the Christmas holiday period, so you can also see some Christmas decorations and celebrations common to this time of the year as part of the film.

In this particular segment, Kate Winslet acts as ‘Iris’, a young woman from the UK, holidaying in Los Angeles in the US. An older actor by the name of Eli Wallach, plays the role of ‘Arthur’, a retired Hollywood film writer.

Here’s just a 2 minute segment of the film! Note how much you can learn from just 2 minutes…

“The Holiday” 2006 – Part of the film’s script

This scene begins with Iris driving down a fairly empty road and sees an old man looking lost with his walking frame…

Iris: Oh, no, is he lost?

(Iris parks her car and gets out of it. She walks towards the old man.)

Iris: Excuse me.

(She pauses)

Iris: Hello. Can I offer you a lift home?

Arthur: Why? You know where I live?

Iris: I believe I do, yes.

Arthur: Good. Then that makes one of us.

(They both get in the car and Iris drives him to his home. Then they enter the compound where Arthur’s home is…)

Iris: Your house is lovely.

(Iris parks the car near Arthur’s home)

Arthur: I’ve lived here 47 years. Back then, there were only six houses on this block. Every year, they tear another one down… …not that I blame them. They weren’t that great to begin with. But that’s how I got confused. I didn’t recognize one house.

Iris: That would be confusing.

Arthur: What part of England are you from?

Iris: Surrey.

Arthur: Cary Grant was from Surrey.

Iris: That’s right, he was. How did you know that?

Arthur: Oh, he told me once. Well, I thank you very much, young lady.

(Arthur finds it difficult to get out of the car. He can’t undo the seat belt or
open the door.)

Iris: Let me help you with that.

Arthur: Okay.

(She unfastens his seat belt)

Arthur: er… Thank you.

(She comes around to his side of the car and opens the door for him)

Iris: There you go.

(Arthur gets out of the car)

Arthur: Well, this was some meet-cute.

Iris: – Sorry?

(They both start walking towards his home)

Arthur: It’s how two characters meet… …in a movie. Say a man and a woman… …both need something to sleep in. And they both go to the same men’s pajama department.

Iris: Right.

Arthur: And the man says to the salesman: “I just need bottoms.” The woman says, “I just need a top.” They look at each other, and that’s the “meet-cute.”

Iris: Oh, I see.

Arthur: Of course, this isn’t quite that cute, but…

Iris: So you’re in the film business?

Arthur: Was. Yes, yes, I was. I was a writer.

(They reach Arthur’s home. Arthur gets frustrated at being unable to open his front door)

Arthur: I could be here till tomorrow.

Iris: Oh, here. Let me.

(She opens his door)

Arthur: Thank you.

(They enter his home. Iris eyes all his film trophies and awards, including an Oscar)

Iris: Oh, my God.

Arthur: Well, goodbye, then.

Iris: I enjoyed our meet-cute.

Arthur: Well, thank you. Thank you for rescuing me.

Iris: It’s a pleasure. Absolutely.

(Iris happens to see the half-eaten meal and feels sorry for the lonely old man)

You know, I hope you don’t find this strange… …but I’ve just arrived here, and, well, I don’t really know anyone. And I was thinking of going out for dinner tonight. Well, if you’re not busy, would you like to join me?

Arthur: Busy? Honey, I haven’t been busy since 1978.

Some vocabulary you can learn from this film…

Offering help

1. Can I offer you a lift home? – You can change this question to suit your situation. Example: Can I offer you a drink? (To a guest in your home)

2. Let me help you with that.

3. Oh here. Let me. – These 2 sentences are shortened from, “Oh here, give it to me.” and “Let me help you.”

Another way of saying “I think so”

4. I believe I do, yes.

Humorous sentences

5. That makes one of us – the usual saying is, “That makes 2 of us” – which means, I think or feel the same as you. Example: When your friend says, “I’m hungry”, you could say, “That makes 2 of us”. When you say that, it means that you also feel hungry.

In this situation, Arthur is using some humour by saying “That makes one of us” – he means that he doesn’t know the way (he is lost).

6. I could be here till tomorrow – This is a way of saying that it is going to take you a long time to do whatever you are doing – you can also use it in the same way or use it by changing it a little. Example: “I could be here till next week”

7. Busy? Honey, I haven’t been busy since 1978 – Here, he’s saying in a humorous way that he has a lot of free time – you can change this sentence a little and use it to suit your situation. Be careful using the word ‘Honey’, as it is not appropriate to use in many situations. Arthur is able to use the word because he’s much older than Iris. Example: “Busy? I haven’t been busy since I started college!”

Another way of saying “Where do you come from?”

8. What part of England are you from? – you can change this sentence to suit your situation. Example: What part of Australia are you from? or What part of Beijing are you from? Of course this is not the end of the list of sentences and words you can learn from this film segment – it’s just a good start. As you can see from just 2 minutes from this film, you can learn so much vocabulary from watching a good film. Keep checking our site for lists of recommended films to watch, just like the one we’ve already put up about ‘films set in a college or high school’. If you can actually watch this segment of the film, you’ll be able to understand everything so much better. Well, did you learn from this article?

Some learners try to improve their vocabulary by having a list of words to learn for the day. We have known some that even try to learn words from the dictionary, starting from the letter ‘A’! It is possible to learn some words if you use this approach, but it certainly is not the best way to learn. “Is there any other way?”, you might ask. As a matter of fact, there is…we call this as ‘learning in context’. “What does that mean…you might ask? Well, learning in context means learning a new word when you are reading or listening.There are many advantages for this way of learning.

1. You have a NEED to know the meaning

If you happen to come across a new word in the middle of your story or article, you really want to know the meaning of it. Otherwise, you cannot fully understand or follow the story. This creates a desire or interest in finding out the meaning of the word. You want to find out the meaning of the word, at any cost. Learning that takes place under such conditions is long lasting and effective. Imagine you came across the simple word ‘patient’ in the middle of your story.

Example:

“Lily was a patient when she met Dr. Fred. He came across as a genuinely caring person, who truly sympathised with her in this situation. Her broken leg gave her an opportunity to think about the things that really matter in life”.

In our example, you want to know the meaning of all of the words in these sentences, because you really want to understand the story and the characters in the story.

2. You can learn the meaning ‘in context‘

If you have a good dictionary, try flipping through the pages of the dictionary and you’re sure to find that there are many meanings listed under most of the words. Some words even have 25 different meanings! Can you believe that? Maybe that makes you say, “Oh, my God! How can I learn so many words?” Well, like anything difficult, you should approach it step-by-step. The best way to get through all of the meanings is to learn them in their context. When you learn them in context, you can know the meaning of the word in that sentence. In the above sentences, the in context, meaning of the word patient is, someone who is ill in hospital.

3. You get an example sentence of how to USE it

Just learning words separately, doesn’t help you to learn how to use the word. After all, that is the reason why you want to learn new words in the first place. When you learn in context, this problem is solved, because you get given an example sentence, right in front of your eyes! If you want to be a good learner, then you will write down your new sentence and the example in your vocabulary notebook, to be practised later.

4. You can try to guess the meaning of the new word which is a good way to approach learning a new word

You can also learn to guess the meaning of the word this way, by reading or listening around the word you don’t know. In our example, we can guess the meaning from the phrase ‘her broken leg’ and from the name of one of the characters, Dr. Fred. When you try to guess first and then look up the meaning in a dictionary, the time you are spending with the word increases, which helps you to remember the word better. Also, this method of learning a new word helps you to learn the word faster, because your brain becomes more active in the learning process.

What do you think? Do you learn words in context or do you prefer to just learn a list of words? Feel free to give your own comments about this topic.