English Riddles (Part 2: Letters)

This article was written by M.J.Mardanclos


A riddle is generally a question devised so as to require clever or unexpected thinking for its answer.

Here we have provide you the most common English Riddles with English alphabets and letters.

Hope to enjoy.



1. What letter of the alphabet is an insect?

Answer: B. (bee)
2. What letter is a part of the head?

Answer: I. (eye)
3. What letter is a drink?

Answer: T. (tea)
4. What letter is a body of water?

Answer: C. (sea)
5. What letter is a pronoun like “you”?

Answer: The letter ” I “
6. What letter is a vegetable?

Answer: P. (pea)
7. What letter is an exclamation?

Answer: O. (oh!)
8. What letter is a European bird?

Answer: J. (Jay)
9. What letter is looking for causes ?

Answer: Y. (why)
10. What four letters frighten a thief?

A : O.I.C.U. (Oh I see you!)
11. What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment but not once in a thousand years?

Answer: The letter “m”.
12. Why is the letter “T” like an island ?

Answer: Because it is in the middle of waTer.
13. In what way can the letter “A” help a deaf lady?

Answer: It can make “her” “hear.
14. Which is the loudest vowel?

Answer: The letter “I”. It is always in the midst of noise
15. What way are the letter “A” and “noon” alike?

Answer: Both of them are in the middle of the “day”.
16. Why is “U” the happiest letter?

Answer: Because it is in the middle of “fun”.
17. What word of only three syllables contains 26 letters?

Answer: Alphabet = (26 letters)
18. What relatives are dependent on “you”?

Answer: Aunt, uncle, cousin. They all need “U”.
19. What is the end of everything?

Answer: The letter “g”.

What is a riddle?

This article was written by M.J.Mardan

A riddle is generally a question devised so as to require clever or unexpected thinking for its answer. Riddles may be considered a form of brain teaser. In general conversation, a riddle is usually presented to someone who knows that a riddle is being asked and accepts the challenge of guessing the correct response. The guesser may get one or multiple guesses. Sometimes the asker gives clues, but sometimes the guesser just does the best she or he can. There is usually one correct answer to a riddle, and it is common for the correct answer to be given, even if the guesser doesn’t think of it.

Riddles typically use one of several techniques to create the twist that makes them difficult to guess. One common technique is double meanings. If the double meaning is in the words of the riddle, then a kind of equivocation is going on: the asker intends one meaning and hopes that the guesser will understand a different meaning.

Types of riddles

Riddles are of two types: enigmas, which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and conundrums, which are questions relying for their effects on punning in either the question or the answer.

Here are some common interesting riddles. So cool…!

1. Why was Karl Marx buried at High gate Cemetery in London?

- Because he was dead!

2. What odd number becomes even when beheaded?

- Seven (Seven – E = even)

3. Why is the letter E like London?

- It is the capital in England.

4. What has four wheels and flies?

- A garbage truck.

5. What kind of running means walking?

- Running out of gas!

6. What stays hot even if you put it in a refrigerator?

- Pepper

7. What can’t be used unless broken?

- Eggs!

8. What two words contain thousands of letters?

- Post office.

9. What has nothing but a head and a tail?

- A coin.

10. What did the big chimney say to the little chimney while working?

- You are too young to smoke!

Common Reduced forms in American English

This article was written by M.J.Mardanclos

Reduced forms usually use during native speakers conversations. Non-native English speakers can use these reduced forms during their conversations in order to improve their speaking skills.

In the context bellow we tried to explain the most common reduced forms in American English.

“Going to” is pronounced “GONNA” when it is used to show the future. But it is never reduced when it means going from one place to another.

We’re going to grab a bite to eat. = We’re gonna grab a bite to eat.

I’m going to the office tonight. = I’m going to the office tonight.

“Want to” and “want a” are both pronounced “WANNA” and wants to is pronounced “WANSTA”. Do you want to can also be reduced to “WANNA”.

I want to go for a spin. = I wanna go for a spin.

Do you want a piece of cake? = Wanna piece of cake?

He wants to avoid rush hour. = He wansta avoid rush hour.

“Have to” is pronounced “HAFTA” and has to is pronounced “HASTA”.

Sorry, I have to leave now. = Sorry, I hafta leave now.

She has to go to work soon. = She hasta go to work soon.

“Have” reduces to “AV” or “A” in positive and negative phrases.

must have = must’av or must’a must not have = mustn’av or mustn’a

would have = would’av or would’a would not have = wouldn’av or wouldn’a

could have = could’av or could’a could not have = couldn’av or couldn’a

should have = should’av or should’a should not have = shouldn’av or shouldn’a

“You” is almost always pronounced “YA”, you’re and “your are” pronounced “YER”, and yours is pronounced “YERS”.

Do you feel under the weather? = Do ya feel under the weather?

You’re completely right. = Yer completely right.

Your brother will be fine. = Yer brother will be fine.

Is this book yours? = Is this book yers?

“To” is pronounced “TA” after voiceless sounds and “DA” after voiced sounds.

She wants to invite us to the party. = She wants ta invite us ta the party.

I need to go to bed now. = I need da go da bed now.

“And” and “in” both reduce to “N”.

Karen and Steve are coming to visit. = Karen ‘n Steve are coming to visit.

Tim is in Paris this week. = Tom is ‘n Paris this week.

D + Y = J T + Y = CH

did you = did’ju or did’ja let you = let’chu or let’cha

would you = would’ju or would’ja what you = what’chu or what’cha

could you = could’ju or could’ja don’t you = don’chu or don’cha

should you = should’ju or should’ja didn’t you = didn’chu or didn’cha

“T” is pronounced as “D” when it is between two vowels.

That’s a great idea. = That’s a gread idea.

What a great car! = What a great car.

“T” is not pronounced when it is between “N” and “E”.

center = cen’er

counted = coun’ed

The past tense form “-ED” is pronounced “T” after voiceless sounds, “D” after voiced sounds, and “ID” after “T” and “D”.

T- D – ID

talked played decided

dressed ordered wanted

wished happened needed

Similarly, the plural form “–S” is pronounced “S” after voiceless sounds, “Z” after voiced sounds, and “IZ” after “S”,” Z”, “SH”, and “CH.”

S- Z -IZ

desks sisters horses

cats legs peaches

tops eyes offices

The “h” sound in the pronouns “he, him, his, and her” and the “th” sound in them are not pronounced in fast speech when they are unstressed; however, they are pronounced when they are stressed.

I think he flunked bio class. = I think ‘e flunked bio class.

I told him to study more. = I told ‘im to study more.

He got an A on his final. = He got an A on ‘is final.

She thinks her teacher is crazy. = She thinks ‘er teacher is crazy.

Pop quizzes… I hate them! = Pop quizzes… I hate ‘em

If there is anything more to be added, Join us (register) and edit this article…

FONTE;http://english-learners.com/2009/10/common-reduced-forms-in-american-english.html

Common English Tongue Twisters

This article was written by M.J.Mardan

Tongue twisters are words, phrases, or sentences which are difficult to articulate because of a succession of similar consonantal sounds.

These sentences are strongly recommended to those who have problem with their pronunciation.

Try to read sentences bellow loudly and as fast as possible. It seems to be rather funny but after a while you’ll see how your pronunciation and your speaking has improved.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

______________________________________________________________________

Betty Botter had some butter,

“But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter.

If I bake this bitter butter,

it would make my batter bitter.

But a bit of better butter–

that would make my batter better.”

——

So she bought a bit of butter,

better than her bitter butter,

and she baked it in her batter,

and the batter was not bitter.

So ’twas better Betty Botter

bought a bit of better butter.

—–

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.

The shells she sells are surely seashells.

So if she sells shells on the seashore,

I’m sure she sells seashore shells.

————

“Surely Sylvia swims!” shrieked Sammy, surprised.

———-

“Someone should show Sylvia some strokes so she shall not sink.”

———-

A flea and a fly flew up in a flue.

Said the flea, “Let us fly!”

Said the fly, “Let us flee!”

So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

.

A bitter biting bittern

Bit a better brother bittern,

And the bitter better bittern

Bit the bitter biter back.

And the bitter bittern, bitten,

By the better bitten bittern,

Said: “I’m a bitter biter bit, alack!”

———-

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck

if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,

and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would

if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

———

You’ve no need to light a night-light

On a light night like tonight,

For a night-light’s light’s a slight light,

And tonight’s a night that’s light.

When a night’s light, like tonight’s light,

It is really not quite right

To light night-lights with their slight lights

On a light night like tonight.

———–____________________________________________________________

Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry.

____________________________________________________________

The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.

____________________________________________________________

Shy Shelly says she shall sew sheets.

____________________________________________________________

Which witch wished which wicked wish?

____________________________________________________________

Chop shops stock chops.

____________________________________________________________

Freshly fried fresh flesh.

____________________________________________________________

A bloke’s back bike brake block broke.

____________________________________________________________

The soldiers shouldered shooters on their shoulders.

____________________________________________________________

Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.

____________________________________________________________

They both, though, have thirty-three thick thimbles to thaw.

____________________________________________________________

Are our oars oak?

____________________________________________________________

Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?

FONTE: http://english-learners.com/2010/05/tongue-twisters.html

What Is Necessary To Learn English Well?

This article was written by Leila Moghbel

Learning English requires action. You may know all the learning tips, but if you don’t start doing things, you will achieve nothing. The fact is, if you want to learn to speak English well, you must change your life. Here are some examples of things you will have to do:

Read a book in English for an hour every day, analyzing the grammar in sentences and looking up words in an English dictionary.

Listen to an audiobook or other recording in English, stopping it frequently, trying to understand what is being said, and trying to imitate the speaker’s pronunciation.

Spend your afternoon practicing the pronunciation of the English “r” sound.

Carefully write an e-mail message in English, using a dictionary or a Web search every 20 seconds to make sure every word is correct, and taking 5 minutes to write one sentence.

Think about an English sentence you’ve read, wondering if it could say “a” instead of “the” in the sentence, and trying to find similar sentences on the Web to find out the answer.

Walk down the street and build simple English sentences in your head (talking to yourself in English about the things you see around you). What kind of person would do all these crazy things? Only one kind. The kind of person who enjoys doing them. If you want to learn to speak English well, you’re going to have to become that person. You cannot hate doing these things. Have you ever heard of a person who became successful by doing something he hated?

The problem with learning and teaching English as a foreign language is that all English learners want to speak English well; however, most learners don’t want to spend time on learning English on their own. (Which is probably why they sign up for English classes and hope their teacher will force knowledge into their heads.)

This lack of motivation means that learners basically don’t spend their own time on learning English, and if they do, they don’t do it regularly. For example, a typical learner might study English phrasal verbs for 12 hours before an English exam. However, he will not read a book in English for 30 minutes every day. He just doesn’t feel that learning English is pleasant enough, so he will only do it if he has to. The problem is that a huge one-time effort gives you nothing, while small, everyday activities will give you a lot.

If you are one of those learners and don’t feel like practicing the pronunciation of the “r” sound or thinking about English sentences every day, we have news for you: You’re going to have to make yourself want to do these things. In other words, you’ll have to work on your motivation. Fortunately, there are proven techniques to help you with that.

Typical learner vs. motivated learner

Paula is a typical learner of English with a generally low level of motivation. She has occasional moments of high motivation — like the day before her English test or that time when she couldn’t communicate with a foreign customer who called her at work. These kind of situations make her think “I’ve got to do something about my English!”. However, they happen very rarely — less than once a month. So even if she studies quite intensively (e.g. for two whole days before an exam), the results are poor, because she forgets 90% of the things she learned within a month. This is no surprise: The way human memory works, you need to review things all the time; otherwise you just forget them.

Now let’s look at a different English learner: Judy. Judy reads a special novel for English learners (written in simplified English) almost every day for 30 minutes. She bought an English-English dictionary and uses it to look up English words whenever she doesn’t understand a sentence in her book. It was hard to study regularly at the beginning: Reading books and using a dictionary were not “normal activities” for her. And every English sentence was a challenge.

But now, after only two weeks, she can read much faster. While reading, she often sees words that she has learned in the past two weeks. When she recognizes such a word, she doesn’t have to look it up in a dictionary and she knows she has made good progress. Judy feels she has learned a lot of English recently, and she is eager to learn more. Every day, she looks forward to reading her book. The book gives her the chance to use what she has learned (enjoy her progress) and to learn even more. Because she reads regularly, she forgets little and her vocabulary keeps growing.

Judy is on the right track. She will soon be able to read English-language newspapers and other resources written for native speakers.

Enjoyment leads to better memory

If you enjoy learning English, you will spend more time on it, and you will do it regularly. A high level of motivation will also give you another advantage. It will be easier for you to memorize new words and grammar structures. The reason is that the brain easily remembers information on a subject that you like. (For example, some people like history and know everything about World War II. If you told a “normal person” to memorize all these facts, they could never do it.) So enjoyment of learning gives you double benefits.

FONTE; http://english-learners.com/2009/10/what-is-necessary-to-learn-english-well.html

Common Interjections & Exclamations

This article was written by Dr. Ehsan Shams

Site: http://www.eshams.ir

What’s the difference between an exclamation and an interjection?

There are 9 basic parts of speech:

• Noun
• Article
• Adjective
• Verb
• Adverb
• Preposition
• Pronoun
• Conjunction
• Interjection

An interjection are all those words that you can just say by themselves and add an exclamation point to. “Wow!” “OY!” “D’oh!” Those are all interjections.

An exclamation includes that, but can be a complete sentence as well. “Get to work!”

So an interjection is a form of an exclamation in a single word. But not all exclamations are interjections.

“Hi!” That’s an interjection.

“Interjection” is a big name for a little word. Interjections are short exclamations like Oh!, Um or Ah! They have no real grammatical value but we use them quite often, usually more in speaking than in writing. When interjections are inserted into a sentence, they have no grammatical connection to the sentence. An interjection is sometimes followed by an exclamation mark (!) when written.

Here are some interjections with examples:

interjection meaning example

ah expressing pleasure “Ah, that feels good.”
expressing realization “Ah, now I understand.”
expressing resignation “Ah well, it can’t be helped.”
expressing surprise “Ah! I’ve won!”
alas expressing grief or pity “Alas, she’s dead now.”
dear expressing pity “Oh dear! Does it hurt?”
expressing surprise “Dear me! That’s a surprise!”
eh asking for repetition “It’s hot today.” “Eh?” “I said it’s hot today.”
expressing enquiry “What do you think of that, eh?”
expressing surprise “Eh! Really?”
inviting agreement (or reply) “Let’s go, eh?” (Pretty cold out, eh?)
er expressing hesitation “Lima is the capital of…er…Peru.”
hello, hullo expressing greeting “Hello John. How are you today?”
expressing surprise “Hello! My car’s gone!”
hey calling attention “Hey! look at that!”
expressing surprise, joy etc “Hey! What a good idea!”
hi expressing greeting “Hi! What’s new?”
hmm expressing hesitation, doubt or disagreement “Hmm. I’m not so sure.”
oh, o expressing surprise “Oh! You’re here!”
expressing pain “Oh! I’ve got a toothache.”
expressing pleading “Oh, please say ‘yes’!”
ouch expressing pain “Ouch! That hurts!”
uh expressing hesitation “Uh…I don’t know the answer to that.”
uh-huh expressing agreement “Shall we go?” “Uh-huh.”
um, umm expressing hesitation “85 divided by 5 is…um…17.”
well expressing surprise “Well I never!”
introducing a remark “Well, what did he say?”

ah / ahh
used in order to show your surprise, anger, pain, happiness, agreement etc.
▪ Ah! There you are!

aargh
used to show that you are angry, disappointed, annoyed etc.:
▪ Aargh, this thing is so heavy!

abracadabra
a word you say when you do a magic trick, which is supposed to make it successful.

adios
goodbye

aha
used in order to show that you understand or realize something:
▪ Aha! I knew you were trying to trick me!

ahem
a sound you make in your throat to attract someone’s attention when you want to speak to them, warn them etc.

ahoy
used by sailors to get someone’s attention or greet them.

aloha
used to say hello or goodbye in Hawaii.

aw shucks
humorous interjection;
used in a joking way to show that you feel shy or embarrassed.

bam

1- used to say that something happens quickly:

▪ Just turn it on, and bam, you’re ready to go.

2- used to say that something has hit something else.
3- used to make a sound like a gun.

bang
used to make a sound like a gun or explosion:

▪ Then suddenly, bang! The engine just exploded.

bingo
said when you have just done something successfully or to tell someone that they have given the right answer.

▪ Bingo! That’s the one I’ve been looking for.

bon appetit
said to someone before they start eating a meal, to tell them you hope they enjoy their food.

boo
A word you shout suddenly to someone as a joke, in order to frighten them.
Said loudly to show that you do not like a person, performance, idea etc.
Not say boo : spoken to not say anything at all in a situation when most people are talking.

▪ He got to the party at eight, but didn’t say boo all evening.

boo hoo

used especially in children’s stories or as a joke to show that someone is crying.

boy
1. also oh boy : used when you are excited or pleased about something.

▪ Boy, that chicken was good!

2. oh boy : used when you are slightly annoyed or disappointed about something:

▪ Oh boy! My computer crashed again.

bravo
said to show your approval when someone, especially a performer, has done something very well.

brother
used to express annoyance or surprise.
▪ Oh, brother – why is this happening now?

brr
said when you are cold.

bye
also bye-bye spoken goodbye.

cheers
used when you lift a glass of alcohol before drinking it, to say that you hope the people you are drinking with will be happy and have good health.
chop-chop
an expression used when you want someone to hurry.

ciao
used to say goodbye.

damnation
used to show that you are very angry or annoyed.

dear
Oh dear : said when you are surprised, annoyed, or upset:
▪ Oh dear, I can’t find it.

ditto
used to say that you have exactly the same opinion as someone else about something, or that something is also true for you:

▪ “I find his classes really boring.” “Ditto.”

d’oh
humorous , said when you have just realized that you did something stupid.

done
said in order to accept a deal that someone offers you :

▪ “How about I give you $25 for it?” “Done!”

duh
also no duh
used to say that what someone else has just said or asked is stupid or unnecessary because it is very easy to understand:

▪ “You mean I can’t park there?” “Duh, that’s what the big sign says.”

eek
an expression of sudden fear and surprise :

▪ Eek! A mouse!

er
a sound you make when you pause to correct something you have just said, or when you do not know exactly what to say:

▪ We’ll never forgive – er, forget – her accomplishments.

eureka
often humorous, used to show how happy you are that you have discovered the answer to a problem, found something etc.

ow
used to express sudden pain.

▪ Ow! That hurt!

oi (also oy) (BrE, informal)
used to attract somebody’s attention, especially in an angry way:

▪ Oi, you! What do you think you’re doing?

Look out (or Watch out)
used to warn somebody to be careful, especially when there is danger.

▪ Look out! There’s a car coming.

How to Talk about Physical Appearance?

This article was written by M.J.Mardan

There are many ways to talk about physical appearance and describe people in English. In this post, We have provide you the most common conversations and conversational phrases which are used in describing people and talking about their physical appearance.


1.

A: So, is your boss young?

He is in hes thirties, I guess about 35.

2.

A: Its quite long.

B: What color is it?

A: Its light brown. And its a little curly.

3.

A: He is not very tall, about 175 centimeters.

B: Oh yeah, that’s not so tall.

4.

A: He looks about 17.

B: No, he is older than that. He is almost 25.

A: No, I don’t believe it. He doesn’t look that old.

5.

A: She likes to wear it really short.

B: Yeah? And is it straight or curly?

A: Curly. Really curly. You cant miss her when you see her.

6.

A: Is she short?

B: No, she is really tall. about 180 centimeters.

7.

A: Is she in her teems or her twenties?

B: I think she is in her twenties. She is really nice. Do you want to see her?

A: Yeah, sure.

8.

A: Its not very long but its very straight. And its sometimes green.

B: Green!

A: Yeah. He sings in a rock band, I think.



Part B:

1.

A: What does your friend look like, Tony?

B: Cindy? Oh, she’s tall. And she’s got long, dark brown hair.

2.

A: Tell me about your boy friend, Anne.

B: Well, his name’s Bob. He is 17. Let me see… Well, she’s got curly brown hair. He is not very tall–about average. But he is really good-looking.

3.


He is average.
A: So, Bob, whats the new girl in the class like?

B: She’s pretty tall, about 170centimeters. She’s got glasses and short curly hair. I think she is about 20.

A: Whats her name?

B: I can’t remember. Anne, I think.

4.

A: So, tell me about your cousin, Paul.

B: Well, she is very pretty.

A: Really? Is she blond?

B: No, she’s got dark brown hair. Everybody likes her. She is an actress.

A: Really? I’d like to meet her.

What is necessary to learn English well?

© Tomasz P. Szynalski

Learning English requires action. You may know all the learning tips, but if you don't start doing things, you will achieve nothing. The fact is, if you want to learn to speak English well, you must change your life. Here are some examples of things you will have to do:

read a book in English for an hour every day, analyzing the grammar in sentences and looking up words in an English dictionary

listen to an audiobook or other recording in English, stopping it frequently, trying to understand what is being said, and trying to imitate the speaker's pronunciation

spend 30 minutes in the afternoon practicing the pronunciation of the English "r" sound

carefully write an e-mail message in English, using a dictionary or a Web search every 20 seconds to make sure every word is correct, and taking 5 minutes to write one sentence

think about an English sentence you've read, wondering if it could say "a" instead of "the" in the sentence, and trying to find similar sentences on the Web to find out the answer

walk down the street and build simple English sentences in your head (talking to yourself in English about the things you see around you)

What kind of person would do all these crazy things? Only one kind. The kind of person who enjoys doing them. If you want to learn to speak English well, you're going to have to become that person. Have you ever heard of anyone who became successful by doing something he hated?

The problem

The problem with learning and teaching English as a foreign language is that all English learners want to speak English well; however, most learners don't want to spend time on learning English on their own. (Which is probably why they sign up for English classes and hope their teacher will force knowledge into their heads.)

This lack of motivation means that learners basically don't spend their own time on learning English, and if they do, they don't do it regularly. For example, a typical learner might study English phrasal verbs for 12 hours before an English exam. However, he will not read a book in English for 30 minutes every day. He just doesn't feel that learning English is pleasant enough, so he will only do it if he has to. The problem is that a huge one-time effort gives you nothing, while small, everyday activities will give you a lot.

Negative attitudes

One of the reasons why people don't want to spend their time on learning English is that they associate learning English with unpleasant things. When they think "learning English", they think about boring English classes, boring exercises and boring homework. Even if they know they need English in their career, that might not be very motivating if the job itself is boring! In their minds, learning English is something they have to do, not something they want to do.

Typical learner vs. motivated learner

Paula is a typical learner of English with a generally low level of motivation. She has occasional moments of high motivation — like the day before her English test or that time when she couldn't communicate with a foreign customer who called her at work. These kind of situations make her think "I've got to do something about my English!". However, they happen very rarely — less than once a month. So even if she studies quite intensively (e.g. for two whole days before an exam), the results are poor, because she forgets 90% of the things she learned within a month. This is no surprise: The way human memory works, you need to review things all the time; otherwise you just forget them.

Now let's look at a different English learner: Judy. Judy reads a special novel for English learners (written in simplified English) almost every day for 30 minutes. She bought an English-English dictionary and uses it to look up English words whenever she doesn't understand a sentence in her book. It was hard to study regularly at the beginning: Reading books and using a dictionary were not "normal activities" for her. And every English sentence was a challenge.

But now, after only two weeks, she can read much faster. While reading, she often sees words that she has learned in the past two weeks. When she recognizes such a word, she doesn't have to look it up in a dictionary and she knows she has made good progress. Judy feels she has learned a lot of English recently, and she is eager to learn more. Every day, she looks forward to reading her book. The book gives her the chance to use what she has learned (enjoy her progress) and to learn even more. Because she reads regularly, she forgets little and her vocabulary keeps growing.

Judy is on the right track. She will soon be able to read English-language newspapers and other resources written for native speakers.

What to do?

If you are like Paula and don't feel like reading in English in your free time, focusing your attention on English sentences, or practicing the pronunciation of the "r" sound, you will have to do something about it. There are many techniques to help you with motivation, but the best one is probably to do something fun.

If you can use your English to watch a funny video on the Internet, read an article about your favorite band, or communicate with smart people on a discussion forum, you will begin to think of English as your key to fun. When you think "English", you will no longer think about boring classes, difficult grammar rules or lists of words to memorize — you will think about a funny TV show, your favorite band and people you like. In your mind, English will no longer be another boring subject at school — it will be the way to have fun every day.

Source: http://www.antimoon.com/how/motiv-intro.htm

Improving your motivation for learning English

Improving your motivation for learning English

By © Tomasz P. Szynalski, Antimoon.com

In this article, we share our techniques for improving your motivation for learning English as a foreign language. We used them all the time when we were learning English and we still use them when we need to boost our motivation in areas other than English.

Imagine yourself in the future

Imagine you can talk to native speakers just like you talk in your first language. Imagine other people wanting to speak English as well as you do. Imagine the possibility of writing e-mail to people from all over the world.

It is helpful to read an article about the advantages of knowing English well. There are two such articles on Antimoon: Why learn English and English makes you feel good.

You should know that it is possible to learn English really well. Just look at other people who have done it.

Remember that you are already good

You already know some English (you're reading an article in English right now). That's a big success! Now it's time for more successes. Time to start using powerful methods of effective learning. Time to gain an impressive knowledge of English.

Remember there is a lot that you don't know

You are good, but your English probably isn't perfect. You probably can't understand English-language TV, read books in English, talk to native speakers easily, write letters without mistakes, etc.

You should never think your English is perfect. Even if you are the best student in your class, always try to find your weak areas and work on them. When you've learned to speak English well, your problems will be quite small: punctuation, rarely used grammar structures, rare words, understanding "street language". Right now, your problems are probably more basic: mistakes in pronunciation, small vocabulary, grammar problems with the present perfect tense and conditional structures.

Use English whenever you can

Probably the most important way to improve your motivation is to use English.

Using English is fun. It is simply very enjoyable to use your English to read a good book, understand a song, watch an interesting movie, get an answer to a computer problem, exchange e-mails with a native speaker, etc. The more you use English, the more you will want to use it.

This is great, because using English is learning English. When you're reading an interesting article or watching an exciting movie, you are using your English, but you are also learning new words and phrases. When you're writing a message on an English-language discussion forum, you are using your English, but you are also practicing your writing.

But using English can also improve your general attitude to English and increase your motivation to study English in other ways. For example, if you see that your knowledge of English pronunciation helps you understand a movie or speak more clearly, you will be motivated to study pronunciation even more. If you see that checking your sentences in a search engine lets you write error-free e-mail messages, you will want to keep doing that. If you memorize some words with SuperMemo and later you come across them in a movie or an article, you will want to add even more things to SuperMemo.

Talk to people about English

This is a very simple method, but it is very effective. Here's how it works:

You usually talk about things which interest you. But the opposite is true, too. If you start talking about a boring subject, you will begin to get interested in it.

Imagine you are studying a subject that you hate. You are bored and tired, but you have to pass the test tomorrow. If there are people near you, you have two options: you can tell everybody how much you are suffering or you can tell those people about the things you've learned. If you choose the first option, you will only feel worse.

If you choose the second option, and start a conversation on the "boring" subject, you will begin to look at it in a totally different way. Suddenly it will become a subject worth talking about — therefore, an interesting subject.

How can you begin such a conversation? If you're studying English, you can surprise another person by talking to him/her in English. Say (in English): Hi, I'm studying English and I hate it. Or you can say (in your first language): Hey, I've learned 50 English words today. Do you know what's the English word for ...? If there are no people near you, you can telephone or send an e-mail message to your friend.

What will your friends say? Probably they won't be very interested, but it doesn't matter! The important thing is this: After talking about English, you will study it with more passion. Try it.

Find a friend who is learning English

If you can find a friend who is learning English and is on a similar level of skill, you will be in an excellent situation:

you will have someone to talk about English with. These conversations will increase your interest in English, as explained in the previous section.

learning English will be easier, because you will be able to discuss your problems with your friend.

you will study English more, because you will want to be better than your friend. :-)

You should meet your friend regularly. Ideally, he/she should live near you, or go to the same school as you. If you absolutely can't find anybody willing to learn English with you, you can try to find somebody by e-mail. This is a worse solution: your conversations will probably be less frequent, and it is difficult to compete with someone who you don't know well.

Spend some money on learning English

If you spend your money on something, you will want to use it. For example, if you buy an expensive tennis racket, you will probably go out and play tennis every day.

This rule is also true for learning English. If you want to increase your desire to learn English, buy a new dictionary, an interesting English-language book, English-language cable TV, etc. The idea is simple: You paid for it, so you will want to use it, and you will improve your English.

There is a problem with this method. It only works for a short time. You usually lose your desire to learn English after a few days. To keep learning, you would have to buy something every week!

However, this method is helpful, because it gives you an impulse to start learning. For example, if you buy a dictionary of phrasal verbs, you will probably learn some words from it. Then you should try to use them. For example, write an e-mail message with these words. This will increase your motivation (as explained before), and you will learn more.

Read Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins

Anthony Robbins' book Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement gives excellent advice on how to achieve any kind of goal. This book has changed the lives of many people, so you might want to take a look at it.

Remember that learning English requires action

We have said this many times. One small action is more powerful than reading hundreds of articles. Yes, we know it is very hard to do things, even if they are good for us. We humans are lazy creatures. That is why not many people speak English well.

Still, we hope you can do the things we talk about in our English learning method — not only read about them. You will be successful only if you change something about your life.

Don't put it off. Begin now.

Source: http://www.antimoon.com/how/lovelearn.htm

Porque não consigo aprender inglês!

1. MÓDULO BÁSICO (Basic)
Três bruxas olham três relógios Swatch. Qual bruxa olha qual relógio?

Em inglês:
Three witches watch three Swatch watches. Which witch watch which Swatch watch?

2. MÓDULO AVANÇADO (Advanced)
Três bruxas "travestis" olham os botões de três relógios Swatch. Qual bruxa travesti olha os botões de qual relógio Swatch?

Em inglês:
Three switched witches watch three Swatch watch switches. Which switched witch watch which Swatch watch switch?

3. E ESTE É PARA PHD:
Três bruxas suecas transexuais olham os botões de três relógios Swatch suíços. Qual bruxa sueca transexual olha qual botão de qual relógio Swatch suíço?

Em inglês:
Three Swedish switched witches watch three Swiss Swatch watch switches. Which Swedish switched witch watch which Swiss Swatch watch switch?

Aprenda 400 palavras em 1 minuto

Como aprender a escrever 400 palavras em Inglês em apenas um minuto

Por Mario Giubicelli

Se você pensa que estou brincando, experimente ler toda esta matéria e depois me conte. Comece logo a estudar Inglês que, diferentemente do que você pensa, é extremamente fácil de aprender. Bastando apenas seguir regrinhas elementares. Mas, antes de tudo, quero explicar que as Regras abaixo apresentam uma ou mais exceções, o que demonstra duas coisas: primeiro que tais exceções só servem precisamente para confirmar as Regras e, segundo, que é bem preferível, errar numa ou noutra ocasião e aprender 1000 palavras em inglês num minuto, do que ficar preocupado com a rara exceção... e não aprender nada.

Regra 1 - Para todas as palavras em português que terminem em DADE (como a palavra cidade) retire o DADE e coloque em seu lugar TY e assim CIDADE passou a ser CITY. Vejamos agora um pouco das cento e tantas palavras que você já aprendeu nestes primeiros vinte segundos de leitura deste artigo:

• CIDADE = CITY
• VELOCIDADE = VELOCITY
• SIMPLICIDADE = SIMPLICITY
• NATURALIDADE = NATURALITY
• CAPACIDADE = CAPACITY.

Regra 2 - Para todas as palavras em português que terminem em "ÇÃO" (como a palavra NA-ÇÃO) tire fora o "ÇÃO" e coloque em seu lugar "TION" e assim a palavra NAÇÃO passou a ser NATION (as respectivas pronúncias não importam no momento). Vejamos agora algumas das centenas de palavras em que a imensa maioria delas se aplica a essa Regra:

• SIMPLIFICAÇÃO = SIMPLIFICATION
• NAÇÃO = NATION
• OBSERVAÇÃO = OBSERVATION
• NATURALIZAÇÃO = NATURALIZATION
• SENSAÇÃO = SENSATION.

Regra 3 - Para os advérbios terminados em "MENTE" (como a palavra GENETICAMENTE), tire o "MENTE" e em seu lugar coloque "LLY" (e assim a palavra passou a ser GENETICALLY. Quando o radical em português termina em "L", como na palavra TOTALMENTE, acrescente apenas "LY"). Veja agora abaixo algumas delas:

• TOTALMENTE=TOTALLY
• NATURALMENTE = NATURALLY
• ORALMENTE = ORALLY.

Regra 4 - Para as palavras terminadas em "ÊNCIA" (como no caso de ESSÊNCIA), tire o "ÊNCIA" e em seu lugar coloque "ENCE". Eis algumas delas abaixo:

• ESSÊNCIA = ESSENCE
• REVERÊNCIA = REVERENCE
• FREQÜÊNCIA = FREQUENCE
• ELOQÜÊNCIA = ELOQUENCE.
• 
  

Regra 5 - E para terminar esse artigo, ficando ainda com mais água na boca, aprenda a última e a mais fácil delas (há um monte de outras regrinhas interessantes, mas não disponho aqui de espaço para tudo). Para as palavras terminadas em "AL" (como na palavra GENERAL) não mude nada, escreva exatamente como está em português e ela sai a mesma coisa em inglês. Veja alguns exemplos:

• NATURAL = NATURAL
• TOTAL = TOTAL
• GENERAL = GENERAL
• FATAL = FATAL
• SENSUAL = SENSUAL

Conforme você acaba de ver, não foi preciso gastar mais de um minuto para aprender 1000 palavras em inglês.

Student or Learner?

Em relação ao seu inglês, você é um “student” ou um “learner”?

Todos os meus alunos já sabem a diferença, porém, bem poucos praticam o que já sabem. Como muita gente tem memória fraca, vamos fazer um teste fácil para que você descubra se você ainda sabe a diferença entre um estudante e um aprendiz da língua inglesa:


a) Você só estuda inglês nas aulas ( isso, se não falta a aula ou se esquece dela);

b) Você nunca tem tempo para fazer as suas pesquisas e home works. E quando o faz, faz de qualquer jeito, sem organizar as informações que pesquisou, nem se dá ao trabalho de mostrar que tem zelo por aquilo que você gasta tanto tempo querendo aprender; nem respeito pelo professor que está te instruindo com carinho e atenção;

c) Você está tentando desesperadamente buscar outras formas de aprender inglês rapidamente, tais como: fazer cursos relâmpagos de uma semana na Inglaterra ou nos EUA; comprou mais um pacote de livros e CDs que te prometem inglês em 30 dias; está pensando em fazer 10 aulas de inglês por semana, etc; ou seja, tudo menos estudar, pois você não tem disciplina para estudar por conta própria, nem paciência para respeitar o seu próprio ritmo de aprendizado;


d) Você acredita que o professor vai te dar todas as respostas que você precisa para falar inglês e se esquece que tem também a responsabilidade de cuidar do próprio aprendizado;



Se você se viu em todas essas alternativas, sinto em informar, mais você vai continuar pagando muitos cursos de inglês e levará muito tempo para compreender como tornar útil o que você já aprendeu.



Porém, se você já não faz mais esse “boicote” todo em relação ao seu aprendizado, parabéns! Teremos muito trabalho, levará algum tempo, mais em breve, você se comunicará bem em inglês. “As simple as that!”

Why we don't like English classes

© Tomasz P. Szynalski,

English classes are the most popular way in which people study English. They are so amazingly popular that most people do not even think about how to learn English. The process is automatic: I want to learn English, so I sign up for an English course. I will pay some money, sit in class for a few hours a week, and I will get good English.

This is very surprising, because English classes are a very poor way of learning English. We have spent a large part of our lives in English classes (in high school, college, and at language schools), and we know what they are like. With all our knowledge of English classes and courses, we would be surprised if we met a person who has learned to speak English very well by going to English classes.

If you attend English classes, you spend many hours a week on them. Often, you also spend lots of your money. What do you get for your time and money? Here is what you can do at an English class:

Listen to some bad English. The pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary of other students (and sometimes the teacher, too) will be bad. Sometimes as bad as this, or worse. Surely listening to these people will not make your English better.

Say five sentences in English. There are usually 10-20 students in the class, so there is little time for you to speak English. Normal English classes are very poor speaking practice. (Conversation classes are better.)

Read a boring textbook. Almost all English teachers use textbooks. Want to know why? Because it makes their work easier. They don't have to prepare for every class. They just do the next unit in the book. Textbooks make teaching easy. And they make learning boring and ineffective. You have to read stupid stories about Michael Jackson or a woman who lived in African jungle for two years. Then you have to answer questions about them and talk about them with other students. This is madness! All this nonsense that you don't care about. It makes you think that learning English is boring.

Listen to a few grammar rules, such as "the present continuous tense is used for talking about developing and changing situations". Learning grammar rules is the stupidest thing you can do. The two main reasons: 1) It is impossible to memorize all those hundreds of grammar rules anyway, 2) When speaking English, you don't have time to think: "What tense should I use? Let's see... I want to present the idea of action continuing up to the present time, so I should use the present perfect tense." You want to use your English naturally. Grammar rules may improve your scores in tests, but they do not improve your English.

Do some grammar exercises. After talking about grammar rules, teachers usually give you some exercises, such as multiple choice or gap filling tests. Grammar exercises have two functions: 1) they make you review the grammar rules, 2) they test your English. The first function is useless because grammar rules are useless (see previous section). The second function, testing, is okay if you want to compare your knowledge with other people. But testing does not teach you any English.

Get a homework assignment. The homework is usually a grammar exercise (see previous section) or a composition. The subject of the composition will usually be something that you don't care about. Examples: Your opinion on the proverb "Blood is thicker than water", Is it good to be famous?. What nonsense. Doing boring things is not going to help your English. It will only decrease your motivation.

English classes will not teach you good pronunciation (which is simply necessary for communication!). Most teachers completely ignore it, sometimes because their own pronunciation is bad. Some teachers will correct your mistakes when you speak. But very few teachers will tell you how you can avoid making the same mistakes again. Very few teachers will tell you about the sounds of English and how to use a dictionary to learn about the pronunciation of words.

Most teachers will not encourage you to read in English, to buy a good English-English dictionary, to listen to English-language recordings on your own. They will just do their textbook and the exercises in it. If your teacher is different, you are lucky.

This is what most English classes look like. Think about your classes. If they are like that — boring and ineffective — then you are simply wasting your time. (Don't worry: you are not alone. Millions of people around the world waste their time by going to English classes, even though they do not improve their English.)

You can replace ineffective and boring classes with interesting things which will really improve your English:

Instead of listening to bad English in the classroom, turn on your TV and watch CNN International or another English-language channel. You will get lots of perfect sentences in excellent English.

Instead of sitting for two hours to say five sentences in English, sign up for a conversation class with a native speaker. Or start speaking English with your best friend.

Instead of working with a boring textbook, read something interesting. There are so many interesting texts in English! Surf to English-language sites on the Web. Read a good book in English. Simply, read something that interests you. Something that won't bore you to death.

Instead of memorizing grammar rules and doing grammar exercises, read and listen to English. Input is the only way to learn impressive, natural English.

Instead of writing compositions about the subject that your teacher gave you, write about something that you care about. For example, write some e-mail in English. Don't write for your teacher — write for yourself!

Source: Antimoon.com

Why do people sign up for English classes?

© Tomasz P. Szynalski, Antimoon.com

Pawel Kowalczyk, a reader of Antimoon, wrote to us some time ago, asking this question:

I don't understand people who go to English classes. In most cases, the results of a typical student are not worth the money paid for it. Believe it or not, but I've learnt English pretty well spending no more money than a typical student has to pay for half a year in a school of English.

I believe the answer has two parts:

Awareness. People don't realize they can learn English on their own.

Motivation. Even if they think about learning on their own, they are too lazy to do it.

Awareness

It is worth noting that even the "thinkers" behave like imitators most of the time. They have to. Life is complicated and there isn't enough time to find your own solution to every problem. We have to solve many problems by copying other people's solutions. For example:

We buy the same TV set our neighbor bought.

We drink coffee in the morning to wake us up, because we see other people drink coffee in the morning.

We don't think about where to invest our spare money. We just put it in the bank because people around us do that.

In the same way, instead of trying to find the best way to learn English well, most people just do what others do: they sign up for English classes.

This behavior is reinforced by the fact that our education system is based on schools. In most developed countries, everyone is required to spend over 10 years of their life in the school system. As a result, everyone tends to assume that learning has to happen in class.

In short, people don't realize they can learn English in other ways than English classes, because:

they've always attended classes of some kind

everyone around them signs up for English classes

they've never tried to find a better way

nobody has shown them another way

Motivation

Even if you know about other learning methods, they may not be for you. Reading a book in a foreign language for 20 minutes every day is a terrifying task for many people. "What do you mean, read in a language I don't understand? Are you crazy? And can you please define every day?"

Why spend your time analyzing sentences when you can spend the evening watching TV, right? For people like this, it seems the only way to make any kind of progress with their English is to hire a teacher who will tell them exactly what to do, give them homework assignments, test them, and — if necessary — punish them with poor grades. Since one-on-one lessons are usually expensive, they sign up for one-to-many classes. As a result, they spend lots of money and improve their English by 5% a year, but hey — at least they don't have to read books in English.

Source: http://www.antimoon.com