My ESL Lab

Are You a Paraskevidekatriaphobic?

Editor — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:00:44 +0000

Paraskevidekatriaphobics have the irrational fear of Friday the 13th! If you refuse to get out of bed, fly on a plane, or would never even consider getting married on any Friday that falls on the 13th of the month, then you may have this fascinating phobia. Learn more about the fear of Friday the 13th by reading one of these interesting articles on the subject. And by all means…avoid walking under any ladders or breaking any mirrors today!

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0212_040212_friday13.html

http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/friday_the_13th.htm

http://people.howstuffworks.com/friday-thirteenth.htm

Don’t Get Fooled!

Editor — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:02:15 +0000

April Fool’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. While not an official holiday, many pranksters wait all year long for the opportunity to really get their friends, family, and coworkers good with a great hoax or practical joke. Many newspapers, television shows, and websites revel in trying to fool people with creative April Fool’s jokes, so beware! Below is a link to some of the most famous or infamous April Fool’s jokes ever played!

www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Editor — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:54:00 +0000

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, but what is it exactly that we’re celebrating with all that green beer, corned beef, and cabbage? Well, it turns out that St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and perhaps the most well-know of all the saints. St. Patrick was born on March 17th, 460 A.D. in Britain, but when he was 16 he was kidnapped and kept as a prisoner in Ireland. After six years, St. Patrick escaped and returned to Britain, but it is said that he had visions which told him to return to Ireland to convert the Irish to Christianity. If you would like to learn more, check out the link below to find out all you ever wanted to know about St. Patrick’s Day!

www.history.com/content/stpatricksday

You can also test yourself with a quick St. Patrick’s Day grammar quiz:

www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/vocabulary/holidays_stpatricksday1.html

It’s Daylight Saving Time Again!

Editor — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:48:18 +0000

It’s already that time of year when we turn our clocks ahead one hour in order to enjoy a little more sunshine throughout the day. It’s also a great time to remember to change the batteries in your smoke alarm and to flip your mattress! While you may be aware of the fact that we are changing the clocks this weekend, you might not know exactly why we do it or how it all began. So, here are a few links that will help you learn some interesting facts about Daylight Saving Time.

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/sleep/2009/03/03/13-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-daylight-saving-time.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time

http://www.energy.ca.gov/daylightsaving.html

http://geography.about.com/cs/daylightsavings/a/dst.htm

Sound Like a Native with Collocations

Editor — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:29:06 +0000

Collocations are two or more words that usually go together and sound more natural to native speakers. For instance, instead of saying “have a break” native speakers would say “take a break.” Instead of saying “make a crime” native speakers would say “commit a crime.” Instead of saying “wash the dishes” native speakers would say ”do the dishes.” It’s not necessarily that the other sentences are wrong, it’s just not how native English speakers talk.

www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/collocations.htm

http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blcollocation_1.htm

www.better-english.com/strongcoll.htm

Using Reflexive Pronouns

Editor — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:37:30 +0000

Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, ourselves) are used when the subject and object are the same and when you want to emphasize the subject. For instance, instead of saying ”I hurt me,” you would use the reflexive and say ”I hurt myself” because the subject and object are the same. In order to give extra emphasis to who is doing what, you might say “I’ll do it myself” rather than just saying “I’ll do it” because you want to point out that you are the one doing it all by yourself.

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/StudyZone/330/grammar/reflex.htm

www.englishlanguageguide.com/english/grammar/reflexive-pronoun.asp

www.englishclub.com/grammar/pronouns-reflexive.htm

www.english-zone.com/grammar/st-gina.html

Pronunciation Listening Podcasts

Editor — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:35:29 +0000

If you want to practice your English pronunciation skills, you need to listen to words and sounds closely so that you can understand those little differences between similarly sounding words. You can do this by listening to the radio, speaking with native speakers, or listening to pronunciation tapes.

Here you will find links to several pronunciation lessons that you can listen to and read along with in order to properly pronounce your English words.

Lesson 1: www.blabbinit.com/content/podcast-3-pronunciation-1-button-bottom-launch-lunch-bought-live-leave-sleep-slip

Lesson 2: www.blabbinit.com/content/podcast-5-pronunciation-2-stuff-staff-hair-her-cut-caught

Lesson 3: www.blabbinit.com/content/podcast-9-pronunciation-boss-bus-truck-track-cold-called

Lesson 4: www.blabbinit.com/content/podcast-20-pronunciation-cold-called-word-world-got-gut

Idioms Crossword Puzzle

Editor — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:03:26 +0000

Do you like English idioms? Do you like crossword puzzles? Well, then you’ll love this English Idioms Crossword Puzzle! This game uses 32 common idioms that are used in everyday English and places them in a fun and easy to do crossword puzzle. Print out the pages, but don’t look at the third page because those are where the answers are. When you’re finished you can check your answers to see how well you know your English idioms!

www.eslmania.com/students/idioms/crossword_puzzle.pdf

Simple Present Tense

Editor — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:51:57 +0000

The simple present tense form of a verb is used to express habits; repeated actions; general facts; and scheduled events that will happen soon. A simple present verb will either not change (I sing); will have an “s” added (she plays); or have an “es” added (he catches). This all depends on the subject form and what letters the verb ends with.

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/pres.htm

www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepresent.html

http://a4esl.org/q/h/lb/psv.html

www.englishclub.com/grammar/verb-tenses_present_quiz.htm

www.eslgold.com/grammar/simple_present.html

Using the Present Perfect

Editor — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:04:41 +0000

We use the Present Perfect to express an action that has happened at an unspecified or unknown time before now. You can use yet, already, ever, or before with the Present Perfect because it is not a specific time. You cannot use words like yesterday, last week, or when I was ten years old because this indicates a specific time in the past.

www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfect.html

http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blpastorperfect1.htm

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blpresperfect.htm