Would you mind if I asked you a personal question, Latonya?

No, I wouldn’t mind if you asked me a personal question but remember I don’t have to answer it. 

That’s a perfect answer, Latonya!  You wouldn’t mind if I asked you a personal question, but you may choose not to answer it. Your question and my answer are examples of using the expression “would you mind” when we are asking someone to do something… or if we are asking for a favor. 

We are asking “would it be OK to do something?” or “would it be a problem for you if I did something?”

I used this pattern to ask Latonya that question: would + subject + mind + if +  request (verb in past tense).

Would you mind if I (subject) asked (verb in past tense) you a personal question (request).

Using the verb (ask in our example) in the simple past is the grammatically correct way to ask a “Would you mind if…” question. In spoken English, however, it is common to say “Would you mind if I ask you a personal question.”  - using the verb “ask” in the present tense. 

We will use the past tense form of the verbs in our requests here so that you learn and hear the grammatically correct form. 

Here are a couple more examples:

“Would you mind if I borrowed your pen for a moment?”

“Would you mind if we arrived a little late for class tomorrow?”  

“Would you mind if I brought my daughter to the party?”

What are some ways we can answer “Would you mind if …” questions?

Here are some positive answers: “No, I wouldn’t mind.” 

Or very positive response: “No, I wouldn’t mind at all.”

Or short and positive: “No, not at all.” Or just “Not at all.”

Notice that these positive responses all have “no” or “not” because we are saying that “we don’t mind. It is not a problem”.

Listen to this exchange: “Would you mind if I used your pen for a minute?”

“Yes, I would.”

 You are answering with a “yes”, and saying that you do mind if I use your pen. You don’t want me to use your pen.

Right, we answer “would you mind if  …” questions with a negative if the request is OK with us.

We also frequently use “Would you mind…?” questions with the “ing “ form of the verb.

Here are some examples: 

“Would you mind answering a few questions?”

“Would you mind helping me a minute?”

“Would you mind waiting a short while?” 

“Would you mind speaking a little slower?

Can we answer those “Would you mind…” questions using the “ing” form of the verb the same way  that we answer the “Would you mind if …” questions?

You bet! If the request is something that is OK with us, we can answer “I wouldn’t mind.” Or “Not at all.” to both forms of questions.

How do I answer “Would you mind if…” questions if I do mind? If I want to say “no” to the request in a polite way.

You can say: “I’m sorry but I can’t.” or “I’d (I would ) rather not.” Or “I’m sorry …”(and give a reason). Listen for those polite requests and answers – both positive and negative -  in our short conversation between two friends who are talking on the phone. 

A: Hi. How’s it going?

B: Would you mind turning down your TV. I’m having a hard time hearing you.

A: Oh, sure, no problem. Is that better?

B: Lots better, thanks. Would you mind if I asked you a little favor?

A: Not at all! What do you need? 

B: Well, would you mind lending me your car this afternoon? My car is at the mechanics, and I have a dental appointment at 3:00.

A: Oh, I’m sorry, I can’t lend you my car because I need to take my daughter to soccer at 3:15. But I can pick you up at 2:30 and drop you off at the dentist at 3:00.

B: Great! That will work. One more thing…would you mind stopping at the store on the way to the dentists? I need to pick up a few things.

A: No, I wouldn’t mind. I’ll pick you up a little earlier - at 2:15 then.

B: Thanks! Oh, and would you mind picking me up from the dentist at about 4:00? 

A: No problem. Just call me when you are done.

B: Thanks so much for all your trouble!

A: I don’t mind a bit!

Tacomaliteracy.org

Latonya and Diana talk with Violetta, a new tutor with the Tacoma Area Literacy Council (TALC), the organization that sponsors this podcast. Violetta is a new tutor  from Ukraine who began learning English 3 years ago when she arrived in the U.S. Violetta shares how she went from having nearly zero knowledge of English a few years ago to having the skills to tutor others who are learning the language.

She emphasizes the importance of practice, consistency  and surrounding oneself with English language resources. Violetta says that she found that listening to podcasts was especially helpful to her because podcasts "put the English into my head".

Violetta shares three key recommendations for English learners:

    1. Surround yourself with English everywhere.

    2. Think of language learning as a game rather than a heavy challenge.

    3. Don't be afraid of making mistakes

A big thank you to Violetta for sharing her story with us. Her English learning journey inspired us and we hope it will inspire you, dear listener!

Tacomaliteracy.org

Do you ever think about what you can do to keep your brain healthy?

I listened to an interesting radio program last week about how to keep our brains healthy and I’d like to share what they said with our listeners.

What was the name of the program?

It is one of my favorite programs. It’s called “On Point”. The host of the program is Meghna Chakrabarti. Last week Meghna interviewed a neuroscientist named Jacob Harth. 

What’s a neuroscientist?  

A neuroscientist is a scientist who studies the nervous system  -  the brain, spinal cord and all the nerves in our bodies.

This program was specifically about how to keep our brain healthy. Our brain is located inside the hard bones of the skull.

How much does our brain weigh?

An average brain weighs 2 ½ to 3 ½ pounds.

The neuroscientist, Dr. Harth, used the acronym SWEET to help us remember how to keep our brains healthy.

What’s an acronym? 

An acronym is a word formed by the first letters of other words.  

If “SWEET” is an acronym, every letter s-w-e-e-t is the first letter of something we can do to keep our brain healthy, right?

Right!

Ok! “S “ What does the “S” represent?

Sleep – our brains need enough sleep because during sleep the brain cleans itself and sets the memories of the day.

How much sleep should we get?

Dr. Harth didn’t say a specific number of hours, but he said that we should get as much sleep as we can.

OK  - S is for sleep. What does the  “W” stand for?

Water! Plenty of water! 

How much water is plenty? 

That depends upon a lot of things – how much you exercise, the weather, if you are sick. 

The first “E” is for Eat healthy foods. Eat natural whole foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and healthy fats. 

The second “E” is “Exercise”. Physical exercise that makes us breathe hard and brings oxygen to all of our cells. Anything that is good for our heart is also good for our brain.  

“E” also stands for mental exercise.

Hmmm! Trying something new or learning something new is good mental exercise, right? 

Like learning a new language for example?

That’s a perfect example!

We mentioned physical exercise and mental exercise. There is one more kind of exercise that our brain needs.

What’s that?

Social exercise! Our brain needs interaction with other people. 

Now we have S-W-E-E

We’re missing the “T”

The ‘t” stands for time – It takes time and practice to make changes on our lives.

Yes, just like it takes time and practice to learn a new  language.

You know, when you think about it, when we are SWEET to our brain we are sweet to our whole body. 

So, dear listener, be SWEET to your brain. 

Take a walk with a friend, sip on your water bottle and listen to a podcast while you are walking. Grab an apple for a snack. The exercise and fresh air will make you sleep like a log. 

Your brain will thank you!  

Tacomaliteracy.org

Hey! How are ya, Latonya?

Pretty good! And you?

I’m okeydokey!

That’s one way that we exchange greetings in English. 

How many ways do you think people say “hello” in English?

According to Berlitz – a language learning organization: 107 !

Today let’s talk about some of the common and some of the interesting ways we greet each other in English and how we can respond to those greetings. What do you think?

Let’s start with some of the most common formal ways to greet someone.

These are the totally safe greetings. You can use them with anybody – your boss and your best friend:

“Time of the day” greetings are always very polite.

Good morning/ afternoon/ evening.

Saying  “Hello” of course is always safe and polite too. 

You can respond with the same greeting, and add “to you too”

Good evening!

Good evening to you too! or “Same to you.”

Now let’s talk about some informal ways to greet someone.

You would not usually greet your doctor or your boss with these greetings.

“Hi!”  and “Hey!” are the most common. You can respond with the same greeting, or you can say “What’s new? “ or “What’s up?” 

Sometimes “What’s up?” will sound like “Wussup”

If someone greets you with “What’s up?” or “Wassup?”, you can say “Nothin’ much.  How about you?” 

 “How about you?’ can sound like “How ‘bout you”?

People can also greet each other by saying “How’s it going” or “How’s it goin’?”

Some responses can be “It’s going OK” or  “(I) can’t complain.”

Instead of responding with “OK”, you can say “Okeydokey”

Yes “Okeydokey” can be used informally instead of “OK” any time you want to agree. 

“Let’s go for a walk.”

 “Okeydokey!”

If someone says ‘How’s it goin’? and it isn’t a great day for you, you can say “I’ve had better days.”

An interesting informal greeting is “Howdy!”  

“Howdy” is what you often hear cowboys saying in western movies.

“Howdy pardner! (partner)”

You will hear people greeting each other saying “howdy” even if they aren’t a cowboy – or should we say “cow person”?

Another greeting you will hear that may sound a little strange is “What’s up, buttercup?”

“Buttercup”? 

Well, a buttercup is a little yellow flower. We sometimes us “buttercup” as a term of endearment – like “sweetie” or “dear”. “You’re my little buttercup!”

We can greet someone with ”What’s up, buttercup?” just to be fun or playful.

So, we can greet someone with “What’s up buttercup ?” even if they aren’t your sweetie? 

Correct, but you should be pretty friendly with them.  They can respond with  “Nothin, much.” Or “Doing fine!”

How about “Doing fine, Clementine.” 

Well, that’s fun! Clementine is a sort of old-fashioned woman’s name.

“old fashioned’?

Something that is old-fashioned is something from the past that is no longer popular. 

Listen for some of these greetings in our short conversations as we greet each other.

 Good morning! Same to you!

What’s up, Latonya?  Nothin much. How about you?

What’s goin’ on? Not much. And you?

Howdy! Hey! 

How’s it goin', Latonya?  Okeydokey. How about you?

It’s goin’ OK. Thanks for asking.

 Hey _________, wussup? Nothin’. You?  Can’t complain.

 What’s up buttercup? I’m doing fine, Clementine.

How are you, today, dear listener?  We hope you’re okeydokey!

Tacomaliteracy.org

How many books did you read last year? How much time do you spend reading every day?

When do we use “how much” and when do we use “how many??

If we’re asking about something that we can count, we use “how many”. How many eggs are in your fridge? How many sisters do you have? Eggs, sisters  -  nouns that we can count. They are countable nouns. We use “how many” to ask questions about things we can count. We often answer “how many” questions with an exact number. "There are 12 eggs in my fridge." If the answer is zero, I can answer: “I don’t have any eggs in my fridge.” Notice the negative “do not” – (don’t) + any before the noun."How many sisters do you have?" “I don’t have any sisters.” “How many problems do you have?” “I don’t have any problems.”“How many spoons are in the drawer?” Hmm …I’m not sure exactly how many spoons are on the drawer. You can estimate and say “There are a few spoons in the drawer.” Or “There are lots of spoons in the drawer.” 

Takeaway:  To ask about something I can count, I ask “how many…”. If someone asks me a “how many” question, I can answer with an exact number. If the number is zero, I answer with “I don’t have any…” “a lot of” or “lots of” have the same meaning and we can use them interchangeably. 

We use “how much” when we are asking about uncountable nouns -  substances like water, gas, air or food. We also use “how much” when we are asking about abstract things – things that we can’t touch  - “intangibles”  like time, fun, work, sleep, exercise.

We can break some substances into measurable units – like cups sugar or gallons of gas. To answer “how much" questions about measurable units of a substances like sugar or gas, we can answer with a specific number of units. 

“How much sugar do you have?”  “I have 4 cups of sugar.” “How much gas does your tank hold?” “It holds 14 gallons of gas.”

Answering questions about other uncountable, intangible nouns like time, sleep, imagination or money, we usually answer with those “estimate” words: “a little, some, a lot, a lot of”. 

 “Money” is a uncountable noun.  “Money” is a concept. I can’t count “1 money, 2 moneys, 3 moneys”.  But I can count individual units of my money – dollars and cents.  We also can count individual units of time – minutes, hours, days, but we can’t count: 1 time, 2 times -  when we use “time” in the sense of an abstract concept.

We do not use “many” or “few” to answer “how much” questions about uncountable nouns.  I can’t say “I have few money.” Or “She has many work.” 

But if I ask you “How much money do you have?”, you can answer talking about the individual units of money: “I have ten dollars.” We also use “How much” when we are asking about the price of something. “How much is that hat?” or “How much does that cost?” “How much does that cost?”questions can be answered with an exact amount : “It’s $10.” Or an estimate: “It costs a lot.” 

Takeaways: 1. We use “how many” to ask questions about countable nouns. 2. We use “how much” to ask about uncountable nouns – and to ask about the price of something. 3.  We can use “some” “ a lot of” or “lots of” to answer both “how many?” and “how much” questions and with uncountable nouns.  4. We can use “a few “ and “many” only  to answer “how many” questions and with countable nouns.

Tacomaliteracy.org

• Have you ever seen those drive though coffee kiosks called “Bigfoot Java”?

Yeah, they have a big brown footprint on their signs.

First, what’s java?

Right! Java is a word we use for coffee.

Why java?

Because it is a part of Indonesia where coffee is grown.

We should devote an entire podcast to coffee.

We should! But today let’s talk about Bigfoot.

Great idea!

What is Bigfoot?

Bigfoot is a big hairy creature that according to the legend,  lives in the deep forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Legend? What is a legend?

A legend is a story from the past that many people believe but which cannot be proved to be real.

The word legend can also be used to describe a well-known, famous person, 

Yes, like “Beyonce is a legend.”

Right! But here we’re using “legend“ to mean a story from the past that is believed by many people but cannot be proved to be real.

We said that in the Northwest we have the legend of a creature called Bigfoot.

We talked about the word legend, now what is a creature?

A creature is a living thing – like an animal. 

For example, “Elephants are amazing creatures!”

We also use creature for beings that are imaginary  - that exist only in our minds. 

For example, “Unicorns are imaginary creatures.”   

So, in the Northwest we have the legend of a creature called Bigfoot. 

And Bigfoot has another name, doesn’t he?

Yes! Sasquatch!

That's a wonderful name! Where did it come from?

The Indigenous or native people of the Sts'ailes (sta-hay-lis) tribe in southwestern British Columbia call the creature sasq'ets (sas-kets). “Sasquatch” is the anglicized name - the way English speakers changed the name to make it sound more like English. 

The indigenous people believe that Sasquatch is a “shape shifter” and can change into other shapes - like a rock or a tree.  

They believe that Sasquatch protects the land and the people.

What does Bigfoot or Sasquatch look like?

Giant (very big)

Hairy

Brown

Walks on two feet (upright)

Do people have any proof that Bigfoot or Sasquatch is real? 

Some people say they have photos, videos, or footprints of Bigfoot, but….

but … most have been hoaxes.

Hoaxes?

A hoax is a trick to make someone believe something

Is the creature we call Bigfoot or Sasquatch real? a legend? a hoax?

The answer depends on who you ask.

Send us an email at talcchats@gmail.com, dear listener and let us know what you think!

Tacomaliteracy.org

L: How long have you known me? D: I have known you for four years. L: When did you meet me? D: I met you in 2022. L: You met me 4 years ago. D: That’s right.  I have known you since 2022.

 We used for, since and ago in our conversation. We use each of these prepositions to talk about time, but they are used in different ways. Each preposition looks at time from a different perspective. We use for to talk about a total length or duration of time. We use “for” to talk about a specific amount of time or an estimate. “ I have known you for 4 years.” “I have known you for a few years.” 

Notice that in our sentence we used the present perfect tense (I have known). The “perfect tenses” use a form of the verb “to have” + the past participle of the main verb. All verbs have three forms: present, past and past participle. "to know": know/knew/known. I have known you for the period of time of 4 years and I still know you. We use the present perfect form for an action that has lasted a period of time and continues to the present.

If we’re talking about an action that lasted a period of time in the past and did not continue to the present, we use the simple past.  “I waited (simple past) in the dentist’s office for 2 hours."  I waited. I am not waiting now. We use “for” + a length of time  to answer “for how long?” questions.

Now “since”. I said “I have known you since 2022 – a specific year. We use “since” when we are talking about time from  a  starting time in the past. A specific day, time of the day, time of the year, period of time in the past, 

Again, we used the present perfect tense “have known” with since because the action started in the past and is continuing to the present. Some other examples of using “since”: “We have been here since 3:00 this afternoon." “My parents have lived in Tacoma since last spring.”  Summary: We use since to answer “since when?“ questions. When did this period of time begin? since I was a child; since 7:00 o’clock.

 Finally let’s talk about ago: In our conversation you said you met me 4 years ago. You said we met 4 years ago. We use ago to talk about a length of time counting back from the present. When, counting back from the present, did an action happen?  “You met me 4 years ago.” We used the simple past: met is the irregular past of "meet".  We use simple past with ago because the action started and ended in the past. We use ago to answer "Counting back from the present, when did an action happen?”

We use for, since and ago to talk about time in different ways. For to talk about the length of a period of time in total: for three days; for an hour. Since to talk about a period of time that we count from a starting point in the past: since when in the past?”: since 2015; since I was a child: since last night. Ago – to talk about a period of time measuring backward from the present: 1 hour ago; 3 years ago; a long time ago.  Listen for these three prepositions: 

D: Have you ever been to Portland? L: Yes, I went to Portland for 2 weeks about 6 years ago. Have you ever been there? D: Yes, I have a friend who lives in Portland. I haven’t seen her since 2021. L: You haven’t seen her since 2021. Wow! That’s 5 years ago!  You need to visit her! D: I agree!

Dear listener, how long has it been since you sent us a message at talcchats@gmail.com?

Tacomaliteracy.org

Do you know any songs by heart?

Interesting question. Let’s make sure our listeners know what “by heart” means.

“By heart” means that a person can recite, say, sing or play something on a musical instrument from their memory. They don’t have to read the words or music. So, back to my question: Do you know any songs by heart?

To sing a song or recite a poem by heart is just one of many English idioms that have something to do with the heart. Idioms are those words or phrases that we can’t translate exactly. We use idioms a lot in English and when you use them correctly, your English sounds more natural. Let’s practice some common “heart” idioms today. First, let’s make sure we are pronouncing “heart” correctly. That “e-a-r” combination in heart is pronounced “ar” : “h-ar-t”. “Hart’ got it? 

Let’s start with some “heart idioms” that we use when we talk about being sincere, truthful or honest.   When I tell you something from the heart, I am telling you something sincerely.  If I tell you something and then I say “Cross my heart” I am promising that I am telling the truth. Sometimes kids are very dramatic and a little gruesome and say, “That’s the truth. Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.” Did you ever say that?

Explanation please! Stick a needle in my eye? A needle that we use to sew with a needle and thread? Yes! That needle that we use with thread to sew. "Stick” can be a noun meaning a piece of wood  - “a stick of wood”. It can also be a verb meaning to push a sharp object into something. That second meaning is what we’re talking about with “stick a needle in my eye”. Yikes!

I know… let’s move on to a heart idiom that isn’t so creepy. “From the bottom of my heart” is another way of saying that you are very sincere. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me move.

If a person has a big heart, a heart of gold,  or is “all heart” they are kind and loving. “My grandma had a heart of gold.” The opposite of a person who has a heart of gold is someone with a heart of stone. If a person has a heart of stone, they are cold and unfeeling. “Her boss never gives her the weekend off.  He has a heart of stone.” 

If your heart sinks, you lose heart or you are sick at heart you are discouraged. “Her heart sunk when the other team made a goal. She lost heart.” If I wear my heart on my sleeve, I show everyone what I am feeling. A person who has their heart set on something wants it very much. “He has his heart set on buying that car.” 

How about  “Eat your heart out!” – that sounds pretty scary, doesn’t? If I tell someone to eat their heart out, I am encouraging them to be jealous or envious of me. We can use eat your heart out in a mean way: “I got that job you wanted.  Eat your heart out.” Or in a lighter, teasing way:  “The handsome man asked Betty to dance. Betty whispered to her friends, ‘Eat your heart out, girls!’”

We have talked about a lot of “heart “ idioms. I think we should have a heart and stop for now. If someone tells you to " have a heart" they are asking you to be kind and merciful. So, we’ll be kind and stop with the heart idioms.

Dear listener, we advise you from the bottom of our hearts to learn these commonly used idioms by heart and your English will sound so natural that all other English learners will eat their hearts out! Check out episode #17 “A Valentine’s Day Love Story with lots of idioms”.

Tacomaliteracy.org

 Have you noticed all the red hearts in the stores?

Absolutely!

Soon it will be February 14th -  St. Valentine’s Day! 

 Why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day?

That’s a long story! It started as a Christian feast day honoring a martyr named Valentine hundreds of years ago – in the 3rd century. 

What is a martyr?

A martyr is a person who is persecuted or killed because of their beliefs.

And Valentine was a martyr. He lived in the 3rd century. He was a priest in the Roman Empire who was killed because he ministered to persecuted Christians.

He was buried on February 14 and after his death, the church made him a saint.

Since at least the 8th century February 14th has been a religious feast day celebrating St. Valentine.

Interesting! How did the feast day of this Christian martyr, St Valentine, become the holiday we celebrate today with cards, flowers and chocolates?

Good question! Somehow hundreds of years later in 14th to 18th century England St. Valentine’s Day became a day when couples express their love for each other.

How did that happen?

Some people think it was because of an English poet named Chaucer.

Chaucer?

Yup. He was an English poet. In 1832 he wrote a poem about lovebird’s  choosing their mates. 

“lovebirds” huh?

Are we talking about actual birds?

We are talking about actual birds! 

This is a strange story.

I agree. And other poets around that time wrote poems about love that associated St. Valentine’s Day with love.

So -  over the centuries February 14, that started as a day to remember a Christian martyr, has become a day when people send cards, flowers, and chocolates to people to express their love and affection.

You got it!  

I’ll say it again! That’s a strange story! Maybe people were just looking for an excuse to express their feelings.

You might be right.  In the early 1800’s people wrote notes and letters to express their love and affection.

 Those were the days of simple expressions of love and affection.

Those days of simple expression of love on Valentine’s Day became a business in the 1800’s when the first commercial Valentine’s Day cards were manufactured. In 1913 the greeting card company Hallmark began selling Valentine’s Day Cards.

That was the beginning of the commercialization of St. Valentine’s Day. 

Now it’s a very commercial holiday! 

Dear listener, can you guess how much the average American spent of Valentine’s Day  in 2025?

Each American?

About $ 188 according to a AI. Can you guess what the top 5 Valentines gifts were?

 1.      Candy

2.      Flowers

3.      Greeting cards

4.      An evening out

5.      Jewelry

Well, Valentine’s Day is a far cry from its beginning as a martyred saint’s feast day – “a far cry from" means that one thing is very different from something else. The way we celebrate Valentine’s Day is very different from its origins as a day celebrating a Christian martyr.  

How do people celebrate Valentine’s Day in your home country, dear listener? Please send us a message at TALCchats@gmail.com and let us know.            

Speaking of Valentine’s Day. Look for our “Idioms from the Heart” episode.

Tacomaliteracy.org

How are you this morning? I’m happy.

How is the weather today? It’s warm. 

I want to know how happy you are and how warm it is.

OK! I can use qualifiers and intensifiers to tell you how happy I am or how warm it is. We use them to express more precisely or exactly what we want to say.

Qualifiers are words we use to limit or restrict the meaning of describing words (adverbs or adjectives). We use qualifiers to decrease the strength of a describing word.. 

You said that you are happy.  Happy in that sentence is an adjective that describes you.  If you say “I am sort of happy.” You are qualifying  - taking a little away from how happy you feel. “sort of”  is a qualifier.

Some other words that take away/ limit/qualify the strength of an adjective or adverb: “slightly” and  “somewhat” are others. “kind of” and “sort of” are phrases – two words together that do the same thing. If you say you are “kind of happy”, I know that you are  on the low end of “happy”.

if I want to tell you I am on the higher end of “happy” I  use an intensifier to make the “happy feeling stronger or more intense. The most common intensifier is “very”. “I am very happy.“ If we say “I am very, very happy!' that happy is even stronger  A similar intensifier is “really” . We can repeat “really”, too. We can say “I am really, really happy that I got a new job.”

“quite”  (q-u-i-t-e) is another word that makes descriptions stronger. I can say "I had quite a nice time at the party.” "Quite"  less strong or intense than very or really.

Another intensifier is “pretty”. When we use pretty to describe attractive females or clothing that belongs to females. We can also use “pretty” to describe an object that looks nice, like a pretty picture or to describe the  weather. “It’s a pretty day”.

A different use of “pretty” is to intensify a description:“The test was “pretty hard.” “Pretty and “quite” are about equal. “extremely” is a strong intensifier. It makes a description very, very strong. 

To rank the qualifiers we have talked about from weakest to strongest: sort of, kind of, slightly and somewhat are all equal qualifiers. "I am sort of/kind of/somewhat/slightly/ tired.”  all tell you that I am a little tired. 

And Intensifiers from lowest to highest in intensity: “quite” & “pretty “are equal, “very” & “really” are a little stronger. If you repeat very, very or really, really it makes them even stronger. “extremely” is a high intensity intensifier.

There are quite a few others intensifiers and qualifiers! We hope you will recognize them when you hear those we talked about today. Now, dear listener, listen for the qualifiers and intensifiers in our short conversation.

A: Did you watch that last World Series Game?

B: I did! I usually think baseball is pretty boring and quite slow, but that game was really exciting.

A: Yeah! It was very, very exciting!

B : I was kind of sad that Toronto lost. 

A: I was sort of sad, too. But both teams played extremely well.

A: I agree. The game was quite long.  I stayed up pretty late to watch it until the end, though.

B: Me, too! This morning I woke up quite late. 

A: Same for me! But the World Series is only once a year, right?

B: You are very right!

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I have to say one thing this morning.

What’s that?

Aaaaah ! Autumn! 

Yes, it’s officially autumn, isn’t it? 

The first day of autumn began on the 22nd of September. It was also the fall equinox in the northern hemisphere. On that day the number of hours of daylight and darkness are nearly the same - about 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness.

Every day until December 21, we will have fewer and fewer hours of daylight.  We have been having fewer hours of daylight since the first day of summer, June 20, but in the fall, we really start to notice that our days are getting shorter.

It is correct to say  fall or autumn? “Autumn” is a little more formal. It is used more in British English. The use of “fall” comes from the “fall” of leaves from the trees. “Fall” is used more in the U S. In the US “autumn” is still used more  in literature and songs. It’s a more “poetic” word.

In the fall in western Washington the weather gets cooler. It's chilly-especially in the mornings and evenings.  We often have foggy mornings with “pockets” of fog - fog in a very limited area like a pocket. 

It starts to rain in the fall. In September and the beginning of October we have light rain. In late October into December and November we get heavy rain.  December and November are the  wettest months in the Seattle area. Notice that superlative: the wettest of all the months. We use “the” before the superlative adjective.

If I am comparing two months, I use wetter – the comparative form of the adjective wet. October is wetter than September, and December and November are the wettest months in the year. 

With the rain we can have a lot of wind in the fall. Sometimes there is just a little wind and we say, “It is breezy today.” When the cool weather moves in from the Pacific Ocean, it can bring strong winds.

Notice that we often use “it” when we talk about the weather. We can say “The weather is nice today.” But we often say “It is nice today.”  It is not correct to say, “Is nice today.” In English we always need a subject in our sentences, and if we don’t use “the weather” as a subject, we have to use “it” as our subject. 

It isn’t rainy and windy every day in the fall, is it?

No, it is not rainy and windy every day in the fall! Some days are cloudy or overcast (when the sky is cast -covered over) with clouds. We can also have beautiful clear blue-sky days in the fall. Those days are even more beautiful – spectacular – because the leaves on the deciduous trees are turning orange, red and yellow.  A deciduous tree is a tree that loses its leaves every fall. Some examples of deciduous trees in Western Washington:

Cottonwood trees are deciduous trees that grow very tall and have heart shaped leaves. You often see cottonwoods in moist soil near rivers. Cottonwood leaves often turn bright yellow in the fall.

Maple trees are another deciduous tree native to Western Washington. Big leaf maples live up to their name. They are huge! Big leaf maple leaf leaves also turn bright yellow in the fall. 

There are many more deciduous trees that add their color to the painting of a beautiful fall day. When leaves fall from the trees, they don’t fall fast like a rock, they float slowly down to the ground.

An autumn day with yellow and orange trees outlined by a deep blue sky and red and yellow leaves floating in the breeze is like magic.

What do you like to do in the fall, dear listener?

Look for the “rain” episode!

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Yesterday that young man was yelling!”  - practice with the  beginning “y”  sound

D: Did you hear about that young man in Yelm, Latonya? 

L: Yes, yesterday that young man was in his yard yelling something.

D: What was he yelling?

L: He was yelling that he couldn’t sleep because his neighbor’s dog yapped (yap! yap! yap!) every night of the year.

D: Every night of the year?? That’s a lot of yapping.

L: Yeah! That’s why the young man in the yellow jacket was yelling.

D: Yes! And he was also yawning  (yawn)– because he couldn’t sleep!

L: Yikes!

Well, that was an unusual conversation to start our podcast today!

It was! There was a reason we had that silly conversation, dear listener. Can you guess what it is?

We were practicing the sound the letter “y” makes when it is at the beginning of a word.

What letter is that?

The letter “y” .

Take a moment to look at the title of this podcast to make sure you know what the letter “y” looks like.

The name of the letter “y” is pronounced just like the question word “why” isn’t it?

Yes, it is.

The sound that the letter “y” makes when it starts a word can be challenging or tricky for English learners!

It can be! That’s why we thought we would practice that sound today. 

How do we make that sound?

We open our mouth slightly and put the tip of our tongue against our bottom teeth.  Then we press the middle of our tongue against the roof of our mouth.

Stop right there please! I thought a “roof” is the top covering of a building. For example:  “The roof protects my house from the weather.”?

You are 100 % correct about that.  We also call the top of our mouth the “roof “ of our mouth. It is hard and bony in the front and soft and muscular at the back.

The roof of the mouth is also called the palate, isn’t it?

It is! The hard, bony part at the front is the hard palate and the soft muscular part at the back is the soft palate.

Got it! So, how do we make that beginning “y” sound?

Follow these steps:

1.      press the middle of your tongue against the roof of your mouth

2.      put the tip of your tongue behind your lower front teeth 

3.      make a sound with your throat as your tongue slides forward a little

“y”

You have it! It might take a little practice, dear listener. For native Spanish speakers, it is the same sound the “y” in “mayonesa”.

Remember the letter “y” can make different sounds when it is in the middle or at the end of words. 

That’s right!  English is complicated.

Here is the good news: When we see :”y” at the beginning of a word almost always is  pronounced “Y”.            

Stop right now! Take a moment to give yourself a “pat on the back”  say “good for me” for “sticking with” or continuing your English learning journey.

Here’s a sentence from our silly conversation to practice that beginning “ y “sound.

“Yes, yesterday that young man wearing a yellow jacket was in his yard yelling something.”

Let’s say that together one more time slowly.

Yes, yesterday that young man wearing a yellow jacket was in his yard yelling something.

So, dear listener, please don’t yell or yawn, just continue learning day by day, step by step. 

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I have a riddle for you. 

Shoot!  "Shoot” is an expression we use when we want someone to tell us something! So, “shoot”! Tell me!        !

OK! Here’s the riddle; I’m red or green, a tasty delight, a fruit to munch, morning, noon or night.” What am I? (Munch is one of those wonderful words that sounds what it means - to eat something - often loudly. if I have "the munchies" I want to eat something.)

Hmm. I think you’re an apple. 

Right-O! - and that’s our subject for the day - apples!

Delicious idea! We recently talked about autumn or fall and apples are a fruit that ripens – or becomes mature in the fall. The state of Washington grows 60% of all apples grown in the US and ships apples all over the world.

Apples are a 2 billion dollar crop in Washington state.  2 billion! That’s an extremely big number.  How do we write 2 billion? 2 comma 000 comma 000 comma 000. That’s 9 zeroes! Most commercial apple orchards are east of the Cascade Mountain Range where there is more sun than in western Washington and not as much rain as in western Washington. Podcast # 38 is about the Cascade Mountain Range. 

 An orchard is a place where trees that produce fruit or nuts are grown.

There’s a small city just east of the Cascades, kind of right in the middle of Washington state, that is known as the “apple capital of the world’” -  Wenatchee.

The name of the city Wenatchee comes from the name of the indigenous people, the Winatchi, who are native to the area. The most common meaning given for the word “Winatchi” is “river flowing from a canyon”. About 31,000 people live in Wenatchee. The city has an apple blossom festival in the spring to celebrate the apples that are grown on the orchards there.

What do people do with all those apples beside munching on them? 

Well, people  make apple pies or apple muffins. You can also cook them on the stove with a little water and cinnamon and make apple sauce. You can press the apples and squeeze the juice from them and make apple cider. The apple cider taste is sweet, but a little tangy – a strong   or citrusy taste. Tangy means just a little sourness. Sweet is the opposite of sour.

Cider is not filtered like apple juice, so it is cloudy, not clear like apple juice. It can be fermented and then it contains alcohol. We call cider that is fermented “hard cider”.

There are some “apple idioms or expressions” that are kind of fun.  If I say ‘My niece is the apple of my eye.” I mean that she is loved and treasured very much.

How about  “That person is a  bad apple”? Now, that’s the opposite of “the apple of my eye”. A person who is a “bad apple” is a person who has a bad or negative influence on others.

“He upset the apple cart”  means he ruined a plan or a situation.

If I say “ That apple didn’t fall far from the tree.” I am talking about a child that resembles their parent or parents in the way they look or behave.

And if I call you an “apple polisher”?  “To polish” means to rub something and make it shine. – like polishing the furniture.   If you call me an “apple polisher” you mean that I say or do nice things just to get something from someone else – usually someone who is an authority. 

One more idiom – not an apple idiom but a “polish” idiom: to “polish off” means to finish something. So, let’s polish off our apple episode by reminding you, dear listeners, that you are the apples our eye – or … our eyes. 

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D: How are you? L:  Well, I haven’t felt well the past few days, but today I feel better. I think I’m on the mend. D: I’m glad to hear that. I heard you use an interesting idiom: “on the mend”. L: You “have an ear” for idioms! “on the mend” is an idiom that we English speakers use often.

An idiom is a group of words- that together have a meaning that you can’t translate word by word. Idioms are colorful expressions. Let's look at “on the mend”  What does mend mean?

“Mend” can be a verb or a noun. When used as a verb “mend” means to repair a physical object that is broken or to improve a situation. “My grandma always mends holes in her socks.” We use “mend” when we repair fabric or glass objects, but not machines. I mend a broken vase, but I fix or repair my broken dishwasher.  

We also use mend as a verb to talk about  broken bones or other damaged body parts that are healing and to talk about improving a situation: John needs to mend his relationship with his father. 

We use mend as a noun, too, to talk about the repair. “The mend in her shirt is perfect.In our idiom,  “On the mend”,“mend” is used as a noun.  “On the mend” means getting better or improving. We often use it when we are talking about improving health, but we can also use it for other situations. For example: The climate situation is on the mend. Or.. Their relationship is on the mend.

There are many other very common idioms that begin with “on the” .

You are “on the ball” to think about that! Hey! You just used one of those “on the” idioms: “on the ball” When I said you were on the ball, I meant to say that you are quick to understand and react to things. I imagine a person standing on a big ball and needing to react quickly, so they don’t fall off. If I say, “I didn’t sleep well last night, so I’m not on the ball this morning.” I mean that I’m not as alert and mentally sharp as usual. What is another idiom that begins with “on the” ?

 “On the way” is one that I use a lot.  If I say I’m “on the way”, I mean that I’m in the process of coming or I will soon be there. Both  “I’m on my way.”  or " I’m on the way" mean the same thing. We can also say “Winter is on the way.” Or “Rain is on the way.”

On the mend, on the ball, on the way…let’s talk about two more “on the….” Idioms. “On the go” and “on the move” both mean to be busy and active. We use both expressions to talk about being busy.  “My mom likes to be on the go.” or “My mom likes to be on the move.” 

You are saying that your mom likes to be busy.  “on the move” can have more emphasis on physically moving from place to place.  “I will be traveling this week so I will be on the move.”  We also use “on the move’ to talk about a situation or person that is making progress. “He’s a man on the move.” Or “The economy is on the move again.” There are dozens of idioms that begin with "on the"!  Maybe we will return to others in future podcasts, but for now let’s have a short conversation practicing those using the 5 that we talked about today.

A: Hey, long time no see! B: I’ve been on the go from morning to night for the past few weeks. I have had a lot going on.A: Yes, I heard that your daughter broke her leg.  How is she doing?B: Yes, she had a bike accident two weeks ago. Fortunately, her leg is on the mend now.A: How are you?B: Well, I’m not really on the ball this morning. Our new puppy was on the move and whining all night, so nobody slept. A: Maybe you need a nap. B: I agree. I’m

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L: Do you know me?

D: Yes, of course I know you ,Latonya.

 L: When did we meet?

D: We met about 3 years ago.

 L: That’s right. 5 years ago, I didn’t know you, and you didn’t know me. We didn’t know each other. 

D: Do you know my son?L: No, I’ve never met your son. I don’t know him.

We’ve been using meet and know – two words that can be challenging for English learners. Let’s focus on meet and know today. Let’s start with meet. “m – e – e -t” not  “ m-e-a-t” – like hamburger or steak. We use “meet” to talk about the first time we see someone and talk with them and learn their name. “I like to meet new people.” The past tense of “meet” is “met” For example, “ I met you 3 years ago.”  Or “We met 3 years ago.” - if I am talking about both of us.

After we meet someone for the first time, we “get to know” them - we learn about their interests, their family,  their work.

When talking about the past, we say “got to know”. Let’s talk about the verb  “know”:  k-n-o-w (remember when we see   “kn”  together, we know the “k” is silent. “Know”  we pronounce “NO”)

We use “know” in two ways. The first way is when we are talking about people we are acquainted with. “She knows my mom.” “I know your teacher.” I could say. “I met you three years ago, and I got to know you when we started working together. If someone asks me, “Do you know Diana?” I can say, “Yes, I know her.”  When we are talking about the past, we use “knew”. For example, “Did you know me two years ago when we started doing this podcast?” “Yes, knew you when we started the podcast.”

So, one way we use “know”  is when we talk about being acquainted with a person. Another way we use “know” is to talk about having information about something. For example, “I know your address.” Or “ I know that the park will close at 8:00.” or "She knows my cousin’s name.”

Do you hear the two different uses of “know?”  

 #1. “She knows my cousin. -  to be familiar with a person after you have met them

#2. “She knows my cousin’s name”       to have information – in this case my cousin’s name

Here’s a hint for Spanish speakers:  to know or meet a person – is the verb conocer;  to know information – is the verb saber

We talked about using the verb “meet” when we talk about being introduced to someone for the first time. Do we use “meet” in any other way?

We use “meet” to talk about arranging to be at a specific place at a specific time. “We always meet at the park on Wednesdays at 7:30 in the morning for lunch.”  or “Meet me at the restaurant at 5 this afternoon.” When people meet at a specific place and time we call it  a “meeting”.

Listen to our short conversation as we use know, knew, meet, met and meeting. 

A: Remember that we have a department meeting at 1:30 with our new boss.

B: Yeah, I know, but thanks for reminding me. Do you know the new guy?

A: Well, I met him yesterday. I know his name, and I know he worked in the Portland office before, but I really don’t know much about him.

B:  I met a woman from the Portland office at a conference last year.   I’ll ask him if he knows her when I meet him this afternoon.

A: OK. See you at the meeting.

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May 18th of this year was the 45th anniversary of a big event in southwestern Washington state.  This huge geological event happened on May 18th 1980. It reshaped a mountain and the area surrounding that mountain. 

We are talking about the eruption of Mt. St. Helens.  We mentioned Mt. St. Helens in podcast # 38 - “Mt Rainier and the Cascade Mountain Range”. Mt. St. Helens, like Mt. Rainier, is one of the mountains in the “Cascade Volcanic Arc." The Cascade Volcanic Arc is a chain of volcanoes that extends over 700 miles from Western British Columbia in Canada to northern California. There are several major volcanoes in that chain. One of those volcanoes is Mt. Rainier, which last erupted s about 500 years ago.  Geologists say that it will erupt again sometime in the future.

Mt. St. Helens is the volcano in the Cascade Arc that last erupted.  Geologists and volcanologists (scientists who study volcanoes) knew that something was happening  - that “something was  up” -  with the mountain starting in March of 1980. They observed some small earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and they were watching the mountain carefully during March and April.

They were worried because they noticed that the activity was increasing. On April 30 the governor of Washington created a “red zone” around the volcano. No one was allowed to enter this zone. The last week of April 1980 geologists noticed a bulge on the north side of the mountain. A bulge is a swelling on the surface of something – when the surface sticks out or projects.

The scientists watched this bulge grow bigger every day; more earthquakes occurred below this bulge. At 8:32 on May 18 it happened! There was an earthquake on the north slope or incline of the mountain followed by a volcanic blast or explosion.

There was a plume of ash 80,000 feet in the sky. A plume is a feather of a bird, but we also use “plume” to describe something that is the shape of a feather – long and narrow. 

This plume of ash from the eruption of Mt. St. Helens reached 11 states and some Canadian provinces. There was also a big landslide. The north side of the mountain slid away. (slide – present; slid -past). Volcanic mudflows called lahars, made of melted snow and ice mixed with the rocks and ash from the eruption, flowed down the Toutle and Cowlitz Rivers, rivers that flow down from the mountain. Unfortunately, 57 people lost their lives in the eruption. One man who died was a volcanologist who was observing the mountain, another was a photographer who had been taking pictures of the activity on the mountain.

An 83-year-old man named Harry Truman had a lodge on Spirit Lake at the base of the mountain. He lived there with his 32 cats!  State officials ordered everyone to leave the area where he lived, but Harry refused. He said, “If the mountain goes, I’m going with it.” And he died in the eruption. Most of the other people who were killed were outside the area that officials thought was dangerous.

In addition to the loss of life, the eruption killed thousands of animals, caused damage to homes, bridges and roads and destroyed 200 square miles of forest. The eruption blew the top off the mountain and left a 1 mile wide horseshoe shaped crater (round bowl shaped depression). The eruption of Mt. St. Helens is considered the most disastrous volcanic eruption in US history. 

Today Mt. St. Helens is in a quiet “dormant” or sleeping state, Scientists still watch it closely for signs of activity. Plants and animals have returned. There are visitor centers, exhibits, trails. The area is now the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. 

Check out the Mt. St. Helens website for more information.

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D: Can I borrow $10 from you? L: Sure, I can lend you $10. D:  Thanks million! I’ll pay you back next week.

“Borrow” and “lend” are two verbs that English learners often find challenging.  Let’s practice those verbs today. Shall we start with “borrow”? In our short conversation at the beginning of this podcast Diana asked Latonya if she could borrow $10 from her. 

 When I ask if I can borrow $10 - or anything else – from you, the understanding is that I will give it back to you in the future.  “To give (something) back” is a phrasal verb that means to return something to its original owner.  A phrasal verb is a verb plus another word or words that together have a meaning separate from the original words. In “give back” give is the verb and back is the word that is added. And give back “ means to return something. We can also say “bring back”, “take back”  or, if it is money, “pay back”.

 Let’s return to “borrow”. If I borrow something from you, I plan to give it back or pay it back sometime in the future.  I often borrow  books from the library. I read the book, and then I return it – or take it back to the library. Sometimes I drop the book in a slot – a narrow opening – that says “returns”.

Notice that we said borrow from the library.  We borrow something from someone or, in our example, from the library. And the library lends books to us.  When the library lends books to us, they expect that we will return them or take them back within a certain time.

If you lend $10 to me, you expect that I will give you the $10 back sometime in the future. And maybe you hope that I will give you the $10 back soon right?

You can use “loan” in place of “lend “ and the meaning will not change. Notice that “loan” is also a noun. We use loan, for money that is borrowed. For example  “The bank loaned me $500. I need to pay the loan back in 1 year.” 

How do we use borrow and lend and loan in the past?

Well, borrow is a regular past tense verb… So we add an “ed” to make it past tense, right?

Yes, I can say “I borrowed a sweater from my sister yesterday.”Loan"is also a regular past tense verb.  “My daughter loaned her car to me last week.”

The past tense form of “lend” is irregular - “lent”. “My sister lent her sweater to me yesterday.”

Listen for the present and past forms of “lend” “loan” and “borrow” in the conversation between neighbors, Latonya and Diana.

D: Hi Latonya,  I need to rake up all those leaves in my yard. May I borrow a rake from you?

L: Sure, I have an extra rake. I can lend it to you.

D: Thanks, and after I rake the leaves, I need to mow the grass. Can I borrow your lawn mower?

L: Well, I’ll loan my lawn mower to you, but you need to bring it back tomorrow. I need to mow my lawn, too.  

D: No problem! I will return it this afternoon, I’m sorry to ask, but can I borrow a few gallons of gas from you too. I need it for the lawnmower.

L: I can’t lend any gas to you because I lent you my gas can last week and you didn’t bring it back.

D; Gosh! Now I remember that I borrowed your gas can last week, but it’s empty now. Can I borrow $10 to fill it up?

L: No! I’m not going to lend you $10 to fill up my gas can!  You need to give the gas can back to me today. And please fill it before you return it. 

Please email us at talcchats@gmail.org to tell us if you have borrowed or lent anything lately, dear lis

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Gosh! It’s sure a beautiful morning!

It is! You just said “Gosh!”  We have learned that sentences have subjects, verbs and objects.  What part of a sentence is “Gosh”?  

“Gosh”  is an  interjection.

An Interjection? What’s an interjection?

An interjection is a word that expresses an emotion. 

It isn’t grammatically part of the sentence.

Right! In fact, you can just use an interjection alone – without a sentence.

We said that interjections express emotions. Let’s talk about some emotions and the common interjections we use to express them.

OK! Listeners, we use interjections a lot when we speak. You will probably recognize some of these interjections and maybe you have used a few of them, too. 

When we write interjections, we often put an exclamation mark (!) after them because we are expressing strong emotions. 

Yes, we use the exclamation mark (!) to show that we are speaking forcefully. 

Shall we start with interjections that express happiness?

Happiness is a great place to start!

“Yippee! I don’t have to work tomorrow!” “Yippee” is one interjection that expresses happiness or excitement. What are some others?

 “Whoohoo!” “Hooray!” “Yay!”  “Hooray! We’re going to the beach today!”

Ok! Let’s change the emotion we are expressing to displeasure. What interjections do we use when we are not happy about something?

“Dang!” or “dang it“ “Dang! I’m going to be late for work!” “Dang it! Where did I put my keys?”

Or …”darn” “darn  it” or “argh”  or “sheesh!” “Sheesh! It’s so hot in here!”   

How about expressing surprise? 

Good surprises: “Wow!” “Wow! I can’t believe Jane is your sister!”  - I’m saying “that’s amazing!”

Unpleasant surprises: “Yikes!” “Yikes! That car almost hit me!”

And disgust?

Ick! -  “Ick! That cheese smells awful!”                … or “yuck!”…Who is  “Mr. Yuck”?

There are some interjections that have different meanings in different contexts.

What are some examples?

“aw”  or “aww!” can have different meanings.

If I say “Aw! What a cute baby!” I mean “how sweet!!

Or “Aw! I’m sorry you are sick!” I want to express regret or sympathy:  “It’s too bad that you are sick.”

Or “Aw! Stop complaining!” I am protesting an action.

There is an interjection that we use when we want to say in kind of a funny way that we think something is very fancy or special  - “ooh – la-la”

”Oo-la-la! Look at that wedding dress!!”  “Ooh-la- la! His new car is so fancy!”   

If we make a small mistake, we can say “Oops!’ or ”whoops!” or “whoopsie” “Oops!  I burned the cookies!”

OK! Those are some of the most common interjections. Maybe we should stop.

Huh uh! We can’t stop yet! 

Very funny! “Huh uh” – that means “no”.

Uh huh! – and that means yes!  

Huh uh – no

And Uh huh – yes! 

Wow! English is sure interesting!

Uh huh! It sure is!

Thanks for listening!

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You look like you don’t feel well this morning. What’s the matter?

Oh, thanks for asking. I didn’t sleep very well, and I have a headache.

You were concerned about me because I looked like I didn’t feel well.  You wanted to know if I had a problem, and you asked me “What’s the matter?” That is one expression we can use when we notice that another person seems to have a problem or difficulty, and we want to show that we are concerned. 

Yes. “What’s the matter? Is an interesting idiom – an expression that can’t be translated word for word.

Right!  “matter” is a word used in the science of physics meaning anything that has mass and occupies space. It also can mean “subject or topic”, for example “I know a lot about that matter.” But today we are going to talk about using the idiom “What’s the matter?”  to ask someone if they have a problem. It can be a physical problem or an interpersonal problem, a life problem or a technical problem.

Yes! If I see my friend at work and they look upset in some way – maybe they look uncomfortable or nervous. I don’t know what the problem is, but they just don’t look the way they usually look.  So, I ask “What’s the matter?” Maybe my friend will answer: “I have a terrible toothache.” or “I lost my phone.” or “The boss just fired me.” 

My response will depend on what they say, but some common answers are: “I’m sorry to hear that.” or  “Can I help?”

“What’s the matter?” is one polite, concerned way of generally asking another person if they have a problem. What are some other ways to ask if someone is OK?

Well, of course, you can also say “Are you OK?”  You can also ask “What’s wrong?” or “Is anything wrong?” “What’s the problem?” is another option, but If I ask you “What’s the problem?”  does that sound a little less friendly?

Yes, it does!  “What’s the matter?”, “What’s wrong?” or “Are you OK?” are more positive and  more friendly than “What’s the problem?”

We have talked about 4 ways of asking someone if everything is alright. Now let’s talk about how those questions change if we add “with you”.  If I ask “What’s the matter with you?” How does that change my question? How does it make you feel?

It makes me feel like I did something wrong or like I am a disappointment. 

How about “What’s wrong with you?” or “What’s the problem with you?”

Isn’t that interesting? When we add “with you” to those nice polite questions, “What’s wrong?” or “What’s the matter?” they become like accusations.  

Here are a few conversations using the options for asking if someone is alright. 

6 year old Tommy comes into the house crying.

Mom: What’s the matter, Tommy?

Tommy: I fell off my bike and I hurt my knee! 

Mom: I’m so sorry! Let’s take a look at it. 

Two good friends are riding home from work together.

A: You’re very quiet this afternoon. What’s wrong?

B: Oh, I’m thinking about my sister. She’s in the hospital.

A: I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?

Jonelle is working on Saturday. She calls her husband Mike, at lunchtime. His phone rings 10 times before he answers it.

Mike: Uh… hello.

Jonelle: Mike, you don’t sound so great. What’s wrong?

Mike: I’ve been in bed all morning with a fever and a terrible stomachache.

Jonelle: I think you need to go to urgent care. I’ll be right home.

Our same 6 year old Tommy is playing with Lily, his 3-year-old sister.

Lola: Mommy! Tommy took my cookie!! 

Mom: What’s wrong with you, Tommy? Give Lola her cookie! 

Dear listener, we hope everything is OK with you, and that nothing is t

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L: Did you use to walk to school when you were a kid?

D: Yes, I used to walk to school when I was a kid, Latonya. Did you? 

L: No, I didn’t use to walk to school. I took the school bus.

 Those are interesting verbal expressions “use to” and “used to”. When do we use them?

 The verb “to use” (the infinitive form) and “use” (the base form) means to put something into action to achieve a goal or purpose. For example: “I use my cellphone to find out the weather forecast.” 

 But in the question “Did you use to walk to school when you were a kid?” “use to”  means something different. In that question we are asking about an action that you did again and again in the past, but you don’t do now.  In that question the action we are asking about is walk to school.

 And the question follows the pattern for asking past tense questions:  “did” + subject  (you) + base verb  (use to).

 Notice that “use to” is always followed with a base verb of the action we're asking about – “walk” in this question.  

 Here are more examples of questions about actions repeated again and again in the past:

"Did you use to drive to Seattle often?" or… "Did you use to play tennis?" or…"Did you use to drink coffee?" 

 Remember that like all past tense English verbs, “did”  does not change when the subject changes.  "Did she use to walk to school?" "Did they /we/you/ he use to walk to school?" Only the subject changes.

Let’s talk about the answers to those "Did you use to..." questions.

OK! Back to the question: "Did you use to walk to school when you were a kid?"  If I answer with a  “Yes”,   I say “Yes, I used to walk to school when I was a kid.” I added the “d” to “use to” to change it to the regular past tense form. Just like I would say “I washed my windows yesterday.” With “use” I just need to add a “d” because “use” ends in an “e”.

 When we answer with a "No", we say "No, I didn't use to walk to school." For the negative answer we use “did not” or “didn’t” + subject + the base form of the verb.  “didn’t” shows that we are talking about the past so we use the base from of the verb "use to". 

Listen for "used to" and 'use to"  in our conversation about actions or activities that we did again and again (repeatedly) in the past

A: Did you use to study a lot when you were in high school?

B: I didn’t use to study a lot, unfortunately. I used to spend most of my time listening to music and playing my guitar.

A: Well, that’s interesting! I didn’t know that you used to play the guitar. 

B: Yeah! My friends and I used to have a band. We used to practice in my parents’ garage every day after school.

A: You used to practice every day? What did your neighbors think?

B: They weren’t too happy. They used to call us and complain. 

A: What did you use to tell them?

B: Oh, we used to tell them that we would be famous in the future and they were lucky to listen to our great music for free!

A: Wow! You used to have high hopes.

B: I still do! But now I study more and I don’t play the guitar. 

How about you, dear listener? What did you use to do that you don't do now? 

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How are you this morning?

I’m fine, thanks! I just finished breakfast!

You said you just finished breakfast. What does that mean?

It means that I very recently finished breakfast - not hours ago, but in the very recent past. Notice that I used just with the simple past form of the verb finished.

You could also say “I have just finished breakfast.” (present perfect tense)

Yes! Both statements mean that in the very recent past I finished breakfast.

Just is one of those little words that we use in a lot of ways in English.

We use just with the past or present perfect tense to talk about something that recently or just happened, but we can also use just to talk about something that will happen in the immediate future. 

Yes! If I  say: "I am just going to call my mom and then I can go." Or “He is just finishing his homework.” I’m talking about something that will happen in the immediate future.

Notice that we use the present continuous tense or  “going to” when we’re using just to talk about the immediate future.

Those are two of the ways we use just to talk about time. There is another way that we use just when we are talking about time.  If we say just before, just after, just as, just when to talk about something that happened at about the same time that something else happened.

Can you give us some examples? 

Sure! “My brother called just after I went to bed.“  

“Just when John thought he was done, his boss told him to do one more thing.”

“Just before we got to the beach, it started to rain.”

“Just as I was starting to cook dinner, the power went off.”

We’ve talked about three ways we use just in relationship to time, are there other ways we use just? 

Yes! We also use just to mean only.  "I just have $5 in my wallet."

"I just have one egg and I need three eggs to make these cookies." " She just wanted to say “hello”."

And we also ;use just to mean exactly. ”My friend told me just what I needed to hear.”  “He is just the right person for that job.”

We have been talking about using just as an adverb.

We also use just as an adjective – a describing word  - to mean fair or honest. 

"The boss was always just. She treated everyone fairly. "

"The judge’s decision was just, although not everyone agreed with him."

It is that use of “just” that is the root of the word justice,  the noun that means fairness or equity.

Listen for the different ways we us  “just” in our phone conversation:

A: Hi! Are you busy ?“

B: Well,  I just got home.

A: Can you talk for just a minute?

B: Sure, but just for a minute. I need to start dinner.

A: I just wanted to tell you that I just heard about a great job. They just started accepting applications.

B: That just what I needed to hear.  I was just going to start applying for a new job. 

A: Well, this might be just the opportunity you have been waiting for.

B: I hope so!

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I wonder if it will rain tomorrow. We want to go for a hike.

Right! And I wonder if it will bed dry enough to walk on the trails.

We use “wonder if” in those sentences... what do we mean to say?

We are curious about what the weather will be tomorrow.

Curious?

When you want to know about something, you are curious.

I see a new car in front of my neighbor John’s house. I am curious. 

 I wonder if John bought a new car. I wonder if he has a visitor.

When we are curious about something, and we don’t know the answer, we use “I wonder if….”

It’s like I am asking myself the question.

I invited my boss to my birthday party. I wonder if she will come.

I’m curious about travel to Mars: ”I wonder if humans will ever land on Mars.”

I had an interview for a new job. I’m very curious. “Will I get the job?” I say “I wonder if I will get that job.

We also use “wonder if” when we want to be very polite when we are asking someone for something or to do something.

If I want to ask Diana/Latonya if she can help me with my homework.  I can say, “Diana, can you help me with my homework?”  or I can be very polite and say “I wonder if you can help me with my homework. “

You can also use the present continuous tense and say, “I’m wondering if you can help me with my homework.”

That is a very polite way of asking for something. You can be very direct and ask “Can we meet tomorrow morning?” or you can very politely say, “I wonder if we can meet tomorrow morning.”  

Notice that the “I wonder if….” way of asking for something is not a question. It is a statement. 

The “I wonder if …” form of the request makes the request softer, not so direct.

Listen for: ”I wonder if…” in our conversation:

D: I wonder if all our neighbors will come to the party.

L: Who knows?  Gosh! I wonder if we have enough food.

D: Me too! I wonder if you can make some more macaroni and cheese. 

L: Sure, I can do that, but I wonder if everyone will like it.

D: No need to wonder about that! Your macaroni and cheese is delicious! 

We wonder if anyone will send us an email to talcchats@gmail.com.

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A correction! In our conversation Diana said that words that sound the same, but are spelled differently are homonyms. That isn't correct. Those words are homophones.

Remember that in podcast # 48 we practiced using the possessive adjectives his and her?

Right! We use possessive adjectives to describe something that belongs to a person or people . Remind us please, what is an adjective?

An adjective is a word that describes a noun (and a noun is a person, place or thing). So, in the phrase “a big book”, book is a noun – a thing, and “big” is an adjective that describes the book. A possessive adjective shows possession or ownership. Sometimes you will hear possessive adjectives also called possessive pronouns.

For example, if that cat belongs to Maya, I can say that’s Maya’s cat” or I can say “That’s her cat.” Because Maya is female, I use “her”. Correct! And if that dog belongs to Ben, I can say “That is Ben’s dog” or “That is his dog.” I use “his” because Ben is a male.

Today let’s practice two more possessive adjectives: “our” and “their”. If something belongs to me and at least one other person, I can use “our”.  For example, if I am talking about the house that I live in with my son and my daughter, I can say “Our house is grey.”

Yes! And if something belongs to or more other people – not including me – I can use “their”. For example, if that car belongs to my neighbors, I say “That is their car.”  

Well, that is easy! We use “our” when we talk about me and one or more other person possessing or owning something, And when we talk about two or more other people- not including me, owning something, we use their.

Notice something, dear listener! It doesn’t matter if the people who possess the person place or thing are male or female, we use our and their. Right! Those possessive adjectives do not change, like his and her. The girls lost their homework. The boys lost their homework.

OK!I think we should mention that the possessive “their “is spelled /written t-h-e-i-r

Why is that important? Well, because in English we have two other words that sound the same but have other meanings. That’s crazy! Yup! Two other words that we pronounce like “their”.

The contraction for they are: “they’re” – they + ‘ + re – “they’re”. ..and “t-h-e-r-e” meaning  “at that place” . Put the book there, please. 

Hmmm...Words that sound the same but are spelled/written differently – what is the word for that? Those words that sound the same but are spelled differently are homophones: homo= same;  phone = sound. Just remember, dear listener that the possessive “their” is spelled “t-h-e-i-r”. 

Excuse me, but I think we should add that there is a homophone for “our”, too. Yes! The possessive “our” is written “o-u-r”. And the other “hour” is h – o – u – r, which is 60 minutes or we sometimes use “hour “ for :”time, like ”What is the hour?” or “What time is it?”

 OK, dear listener, let’s get back to the possessive adjectives our and their. Listen for them in our short conversation.

D: Do you remember our neighbors, the Walkers? 

L: Sure, I remember the Walker family.

D: Well, they moved last month, but they couldn’t take their cat. 

L: Why couldn’t they take their cat?

D: Their new apartment doesn’t allow cats.

L: What did they do with their cat?

D: Well, their cat is now our cat!

L: Congra

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 I need to feed my dog, Rosie.  

What does she want to eat?

 She wants to eat tuna fish.

Does she like tuna fish?

Yes! She loves tuna fish, but she doesn’t need to eat tuna fish for breakfast.

That little conversation we just had about Rosie’s breakfast is a good example using “need” “want” and “like” and “love” in English. 

What do you mean?

Well, I said "I need to feed Rosie." And “She needs to eat her breakfast.” But then I said “She wants tuna fish.” Right! When we use those verbs: need, want, like and love and we are talking about an action we usually use the infinitive form of the verb.

The infinitive form of the verb is the “to” form of the verb.

Can you give us some examples? Sure: “to feed”, “to eat”, “to go”, “to work”, “to speak”

Right! We say “I need to go to class not “I need go to class tomorrow. “

 Or “I like to read.” “I want to buy new shoes.” “I need to speak English every day. “

Yes! When like, need, love and want are followed by an action we use the infinitive form of the verb. It is also correct to use the “ing” form of the verb, too. We’ll talk about that in another episode.  

How about when we use want, need, like or love but we are talking about a thing or things – like a a cup of coffee?

 If I say ”I want a new phone”,  I don’t need the ”to” because a new phone is a thing – a noun, not a verb (or action). We just say “I want a new phone”, but "I need to buy a new phone” because “to  buy” is an action.

or.. “I like the beach“…but “I like to go to the  beach.” 

Right! How about some other examples of using “need”, “want”, “like” or “love” when we talk about a thing or things and when we are talking about an action. 

Sure: Donna loves chocolate chip cookies. Donna loves to make chocolate chip cookies.

We need some eggs. We need to buy some eggs.Most kids like bananas. Many kids like to eat bananas for lunch.

Is that clear, dear listener? 

The “take away” – the thing to remember  is when we like, love, need or want a thing or things, we do not need the “to”.

When we like, love, need or want “to do” an action, we need the “to form” of the verb.

How about a conversation with some examples?

That’s a great idea!

D: I need to go to the mall today, Latonya.

L: Why do you need to go to the mall?

D: Well, I want a new phone.

L: Is your phone broken?

D; No, but it’s 5 years old   I want a newer phone. 

L: So…  you don’t need a new phone, but you want a new phone.  

D: Right! I really don’t want to spend the money, but my husband got new iPhone and he loves it…so of course now I want a new phone too.

L: I get it! Sometimes you just want to buy something even if you don’t really need it.

D: You do get it, Latonya. Well, I need to hang up.  I want to go before the traffic gets bad.

L: OK! Bye!

OK, dear listener, do you remember when to use the “to” form or “infinitive”  form of the verb with like, love, need and want? 

Right!  When you, like, love, need or want  “to do” an action.

Well, we need to go! See you soon!

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A correction: Diana said, "The boiling point on the Fahrenheit scale is 112 degrees."  The boiling point on the Fahrenheit scale is 212 degrees.

What’s the weather like this morning? It’s cold, frosty and sunny this morning! Yes!! BRRRR! It is cold!
Was it cold last night?
Yes, it was below freezing.
What do you mean :”below freezing”?The temperature at which water freezes is 32 degrees Fahrenheit.… or 0 degrees Celsius.  If I say it’s below freezing, I mean the temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit or 0 degrees Celsius or Centigrade. Fahrenheit – Celsius – centigrade? There are two different “scales” for measuring temperature. On the Fahrenheit scale water freezes at 32 degrees F and it boils at 212 degrees F.  On the Celsius scale, the temperature at which water freezes in 0 degrees and the temperature that water boils is 100 degrees C.  Centigrade and Celsius are the same scale.Most countries use the Celsius scale. Only a few use the Fahrenheit scale: the U.S., Belize, Palau, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.  In most places in the world, you will hear the temperature in Celsius or “degrees C.” Here in the U. S. of A., you will hear the temperature in Fahrenheit or degrees F.

 Let’s get back to the temperature today. It’s 40 degrees F. or 4.4 degrees C. Notice that when we talk about the weather, we use “it”. For example, “It is cold today. :” It is correct to say “The weather is cold today.”, but you will most often hear, “It is cold today.” (present) or “It was freezing cold last night.” (past) The same is true when we talk about the temperature: “It is 40 degrees right now.” or “It was 27 degrees last night.” 27 degrees F or –2.7 degrees Celsius! That’s cold! You know, “cold” is kind of a boring word… let’s talk about some other words - more descriptive words we can use to talk about for winter weather.
If it’s just a little cold, and we need to wear a sweater, we can say “It’s chilly!” It sounds the same as the meal with beans and chili powder, chili. In fact, when the weather is chilly, I like to eat chili. When I feel a little cold, I can say “I’m chilly.”
When it’s a little colder than chilly and I need to wear a jacket, and some gloves, I might say ”It’s nippy outside today.” “a nip” means a little bite. We use it often with animals. “The puppy nipped at my heels.” When I say “It’s nippy!”, the cold is “nipping” or taking little bites of my fingers and nose.  We would say “It is nippy. But not “I am nippy.”
If the temperature is below freezing (below 32 degrees F), it’s a little colder that nippy, I can say “ It’s freezing” or “ It’s crisp.”  If it’s crisp, the ground might be frosty or frozen.  When I walk I make a crunchy sound because the ground is hard. If I am feeling very cold, I can say “I’m freezing.”, but I would not say “I’m crisp.”
If I need to wear a heavy coat, mittens and a scarf, the temperature is in the 20’s or lower, and especially if it is windy, “it is bitter cold or biting cold. “Bitter” is like the  unpleasant taste of a lemon peel. Biting cold is a cold that can hurt like the bite of an animal.  When it’s biting cold or bitter cold, it’s not pleasant for most people to be outside for a long time. We use:” biting cold” and “bitter cold” only  to talk about the temperature or the weather being cold, we don’t use those adjectives for people.
How would you describe the weather today, dear listener? Is it chilly, nippy, crisp, or freezing cold?  We hope it’s not biting cold today, so you can go out for a nice long walk.

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We talk with Jaime, who has been studying English with a TALC tutor for about four years. We learn that English is not his second, but his third language. He also speaks Japanese! Listen to our conversation and learn what Jaime finds the  hardest and easiest about learning English. What does he do to improve his English skills? Jaime leaves us with some advice for other English language learners: "Don't give up!" "You've got this!"

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In podcast # 35 we talked about the Puget Sound, a body of water that starts north of us in the Straits of Juan de Fuca and extends to Olympia south of us. We live in the area of  Washington State  called The Puget Sound. From our homes in the Puget Sound we see a lot of mountains. Can you see mountains from where you live?

What mountain we can see from many places in Puget Sound? Mount Rainier of course!  It is our mountain. When we ask each other “Is the mountain out today?”, we mean "can you see Mt. Rainier today? …or are clouds covering it up?".  

Rainier is a mountain. Why don’t we say Mountain Rainier? When we talk about the name of one specific mountain we put “Mount”, a short form of “mountain” before the name of the mountain. When we write, we often abbreviate or shorten “mountain” to “M -t”. So when we talk about one mountain we say “Mount” before the name of the mountain.

 How about when we talk about a range or group of mountains? When we talk about a mountain range we put “Mountains” after the name of the mountain range. So, for example, Mount Rainier is one mountain in the Cascade Mountain Range. 

Where is the Cascade Mountain Range? It starts in southern British Columbia continues south through Western Washington and Oregon to Northern California. The Cascade Range is 700 miles long. We often call the mountain range “the Cascades:” How did the Cascade s get that name? Well, “cascade” is another word for “waterfall”. A waterfall’s meaning is just what is sounds like: an area in a river where the water falls or drops many feet - sometimes hundreds of feet. For short you will hear waterfalls called “falls”.

Early explorers of the northwest found cascades or waterfalls on the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon. The water dropped 40 feet in 150 yards.  From these cascades they saw in the distance very high mountains topped with snow. The explorers called the mountains “the Cascades”. The Native Americans called the mountains “Mountains of the Northern People.”

So, the Cascade Mountain range has lots of very high snowcapped mountains. Is there anything else interesting about the mountain range? Well, yes, there are 15 volcanoes in the Cascade Mountain Range. Those volcanoes are called the Cascade volcanoes.  Have any of those volcanoes erupted in the last 100 years? Yes! Mt. St Helens in southern Washington erupted in 1980. 

How about Mt. Rainier? Yup! It’s a volcano too. When did it last erupt? About 500 years ago. Could it erupt again? Yes, as a matter of fact, it’s considered one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes. Yikes! Do you worry about that?

So, Mt. Rainier is a volcano. It’s also Washington’s highest mountain & the highest mountain in the Cascade Range. It’s almost 14,000 feet high (4,389 m). it has 20 glaciers. It is the most glaciated of any other mountain in the lower 48 states* (the 48 states not including Alaska and Hawaii)Amazing hikes to alpine meadows and lakes. Mt. Rainier National Park was established in 1899. It’s very popular! Sunrise is the- highest point in the park you can drive to. You can see views of other volcanoes in the Cascade Range.  Paradise is another popular area on the mountain that has any many hiking trails.  

 British naval captain George Vancouver who explored the Puget Sound in 1792 named the mountain after his friend Rear Admiral Peter Rainier. Native Puyallup Tribe people call the mountain “Tahoma” or “Tacoma” which means the “mother of waters”, and they want to officially change the name from Mt Rainer to Mt. Tahoma. We can call it Mt. Rainier or Mt. Tahoma, but on a clear day we are fortunate that we can enjoy and appreciate the lovely mountain from almost everywhere in the Puget Sound. 

Have you explored Mt. Ra

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If that phone belongs to Mary, I can say “That is Mary’s phone.” If that phone belongs to John, I can say, “That book is John’s phone.” When we are talking about someone owning or possessing something, we can use the person’s name, add an apostrophe plus an ‘s’  to show possession or ownership. An apostrophe is a little mark. It looks like a comma, but it is higher, not down on the line like a comma. Look in the written summary of this podcast to see an example of an apostrophe. (‘)  We also use apostrophes for contractions when we put two words together to make one; For example, “I’m”  is short for “I am”. We use apostrophes in contractions to show that we have left a letter or letters out to make the contraction. Got it! But today we are talking about possession. Let’s go back to “That is Mary’s phone.” . and “That is John’s phone. “Yes! When we see those sentences written, we see an apostrophe plus “s” in Mary’s name and in John’s name to show that the phone belongs to Mary and the book belongs to John. OK, so far so good! Now, if we are talking and we both know that we are talking about Mary, I don’t need to say Mary’s phone, I can just say “her” phone. “her” is a possessive adjective. It means that phone belongs to Mary. It is her phone.  An adjective is a describing word. A describing word that describes a noun or pronoun – ( a person, place or thing.) A “possessive adjective” shows who owns or possesses the person, place or thing. “Her” is the feminine possessive adjective. We use “her” when the person. place or thing belongs to a woman or girl – a female.Emily ‘s car is new. Her car is new. Carol’s daughter is a teacher. Her daughter is a teacher.
Notice that the possessive adjective “her” does not have an apostrophe.  “Her” is the feminine possessive adjective. Let’s go back to John.  We said
that is John’s phone.” John is a male so we cannot use the feminine possessive adjective for John’s book, can we? We have to use the masculine possessive adjective.
And what is masculine possessive adjective? “his”  That is John’s phone.  That is his phone. John’s brother lives in Mexico. His brother lives in Mexico. John’s apartment is nice. His apartment is nice.
There are seven possessive adjectives. We are focusing on her and his, because they are the probably the most challenging possessive adjectives for English learners. If you use her when you are talking about a female person or animal who possesses something and his when you are talking about a masculine person or animal possessing something, you can be proud! Watch future episodes for practice using the other five possessive adjectives!

Here’s a short story. Listen for those possessive adjectives – her and his!

Mona and her kids are at the fair. Her son’s name is Max. Her daughter’s name is Hannah. Hannah and Max have balloons on long strings. Her balloon is red and his balloon is yellow.  Max doesn’t want his balloon. He wants his sister’s balloon.But Hannah doesn’t want her brother’s yellow balloon. She wants her red balloon because her favorite color is red. Max grabs Hannah’s balloon string. Hannah pulls her balloon string away from Max. Max loses his grip on the string of his balloon.  He watches as his balloon floats upward in the sky. Hannah holds the string of her balloon tightly. Max looks up at his mom with tears in his eyes. Hannah has a big smile on her face and say

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     In podcast #35 we talked about the Puget Sound -  a body of salt water that is connected to the Pacific Ocean at the Straits of Juan de Fuca north of Seattle and extends 95 miles south to Olympia.  Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, Bellevue and Everett are cities on Puget Sound. About 2/3 of Washington state’s population live on Puget Sound.
     Today we’re going to talk about the orcas who live in the waters of Puget Sound for several months every year. Orcas are also called killer whales. They are in the dolphin family, but because they are so big they are also considered whales. Killer whales sounds scary and dangerous! A killer is a human or animal that kills another creature. The reason they are called killer whales interesting. Hundreds of years ago Spanish sailors called them “ballena asesina”  Ballena means “whale” and “asesina"  means “killer”.  Because the sailors saw orca kill other whales, they called them ”whale killers”. When ballena asesina was translated to English, it was incorrectly translated it to killer whale.   In our conversation we will use “orca” sometimes and “killer whale” other times, to talk about the same animal.
     Whales are not fish. They are mammals that live in the ocean.  A mammal is an animal that has fur at some time in its life, a complicated brain, a backbone (spine), and is born alive ( not hatched from an egg);  female mammals have mammary glands that produce milk to feed their young.  “Mamma” is where the word mammal comes from.  Wait a minute! Whales don’t have fur! Well, whales do have fur before they are born. Orcas are big! Males can be 30 feet long and can weigh 22.000 pounds.  They’re very beautiful! They are mostly black on top with white undersides. They have white patches near their eyes. If you don’t know what an orca looks like, please do a quick Google search. Orcas live in every ocean on Earth. Most orcas  are transient killer whales. They hunt marine mammals like seals and walruses, and sometimes other whales. The whales we see in Puget sound are called southern resident killer whales/ orcas. They spend several months of the summer and fall in Puget Sound. Unlike transient whales, the southern resident orcas east only salmon…and only a specific kind of salmon, the chinook salmon.Salmon is a tricky word because it looks like we should pronounce it “sal mon”, but we say “saamon”.
     The Southern Resident orcas come to Puget Sound in the summer and fall because that is when salmon are returning from the ocean. The people who live in the Puget Sound region LOVE the Southern Resident orcas. Many Puget Sound residents and tourists go on whale watching boats to look for the orcas. The Southern Resident orcas that visit Puget Sound are endangered (they are in danger of becoming extinct) so scientists watch them closely.  
     In October 2024, there were 74 Southern Resident orcas. They live in three family groups called “pods”. The pods are called J, K and L pods. Female orcas are the leaders of each pod. The group of pods is called a clan. They use clicks, whistles and pulsed calls to communicate. You can Google “orca communication” to listen to orcas “talking" to each other.  Each pod has its own dialect! The orcas of Puget sound are fascinating creatures!
     The best time to see the orcas in Puget Sound is October through December. The San Juan Islands is a good place for whale watching. Lime Kiln Point State Park on San Juan Island is one of the best places in the world to watch whales from the shore. 
      If you have ever seen an orca, dear listener, please tell us all about it at talcchats2@gmail.com!

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Today how about practicing some English phrases that are useful for everyday life situations? That sounds good! Where shall we start?
Let’s start with greetings: To greet someone:
                Formal: Good morning/afternoon/ evening;  How are you?                           It’s nice to see you!
                Informal: What’s new?; What’s up?; How’s it going?
 To reply:
                Formal : I’m fine, thanks, and you?; It’s nice to see you, too.
                Informal: Pretty good. I can’t complain. Could be better, how about you?
To say you don’t understand:
                                Could you repeat that, please. I’m sorry, didn’t get that. One more time please. ;  Could you please say that a little slower.; I didn’t understand everything you said. Please repeat it a little slower.
To say you want something :   
                                   I would like a /some…………. please.
To say thank you:
                Formal: Thank you!; Thank you so much.; I really appreciate …..                                    Informal: Thanks! Thanks a million!Thanks a lot! Thanks a bunch!
To respond to a thank you:  Formal: You’re very welcome! My pleasure!  Of course!
                Informal: No problem!  Anytime!
To say you are sorry (to apologize)
                Formal: I apologize for …… ;  I’m sorry! My apologies! Informal:  So sorry!  Sorry!   
To respond to an apology: Formal: That’s OK!  Don’t worry, it’s fine! Informal: No worries!  No problem!
To end a conversation:
                Formal: It was nice to see you. We’ll talk soon.  Informal: Gotta run!  Later!
Here is a formal conversation between a student and her teacher at the library.
Student: Good morning, Mrs. Jackson.
Teacher: Hello Mariah, it’s nice to see you, this morning. How are you today?Student: I’m fine, thank you, and you?
Teacher: I’m very well, thank you. 
Student: I really appreciate your help with my homework yesterday.
Mrs. Jackson: It was my pleasure, Mariah. I’m glad you understand it now.
Student: I do understand it now. Thanks again.
Teacher: Well, I’ll see you in class tomorrow.
Student:  Yes, it was great to see you, Mrs. Jackson. Goodbye.
Now here’s an informal conversation between two friends at Safeway:
D: Hey Latonya, how’s it going?
L: Pretty good, thanks Diana. How about you?
D: I can’t complain. Hey, I’m sorry I missed your birthday party last weekend.
L: Oh, no problem. We had a great time without you.
D: What did you say, Latonya?   Could you repeat that, please?
L: Sorry! That didn’t come out the way I meant it to. I meant to say that we had a great time, and we were sorry that you were not there. Thanks a million for sending the nice flowers! I really appreciate your thoughtfulness!
D: You’re welcome. I’m glad that you like them. Well, gotta run!
L: Me too! See you later!       

Tacomaliteracy.org

•  On November 20th there was a big windstorm in western Washington.
•  Did you have a lot of wind at your house? 
•  Some places escaped the high winds, but many areas in northwestern Washington were hit hard!
• What do you mean by that? “some places were hit hard.”
•  I mean some places had a lot of wind. They were affected by the storm. The storm hit those places hard.
•  What were some of the areas that were hit hard – had a lot of wind?
• Well, Issaquah, Renton, Bellevue and Shoreline were some hard-hit areas. There were wind gusts of over 70 mph in some areas. 
• Gusts? What are gusts of wind? Gusts are increases in wind speed.  Gusts are sudden and brief, lasting only about 20 seconds. 
• The average speed of wind that is blowing over time is called sustained wind.  When the speed of the wind is more than 34 mph it is called a windstorm.  Here are some examples of wind speeds during the windstorm in November: Enumclaw–77 mph wind gust, Federal Way–57 mph, Sea-Tac Airport-55 mph.
  •  Wow! Definitely a windstorm! What problems can windstorms cause?
  •  High winds can cause lots of problems; trees can fall onto houses or cars. Fallen trees can block roads.  I know of at least two people who died during the November windstorm.
    • Windstorms can damage power lines.  A power line is a thick cable that carries electricity from one place to another. A system or network of power lines carries electricity from the source, the place it comes from – a dam or power plant, for example – to where it is used – like our homes, schools and apartment buildings.
  •  How does the wind damage power lines?
  • Windstorms can blow tree branches or entire trees onto power lines. This can make the power lines fall to the ground. The wind can also make power lines move around wildly and swing together. When the lines touch, it causes a short circuit that stops the electricity from flowing through the lines.
• What happens when power lines are damaged in a windstorm?
• The power or electrical system is interrupted.  Businesses, schools and homes lose their power. After a windstorm I might ask you “Do you have  power?  Or… “Do you have electricity?”   Or.. “Do you have lights?”
• We use “power”, “electricity” and “lights” interchangeably to mean the same thing when we talk about electricity.  To talk about when the electricity stopped working, we say “The power/electricity /lights went out at 8 last night.” Or “We lost our power/electricity or lights last night.”  To talk about when the electricity started working again, we say “The power/electricity/lights came back on this morning.” To ask if another person’s electricity stopped working, we say “Did your power (or lights or electricity) go out last night?”
• During the windstorm in November more than 600,000 people in western Washington lost their power. It took 2 – 3 days to restore or bring back power to all those people.

A lot of people had a conversation like this after the windstorm:
Ann: That was quite a storm last night, wasn’t it?
Beth: You’d better believe it!  Did you get hit hard?
Ann: Yeah, the wind was blowing like crazy all night. We had gusts of 60 mph. How about you? 
Beth: We were lucky! It wasn’t windy here at all. Did your lights go out? 
Ann: Oh yeah! Our lights went out at about 7:30 and we still don’t have power.
Beth: Gosh! I’m so sorry. Do you know when your electricity will come back on?
Ann: They say we might have power by this afternoon.
Beth: I sure hope so! It’s not easy to live without electricity.
Ann: You’ve got that right!

Tacomaliteracy.org

Happy holidays to you!

And happy holidays to you, too!

We’re right in the middle of the time of the year we call “the holidays”.

What is a “holiday?”   It comes from an old English word that meant “holy day”. The word was first used a long time ago - before the 12th century. The word was used for days that were special religious days, holy days. People had religious festivals, and they did not work; they had the day “off”. Now “holiday” is used for days that we celebrate.  Some holidays are religious, some are cultural some holidays celebrate a national event. The 4th of July or Veteran’s Day are holidays that celebrate a national event. Thanksgiving is a cultural holiday. Christmas and Easter are of course, religious holidays.

December is full of holidays. Let’s talk about three of them. 

Christmas - On December 25th Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. Christmas is celebrated with Christmas songs – or carols. We decorate Christmas trees with colored glass balls and lights. We hang colored lights outside our houses and public buildings. Santa Claus or Father Christmas brings gifts to children.  Where did that tradition of giving gifts come from? Well, in the Bible story of Jesus’ birth, the three wisemen or Magi followed a star to the place where Jesus was born. They brought gifts for the baby. In the US, Christmas is the dominant holiday in December. Many people who are not religious Christians take part in some of the Christmas traditions.          

                Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that is also celebrated in December. Hanukkah is a Hebrew word that means “dedication”.     Hanukkah  is also known as “the festival of lights”. What does Hanukkah celebrate? 2000 years ago, the Jewish people drove the Greek-Syrian rulers out of Jerusalem.  To celebrate, the people lit a lamp in the temple.  The lamp had only enough oil to last 1 day, but the lamp burned for eight days. That’s the reason that Hanukkah lasts for eight days. The Menorah is the symbol of Hanukkah. The  Menorah is a candelabra (candle holder) that has 8 candles the same size and a ninth candle that stands apart. The dates for  Hanukkah change every year. This year, 2024, Hanukkah is Dec 25 – Jan 2.

Let’s talk about one more holiday that is celebrated in December, Kwanzaa. That’s an interesting word that comes from a Swahili phrase,“matunda ya kwanza”. Swahili is a language that people in many countries in East Africa speak.  “Matunda ya kwanza” means “first fruits of the harvest”  Kwanzaa celebrates African American culture and heritage. It is celebrated for 7 days and each day a different guiding principal is celebrated.  Kwanzaa is celebrated December 26 – January 1. 

Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are all in December. These holidays remind us that the United States is a multicultural nation. We respect the rights and freedom of everyone to celebrate their special holidays. So, if you celebrate Christmas, a very Merry Christmas to you! If you celebrate Hanukkah, have a Happy Hanukkah! If you celebrate Kwanzaa, Happy Kwanzaa! 

And to all of you, we wish you Happy Holidays! 

We’ll see you next year in 2025!

Tacomaliteracy.org

Can you hear me?  Are you listening to me?

In Podcast #39 we talked about the difference between “see” “look” and “watch”.  We use “see” when we are talking about our sense of sight. We “see” things without trying.  I can see Mt. Rainier today.”  We use “look” + “at” when we are focusing our eyes on something. “I am looking at the yellow and orange leaves on the trees.” We use look + “for” when we are searching for something – often something that we have lost. “I am looking for my glasses.”

We use “watch” when we are focusing our eyes on something that is moving over time. “We are watching a good movie on TV.”  So.. we talked about see, look watch in episode #39.  What are going to talk about today?

Well.. how about the difference between hear and listen? The difference between hear and listen is like the difference between see and look, isn’t it?

It sure is!  When do we use “hear”? We use “hear” when we are talking about the sense of hearing.  We hear sounds without trying. I hear the birds singing in the morning. I am not trying to hear the birds singing. I am not focusing on the birds singing. I just hear the birds singing.

If I am talking to you on the phone, I might say “Can you hear me?” Or “I can’t hear you.”

 Sometimes we hear sounds that are not pleasant. We call sounds that we don’t want to hear “noise”.  “Her apartment is close to a busy street, so she hears a lot of traffic noise.” 

OK, we hear sounds without trying to or focusing on them, so when do we use “listen”? Just like we use “look” when we focus our eyes,  -  our sight -  on something, we use “listen” when we focus our sense of hearing on a sound. I listen to music. I focus on the sounds that make up the music. I listen to the radio. I focus on what the people are saying on the radio program. If I want another person to focus on what I am saying, I say “Listen to me!”. If I want someone to focus on a song on the radio, I say:” Listen to that beautiful song!”…focus on it!

Sometimes people say “Listen up!” when they want other people to pay attention to what they are going to say.

So, dear listener, please listen up and listen as we use  “listen” and “hear” in this cell phone conversation between two friends.  We’ll first have the conversation in slow English, then a little faster.

A:  Hello?  Hello? Can you hear me?

B: Yes, I can hear you, but I can’t hear you very well. I hear a lot of noise on your end of the line.

A: Oh, yeah. I’m listening to my favorite song on the radio.

B: Song?? I can’t hear any music!  I hear noise that sounds like chickens fighting.

A: You think that my music sounds like chickens fighting?  Well, the music you listen to makes me want to go to sleep.

B: Well, hey!  I don’t have to listen to you insult my music. Why did you call me, anyway?

A: I can’t remember why I called you anymore. I’m going to hang up and listen to the rest of that song.

B:  That sounds like a great idea to me!!

We hope you heard all those times we used listen and hear when you listened to our conversation, dear listener! See,  you re a listener because you focus on what we are saying in the podcast….and you can always listen again if you like.

Tacomaliteracy.org

"You know, I can do without Halloween. "
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I don’t like Halloween. It’s just too creepy …scary…for me."
When you asked me “What do mean?” what did you want to find out?
I wasn't sure what you wanted (intended) to say. That little word mean is like a lot of words in English. We use it in many ways. Let’s talk about some ways we use little word: “mean”.

In that question “What do you mean?”, we are using it as a verb. The past tense form of mean is irregular: "meant”. We just add a “t” to mean, but we say “ment”.

Present tense: “I/we/you they mean”  and “he/she/it means”; past tense: we use meant for all subjects (in English past tense verbs stay the same for all subjects.)

We talked about one way of using mean: to ask what one someone wanted to or intended to communicate. “What do you mean?”  Sometimes you hear people say “What did you mean by that. “

We also use mean to talk about intending to do an action. For example, “I meant to get to work on time, but the traffic was terrible.” When we use mean this way, we follow it with the infinitive form of a verb .  The infinitive form  is the  “to” form of a verb. For example “to go” “to clean” “to tell”. 

When we use mean in this way, we usually use it in the past form because we are talking about something that intended to do but we didn’t do, or something that we did but we didn’t intend to do.  For example: I meant to go to your party last weekend, but I had to work. 

Here’s an example of talking about something that I did but I didn’t intend to do: ‘”I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings”. If I call someone by accident, I say ”I’m sorry,  I didn’t mean to call you.” If we bump onto someone with our grocery cart, we can say “Sorry! I didn’t mean to do that.”

We use mean in those ways to talk about intent. We also use mean when someone says a word that I don’t know or understand,  for example: "That tree is slanted to the right.” If I don’t know that word, “slanted”,  I ask:“What does “slanted” mean?” “What does that word mean?”  is a very useful question for English language learners! Notice that we  don’t say “What means slant?” We say “What does slant mean?" 

When we are learning a new language, we also often use mean when we want to ask what a word is in a different language. For example: “What does edificio mean in English?” 

One more way we use mean as a verb: If I want to express strongly that I am very serious about something, I say “I really mean it.” “ I want you to want to help me clean the house on Saturday.  I really mean it!”

Let’s talk about one way we use “mean” as an adjective. When we want to describe a person who is not nice, not pleasant, we use mean. A child says “My brother is mean to me.” Or “Mrs. Jones is a mean teacher.” 

Listen as we use “mean” in our conversation:

Ann: Hey,  I’m sorry! I meant to help you move on Saturday, but I had car trouble.
Briana:  Oh, that’s OK.  My brother, Ben, came over with his boys and they helped me. Well, I mean Ben helped me. The boys spent most of the time complaining that their dad was mean for making them work on a sunny fall day.
Ann: Well, I don’t know what they mean by that. Your brother is the nicest most magnanimous dad that I know, and I really mean that!
Briana: Most magnanimous? I don’t know that word. What does it mean?
Ann: Oh, magnanimous means means generous.
Briana: OK, thanks! Yes, I know what you mean! He is a very magnanimous dad…and brother! I mean, he is helped m

Tacomaliteracy.org

You know, I don’t think we have ever devoted an entire podcast to pronunciation of words that are hard for English learners to pronounce and spell, am I correct?

You’re right!  So maybe we ought to do that today.

I agree that we ought to do that!

In fact, ought is one of those words that is challenging for learners to pronounce and spell.

Before we start, dear listener, we suggest that you get a pencil and paper so you can write the words that we will talk about in this episode. You can make a list of the words we talk about.

Ready?

So, we said that our first word is ought.  What does “ought” mean? 

We use the verb “ought” to talk about something that we have a duty to do…something that we should do. The children ought to respect their teachers. They should respect their teachers.
Got it!  How do you write ought ? Or…I can ask “How do you spell ought?"

Well, “ought” … has two sounds, right? And it rhymes with “got” and “got” is spelled g- o- t,  so ought should be spelled  “o” + “t” - “got" without the “g” sound, right? 

Bad news, English learners!    We spell ought “o-u-g-h-t “. Please write that down on your paper, dear listener.  What do we see?  We see lots of letters “u, g & h” that make no sound. It’s an “ought” word.

There are some other words that end with that combination of letters “o-u-g-h-t” that have  that same o + t sound.

Like a little family of ought words!  Let’s meet some other “ought words”

Let’s add a “b” in front of “ought” and we have bought – the past tense form of buy.

“I bought eggs and bread yesterday.” Did you add “bought“ to your list, dear listener?

Great! Now we have two “ought" words: ought and bought. Let’s meet another member of the “ought” word family.

 We’ll add a “th” in front of “ought” and we have “thought” t-h-o-u-g-h-t  – the past tense form of think.  "My mom thought it was too early to eat.”  Take a minute to write “thought” on your paper.

Now let’s add an “f”  before “ought” and we have  “fought”, the past tense form of “fight”. "The soldiers fought in the war." You can add “fought” to your list of ”ought” words.

Here’s one more frequently used word in the “ought” family .  Add a “br” to ought and we have brought – the past tense form of “bring” . "She brought her son to class with her. "

Get ready with your pencil; and paper and write down the “ought” word you hear in these sentences.

Only write the ”ought” word. You can look at the podcast narrative to check that you wrote the word correctly.

1.      The woman fought the man who tried to take her purse.

2.      I thought that he lived in Seattle.

3.      We brought some cookies to share.

4.      I ought to get to class earlier.

5.      Sarah bought a new car last weekend. 

 You have met 5 “ought “ words: “ought, bought, thought, fought and brought.” You can practice saying and spelling them until you feel sure about them. 

It was fun meeting the “ought” family. 

Look for more pronunciation and spelling podcasts in the future! 

Tacomaliteracy.org

Podcast – Back to school!

It’s the end of September already! Can you believe it! Time flies! Many languages have a similar expression because wherever you live in the world time goes so fast that it seems like it is flying away. 

What does the month of September make you think about? …the beginning of fall? …the days getting shorter?
Or do you think about the new school year starting?  

Many schools started in early September after the Labor Day holiday. Shall we talk about school today?

In the US students usually attend school for 13 years. In most school districts school years are separated into three parts:

 Elementary (primary) school – grades Kindergarten “K” through fifth (5th)or sixth (6th) grade. (Notice those ordinal numbers?)

Middle School (from 6th to 8th grade) or Junior High School  - (from  7th grade to 9th grade).

High School  - grades 9 or 10 through 12th grade.  

In high school 9th graders are called freshmen. Tenth graders are called sophomores. Eleventh graders are juniors. Twelfth graders are seniors.  At the end of their senior year, students graduate from high school. Those graduating seniors are usually 17 or 18 years old. They started school when they were 5 or 6 years old.

How old were you when you started school? Did you go to kindergarten? Was your elementary/primary school near your house? Did you use to walk to school, or did you use to take a bus?

 “use to” – That’s an interesting expression! When we say I used to do something” we’re not talking about using something. We say “use to” or “used to” when we are talking about something we did in the past over and over again. “I used to ride my bike to school.” – It was my habit to ride my bike to school.

When do we say “use to” and when do we say “used to”? There is a rule:  when we ask a question with “Did” we say “use to”: “Did you use to take a bus to school?”

When we aren’t asking a “did” question, we say “used to”. “Yes, I used to take a bus to school.”

We know that’s a little bit “in the weeds”  (being worried about small details). 

The important thing – the “take away” is:  When you are listening to a conversation and you hear “She used to be a teacher.” – you will know that in the past she was a teacher, but she isn’t a teacher now.

We always want to tell you the rule, because some people pay attention to these things.

Anyway…. Back to the question: Did you use to take a bus to school?  What do you remember about your first day of school?

Did you go to kindergarten? Do you remember your kindergarten teacher’s name?

What do children learn in kindergarten? They learn the alphabet and the sounds that letters make.  Many children start to learn to read (subject: reading). They learn to print the letters (subject: penmanship) and write words. They learn numbers and what numbers represent (subject: arithmetic/math).

Children also learn to get along with other kids, to share, to be kind & polite, to take turns,  and to “keep your hands to yourself!”. They learn school rules,  like you have to:
raise your hand to talk, sit in your seat , walk in a line,  do your work,  and be responsible

A man named Robert Fulghum wrote a book in 1986 called “All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten”. The message of the book is that the world would be better if adults practiced what children learn in kindergarten.                 

Do you agree, dear listener? Please let us know! Send us an email at talcchats@gmail.com<

Tacomaliteracy.org

Can you see me? Are you looking at me? Are you watching me? “see”, “look” and “watch".  We use those three little words a lot in English. Each word means to do something – an action with our eyes.

But…do they all mean the same thing? No, they don’t! And it’s easy to confuse them. Today let’s look at the differences between see, look and watch.

First, when do we use “see”? Well, we usually use “see” when we are talking about using our sense of sight without trying. We open our eyes in the morning, and we see our bedroom. We don’t try to see our room. We don’t make any effort. Our eyes just sense the objects in our room and we see them. I see Latonya sitting across from me.

When do we use look? We use look when we direct our eyes at something on purpose. We focus on something when we look at it. Notice we usually use the preposition “at” with look. “I am looking at Latonya.” I am focusing my attention on her.

We often use “look” as a command when we want to focus another person’s attention on something: “Look at me!” “Look at that house.”

We also use “look + for” when we are talking about trying to find something. “Mary is looking for her car keys.”

One more way we use look: When we talk about things or people that have a similar appearance, we use “look + like”: “ She looks like her mother.”  “Your phone looks like mine.” 

Finally, when do we use watch?

 We use watch when we are talking about looking (focusing our eyes) at someone or something for a period of time. “Joe watches lots of movies on TV. “   “I watched the football game last night.”

 We also use watch when we talk about taking care of an animal or person/(usually a child) for someone else. “My friend watches my dog when I am away from home.” 

 Oh…and we also use watch as a noun – a thing – meaning that object you wear on your wrist to tell you what time it is. “Do you wear a watch?”

Listen for "see", "look" and "watch" in our conversation in “slowish” English. 

A:  Did you watch that movie on Netflix last night? 

B:  No, I didn’t watch TV last night.  I was watching my niece for my sister. We looked at old pictures of her mom and me when we were kids. 

A: Cool! Can I look at them too? I would like to see what you looked like when you were a kid.

B: Sure, look at this picture of me with my friends when I was 16.

A: Just a sec. I need to look for my glasses. I can’t see a thing without them.

B: Yeah, that’s right. I never see you without your glasses. 

A: OK! I have my glasses. I’m ready to look at the picture.

B: OK… Look at the picture and tell me if you see me.

A: No, I can’t see anyone who looks like you. But wow!  Look at all that big hair and those crazy bell bottom jeans!!! 

B: Look for the girl with the biggest hair and the craziest jeans!

A: OK! Now I see which one is you!

…and now, listen to the same conversation a little faster…

Bye for now, dear listener.  Look for the next podcast!

Tacomaliteracy.org

Do you want to take a short trip? A little vacation?

In episode # 33 ‘That Summertime Feeling”, we talked about activities that people do in the summer. Something that a lot of people do in the summer is take a vacation or
“go on vacation” or “take a trip”. Do you go on vacation every summer? Do you prefer to take long vacations or short vacations? Do you like to travel to a location (spot) nearby or far away? Do you like to go camping or stay in motels, or hotels or maybe a resort? A resort is a vacation spot that includes lodging (a room), food, and recreation.

Whatever kind of vacation you like to take, getting ready for a vacation is a big job.  Camping trips probably require the most preparation. When you go camping you need a tent, sleeping bags, food  and a way to cook it.

Let’s take a pretend trip. (We’re not really going to go on a trip.  We’ll just imagine that we are going.) Let’s pretend we are going to stay in a cabin at the beach for 2 nights and three days.  What do we need to do? First,  we need to make reservations. We can either call or make the reservation online. If we call, we will say “I would like to make a reservation for a room with a double bed/two double beds/a cabin for xxxx people. Do you require a deposit (money charged on your credit card to “hold”  (reserve) room.)

We have to decide if we are going to eat in restaurants or cook our meals in the little kitchen (kitchenette) in the cabin? Do we need to pack food and  dishes…or is food included in the kitchenette?

What are we going to pack in our suitcases (bags) (luggage). We want to pack enough clothes, but not too many clothes. We don’t want to overpack or under pack. We want to just take what we will need. But we’re going to the beach on western Washington. It can be warm.  It can be cool, It can be rainy. It can be windy. We need to be prepared for all kinds of weather! Let’s pack swimming suits & shorts, a sweatshirt, jacket and jeans.  What about toiletries? (personal care or hygiene products) . We’ll need toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant and sunscreen. 

 Do we need a map? It’s 2024! We’ll use the GPS on our phones or car! Let’s see… are we all ready ?

                Reservations – check!  Bags are packed – check!

Let’s put the luggage in the car (load the car) and get on the road!

OK! Let’s get in the car!

Whoops! There’s a slight problem!

What? The gas gauge says “empty”!

OK – the first stop is the gas station to fill up the tank…and then we’ll get on the road.

We’ll see you when we get back, dear listener!

Tacomaliteracy.org

In episode # 34 we talked about using that chameleon verb “get” as a phrasal verb   A phrase is two or more words used together, so a phrasal verb is combining a verb with other words. Together they have a different meaning –  a meaning that is not a direct translation of each of the words. Guess how many ways we use “get” as a phrasal verb in English. Get ready for it! There are 177 different ways we use “get” in combination with other words and each of those has a different meaning. Hey! We just used one:  “Get ready!”

Here is a review of the 5 uses of get as a phrasal verb that we practiced in episode #34:
1.      To get up – to stand up from a sitting or lying position.: I  get up early in the summertime. (present) She fell on the floor, and she can’t get up.
2.      To get along with somebody – to have a friendly relationship with them.  Her daughter and son get along. They don’t fight.
3.      To get on – to enter a means pf public transportation like a bus, plane or train.  She got on the plane on Seattle.
4.      To get off – to leave a means of public transportation. We got off the train in Portland.
5.      To get in  - to enter a vehicle (car, taxi, Uber, truck). To get out of – to leave a vehicle (car, taxi, Uber, truck). Get in the car, everyone! It’s time to go! I got out of the car to get my book.

So those are the 5 uses of “get” as a phrasal verb that we practiced before.  In this episode we’ll practice 4 more common uses. 

1.    To get over – it means to recover from a difficult experience  - like an illness…or a bad relationship…or some other bad experience. I had a bad cold last month. It took me weeks to get over it. Her boyfriend broke up with her and she can’t get over it. If I want to tell you that you need to forget a bad experience continue with your life, I can say;  “Get oer it!”
2.    to get rid of something – meaning throw something away or free yourself from something or somebody. Every spring I get rid of the clothes that I don’t wear anymore. My mom got rid of her old car.Sharon got rid of her boyfriend.
3.   to get out of – to avoid doing something especially an obligation. My son said he was sick so he could get out of going to school. You have to pay your taxes. You can’t get out of it.
4.    to get away with – to escape consequences or punishment for a crime or an action. The thief got away with stealing the woman’s purse. That guy thinks he can get away with murder. (He thinks he can do anything and he won’t have any consequences.)

Listen for “get “and past tense “got” in this  conversation between two kids at school. We’ll have the conversation first in slow English then a little faster: 

Sam: This morning, I tried to get out of coming to school today because of the math test. I told my mom that I couldn’t get up for school because I got sick during the night.
Tom: What did she say?
Sam: Well, she got suspicious right away because she knew about the test – oh, and she saw the empty bag of Oreo cookies under my bed.
Tom: Man! If you eat Oreo cookies in bed you have to get rid of the bag!!
Sam:Yeah! I know! I just got careless!
Tom: Well you are here in school, so obviously you didn’t get away with it.
Sam: You’re right about that. I just can’t get over it - my little brother gets away with murder, but I never get away with anything.
Tom: I get it, man! It’s the same with me.

Tacomaliteracy.org

We are lucky to live in a place where there are so many bodies of water.
 We usually use body to mean the physical structure of a living creature, but we also use "body" to talk about a significant accumulation (gathering) of water on the surface of the earth – or other planet. Oceans, rivers and lakes are bodies of water.

The biggest bodies of water are the oceans or the seas. we usually use "oceans". Trick question: How many oceans are on the earth?
                It’s really only one body of water that is divided onto 5 areas: the           Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern oceans.
70% of the earth is covered by the oceans! How can you tell if water is ocean water?  It is saline or salty.
The ocean that is nearest to us in Western Washington is the Pacific Ocean.   Pacific means  peaceful, but the Pacific Ocean is often not peaceful. It is the biggest and deepest ocean in the world. Sometimes it can be vary rough with high waves.  All the earth’s continents could fit in the Pacific Ocean.
We live near a long squiggly finger of the Pacific Ocean called the Puget Sound. It  is an estuary. An estuary is a body of water that has one or more rivers that flow into it and  is connected to the ocean. Puget Sound is connected to the Straits of Juan de Fuca which connects to the Pacific Ocean. Puget sound is 95 miles long and continues south to Olympia, the capital city of the state of Washington.
Why is it called Puget Sound?  In 1792 the British explored this area where we live and Captain George Vancouver led an exploration of the body of water we now call Puget Sound. Peter Puget was one of the lieutenants on his ship. Peter Puget explored the waters of the area and met many native people who lived along the Sound. Captain Vancouver called the body of water Puget Sound to honor Peter Puget.
So we learned that Puget sound is an estuary … what is a “sound“? A sound is  valley that is filled with water has inlets from the ocean and has large islands.
So you can say it’s an estuary and a sound.
The water in Puget Sound is saline. it is salt water. It is about 83% seawater. It isn't t 100% ocean water because 19 rivers flow into the Sound from the Cascade and Olympic Mountains. The fresh water from the rivers  mixes with the ocean water. Just like the open ocean, Puget Sound has tides. The  water rises and falls and falls two times a day.
Many groups or tribes of people are native to the Puget Sound. One name that is used for these peoples is the Lushootseed peoples. The name means "saltwater people" and  comes from the common language that the people spoke. There were and still are many tribal nations in the Puget Sound area. We  hear some of those tribal names a lot  because they are the names of  places and communities, like Snoqualmie, Stillaguamish, Suquamish, Tulalip, and Puyallup.
The Puget Sound is part of a larger body of water called the Salish Sea. The Salish sea is the large body of water that includes all the waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound and the waters around the Canadian island of Vancouver. It is called the Salish Sea to honor the Coast Salish people who  lived in this area for thousands of years  before the Europeans arrived.  Now 4 million people live along the Sound. The biggest cites are Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Olympia and Bremerton. And we, dear listener are some of those lucky people who live near beautiful Puget Sound!

Tacomaliteracy.org

We use that little verb “to get” a lot! We use it in more than 50 ways. That’s we called it the “chameleon verb” in  Podcast 30. In that Podcast, we practiced 4 common ways we use the verb “to get” when we use it alone – as a single word.
1. We use “to get” to mean “to arrive”. I get home early on Mondays. – present       I got home late yesterday. - past  2. We use “to get “ when we talk about a change in condition or situation:   It (the weather) gets hot in July. (present) We get tired when we work 10 hour days. (present).     She got married last year. (past)
3. We use “to get” to mean to receive or obtain: Tanya gets a new phone every year. (present)  Max got a new job last week. past 4. We use “to get” to mean “to understand”. I never get your jokes. (present). The students got the grammar rule after the teacher explained it again. (past)
In this episode we will practice using “to get” as a phrasal verb. A phrasal verb is two or more words that make a new verb when we use them together. Let’s practice a few of the most common phrasal verb uses of “get “today.
1. Let’s start with a use that many people already know and use- to get up: to stand up from a lying or sitting position.
    When we talk about standing up after lying in our bed, we say:  I get up at 7 o’clock every morning. (present)  We got up late on Saturday morning. (Past)
   When we talk about standing up after sitting in a chair we say:The older man gets up from his chair without help. (present) I got up from the floor after I fell.         
2.   If I “get along with” someone it means I have a friendly relationship with them.  You get along well with your roommate. (present) I always got along with my sister. (past) Her two dogs never got along. (past)  Notice that we use get along “with”
3. Let’s practice  2 more uses that are similar:
      To talk about entering a public means of transportation like a train, plane or bus,  we say “get on”. The people get on the train one at a time. (present)  I got on the plane in Las Angeles. (past) When we leave a public means of transportation, we say “get off”.  I got on the train in Seattle and I got off in Portland. (past)
  When we enter a car/ taxi/Uber/Lyft we say “get in”. Hurry up and get in the car. We have to go!  We got in the car together.
When we leave the car or taxi/Uber or Lyft (vehicle), we say get out of.  She forgot her books when she got out of the car.
Listen for those “get” verbs in our conversation. Some are phrasal and some are using “get” alone:
L: Hi. When did you get home from your trip to Montana?
D: We got home yesterday. We got up early yesterday morning because we had to get on the train in Spokane at 6:30 am.
L: How was your visit with your sister’s family?
D: It was wonderful! The kids got along well with their cousins, and everyone had a good time.
D:  Yes, it’s great when everyone gets along, isn’t it? I’m glad the trip went well.
D: Me too! There was a problem when the train got to Tacoma, though.
L: What happened?
D: An older man who was sitting next to us fell when he was getting off the train. He got up and his friend helped him get in his car.  I hope he got home OK.
L: Me too!

Tacomaliteracy.org

June 20th was the first day of summer on the calendar. When does summer begin for you? What gives you that summertime feeling? .... Maybe the long days? Or the warm sunshine?

What is that summertime feeling? What do you want to do in the summer?     

Do you want to relax? Here are some expressions we use for "relax":
    “kick back”
     “take it easy”
     “chill”
     “hang out” with friends & family
     Do you want to go to the beach, river or lake and hang out and chill?
     Do you want to take it easy -  lie on a blanket in the shade and read a good book?

Or are you a "busy  bee" during the summer and want to “make hay while the sun shines”? Maybe you like to go camping or backpacking (hiking in the mountains with a backpack, sleeping bag and food for several days). Do you like to plant a vegetable garden or work on painting or building projects?

A lot of people take a vacation or go on a vacation in the summer. Families with school aged children “take advantage” of the summer to go on vacation. Some people  travel far by car or take a road trip. Other people take a plane and fly somewhere.  A lot of families just take a "staycation”? They stay at home and take day trips close to home. 

Summer is our hottest season and it has been hot recently! Here are some expressions or idioms we use for hot weather:

        a heat wave - a wave of heat like a wave of water from the tide on the ocean "washes"  over an area.

       a scorcher – to scorch is to burn, like if you leave an iron on your clothes too long, you scorch your clothes. We call a hot day a scorcher.

      We also say "It’s so hot you can fry an egg on the sidewalk!"

The dog days of summer are those hot days in the middle of the summer when the weather is hot  day after day. We want to be lazy and lie around like a dog in the sun.    
How hot is too hot for you?

What can you to stay cool (beat the heat) on hot days? You can go swimming or just be lazy and sit in the shade. You can stay inside and turn on the fans or air conditioning -  if you have it. We all should drink lots of liquids like water, lemonade or iced tea.

What gives you that summertime feeling, dear listener?

Do you like to kick back and chill or are you a busy bee during the summer?

We hope you find some ways to beat the heat during these dog days of summer! 

Tacomaliteracy.org

Today is July 3rd and tomorrow we will have a big holiday in the USA - the 4th of July! Let’s have a little 4th of July Trivia Quiz! The dictionary definition of trivia is "unimportant information or facts". It is very popular now to have trivia quizzes – games in which people try to answer questions about fun facts or information. A quiz is a  short informal test. The teacher says “We’re going to have a “pop quiz.” – an unexpected little test. Our 4th of July trivia quiz has some questions about trivia but most of the questions are about actual United States history. How many answers will you know, dear listener?
1.  What is another name for the 4th of July holiday?  Independence Day.   Yes, the 4th of July celebrates the signing of the Declaration (announcement) of the Independence of the United States.
2.  What country did the United States (at that time the “colonies”) announce their independence from?  Great Britain (England)
 3.   What year was the Declaration of Independence written & signed?  In 1776
4.   How many states (colonies) were in the original United States?  13  - all were on the Atlantic coast  - from New Hampshire in the North to  Georgia in the South.
  5. How many people lived in the United States in 1776? About 2 ½ million people– about the same number of people who live in Chicago today.
6. Who wrote the  Declaration of Independence? A committee of 5 white men including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin & Thomas Jefferson
7.  The famous words in the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident (obvious), that all men are created equal”… did not apply to a large number of people who lived in the  United States in 1776? Who were those people? About 500,000 enslaved black people living in the United States in 1776 – about 20% of the population. Those people were not considered equal. Slavery was legal in all the original states in 1776. 89 years later in 1865, near the end of the Civil War, the 13th Amendment to the US constitution made slavery illegal throughout the United States. There are many black people in the United States today who do not consider the 4th of July their Independence Day.
8. Who signed the Declaration of Independence?  55 white men representing the 13 states/colonies - the “Founding Fathers” (to found something means to start it. "He founded his company in 2020”.)
9. Who are some of the names that we still recognize today? JOHN HANCOCK – was the first signature. We now use “John Hancock” to talk about a signature or name : “Put your John Hancock at the bottom of the page.” Benjamin Franklin – diplomat & inventor,Thomas Jefferson – He wrote much of the Declaration of Independence & became the 3rd president. John Adams – He was the 2nd president. Alexander Hamilton – Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote an amazing musical about him.  10. Did the United States become independent immediately after the Declaration of independence was signed?  No, the newly declared 13 United States fought the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783.
11. Who was the general who led the United States in the Revolutionary War?          General George Washington 11. Who was the first president of the United States? George Washington!  12. Who is Washington State named after? George Washington! 13. Whose face is on the one dollar bill?  George Washington!
A Joke: How are George Washington and a duck different?  George Washington has his face on a bill and a duck has a bill on his face. HaHa!
14. What is the most popular food to eat on the 4th of July? Hot dogs!

Tacomaliteracy.org

We spend a lot of time in our kitchens.  We prepare food, cook and clean up in the kitchen. When when we have "get togethers" (when friends and family come to share a meal) people often gather in the the kitchen to help with food preparation, or just to "chew the fat" ( talk) or "catch up" (learn what is new).
In this episode we take a tour of this important room.
Let's go into the kitchen. Most kitchens don't have a door that you can open and close. Some kitchens have a doorway (entrance without an actual door) into a separate room. Some kitchens are part of a  larger room that includes the living room and maybe a dining room.
There are some things that all kitchens have in common.  All kitchens have cabinets (cupboards). Most people use both words to talk about the "boxes" with doors that are connected to the wall or "built in".  We store or keep food and pots and pans in  them. Cupboard is a word that was used more in the the past. but people still use it today. We say "cubberd".   There are bottom cabinets or cupboards and top cabinets or cupboards. The bottom cabinets usually have drawers ("dro erz") where we keep silverware (knives and forks and spoons) and kitchen utensils (tools), dish towels, potholders (to pick up hot dishes and pans), plastic wrap,  and  ziplock bags. Many people have a "junk drawer". where they keep  a mixed collection of things" like rubber bands, bread ties, bandaids and batteries.
The lower cabinets have a flat surface on the top called a counter. Many years ago people started calling the flat surfaces used to count money in  banks, or stores "counters", and we still use "counters" to talk about the area in the store where we pay for merchandise. "Pay at the counter, please". Some small restaurants have counters where people can sit on stools ( high chairs) and eat.
And we use "counter" to talk about the flat surfaces in the kitchen where we mix, chop, and prepare our food. Many people keep (store) things on their kitchen counters.  Maybe they have canisters (sealed containers), where they keep flour, sugar or tea. Some people like to keep small appliances like their toaster or blender on the counter. Other people like to have their counters uncluttered (without anything stored on them).
Somewhere on the kitchen counter we find the sink. The sink is a large bowl-shaped fixture (something that is permanently installed - or a permanent part of the kitchen). The bowl is called the basin. Some sinks have one basin and others have two basins.  Most sinks have a hot and cold water taps and a faucet where the water comes out. At the bottom of the basin there is  a drain, where the water drains out into a pipe.  Many sinks are below a kitchen window so people can look out the window when they are doing the dishes.
"Sink" is also a verb that means to go down below the surface of something. "The boat is sinking!" (Present: sink; past sank) . 
Correction: In this podcast, Diana said that the past tense of "sink" is "sunk". That isn't correct. The past of sink is sank.  So you see, dear listener, even native English speakers make mistakes!   (-;
Here's an interesting expression: "everything but the kitchen sink". It means everything possible. If I  say "My sister packed everything but the kitchen sink in her suitcase,"  I mean she packed a lot -  too much!!

We have talked about a lot of things in the kitchen, but we haven't talked about appliances - big and small.  So, watch for "A tour of the kitchen part 2", dear listener. 
 

Tacomaliteracy.org

A  chameleon is a lizard that is famous for changing its color to match its surroundings. The verb "to get" is like a chameleon because it changes its meaning like a chameleon changes colors.  In this episode we will practice some of the most common ways we use "to get".
Here are the "forms" (the conjugation) of "to get":
  Present:         I get   we get   they get   you get   he/she/it gets
  Past:   I/we/they/you/he/she/it got
Sometimes “get” is used with  other words  & together the words have a special meaning. We will practice those ”phrasal" "to get”  verbs in another episode. Here are some of the most common ways we use the verb "to get" when we use it alone.
1.   We use  “get” to  mean “to arrive”
          Present: Tom usually gets home at 5:30.
               What time does your plane get to New York?
          Past:  I got to work late yesterday.
              The teachers got to school before the students last week.
 2.  We use  “get” to mean to receive/buy/obtain.
           Present: The children get lots of presents at Christmas time.
               Mary always gets good grades.
               We get our groceries at Safeway.
          Past: Sam got a raise at work last month.
               I got a package from Amazon this morning.
             They got a new car last year.
3.  We use “get” to mean become or to change a state or condition.
       “Get” is like a bridge between two conditions.       
         For example: not sick ---& ----sick :  “get “ is the bridge between sick and not sick:                    She gets sick when she travels.
      not tired--& ---tired: I get tired when I work all day. 
     not cold---& ---cold:  It (the weather ) gets cold in the fall.
     not dark---&---dark: it gets dark later in the summer
Here are some examples when we talk about the past:
Mary got scared when she saw the spider.
The kids got hungry at the park.
They got married last year.
4. One more common use of “to get” is “to understand”:  Oh, now I get it! The students finally got the new math problem.
Listen for the different uses of “get” in our conversation:
D: Hi Latonya. Did you just get home?
L:   Yeah, I got home about an hour ago. It got real busy at work today, so I got home late.
D:  I get it, Latonya. I got home late too. Did you get my message about Wendy?
L: No, I didn’t get it. Did she get back from California?
D: Yes, she got back yesterday.  She got sick on her way home. She got very tired when she was on the plane and when she got home she got right in bed.
L: Wow! That’s too bad! Did she get that job in California?
D: Yes, she got it! 
L: That’s great! Well, I hope she gets better soon!
D: Me too!
L: Well, I’ve got to go!
That "got to go" is using "got to"as a phrasal verb. We will practice using "get" as a phrasal verb in a future episode.
Gotta go! See you soon!

Tacomaliteracy.org

Are you having allergy symptoms right now, dear listener?  A lot of people are!
Allergies are an over-reaction of our immune system to something in our environment - something that usually isn't really dangerous, but our immune system reacts like it is dangerous. Our immune system, says "Hey! This is a problem and we need to put up a fight against it."

That "fight" causes the allergy symptoms that some people have.

People can be allergic to almost anything.  (Notice that we say allergic to.)_Some common things that people are allergic to  are dust, animal dander (little pieces or flakes of skin) or fur, foods (seafood and nuts are common food allergies), medications, and pollen.  We call pollen allergies environmental allergies because they are caused by our environment - the world we live in. We also call them seasonal allergies because they are most common during certain seasons of the year.
Pollen allergies are common this time of the year - in the spring and early summer.  Pollen is a fine powder that is made by certain plants as part of their reproductive  process. Pollen is carried by the wind, so it is everywhere! It irritates or bothers our mucous membranes (the slippery linings of our nose, mouth, throat and eyes).

The symptoms of environmental or pollen allergies are caused by that irritation to the mucous membranes. The irritation to our nose makes us sneeze and our nose run. Our nose isn't going anywhere. We say our nose is running when a clear liquid  - or mucous is coming from our nose and we need to wipe our nose with  tissues or Kleenex. When this happens we say we have runny nose. The irritation to our eyes makes our eyes red and watery. The irritation to our throat makes us cough. For some people, the irritation to the lining of the lungs causes asthma symptoms that can be serious.

Fortunately for most people environmental allergies are not dangerous. They are just an annoying nuisance (we say "nu sens".)

What can we do if we are allergic to pollen? We can try to avoid pollen, but that's not easy. We can't stay indoors all spring and summer! We can take antihistamine medicine - pills or eye drops.  Antihistamine medication is usually available over the counter or OTC. We can buy  OTC medicine without a prescription (written order) from the doctor.

So, those of us who have environmental allergies can take OTC medicine and  "grin and bear it." A grin is noun meaning a big smile and to bear is a verb that means to tolerate or accept something. So to grin and bear it means to accept a difficult situation without complaining. Notice that "bear" is the same word as the noun that means a large animal that lives in the woods.  Crazy English!

So, dear listener, if you have seasonal environmental allergies like we do, let's grin and bear it and enjoy this amazing time of the year!  

Tacomaliteracy.org

In episode #16 we practiced using the verb "to be" in present tense. Today we are practicing  using "to be" in the past. Here is a quick review of the forms of "to be" in the present:
      I am (I'm- contraction)    you are (you're        they are (they're)     we are (we're)
      she is (she's)                           he is (he's)                   it is (it's)
Here are the forms (conjugation) of "to be" in the past:
      I was                                           he was                            it was
      you were                                  we were                         they were   
Notice:
    for all single subjects we use "was" (except "you" that can be single or plural)
     for all plural subjects we use "were" (including  "you" that can be single or plural)
What about contractions?
     There are no contractions for positive past tense "to be" forms 
Here are some practice sentences:
       I was busy last night.
     You were at work yesterday.
      We were hungry last night.
     They were sick last week.
      She was in class last Wednesday.
      He was tired yesterday.
     It was a nice day last Monday.
How will we make each of these sentences negative?
     We add a “not” after the “be verb”: Notice that we can use contractions with the “be” verb and not.
            I was not (wasn’t) busy last night.
           You were not (weren’t) at work yesterday.
            We were not (weren’t) hungry this morning.
           They were not (weren’t) sick last week.
           She was not (wasn’t) in class last Wednesday.
            He was not (wasn’t) tired yesterday.
            It was not (wasn’t) a nice day last Monday.
And how do we make questions?
      Just like we always do, we put the verb before the subject.
What's the subject? The person or thing performing the action:
       I was busy last night. The subject is “I”
Here are the practice sentences in question form:
        Was I busy last night?
        Were you at work yesterday?
        Were we hungry this morning?
        Were they sick last week?
        Was she in class last Wednesday?
        Was he tired yesterday?
        Was it a nice day last Monday?
Remember when you are writing a question, put a question mark (?) at the end of the question! We put question words first in the question.
Listen for the past tense forms of "to be" in our conversation. 

Tacomaliteracy.org

Here is a riddle(a question that needs careful thought to figure out the answer) for you: What goes up but never comes down? Your age!

Our age goes up (increases) all the time, but we count the increase in years on our birthday.

Not everyone celebrates their birthday. Some people don't celebrate their birthday for religious or personal reasons. Probably most people in the United States celebrate their birthday.

People started celebrating birthdays in ancient Egypt - in about  3,000 BCE (Before the Common Era , or Before the Current Era or Before Christian Era) or about 5,000 years ago. The Egyptians celebrated their ruler's, the pharaohs, birthday because  they thought of the pharaoh as a god.

The ancient Greeks ( people who lived in Greece) celebrated the birthdays of their gods. Artemis was the goddess of the moon.  The Greeks offered Artemis moon-shaped cakes with candles  to represent the light of the moon. Historians say that is where our tradition of birthday cakes with candles started.  Can you believe it?

Thousands of years later,  in the late 1700's people  in Germany began having children's parties to celebrate childrens birthdays. They celebrated with a cake decorated with a one candle for each year of the child's age.  These parties were only for people who where wealthy (rich) because the ingredients for the cakes were very expensive. Birthday parties became possible for "common people" in the late 1800's after the industrial revolution (the period of time when people started using machines to make products - from about  1760 to 1840).

Today people celebrate their  birthdays in many different ways - some simple and others very elaborate (done with great care or lots of detail).  But most birthday celebrations have some things in common.  There is  usually a cake with frosting or icing (a sweet coating) and candles. For kids there is one candle for each year of their age. For adults, there is maybe one candle for each decade (10 years).  We light (past - lit) the candles, people sing the "Happy birthday to you!" song, the birthday person makes a wish and blows (past - blew) out the candles. There are usually   presents (gifts) wrapped in colorful wrapping paper (gift wrap). Sometimes there are balloons or party hats.

The "Happy Birthday Song" has an interesting history. In 1893 sisters, Patty and Mildred Hill, two teachers who lived in the state of Kentucky, published (to print and make available to the public) a song called "Good Morning to All". It was a song to sing to kindergarten children at the start of the school day.   The tune (melody) of that song was what we now know as the "Birthday Song".  In 1924 a man published another book with a song that had the same melody but with different lyrics (the words to a song) . That song is the "Birthday Song" we sing today!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you ... 🎶

How about you, dear listener, do you celebrate your birthday? If you do, how did you celebrate your last birthday?

Let us know at talcchats@ gmail.com

Tacomaliteracy.org

In episode # 17 we shared a Valentine's Day story that had a lot of idioms about love. Today we tell a story with some more idioms  - a lot of the idioms in this story are about $$$$$  - money.

idioms are expressions or groups of words that have a special meaning that cannot be translated word by word. We use a lot of idioms in English.  Here's Tom's story. The idioms are in bold.

                                           In the Market for New Wheels

Tom isn’t a guy who likes to fork over (spend) lots of bacon (money) for expensive bawbles (showy or useless or worthless things)  at the drop of a hat (quickly), but he really needs new wheels (a car). Last week he was stopped at a traffic light and another car rear-ended (to be hit from behind) him. Thank goodness ( an expression of relief) that  no one was hurt!

Now Tom is in the market for (interested in buying)  a new car. He has some dough (money) from the insurance company, but to add insult to injury (to make things worse - an insult is an action that is offensive & an injury is a physical or mental hurt or wound)  his landlord just raised his rent $100 a month. So Tom doesn’t have money to throw away ( discard) . Tom is always careful with his money.  In fact, his friends call him a tightwad ( a person who doesn't like to spend money). He wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth (to be born rich), and he knows that money doesn’t grow on trees (isn't easy to get). He really doesn’t want to fork out (spend) an arm and a leg (a lot of money) for a car. 

He went to a used car dealership and was doing some window shopping (just looking without wanting to buy). Of course, a salesman waltzed over (walked  in a casual & confident way) in a drop of the hat (quickly). The salesman showed him a 2015 BMW and told him it was a steal ( a bargain) for $35,000.  The salesman  twisted Tom’s arm (to try to force or make someone do something) to make a deal (come to an agreement). Tom told the guy he was barking up the wrong tree ( to be completely wrong about something).  Tom was not going to shell out (pay) 35,000 bucks (dollars) for a car. No way! (impossible) Not gonna happen (impossible)!

Tom was bummed out (feeling upset or disappointed). He still needed new wheels (a new car). He gave his  (friends) a jingle (a phone call) and put some feelers out ( to ask other people about something). His buddy Mark gave him a ring (called him) the next day and told him his aunt was selling her 2010 Toyota that had only 10,000 miles on it. It ran like a top (was in very good condition)…and she was selling it for a song (for very little money - cheaply). Tom said “That’s a no brainer (didn't have to think about it)! I don’t even need to sleep on it (he could decide immediately). Tell your aunt it’s a done deal (an agreement)!”

Did you hear all those idioms, dear listener? If you didn't, don't be bummed out!  You can always listen again! 

Tacomaliteracy.org

Latonya and Diana talk about making small talk - those short conversations between people who usually don't know each other very well.   Small talk conversations are usually not about important things, but they are conversations that make connections between people. Small talk "breaks the ice" - it "melts" the cold, awkward silence  between people and makes them feel more comfortable. 

Some situations when we make small talk are:
               At work when we talk with coworkers at the start of the workday or on break

            In our neighborhood or apartment complex; When we meet neighbors on the street, in the parking lot, on the stairs, or at the mailbox

              At the grocery store – When we are waiting in line or chatting with the cashier when we are checking out

 There are some things that  most small talk conversations have in common.
           They are usually short.
          We use informal English: going to becomes “gonna”; going becomes "goin"
         We often  ask for agreement with  “Isn’t it?” or  “wasn’t it?”
         We try to be agreeable with our answers:  “Me too!”, “Same here!”, "That's right!"

Most small talk conversations have  three parts:  Greetings, Subject and Endings.                Greetings are informal: Hi! Hey! (Good) Morning ("Mornin"! How’s it going (goin)? What’s new? It’s good to see you. What’s up? How’s your (morning, afternoon, evening, day) going ("goin")

 The Subject (Topic) is usually safe.
      Weather  The weather is (great/amazing/beautiful/ wonderful/terrible/awful/miser-able), isn’t it?
       Observations: 
        It’s busy/crowded/quiet/crazy) here today, isn't it?                                         The traffic was (great/terrible/slow) today, wasn't it?

         Endings:  It was (nice/great) talking with you.
           Have a good one (day)                      Talk to you later!  or “later!”
           Enjoy the rest of  your day!
           Sorry!  Gotta (got to) run!

       Listen for those "building blocks" as Latonya and Diana make small talk.

Tacomaliteracy.org

Today we are going to talk about using “going to” to talk about the future. In episode #13 we practiced using "will" + the base verb ( the verb without any endings: eat, work, run) to  talk about the future.  A review:

•       Mary will help me with my homework tomorrow. Offer/promise
•       I will (I’ll) answer the door.  Quick decision       
•       I will (I’ll) have a hamburger with fries, please. Quick decision
•       The sun will rise at 7 am tomorrow. Fact         
•       Will you be in class next week?  

 To make  a ” will sentence” negative we add not after the “will”:  They will not come to your birthday party.To  make a question, put "will" before the subject in the sentence: Will you be home  in the morning?  The  contraction of “will not” is "won’t":  Will I see you this evening?  No, you won’t see me this evening. No, you won’t. 

Can we always use "will" to talk about the future?
     Yes! You can! … and people will understand you!...But  there are other 3 other ways to talk about the future in English.

We are  are going to practice a one of those ways today: “be verb" (am/is/are -present)  + going to” +base verb. This way of talking about the future is very common, especially in spoken English.

          We usually use “be going to” talk about general plans for the future – plans we have made before (we’re not making the plans right now).

•   I am going to work tomorrow. My mom is going to visit next month.
•   We are going to take a walk this afternoon. They are going to get married in June.

Notice the pattern in those sentences?

•     Subject  (I ) + “to be” verb  (am + “going to + main (base) verb (work) tomorrow.
•     My mom + is + going to + visit next month.

Let’s practice!                                             

•  I am going to clean my kitchen on Saturday.      
•  We/they+ are + going to +  clean the kitchen on Saturday.
•  You + are + going to + clean the kitchen on Saturday.
•  He+ is + going to + clean the kitchen on Saturday.

Notice! Only the subject and the “be verb “ change

 To change that sentence to a negative, Add a “not” after the “be verb”.

•   I am (I’m) not going to clean the kitchen on Saturday.
•   You are (you’re) not going to clean the kitchen on Saturday. 
•    She is (she’s) not going to clean the kitchen on Saturday.

Questions? Put the “be verb” (am, is, are) before the subject.

•   Am I going to clean the kitchen on Saturday?
•   Are you going to clean the kitchen on Saturday?
•   Is she going to clean the kitchen on Saturday?

People use both "will" and "going to" to talk a bout weather predictions.

  Listen to our conversation as we use “be going to” to talk about future plans.

Tacomaliteracy.org

What shall we have for breakfast? We are asking for suggestions or recommendations about what we will fix for breakfast. "Shall" is an old fashioned  word that we don't use very frequently. We still use it  when we ask questions that ask for suggestions or recommendations with "I" or "we": "What shall I do now?" "What time shall we go ?" We also see :"shall "in legal documents and contracts meaning "must" - an obligation  : "The buyer shall pay the seller $1000. "

Back to our question: "What shall we have for breakfast?" "Shall we have scrambled eggs?" "Scrambled" means mixed up or confused, we use it for scrambled eggs because we mix up the eggs. We can also say "My thoughts are scrambled" (mixed up).

What  tools or utensils ( tools or containers usually used for household/kitchen tasks).  We need a bowl, a frying (sauté) pan, a fork or whisk (wire utensil for mixing food) to mix the eggs, a spatula to stir the eggs while they cook, and a grater (a utensil used the shred food like cheese or potatoes).

What ingredients do we need?  The basic ingredients are eggs, cooking oil, salt and pepper.

Other optional ingredients are onions, green peppers, cooked ham or bacon, and other greens like spinach or kale and cheese.

First we need to turn on (opposite: "turn off") the stove element (the part that gets hot) on the stove top to medium temperature. We will put the pan on the element, add the oil and heat it up,  When the oil is heated up, we will add the vegetables and sauté them until they are tender.

While the vegetables are cooking, we will crack the eggs into a bowl. We usually use  two or three eggs for each person. Then we mix or scramble the egg whites and egg yolks (yellow parts) together. We will add a little salt and pepper.

After the eggs are mixed, we add them to the sautéed vegetables in the pan and scramble them with the spatula while they are cooking over medium heat. We will scrape the eggs from the bottom of the pan while they are cooking so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan. We don't  want the eggs to cook too much or they will be dry. 

When the eggs are almost done, we can add some chopped spinach or kale  and some shredded cheddar cheese or crumbled feta cheese if we want.

Some people like to add salsa, or ketchup/catsup to their eggs. Latonya likes to have some left over rice with her eggs. Diana likes a slice of whole wheat toast.

Breakfast is ready!  It smells delicious!  Let's eat!

How do you like to cook your scrambled eggs, dear listener?  What ingredients do you prefer? Please let us know at talcchats@gmail.com.

Tacomaliteracy.org

In the last episode Latonya and Diana talked about the signs of spring that we see all around us. In this episode they talk about what people do in the spring.

When the bright springtime sun shines through our windows we see lots of things that we didn't see in the dark days of winter. We see that our windows are dirty!  We see smudges on the windows.  We see that we need to dust our furniture and clean our floors.

 We also see things that we don't need or  use anymore. We see clothes that don't fit (too big or too small) or clothes that are worn out  (used so much that they can't be fixed). We see toys that kids don't play with anymore. We see things that are broken.

What do we do with all those things?  We can fix some things that are broken. We can try to get rid of (dispose of) some things.   We can give them to someone who can use them.  We can donate them to a charity like Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Some things are just so worn out that no one can use them  and we have to recycle them or throw them away in the garbage.

Many people like to plant a garden in the spring. If they don't have enough space for a garden, they can plant flowers or vegetables in pots on their patio or balcony. Plant is used as a noun (a tomato plant) or a verb (to plant). We can say "I planted a tomato plant."

Some people sow seeds in the earth (ground).   We use "sow" for planting seeds.  "Sow" has the same pronunciation as  "sew" with needle and thread and "so"   that can mean "very".  Crazy English!

Here's a poem about what people do in the spring:
               Spring in New Hampshire (a state in the Northeastern US)

                                by Claude Mckay

Too green the springing April grass

Too blue the silver speckled (having small dots or specks) sky,

For me to linger (stay) here, alas (unfortunately)

While happy winds go laughing by,

Wasting (not using wisely) the golden hours washing windows and scrubbing (washing with a lot of effort)  floors.

What do you think we should do in the spring, dear listener? Should we wash our windows and scrub our floors?  Or...should we go outside  and enjoy the springing green grass and speckled sky? 

Tacomaliteracy.org

Tuesday, March 19, was the first day of spring 🌱.  In this episode Latonya and Diana talk about the signs of spring in Western Washington.

Cherry trees  bloom 🌸🌸 in clouds of pink and white. The grass turns bright green. We need to mow (cut) the grass in our lawns. Dandelions are often the first flowers we see in the spring 🌼. People think of dandelions as "weeds" (plants we don't want in our yards and gardens), but they are pretty yellow flowers with leaves that are nutritious. Daffodils and tulips 🌷 also start to bloom in the spring. The  Puyallup area was famous for raising daffodils in the last century.  The Daffodil Festival and Parade began  in 1935.  There is still a Daffodil parade  every spring. This year the parade is April 6. Look on the Internet to find out where you can see the parade. It's lots of fun! There are bands from local schools, horses, the Daffodil Queen 👑and princesses, and of course, lots of daffodils!

In the spring we also see a lot of birds. Some birds are migrating through our area, others are returning from the south where they spent the winter. Robins are a sign of spring. Robins are about 8 to 11 inches long and have a reddish brown breast. They like to eat worms. In the spring  birds are looking for a mate (partner) and they start building nests where they will lay their eggs.

Bugs (insects) are also a sign of spring. When the outside temperature reaches about 55 degrees,  bees wake up and come out of their hives or nests, We also see flies and mosquitoes and we start to see some butterflies.

The world wakes up in the spring!

What signs of spring do you see and hear, dear listener?  us know at talchats@gmail.com.

Tacomaliteracy.org

We will practice using “to have in the present.

We use “to have” a lot in English. It is the 2nd most used verb. 

We use “to have" in many different ways.

Today we will practice using “to have“ as a main verb.

 “To have” means to own something or possess something: I have a car. (I own a car.)

It can also mean to perform an action: "I have breakfast at 8:00." ( I eat breakfast at 8:00.)

 Here are the forms of “to have" in the present: 

      I have a car.
      We have a car.
      You have a car.
      They have a car.
      She has a car.
      He has a car.
      It (my car) has 4 tires.

 What do you notice about the forms of “to have”?
   All “have” except for “he, she,it” – has

 For questions “to have”, needs the helper “do" or “does”
       Do I have a car?
       Do we have a car?
       Do you have a car?
       Do they have a car?
       Does she have a car?
       Does he have a car?
       Does it (the car) have four tires?

·  What do we notice about have in all of those questions?
           It is in the base form “have”. It does not change when the subject changes.

·  Negative statements using “have”  need the helper “do’ or does”, too.
   I do not (don’t ) have a car.
   We do not (don’t ) have a car.
   You do not (don’t) have a car.
   They do not (don’t) have a car.
    She does not (doesn’t) have a car.
    He does not (doesn’t) have a car.
     It (the car) does not (doesn’t) have for tires.

·We use “to have” for aches, pains and sicknesses:
   I have a headache. She has a cold. You have the flu.

   We use “to have” to describe people, animals, or objects.
    I have brown hair. My dog has big ears. The kitchen has two windows.  

 We also use “have + to” to talk about actions that someone must do. (there is no choice): I have to pay my bills.  We have to go to work. You have to study today.They have to go to school. She has to eat now.  He has to get a job.

Listen for forms of “to have" in our conversation:

 D: Hi Latonya, how are you?
 L:  I’m fine. I’m having my breakfast right now. How are you?
D: Well, I have lots of problems this morning! I have a headache. I need to make cupcakes for my son’s birthday party, and I don’t have enough sugar. I don’t have time to go to the store. Do you have some sugar?
L: Yes, I have plenty of sugar. I have time to bring it to you. I have to go out anyway.
D: Thank you!  Oh, by the way, we have new neighbors, Latonya. 
L: Oh, that’s nice! Do they have children?
D: Yes, they have a daughter and a son.  Their daughter is 12 years old. She has long brown hair. Their son is 3 months old. He doesn’t have much hair yet.  
L: Do they have any pets?
D: Yes, they have a pet goat! 
L: Your neighbors have a goat? Maybe that’s why you have a headache.
D: What does the goat look like?
L: It has long cur

Tacomaliteracy.org

In TALC Chats episode # 8, Latonya and Diana practiced using that little verb "to do'" in the present. In this episode they practice using "to do" in the past.

A quick review of the forms "to do"in the present:
          I do
         we do
         you do
         they do
         he/she/it does

"to do" has two important jobs:
          1. As a main verb that means to accomplish something
               like "I do my dishes after I eat dinner."
         2. As a helper for most other verbs for
                 questions: "Do you like chocolate?"
                negative statements: "I don't like chocolate"

One very important verb that needs no help from "to do" is "to be".
          (am, is, are - present; was, were - past)
         Examples: You are busy. You are not busy. Are you busy?

"to do" in the past:

Using"to do" in the past as a main verb and and as a helper is easy. It's a piece of cake! Like almost all English verbs "to do" has only one past tense form : "did".

To talk about the past just change the "do" or "does" to "did ". 

Practice using "to do " as a main verb in the past:
            I do my laundry on Mondays.  I did my laundry last Monday.
            John always does his homework.  John did his homework last night.

Practice using "to do" as a helper in the past:
            Did you like broccoli when you were a kid? (main  verb "like")
           No, I did not (didn't) like broccoli when I was a kid.  (main  verb "like")
           
           Did John work yesterday? (main verb "work")
           No, John did not (didn't) work yesterday. (main  verb "work")

Notice that the main verb is always in the base form: like, work, eat