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To quit work and go home; to say that a days work has been completed.
2 Call it a day E.g. Im tired. Lets call it a day.
The boss was mad because Bill called it a day at noon.
Hit the nail on the To identify something exactly; to arrive at exactly the right answer.
3
head E.g. He hit the nail on the head when he said the problem was the thermostat
Means something that is not clearly defined and needs careful judgement.
Grey area (UK) /
4 E.g. It exists in a grey area between legal and illegal.
Gray area (US)
Its a grey area isnt it? (Meaning the speaker is talking about an unsure concept).
Back to the Drawing Means that a previously established plan isnt working and that it is time to re-plan.
6
Board E.g. My job interview went horribly! I have to go back to the drawing board.
To put things in the wrong order or with the wrong priorities; to put
Put the cart before something inconsequential as more important than something more essential.
13
the horse E.g. Theres no point trying to write the report when you havent got a clear idea of what
to write. You dont want to put the cart before the horse.
Means that you understand their reason for having a certain opinion, or for feeling a certain
14 See someones point way.
E.g. Yes, I see your point. Let me double-check that and get back with you.
To get serious and focus on what you need to do to accomplish a challenging goal
15 Get down to work
E.g. You know what, Harry? You just need to get down to work!
Because these words are often not included in a formal English education, it can be grueling for international students to grow accustomed
to their widespread, and arguably excessive, use.
Heres a run down on some of the most common slang. It will help you understand your friends better, it will help you fit in and of course it
will help you avoid any more embarrassing situations.
18 Essential American Slang Words for ESL
Students
No Slang Words Meaning Example
Cool (adj) means great or fantastic. Okay, cool! Ill be there at 7:00(okay with
1 Cool (adj) It also shows that youre okay with an an idea)
idea.
He passed the exam, Cool!(means great!)
Wheels (noun) When somebody Sorry Honey, I cant pick up you now. I
6 Wheels (noun) refers to their wheels they are talking dont have my wheels at the moment?
about their car.
Do you like my new Wheels?
To be hooked on something
To be hooked on something Im really hooked on the Coffee at Plus
14 (verb) means being addicted to
(verb) Bar
something.
To be in (adjective) means to be in Hey do you like my haircut? Its the in
15 To be in (adjective)
fashion or trending at the moment. thing now!
Epic Fail (noun) means a total failure ManU lost 6-1, can you believe it?
16 Epic Fail (noun)
or a big disaster
Yeah, epic fail!
Whered he go?
17 Dunno (verb) Dunno simply means I dont know.
Dunno.
Below are some phrases that you can use to help express opinions. Some of these phrases are more appropriate for written English such as
giving your opinion in an essay whereas some can also be used in spoken English.
How to give your opinions in English?
Personal Point of View
We use these words and phrases to express a personal point of view:
In my experience
As far as Im concerned
Im absolutely convinced
In my opinion
Personally, I think
Id say that
Id suggest that
I believe that
What I mean is
Its obvious to me
Im sure that
For Example:
Im absolutely convinced that the best way to improve your English is to live in an English-speaking country such as the US.
Its obvious to me that the best way to improve your English is by using English, not studying English.
So, we can express a cautious or reluctant opinion when we show that we are not certain about what we think or we are reluctant to
express what we believe.
I think
I feel that
In my opinion
As far as Im concerned
In my view
I suppose that
It seems to me that
I must admit that Im not sure
For Example:
As far as I understand it, you need to practice on a regular basis if you want to improve your English.
It seems to me that there is no best way to learn English. Each person has to find a strategy or method that works for them.
As I see it
For Example
I dont know about other people, but I can say that taking English classes helped me to improve my English.
In my experience, watching and listening to films and TV in English can really help.
We use these words and phrases to express a point of view that is generally thought by people:
It is thought that
It is considered
Apparently
For Example:
Some people say that watching and listening to films and TV in English can really help
It is generally accepted that going to an English-speaking country is the best way to improve your English
Of course.
Yes, I agree.
I think so too.
Exactly.
So do I.
Neither do I.
Thats different.
However
On the contrary
Here are some phrases to help you talk about the facts you know (or think you know), your opinions and even your experiences.
Talking about a fact (100% sure that it is true)
o How thoughtful.
We use this phrase when somebody gives you a present. We are saying thank you to the other person for thinking about you and deciding
to give a present.
Thankfully, weve devised a guide to popular slang, the following table reveals the meaning behind the words:
5 Ass This means your buttocks, your backside, but mostly a donkey!
This word means the same as ass, but is much ruder. It is used in phrases
like pain in the arse (a nuisance) or I cant be arsed (I cant be
6 Arse
bothered) or you might hear someone say a half arsed attempt meaning
that it was not done properly.
8 Bladdered When a Brit say you are Bladdered, they mean you are drunk.
You would call something or somebody beastly if they were really nasty or
12 Beastly unpleasant. Most people would consider you a snob if you used this word.
People like Fergie can get away with it though.
One of the most useful swear words in English. It is used for emphasis.
15 Bloody E.g. bloody awful or bloody hell. bloody brilliant . It is used to
emphasize almost anything!
This is a great English word with many excellent uses. Technically speaking
it means testicles but is typically used to describe something that is no
16 Bollocks
good (thats bollocks) or that someone is talking rubbish (hes talking
bollocks).
If something costs bugger all, it means that it costs nothing. Meaning it is
17 Bugger all
cheap. If you have bugger all, it means you have nothing.
This word is obviously used when drinking with friends. However, it also
18 Cheers has other colloquial meanings. For example when saying goodbye you could
say cheers, or cheers then. It also means thank you.
French fries. it is basically a deep fried finger length potatoes eaten in the
19 Chips UK not to be confused with American potato chips- these are known a
crisps in the UK
Another word for good. Usually said without pronouncing the last G. If a
21 Cracking
girl is cracking it means she is stunning.
34 On about This is a very handy one to know. It means what are you talking about?
35 One off A one off is used to describe a one-time event that is never to be repeated.
Piece of When something is exceptionally easy. E.g. He makes that dance look like
36
Cake a piece of cake
To be available. When a Brit say they are up for it, it means you are willing
43 Up for it to come along. E.g. You up for going down the pub? Yeah mate, im up
for it Uni : short word for university
(to be) up in the air is and English Idiom meaning I think I can do it quickly, but the
1 Up in the air that something has not been resolved, finished or exact schedule is still up in the
answered yet. It usually refers to a plan or a decision air.
that has not been decided or being uncertain.
They go to the beach when they
This idiom simply means to study, especially with
should be hitting the books and
2 Hit the books particular intensity. It is used as a verb hit the
then they wonder why they get bad
books.
grades
(to) hit the sack generally means to go to bed. A soldier gets tired feet and is
3 Hit the sack You can also say hit the hay which has the same eager to hit the sack.
meaning.
Time to hit the hay
The idiom (to) lose touch means to cease to be Suddenly, friends found me again
familiar with someone or something (e.g. some that I had lost touch with years
6 Lose touch certain skills or talent). This also refers to the lost in ago
the ability to communicate or have contact with It looks like youve lost your
others. To make it simple, if you lose your touch, touchwith the girls in class
you lose your ability or skills you once had when
working with things/situations, or
dealing/communicating with people.
The saying pitch in is an English idiom simply If we all pitch in, we can raise
8 Pitch in meaning to help out, to lend assistance; or to enough money for the renovation
contribute. It is used as a verb pitch in. of the church
The idiom (to) face the music means to accept or He failed the exam as he was so
10 Face the music confront the unpleasant consequences of ones lazy. So hes going to have to face
actions. It is used as a verb face the music. the music
The saying (to be) on the ball is typically used to
reference someone that is alert, active, or attentive. A
brief translation of this idiom would be on top of If I had been more on the ball I
11 On the ball things. would have asked when he called
me
If you say someone is on the ball, you mean that he
or she understands the situation well.
The saying rule of thumb refers to a general The usual rule of thumb says
guideline, rather than a strict rule. Thus rule of that to calculate when an
12 Rule of thumb
thumb is a common understanding which is based on investment will double, divide 70 by
experience or general knowledge. the interest rate.
For ESL students and English learners, to improve your spoken English, the best thing to do is to talk with a native speaker. However, this
is not the only choice we have to be able to master a language like English.
It is suggested that you should join a language exchange website (e.g. fluentland.com) to find native language exchange parners its a
win-win situation.
Newspapers are also worth reading. Not only you can improve your English but youll learn about whats going on, which can be handy
when talking with native speakers.
Speaking English Tip 5. Watch English TV Shows,
Movies
Watch TV shows or YouTube videos in English is another great way to help you use them to improve your fluency. How will you do it?
If youre tired of reading books, theres nothing better than learning English through movies and film. This might be the most fun way to
learn English. You should choose a film with English subtitles which allow you to check up new words. I would recommend the Friends
TV Movie for you, watching this series kills two birds with one stone. It makes you laugh you heart out and will help to improve your
English in a natural way.
Let's keep practicing your english skills, if you wish to improve your fluency try to do this: watch movies in english using CC (Closed
Caption) in english as well, try to listen to music and check the spealling of the song, in that way you can increase the opportunities to enrich
your english vocabulary and how you can pronunce the words!
No hay malos estudiantes, slo malos profesores es el mantra de English Evolved. Al recibir un nuevo grupo de
clientes en su Curso de Iniciacin, ellos miran al instructor con cara de sorpresa cuando ste dice, En este curso, no
tomarn notas ni harn tareas porque su aprendizaje es nuestra responsabilidad.
COMO APRENDER SIN TO MAR NOTAS.
Tal vez pensars: Cmo se puede aprender sin tomar notas o hacer tareas? Daremos un ejemplo con el verbo
"hacer", "to do".
Estudiante: To do.
Instructor: Hacerlo?
Estudiante: To do it.
Sabemos que olvidarn "to do" rpidamente. Entonces, inmediatamente, lo integramos con otros temas que ellos ya han
aprendido.
Instructor: Quiero hacerlo hoy, pero no tengo el tiempo de hacerlo porque estoy demasiado ocupado para
hacerlo.
Estudiante: I want to do it today, but I dont have the time to do it because Im too busy to do it.
Diez minutos ms tarde, sabemos que han olvidado "hacer". No hay problema, esperamos esto. Les preguntamos otra
vez.
Estudiante: To do.
(30 MINUTOS MS TARDE)
Estudiante: To do.
(1 HORA MS TARDE)
Estudiante: To do.
Los clientes pueden pensar que slo les hacemos muchas veces la pregunta Cmo se dice hacer?, pero pasa algo
ms que eso. Nuestros cerebros olvidan casi toda la informacin que recibe y slo guarda la informacin que cree que
es importante. El cerebro slo sabe que la informacin es importante si la ve repetidamente en contextos diferentes.
Resolvemos este problema usando un mtodo se llama repaso espaciado (spaced repetition, Graduated Interval
Recall) y funciona dando recordatorios en intervalos espaciados predeterminados para ayudarte a recordar.
Esto te beneficia porque cada vez que empiezas a olvidar algo, te recordamos antes de que lo hagas. El resultado es
que puedes recordar ms informacin por ms tiempo con menores repeticiones.
As es como podemos ensear ingls sin tomar notas o dejar tareas: programas los recordatorios aplicando repaso
espaciado. Si aprendes independientemente, puedes usar la aplicacin Anki (gratis), que usa este mtodo. Intntalo para
recordar vocabulario y nota lo bien que funciona para tus estudios.