Active Learning Advice:

Don’t Wait to Use Your English!

Don’t wait for that special future time when you expect to
be able to communicate in English error free. Unless you
practice, that moment will never come. Take your English
language skills, though limited, and use them. Begin every
encounter with “Hello,” “Hi,” “Nice to meet you,” or “Glad to
see you again.” At each parting say, “Good-bye,” “So
long,” “Hope to see you again,” or “I’m sure we’ll talk again
soon.”
Speak English to people in stores, in offices, and in
schools.
Read English newspapers (if only the captions under the
pictures), magazines, junk mail, cartoons, the comics,
children’s books (with or without children), and “trashy”
novels. Highlight or underline words you don’t understand,
and look them up in your dictionary or on your computer.
Write shopping lists, recipes, and notes. Stick Post-it
Notes on items you want to remember the English names
for.
Listen to everything you hear in English—song lyrics, talk
radio, voice mail messages, and whatever anyone says
(unless it’s private)—and ask questions. This may sound
strange; aren’t listening and hearing the same? No, they
are not! If you are able
to hear (are not deaf) and are within hearing distance of
the sound, what’s the problem? Hearing is passive, and
listening isactive; it’s about choosing to process what you
have heard.
➜ PERFECT PHRASES FOR ESL: EVERYDAY
SITUATIONS
Don’t Forget Small Talk
“Small talk” is friendly conversation about unimportant
subjects.
We use small talk as a way to generate more
conversation. It is an
accepted and common way to begin the day, whether at
work or
during day-to-day errands.
Phrases for Small Talk
➜ I’m cold; I can’t wait until spring.
➜ It looks like it’s going to snow. I hope it won’t be deep.
➜ What did you watch on TV this weekend?
➜ Rush hour was terrible this morning, wasn’t it?
➜ I like your coat. I need a new coat. Where did you buy
that one?
➜ I like green. Green is a good color on you.
➜ Have you decided on a name for the baby yet?
➜ How is your daughter feeling?
➜ What are you having for lunch? I’m having noodles.
➜ Please tell me more about Valentine’s Day. There are
so
many greeting cards for it.
➜ My horoscope says, “This is a lucky day for me.” What
about yours?
ACTIVE LEARNING ADVICE: DON’T WAIT TO USE
YOUR ENGLISH! ➜ 5
Idioms and Other Vocabulary
Active: doing something to make results happen
Captions: words printed under a picture in a newspaper or
magazine to describe the picture
Cartoons: drawings, often funny, political, and with words
Choosing: deciding on something
Deaf: physically unable to hear
Deep: far down from a surface
Encounter: meet up with
Expect: think will happen
Greeting cards: cards to send for special reasons
(birthday,
anniversary, holidays such as Christmas), sympathy cards
for sad
occasions (death in a family), get-well cards (for a person
with
an illness)
Highlight: bring attention to by marking with a colored pen
Horoscope: prediction of what will happen to you based on
the
position of the stars and planets and the date of your birth
Junk mail: letters and other written material sent as
advertisements (ads)
Limited: not big or of great size
Lucky: likely to experience good things
Lyrics: words of a song
Noodles: soft strips or shapes of food made from flour,
water,
and eggs
Parting: leaving, saying good-bye
Passive: accepting what happens without being actively
involved in the situation
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6 ➜ PERFECT PHRASES FOR ESL: EVERYDAY
SITUATIONS
Post-it Notes: trademark name for small pieces of paper
that
stick and are used for notes
Process: be involved in
Recipes: directions or instructions for cooking
Rush hour: time when people travel to and from work and
when
there is increased traffic
Shopping lists: lists of things you need to buy at a store,
mostly
food items
Talk radio: radio programs in which people talk about
news and
opinions and sometimes listeners call into the radio station
to talk
The comics: story told through a series of cartoons
Though (also although or tho’ or altho’): relates two events
that occur at the same time or almost at the same time,
even if it
is surprising that they do happen this way. (This happened
altho’
that happened.)
Trashy novels: bad-quality, but often entertaining, written
fiction
Underline: put a line under to bring attention to
Valentine’s Day: holiday on February 14 (2/14) when
people
give cards, candy, and other gifts to people they love
(husband, wife, parents, children, and even sometimes
teachers and
friends)