# 26 The More You Scratch The More You Itch!

     Hi! The last post with a Katie Melua song turned out to be one of your favourites. So I gave into temptation and decided to publish another one. This time it is Katie Melua Perfect Circle!
     After you have listened and enjoyed the song, do the following activity based on phrasal verbs from the song lyrics. So look for them in there!

1. ______ __ (phr v) to become separated from the main part: A button _____ __ her jacket.
2. ____ __ __ (phr v) to get in particular situation or place after a series of events, especially when you did not plan it: I went on holiday to Paris but I got lost and ____ __ __ London.
3. ______ ___ __ (phr v) to escape: Three men have ______ ___ __ a prison.
4. _____ __ (phr v)to make something into the shape of a tube or ball: Painters arrived and ______ __ the carpet.
5. _____ __ (phr v) to put something in a safe place and lock the door: Don`t forget to ____ __ when you leave. 

     So that you don`t forget what you learnt from previous posts look for sentences in the song that have make sb. do sth and let sb. do sth. structures. (If you don`t remember what these are, look them up in post #18:)

     I am looking forward to your answers in the comments section! Don`t forget to mention if you liked the song:) Any questions, don`t be shy and ask!
P.S. I tried to keep the post as short as possible!

10 Common English Idioms With 'Numbers'

#21 On The Ugly!

Hi my dearies! Remember the quotation in the picture! In some situations it can be a real trouble-saver and a problem-solver:)

     And as usual, a few technical moments. 

• What people are called the visually impaired? 
• Why do we put the in the visually impaired and the ugly (from the title)?

#20 A New Vintage Song!

     Hi my dearies! Would you like to add one more lovely song to your playlist? Then listen to and enjoy this one Neil Diamond Solitary Man. I really love it!

     And a few technical moments, of course. Could you read the lyrics and think about the following questions:)) Write you suggestions in the comments section!
1. Why does the singer use the word mine (not my) in Belinda was mine. (not Belinds was my.)
2. A phrasal verb that means to appear.
3. A word that you use when you agree with someone.
4. An adjective that means single, lonely.

5. What happened to Melinda and Sue?

6. What resolution does he make in the song?

#19 Did You Know That...

Phrases And Questions On Weather

What's the weather like? Яка зараз погода?

It's …

   Sunny Сонячно

   Cloudy Хмарно

   Windy Сильний вітер

   Fogy Туман

   Stormy Шторм

   Raining Іде дощ

   Hailing Злива

   Snowing Іде сніг

What a nice(beautiful) day! Який приємний(чудовий) день!

It's not a very nice day! Який жахливий день!

What miserable weather! Яка жахлива погода!

It's starting to rain. Починається дощ.

It's stopped raining. Дощ закінчився.

It's pour with rain. Іде заливний дощ.

The weather's fine. Гарна погода.

The sun's shining. Сонце світить.

There's not a cloud in the sky. Небо безхмарне.

The sky's overcast. Небо затягнуте.

There's a strong wind. Дме сильний вітер.

The wind's stopped. Вітер припинився.

That sounds like thunder. Здається, це грім.

That's lightning. Це була блискавка.

We had a lot of heavy rain this morning. Вранці був сильний дощ.

We haven't had any rain for a fortnight! Тут не було дощу два тижні!

I feel terribly cold. Я жахливо замерз(-ла).

I'm hot. Мені жарко.

I'm wet through. Я зовсім змок(-ла).

What's the forecast for today? Який прогноз на сьогодні?

#14 Phone Your Friend!

     Hi my dearies! Do you have time for a little grammar today? If you do, go on reading!
Do we meet our friends? or Do we meet with our friends? Which of the two sentences is right? The FIRST sentence is right and the second is a common mistake! Remember: meet sb, marry sb, discuss sth. phone sb. We say: play the guitar, climb a tree, drive a car, ride a horse, answer a question. These verbs are followed by a person or an object but there is NO preposition in between.
      If you think of Ukrainian equivalents to these verb phrases, you will see that in our language they share the following pattern verb+preposition+noun. In English it is verb+noun (no preposition). In grammar, this phenomenon is called direct object (no preposition is needed).
For example,

• My boyfriend plays the guitar. (NOT My boyfriend plays on the guitar.)

• My boyfriend is going to marry me! (NOT My boyfriend is going to marry with me!)

• I have to phone my friend. (Not I have to phone to my friend.)
  

     So WHY do English students make these mistakes? They usually translate a Ukrainian sentence word for word. The problem is that English is quite a different language and our language structures don`t work here:) So you have to develop a habit of  THINKING in English:) This is not easy, of course. But the more you work with English, the more you understand how this language works!
      To brighten up the boring rules here watch this FUNNY VIDEO about kids riding horses. Every person looks so happy here! Enjoy the video, remember about direct objects and phone your friend!

#13 Enjoy A Vintage Song!

     Hello! Today`s post is made especially for my dear ELEMENTARY students and also for those of you who haven`t learnt English DAYS OF THE WEEK yet;) I think you are going to remember names of days more easily after you listen (more than once, of course) to this lovely song.

     Have you listened to the song? Go on to do some more of these tasks to improve your English:
1.Listen to other cover versions of the same song (you can find them further on the list on the same YouTube page).
2. Look up the song lyrics on the Internet and learn new words from the song.
3. Decide which cover version you like a lot and write its number in the comments.
     Any questions? You are welcome to ask them in the comments section!
     Enjoy the music!
P.S Are you sure you know what the word lyrics means? If not, check here!

#11 Do You Make These Mistakes In English?

     Hi ladies and gentlemen! Do you make mistakes when speaking English? If yes, my new rubric is for you! In posts under the label Do You Make These Mistakes In English? we are going to discuss most common mistakes, mistakes that make your speech difficult to understand and mistakes that annoy me as a teacher of English :-) 

So let`s get started!

     What do you think is the most common mispronounced word in English? 

Surprisingly, (in my opinion) it is the word hotel. Try to pronounce it now. Aloud! 

Then check if you are right here:

http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=hotel&submit=Submit 

Did you pronouce hotel right? Here are some more common misspronounced words: 

keys (n)

adult (n)

onion (n)

museum (n)

shop assistant (n)

biscuits (n)

politics (n)

politician (n)

answer (v)

correctly (adv)

FIRST pronounce the first word on the list ALOUD. After that check its pronounciation here http://www.howjsay.com/ Then do the same with the second word.

So how many mistakes did you make? What words did you mispronounce? Write them in the comments section!