Pageviews / Birthdays

On the left, a short way down, you will see something that counts the number of times people look at this page. It has now reached the year of my birthday :-)

When will it reach your birthday? You can add a comment below when it does... and who will look at it the 2010 and 2011th times?

Learning tip

Do you like music? Do you like learning English?

Now you can practise your listening and vocabulary by testing yourself when listening to songs you like, by going to this website.

Fill in the missing words as you listen to your favourite songs!

Have fun...

Holiday idioms

- Hurray! It's the holiday! Let's paint the town red! We can go to a restaurant, then go to the pub and some clubs and dance all night!

- Actually, I can't come tonight. Can I take a raincheck? I'll come to the next night out.

- OK, but we're also going to go to a big midnight party, which will really be the icing on the cake.

Cold

To reflect the cold weather, here are some idioms that use the word cold...

- I never know how he's feeling... He's a real cold fish

- Oh, it's terrible. He asked her to marry him, but before the wedding he got cold feet and cancelled it!

- She made me really angry, but instead of having an argument at work I'm going to give her the cold shoulder and ignore her!

- He asked me to help him, but after he was so rude to my sister, it'll be a cold day in Hell before I ever help him!

- He couldn't defend himself - they just killed him in cold blood!

- My manager blows hot and cold! We can never get him to make a decision because he's always changing his mind.

Happy Christmas from everyone at IH Tbilisi

Warm

A couple of idioms using the word 'warm' to warm you up...

- Look at those two children holding hands and helping each other. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!

- I was struggling to get home with my shopping, but someone stopped and helped me for no reason. It warms the cockles of your heart!

Monday news story

A happy news story to start the week:

Snow forces eight-day lock-in at Kirkbymoorside pub

A couple and five staff spent eight days trapped inside one of Britain's highest pubs because of heavy snow.

The Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge, near Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, was cut off since Friday last week, as 20ft (6.1m) of snow drifted against the pub.

The couple, from Darlington, were trapped until a plough made its way over the North York Moors and they followed it back to the nearest town.

The staff remained until the road was officially opened on Saturday night.

The Lion Inn is also a bed and breakfast and during their eight days inside the pub the couple and staff were able to stay in its bedrooms.

Speaking before the pub reopened, chef Daniel Butterworth admitted he had been talking to himself during the enforced lock-in.

At first the staff, all aged under 25, got stuck into the drinks, he said, but on the third day they eased off.

"We haven't been getting ratty," he said. "It's been fun and we have had a laugh.

"We have been getting on with little jobs, having our tea, a drink, playing games and then going to bed.

"The bosses aren't here, they are snowed out.

"We have wireless internet here and the television works so we have been fine."

During the day, the couple and staff managed to get out onto the snow on improvised sledges made from beer trays.

The beer did not run out and there was plenty of food at the inn, which stands 1,325ft (404m) above sea level.

Mr Butterworth admitted the icy internment had not been all fun.

"I have been going a bit crazy, doing weird things like talking to myself," he said on Saturday.

"Hopefully, we will get some more customers in when the road opens again. I could do with some more company.

"We have had people phoning up asking to get trapped in, but it's kind of boring now and I would like to go home.

BBC © MMX

Phrasal verbs with 'pack'

The holidays are coming soon, so to celebrate, here are some phrasal verbs using the verb 'pack':

pack away - "OK, children, pack away your toys now."

pack it in - "It hurts when you hit me with your pen. Pack it in!"

pack out - "The concert last night was packed out. I'm lucky I had a ticket."

pack up - "It's been a busy day at work today. Let's pack up and go home."

Snow

England has had a lot of snow this week, and people can't get to work, so in preparation for Georgia's winter, here is some language to help:

I spoke to my brother today. He told me he hasn't gone to work because he's snowed in. The snow plough was supposed to clear the roads, but because of the heavy snowfall, it hasn't been able to do all the roads. My brother is a little annoyed, because he's snowed under at work, but he's looking forward to building a snowman and going sledging.

More idioms

Today I'm very sleepy, so here are some idioms connected with sleep:

- Is that Nick on the sofa.

- Yes, but be quiet. He's gone to the land of nod.

- How are you? Did you sleep well last night?

- Oh, yes! I slept like a log.

- Have you seen Nick today?

- Yes, but you shouldn't ask him anything. He obviously got out of bed on the wrong side this morning!

- Look at Nick on the sofa - he's sleeping like a baby!

- I'm going to bed.

- OK. Sleep well. Don't let the bed bugs bite!

Goodnight!

Friday's 'happy' news story

By Tim MastersEntertainment correspondent, BBC News

A pistol held by Sean Connery as James Bond in a poster to promote the 1963 film From Russia With Love has sold at auction for £277,250.

The Walther air pistol fetched more than 10 times its estimate of £15,000-£20,000 at Christie's in London on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a rare Darth Vader costume made for Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back failed to sell.

It had been expected to fetch up to £230,000.

The costume, which was being sold by a private collector from the US who acquired it in 2003, was believed to have been the first complete Vader costume to be offered at auction.

Another James Bond pistol, that appeared in 1974 film The Man With The Golden Gun, sold for £15,000.

Last month an American car enthusiast paid £2.6m to buy a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 - complete with revolving number plates, ejector seat and bullet-proof shield - featured in Bond films Goldfinger and Thunderball.

Among the other items sold at Thursday's Popular Culture: Film and Entertainment auction was a dinosaur model from the 1933 King Kong film that went for £25,000.

A metal box that contained the glowing red eye of the computer HAL from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey sold for £17,500

A pair of trunks worn by Christopher Reeve in the 1984 film Superman III failed to sell.

BBC © MMX

Phrasal verbs with 'sing'

As Georgians love to sing, here are some phrasal verbs:

sing out - Hello class. When I read your name from the register, please say "Here!", but don't be quiet - sing out!

sing along - When I'm at home I like to put on loud music and sing along to my favourite tracks!

sing up - I couldn't hear the people singing, so I had to tell them to sing up!

Mid-week idiom

a dark horse

Mark's a bit of a dark horse. Apparently he's been married for ten years, to a supermodel, and I never knew, even though I work with him every day...

St. George

Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic (Western and Eastern Rites), Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox churches. He is immortalized in the tale of Saint George and the Dragon and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His memorial is celebrated on 23 April, and he is regarded as one of the most prominent military saints.

Many Patronages of Saint George exist around the world, including: Aragon, Catalonia, England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Iraq, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Serbia and Russia, as well as a number of cities and a wide range of professions, organizations and disease sufferers.

As a highly celebrated saint in both the Western and Eastern Christian churches, a large number of Patronages of Saint George exist throughout the world.

The country of Georgia, where devotions to the saint date back to the fourth century, is not named after him, but a large number of towns and cities around the world are. Georgia is the anglicised version of Gurj, derived from the Persian word for the people in that territory. Geographer Vakhushti Bagrationi wrote that there are 365 Orthodox churches in Georgia named after Saint George according to the number of days in a year.

St. George is the patron saint of England; his cross forms the national flag of England, and features within the Union Jack of the United Kingdom. Traces of the cult of Saint George in England predate the Norman Conquest in the eleventh century by the fourteenth century. The saint had been declared both the patron saint and the protector of the royal family.

(Adapted from www.wikipedia.com)

As Usual, click on a link to see what the word means

Phrasal verbs with 'eat'

Eating is my favourite hobby, so here are some phrasal verbs containing one of my favourite words. Enjoy.

eat away - I love smoking, but it's slowly eating away at my health.

eat into - I'm studying English so much. It's really eating into my spare time.

eat out - Today it's my birthday, so I don't want to stay at home. Let's eat out.

eat up - Eat up all your food, then you can have some ice-cream.

- Nice car. Is it fast? - Yeah, it is, but it eats up petrol...

Saturday's idiom

- "How many people are there in Tbilisi?"

- "I'm not sure. Off the top of my head, I'd say just over a million."

Phrasal verbs using 'hand'

Today, some more phrasal verbs:

hand back - My classmate took my pen, but he soon handed it back

hand down - My sister is older than me, so all her clothes were handed down to me

hand in - You should hand in your homework on Monday

hand on - When you finish with the book, can you please hand it on to Steve?

hand out - Can you please hand out the worksheet to the whole class?

hand over - Stop! Hand over the gun!

Today's idiom

I'm doing some voluntary work with the local sports committee, but it's keeping me busy because I have many hats - I'm the chairman, the treasurer and I also arrange the meeting hall.

to wear many hats

Our thought from today

"Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other." (Edmund Burke)

We all learn things by following the example of others. For example, if you want to be good at a sport, you watch someone who is good at it and follow their example. Maybe they'll tell you how they are doing something, or what exactly they are doing, but you have to then try it. The first time, you won't do it well. The second time you won't do it well, but the more you try, and the more you watch the other people, the better you'll get at it and the easier it will get.

For example, learning to walk. As a baby, nobody told you how to walk. You watched other people for about a year, then started trying yourself. At first, someone held you up and helped you. Then, you fell over. So, you tried again. Soon, you could walk, but very badly, and you kept falling over and crashing into things. But, you kept trying and kept watching other people. Now, you have had so much practice that you are an expert walker. You can walk easily without even thinking about it.

Learning English is exactly the same. When you try something, it's wrong, or not very good. But you try again, keep practising, and watch the people who are good at it (and listen to them...). Eventually, it becomes easier and you get better at it.

Everyone can learn to walk, and everyone can learn to speak English. :-)

News from the BBC

Royal wedding: Prince William gives Kate Diana's ring

Prince William has spoken of his and fiancee Kate Middleton's happiness, as the newly-engaged couple faced the cameras for the first time.

The couple, both 28, will marry next spring or summer after he proposed while on holiday in Kenya in October.

The prince said: "The timing is right now." His brother Harry said he would be gaining a sister.

William gave Kate his mother's engagement ring, saying: "It was right to put the two together."

Speaking as they stood arm-in-arm before photographers, and later as they gave a TV interview, Prince William said giving Kate his mother Diana's distinctive sapphire and diamond engagement ring was "my way of making sure my mother didn't miss out on today and the excitement".

He stressed that no-one was "trying to fill my mother's shoes". Miss Middleton paid tribute to the princess as an "inspirational woman".

She admitted joining the Royal Family was a "daunting prospect" but she added: "Hopefully I'll take it in my stride."

Ring 'in rucksack'

The Prince would not be drawn on whether he went down on one knee to propose, but, as the couple laughed, Miss Middleton said: "It was very romantic, and it was very personal."

The couple met while they were students at St Andrews University, Fife.

Speaking about their relatively long courtship, William said: "I didn't realise it was a race, otherwise I probably would have been a lot quicker.

"The time is right now. We're both very, very happy and I'm very glad that I have done it."

Miss Middleton added: "We have been going out a long time. We had spoken about our future and it just seemed the natural step for both of us."

Prince William told how he carried the ring around in the royal rucksack for about three weeks before he chose the right time to propose.

He said he knew he would be in trouble if he lost it, so he held onto it tightly.

And he revealed he asked Kate's father for her hand in marriage after he asked her.

"I thought if I ask Kate first then he can't really say no," he said.

Prince Harry's spokesman released a statement late on Tuesday after the prince had returned from flying training in Hampshire.

"I am delighted that my brother has popped the question. It means I get a sister, which I have always wanted," the statement read.

The couple will marry in London in 2011 and live in north Wales, where Prince William, second in line the throne, is serving with the RAF.

They said they hoped to have children. Miss Middleton said a close-knit family was important: "I hope we will be able to have a happy family ourselves.

Smiling, Prince William added: "I think we'll take it one step at a time. We'll sort of get over the marriage first and then maybe look at the kids. But obviously we want a family."

BBC © MMX

A tale from the Grimm Brothers

A poor man had so many children that he had already asked everyone in the world to be godfather, and when still another child was born, no one else was left whom he could invite. He knew not what to do, and, in his perplexity, he lay down and fell asleep.  Then he dreamt that he was to go outside the gate, and ask the first person he met to be godfather.  When he awoke, he determined to obey his dream, and went outside the gate, and asked the first person who came up to him to be godfather.  The stranger presented him with a little glass of water, and said, this is a wonderful water, with it you can heal the sick, only you must see where death is standing.  If he is standing by the patient's head, give the patient some of the water and he will be healed, but if death is standing by his feet, all trouble will be in vain, for the sick man must die.  From this time forth, the man could always say whether a patient could be saved or not, and became famous for his skill, and earned a great deal of money.  Once he was called in to the child of the king, and when he entered, he saw death standing by the child's head and cured it with the water, and he did the same a second time, but the third time death was standing by its feet, and then he knew the child had to die.  Once the man thought he would visit the godfather, and tell him how he had succeeded with the water.  But when he entered the house, the strangest things were going on within.  On the first flight of stairs, the broom and shovel were disputing, and knocking each other about violently.  He asked them, where does the godfather live.  The broom replied, one flight of stairs higher up.  When he came to the second flight, he saw a heap of dead fingers lying.  He asked, where does the godfather live. One of the fingers replied, one flight of stairs higher.  On the third flight lay a heap of dead heads, which again directed him to the flight beyond.  On the fourth flight, he saw fishes on the fire, which frizzled in pans and baked themselves.  They, too, said, one flight of stairs higher.  And when he had ascended the fifth, he came to the door of a room and peeped through the keyhole, and there he saw the godfather who had a pair of long horns.  When he opened the door and went in, the godfather got into bed in a great hurry and covered himself up.  Then said the man, sir godfather, what a strange house-hold you have.  When I came to your first flight of stairs, the shovel and broom were quarreling, and beating each other violently. How stupid you are, said the godfather.  That was the boy and the maid talking to each other.  But on the second flight I saw dead fingers lying.  Oh, how silly you are.  Those were some roots of scorzonera.  On the third flight lay a heap of dead men's heads.  Foolish man, those were cabbages.  On the fourth flight I saw fishes in a pan, which were hissing and baking themselves.  When he had said that, the fishes came and served themselves up.  And when I got to the fifth flight, I peeped through the keyhole of a door, and there, godfather, I saw you and you had long, long horns.  Oh, that is not true.  The man became alarmed, and ran out, and if he had not, who knows what the godfather would have done to him.

Cool Month

Did you notice that October this year has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays, an event that only happens once about every 820 years?

Cool, eh?

Welcome back

So, a new school year has started. Welcome back everybody, and we hope you enjoy your study with us this year.

Remember to keep checking this blog for new English vocabulary, and also check our Facebook and Twitter sites for news (links on the left).

You can also add comments to anything you read on here, and please let us know if there's anything you'd like us to add.

Happy learning. :-)

Everyone at IH Tbilisi

Football language

Some language to help you shout at the TV during the World Cup:

Offside

Free kick!

Pass

Throw-in

Penalty

Goalkeeper

Defender

Midfielder

Striker

Corner

Send somebody off

Commit a foul

Play a one-two

Shoot

Penalty shoot-out

Howler

A draw

Kick-off

Good news?

This could be a good reason for keeping up your English study... :-)

BBC News story

Thunder

After the storm today, here are a couple of idioms for you:

I had a really good idea in the meeting, but Nick told everybody his plan first and stole my thunder

What's wrong with Nick? He's got a face like thunder!

Enjoy

English Apps

Do you have an iPhone or iPod Touch?

Here are some apps you can add for learning English:

Top 10 iPhone Apps for learning English

Our view of Tbilisi

This will be a new feature of the blog - we'll write some thoughts on life in Tbilisi, and link some interesting words and phrases so that you can learn them. Enjoy...

My neighbour is an interesting guy. He's quite old, but on the day I arrived in Tbilisi he came and introduced himself, and told my Georgian colleague that if I have any problems I should go and see him, which was a nice gesture, I thought. However, he doesn't speak any English, and my Georgian is still limited. Every time I see him, though, he tries to communicate things to me. This always follows a pattern. First, we exchange pleasantries in Georgian (I can manage that now...). Then, he asks me, or tells me, something in Georgian. I shrug and convey that I don't understand. He then tries again in Russian, even though he's aware that I don't understand Russian. I shrug again, he looks dismayed, we smile at each other and part company.
One day, he knocked on my door and gave me a book. It's a book in Russian about learning English. He suggested I could learn Russian from it. This was a nice gesture, but I tried to explain to him that I can't read Russian, so had no idea what the book said. He didn't understand, so I still have the book, and he seems to think that that is how my Georgian is improving.
He may sound a little mad, but I think he is a good example of why I like living in Georgia - he's always friendly, always tries to chat with me, even though he knows I won't understand, always shakes my hand, and whenever someone is around who speaks English he asks them to tell me that I can call on him at any time if I have any problems. Very hospitable and welcoming.

Do you have any similar stories? You can add them in the comments below, or you can just say what you think of the story.

Weekly idioms

We are hoping that spring will arrive soon, so here are some idioms connected to spring.

'We like Nick, but he's no spring chicken!'

'What a mess my flat is! It's time for a spring-clean!'

'The sun is out and everybody's happy - I think we've all got spring-fever.'

'Nick looks happy - he's full of the joy's of spring!'

Vote results

Thanks to everyone who voted.

It was an overwhelming victory for 'speaking', so we hope you get lots of chance to practise.

Look out for a new poll soon.

Weekly idioms

This week, idioms with the word 'rain'...

Take a rain check

Come rain or shine

Rain on someone's parade

Right as rain

Enjoy!

Google sets

Do you want to increase your vocabulary?

Here's one way: Go to Google sets and type in a few words related to a set (e.g. fridge, oven, microwave for a set of kitchen vocabulary), then click the button and make a set of new words. You can then click on a word to get some internet links or see them in Google images, or look up any new words in a dictionary (like the one on the left of this page...)

Easy.

Here's our set from the above words (you can get 'large' sets, too). You can post any interesting ones you find in the comments.

oven

fridge

toaster

cooker

microwave

freezer

kettle

grill

hob

dishwasher

television

Weekly idioms

A new feature of our blog: Weekly idioms. Click on the idiom to see its meaning. This week's theme, idioms using 'break / broke'. Guess what they mean, then check...

Go for broke

A broken record

Break a leg

Break the ice

Which words we've been using the most:

News story

This interesting news story appeared in the paper today. What do you think? (Any words you don't know you can check in the dictionary on the left).

How does it feel to be so famous? You can also check the story for language - what tenses are used? Can you see any passive voice? Relative clauses? Different ways of saying 'say'?

Actually, we tricked you - it didn't really appear in the paper... we wrote it here: http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

You can write your own stories and send them to your friends, or post them in the comments below for everyone to read.

Vote results

Thanks for voting - these are the results:

Grammar / vocab Q&A 45%
Study tips 39%
Articles to read 30%
Thoughts from teachers 30%
News about IH 24%
Word of the week 15%

So, we'll try to include regular grammar and vocabulary items, and ideas for study (such as the links to useful websites already posted) and occasional extra fun things.

Thanks, and please now vote in the new poll. You only have a couple of weeks... :-)

Easter

noun
The most important and oldest festival of the Christian Church, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and held (in the Western Church) between March 21 and April 25, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox.

But, when is...

- Good Friday?
- Palm Sunday?
- Lent?

Who is the Easter Bunny?

Why do we have Easter eggs?

Write your answers in the comments below. A free egg to the winner!

Happy Easter!

New word

After the 'news' story last weekend, here's a new words, and some words related to it, for you to look up or ask your teacher about. :-)

hoax (n)
practical joke, joke, jest, prank, trick; ruse, deception, fraud, bluff, confidence trick; informal: con, spoof, scam, setup.

Visual dictionary

Are you a visual learner? Do you want to increase your vocabulary?

There is a great online 'visual dictionary' here. Just type a word in the search bar and watch lots of connected words appear.

Warning - some of the definitions are quite difficult, but you should be able to find lots of new words and can look them up in your own dictionary, if you need to.

Learning English Website

If you haven't tried the BBC World Service Learning English website yet, try it now.

Have a look around, but if you're interested, the Words in the News section is particularly useful.

Learning by singing!

Here you can watch music videos and sing along - a fun way to practise your English with your friends, or alone! (You can use the dictionary on this site to check words you're not sure about, or you could practise working out the meaning from the context.)
Click on the link below:
Tubeoke

Useful website

A useful website. You can meet language learners from around the world, do language exercises, and ask native speaker friends to check your work.
(I'm going to use it to improve my Georgian!)
http://www.livemocha.com/

Film Club

For current adult students:

Film club: We will be showing the English comedy "Run, Fatboy, Run" at 7pm on Tuesday 02 March at the Dolidze branch.

Feel free to bring drinks and popcorn!

Wind!

We hope you're enjoying the wind in Tbilisi today, and to help you talk to your foreign friends about it, here's some variations you can check the meaning of and use... Enjoy.

windy
adjective
1 a windy day breezy, blowy, blustery, gusty; wild, stormy, squally, tempestuous, boisterous. Antonym: still.
2 a windy hillside windswept, exposed, open to the elements, bare, bleak. Antonym: sheltered.

Pancake Day

Today is 'Pancake Day'

See here for a guide to making pancakes (and improve your cooking vocabulary):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayIuoNCaD7I

Snow

Enjoying the snow in Tbilisi?

Here is some snow related lexis - how much do you know? You can ask each other about unknown words / phrases in the comments.

snow(n.)
snowflakes, flakes, snowfall, white stuff; snowdrift, snowbank, snow-pack; avalanche.

TYPES AND CONDITIONS OF SNOW
blizzard; packing snow
blowing snow; powder
corn snow
drift; sleet
dusting; slush
flurry/flurries;
freezing rain; snow squall
frozen granular snow; snowstorm
hard-packed snow; soft-packed snow
icy snow; wet granular snow
lake effect; wet-packed snow
loose granular snow; wet snow
machine-groomed snow; whiteout
windblown snow
packed powder

Interesting website

On this website you can listen and do 'home-dictation' - (let us know if you find this useful by leaving a comment below)

http://www.listen-and-write.com/

Welcome!

Welcome to the new 'IH Blog'. Hopefully, you can use this to check the news from IH, talk to us and each other, find websites and ideas to help you with your English.

Let us know if you have any questions, or ideas for this site. For now, please look around. Remember, this is new, so we'll keep adding to it and improving it.

Happy blogging!

IH Tbilisi