Build your word power with synonyms, phrasal verbs, idioms and collocations
for English learners of high intermediate and above

Never at a Loss for Words

Follow along with me. Please send me a message and I will send you the PDF of book for free. 

Dr Suess stories

Dr. Suess ABC

Here I am reading more political poem written by the same poet.

Şiirler/Poems 

Şiirime Dair

What do we mean by, "it's not fair!"
Angela reads the basic text from this lesson, (transcript available when you take this lesson).

This topic is also available for intermediate and higher-level learners.


English with Angela -  conversation 

TASK 67 - IT’S NOT FAIR 


You just got into bed after a long day, and you're exhausted. You plan to spend a few minutes on your phone — maybe scrolling Instagram or TikTok — and then sleep.

But when you try to sleep, it's not as easy as you thought it would be. You were so tired — what happened?

According to a new study, your phone may be the problem.

The study, done by researchers at New Zealand's University of Otago, involved 85 kids aged 11 to 14. They each spent a week wearing a body camera on their chest starting from three hours before they got into bed.

A second camera was also placed in their bedrooms to monitor their phone use once they were in bed. They also wore a device that tracked their sleep.

The researchers found that 99% of the participants used their phones in the two hours before bed. More than half used their phones while they were in bed, and about a third used their phones after trying to go to sleep.

The results showed that screen time in bed affected participants' sleep — it stopped them from going to sleep for about half an hour, and also reduced the amount of sleep they got.

The impact was larger when participants had a more interactive experience — such as playing a game — or if they used more than one screen. For every additional 10 minutes of this type of screen time, sleep time was reduced by the same amount.

Interestingly, phone use in the two hours before bed had little impact on sleep.

According to lead researcher Bradley Brosnan, the results suggest that, while current guidelines recommend no screen time in the hour or two before bed, keeping phones out of the bedroom might be enough for a better night's sleep.

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Keep Screens Out of Bed for Better Sleep

I'm pleased to provide you a podcast that will give you an idea and glance about the use of the expression 'I can - أستطيع' in Arabic language and how it is pronounced. In this podcast I will present 8 different patterns that started with the expression ' I can - أستطيع' with clear simple everyday life examples.

Please leave me a comment for that I continue :)

Arabic expressions with ArabicLights - Aymaro

I can 1 in Arabic/ Je peux en arabe/ -ebilir,-abilir arapça'da with 8 examples - how to say أستطيع

Two friends, Alex and Jamie, are chatting in a park.

Alex: Hey Jamie, did you hear about the surprise party tonight?

Jamie: No, I haven’t. Are you serious?

Alex: Absolutely! And don't worry, I'm just pulling your leg about the party details.

Jamie: (Looking confused) Wait, what do you mean by "pulling your leg"? Are you actually grabbing my leg?

Alex: (Laughs) No, no! "Pulling your leg" is an idiom. It means I'm just joking or teasing you. I'm not doing anything physical at all.

Jamie: Oh, I see! I thought you meant something literal.

Alex: I can understand the confusion. English idioms can be tricky. "Pulling your leg" simply means I'm kidding.

Jamie: Honestly, I always have a hard time understanding or remembering idioms. How do you do it so easily?

Alex: Well, Mrs. Smith on italki taught me all the tips and tricks for mastering them.

Jamie: Really? How do I get her to teach me too?

Alex: It's super simple, just click her picture on italki and book a lesson.

Jamie: Wow, so simple! I've just booked my lesson. I can't wait to finally get the hang of these idioms.

LEARN BY LISTENING

Ever Pulled Anyone's Leg?

Thai Tea La Nid - EP.2 - Thai People Like to Shorten Words?! 

Hello guys! Welcome back to the episode 2 of Thai Tea La Nid Podcast.

Today, we're going to talk about how Thai people really speak in daily life. 

Well, have you ever had a problem understanding Thai people speak? 

Hmm, it just doesn't sound like what you have learned from the textbook, right? 

I think one of the reasons might be because we always shorten words and we always skip the subject. 

OK, for example, how to ask what are you doing in Thai? 

From the textbook, you might say “kun gam-lang tam à-rai yòo ká”. I'll make it more natural. “kun gam-lang tam à-rai yòo ká”. 

Which is too formal and kind of too long because that's like six words or eight syllables. 

Okay, so let's start by skipping the subject first. 

From “kun gam-lang tam à-rai yòo ká”, we can say “gam-lang tam à-rai yòo ká”.

Ok now, let's shorten the words. You can say “tam à-rai yòo ká” or “tam rai ká”. 

That's the shortest version. 

Ok, let's practice again from like the full version to the shortest version, ok? 

“kun gam-lang tam à-rai yòo ká” 

“gam-lang tam à-rai yòo ká” 

“tam à-rai yòo ká”, and 

“tam rai ká”. 

Ok, so now you can understand more Thai and I hope you enjoyed this episode of Thai Tea La Nid. 

See you again next time. Bye bye.

*Sorry for saying “ok” a lot in this episode. Thanks for listening. Let me know if this is helpful and if you like it. Don’t forget to subscribe for more. See you. :D

Thai - Tea La Nid (ไทยทีละนิด) Podcast

Thai Tea La Nid (ไทยทีละนิด) - EP.2 - Thai People Like to Shorten Words?! (with transcript for study)

祝福语 zhù fú yǔ：Chinese phrases for Blessings and wishes.
龙行龘龘 lóng xíng dá dá: With enterprising spirit will exert upward like the soaring of the dragons.
前程朤朤 qián chéng lǎng lǎng：Have an infinitely glorious and bright future.
生活䲜䲜 shēng huó yè yè: Living a prosperous life and surplus year after year .
繁体 fán tǐ：Traditional Chinese
腾飞 téng fēi：rise rapidly
光彩 guāng cǎi：shine;glory;honour
成群结队 chéng qún jié duì：in flocks in crowds