HELLO WELCOME TO THE NEWSLETTER FOR NOVEMBER (TIME FLIES) How are things? Getting ready for the upcoming winter? Don t forget to start planning your winter get-aways, always good to have something to look forward to. I ve started my journey of learning some Austrian German words: Povidl, Erdäpfel, Buchteln, Palatschinken, Germ, Backrohr, Sackerl, Packerl, Paradeiser, and many others Learning is truly forever LET S START WITH: A LITTLE VOCABULARY CROSS-WORD PUZZLE TIP: these are the words we ve already learned - see next page for info. P 1 / 9
ACROSS 3. autumn in American English 4. a story or joke that has been told so many times that everyone is bored with it 5. a holiday in which you stay at home and visit places near to where you live, or a holiday in your own country 6. make someone go crazy 7. to put something away in a secret place, especially money (the same way that squirrels store nuts for use in the winter) 8. another (slightly more formal) word for drink DOWN 1. go on a holiday that is very different from your usual everyday work and life routine 2. Altweibersommer LET S MOVE ON TO: SOME NOVEMBER-RELATED VOCABULARY turn over a new leaf to reform and begin again I have made a mess of my life. I'll turn over a new leaf and hope to do better. golden handshake used in Business English to refer to a large sum of money that is given to a high level employee when they leave. The CEO was given early retirement and a golden handshake. be nuts about (someone or something) to be obsessed with someone or something, in a good way (e.g. in love) I'm nuts about that girl. She's gorgeous take a leaf out of someone s book to follow someone s example because they do something well Dana has really done well to turn her life around. You should take a leaf out of her book. P 2 / 9
To help you remember (and use) these new words and phrases, think about how you could use them to talk about your own life For example: I d like to be given a golden handshake at some point in my career. I m nuts about bread. So, what about YOU? I m nuts about. TIME FOR SOME BUSINESS ENGLISH HOW TO BE MORE DIPLOMATIC IN YOUR EMAILS We are all very polite and friendly people. However, sometimes, in a foreign language, we sometimes forget to show it. Read these sentences from emails and change them so that they sound more diplomatic 1 There is a problem. 2 I don t understand what you want. 3 I can t help you. 4 Email me that report. 5 Send us that document. 6 No. I m busy. P 3 / 9
SHORT GRAMMAR LESSON FUN PAST TENSE / EASY VERSION (IRREGULAR VERBS) Good news: there are not so many irregular verbs in English. Bad news: irregular verbs are the most often used kind of verbs when we speak. So let s learn them Here's a link to an overview of all important verbs that I wrote for you, organized alphabetically (German first). I wrote twenty emails yesterday. My husband and I met at university. He ate the whole cake. The question and negative forms look exactly the same as with regular verbs: QUESTION: Did + + infinitive? NEGATIVE: + didn t + infinitive MORE EXAMPLES We drank so much coffee that we had a headache. Did you bring a sleeping bag? I didn t think about it in such detail. P 4 / 9
LEARNING NEWSLETTER Nº3 NOVEMBER 2017 PAST TENSE / DIFFICULT VERSION (HABITUAL ACTIONS AND STATES IN THE PAST) I know you want to start using more advanced English so here s your chance. When you talk about things you regularly did in the past or that were true back then, you can use the following structures: When I was younger I would visit the animals in the ZOO quite often. Every summer we would sit around, drink coffee and do nothing. He used to be quite chubby when he was small. We used to go on trips every summer. STRUCTURE + would / used to + infinitive You can always take the structure used to - for both actions (swim, go) and states (be). However, would can only be used with actions So the following sentence is incorrect: He would be quite chubby when he was small. P5/9
PRACTICE Complete these sentences with the correct forms: / EASY VERSION (IRREGULAR VERBS) 1. I (go) to the cinema yesterday. 2. We (drink) too much wine at the dinner party. 3. He (eat) everything that was in the fridge. 4. We (write) each other so many e-mails last week. 5. She (meet) her best friend at university. / DIFFICULT VERSION (HABITUAL ACTIONS AND STATES IN THE PAST) 6. When I was a little girl, I (be) a little overweight. 7. We (swim) every morning before breakfast during those summers. 8. When I needed help, he (help) me. He was the best colleague ever. 9. When she was angry, she (walk) out of the room. What a strange habit. 10. We (be) happy together. 11. She (love) him but that changed. P 6 / 9
KEY VOCABULARY PRACTICE / CROSSWORD PUZZLE BUSINESS ENGLISH / BEING DIPLOMATIC IN EMAILS 1 There is a problem. I m afraid that there s a slight problem / a bit of a problem. 2 I don t understand what you want. I m not sure if I follow. I m sorry, could you be more specific? 3 I can t help you. I m afraid that I won t be able to help you. (I m) sorry but (unfortunately) I can t help you (at the moment). 4 Email me that report. Please email me that report. Could you email me that report? P 7 / 9
5 Send us that document. Would you be so kind as to send us the document? Please send us that document. 6 No. I m busy. I m afraid I haven t got any time (at the moment). GRAMMAR / EASY VERSION (PAST TENSE - IRREGULAR VERBS) 1 I went to the cinema yesterday. 2 We drank too much wine at the dinner party. 3 He ate everything that was in the fridge. 4 We wrote each other so many e-mails last week. 5 She met her best friend at universtity. GRAMMAR / DIFFICULT VERSION (HABITUAL ACTIONS AND STATES IN THE PAST) 6 When I was a little girl, I used to be a little overweight. 7 We would swim every morning before breakfast during those summers. We used to swim every morning before breakfast during those summers. 8 When I needed help, he would help me. He was the best colleauge ever. When I needed hep, he used to help me. He was the best colleague ever. 9 When she was angry, she would walk out of the room. What a strange habit. When she was angry, she used to walk out of the room. What a strange habit. 10 We used to be happy together. 11 She used to love him but that changed. P 8 / 9
The man who can smile when things go wrong has thought of someone else to blame it on. MURPHY S LAW www.lanickova.com P 9 / 9