Emma's ESL English Emma

A while ago I was talking to a Taiwanese student and he said 'I'll leave it for my future self to handle'. We talked for a while about this, I loved the idea but couldn't think about how to say this in English.

In the end I've had to accept that we just don't have anything like this in English. Instead, today I'll share with you lots of different common phrases we do use to talk about the future. I hope you find them useful.

And one bonus phrase is 'Don't your chickens'. The full phrase is 'don't count your chickens before the eggs have hatched'. It means don't get excited about a future that hasn't arrived yet. I'm starting to realise that English people are quite pessimistic...perhaps it's all the rain!

Blog entry:


Saving money for the future:

Take care of the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves. - take care of the small things, or don't forget to save small change.

Save for a rainy day - save for the bad times.



When we're resigned to the future, we accept that we have no control over it. We might say:

What will be will be

Tomorrow is another day

Only time will tell

All of these mean 'we just have to wait and see what happens, there's nothing else I can do.'



Americans say, 'I'll have to take a rain check.' We don't have this in the UK. It means 'I need to reschedule.'

One of the commenters on YouTube told me this idiom originally came from a real check, or slip of paper that you would receive if an event was postponed because of rain. It meant your ticket would still be valid in the future.



Sometimes we're predicting or expecting something from the future:

It's a sign of things to come. - an ominous announcement that what is happening now is an indication of what will happen later

I think you're getting ahead of yourself - you're getting too excited about something in the future and it might not happen, so you should calm down and manage your expectations.

I'm counting the days until Christmas - You're looking forward to something

Bonus: I think we're jumping the gun - idiom that means the same as 'getting ahead of yourself'.



Something you do now will have an impact on the future:

You reap what you sow

What goes around comes around

Karma's a bitch!

All of these means that if you do something bad now something bad will come back to you later.


Vocabulary

encompasses - to include or be related to

the first thing that struck me about this - idiom meaning 'that was interesting to me' or 'that I noticed' about this thing

explicitly - in detail and clearly

We're just resigned to the future - to be resigned to something means you don't think you can change it. It's going to happen no matter what.

this one hasn't caught on - phrasal verb meaning something hasn't become popular

ominous - something that suggests bad things are going to happen in the future

manage their expectations - to reduce someone's expectations and make them more realistic

in true Christian fashion - 'in true ___ fashion' is a phrase that can be applied to a person or thing that suggests that is the most normal thing for them or the most likely way we can expect them to behave.

neutrality - something is neither good or bad or you are on nobody's side

cynicism - a negativity or pessimism about everything

project us into the future - project means to push something forward, usually an image

'Quite' is such a common word in English. As you'll see from my closing statement, it's even possible to put it in almost every sentence! So what do all these 'quite's mean? Don't worry, I've got your back.

Today we're learning all the different ways you can use 'quite' correctly in a sentence. I'll give you some examples and show you some mistakes.

I've tried my hardest to keep it simple, but as always, English is just confusing!



From the blog:

Gradable or not? How to use Quite:

This is the first thing to decide. If something is gradable, then we can use 'quite' before it to mean 'fairly' or 'rather'.


I'm quite busy.


I quite like Chinese food.


It can be quite contradictory.


It's quite a common word.


It can be used in quite different ways.



If something is not gradable then using quite emphasises the extremity and means 'completely' or 'totally'.


She's quite amazing.


It's quite impossible for you to come for dinner.


I think that's quite enough!



We can use 'quite' with a noun, but remember the article. Again if it's gradable it means 'fairly' or 'rather'.


I've had quite a nice day today.


I read quite an interesting book last week.



We can use it before 'the' to get 'exactly' or 'completely'.


You got everything quite the wrong way round.


You're doing quite the opposite to what I told you to do.


It's quite he perfect thing.



We don't often use quite with comparisons. But if we use it with 'similar' it means 'fairly similar:


The twins have quite similar personalities.



And if we use it with 'different' it means very 'different'.


My brother and I have quite different personalities.



'Not quite' or the negative is used to mean 'not completely' or 'not exactly'.


I haven't got quite enough votes.


She's not quite ready.



We can use 'quite' to soften something and make it more polite.


He's quite angry isn't he.


I haven't quite finished the project.



Be careful to use alternative measure or counting words when they make more sense or make your meaning clearer:


It's almost the perfect thing.


It's almost time.


It's nearly the perfect thing.


It's nearly time.





Additional Vocabulary

Today we're going back to our roots - idiom - means we're going back to where things started or back to where our ancestors came from

contradictory - different or opposed to what we think or expect or what someone says

gradable - can be a little, a lot or anything in between

inconsistent - changes often or all the time

opposed to - opposite to

reinforcing - to make something stronger

time is finite - there is a limit to it, it doesn't last forever

Yesterday I read from Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men, today let's take a look at the vocabulary.

Luckily the vocabulary in this episode is much much easier than last week's Jane Eyre! But we do have some little blue men, who speak in a Glaswegian accent and are very hard to understand and we do have some tricky phrasal verbs.

In this episode I also mentioned the podcast Terry's daughter recently made for the BBC. It's called Mythical Creatures and you can find it on most podcast providers. I'll put the Spotify Link below.

https://open.spotify.com/show/67sXrKUOZSbNi5dN2NrgLE?si=43137db34414456a

I hope you found this week's episodes fun.



From the blog:

This is one of my favourite books and the very first Discworld novel I ever read. It is The Wee Free Men and is the first appearance of young witch Tiffany Aching. You might of heard of Tiffany before, she was appeared in the Wintersmith story I read last year. (Episode 79 & 80)

Episode 79, Part 1: https://youtu.be/CKwwxL8p8hw

Episode 80 Part 2: https://youtu.be/kuwB08Uajbo



Vocabulary

Sticky - when you've eaten too many sweets and your fingers stick together

Tiffany was going to be a hard name to live up to - 'to live up to' is a phrase meaning you should try to reach someone's expectations

Susurrus - a quiet whispering sound that suggests something is about to happen

Crivens, Gang awa oot o here ye daft wee hinny! 'Ware the green heid! - Crivens is a sort of swear word. Then they say 'go away out of here you silly girl! Beware of the green head!'

Nae time for fishin' The green heid's comin' - No time for fishing, the green head's coming.

Let's Offski! -Let's Go!

Gulping - taking big swallows of air or liquid

Dark Delight - when you shouldn't really be happy, but you're secretly very happy

Plunging - disappearing quickly and deeply into water

Absent-mindedly - without thinking

Sloshing - liquid moving around vigorously

Ridiculous - something very stupid or silly

Taken up - when you shorten some clothing

Taken in - when you make some clothing smaller

Taken down - when you lengthen some clothing

Taken out - when you make some clothing bigger

Taken away - when you remove something from someone

Skittering - a jerky jumpy movement

This week on the podcast we have another reading episode. This is one of my favourite books and the very first Discworld novel I ever read. It is The Wee Free Men and is the first appearance of young witch Tiffany Aching.

I chose this excerpt especially because of a delightful collection of phrasal verbs towards the end.

There are some unusual creatures in the story, but don't worry, I will explain all of the vocabulary in Episode 203. I hope you enjoy the story.


From the blog:

You might of heard of Tiffany before, she was appeared in the Wintersmith story I read last year. (Episode 79 & 80)

Episode 79, Part 1: ⁠https://youtu.be/CKwwxL8p8hw ⁠

Episode 80 Part 2: ⁠https://youtu.be/kuwB08Uajbo⁠



Vocabulary

Sticky - when you've eaten too many sweets and your fingers stick together

Tiffany was going to be a hard name to live up to - 'to live up to' is a phrase meaning you should try to reach someone's expectations

Susurrus - a quiet whispering sound that suggests something is about to happen

Crivens, Gang awa oot o here ye daft wee hinny! 'Ware the green heid! - Crivens is a sort of swear word. Then they say 'go away out of here you silly girl! Beware of the green head!'

Nae time for fishin' The green heid's comin' - No time for fishing, the green head's coming.

Let's Offski! -Let's Go!

Gulping - taking big swallows of air or liquid

Dark Delight - when you shouldn't really be happy, but you're secretly very happy

Plunging - disappearing quickly and deeply into water

Absent-mindedly - without thinking

Sloshing - liquid moving around vigorously

Ridiculous - something very stupid or silly

Taken up - when you shorten some clothing

Taken in - when you make some clothing smaller

Taken down - when you lengthen some clothing

Taken out - when you make some clothing bigger

Taken away - when you remove something from someone

Skittering - a jerky jumpy movement

Thank you so much to all my podcast listeners, I didn't mention you much in the video, but this is where it all started. I know you have been listening long before I started understanding how to work YouTube!

I watched my stats on here go up and was amazed that people found my videos useful. Sadly the platforms don't really give us much opportunity to connect but I can see the numbers behind the scenes and I was paying attention.

As I mentioned in the video, the plan is to finish the podcast at the end of February and to start closing down this channel and the YouTube channel by the second week in March. The website will only be open for the first week in March, due to my subscription there.

If you would like to download episodes or copy and paste blog posts and vocabulary from episodes please do that. Remember you can find everything on the blog at: www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

It's fully searchable so just search the episode number and you should find what you're looking for.

I won't be using this channel for my new business, simply because there is a limit to how many places I can make content for and keep track of.

Thank you so much for your support and time over the last few years. I really hope my content has been fun, supportive and useful for you. I wish you all the best for the future and hope your studies in English bring you everything you hope for.

See you next week

Emma

Yesterday I read a famous scene from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Today let's review the vocabulary and meaning of some of the conversation.

I'm particularly interested in the part about 'You think I am an automaton, a machine without feelings.' Let me give you a little historical timeline:
British Industrial revolution 1760-1830
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was released 1818
Jane Eyre was released 1847

So the industrial revolution had been going on for almost a hundred years at this point. Certainly there were machines and Charlotte Bronte would have seen them. She did live in the countryside, but she also had some experience travelling, she travelled and lived in Brussels and she travelled to London to stay with her writer friend Elizabeth Gaskell, so she would have seen machines.

However, this idea of an 'automaton' is much more likely to have come from Mary Shelley's book Frankenstein. This book is widely recognised as the invention of Science Fiction. Charlotte and her sisters would definitely have read it. Although Mary originally published the book anonymously, sometime after 1821 the Bronte's would have found out the writer was a woman and they were probably very excited and inspired by Mary Shelley, who lived quite an unusual and exciting live and whose mother is widely recognised as one of the founders of modern feminism. So, it's very likely that this word 'automaton' and this idea of a machine without a heart comes from Frankenstein.

I think it's very cool to think about these historical writers, who would have inspired them and who were their friends. How did they connect their stories to the cultural stories of the time?

#englishpodcast #englishlisteningpractice #janeeyre #charlottebrontë


Vocabulary continued from Episode 200

'Trampled on' - To be stepped on or treated badly

'Glimpse of Communion' - Remember 'communion' means having a deep conversation so she's seen a little bit of having good conversations.

'What I reverence' - something we deeply respect

'Automaton' - Something that doesn't think or have a heart

'Morsel' - A small amount

'Snatched' - taken forcefully

'Dashed' - knocked from your hand

'through the medium of custom, conventionalities or even mortal flesh' - She recognises that what she's saying goes against what's normal in their positions, in society and even as man and woman.

'Passed through the grave and stood at God's feet' - At this point British people were still very religious so she's talking here of them dying and going to heaven, and there she believes they are equal.

I would scorn such a union - Scorn means to hate and

don't struggle so, like a wild, frantic bird that is rending its own plumage in desperation - this means to pull out the birds feathers

I am no bird and no net ensnares me. I am a free human being with an independent will - ensnare means to catch in a trap and 'independent will', means she has her own mind and makes her own decisions.

which I will now exert to leave you - she's now going to use her own will to leave him

farce - a play or a joke

little sceptic - someone who is always suspicious and doesn't believe what they're told

'What me? I ejaculated, beginning in his earnestness and especially in his incivility, to credit his sincerity' - I said, starting to believe he was telling the truth (sincerity) because he seemed so honest (earnest) and he was starting to get annoyed (incivility).

Countenance - just means facial expression.

'I do. And if an oath is necessary to satisfy you, I swear it.' - oath is a promise



God pardon me. He subjoined ere long and man meddle not with me. I have her, and I will hold her.

'Subjoined' - to say at the end of something else, so this is an extra thing he's saying, not so much to her, but to the world or universe.

'ere long' - before long

'meddle not' - don't interfere, don't get in my way