http://www.englishanyone.com/power-learning/ Learn to express yourself confidently in fluent English and sound like a native speaker with our FREE Power Learning video course!
Grow your English vocabulary!
Remember that subjects and verbs must agree! I cry. He cries!
Also remember that subjects and verbs can reverse in questions. How are John and Tim? They are excellent!
Have a look at this guy. What is he doing? Is he
enjoying himself? Does he look happy? He has wings and is flying, but since people can't fly, this character can become a metaphor for doing something effortlessly or skillfully. To say that someone is "good at" something or "skillful" is perfectly fine English, but a more colorful word would be "adroit." An adroit person handles situations well and with ease. Adroit people are resourceful and clever!
What about this character? Does she look poor? What is she carrying? Is she
having a great day? How is she dressed? She's holding two baskets filled to the brim with delicious, expensive looking food, and it would be easy to simply say that she is "rich." But, as we want you to play with more interesting English, try "affluent" on for size. To be affluent means to be wealthy, but it also carries connotations of high class, respect and education. This affluent woman is probably bringing some lovely organic food to cook at her summer home.
Have a look at our next character. Does he look adroit? Is he
enjoying his day? What is he thinking about? How would you feel if you woke up with a barrel around your belly? You'd probably feel pretty confused. Confused is a perfectly good word to use, but try tuning your English up a bit with "baffled." To be baffled by a something is to have no idea how it happened or how to solve it. You can be confused about something, but being baffled carries a stronger meaning of not having any idea whatsoever. What baffles you about English grammar?
Have a look at this woman. Would you like to be her friend? Does she look warm and friendly? Is she positive and upbeat? The pleasant smile and angel wings on this character should lead you to see that she's kind, but a more colorful word that gets to the core of her persona would be "benevolent." A benevolent person cares about others and thinks about others when acting. Benevolent is also a much stronger word than kind and is used when people do especially nice things. If I give you my candy bar, I'm kind. If I pardon you from 10 years in prison, I am benevolent.
What is happening in this scene? On a concrete level, a man is being surrounded by demons, aliens, gossips and other things most people would rather not encounter. Abstractly, we could say he is caught in the middle of differing opinions or ideas. Either way, he is handling himself well. You could say that he's calm, but due to all the activity around him, it is more appropriate to say that he's "composed." You can sit by a peaceful river and be calm, but you need something trying to make you upset to show that you are composed. When something you are studying gets frustrating, stay composed and you will work through it more easily.
Have you ever seen a whale wearing clothes? Where do you think he shops? What kind of job do you think he has? There are many words for "big" in English, and each has a relative meaning from big to really, really big. For this character, try "gargantuan." Gargantuan just means really, really, really big, but it sounds much cooler if you can say "gargantuan" than if you say "really" many times.
Have a look at this little town. What words come to mind when you think about it? Private? Personal? Small? The people of this town may all be nice and friendly to one another, but the relationship of the town to the outside world is probably very different. A great, simple word to describe both the look and feel of this town is "insular." Insular usually has to do with islands, but it also carries the meaning ofemotionally segregated, or closed off, when used with people. The opposite of an insular person would be welcoming and outgoing. What kind of person are you?
Our last character can be described with many, equally appropriate words, depending on how you see him. Is he crazy? Is he smart? What is he trying to do? Based upon his clothing, hairstyle and pose, we think he looks "kooky." To be kooky is to be strange or eccentric. Kooky people look funny to the rest of us, but they usually know what they're doing. We all have kooky ways of doing things. Maybe you like bananas on your steak.
Go back and watch this video many times so you remember the words and get a good understanding of how subjects and verbs agree. Practice repeating the sentences and then get out and use the words and phrases with native speakers! Have fun and enjoy getting fluent in English!
For more tips, lessons and videos, and to learn the 7 secrets every student must know to get fluent quickly visit us at http://www.englishanyone.com/.
