EFGU-English For Grown Ups

21 mars 2016

Cat burglar prefers to take underwear – A2

We recently talked about robberies and armed robberies. This time, thanks to this Kiwi cat and the Huffington Post, we are going to talk about a very unusual burglary. In the last few months, a feline burglar named Brigit, has entered many houses illegally,...

Posté par EFGU à 15:26 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: A2, vocabulary, offence

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10 mars 2016

Police wear humor on their arms - B1

Anybody who would say that the Police doesn’t have any humor, would probably make a mistake. As an evidence, have a look at the following patches and at the following D aily M ail article. Bizarre DEA arm patches show grim reaper, rainbows and syringes...

Posté par EFGU à 14:31 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: B1, vocabulary, police, funnies

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26 février 2016

You’re not gonna need a bigger boat to use this "Jaws" quote - B1

The quote “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” (i.e. gonna = going to) comes from the Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster “Jaws”. In this movie when Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) sees the massive Shark for the first time, he realises the boat on which he is,...

Posté par EFGU à 22:36 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: B1, vocabulary, idiom, quote

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24 février 2016

This is a robbery ! - Pulp fiction - A2

Robbery is to steal something from someone by force, threat or by putting the victim in fear. If a robbery involves the use of a weapon, it becomes an armed robbery or "holdup". Perpetrators of robberies are called robbers The opening scene of the famous...

Posté par EFGU à 08:39 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: A2, vocabulary, offence, robbery

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22 février 2016

Women's clothing and accessories - A2

If you ever wanted to look like a true British lady, you should possess in your wardrobe the following items, as recommended by The Telegraph. It is also a good opportunity to practice the clothes vocabulary. 30 items that should be in your wardrobe by...

Posté par EFGU à 12:09 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: A2, vocabulary, clothes

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17 février 2016

Rock'n'roll grammar – Pink Floyd "Wish you were here" – B1

In this beautiful song, the Pink Floyd band members wish their deceased friend Syd Barrett were near them. To express their wish, they use "wish" followed by "to be" in the preterit. - WISH + WAS or WERE (to be in the preterit). Eg: I wish I was here,...

Posté par EFGU à 11:27 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: B1, GRAMMAR, MUSIC

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17 février 2016

Mind blowing figures in Australia - A2

The following article shows many big figures and some currency symbols. Let's remind how to read those strange signs. After reading the article, don't forget to have a look at the interesting video clip embedded on BBC Australia's website and related...

Posté par EFGU à 09:39 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: A2, figure, symbol, reading

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12 février 2016

Why your travel documents should not be misused even in case of an emergency! - A2

Have a look at this absurd history of a woman who was refused entry to Thailand, after confounding her passport with toilet paper. Woman refused entry to Thailand after ripping pages from passport to use as loo roll when drunk A British traveller was...

Posté par EFGU à 11:53 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: A2, vocabulary, police, funnies

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10 février 2016

Fight of the year: 2 Irish men vs sofa

We have already written about accents in our pages, but this time we are testing the most difficult one, the Irish accent. Except a few F... words, we hardly decipher every bit of this video, in which you will discover a nice pair of drunkards trying...

Posté par EFGU à 10:07 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: funnies, accents, irish

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9 février 2016

How to prevent and fight against shoplifting – A2

Shop owners know that shoplifting damages their business. That is why, they often do their best to prevent this offence in their shop. There are many ways to fight crime, here are below some examples of imaginative and humorous signs to fight shoplif...

Posté par EFGU à 13:57 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: A2, vocabulary, offence

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3 février 2016

French origin of English words - B1

If you are interested in etymology, have a look at this excellent video which will remind you that a certain William the Conqueror once invaded England.

Posté par EFGU à 09:22 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: B1, vocabulary, etymology

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2 février 2016

It is great being scottish - A2

According to Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson (Actor James Mc Avoy) the Scottish nation brought us a lot of inventions. Are you able to list all that wonderful stuff by watching this movie extract? If you need some help, the transcript is hidden behind...

Posté par EFGU à 20:06 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: A2, vocabulary, idiom

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25 janvier 2016

Make your day with this famous Dirty Harry's quote - B2

"Go ahead, make my day” The idiomatic expression or idiom “to make someone’s day” means, to make someone happy by doing something that he wants you to do. There, Harry Callahan wants the gangster to go ahead and to give him the opportunity to use his...

Posté par EFGU à 14:03 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: B2, vocabulary, idiom, quote

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25 janvier 2016

A criminal arrested but a word still missing - B1

I frequently hear learners of English saying that they don’t read press articles because they can’t even understand the titles. In many cases their failure to understand is due to ELLIPSIS. Ellipsis is the omission of elements which are recoverable from...

Posté par EFGU à 12:18 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: B1, police, GRAMMAR, ellipsis

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22 janvier 2016

Rock'n'roll grammar - David Bowie "Let's dance" - A2

The imperative is used to command, to order or to suggest something. In the song "Let's dance", David Bowie probably invites someone to dance with him. In this case "Let’s" is the short form for "let us" used to make a suggestion which includes himself....

Posté par EFGU à 09:01 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: A2, GRAMMAR, IMPERATIVE, MUSIC

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18 janvier 2016

Duct tape - B1

You may have had the opportunity to use duct tape in many circumstances. In home improvement for example, as a magical DIY (Do It Yourself) material : to fix a pipe to restrain a dangerous person or even get a free hair removal, also known as epilation,...

Posté par EFGU à 15:45 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: B1, funnies, DIY, shopping

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12 janvier 2016

Body and Clothes A1

If like us, you like superheroes and want to learn and practice the vocabulary related to physical appearance, create your own avatar on the Marvel website. Create Your Own Superhero

Posté par EFGU à 12:13 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: vocabulary, A1, body, clothes

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5 janvier 2016

Voice recognition systems don't like Scottish accent - B2

Sometimes, accents can be difficult to understand. As you are better than a voice recognition system, have a look at this video and try to understand whatthose two Scotsmen say. If you want to cheat or just some help, the script of the clip is following....

Posté par EFGU à 20:01 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: B2, video, funnies, scottish, accents

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5 janvier 2016

Tenses with cartoons - A2

Try and think about the use of tenses in the three following cartoons. Source: http://bizarro.com Use the preterit when the action is over. "I thought", but won't think so anymore. Note the construction of the passive form: subject + auxiliary be + past...

Posté par EFGU à 16:02 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: police, GRAMMAR, cartoons, funnies, tenses

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4 janvier 2016

Swear words - A2

A 30-year-old artist from the UK has created a very relaxing coloring book to help you practice your swear words. Have a look at her e-shop: PixieRahDesigns As for me, I would use a light purple for the ''bullshit'' one. Bullshit: non-sense Dickhead:...

Posté par EFGU à 14:28 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: A2, swear, vocabulary

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