Vocabulary Focus: Spontaneous and Unpredictable

Spontaneous is used for a sudden and unplanned action, or for people who habitually do things without planning them beforehand.

Example: #1) The man suddenly lifted the computer monitor from his desk and threw it to the ground. It must have been a build up of emotion because it was so spontaneous. #2) The explosion seemed spontaneous. They don't know what triggered it. #3) He fell in love with his girlfriend because she was spontaneous. When they met, he didn't know what they would do together. It made her an exciting and attractive person.


Unpredictable is used for a person or force whose actions cannot be guessed beforehand.

Example: #1) Lately, the weather has been unpredictable, so I always carry an umbrella. #2) The stock market is so complicated that the results are unpredictable. #3) He broke up with his girlfriend because she was unpredictable. She would often get angry or sad for no clear reason, and it gave him a lot of stress.

Empathy

When sharing emotions or feeling an emotion towards someone, we can use these common expressions. Using the correct prepositions is especially important here. Look at the examples below:


to feel happy for someone - #1) He's going to a great university and I feel happy for him. #2) She's finally found true love and I feel happy for her.

to feel sorry for someone - #1) She was rejected by the university and I feel sorry for her. #2) His girlfriend betrayed him and I feel sorry for him.

to worry about someone - #1) My daughter is looking pale and thin. She doesn't eat and there are cuts on her arms. I'm really worried about her. #2) I'm worried about my husband because he never talks to me anymore.

to care about someone - #1) I care about my brother, but I don't know how to help him. #2) My ex-boyfriend is a liar and I don't care about him anymore.

to understand how someone feels - #1) His girlfriend is in another city for the summer and he's quite sad. I went through the same thing with my husband, so I understand how he feels. #2) She's desperate because she can't find a good job. It took me a long time to find my job too, so I understand how she feels.

to relate to something - #1) He's having difficult with his marriage. I went through a divorce myself and I can relate to his situation. #2) His father is a drug-addicted, sexually abusive monster. I can relate to his trauma because my ex-husband was the same way.

to feel the same way - #1) My coworker told me he was bored at his job and I told him that I feel the same way. #2) He looked into my eyes and told me that he loves me. When I looked at him, I realized that I felt the same way.

Climbing

Climbing is the act of ascending, usually something that has a top. When thinking about climbing, you will think first about mountains, but there is a greater list of common things that can be climbed.

Tree - The monkey climbed (up) the tree to get a mango.

Bed - My cat climbed on the bed and pissed on it.

Stairs - She climbed (up) the stairs instead of taking the elevator to lose weight.

Hill - My brother and I climbed (up) the hill. At the top, we looked downwards and I pushed him.

Ladder - The fireman climbed (up) the ladder to capture a monkey eating a mango in a tree.

Corporate Ladder - He climbed (up) the corporate ladder by being more clever than his colleagues.

Table - The woman climbed on the table, danced and took off her shirt.

Shoulders - My daughter climbed on my shoulders and we walked around the park.

Wall - The cat climbed on the wall and walked across it.

Rope - The thief climbed (up) the rope onto the roof of the building.


Note: If you climb "up" something, you can usually climb "down" the thing as well. Example: #1) The woman climbed down the stairs. #2) The fireman climbed down the ladder. #3) I climbed down the hill. #4) The thief climbed down the rope.

I'm going to FOG you UP!

To fog up is a seldom used, but occasionally needed phrasal verb that describes when a transparent or reflective surface becomes coated with a fine mist, i.e. fog. Mirrors, glasses and windows are the things that most often "fog up" and examples of this phenomenon follow.

#1) His wife was taking a shower while he was trying to shave. The steam from the shower fogged up the window, so he had to wipe the mirror repeatedly.

#2) The weather was cold outside that day. When I entered the warm restaurant, my glasses fogged up and my friends laughed at me.

#3) During Titanic, Leonardo and Kate Winslet were in the back of a car, doing something conveniently off-camera. It was a noisy activity and fogged up the windows.

Positive Descriptive Phrases For Your Personality

This is an excerpt my Flight Attendant English Interview Handbook available from the Amazon Kindle Bookstore. They are possible answers to the question "Can you tell us a little about yourself?" They should be followed up with examples from your experience.

Positive Descriptive Phrases for your Personality

People person – Above all, I’m a people person because I truly enjoy working with others.

Team Player – I’m definitely a team player because I know that people can accomplish more as part of a group.

Level-headed – When making important decisions, it’s important to be level-headed, so you can see the situation clearly.

Responsible – I’m a devoutly responsible person and my employers know that they can rely on me.

Goal Oriented – The best way to accomplish something is to make a plan for yourself. This is why I’m a goal oriented person and I push myself to meet new challenges.

Diligent – I’m a diligent person. I never give up on a project that I believe in.

Approachable (approach people easily) – I’m very suited for the service field because I’m friendly and people approach me easily.

Cheerful – I try to be a cheerful person, smiling warmly to everyone I meet and brightening the atmosphere.

Decisive – It’s important for a leader to be decisive while using everyone’s key strengths. This way, they make decisions that most benefit the company and uses the team to their potential.

Understanding – My friends consider me an understanding person because I listen closely to their problems, and I give them the best advice.

Enthusiastic – A good employee should be enthusiastic about their job. This attitude will greatly influence their coworkers, and improve the team’s overall performance.

English Mission: How do you play your favorite game? Part One

Instructions are sometimes difficult to give in English because they aren't conversational and only practiced when teaching someone to play a game. But understanding how these games are played already will help you understand the vocabulary within the instructions. Just read the description of these popular games.

Chess
To play chess, you need two players, a chess board and some chess pieces. First, you line up the chess pieces in two rows on opposite sides of the board. The players take turns moving their pieces across the board. Each type of piece has a different movement across the board. For example, a rook moves in horizontal and vertical lines across the board, moving an unlimited number of spaces, while the bishop moves diagonally across the board, also an unlimited number of spaces. When one player's piece has landed on an opponent's piece, the player has captured that piece and removes it from the board. The objective of the game is to trap the opponent's king.

Dodgeball
To play dodgeball, you need two groups of players and any number of balls.Two groups of players stand on opposite sides of a line, facing each other. They throw balls at each other in an attempt to hit one another. If one players throws a ball and hits another player, the hit player is eliminated from the game. If the throwing player fails to hit the other player, then game play will resume normally. However, if the player throws the ball and his opponent catches it, the throwing player is eliminated from the game. They may throw the ball as many times as necessary. The game is finished when a team has been completely eliminated.

Tennis
To play tennis, you need two players, tennis racquets, a tennis ball, a net and a tennis court. The players stand on opposite sides of the net. One player begins by serving the ball and the other player attempts to return the ball. The players hit the ball back and forth over the net until one player fails to return the ball. When a player fails to return the ball, the opposing player receives a point. A successful return means hitting the ball over the net and landing the ball within the borders of the court. The game may also be played with two players on each side of the court and this version is referred to as doubles.

Rest (Remainder)

Rest can be defined as the remainder of something, or the leftover amount. It requires differentiation between parts of a group.

Examples for rest of:

#1) Micheal went home, but the rest of us went out.
#2) There we a bus accident and two passengers were injured, but the rest of the passengers were unharmed.
#3) I used my check to pay for my bills and used the rest of the money on new clothes.
#4) I'm full and I can't eat the rest of my meal.
#5) At the gym, I spent one hour lifting weights and the rest of the time on the treadmill.
#6) I want to spend the rest of my life on a private island.
#7) Since I slept on the job, the boss gave me the rest of the day off

Examples for the rest:
#1) Eat as much as you want and give the rest to the dogs.
#2) I can't finish this bottle of wine. What shall we do with the rest?
#3) This isn't all of the money! Where is the rest?
#4) I will take this puppy. The rest are too ugly.
#5) There were three women at the party. The rest were men.

Dress

The verb to dress means to put clothes on, but there can be changes in meaning depending on the preposition and direct object.

To get dressed means to put clothes on yourself.
Example: #1) After my shower, I got dressed and had a quick breakfast. #2) Wake up and get dressed. I don't want you to stay in bed all day.

To get someone dressed means to put clothes on someone else.
Example: I get my daughter dressed for school every morning.

To dress up means to wear nice clothes.
Example: I dressed up for my aunt's wedding/funeral.

To dress up like means to wear a costume. Example: #1) I dressed up like a vampire for Halloween. #2) They dressed up like ninjas for the comic book convention.

To dress in means to wear a specific fabric or article of clothing.
Example: #1) My ex-wife liked going to special parties and dressing in leather.
#2) The woman was dressed in my clothes and looking at me strangely.

To undress means to remove clothing.
Example: #1) She undressed quickly and ran wildly into the streets.
#2) I undressed nervously as the fat man glared in the corner through billows of cigar smoke.

In and Out of the Way.

To get in the way means to block someone from a goal or destination.
And to be in the way means to be blocking.
To get/move out of the way means to stop blocking someone.
To be/stay out of the way means to not bother people or escape notice.

Examples:

#1) A cow got in the way of the train and it had to stop.
#2) A family of turtles crossed the road, getting in the way of traffic.
#3) I am trying to meet my girlfriend, but her sister is always getting in the way.
#4) I wanted to go on holiday, but my work got in the way of my plans.

#5) Sorry, am I in the way?
#6) Yes, you are absolutely in the way.
#7) I tried to get out of my driveway, but there was another car in the way.
#8) She want to be happy, but her anxieties are in the way.

#9) Get out of the way, Jackass!
#10) I can't leave the plane until the other passengers get out of the way.
#11) He waited for a half hour before the other car moved out of the way.
#12) I want to relax today, but there is a lot of work I should get out of the way first.

#13) There was a cow on the train tracks, but it's out of the way now.
#14) My little brother is quiet and mostly stays out of the way.
#15) Dan is a harmless employee, always choosing to stay out of the way.

Try To Keep Up, will you?

To keep up with someone/something means to try to match their pace. The pace can relate to their speed, progress, societal change or the flow of information. If you don't keep up with someone, you are slower or there is information you are failing to receive. This can also be called, falling behind.

Examples:

#1) My son ran in a marathon, but he is slow and can't keep up with the others.
#2) The boy tried to keep up with his older brother and his friends, but they walked too quickly for him.

#3) The teacher spoke quickly and the students couldn't keep up with him.
#4) Even though I was sick, my friend brought my homework to me and I kept up with the class.

#5) I visit news websites every morning and evening because it's important to keep up with the news.
#6) Between her work and family, she is too busy to watch the news and she doesn't keep up with it.

#7) My mother is older now, but she reads fashion magazines and keeps up with modern trends.
#8) I think fashion is superficial and I don't keep up with it.

#9) Try to keep up, will you? (Try to maintain the same pace.)
#10) Keep up the good work! (Your work is good. Continue doing good work.)