English with Bill

22/01/2024

🌟 Today's word is something we all love to give and receive - "Gift"! 🎁

📚 Definition: A gift is something given to someone without payment; a present.

✍️ Example sentence: "The best gift she received was a handwritten letter from her old friend."

🤔 Did You Know? The word "gift" comes from the Old Norse word 'gift', which means 'to give'.

🌈 Thought for the Day: Every language skill you acquire is a gift to your future self. Treat your learning journey as a series of gifts, unwrapping a new one each day!

💭 Question: What's the most memorable gift you've ever received or given? Was it a physical item, an experience, or perhaps a valuable lesson? Share your stories with us!

🔥 Challenge: Use "gift" in a sentence below!

14/12/2023

I am still a touch* sick from yesterday so I will just go to work for a few hours. I will meet with one staff member about having a possible English camp in Bangkok and besides that I will take it easy*.

What are your plans for the day?

* a touch of something = a little bit of something
* to take it easy = to not do anything that takes a lot of energy

13/12/2023

Word of the day: debate

Meaning: a formal discussion or argument

Example: In the US presidential debates have already started even though the election is next year.

Do people in your culture like to debate or not?

12/12/2023

Jung Kook, a member of the K-Pop band BTS was recently ___________ into the South Korean military.

A. enrolled B. expelled
C. hired D. conscripted

12/12/2023

Words of the day:

1) to instill

Definition: to put an idea or feeling into someone’s mind

Example: Watching Cowboy Bepop when I was a teenager instilled a love of anime into me.

2) awe

Definition: a feeling that is a combination of fear, respect, wonder, and amazment

Example: Most people have a hero that inspires them with awe.

Who or what makes you feel awe?

11/12/2023

Word of the Day: Peace

Meaning: Quiet, tranquility, or free from any disturbances. Also, a state of being calm and free from conflict.

Example: "After a long day of work, she found peace by sitting in her garden."

How do you find peace in your life?

14/11/2023

What are your dreams and will learning English help you achieve them?

13/11/2023

Think you know the answer?

13/11/2023

Today is Monday and the start of a new week. The word Monday comes from “Moon Day”. So Monday = the day of the moon.

Mybplan for the day is to exercise and to go into work, where I will have many meetings.

What is your plan for the day?

05/06/2023

I can’t imagine a scarier beginning to a book in any language.

Question: Why do I say “scarier” and not “more scary” in the above sentence?

03/06/2023

What is the “Streisand effect”? Can you tell me about any instances of the Streisand effect you know about from your country?

28/10/2022

Why did Elon Musk tweet “let that sink in” while walking into Twitter a couple of days ago?

Let that sink in is an idiom. We use it after a statement to tell the listener that the statement is important and the listener should think about what it means. In this case Elon is saying it is very important that he is entering Twitter HQ and people should think about what that means.

Of course Elon also turned the statement into a joke by walking into Twitter headquarters with a sink. So in this case it was a bit of a joke because “let that sink in” also meant we should let the sink enter the building.

Hope that explains the use of “let that sink in”!

“Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!”