Tag Archives: vocabulary

Word of the Day: maths or math?

Word of the Day, , ,

What’s the short for the word “mathematics“? Is it “maths” or “math”? Is it a “maths exercise” or a “math exercise”? “A maths lesson” or a “math lesson”?

Well, dear reader, the answer is: both are Ok. It all depends on where you are.

♥American English uses the word “math” whereas if you speak British English you should use the form ” maths”. If you have travelled further and are in New Zealand or Australia, then you need to use  the word” maths”.
I work with kids. I tutor them in math (AmE)
I work with kids. I tutor them in maths (BrE)

♥Another thing that might surprise you is the fact that the word “mathematics” is uncountable and therefore takes a singular verb. It has no plural.

Math/ Maths is one of my favourite subjects

There are some other words in English that end in- s but are singular (eg. News, politics, billiards, measles, statistics…)

Politics is a complicated business
The unemployment statistics are worrying

♥Remember that we don’t use capital letters for school subjects but when  we talk about languages, as school subjects, then we need to use a capital letter.

She’s passed with flying colours her Spanish, history and maths exams

So,as you can see there is not just one correct shortened form for the word “mathematics”. If you learned  your English in the US, “math” is correct for you and if you learned it in the UK, then “maths” is the one you should use.

Word of the Day: to Cheat and to Cheat On

Word of the Day,

Done! I have finished marking exams, and now what is left is something I really hate, red tape. Writing, sometimes, useless reports nobody will ever see but which are, nevertheless, part of the time-consuming  red tape  a teacher has to necessarily fill in at the end of the course.

So finals are over and I’m glad to say I haven’t caught any students red-handed. Come to think of it, if any of my students is reading it, he might  be laughing his head off thinking how naive we, teachers, sometimes are. Anyway, I’m happy in my blissful  ignorance!

♥ To Cheat on Someone: to be sexually unfaithful.

They got divorced because he was cheating on her

♥ To cheat in an exam/ to cheat on an exam

None of my students have cheated on their final tests. 😉

Going to the Doctor!

Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate, , , , , , , ,

This is a lesson I created about three years ago. As it often happens with my lesson plans I have written  some of the exercises myself, while some others have been taken here and there; in this case, some of the tasks link to a website ELLA, which I highly recommend  not only because  it is run by some of my colleagues from different EEOOII in Asturias but also because it is the best I have found so far that offers, for free, lesson plans where you can work all skills.

At the time of creating this lesson I wrote a post dedicated to my father  that you can read here. He passed away a few years ago but I still miss him and think he was the best doctor ever  and not just because he was my father and girls always think the best of their fathers but because, when treating his patients,  he relied more  on  instinct and experience than on books and this is essential to a doctor.

Click on the picture advertising the lesson plan if you want to do some practice.Level: A2

A Word on Grammar: Think Of,About, On or In?

A word on Grammar, Music, , , ,

If you must ask, yes, it’s still raining in Asturias; raining and freezing cold but…I have to say that this is unusual weather for this time of the year. So, if you are considering holidaying in this part of the world, don’t cross it off just yet; the weather must definitely improve this week ( it can’t get any worse).

The idea for this post came while dozing off on the sofa watching the new (probably not so new now for some of you) James Bong film SkyFall. I suddenly came wide awake when, in the film, M’s computer is hacked and a THINK ON YOUR SINS is displayed on her computer. This single preposition got me thinking … how, in the name of God, are my students supposed to learn English prepositions? Thus, I decided to write this post, about the tricky English prepositions.

♥Think Of/ About. Most of the times you can use both when talking about people. So: I’m thinking of you and I am thinking about you mean pretty much the same.

But

-Think about. You use think about with the meaning “consider”:

I need to think about this problem

–Think of. You use think of  with two meanings.

  1. when you are “asking somebody’s opinion”.

What do you think of my sister’s boyfriend?

2. Or with the meaning “to imagine”

It is hot! I am thinking of lying on the beach, eating a big ice-cream.

I also very often use the expression, Come to think of it…

 

On the other hand, both Think On and Think In are less used.

♥Think On is a bit archaic, and it is much closer to the meaning of think about 

Think on your sins

♥Think in is very easy to differentiate as it is only used with the verb to speak

Do you think in Spanish when you speak in English?

I hope it is helpful! Now if you want to relax after this boring explanation, enjoy the soundtrack of this film, performed by the great Adele.