Abbie

English for parents – Phrase books!

So they’re finally done. I’ve written a book! In fact I’ve written two books, with the help of my awesome husband. So if you’re a Japanese parent and you’re going to live in an English speaking country, you need this phrase book to help you talk to doctors, teachers, shop assistants, other parents and otherContinue reading “English for parents – Phrase books!”

English everyday – congratulations

It’s my birthday! (It’s not, but stick with me)… What will you say to me? Happy Birthday? Congratulations? Something else? It is a bit strange that in English we have one special word to express best wishes, greetings and compliments; Congratulations, but we don’t use that word for birthdays! What do we say?

English for parents – playground games

I could write a whole book about the games children play, but I’m just going to talk about a few here. Do you know…? Grandma’s footsteps What’s the time Mr Wolf? British bulldog 40/40 or 123 Blocky

English coaching – why I won’t correct all your mistakes

How do you feel when you are told you have made a mistake? Bad, sorry, ashamed, guilty, unconfident? I’m guessing that ‘good’ is not a feeling that goes with making a mistake. How do you feel when you are told you have made a mistake in English (or another language you are learning)? Bad, sorry,Continue reading “English coaching – why I won’t correct all your mistakes”

English everyday – let alone

The doctors said he would never walk again, let alone run. He barely looks 12 years old, let alone 15. Let alone – nothing to do with being alone.

English for parents – grumble and grizzle

Two of my favourite words are grumble and grizzle. Not because of what they mean, but because of how they sound. They are onomatopoeic words (they sound like what they mean) so they sound like the sound they represent. Got it? hummmm….

English everyday – in a strop and in a mood

‘My computer is having a strop. So is my daughter! 😦 ‘ You can throw a strop, have a strop or be in a strop. Can you guess the meaning? The picture at the top is also a clue.

English for parents – mucky and grubby

Two words that parents love; mucky and grubby. Both mucky and grubby mean dirty, and always physically dirty. Especially the kind that children get. When your child has finished jumping in muddy puddles, you can say ‘You’re a mucky pup!’ ‘She’s a bit grubby’ ‘He’s a bit mucky because he was playing in the garden’.Continue reading “English for parents – mucky and grubby”

English for parents – tag, tig, touch

Children all over the world come up with very similar games, hide and seek, grandma’s footsteps, and tag, or is it called tig? or touch? or it? or chase? Tag is the game where one player is ‘it’ (decided by playing dip), they have run after the other players and try and touch them. TheContinue reading “English for parents – tag, tig, touch”

English everyday – whinge and whine

Whinge, whine, moan, grumble, bitch, just stop with all your complaining! Whinging is a great British past-time, we love to have a good whinge about the weather, our jobs, the government, the local shops, other drivers, people on the bus, the quality of Cadbury’s chocolate or the amount of crisps in a packet. Honestly we’llContinue reading “English everyday – whinge and whine”