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 – 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 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”

English for parents – fast asleep

Miffy’s parents are so lucky. Miffy always falls asleep at the end of every adventure they have. But, on the other hand there’s no book called Miffy Stays Awake All Night, so maybe I shouldn’t judge. At the end of every book, Miffy is fast asleep and her parents take her home. She was fastContinue reading “English for parents – fast asleep”