Tag Archives: english with children

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 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 for parents – potty training

Potty training, or sometimes, toilet training. We have to go through it. That time when children must learn to use the toilet and forget about nappies. In British English, potty only means the small pot that children learn to use, like the one in the picture at the top. This is a potty. ‘Do youContinue reading “English for parents – potty training”

English for parents – tantrum

The day is going so well, you’ve been to the park and had a lovely lunch, then suddenly, your toddler wants another ice-cream which you won’t give him, and you’re in the middle of tantrum city. Tantrum is the word for the sudden crying, screaming and angry behaviour that 2-3 year olds often go through,Continue reading “English for parents – tantrum”

English for parents – vomit

My little pumpkin friend here is not very well. He is vomiting, throwing up, chundering, being sick, puking, spewing, barfing. Poor thing. Today is not about Halloween but about vomit.  Children usually say I feel sick, or I feel like I’m going to be sick. Or, I’m going to throw up. Too late, I threwContinue reading “English for parents – vomit”

English for parents – number two

What’s a number two? When you’re potty training it’s that thing you definitely don’t want to end up on the floor, the one it’s the hardest to train and the smelliest. Poo. ( less commonly in the UK, poop) With children you can ask, do you need a poo? Do you want to go numberContinue reading “English for parents – number two”

English for parents – wee and pee

There are about a million ways to talk about going to the toilet in English. There a different verbs to mean going to the toilet, lots of different words for what comes out, and even a few different words for the room and the toilet itself. When you begin potty training, or toilet training, yourContinue reading “English for parents – wee and pee”

English for parents – mum, mom, mam

It is true for almost every language in the whole world that the word for mother starts with a ma or mu sound. (Apart from the Georgian language, but there must be an exception) In most of Britain Mum is commonly used, and younger children say Mummy. In Wales, Northern England and Ireland Mam isContinue reading “English for parents – mum, mom, mam”

English for parents – bogies and snot

Yeah, I’m just going to dive right into this one. Today is about the stuff that comes out of your nose. The doctor might call it mucus but in everyday language we say: snot – (uncountable) runny mucus from the nose. a bogey/ some bogies – (countable) solid or hard mucus from the nose. ChildrenContinue reading “English for parents – bogies and snot”