Great minds ;)

Before you....

Ernest Hemingway

closer than yesterday ;)

Idiomatic expressions {something to share}

here are some idiomatic expressions:  

break the ice = make it easy 

break the ice 1. To make a start.                 2. To relax a tense or unduly formal atmosphere or social situation.

He looks blue = he looks very sad 

Blue: Gloomy; depressed

I will go banana = I will lose my mind 

go bananas go crazy, go nuts (slang), go insane, go bonkers (slang, chiefly Brit.), go mental (slang), go barmy (slang), go loopy (informal), go round the bend (Brit. slang), go frantic, go batty (slang), go doolally (slang), go round the twist (Brit. slang), go nutty (slang) People went bananas with boredom.

he leads a dog life = his life is full of difficulties and problems 

dog's lifen. Slang

A miserably unhappy existence.

He is a black sheep = bad man

black sheepn

a person who is regarded as a disgrace or failure by his family or peer group

He is full of hot air = he is talking nonsense full of hot air and full of beans; full of bull; full of it; full of prunes

Fig. full of nonsense; talking nonsense. Oh, shut up, Mary. You're full of hot air.

Don't pay any attention to Bill. He's full of beans. My English professor is full of bull. You're full of it.

Contributed by :

Bashaier Al hashmi

(Foundation year 1432/33- Group 7)

Thank you dear

A nice quote {Something to share}

Contributed by: 

Ola Al-shreef

(Foundation year- Group 7)

Thank you Ola 

A newcastle dialect {something to share}

I've something very interesting. I went to Newcastle on my last holiday and I met a lot of new friends there. They told me something very crazy, nice and cool. They told me that there is a special language just for teenagers (as I was told-not completely sure) in Newcastle to communicate with each other and no one can understand them; if you go to Manchester , London and Scotland or any city in London they can't understand it .. that’s really cool! I like it .

They taught me some words and by the way there are no spelling rules in this language . and here are some examples :

Loosh = good or very good

Toon = home

Ola=hi

Traa = good bye

Are you ok ? = are you alreet ?

Yes I'm ok = yes am I alreet

How are you ? I'm fine = how are you ? ooh cany cany (you should say it two times )

What  do you think about MS . Nisreen ? she is very nice and friendly = what do you think about MS .Nisreen? she's cany

I hope you like it and I hope I could teach you more and more about Jordie or  Geordie language. I always talk with my lovely British teacher to learn more and more about it . Because I love it .

Thanks  all

Dania Abed

(Foundation year 1432/33 – Group 7)

Thank you Dania …for this interesting and cool piece of information ;)

For more information about this Georide dialect check this

Newcastle English ("Geordie")

A Pumba Quote {something to share}

A Pumba Quote:

"After a long day of doing nothing,it's good to kick back"

"Kick back" is used informally here and it means:

To take it easy; relax

Contributed by : 

heba talal gazzaz‏

(Foundation year- Group 7) 

Thank you Heba for this cute quote  ;)

A pie in the sky ( an idiom) {something to share}

pie in the sky

if an idea or plan is pie in the sky, it seems good but is not likely to be achieved 

or 

something good that is unlikely to happen

e.g. Those plans of his to set up his own business are just pie in the sky.

Dad promised to buy me a new laptop but I just know it's more like a pie in the sky! 

contributed by : 

Nura AlHarthi 

Foundation year-  Group 7 

source: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/pie+in+the+sky

Thank you Nura for this cute idiom ;)

The shortest play ever (something to share)

The shortest play ever is called "The breath"

it lasts just 35 seconds

And it is a silent play

                                                    by: Samuel Beckett

Thank you 

Walaa Almaghrabi

((Thank you Walaa for sharing this interesting info. with us ;))

P.S. Walaa presented this in class on Saturday 17-11-1432/ 15-10-2011

Quote of the day

"What a wonderful World"-A student's lovely poem

When we plant the flower

and the whole world smile within an hour

When we water the tree

 and you are as you want to be

When Palestine be free

and everybody clap for me

Yeah!! That's my wonderful world

When hearts become white and

We walk without any fear at night

When there is no more fraud or theft

and my teacher advise me as a gift

Yeah!! That's my wonderful world

Written by:

Nura Talal

(7/10/2011)

*Nura is a freshman at Umm Al-Qura medical colleges, Group 7.She is our in-house poet. She has wonderfully surprised me and her classmates with this poem when asked to write about the wonderful things in life.

((Thank you Nura for sharing this lovely poem with us :)

-The famous “What a wonderful world” poem & song is given as a part of unit 11 in the elementary level of the book New Headway Plus. It is a part, which students seem to enjoy again and again. And I won’t deny enjoying it myself ;)

Life is too short (Quote of the day)

Three apples changed the world!

How true!?

(Not) my cup of tea {Idiom of the day}

Idiom: "It's not my cup of tea"

e.g. coffee is not my cup of tea

Meaning:

If something is not your cup of tea, you don't like it very much.

It's raining cats and dogs!! (Idiom of the day)

How I hope that it would rain soon.

It rained last week "cats and dogs" :) LOL

This means that : "It rained very hard"

I honestly wish it would rain this week and I'd have a chance to use this idiom ;)

It's a piece of cake! (Idiom of the day)

This is one of the idioms that I love to use ...& I think even my students love it and started to use it a lot ;)

When you say that something is "a piece of cake", it means that it is very easy and you can do it. 

Idioms - what is an idiom?

dioms are words, phrases, or expressions that cannot be taken literally.  In other words, when used in everyday language, they have a meaning other than the basic one you would find in the dictionary.  Every language has its own idioms.  Learning them makes understanding and using a language a lot easier and more fun!

For example, “break a leg” is a common idiom.

Literal meaning:  I command you to break a bone in your leg and you should probably go to the doctor afterwards to get it fixed.

Idiomatic meaning:  Do your best and do well.  Often, actors tell each other to “break a leg” before they go out on stage to perform.

Source: 

ESL on the Web 

Creating S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Creating SMART Goal setting:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Timely

Specific: A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal you must answer the six “W” questions:
*Who:      Who is involved?
*What:     What do I want to accomplish?
*Where:    Identify a location.
*When:     Establish a time frame.
*Which:    Identify requirements and constraints.
*Why:      Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
EXAMPLE:  A general goal would be, “Get in shape.” But a specific goal would say, “Join a health club and workout 3 days a week.”

Measurable - Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set.
When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.
To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as……
How much? How many?
How will I know when it is accomplished?


Attainable – When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.
You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.

Realistic- To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress.

A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.

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Timely – A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there’s no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? “Someday” won’t work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, “by May 1st”, then you’ve set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.
Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.

T can also stand for Tangible – A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing.

When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.

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Arabic Resources on SMART Goals => 

الهدف الذكي أم الهداف الأذكى

نموذج الهدف الذكي SMART Model

 ANd to motivate you even more ...here is this motivational video about goals

Be smart and set your goals the SMART way ;)

Knowledge is a gift

Knowledge is a gift. 
And it is wonderful when shared ;)
It is an everlasting gift when appreciated and used properly. When someone gives you such a gift ( for example, giving you pieces of some enlightening advice or useful information that helps you in your life), you can use it over and over, unwrapping it again and again. It never really ends or runs out. It is eternal and priceless. 
The thing about knowledge is that at times it is given unintentionally without prior planning or meditation that it's honesty and purity shine and can touch you deeply. Knowledge is also sometimes absorbed without your permission or conscious planning. 


Over the years, I have been blessed with knowledge bestowed upon me from different people. Among these people are certainly my teachers, professors, trainers, colleagues, superiors and even my students. I am eternally grateful for their everlasting gifts that certainly left their imprints on me and on my life in one way or another.


Today, as an academic -realizing the hidden and obvious gifts of knowledge- I try my best to be generous and honest with this gift.  Knowledge at times seem more like bundles of sunshine that could shed light on some obscure areas or minds. I try to share it and motivate my students to make the best use of it. 




Love,
NY 

Quote of the day

Learn English or you might cause someone's death!

Learn English...!

It's important so as not be the cause of someone's death..LOL

Watch this 

Pronunciation of Vowel sounds (short & long)

Adopt a word! Save the words!

Help save the English language!

 

There are over 60,000 words in the English language but only about 7,000 are used. 

The publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary have come up with a -cute -campaign to SAVE THE WORDS. Their adorable website encourages you to adopt an endangered word and pledge to use it as often as possible. 

Like philargyrist, “That diva is a total philargyrist!” Which means: someone who loves money.

Please help to keep these beloved words from being erased forever.

Here is the website: 

http://www.savethewords.org/

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تبنو كلمه و انقذوها من الإنقراض....فكرة مشروع جداااا حلو قامت به أوكسفورد لإنقاذ اللغة الانجليزية

فهناك أكثر من ٦٠،٠٠٠ كلمة في اللغة الانجليزية لكن ٧٠٠٠ فقط هي المستخدمه

لذا قامت أوكسفورد بحمله لإنقاذ هذه الكلمات

فكل ما عليك الذهاب للموقع و تتبنى كلمة و تعد بأن تستخدمها بقدر الإمكان 

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21 English accents

English accents are fun to listen to. They sometimes don't even sound English and a learner might find it hard to understand what is being said!

Here is a lady who can speak English with 21 different accents..... She is fun to listen to ;)

Enjoy 

Is Punctuation Important?

Is punctuation Important?

Sometimes we seem to take it lightly ;)

Here is a proof that punctuation can actually save someone's life ... LOL