English Central - American Slang

English Central - What's your Reason for Learning English?

Another video from English Central on What's Your Reason for Learning English. 

If your reason is strong enough, that reason can motivate you to keep trying.  Make it real.  Write your reasons down on paper and put them someplace you will see them everyday.
 

Learn English with Music - The Doors

http://englishbrno.cz/en/2012/02/learn-english-with-the-doors/

Just came across this website talking about learning English with music.  It has video clips and lyrics from the 1960's band The Doors.  Check it out!

Favorite Links for Learning English

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This audio post is about my favorite websites for learning English. It's really long so I'm putting the transcript and all of the links after the break.  Click on the "Read More" button if you want to read what I'm saying in the audio. 
  

English Central - Tips for learning English

In this English Central Video 3 international students talk about learning English and share some tips.  What are your tips for learning English?  What has helped you?  Share your tips by leaving a comment.  It's easy just click where it says comments below.

How to Learn English - Listening

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Hello and welcome.  Today we are continuing on the topic of How to Learn English.

Yesterday we talked about listening to music but listening to spoken English in general is a really good way to learn English.

This is something I truly believe. The more you listen, the more you will improve your English.  Listening to native speakers will improve your comprehension, your speaking, your pronunciation, everything. And all you have to do is sit back and listen.  That is why I started this blog and why I record all of the posts.  So, you can listen to an American speak English. 

It doesn't even matter what you listen to as long as it's in English.  You can listen to TV shows, Movies, Cartoons, podcasts, audiobooks, etc.

Here are some tips for picking materials:
1.  Choose a topic you are interested in.  If you like Gardening, then listen to a gardening podcast such as the one in the show notes from the Victory Garden.  If you like history, go to history.com and watch all the videos.  And If you don't like cars, then don't watch the BBC show, Top Gear.  Although I have to tell you it is hiliarious.  The point is if you are interested in the topic you will watch it or listen to it over and over again and you will keep listening longer.  Because if you are having fun you will be motivated to keep learning. 

2.  Try to find materials that are just above your comprehension level.  In other words, try to listen to something you understand about 80% of.  If it's too hard you will give up or tune out, if it's too easy you won't get anything out of it and you will get bored.  Even if that means watching Children's shows or cartoons, that's ok. 

3.  Find something you are already familiar with the story.  If there are TV shows that have been translated into English from you native language, these would be excellent to listen to because you already know the story.  Then you will know what's going on and you can get more meaning out of the English.
 
One last thing, the other day I was reading  the website AntiMoon, you can find the link in the show notes. They had a post on how to find everyday English to listen to if you don't live in an English-speaking country.  They mentioned in the article that sometimes movies and fiction books can't help you learn eveyday English.  The types of phrases that you need for basic commnunication because a story needs conflict and drama to be interesting,  not to mention unusual characters or settings.  For example, vampires and werewolves in the Twilight series.  So, One of their suggestions was to listen to podcasts because it's a great way to hear how people talk to each other naturally. And I have to tell you that podcasts are my new favorite thing.  There are podcasts on just about any topic you can think of.  I mean there are literally thousands of different podcasts. So try a few until you find ones you like.  You can download them onto an mp3 player and listen to them anywhere.  So, now you have no excuse for not listening to more English!

That's all for today.  Thanks for listening to me, Cassie Brenn at fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com 
          
Show noteswww.history.com
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/ask/index.html
www.podcastalley.com
www.podcastpickle.com
http://www.antimoon.com/blog/2012/03/learning-everyday-english-without-living-in-an-english-speaking-country/
          

Learn English with Music

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Some people love music.  They have their headphones on all the time, they download the lastest songs by their favorite groups, and they know all the words to their favorite songs.  They are passionate about music.  Do you know someone like that?  Are you someone like that? 

If you are a music lover, use that passion to help you learn English.

As I've said before, passion helps us stay interested and motivated to keep learning.  And music fits in perfectly with that. 

Music is fun. It doesn't feel like work, it feels more like play.  It can play in the background while we do something else or we can actively listen and read the lyrics at the same time.

Learning English can be stressful but listening to music is relaxing.  If you are relaxed and not stressed you are able to learn better and remember more.   So, even if you are studying an English lesson from a book, playing music in the background, with or without words, can put you in a relaxed frame of mind and help you learn more. 

The internet is full of music sites where you can listen to songs and you can download the lyrics.  In the show notes, I have 2 links to some American traditional songs and children's songs that you can download along with the lyrics.  You can also buy a DVD from the website but that is not necessary you can download the songs for free and listen to them right away. 

Some people say music is not the best way to learn English because some songs use non-standard English, slang and bad words.  Although this is true, there are plenty of songs that use appropriate language such as the ones in the links that I have given you. So, just choose wisely and follow your passion!

This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

Show Notes
Traditional Songs to download
Children's songs to download

How to Learn English - Memorization

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Hello and welcome to another addition of Fast Food English.  This week we are talking about How to Learn English.

One method used for learning a language is memorization.  Repeating a word or a phrase over and over again until you know it by heart. 

At first, I was not a big fan of memorization.  It is easy to memorize words and phrases that you don't fully understand.   And if you don't understand it, you won't use it when you speak and you won't understand it when someone says it to you in a real conversation.  Also, memorization exercises, like flash cards, can be boring. 

But after reading some of the posts on the PhraseMix blog I understand how memorization can be helpful.  You can find the links to those blog posts in the show notes.  Aaron, the author of PhraseMix says that when you focus on one small thing and then go back to the big context, you will have greater understanding.  

So, that means not just memorizing a phrase, a grammar point or vocabulary word but learning it  and understanding it fully until you know it well and then going back to listening to your favorite things in English. 

Now when you're listening to your favorite English TV show those phrases, words, and grammar points will jump out at you.  Suddenly you are going to hear them and understand them and your overall understanding of English will grow.

So, PhraseMix.com is a great website for memorizing phrases.  It gives a good explaination of every phrase so you understand it and use it properly.  

Another example of using memorization to learn English is the English Central video I have for you in the show notes.  This video is of Japanese students learning English by memorizing speeches by famous Americans.  In this example, they are memorizing a speech by US President Obama. 

What do you think about memorization for learning English?  Do you memorize new words by using flash cards or other methods?  Share your thoughts with me and the other readers in the comments.

Thanks for listening this has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com

Show Notes
PhraseMix - Why Memorize
PhraseMix - Starting the Snowball

Topic of the Week - Tips for Learning English

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The Topic for the week is ... Tips for Learning English. 

I'm guessing that if you are reading this blog you are trying to learn English.  Great!  You are in the right place.  This blog is for people who are trying to learn English and want to learn American English. 

But  this blog is a little different than your typical "Learn English" site because I'm not an English teacher.  I assume you already have one of those.  So, there aren't any grammar lessons.   There aren't any drills.  There is just a lot of talking , in English, for you to listen to. 

It's my opinion that if you listen to a lot of English at a level that is easy enough to understand you will improve your listening skills, your speaking skills, and your pronunciation skills.

That doesn't mean that grammar is not important or helpful to your learning.  It's just easier to find those lessons in a classroom, a book or the many excellent websites already on the internet. It's harder to find interesting topics in simple English that have audio and text. That's what I try to bring to you each week. 

So, that's  a little about my idea of how to learn English.  This week I will be bringing you links from other websites with other ideas.  How do you learn English?  What works best for you?  Share your ideas with me and the other readers by leaving a comment.

The Future of Cars and Traffic

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Today is our last day on the topic of driving so I thought it would be interesting to watch this video on the future of cars and traffic.  The speaker is Bill Ford.  He is the Great Grandson of a famous American, Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company.  Henry Ford invented the Model T automobile and revolutionized the way cars were made in America.  He thought cars should be available to everyone and not just the rich so he developed ways of making cars using assembly lines so that many cars could be made quickly and affordably. 

We can see he was successful because now many people in the US (and around the world) drive cars and today we are dealing with the problems caused by all those cars such as pollution and traffic jams. 

So, That is what Bill Ford is talking about in this speech - the future of cars and traffic.  He says we need more than just smart cars such as electric cars that don't pollute, but we also need smart traffic systems - cars that can communicate with each other and tell you when there is a traffic jam ahead, cars that can find parking spaces for you so you don't waste gas driving around, etc. He says this is important because traffic jams have a big impact on our lives and  effect things like food being delivered to stores and how long it takes to drive from your work to your home.  As more people move to the cities and more people around the world use cars, then the more we need to improve traffic systems. 

Here in Hanoi many people ride motorbikes and already we see many traffic jams and problems with parking.  Now imagine if all of those people bought cars. Where would they all go? It's something to think about. 

This video is fromwww.ted.com.  It has many features that will help you practice English.  First, of course, is you will be listening to a native English speaker.  Second, there is a English transcript for you to read. third, you can turn on the subtitles either in English or 24 other languages including Vietnamese. 
And finally the transcript can also be translated into other langauges.  You can read the transcript in your native language first so you will understand what the speech is about.  Then watch the video in English and you will understand more of the English.  

So, now let's watch the video...
   

Driving in the Snow

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In the northern part of the US during the winter months it often snows.  Snow and ice make the roads slippery and dangerous to drive on.  It's easy for a car to slide into another car and cause an accident.  The ice can make it difficult to drive up a hill.  Your car can't get traction on the road and slips back down the hill. 

State governments have to take care of the roads during winter so people will not have accidents.  They monitor the weather reports and send out special trucks to drop salt and other ice melting chemicals on the roads before a snow storm.  After the storm they have trucks with a blade on the front called a snow plow for pushing the snow off the road. 

Sometimes children get the day off of school so that the roads can be plowed to make it safe for the school buses.  This is called a snow day and as you can imagine most children are quite happy to skip school, stay home and play outside in the snow.

Drivers' also need to learn how to drive in the snow.  Many people put snow tires on their cars during the winter months or they wrap the tires in special snow chains.  These tires help the car grip the road better.  It's also important for drivers to drive slower and leave a bigger distance between their car and the car in front of them. 

If you are curious about what the roads look like in winter watch this video made by a truck driver driving through the state of Maine into Canada.  You will see snow plows, grey skies and lots of snow!  There is no audio narration for this video only music playing a country and western song but I think you will enjoying seeing what it looks like. 

The Written Driving Test

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As I mentioned in the post on getting your driver's license, you have to take a written test.  Each state has a driving manual with the rules, laws and other things you should know for the test.  Most teens in the US get a copy of this manual in their Driver's Ed class but anyone can read them on-line.  Here is a link to the Driver's manual for the state of Virginia. 
 http://www.dmv.state.va.us/webdoc/citizen/drivers/manual.asp

Besides the text, at this website you will find audio for the entire book.  So, if you are interested in the topic of learning to drive, you can listen, read, and learn.  After you finish try some sample questions by clicking on the sample knowledge exam on the right hand side of the website.

Traffic in LA at Night

Here is a time lapse video of the traffic in Los Angles (LA) at night.  Time lapse means they set the camera in one place and filmed for a long time and then condensed the video to play for a short time.  It makes all of the cars look like they are zooming by as streaks of light. 

Rush Hour

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Americans like to drive cars and not many people drive motorcycles or scooters.  Our roads in the towns and cities are crowded with cars.  Especially in the morning and evening when everyone is going to or coming from work.  We call this time of day rush hour. 

Here is a video from a road near the Capital of the US, Washington, DC.  The road is I-495 but everyone calls it The Capital Beltway.  It's called a beltway because it makes a circle around the city, like a belt circles your waist.  People in this area often talk about being inside the beltway or outside the beltway, depending on where you are.  For example, someone might say, "I work inside the beltway in the city but I live outside the beltway in the Virginia suburbs." 

The I in I-495 stands for interstate.  I-495 is an interstate highway. Inter- is a prefix meaning between or among. So, interstate means between states. I-495 goes between Maryland and Virginia.

As you will see in the video, It's a big highway.  You can only see 4 lanes of traffic but that's just one side, there are 4 more lanes on the other side.  And you can see there are lots of vehicles, not just cars.  There are also big trucks and buses.    So, that a little bit of what it's like to drive in the United States. 

Here is a video describing the behind the wheel driving test. 

Did you know that YouTube recently added automatic captioning to videos.  If you would like to see the English words while the video is playing, press the small cc button at the bottom of the video frame and select transcribe audio.  It is a new service and it's not quite perfected yet so on some videos the captions don't match what is being said exactly.  For example, when I tried it with this video it didn't work very well.  But on other videos it works perfectly.  It's one more tool to help you learn and practice English.   

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Getting a driver's license in the US

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The laws vary from state to state but they are all pretty similar.   So, these are general steps that teens take in the US to get a driver’s license.

It usually starts in the second year of high school, teenagers in the US take a class called Driver’s Education or Driver’s Ed, for short and this begins their journey to getting a license.  This is an academic class where they learn the laws related to driving and learn tips on how to be a good driver.   At the end of the class is an exam and they must pass it if they want to get a driver’s license. 

Next they go to the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in their state to get a learner’s permit.  A learner’s permit allows them to operate a car while they are learning.   Typically, they have to be at least 15 years old to get a learner’s permit and  they must always have a person with them in the car who already has a driver’s license.  During this time teens will drive a lot with their parents and they will take a class called Behind the Wheel.  This class takes place in a car with an instructor and the students taking turns driving.

When the teen turns 16 years old they can go back to the DMV and take another test to get their driver’s license.  This is a behind the wheel test where an examiner gets in the car with the teen while they drive.  The examiner will sit in the passenger seat and give the teen directions.  They usually have a clipboard to make notes and score the teen on their driving skills.  At the end of the driving test, the examiner will say pass or fail.  If the teen passes they get their driver’s license and can now drive by themselves.  If they fail, they must practice some more and take the test again. 

Some states have provisional licenses.  This means until a driver turns 21 their license looks different

and they must follow certain rules such as they can only have 2 passengers in the car and they can’t drive after midnight. 

Exchange Programs

One last Bonus post on education.  Here is a link to some exchange programs you may be interested in
http://exchanges.state.gov/programs/university.html

This English Central video is a car commercial starring Matthew Broderick.  It is a spoof on the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off which starred Matthew Broderick about 20 years ago.  It's a very funny movie so if you ever get the chance, you should watch it. 

To spoof or to parody something means to make fun of it in a friendly way.  It's meant to be funny and not insulting.  In this video Matthew Broderick is spoofing his own movie. 

Topic of the Week - Driving in the USA

Topic of the Week ... April 18 - 24, 2012

The Topic for the week is ... Driving in the USA.  Join me as I bring you interesting articles, audio and video links and other ideas about this topic. 

To see all posts on this topic click Driving.

School Mascots

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As I mentioned in a previous post, I am an alumni of VA Tech.  An Alumni is a person who graduated from a specific school.  So, you could ask me, "Are you an Alumni of VA Tech?"  And I would answer, "Yes, I am."

But you could also ask me, "Are you a Hokie?"  and I would still answer, "Yes, I am."  Because the Hokie is the mascot of VA Tech. 

A mascot is a character, often an animal, that represents a group, school or business.  And in the United States almost every college and high school has a mascot to represent the school. 

We identify ourselves and our school by the mascot.  Like when I said, "I am a Hokie."  A hokie is a turkey by the way.  You can read more about the history of the VA Tech Hokie at this website: http://www.vt.edu/about/hokie.html

School t-shirts and notebooks will have pictures of the school mascot.  And a person dressed up like the mascot will appear at different school events such as football games and pep rallies.

The purpose of the school mascot is to help build school spirit and pride. It also helps build tradition, community spirit and a connection between current students and former students.  Plus, it's alot of fun.

Does your school have a mascot?  Tell me about it in the comments section.

Thanks for listening this has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com

English Central - President Obama to Students

Here is another English Central Video for your listening and pronunciation practice on the topic of why education is important.

Interview Question What is your biggest weakness

Here is a video presented by USC college career center on how to answer the question - What is your biggest weakness? It's funny and gives good advice so I think you will enjoy it.

If I had to pick something ...

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In the last post I talked about the common interview question -  What is your biggest weakness?

This was the example that I gave

If I had to pick something, I would say my weakness is meeting deadlines.

You may be wondering why I started my answer with the phrase...  If I had to pick something

Well, wonder no more... I used this phrase because it's a common way to answer a question in American English that you don't really want to answer. 

But you don't have to take my word for it.  Check out the website PhraseMix for a more detailed explanation.  To find the post on this question and phrase click here. 

After you finish reading that post you will want to go to the  PhraseMix home page and check out all the other things they have to offer.  PhraseMix is a terrific website for learning English.  Everyday, website author Aaron Knight publishes a new phrase and explains it's use in clear easy to understand English.  It is a great learning tool so, check it out.

Interview Question - What is your biggest weakness?

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Sometimes when you are applying to college or applying for a scholarship, you will have to do an interview.  It is a good idea to practice ahead of time and think of answers to common interview questions.  For example, How would you answer this question -

What is your biggest weakness?

This can be a difficult question to answer.  You don’t want to appear unqualified by saying things like I’m addicted to drugs or I never go to class.  You want to pick something that can be turned into a positive but you also want to show the interviewer that you are a real person with good points and bad points.  But the bad points aren’t terrible and you are working on improving those faults. 

For example...


If I had to pick something, I would say my weakness is meeting deadlines.  In high school, I often lost grade points for turning in assignments late.  But I've been working on that problem and have started using a calendar to help me use my time better and my grades have really improved. 


Another way you can answer this question is by pointing out your lack of experience in a specific area and how being selected will help you solve it.


For example....


I really want to become a research biologist but I lack experience using modern lab equipment.  That's why I choose your college.  You have a great biology lab with all of the latest equipment and this will allow me to get the experience I need to suceed. 

You never know exactly what an interviewer will ask you but if you think about and practice common interview questions ahead of time, you will feel more relaxed and prepared. 

Special Day - Friday the 13th

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Stay in bed and hide under the covers - it's Friday the 13th.

What am I talking about?  What's so scary about Friday the 13th?

I'm glad you asked.  In the United States Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day.  Some people think more bad things happen on Friday the 13th than any other day of the year.  In fact, some people are so scared they do not want to leave their house. 

Of course, all countries and cultures have things they consider lucky and unlucky.  We call this superstition.  A superstition is defined as a belief in the good or bad significance of a particular thing or occurrence.  I am paraphrasing the definition from dictionary.com if you would like to read the definition of superstititon for yourself  click here.
 
Although most Americans say they are not superstitious, it is part of our culture and we grow up hearing stories about things that are lucky or unlucky. 

For example, there is a movie called  Friday the 13th.  You've probably heard about it - a crazy guy in a hockey mask kills a bunch of people at an old summer camp.  It's very scary.  Watch this trailer for the movie if you dare.  



Of course, I'm not superstitious but I think I'm going to stay home today, just in case.

Thanks for listening.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com

College admissions for international students - VA Tech

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Today we will look at information about college admissions.  I have picked VA Tech to use as an example because that is the college where I graduated.  This information is from the VA Tech website.

Last year 20,000 students applied for VA Tech and only 5,200 were enrolled in the Fall Freshman class in 2011.

Currently VA Tech has 23,647 undergraduates and 615 of those are citizens of other countries.  There are 4,623 graduate students at VA Tech and 1,614 of those are students from other countries. 

 
To apply as an undergraduate international Student you need -

· to apply on-line.

· Have graduated high school with a full course load.   That means you went to high school and took all the classes you were supposed to take in order to graduate.  Included in that course load they want you to have the following classes -  Algebra 1 and 2, geometry and 2 lab sciences either biology, chemistry, or physics.

· Pass the SAT or the ACT

· Pass the  IELTS with a score of at least 6.5 or the TOEFL with 80 for the internet based test, 207 for the computer based test or 550 for the paper based test.

· Plus certain degree programs may have more requirements

 
Now let's say you are a great student, you got high grades and many academic awards but you don't speak English well enough to pass the IELTS or the TOEFL exam quite yet. 
You can enroll in VA Tech’s Language and Culture Institute.  It is an intensive language program that helps students pass those exams and helps prepare them for college. 

If you would like to learn and listen to more about college life at VA Tech watch videos made by teachers and students at
My Virginia Tech

Today's post is brought to you by Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com

Audio Link - College Life

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Here is a link to a short audio, it's just 1 minute 25 seconds called College Life.  It is a conversation between a man and a woman about...  That's right, you guessed it, it's about college!   It is done by ESL Lab a website designed for teaching English.  After you listen to the audio clip you can take a short quiz to test your listening comprehension and do some vocabulary exercises.   This audio exercise is rated easy and if you like it you can check out the other audio programs on their home page. 


Thanks for stopping by this has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com

Money for College

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Some of you who are learning English want to go to the US to continue your studies.  But it's very expensive so you want to know about scholarships for international students. 

Unfortunately, I do not know much about this subject. I am not connected with any scholarship programs or have any special information on any specific programs.
 
However, I looked up scholarships on the internet and I found these 2 websites.

The first is InternationalStudent.com and the second is a blog from their sister site International Education Financial Aid. 

The International Student website has a scholarship search page but before you start searching go to this link on their website that explains about applying for scholarships and how to avoid scams.  A scam is something that looks real or legal but is actual not legal and it's set-up to steal your money. So you want to avoid that and they will give you some tips on how to spot a scam.

Once you've read that go to their scholarship search page.
You can search for a scholarship based on What are you studying, Where are you studying, or Where are you from?  You can choose to answer 1 or all 3 and it will give you a long list of results.  You can look through the results and find the scholarships that interest you.

Besides the scholarship search page, International Student has lots of information that you might find useful.  Here is a link to an article on their site called Study in the USA.
It includes lots of helpful information from how to find a college to what state to choose. 

The other website I mentioned earlier International Education Financial Aid is a blog.  All of the posts are related to money either finding money for college or picking a major that will help you find a good job after college.  Check it out at http://blog.iefa.org/

I hope you find these 2 websites helpful.  If you know of any other scholarship websites that you want to share with your fellow students add them to the comments page. 

Thanks and see you next time at fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com

English Central ... Good Grades

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This week I have picked a video from English Central that is easy and fun.  It features 2 of the characters from The Peanuts Comic.  Linus is the one doing all the talking and Charlie Brown is the round headed kid next to him. 

There are 2 things I would like to point out about this video:
1.  Linus says the words grammar school.   Grammar schools in the US are schools for children in grades Kindergarten to about 5th or 6th grade.  It is more common to hear the words elementary school. 
2.  At the end of the video Charlie Brown says, "Good Grief!"  Good Grief!  is an exclamation to express frustration or surprise. 

Topic of the Week ... April 11 - 17, 2012

The Topic for the week is ... Education in the USA.  Join me as I bring you interesting articles, audio and video links and other ideas about this topic. 

To see all posts on this topic click education.

Favorite Poems

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People often have favorite poems. They carry a copy of their favorite poem in their wallets or hang a copy on the wall in their bedroom.  Some people even memorize their favorite poems.

Why do people have favorite poems?  I think it's because poems feel personal.  Poets use words that help us see, hear and feel their experiences, so we feel them too.  And maybe, it's an experience or feeling that you share but didn't know how to express. The poem feels like it is about your life and your experiences.

At the website  Favorite Poems Project You can listen to videos of different people reading and discussing their favorite poems.  Such as the video by  a Chinese-American teenager from Georgia named Yina Liang.  She talks about her favorite poem, #288  I'm Nobody!  Who are you? By Emily Dickinson.  Yina describes the pressure of being a teenager and feeling like everyone wants her to be somebody and that's why she feels a connection to this poem because sometimes she wants to be a nobody. 
    
Do you have a favorite poem?  Tell me about it in the comments.

How Do I Learn English?

You want to learn American English and you want to learn it now!  What should you do?

Well, I have some good news and I have some bad news.

First the bad news,  There is no secret formula for learning English.  It takes work, it takes time and it takes trying new things until you find what works best for you. 

But the good news is the Internet is full of interesting blogs and websites that can help.

Here is what English Central has to say on the subject. 

Featured Poet - Shel Silverstein

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What does the phrase everything on it mean?   To most Americans it means something to
eat with all the available toppings on top. For example, if you buy a hot dog the
seller might ask you, "Do you want everything on it?" meaning do you want a hot dog
with onions, ketchup, mustard, and pickle relish. (Toppings vary depending on what
part of the country you are in.)

But poet Shel Silverstein, an American poet known for his funny poems and drawings,
imagined a hot dog topped with Every Thing on it.  Things like a flag, a parrot, a
wristwatch and much more. He took a common phrase like "everything on it" and
played around with the words and ideas to create a funny poem.  


Every Thing On It
by Shel Silverstein

I asked for a hot dog
With everything on it,
And that was my big mistake,
'Cause it came with a parrot,
A bee in a bonnet,
A wristwatch, a wrench, and a rake.
It came with a goldfish,
A flag, and a fiddle,
A frog, and a front porch swing,
And a mouse in a mask -
That's the last time I ask
For a hot dog with everything.

Every Thing On It is also the name of Shel Silverstein's latest book of poetry.
Although Silverstein died in 1999 there are still many of his poems that have not
been published.  His family choose some of these poems for this latest collection.
You can listen to a radio program on National Public Radio about this book and how the poems were choosen at Shel Silverstein's poems live on.  Several poems from the book are read during this program including 2 read by Silverstein's sister.

You can also visit his official website at www.shelsilverstein.com to read and
listen to more of his poetry.

Featured Poet - Robert Frost

Hear me read this post



American Poet Robert Frost lived over 100 years ago in the North East part of America called New England. He wrote many poems about this part of the United States.  One of the poems he is most famous for is The Road Not Taken.  Click on the title to read and hear an audio of
this poem.


President John F. Kennedy said this about Robert Frost, "He has bequeathed his nation a
body of imperishable verse from which Americans will forever gain joy and understanding."

Topic of the Week ... April 3 - April 10

This week's topic is POETRY.  April is poetry month in the United States.   Please join me here at Fast Food English for discussions on American Poets and Poetry.


To see all posts on this topic click Poetry.

English Central Video - The Country by Billy Collins

The question I am asked the most is - How do I practice my pronunciation?   Well, I found a great new resource on the web to help you.  It's called English Central.  On the site you will find hundreds of videos on a variety of topics.    The videos are short and include English captions.   After the video is finished, you can record yourself repeating the video line by line.  After you are finished it will tell you how well you did. 

I'll be posting videos weekly from English Central related to the Topic of the Week.   The first one is called Animated Poetry: The Country by Billy Collins.  Click on the video above and a video player will open in a new window to play the video.   You will need a microphone to be able to record your voice and get feedback. 

Leave a comment and let me know how well you like this website.

Are Poems Good for Learning English

Listen to Cassie reading the following article

YES …
Poems are a fun way to learn English because they are usually short and easy to read. Poems repeat words and phrases so you see them again and again.  Poems use visual words that build pictures in your mind.   They also involve the senses and emotions.

BUT …

Some poems are for advanced learners.  Some poems use made up words.  These words can be confusing.  Some types of poems use unusual structures and rhythm patterns.   They also use symbolic language.  Some poems were written a long time ago and use old words that no one uses anymore like thee and thou.  Try reading different poets until you find the ones you like best.