George Washington

"Washington as a Farmer" by Junius Brutus Stearns, 1851

Listen to me read this post

This past Monday was a holiday in the United States called President's Day.  It is celebrated every year on the third Monday in February, close to George Washington's Birthday which is Feb. 22.  

Many of you know that GW was the first  President of the United States but did you know he was also a farmer? That's right, he was!  His farm was called Mount Vernon.   At MV, George Washington mainly grew wheat, the wheat was turned into flour and the flour was sold to people in the United States and Europe.  

In the picture you can see GW standing in one of his wheat fields.  What other things do you see in the picture?   Leave your comments and questions in the comments section below.

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

More Valentine Fun

This is a vintage valentine's card from http://vintageholidaycrafts.com.  This is a type of small card that would be exchanged by children in school.  Many of these cards include puns like this one.

A pun is using words in a way to make an unexpected and funny meaning.   It often uses words that have multiple meanings.

This pun plays with the word popcorn which is the snack pictured.
Another meaning of pop is sudden or unexpected.
Corny means silly or unsophisticated.

Vintage means from the past.  It's a nice way to say something is old and collectible.

Happy Valentine's Day!

All around the world people are celebrating Valentine's Day.  It is a holiday to celebrate love.  In the United States everyone from children to adults celebrate this special day.  Even though it is a holiday in the United States schools, stores, and offices are still open.  Children have parties in school.  They eat heart shaped cookies, drink red punch and exchange valentine's with their classmates.  Adults celebrate by sharing a romantic date with their special someone.  Couples will often exchange gifts like cards, flowers and chocolates.

And here's my gift to you - the gift of learning with English Central!  Enjoy these videos on Valentine's day.

Board Games - Monopoly

Recently the board game Monopoly was in the news.  I will tell you why in a minute but first, let me tell you a little about the game.  Monopoly is an American board game in which players travel around a board buying properties, building houses and hotels, and collecting rent from other players.  Monopoly includes many fun game pieces like a bank full of play money, little plastic houses and metal player tokens such as a train, a top hat, and a dog just to name a few.   

I, like many Americans, have many happy memories of playing this game with family and friends.  Most players have a favorite token that they use to move around the board and they choose that token every time they play.  My favorite is the iron.

Which brings me to the reason why Monopoly is in the news -  It all has to do with those little tokens.  You see Hasbro, the company that makes Monopoly decided to have an online contest to get rid of one token and add a new one.   After a month of voting, it was decided the iron token will no longer be in the game.  It has been replaced with a cat.  Lucky for me I like cats even more than irons.  

Video Link -

English Blog - Monopoly  

This is a British website that includes lots of information for people learning English.  You will find a short video with the transcript and explanation about the idioms and wordplay used in the story.  

Thanks for stopping by and Happy (lunar) New Year! 

Super Bowl Sunday

"Are you ready for some football!"

This is a phrase often said on Sundays in the United States where football means huge guys dressed in shoulder pads and helmets trying to get a brown pointy ball in the end zone for a touch down.  Yes, we know that football means a different game to the rest of the world.  (We call that game soccer.)  But to us football means quarterbacks and cheerleaders, the Super Bowl and ....
Super Bowl commercials.

Companies know that millions of Americans will watch the football championship game called the Super Bowl, on Sunday so, they spend millions of dollars making commercials to be shown during the game.  These commercials are often very entertaining and people enjoy watching them and talking about them.    Of course, this is good for business but it's also good for us to practice English.  Enjoy these funny ads.