Madame Psomas: Wednesday 30th July

Born, bread and buttered in Britain

What images do you associate with London?
Have you ever visited London?
What things did you see?

You are going to listen to an interview of a man from London talking about where he lives. How many of the places below are mentioned in the audio?

Islington
Regent’s Park
Bloomsbury
Kings Cross
Hampstead Heath
Tufnell Park
The Thames

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/ALLEN%20ROOME.mp3

Can you find the places he talks about on the following map?

http://tinyurl.com/24w4ljb

Now look at these statements.
1. There are too many foreigners here.
2. I’ve lived in a lot of different parts of London.
3. I think celebrities are great.
4. I’m young and like going out a lot
5. I’ve seen a lot of changes in my life.
6. I enjoy being rich.
7. Young people watch too much television.
8. I really enjoyed living in America.

Listen again to the audio. The speaker doesn't actually say any of these sentences so you will need to justify your answers. Answers are below.

1. There are too many foreigners here. (False. He describes the area where
he lives as ‘diverse’ so he probably feels positive about the different
peoples living in that area.)
2. I’ve lived in a lot of different parts of London. (True. He describes a
number of parts of London he has lived in.)
3. I think celebrities are great. (False. He says “I’m not into that sort of thing,
so that passes me by”.)
4. I’m young and like going out a lot. (False. He talks a lot about the past
and young people, so he is probably quite old.)
5. I’ve seen a lot of changes in my life. (True. He describes London in the
past.)
6. I enjoy being rich. (Probably false. He describes a time when he had no
washing machine.)
7. Young people watch too much television. (Probably true. He is critical of
the way young people speak and blames it on American films which he
describes as rubbish.)
8. I really enjoyed living in America. (False. He doesn’t mention living in
9. America and says he has always lived within a 7-mile area of London.)

'Used to'and ' didn't use to': Things that happened in the past that no longer happen: Complete the following sentences according to the audio:

You / buy / anything / Tufnell Park.
There / be / two dairies.
He / have / washing machine.
He / take washing home on the bus.
It / cost/ much money.
People / watch so many American films.

Answers:
You used to buy anything in Tufnell Park.
There used to be two dairies.
He didn’t use to have a washing machine.
He used to take the washing home on the bus.
It didn’t use to cost much money.
Tony Blair used to live in Islington.
People didn’t use to watch so many American films.

What things are different for you from 5 to 10 years ago. What things did you 'used to' do that you don't do now?

Transcript of interview
Allen Roome: Right, I come from London. I was born in the West End. I don’t
remember much about that because we moved on to Kings Cross then we
moved up to Tufnell Park where I spent most of my life. I did move back to the
West End when I was a bit of a younger man, you know – to see what was
going on down there, obviously. And then I moved back to Tufnell Park and now
I’m in Islington. I suppose in all those – I had moved within that area; I suppose,
you could say that it’s a seven-mile square area that I never moved out of.

Interviewer: Good heavens. And can you tell me about any changes in this
area of, perhaps Tufnell Park in London where you were living most of the time?

Allen Roome: Well, yeah the Tufnell Park area, where I lived was just off of
Tufnell Park. In your eyes what has changed greatly is the shops. There are all
different types of shops there. You could literally buy anything you needed in
general. Not furniture, but there’s a couple of dairies there, a pub, off-licence,
there was a laundrette – Westerns they were called. They was a big company
when I was younger and we used to get what we called our bag washed there
and I had to pick it up on a Thursday. Number ninety-seven was always wet; I
remember that, yes.

Interviewer: You went and collected the wet laundry?

Allen Roome: We took it on Monday and collected it on Thursday and I can’t
remember how much it was. It was only sort of, in those days, coppers. It wasn’t
a great deal of money at all. But it was the sort of period of time when people
never had washing machines and that was the ideal sort of thing to do.

Interviewer: Yeah. And would you say your area, perhaps the area that you’re
living in now – Islington; is that famous for anything?

Allen Roome: I don’t think it’s all that famous for anything. Not the part I live in
anyway. The ex-prime minister lived there, Tony Blair. I don’t know what you
make of that if that’s famous or not. But I did think on it and there are some little
areas in there where I think there’s a lot of, sort of, actors and actresses live.
But I’m not into that sort of thing, so that passes me by.

Interviewer: And just tell me something about how people speak in your area of
north London, would you say.

Allen Roome: Well, it’s such a diversity there that you couldn’t say anybody
speaks, it’s a general accent or a general theme. What I do notice is the young
people now, they have this type of speak where they use a lot of American
phrases and things like this. I remember a kid a week or so ago. He was
shouting out ‘oh that is wickedly evil, man’. Which, that sort of terminology
comes from the United States of America. And that’s ‘cause they watch this
rubbish television.

Interviewer: What does that mean ‘it’s wickedly evil, man’?

Allen Roome: I think it’s supposed to mean it’s good, which it means obviously
the opposite. But that’s what they do. They do speak like that, you know.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions

What is an idiom?
An idiom (full name is idiomatic expression) can be an expression, word, or phrase that only has a meaning to the native speaker. The meaning of an idiom is totally different from the literal meaning of the idiom's individual elements.

Idioms do not mean exactly what the words say. They have a hidden meaning.

Example of idioms with their literal meaning and idiomatic meaning

One of the more common idioms in the English language is, “break a leg”.

Before Peter went on the stage for the show, John told him to break a leg.

Literal meaning: I am telling you to break a bone in your leg and then you will probably have to go to the hospital afterwards to get a cast put on your leg.

Idiomatic meaning: Do your best and good luck . A lot of actors and actresses tell each other to “break a leg” as they are about to go on stage to perform. It is deemed to be good luck.

Watch the following video to learn some idiomatic expressions

Below is a list of just a few idiomatic expressions and their meanings with examples

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B82Fl6MNfXZLQTRsam9tVkZFaEk/edit?usp=sharing

This short story about an what it takes to be successful in a small company focuses on the use of idioms in context. Read the story and use the idiom notes below to help you learn new idioms in context.

Young and Free: Prerequisite for Success

Let's face it: In today's business world you need to be young and free of attachments to strike it rich. It's a dog eat dog world out there and you're going to have to work quite a lot. Of course, not only will you have to work quite a lot, you'll need to be flexible and ready to take advantage of anything. That's where the "free" part comes in.

I've got a young friend, he's only 25, but he fits the bill perfectly. He's single and he's hungry. He's willing to start from scratch and, best of all, he isn't afraid of putting his nose to the grindstone for those 80 hour weeks. He decided to take the bull by the horns by going starting up his own business. He found a software developer who knew the internet inside out. This young man was also very ambitious. He left his safe job at the drop of a hat. They were both reaching for pie in the sky, and they were ready.

They were also lucky. They founded a startup and got into the whole social networking business in 2002. In other words, they were early birds and they were willing to sink or swim. Probably the most important ingredient in their success, was that they were willing to play things by ear. They kept their ears to the ground, moved full steam ahead and drove hard bargains. Soon, their business was growing by leaps and bounds. Of course, they had some stumbling blocks along the way. Who doesn't? Still, they got the jump on the competition and by the year 2008 they were multi-millionaires. This sort of success for the young and free now has copycats around the world.

Idioms Used in the Story

at the drop of a hat = immediately
by leaps and bounds = very quickly (used with improvement)
copycat = someone or a company who tries to do things like another person or company
dog eat dog = very competitive
drive a hard bargain = to make a business deal that is very advantageous for you
early bird = someone who takes early advantage of a situation
fit the bill = to have the right characteristics for something

full steam ahead = to continue with full commitment

get the jump on someone = to get the advantage over someone by starting early

have one's ears to the ground = to pay attention to rumors, news, and industry insiders
know something inside out = to have expert knowledge about something
pie in the sky = something very hard to achieve, a dream
play something by ear = to improvise in a situation, react to a situation as it occurs
put one's nose to the grindstone = to work hard and put in many hours
sink or swim = succeed or fail
start from scratch = to start from the beginning
startup = a small company that begins to do business, usually in technology
strike it rich = to become rich, often by creating a new product or service successfully
stumbling block = a difficulty or hurdle that stands in the way of success
take the bull by the horns = to confront a problem and deal with it

Advice from a content grandfather

I visited my grandparents last week for the first time in a long time. My grandfather, Bill, was a content man. He wasn't necessarily an extremely successful man in the traditional way. He had a modest house, a job that paid the bills, but not much else. However, he was happy and got along with almost everyone. The man in the street found him to be a tower of strength and would turn to him for advice.

This time it was my turn. Things hadn't been going well. In fact, I sometimes felt I got the short end of the stick. The moment of truth came a few weeks before I decided to visit my grandfather. My girlfriend left me saying that I had taken her for granted. It was the last straw as far as I was concerned. I knew I needed some food for thought to put things in perspective, so I called my grandfather and asked him if he wanted to see me. Of course, he was more than happy to invite me over for a visit.

I arrived at my grandparents' home in time for lunch. We had a pleasant lunch talking about family and so on. However, my grandfather has an eagle eye when it comes to human behavior. He knew that things weren't going well for me. However, he was also a little worried about opening a can of worms. He didn't know if speaking about my situation would do my heart good. I, on the other hand, had come to visit him for exactly this reason. I took the path of least resistance and started the conversation. He listened patiently, allowing me to get everything off my chest. When I had finished, he reminded me that no one has the Midas touch. That mistakes were necessary in life, and that, sometimes, the lessons we learn from our difficulties just make us stronger. He knew I was doing my best, and his words reminded me that success in life doesn't always mean everything goes smoothly. Feeling like I had got the short end of the stick wasn't going to help me either. His vote of confidence in me helped encourage me to move forward and get on with it.

Idioms Used in the Story

moment of truth = the moment one understands something important
have the Midas touch = to be successful at everything
take someone or something for granted = to treat someone or something that is important to you without enough respect
man in the street = the average person
tower of strength = reliable, trustworthy
get on with something = continue working or doing what you need to do
last straw = something bad that happens after a series of unfortunate events that seems to be too difficult
get something off one's chest = express a complaint or difficult situation to others
get the short end of the stick = to be at a disadvantage in a situation
path of least resistance = the easiest way
open a can of worms = to introduce a subject that will cause lots of discussion
put the cart before the horse = to focus on the result rather than the work needed to achieve the results you want
food for thought = something that you should think seriously about
eagle eye = ability to notice something from the smallest details or hints
vote of confidence = to approve of something or someone
do someone's heart good = to make you feel good

It's important to learn and use idioms in context. Of course, idioms are not always easy to understand. There are i diom and expression resources that can help with definitions, but reading them in short stories can also provide context that make them come more alive. Try reading the story one time to understand the gist without using the idiom definitions. On your second reading, use the definitions to help you understand the text while learning new idioms.

More idioms and expressions in context stories