Category Archives: Holidays/Culture

Get Text Messages with Art

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The Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco is 3,000 miles away from MetroWest, but you can see some artwork from their collection on your phone – plus practice your English a little in a fun way.

The museum has a feature called “Send Me“.  Just send a text message to 57251 and ask for a picture of something – and you will usually quickly receive a text with a related photograph, painting, etc. from the museum.  You can even ask for art using an emoticon.

For example, you can try sending a text to 57251 like this:

  • Send me the ocean
  • Send me something blue
  • Send me 🌺

You Want That Job! – Interview Tips

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Is it a new and different job, or a promotion? Good for you!

At the end of the process of searching for a new job, you will probably have an interview with the hiring manager of the company or organization where you would like to work. The interview is a conversation during which you talk about yourself, your skills, knowledge and experience.

Here are a few ideas, or tips, for having a successful interview:

  1. Be on time—not too early and Not Late.
    When you think about the time you will need to get to, and be ready for the interview, remember to include extra time for:

    1. Unexpected traffic
    2. Possibility that you will get lost
    3. Time to find a parking space
    4. Time to find the building and room where you will interview
    5. Time to take a deep breath, and relax a little before the interview starts
  2. Dress appropriately – There is agreement that both men and women should wear a suit.
  3. Bring a few copies of your resume.
  4. Don’t talk too much or too little. Write down and rehearse your answers to typical interview questions in advance.
  5. Thank the interviewer(s) at the end.

There are many YouTube videos with more helpful information about interviews.  Here’s one from England (in the video “CV” is the same as resume).

And here are two more:
Continue reading →

Acronyms for Texting

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What do lol, idk, ty, and  imho mean?

You may see these online or when you are texting someone.

  • Acronyms are words made from the first letters of other words.  Sometimes acronyms are pronounced as a word. Sometimes you say each letter.
  • Abbreviations are short forms of words. They end with a period. You pronounce the original word, like “mister” for Mr.

Here are some popular acronyms and their meanings. They can be written in capital or regular letters.

  • LOL — laughing out loud
  • IDK — I don’t know
  • ty — thank you  (also thx)
  • imho — in my humble opinion or my opinion is
  • btw — by the way
  • np — no problem
  • ily — I love you (also ilu)
  • OMG — oh my God!

Here’s a website that lists many more common acronyms used in online chats, and here’s one more.

— Thanks to Devik for this article —

Red, White, and Blue Idioms

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Happy Independence Day.  Boston will finish it’s celebration of the country’s birthday with a free concert by the Boston Pops orchestra on the Esplanade at 8:00 on July 4th.  Then at 10:30PM there will be the largest fireworks show in the area – over the river near the Esplanade.

In honor of the holiday, here are some idioms that include the word red, white, or blue:

  • To see red 
  • To be red-faced
  • To turn white as a sheet (or a ghost)
  • To be white-knuckled
  • To feel blue, or to have the blues

Watch the video for an explanation and a little quiz.

Independence Day!

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Independence Day is also called The Fourth of July or sometimes, July Fourth.  It is a federal holiday in the United States.  It is the day that the United States declared its Independence from Great Britain in 1776.

On The Fourth of July, many people have cook-outs.  There are parades in many communities.  Some places have Fireworks displays for everyone (Here’s a list).  But in some places it is illegal to have your own fireworks.

What will you do to celebrate July Fourth?

How old will the United States be this Fourth of July?  (click on the flag to find out) 

Whatever you decide to do, we hope you have a great day!

— Thanks to Christine for this article —

The Tooth Fairy

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  In many countries, including the United States, the tooth fairy is  popular – somewhat similar to the Easter bunny or Santa Claus.  According to the custom, if a young child loses one of their baby teeth, and puts the tooth under their pillow, the tooth fairy will visit while they sleep and replace the tooth with a small gift.

There is a website called toothfairy.org, which has descriptions of 22 children’s books about losing teeth and the tooth fairy that you can buy on Amazon. On another website, you can read about where children of other countries put their lost baby teeth.

There’s an old Disney family movie for free on YouTube called Toothless about a dentist who had to act as the tooth fairy so she could be admitted into Heaven.  Remember that on YouTube, you can turn on Closed Captions to read the words while you watch.