20 Questions
One person thinks of an object (person, place, or thing). Everyone takes turns asking yes/no questions until someone can guess correctly (or until 20 questions are asked). The difficult part is that you cannot ask "wh" questions!
Example: PINEAPPLE. Does it talk? No. Does it make life easier? No. Do you eat it? Yes. Is it something you would eat for dinner? No. Etc...
If someone makes a mistake in forming the question, other club members can help turn it into a proper question.
Can't Say Yes or No
In this game everyone is given a certain number of coins or squares of paper (about 10). Everyone moves around the room starting conversations and asking each other questions. The only rule is that you cannot say the words YES or NO. If you accidentally say one of these words, you have to give a coin or square to the person who you said it to. Try to trick each other by asking questions that you would almost always answer with a yes or no. Think of other ways to trick your friends. Sometimes asking two quick questions in a row works well. (Especially tag questions: Are you new here? This is your first time in America, isn't it?). This game is a great way to practise using small talk and to add variety to your vocabulary. It also makes everyone laugh.
Fact or Fiction
In this game, one person tells a short story about themselves or someone they know or heard about. Usually it is something funny or crazy. It can be a true story, or something made up.
Example: Josh tells a story about his Uncle Leo who sleeps in the nude. One day Uncle Leo was sleepwalking and he went outside and took his dog for a walk. The next door neighbour was coming home late from work and saw him! She called the police and he got arrested for being naked in public.
Everyone around the room has to say whether they think Josh's story is fact (true) or fiction (made up). Josh reveals the truth when everyone has guessed. Members can take turns telling a story.
Chain Fairytale
This is a fun writing warm-up. Everyone has a piece of paper and writes the first sentence or two to start a fairytale (not one that already exists).
Example: Once upon a time there was a frog that had no legs. He wanted to get married, but there were no female legless frogs in the land.
After one minute the leader will say "SWITCH". At this time the writers have to put down their pens and pass the papers. They cannot finish their sentences. Then, the next writers will continue the story. After about ten minutes you will have as many silly stories to read as you have club members. The leader should warn the writers that they will soon have to wrap-up the story during the last two minutes so that each story has a conclusion. Read all of the stories out loud for a good laugh. You can extend this activity by trying to edit each other's writing and spelling errors.
Draw the Picture
In this activity members split up into pairs or small groups. One person looks at a scene from a magazine or book (the leader should cut out enough pictures, or bring in enough magazines for the club). The other person has a pencil and a blank piece of paper. The person with the picture will try to describe everything he sees to the drawer. This is good practice for using prepositions of place. When the describer is finished, compare the drawings to the real thing! Whose is the closest to the original?
Categories
For this game, one person thinks of a category, such as MOVIES. In a circle, everyone must take a turn thinking of a Movie title (in English of course). If someone takes too long to give an answer (the leader should count to five) then that person is out and a new category begins. If someone gives an answer that doesn't make sense or is incorrect, he is also out of the game. For example, if the category is VEGETABLES and someone says "banana" that person is out. The game continues until only one person is left!
Who am I?
In this game, the leader prepares cards with famous people's names on them. The leader tapes one card on the back of each member. Then everyone pretends they are at a party and asks each other questions to find out their own identities. When someone guesses their own name correctly, the name-tag gets taped to their front and they continue to chat with the party guests until everyone is wearing the nametag on the front.
Jeopardy
In this game, which is based on the famous gameshow Jeopardy, everyone writes down ten answers to questions about themselves. After writing down the answers, people have to form pairs or small groups and try to find out what the questions are.
Example: (answer = purple) "What is your favorite colour?" "Blue." "What colour do you hate?" "Green." "What colour is your underwear?" "Purple!" You can stop at three guesses if you want, or keep going until someone in the club can guess the question.
Hot Seat
In this game, the club is split up into two teams. One member from each team sits facing the group. The leader holds up a word (or writes it on the board if you are in a classroom) for all of the team members to see except for the two players in the hot seats. The teams must try to get the person in the hot seat to guess the word or phrase. The first person to guess correctly gets to stand up and a new member from their team takes the hot seat. The person on the other team has to remain in the hot seat until she gets an answer first. You can keep score or just play for fun. This game can also be played in pairs. One pair member closes their eyes while the leader shows the word to the other pair members. The first pair to get the word right gets a point. Warning! This is a loud game because people tend to get excited and yell!
Broken Telephone
This is a listening and pronunciation activity that always gets people laughing. The leader first must think of a sentence or phrase and whisper it to the person beside her. That person will then whisper what she heard to the next person. Each person can only say, "Can you please repeat that?" one time. When the message reaches the end of the chain that person must speak out loud. Oftentimes the message will be completely different when it reaches the end. Try to find out where the chain broke! In a big group you can send the message two ways and find out which team comes closest to the real message. (A famous example is the army message that started as "Send reinforcements, we're going to advance" and ended as "Send three and fourpence, we're going to a dance.")
А -> A || Анна -> Anna
Б -> B || Борис -> Boris
В -> V, W || Виктор -> Viktor (= Wiktor)
Г -> G || Глеб -> Gleb
Д -> D || Даша -> Dasha
Е -> E || Елена -> Elena
Ё -> Yo || Ёжино -> Yozhino
Ж -> Zh || Женя -> Zhenya
З -> Z || Зина -> Zina
И -> I || Игорь -> Igor
Й -> Y || Йорк -> York
К -> K || Клара -> Klara
Л -> L || Лев -> Lev
М -> M || Марина -> Marina
Н -> N || Нина -> Nina
О -> O || Ольга -> Olga
П -> P || Павел -> Pavel
Р -> R || Роман -> Roman
С -> S || Света -> Sveta
Т -> T || Тима -> Tima
У -> U, Ou || Уфа -> Ufa, Oufa
Ф -> F, Ph || Филипп -> Filip (= Philip)
Х -> Kh, h || Хабаровск -> Khabarovsk
Ц -> Ts, Tz || Цветкова -> Tsvetkova
Ч -> Ch, Tch || Чебоксары -> Cheboksary (= Tscheboksary)
Ш -> Sh || Шатура -> Shatura
Щ -> Sch || Щелково -> Schelkovo
Ы -> Y || Сыктывкар -> Syktyvkar
Э -> E || Элла -> Ella
Ю -> Yu, Ju || Юлия -> Yulia (= Julia)
Я -> Ya, Ja || Яков -> Yakov (= Jakov)
LEVEL A – для базового уровня
LEVEL B – для среднего уровня и выше среднего
LEVEL C – для продвинутого уровня
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 1. LEVEL A
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 1. LEVEL B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 1. LEVEL C
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 2. LEVEL A
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 2. LEVEL B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 3. LEVEL A
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 3. LEVEL A – B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 4. LEVEL B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 5. LEVEL A
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 5. LEVEL B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 6. LEVEL B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 7. LEVEL B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 8. LEVEL B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 9. LEVEL A-B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 9. LEVEL B-C
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 10. LEVEL B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL A
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL A (v. 2)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL A (v. 3)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL B (v. 2)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL B (v. 3)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL B (v. 4)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL B (v. 5)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL B (v. 6)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL B (v. 7)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL C
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL C (v. 2)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL C (v. 3)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 11. LEVEL C (v. 4)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL A
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL A (v. 2)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL A (v. 3)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL B (v. 2)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL B (v. 3)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL B (v. 4)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL B (v. 5)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL B (v. 6)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL С
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL С (v. 2)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL С (v. 3)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL С (v. 4)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 12. LEVEL С (v. 5)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 13. LEVEL B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 13. LEVEL B (v. 2)
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 13. LEVEL B-C
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 14. LEVEL B-C
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 15. LEVEL A-B
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 16. LEVEL B-C
TEST YOUR VOCABULARY – 16. LEVEL B-C (v. 2)
centre – center (центр)
theatre – theater (театр)
metre – meter (метр)
colour – color (цвет)
catalogue – catalog (каталог)
realise/realize – realize (понимать)
travelled – traveled (путешествовал)
modelling – modeling (моделирование)
defence – defense (защита)
licence – license (лицензия)
Например:
First do your hometask, then go for a walk. – Сначала сделай уроки, потом иди на прогулку.
First think, then say a word. – Сначала подумай, потом что-то говори.
Например:
At first I ddn’t like this job, but then I got all its advantages. – Сначала мне не нравилась эта работа, но потом я понял ее преимущества.
At first she didn’t like him, but then she fell in love with him. – Сначала она не любила его, но потом влюбилась.
Американский | Британский | Перевод |
antenna | aerial | антенна |
apartment | flat | квартира |
apartment building | block of flats | многоквартирный дом |
area code | dialing code | (телефонный) код |
ATM | cashpoint | банкомат |
baby carriage | pram | детская коляска |
band-aid | plaster | пластырь |
bathroom | loo/ WC/ toilet | ванная, туалет |
beet | beetroot | свекла |
buddy | mate | товарищ |
busy (phone line) | engaged | занятый |
cafeteria | canteen | буфет |
can (of food) | tin | консервн. банка |
candy | sweets | конфеты |
check (rest.) | bill | счет |
chips | crisps | чипсы |
chopped beef | mince | фарш |
cookie | biscuit | печенье |
corn | maize | кукуруза |
cotton candy | candy floss | сахарная вата |
crosswalk | zebra crossing | пешеходный переход |
dead end | cul-de-sac | тупик |
diaper | nappy | пелёнка, подгузник |
first floor | ground floor | первый этаж |
flashlight | torch | фонарь |
fries | chips | чипсы |
game (sports) | match | игра, матч |
guy | bloke, chap | парень |
gas | petrol | бензин |
freeway | motorway | автострада |
to honk | to hoot | кричать |
hood (car) | bonnet | капот |
jello | jelly | желе |
jelly | jam | варенье, джем |
kerosene | paraffin | керосин |
laundromat | laundrette | прачечная |
line | queue | очередь |
post | почта | |
motor home | caravan | трейлер |
movie theater | cinema | кинотеатр |
muffler | silencer | глушитель |
napkin | serviette | салфетка |
overpass | flyover | эстакада |
pants | trousers | штаны, брюки |
pacifier | dummy | соска-пустышка |
parking lot | car park | стоянка |
period | full stop | точка |
résumé | CV | резюме |
to rent | to hire | снимать |
sidewalk | pavement | тротуар |
soccer | football | футбол |
store | shop | магазин |
trash/garbage can | rubbish bin | мусорный бак |
truck | lorry | грузовик |
trunk (car) | boot | багажник |
turn signal | indicator | сигнал поворота |
windshield | windscreen | лобовое стекло |
z (“zee”) | z (“zed”) | нуль |
Представим, что вы студент иностранного универа и не отличаетесь особым прилежанием. Однажды, появившись на занятии по грамматике, вы вдруг узнаете, что у вас будет контрольный тест. Опа! Приехали! Вы никак не ожидали, что нарветесь на pop quiz, т.е. на неожиданный тест. В отчаянии вы восклицаете:
Damn it! I have a pop quiz today. – Черт! У меня сегодня неожиданный тест по грамматике.
Однако, вам повезло. Рядом с вами оказалась милое создание женского пола, которое давно и безнадежно питало нежные чувства к вам и готова была сделать все, что угодно ради вашего внимания. “Все что угодно” вам было не надо, но помощь в тесте вам не помешала бы. Вы мило улыбаетесь, и влюбленная отличница делает всю работу за вас. Она killed the test, что означает “легко расправилась с тестом, сделала все великолепно”
She killed the test. – Она великолепно сделала тест.
Супер! Тест сдан, и вы вернулись к привычному образу жизни – дом, клуб, интернет. Но пока вы веселитесь, универовские преподы придумывают новые задания. И вот вчера вы узнали, что сегодня у вас снова контрольный тест по грамматике, и очень огорчились. Ну сколько можно же?! Но настоящей трагедией стало известие о том, что влюбленная девушка перевелась в другой вуз, чтобы больше с вами не встречаться. Помощи ждать неоткуда.
До вашего мозга, пропитанного мохито и текилой, вдруг стала доходить одна простая мысль – вы можете boom your grammar test, т.е. завалить грамматику.
I am afraid of bombing my grammar test. – Я боюсь завалить тест по грамматике.
Во избежании худшего вы затариваетесь энергетиками, судорожно хватаетесь за книжки. В течение одной ночи вы должны впихнуть в себя всю информацию, которую должны были усваивать постепенно и размеренно. Вы пытаетесь cram for your grammar, т.е. быстро и в большом количестве вдолбить себе в голову знания по грамматике.
I have to cram for my grammar test. – Мне нужно попотеть при подготовке к тесту по грамматике.
Итак, решающий момент наступает, и вы плюхаете свое обезжизненное за ночь тело на стулья в учебной аудитории. Вдруг вы замечаете, что ваш препод тоже находится не в лучшей форме. Как оказалось, вчера он защитил докторскую диссертацию и по этому случаю устроил грандиозный фуршет свои коллегам. Вы смотрите друг на друга и вдруг понимаете, что вам обоим хочется только одного – уползти домой и выспаться. Ваш препод берет зачетку и рисует в ней букву A, что означает “отлично” (За рубежом в выставлении оценок используется алфавитный принцип, высший балл – А, худший – F).
Какой вы везунчик! Вечером для вас снова начинается привычная жизнь. Вы спешите в клуб к друзьям, которые удивляются тому, как вам удалось сдать тест по грамматике. Без лишней скромности вы заявляете, что, дескать, вообще get straight A’s, т.е. получаете только отличные оценки.
I get straight A’s on my report card. – У меня в зачетке только отличные оценки.
24/7 – twenty-four seven. 24 – это двадцать четыре часа в сутках, а 7 – семь дней в неделю.
Выражение 24/7 используется для обозначения круглосуточной работы каких-нибудь магазинов, сервисных центров и т.д.
не путайте выражение 24/7 (twenty-four seven) с 7-Eleven (seven eleven). Если первое выражение означает круглосуточную работу, то второе является названием крупной сети супермаркетов, которая набирает популярность во всем мире. Кстати, магазины 7-Eleven также работают 24/7.
ПРАВИЛЬНЫЕ ФОРМЫ | ОШИБКИ |
I’m on the Internet. I’m on the Net. | I’m in the Internet. |
I surf the Internet. I surf the Net. | I surf in the Internet. |
You’ll find the information on the Internet. | You’ll find the information in the Internet. |
In our hotel all rooms have access to the Internet. | In our hotel all rooms have access to Internet. |
I use the Internet. | I use internet. |
You can buy the book over the Internet. | You can buy the book in the Internet. |
I’m online. |
Если указание дня предшествует месяцу, то используйте определенный артикль the перед указанием дня и предлог of перед месяцем. Например:
5 October 2004 – the fifth of October, two thousand and four
Если указание месяца предшествует дню, то используйте определенный артикль перед указанием дня в британском английском. В американском варианте артикль перед указанием дня можно опустить. Например:
October 5, 2004 – October (the) fifth, two thousand and four
Посмотрите, как можно прочитать следующие даты:
1/15/2005 (месяц/день/год)
January the fifteenth, two thousand (and) five
the fifteenth of January two thousand (and) five
1/15/2009 (месяц/день/год)
January the fifteenth, two thousand (and) nine