Mini-Lessons from Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012

These Mini-Lessons are posted on Twitter, and in China on Weibo, throughout the day. You can follow them there!

To get the most from them, you should try to use them in sentences, or discuss them with friends. Writing something on Twitter or Weibo is a great way to practice!

• Link: 1,500+ ESL/EFL Conversations on 25 Topics with audio. http://www.eslfast.com/robot/
• Ancient History: conquistadores: Spanish fighters who conquered (beat) Native Americans to allow Spain to rule most of the American land.
• Irregular Verbs: I try not to become angry. But I became angry at my friend last week. I am afraid I have become angry too many times!
• Idiom: elbow grease: hard work, strong effort. "I know you can clean that pot; just use a little elbow grease."
• Pop Culture: Bill Cosby: black American comedian (born 1937), known for stand-up comedy and "The Cosby Show."
• Slang: been ---in' anything?: a greeting. To a student who is reading: "Been learnin' anything?" To a salesman: "Been sellin' anything?"
• Government: Geneva Conventions: international rules for kind treatment of prisoners of war, first made in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1864

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NOTES:

1. The Idiom, the History and Government words, and some of the Pop Culture words, are from lists in the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. I wrote the definitions and examples myself.
2. The Link was found online; the Slang words, the Irregular Verbs, and some of the Pop Culture words are from my own lists, and I wrote the definitions and examples myself.

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This lesson is ©2012 by James Baquet. You may share this work freely. Teachers may use it in the classroom, as long as students are told the source (URL). You may not publish this material or sell it. Please write to me if you have any questions about "fair use"

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