Have you ever seen someone do something that makes you wish you could too? Maybe someone who speaks three or four languages, someone who is great at public speaking, or someone who can manage multiple projects at the same time? Ever since I started building a website, I've admired people who could code. It's been a skill I've been wishing I had because that would allow me to build a website the way I want it! But for a long time, I failed to act on my wish. I'd make excuses that convinced myself I didn't have the time to focus on doing this or learn something new at the moment. Every week I would write a list of things I needed to accomplish and every week "learn coding" was always moved to the next week. It was always simply a "wish".  Last week I finally decided to join Codecademy so that I could learn some basic online lessons on web development. So far it has been extremely helpful, educational, and I don't know why I put it off for so long!

The point is, we all wish to achieve or do something in our lives, whether it's big or small. Do you want to pass an exam? get a better job? lose some extra weight? buy a bigger house? develop a new skill? or achieve inner peace? Instead of always wishing and wishing for something to happen one day, you must start somewhere! Just go ahead and make a start! Stop saying "I wish" and start saying "I will."

The language and word choices we use in our daily lives can have a big impact on the decisions and choices we make. By saying "I wish" it almost seems impossible or something too big to achieve. But  "I will" is to believe you can get there and you will do something about it!

Why not set your mind to it and make your wish become a reality, even if it means facing your fears. If you fall, you can get back up again! Turn your “I wishes” to “I wills".

Complete your own sentence: " I will _____________________________.

Summer is almost here which is making me think about nice iced coffees, fun cocktails, and cold-pressed juices. Although these are probably drinks you can enjoy all season round, I prefer to have drinks that are hot during the cooler weathers: hot tea, hot coffee, hot chocolate. In thinking about drinks I'm craving this summer, let's talk about a common phrasal verb related to drinking: drink up!

I talk about phrasal verbs a lot on my blog because it's very important when learning English. We can learn the individual meaning of words, such as "drink" but when we put it with another word such as, "up," it will carry a different meaning. Phrasal verbs are short phrases usually consisting of two words made of a verb and an adverb or preposition.

You may know the word "drink" is to take liquid into your mouth and swallow. Drink water, drink juice, drink wine. The phrasal verb to "drink up" means to drink all of something completely.

There are usually three ways we can use this. To drink up or drink something up or drink up something.

In the present simple we use drink up or drinking up in the -ing form. The past simple of this phrasal verb is drank up (The milk was going bad so I drank it all up).

EAT UP is another phrasal word that's very similar. Instead of drinking something completely, we eat something completely.
"Eat up! This is your last meal of the day!"
"Eat your vegetables up!"

If you'd like to look at some other common phrasal verbs in English, the English Club has a great table here.

For the past week the weather in Seattle has been very rainy, windy, and gloomy. I know most of you will think, "but isn't Seattle known for being gloomy and rainy anyway?" Trust me, it's not always! It has, however, seemed this way for days and days now.

This kind of weather makes me want to curl up in my warm bed with my fleece socks on, a nice cup of tea in one hand and a book in another.  It makes me want to just "chill."

The word "chill" can be used to mean multiple things : to hang out (intransitive verb), to calm down (verb), someone who is very relaxed and easygoing (adjective), or sensation of coldness (noun).

When I say I want to "chill" because of the rainy windy weather I mean I just want to relax, hang out and do nothing.

This is the same meaning as the slang, chillin'

In this cold, rainy weather, I would just be in my bed chillin'.

You can say to someone , "I'm just chillin' at home" or "I'm chillin' at my friend's place"


**If you have the energy to learn another phrase with the word "chill", the phrasal verb "chill out" is a good one. You might have heard it in movies before. It means to take it easy, calm down. For example, if you're very worried about a work presentation, your spouse may say, "You need to chill out! You'll be fine!" This means he/she is telling you to relax, calm down, don't get to excited. Everything will be OK!

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a great celebration - big or small (and maybe had meaningful conversations with my New Years Card Game!)

The beginning of the year is the perfect time to make plans for the rest of the year. New plans or old plans, it's always good to have some idea of things you want to achieve and accomplish (or continue) this new year. 

'Achieve' (uh-cheev) is a verb meaning to do or get something successfully by good effort.

For example,

1. I achieved (gained successfully) the highest score in my class.
2. In order to achieve (gain successfully, obtain) a full scholarship to college, Thomas studied day and night.

What are some things you want to achieve this year? Learn to speak French? Learn to surf? Write your book? Publish my your book? Visit the tallest building in the world? or achieve inner happiness?

In order to keep reminding yourself of the things you want to achieve in 2016, you must write them down and keep them somewhere you could see all the time because sometimes the ups and downs of life will make it hard for us to remember things we wanted to do. We may also push these things to the side so that we could take care of the kids, help others, work overtime to make our boss happy.

This is why I've created a little piece of art you could write on and place in your bedroom, office, on your refrigerator to remind yourself of four main things you want to achieve this year.  Life is short, think about what you want to achieve this year and make a promise to yourself to do it by the end of the year.

Download the free New Year Achievement here

It's almost the end of 2015. This year has felt very short to me - maybe because it's been a busy year! There are still a lot of things I want to finish this year, but it might have to wait till 2016.

Do you have anything you want to finish before the end of the year? Or maybe things you want to start in 2016?

If you're going to a New Year's party, print out my new free card game so that you can end 2015 and start 2016 practicing English with your family and friends. The best gift you can give to someone is to help them learn. Blue cards require you to think about what has happened already in 2015. Red cards require you to share about the new year, 2016.

If you're not doing anything for the New Year's, you can still use these card. Think about each question and write down answers to the red cards and stick them in your room for daily reminder in this upcoming year.

There's always an opportunity for learning and reflecting. Start the new year strong by practicing English.

Download the cards HERE