For this Wednesday I collected some typical English expressions.
I interviewed native English speakers.
Thank you to the interviewees: Pamela, David, Lothar, Laura and Tim.
Pamela comes from California. She works as consultant for
Wall Street Institute in Kurfüstendamm.
Situation
I was looking for an English school to get ready for the TOEIC test. I wanted to apply for a master in a French business school. That’s why I needed this certificate. Pamela presented me the different steps to prepare it and their different services in Wall Street Institute.
Expressions
She is typical American. She said “you know” at the end of all of her sentences. The American people use ‘what’s up?” to say How is going? Pamela likes Berlin but sometimes she misses the beach of California. She has some expressions for that, for instance “catch the wave” that means enjoy the beach and surf, “Hang loose” that means take it easy and no stress.
The interview stops with a proverb: “put my foot in my mouth” that means say the wrong thing at the wrong time.
David S.
He comes from Boston. He runs a Bookshop called « Books in Berlin » near from Savigny Platz. Why has he chosen Berlin? For love, he is married to a German woman.
Situation
My major in the FHW are finance and finance accounting. I want to do an Internship in a English country in those fields. But I need some English books to study. David helped me to find some technical books in these fields.
Expressions
David is a very cool person. His mottos are “wicked cool” that means very cool. He says “later” or “catch you on the rebound” to say see you later.
He is happy all the time and like singing “keep rockin’” and “let’s dance”. He likes baseball and his baseball home run is “it’s way back, it’s outta here!”. His favourite proverb is “Every rose has it’s thorn” that means every beautiful thing can be dangerous, watch out. It is a title of a song too.
Lothar R.
He is not a native speaker. But he lived in England and now he sells perfume which come from England. His shop calls “The English Scent” and is near from Savigny Platz.
Situation
Christmas is coming soon. One of my flatmates will go to England for semester. Why not an English present for her? But I need some tips. Fortunately Lothar is a specialist and can help me for a good choice.
Expressions
He has me given the following expressions:
“Please drop me a line!” that means write me or call me
“Do not make such a fuss!” that means you don’t need to do so much
Laura G.
She was my Host Family when I was in Australia the last summer.
She helped me to improve my English every day. She likes singing and speaking with persons from all over the world.
Situation
I only spoke with Laura in English. She prepared the lunch and the diner. She discussed with the students.
Expressions
Laura used several expressions often like “beauty”, “gorgeous”, they mean great and “Barbie” that means barbecue (no it is not the toy!).
She called the Australian people “aussies”.
Private Tim
He is an australian soldier. He comes from Melbourne. He is 27. It was his time off.
Situation
It was my last night in Australia. I went to my favourite pub in Sydney, the “three wise monkeys”. I met Tim there. I was impressed by his beautiful military uniform.
Expressions
He noticed that I was sad to leave Sydney. He said at to “no worries”, a typical Australian expression to say no problems.
He called Australia “Down under” Why? Because Australia is very under on earth.
