MY 2011 Thanksgiving

Many of you took the time to tell me Happy Thanksgiving last week and many more have asked me how it went. My 2011 Thanksgiving was awesome! And I didn't want November to end before sharing a little more in detail.

There were 3 Americans (United States citizens, excuse me), 1 South African, and 4 Argentines. Those of us from the States helped with the traditional meals while the South African and Argentines brought potato chips, alfajors, and Freddo (ice cream, for anyone reading this who is not in Argentina.) We hosted at our apartment in San Telmo - tiny kitchen and all.

It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a Turkey Emergency. We got the turkey in around 4:30 pm and by 5:00 the oven was smoking. The apartment had filled with smoke. We had a true Turkey Emergency.The turkey was cooking awfully fast and wasn't supposed to be done for at least 4 more hours! It was time to call the turkey experts! Did you know that there is a Turkey Talk Line? Yes, it's true: http://www.butterball.com/tips-how-tos/turkey-experts/overview

The woman agreed we should do what any person with a hint of common sense would do: turn the oven down.

After the turkey scare, everything ran much more smoothly. Along with the turkey we served:

Stuffing/Dressing
This is not a picture of mine, but ours had celery, mushrooms, onions, bread, and rice among other things.

Green Bean Casserole
green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and fried onions

Sweet Potato Casserole
sweet potatoes, brown sugar, cinnamon, orange juice, walnuts, butter (and more) with marshmallows on top

Chocolate Pecan Pie
chocolate, pecans, sugar, corn syrup....yum! ("Una bomba" as you would say!!)

Well, just some food vocabulary to make you hungry!
By the way, the turkey turned out fantastic! We named her Pedra.

Good Blog to follow

Just found this: http://www.summiteducation.com.pe/blog/tag/common-errors/

They are doing a countdown of the most common English mistakes made by Spanish speakers. Good explanations.

Shedding Some Light on Thanksgiving

This is an information-filled article from National Geographic which will shed some light on some Thanksgiving facts:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/11/111122-thanksgiving-2011-dinner-recipes-pilgrims-day-parade-history-facts/



to shed light on: to reveal something about something; to clarify something

Word of the Day: gist

gist: the main or essential part of a matter

Pronunciation

What was the gist of his speech? = What was his main point?

Today a client said, "The gist of my feedback is..." when wanting to sum up his feedback.

at the beginning or in the beginning?

Well, they are both correct.

When I hear or read "in the beginning," I always think of the Bible. "In the beginning, God created..."



So here's the trick. In the beginning is used on its own. But at the beginning needs to be linked to a prepositional phrase (whether written, spoken, or imagined.)

For example:

In the beginning, I found the project difficult.
At the beginning of the project, I had a difficult time adjusting.

In the end, the project turned out to be a success!
At the end of the project, we had to review and analyze the outcomes.

You will find that "in the beginning/in the end" are often more general statements.

Work vs. job

A great explanation on the difference between work and job:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/askaboutenglish/2009/03/090331_aae_work_page.shtml

Are you pronouncing these correctly?

“us-ed” à “uzd” Pronunciation

promise Pronunciation

separate (verb) Pronunciation vs. separate (adj) Pronunciation

views Pronunciation

model Pronunciation vs. module Pronunciation

“hook-ed” à “hookt” Pronunciation

request Pronunciation

pivot Pronunciation

thumbnail Pronunciation

straightforward Pronunciation

specific Pronunciation vs. specification Pronunciation