Genki English Club is changing...

Hello again! I am changing the name of my ESL blog. Genki English Club was too long and too confusing to many of the readers of my blog. I originally made my blog for a Japanese audience but over the past year or two I see that more and more people who visit my site are from all over the world. So I have changed the name to....(drum roll) Saffle Says --- English Lessons for Learners.

Saffle Says will have the same content as GEC though I will change the Japanese settings to English so that everyone can read my page. I will soon shut down Genki English Club so please bookmark the new website address http://esl.michaelsaffle.com/ in your browser. If you subscribe to the podcast, you will not have to change anything.

If you have any problems getting to the new site or finding the podcast please let me know.

Michael

Virginia

Virginia, originally uploaded by Michael Saffle.

I was driving around Virginia and stopped my car on the side of the road to take some pictures of the fall colors.

Day of the Dead Party

Zombie, Preppy and...well I don't know what her deal is., originally uploaded by Michael Saffle.

Have you heard of the Mexican celebration Day of the Dead? I went to a Day of the Dead Party in Baltimore on Saturday night. Check out the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead

I was not dressed in a costume but one of the girls in this picture was.

Michael

Death is on my mind....

Hello and welcome back. I have had morbid thoughts all day. I think it's because Halloween is right around the corner. That in mind I would like to go over some idioms that have more of a macabre theme.

In today's podcast I go over a few dark idioms. Try them out the next time you have an English conversation. You can always leave me a comment on this blog or email me if you want to try some practice sentences.

deader than a door nail - to be deceased with no chance of coming back to life. Can refer to a person or also something inanimate. For example:
"Do you think the proposal can be pitched again?"
"No way, that proposal is as dead as a door nail."

dead set against something - to be completely, adamantly against. For example:
"I wanted to visit Saudi Arabia but my mother was dead set against it. She thought it was too dangerous."

dead on one's feet - to be extremely tired while still standing, walking around. For example:
"These double shifts are killing me. I'm dead on my feet and I still have three hours left before I can go home!"


over my dead body - to not give permission to do something. For example:
"You can buy that sports car over my dead body! We can't afford that!"