The Speedo 24/04/07 - 1/05/07

Hello everyone! We hope you are enjoying the beautiful Spring weather - it is warm and sunny! Read below for some new idioms about SPRING! Hopefully you have plans for rest and relaxation during the holiday week - enjoy and we'll see you in May!

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THANK YOU to everyone who came to Jamie's lecture on American slang - it was a HIT (a hit means it was popular)! Students learned lots of slang phrases that are used in everyday English, especially in song lyrics (words) and movie dialogues (talking). A quick sample of what the students learned:

NOUNS -

Crib – your house
Bling – shiny jewelery with lots of glitter and sparkles
Dawg – a friend

Hood – neighborhood, the area where you live

Hoopty - an old car
Mula – money

VERBS -

To bounce – to leave

To boogie – to dance
To check out – to look at, to watch
To hook up – to give something to someone

To chill - to relax

ADJECTIVES - These words ALL mean excellent, impressive, trendy, very nice:

Tight
Wicked
Sweet
Hot * also means stolen
Sick
Dope
Fly
Ill
Phat

GREETINGS:

Yo
What’s up --- wasssup --- sup
How’s it going?
How ya doing?
What’s the word?
What’s kicking?

SAMPLE SLANG IN USE....

Terri: YO Lee, how was your weekend?

Lee: WASSUP! My weekend was DOPE! I went to a FLY BASH with my DAWGS! What did you do?

Terri: My weekend was SWEET. I didn’t have any MULA so I stayed at my CRIB because I wanted to CHILL.

Lee: That sounds PHAT!

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Upcoming Events:

TONIGHT - Lee and Dean's BEER AND FILM night

Watch a film and taste beers from all over the world! The students pick the movie and Lee will pick the beers :) Come and enjoy a good film with your teachers and students.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 24th @ 7:30

WHERE: @ SPEED CALLAN

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SPRING IDIOMS!

Idiom #1 - to SPRING TO LIFE - to suddenly become active.

Dean: I was trying to start my car, when suddenly it sprang to life without warning!

(The paradigm of spring is: spring, sprang, sprung)

Idiom #2 - To SPRING TO MIND - to appear suddenly or immediately in your thoughts.

Jamie: I was trying to think of a good song to sing at Karaoke, when suddenly Tina Turner SPRUNG TO MIND!

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Joke of the Week!

Student: Would you punish me for some thing i didn't do?

Teacher: no, of course not.

Student: good, because i didn't do my homework.

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A LOOK AT CHUCK!

Chuck Norris is the only person that can punch a cyclops between the eye.

(A cyclops is a monster with only ONE eye!)

The Speedo 17/04/07 - 24/04/07

Dear Students,

Welcome back to the Speedo Blog... We hope you all had a nice Easter and that you are looking forwards to the final few months of Callan Clubs and fun. We've got plenty of things coming up so keep your eyes on the blog, newsletters and notices in the school.

Dean and Lee's Beer and Film Club

Tuesday 24th April - 7.30pm - Room 8

Join Dean and Lee for a film and tasting of international beers next Tuesday night in Room 8. Lee will be looking after the Beer and Dean will be choosing the film. We hope the film will have beer in it but we're not sure yet... It will be a suprise!

Jamie's American Slang Lecture

Thursday 19th April - 7.30 pm - Room 8

As we all know, Mr Callan is an Englishman and, as a result, all the idioms and slang phrases in the Callan books are from the UK... So now is your chance to join Jamie and find out how the Americans do it! Learn new words and phrases to use in the good old U S of A with Jamie... 'Ride on Cowboy!'

A Look at Chuck

Here is this week's beautiful picture of the Chuck and he is modelling his very own trademark jeans... The Chuck Norris Action Jeans! These jeans are worth more than the average Callan teacher earns in 14 years :( I wish I could buy some!

"Death once had a 'near Chuck Norris' experience"

Idiom of the Week - 'Use your Loaf'

This idiom means that you should think carefully before doing something. Use your head!!!

A 'loaf' is a whole bread, not cut into pieces (or slices). There are 2 theories of where this idiom came from. First, in the war, soldiers used a loaf of bread to confuse the enemy. They put a loaf on the end of their gun and held it up above the side of the hole they were hiding in so it looked like a head and the enemy would shoot at it... they could then shoot the enemy! Alternatively, it is 'cockney rhyming slang' for 'head'... loaf of bread = head!

JOKE OF THE WEEK

Q: What's back and white but red all over

A: A penguin with sunburn!

OR

A: A nun in a food mixer ;)

The Speedo 10/4/07 - 17/4/07

Welcome back after the Easter holiday! The school was closed on Good Friday on and Wet Monday... and many of the teachers went away over the holiday. Terri, Lee, and Dean took a trip to Bratislava, Slovakia, and Jamie went to Budapest, Hungary! Gary went to a traditional Easter weekend with his Polish family. Many of the other teachers stayed in Wroclaw and celebrated with their loved ones. All in all, it was a great weekend for everyone. We hope you had a wonderful time with your family!!!!

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UPCOMING EVENTS:

Don't miss GARY'S ROCK CLUB!

WHEN: Friday, April 13th @ 19:30 (7:30)

WHERE: @ SPEED Callan, then go to a ROCK CLUB

Listen to your favorite bands and rock the evening away with Gary and his tunes! Take the newest rock quiz and hang out with Gary (wearing his famous leather pants) and friends. It will be a fun night! Make sure to sign up with the secretaries!!!!

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Idioms of the week: FUN FOOD IDIOMS

Idiom 1: The big cheese

The big cheese is an important person, a leader

"As the Lead Teacher at SPEED, LEE is the BIG CHEESE!

Idiom 2: Bring home the bacon

To bring home the bacon means to earn money for your family

"I work so many hours because I have to bring home the bacon!"

Idiom 3: Cool as a cucumber

To be as cool as a cucumber is to be very calm, not nervous or anxious at all.

"Dean wasn't worried about his driving test, he was as cool as a cucumber"

Idiom 4: Nutty as a fruitcake

To be as nutty as a fruitcake means to be CRAZY!

"After Jamie drinks a Pepsi, she is as nutty as a fruitcake!"

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~~FUNNY ANIMAL SOUNDS~~

Have you ever wondered what sounds animals make in English? Look no more, read this list and see if you can identify every animal:

Bees buzz; they go bzzz.
Birds chirp; they go tweet tweet.
Cats mew; they go meow.
Chicks go peep peep.
Cows low; they go moo.
Crows caw.
Cuckoos go cuckoo.
Dogs bark; they go bow wow or arf or woof.
Donkeys bray; they go hee-haw.
Doves coo.
Ducks quack; they go quack quack.
Frogs croak; they go ribbit.
Geese honk.
Hens cackle and cluck.
Horses neigh or whinney.
Hyenas laugh.
Lions roar.
Mice squeak.
Owls hoot; they go hoo.
Pigs grunt; they go oink oink.
Roosters crow; they go cock-a-doodle-doo.
Sheep and goats bleat; they go baaah.
Turkeys go gobble gobble.
Wolves howl.

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JOKE OF THE WEEK:

QUESTION: What asks no questions but demands an answer?

ANSWER: A doorbell or a phone!

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A LOOK AT CHUCK!

Did you know.... When Chuck Norris gives you the finger, he's telling you how many seconds you have left to live.