Author Archives: Dr. Jeff McQuillan

Annotated English: Gun Parties for Women

Posted on Wednesday - March 19, 2008 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

Here’s another news article with comments and vocabulary using the SharedCopy website. It’s an article from Voice of America about a strange new type of party for women, where they get together to buy guns! Take a look here. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in the United States | 8 Comments

Luck of the Irish

Posted on Monday - March 17, 2008 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

Today is Saint Patrick’s Day, the national day of the country of Ireland. A saint is considered a very holy person in the Christian religion. St. Patrick (notice the abbreviation for “saint” is St.) was a famous priest who worked … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in the United States | 6 Comments

An ESLPod Experiment

Posted on Wednesday - March 12, 2008 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

I just discovered this very cool web service called Shared Copy. It allows you to make notes on web pages and share them with others. I tried using it and I think it may be useful for what we do … Continue reading →

Caught With Your Pants Down

Posted on Tuesday - March 11, 2008 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

A scandal is when someone does something wrong, usually a well-known person such as a politician or a movie star. There can be many different types of scandals, including scandals involving sex. In today’s U.S. papers, the American press is … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events | 11 Comments

TOEIC to TOEFL to IELTS: Comparing English Test Scores

Posted on Thursday - March 6, 2008 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

I got an interesting question recently from a listener, Mauricio, about how the different English proficiency tests compare to one another. Mauricio took the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), and wants to know what his approximate score would … Continue reading →

Posted in Language & Terms | 10 Comments

Buyer’s Remorse and the American Elections

Posted on Wednesday - March 5, 2008 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

Well, the results are in (are available): Hillary Clinton won the elections in Texas and Ohio that I discussed in yesterday’s post, and so the fight for the presidential nomination in the Democratic Party will continue. The next big election … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events | 5 Comments

Do or Die for Hillary Clinton

Posted on Tuesday - March 4, 2008 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

Today is a very important primary election in the states of Texas and Ohio (see my explanation of the U.S. election system here). One expression that you can read in the American newspapers today is “do or die.” People are … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events | 14 Comments

And The Winner Is…Not an American!

Posted on Thursday - February 28, 2008 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

Last Sunday the annual awards for the best movies were given out (awarded, given to the winners) in Los Angeles. The awards are popularly called the Oscars, because the statue you win is called “Oscar.” But no one is exactly … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events, Television and Movies | 9 Comments

Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, Lunar New Year

Posted on Wednesday - February 6, 2008 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

This is not just a big week for American football or the U.S. presidential elections. There are at least three other major world events that happen this week. The first is Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”), which marks (celebrates, commemorates) the … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in the United States, News and Current Events | 10 Comments

Super Tuesday

Posted on Tuesday - February 5, 2008 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

Today is being called Super Tuesday in the United States. This is not related to the Super Bowl, which was last Sunday. It’s called Super Tuesday because it is the most important day for electing the candidates of the two … Continue reading →