Author Archives: Dr. Lucy Tse

Poll: The Worst Reality Shows

Posted on Tuesday - March 10, 2009 by Dr. Lucy Tse

Reality shows (shows about real people or real events) have become very popular in the U.S. and worldwide. There are competition shows, shows that follow celebrities around in their daily life, and many others. Even for those of us who … Continue reading →

Posted in Television and Movies | 22 Comments

1500 = Fifteen Hundred or One Thousand Five Hundred?

Posted on Tuesday - March 3, 2009 by Dr. Lucy Tse

QUESTION: Mitch in Italy wants to know how to express quantities (amounts; numbers) by using “hundreds” and what is the largest quantity that can be expressed in this way. ANSWER: When you see the number 2,300, you may say to … Continue reading →

Posted in Language & Terms | 20 Comments

The Hokey Pokey

Posted on Tuesday - February 24, 2009 by Dr. Lucy Tse

The Hokey Pokey is a song and a dance that first become popular in the U.S. in the 1950’s as a novelty (for fun; not serious) dance for adults. Since then, it’s become a song and dance that children are … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in the United States | 9 Comments

Historical Fiction About the American Frontier

Posted on Tuesday - February 3, 2009 by Dr. Lucy Tse

Fiction refers to stories not based on true events.  Historical fiction is made-up (not real) stories that are set (located) in the past and may be based on real events, real situations, or real people from the past. In this … Continue reading →

Posted in Recommendations | 4 Comments

Woman Gives Birth to Octuplets

Posted on Thursday - January 29, 2009 by Dr. Lucy Tse

It’s unusual enough when a woman gives birth to twins (two babies) or triplets (three babies).  This week, a woman living near Los Angeles gave birth to octuplets–that’s 8 babies! The hospital has not released (told the public) the name … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events | 18 Comments

NEW COURSE: “Introduction to the United States”

Posted on Wednesday - January 14, 2009 by Dr. Lucy Tse

We are very happy to announce a new course available in the ESL Podcast Store: “Introduction to the United States.” This course is for anyone interested in learning more about the U.S., while improving their English. We’ve taken the 100 … Continue reading →

Posted in Announcements | 8 Comments

American English and British English

Posted on Tuesday - January 13, 2009 by Dr. Lucy Tse

We often get emails from listeners asking us to talk about British English or to tell them the British English equivalent (the same thing in another language/dialect) in our podcasts. We would like to be able to do this, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Language & Terms | 16 Comments

Let’s Ring in the New Year!

Posted on Tuesday - December 30, 2008 by Dr. Lucy Tse

The new year is fast approaching (arriving soon). We use the expression to ring in the new year to mean to welcome or to celebrate the new year. We usually use this expression like this: – “We’re ringing in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in the United States | 22 Comments

“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry

Posted on Tuesday - December 23, 2008 by Dr. Lucy Tse

This is the time of year when many people are thinking of giving and receiving gifts. A popular short story about gift-giving is “The Gift of the Magi” published in 1906, written by American writer O. Henry (whose real name … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in the United States | 10 Comments

Excuse Me, May I Have your Attention, Please?

Posted on Tuesday - December 2, 2008 by Dr. Lucy Tse

QUESTION: Mauro from Italy wants to know how to get the attention of a person or a group of people whom he doesn’t know, in both formal and informal situations. ANSWER: The simplest phrase to use is “excuse me” and … Continue reading →

Posted in Language & Terms | 11 Comments