Category Archives: Life in the United States

One of the benefits of living in Los Angeles is that you can rub elbows with (to mix socially with) celebrities from television and film.  Okay, so we don’t actually rub elbows with celebrities, at least I don’t, but we … Continue reading →

In the United States, when women marry, they have a few options regarding their last name. We’ve received a couple of questions from listeners about this issue so I thought I would explain it here. When we talk about a … Continue reading →

America will need more “cool nerds” in the future. That’s what a recent New York Times article says. Cool (fashionable, impressive) nerds? The word “nerd” first appeared when I was in school, and it wasn’t cool! No one wanted to … Continue reading →

Today is one of the most important celebrations in the country of Ireland, and for those of us who are Irish-American (or Irish-Anything): St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th.  St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, a Roman Scot (from … Continue reading →

Every January 1st, new laws go into effect and people must begin to follow them. Last year in the U.S., 40,000 new laws were passed.  Here are a sampling of (examples of) some of the new laws now in effect … Continue reading →

This is the story of Mr. Ayers (pronounced “airs”) and Mr. Lopez, the musician and the writer. It’s “Mr.” because that’s what Mr. Ayers mother taught him when he was young, and that’s how he honors (shows respect to) her … Continue reading →

Have you ever heard the famous saying: “Necessity is the mother of invention”? Necessity is a need for something and invention is the creation of something new, something that no one has ever made before. Many new inventions come about … Continue reading →

This is the time of the year when students who want to study in the U.S. next fall (September) begin to worry about taking the TOEFL. The TOEFL – Test of English as a Foreign Language – measures students’ ability … Continue reading →

There’s an old expression in English, “The more, the merrier.” Merry is an old-fashioned word that means to be happy, as in “Merry Christmas.”  “The more, the merrier” means the more people you have, say, at a party, the happier … Continue reading →

Most universities require their students to pass (complete successfully) certain courses (classes) in order to graduate. Usually, these are what we call general education classes, classes on topics that the university thinks everyone should know about to be considered an … Continue reading →