Tom Wolfe and the Masters of the Universe

Tom Wolfe is famous for his novel Bonfire of the Vanities, which was all about the super rich on Wall Street in the 1980s.

Now, he's back with a great article on the new "Masters of the Universe" hedge fund managers who make the boys on Wall Street look poor in comparison.

Click here to listen to an interview with Tom Wolfe on NPR



And here's a link to the actual article.

Can Money Really Make You Happy?

Just in case you had doubts as to how happy the super-rich such as Bill Gates, Donald Trump or Roman Abramovich really are, here's an Interesting radio program from NPR (National Public Radio) about whether or not money can really make you happy.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10253838

Just click on the 'Listen' button






Useful Vocabulary:

ruminate (v) = to think about something in a deep or philosophical manner

GDP = Gross Domestic Product = the total value of goods and services produced by a nation.

discourage (v) = to take hope away from, demoralize. Opposite of encourage.

huge = extremely large

vastly bigger = greatly, much more

lust after something = to strongly desire something. In general, the word lust by itself means physical sexual desire, but to lust after something means simply to want something very badly. Of course if you lust after SOMEBODY, then that is interpreted in a sexual way.

commute (v)(n) = to travel from home to work, or from work to home.

subsistence level (to just get by) = to just have enough money for basic needs.

tend to (v) = have a tendency to

hit rock bottom = reach the lowest possible point

subside (v) = to decrease

put the kids through college = common expression that means both paying for university education and all related expenses such as food, housing, books, etc.

Job Interviews

This is for my Lukoil Overeseas morning group, but others may find these links interesting as well:

25 Most Difficult Interview Questions. Great examples of tricky interview questions and advice on how to answer them


http://www.datsi.fi.upm.es/~frosal/docs/25mdq.html



Job interview podcast from BusinessEnglishPod.com

http://www.businessenglishpod.com/category/job-interviews/

You might want to take a look at some of the other podcasts on this site if you are interested in business related ESL materials.

Procrastination

Procrastination

I haven't posted in awhile, in part because things have been very hectic (busy+crazy), but also because of procrastination. Remember that 'to procrastinate' means to avoid doing something important, such as writing a report, by doing something less important, such as watching youtube videos or drinking beer. Most of the time when we procrastinate, we do something fun, but many people do things such as clean their house or study a foreign language, which is also a form of procrastination if something more urgent needs to be done.

Here's an interesting video by Zefrank on how to procrastinate:

Vocabulary:

I'm assuming = I'm considering to be true, to be the case
assure = guarantee
You are missing out = To fail to benefit from or gain enjoyment from.
put off = to do something at a later time; delay; postpone
submit = to send somewhere
power moves = see here for explanation
common sense = practical everyday logic; something that is logical, makes sense
get credit for something = get recognition for doing something good
font = styles of letters (shrift)
quote = a citation from literature, movies, or famous people
signature line = special line that can be added at the end of emails or posts on forums.
double check = check for a second time
utter = complete
crap = euphemism for shit
silverware = knives, spoons, and forks
browse = look through
throw up = vomit = eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth. Example: I ate some bad piroshki and threw up.
addiction = dependency on something like smoking or drinking alcohol.
comma = punctuation mark ( , ) used to show a pause in a sentence.
stutter = to repeat or mispronounce a sound in speech, especially at the beginning of a word.

Two 'p' or not two 'p'...

My wife and I went to register our new daughter Emily at the local ZAKS, the place where births, marriages, and deaths are registered here in Russia. We first went last Wednesday, and were told that the documents we needed to register Emily were different from the time when my first daughter Camilla was born 6 years ago. 'Have the rules been changed?', we asked and received the prompt reply, 'No, we have a new boss.' Instead of looking at my "Vid na Zhitel'stvo", (Russian green card) they now only wanted to look at my national passport and required a notarized translation.

So we trudged back on Friday with the necessary documents. Everything seemed to be in order except for the fact that in my U.S. passport my name is spelled Philip with one 'p' which is different than my "Vid na Zhitel'stvo" where it is spelled Philipp with two 'p's. So since my first daughter was registered according to my "Vid na Zhitel'stvo" her name and patronymic are listed as Camilla Philippovna while my second daughter, registered according to my U.S. passport is listed as Emily Philipovna. When we complained about this and asked them to spell the patryonymic so that it would be the same as my first daughter, they refused point blank. We asked if this would present any problems and the lady in charge of registering our daughter simply smiled and said, 'well it just means you have two daughters from two different fathers.' Furthermore, she added, we may have difficulties leaving the country with both daughters at the same time since permission is needed from both parents.

Yes, it is a bureaucratic nightmare, and yes we will figure out how to sort this out somehow!

Vocabulary:

prompt = fast, quick, speedy.
trudge = a long, difficult walk.
patronymic = a personal name based on the name of your father
listed = written on a list or form
in charge = responsible for
refuse point blank = refuse completely, without any compromises
nightmare = a bad dream
furthermore = in addition
figure out = find the solution to.
sort out = make clear, put in order.
somehow = in some way or manner

Hi everyone! I wanted to create this blog especially for my students in Moscow, Russia. Of course, other English learners are welcome here as well. As I often mention in class, you all need to spend more time reading and listening to REAL English, not textbook English, grammar books, or adapted literature. In addition, learning English should be fun and interesting, as a result the first word in the title of this blog is FUN. In the 10 years that I have taught English in this city, I have found that the students who like studying English and find the process fun and interesting make the most progress.

To help you in your studies I will post links to interesting articles and other resources such as podcasts, videos, and forums. In addition, I will offer original materials of my own to make your studies more interesting and most importantly, fun!