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For FUN Students & Teachers of English!
“The Most Wonderful Words on the Web!”
(from FunEnglishLessons.com & RainbowEnglishSchool.org)
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Contents…
1) Sab’s Introduction 😊 👋
➜ Read my latest news & learn new vocabulary
Hello Fun English Fans, and welcome to the last FunLetter of June 2023!
Last Sunday morning, I was lying in my bed, looking forward to a relaxing day with nothing to do at all. Then I checked Facebook. This is not always a good idea.
I am a big fan of old trains, especially old Paris metro trains. I saw a message saying that “Today, and ONLY today” a classic old Paris metro train was being displayed at a Paris metro station.
Now I knew what I was going to do with my Sunday! This model of carriage is called a Sprague-Thomson carriage, painted in splendid red and green.
It was replaced exactly 40 years ago by a new model, but I prefer the old one! In the first picture, you can see the old train standing at the platform as a modern train comes into the station.
The green carriages were for 2nd Class passengers and the red carriages were for 1st Class. It was more expensive to travel in 1st Class and the seats were more comfortable. The seats in 2nd Class were made of wood but the seats in 1st Class had cushions on them!
Some of the old posters were still on display in the carriages, including an advertisement for a film with Catherine Deneuve from many decades ago.
Above the doors is an old plan of the train line, in black. You can see all the other train lines that cross the black line in red, as well as both final destinations of all those lines. It’s very complicated! Today, every Paris metro line has its own colour – it’s much easier to understand.
My favourite thing was a sign on the wall at the end of the carriages telling the passengers that it was forbidden to smoke or to spit! Yuk!
If you want to know more about this train, join my Paris Set Me Free Facebook group to discover all about this old metro train and lots more Paris curiosities!
Have une journée formidable (that means ‘a great day’ in French), everybody 🌅!
🤗 Tell us what YOUR favourite form of transport is and why you like it, in our friendly Facebook Group here. 🤔 Quick Quiz 🤓
a) 50 years ago, in 1973
b) 45 years ago, in 1978
c) 40 years ago, in 1983
See answer =>
*INTERESTING VOCABULARY
look forward (phrasal verb) – to feel happy and excited about something that is going to happen
on display (expression) – if something is on display, it is there for people to look at
carriage (noun) – one of the separate parts of a train where the passengers sit
splendid (adjective) – very good or very beautiful, special, etc.
platform (noun) – the area in a railway station where you get on and off the train
second-class (adjective) – the less expensive way of travelling in a train that most people use
first-class (adjective) – the best and most expensive service available when travelling
cushion (noun) – a cloth bag filled with something soft that you sit on or lean against to make you comfortable
poster (noun) – a large, printed picture you put on a wall to decorate a place or to advertise something
advertisement (noun) – a picture, short film, song, text, etc. that tries to persuade people to buy a product or service
decade (noun) – a period of ten years
destination (noun) – the place where someone or something is going
forbidden (adjective) – not allowed by an official rule
spit (verb) – to force out the liquid in your mouth
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2) The Daily Fundle 😮 🐸
➜ Play my fun word game & learn cool new things…
Play on DailyFundle.com for more fun!
You hardly ever say it
You read it constantly
There isn’t one here
No sentence is complete without it. 😉
It’s the least punctuation possible
The Americans say ‘period’ but the British say…
full stop
a mark (.) used at the end of a sentence to show it is finished
3) Adventures in Language 😄 🗯
➜ Learn interesting idioms, metaphors, proverbs, expressions and oddities
Idioms for ‘easy’ and ‘difficult’
When I first arrived in France, I thought learning French would be a piece of cake! I threw myself in at the deep end and took an advanced French course at the Sorbonne. I nearly drowned!
I thought finding a job would be plain sailing – everyone here speaks English, don’t they? Err, no, they speak French! I realised I had bitten off more than I could chew.
After many years here in France now, it’s dead easy to get what I want in a shop – I just smile and point!
And although it was an uphill struggle to be understood at first, now speaking French is child’s play.
Even if they don’t understand what I’m saying, they like my accent and I say ‘merci beaucoup’ (thank you very much) and that seems to work ok!
English Idioms: ‘easy’ and ‘difficult’
1) a piece of cake – easy, like eating something delicious
2) throw someone in at the deep end – suddenly put someone in a dangerous situation, like learning to swim in deep water
3) plain sailing – easy, like controlling a boat with a steady wind on a calm sea and no problems
4) bite off more than you can chew – try to do too much, like having so much food in your mouth you can’t eat it
5) dead easy – very easy (as easy as being dead??)
6) an uphill struggle – difficult and tiring, like trying to carry a heavy weight up a mountain
7) child’s play – as easy as playing a child’s game
NOW: Try this quick ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ idioms quiz!
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4) Quick 1-QUESTION Quiz 🤔 📝
➜ Try this fast & fun 30-second English test!
Hear the question and the answer:
What is actually true in this photo?
a) The post is near the flying bird
b) The bird is flying over the Eiffel Tower
c) The Tower is flying behind the bird
The flying bird is near the post. The Eiffel Tower is much higher than the bird. And towers… don’t fly!
5) Words in the News 🤓 📰
➜ Learn current vocabulary from interesting news stories
From BBC News: Science
Virgin space plane takes off with first customers
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic rocket plane has carried customers to the edge of space, in its first commercial flight.
The 70-minute mission was purchased for the Italian Air Force and the Italian National Research Council.
The Unity vehicle climbed 279,00ft (85km) over the New Mexico desert, before gliding back down to Earth.
The mission took off from Spaceport America at around 0830 local time (1430 GMT) and was livestreamed around the world.
USEFUL DEFINITIONS
take off (phrasal verb) – if an aircraft takes off, it begins to fly
edge of space (expression) – this is around 80km above the Earth, where the atmosphere is thinner and gravity is weaker
purchase (verb) – to buy something
climb (verb) – [here] to move to a higher position
glide (verb) – to fly by floating on air currents instead of using power from wings or an engine
local time (noun) – the official time in an area or country
livestream (verb) – to broadcast video and sound of an event over the internet as it happens
6) Photo of the Week 🧐 📸
➜ Practise describing a photo in detail
Two of my passions are taking photos 🤳 and writing ✍️.
I write about Paris in France and the Lake District in Britain every week.
Here is this week’s FunLetter photo:
EXERCISE
Write about this photo or record yourself speaking about it in English.
What can you see?
Where do you think it is?
What time or season is it?
What is the weather like?
Can you see any people or animals?
What are they doing?
What are they wearing?
How do you think they feel?
Do you like the photo?
– Why or why not?
How does it make you feel?
Would you like to be in the photo?
Where would you prefer to be?
Listen to the end of the video above and hear me describe this photo in detail!
Post your texts or voice recordings/videos in our Fun Facebook Group here, and comment on other people’s posts. Have fun learning English! 🤗
🤔 Quick Quiz – Answer 🤓
The red and green Sprague-Thomson trains were replaced in:
c) 1983, 40 years ago as I write this in 2023
🧩 I moved to Paris in 1993, so I missed being able to ride on these trains by 10 years. 😢 Go back =>
🥰 Let’s make the English love go round!