Charades

Charades is a fun game for people at any age. The purpose of the game is to communicate a word without using any verbal communication. It takes very little preparation, a lot of imagination, and usually a good deal of laughter!

Here are some useful tips how to indicate various categories in the game:

• Book title: Unfold your hands as if they were a book.

• Movie title: Pretend to crank an old-fashioned movie camera.

• Play title: Pretend to pull the rope that opens theatre curtains.

• Song title: Pretend to sing.

• TV show: Draw a rectangle in the air to show the TV screen.

• Quote or Phrase: Make quotation marks in the air with your fingers.

And this is how to indicate other things that appear in charades:

• Number of words in the title: Hold up the number of fingers.

• Length of word: Make a "little" or "big" sign as if you were measuring a fish.

• "Sounds like": Cup one hand behind an ear.

• "Plural": link your little fingers.

• "Past tense": wave your hand over your shoulder toward your back.

• A letter of the alphabet: move your hand in a chopping motion toward your arm (near the top of your forearm if the letter is near the beginning of the alphabet, and near the bottom of your arm if the letter is near the end of the alphabet).

We will have a lot of fun at the party on Sunday!

FORMAL – INFORMAL PHRASES – 21

1. Your friend wants to invest all his savings in stocks and shares. You think he should be more careful.

STANDARD ENGLISH: If I were you I'd be more careful. You're tempting fate.

INFORMAL ENGLISH: If I were you I'd be more careful. You're walking on eggs.

2. Your friend is very shy and is afraid of making new acquaintances.

STANDARD ENGLISH: Don't be so timid. Just go and talk to her.

INFORMAL ENGLISH: Don't be such a wallflower. Just go and talk to her.

3. You heard on the radio that somebody burgled a shop last night.

STANDARD ENGLISH: I heard that someone stole all the valuable lamps from the corner shop last night.

INFORMAL ENGLISH: I heard that somebody waltzed off with all the valuable lamps from the corner shop last night.

did you know that ...?

"Who likes music?" asks a military commander.

Two soldiers step up. "OK you two. I bought a piano. Take it to my flat on the fourth floor."

military commander – dowódca w wojsku

to step up – wystąpić z szeregu

A young boy ran up to his teacher with tears in his eyes. The teacher asked, "What' wrong, dear?" The boy said, "I have just found out that I will be in school until I'm eighteen." The teacher said, "That's not a problem. I have to stay here until I'm sixty-five!"