Going to the Toilet

The interactive Christmas book

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New Words Born This Decade

How To Use St. Patrick's Day Phrases In English

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The Debenhams fashion dictionary

As if there wasn't enough clothes vocabulary to learn!
Check this out:
The Debenhams fashion dictionary

Animal sounds

New Zealand accent and vocabulary

One News report on how the New Zealand accent has changed noticeably over the last 30 years.

You have here what seems like an innocent word. English - you might think “Whak-a-papa”, something similar to that. However, here in New Zealand, well James, why don’t you help explain this, how do you say this word? “Whaka-papa” That is “Whak-a-papa”, there is a word on the other side. This is how to speak New Zealand 101. Okay, we have the letters “N” and “Zee”. However, when you are in New Zealand, James — “N-Zed”. Aah! Slight difference. If you are wearing something like flip-flops, Rick, what would you call those? “Jandals”. Now Sam, if you were to ask your pastor to pass you the pasta what would you say? “Pass the pasta, pastor”… I don’t think that’s right, Rick - “It’s pass the pastor, pasta”. Oh, alright! “That was pass the pasta, pastor.” “I am confused.” And if you were to put something in the back of your car what would you put it into.” “It’s in your boot mate” Here it is. “Whatever is in the back of your car, is in your boot mate.” Not the trunk, it’s the boot. What would you call a big, grizzly thing, that would growl at you and eat you. “A bear” What would you drink..? What drink has alcohol in it? “A beer”.. Did you hear any difference? “Uh-uh” And what is a soft fluffy toy that you would often give to small children. “It’s a bear”, “Teddy bear” They don’t say “e” like we do, they say “ay”. I’d love to have a teddy bear. Is there anything else you can think of? “Oh! She’ll be right mate.” Okay, what does “Oh! She’ll be right mate” mean?. “It means she will be right” So it’s like you are doing good, alright. “It means that women are always right.” Ohhhh! “It means it’s okay, it’s good” Good to know, thank you. “She’ll be right is just she’ll be right, don’t worry about her, no worries mate, no worries” What do you put at the end of any adjective to make it cool? “As” So say something. “Sweet as”, what if something is really weird. “Weird as” So everything just has “as” at the end of it. “Cool as”. Cool as… cheer bro. “Cheer bro” Kiora is to say hello. And what’s a resume called here? “CV - Curriculum vitae” If someone quits at a sport like Dan you might taunt him and call him what? “Piker” A Piker. ” A what?” Dan would be a piker. “I don’t even know where this is going from” This is coming from your trash talking. “I’d say a quitter”, I like it. “A buster”, “a what, butter?” “Bus-buster” And if there is any word that ends with ‘r’ like for instance if it is say… “Amber?” Amber, ‘aymber’. “Faster”, “Fayster”. Alright that’s it, Okay. And that’s how you speak New Zealand 101.

Click HERE for more Kiwi words and expressions with their equivalent definition.

Word of the week 27 April - 3 May 2009 KIWIANA

Certain items and icons from New Zealand's cultural heritage are often called Kiwiana. Items of kiwiana are generally those which are either unique to or particularly common to New Zealand, particularly from the early and mid twentieth century. Although the term is sometimes used to describe any and all New Zealand icons, it is more commonly used to describe pop culture items such as toys or branded foods. Kiwiana is generally seen as a form of kitsch. Click on the images below to enlarge them and find out more.

Photos of NZ icons or 'kiwiana' set to the music of Dave Dobbyn and Th' Dudes.

Pictures are of: Th' Dudes, All Blacks, Anzac Day, Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, Fred Dagg, Milford Sound, Goodbye Pork Pie, Jandals, Sheep, Garage Sale Sign, Footrot Flats, Mount Taranaki, Cows, Goodnight Kiwi, Split Enz, Greenpeace, Rainbow Warrior, Rainbow Warrior after the Bombing, Nuclear Free Badges, Smash Palace, Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay, Mount Everest, 4Square Icon, Horse Racing, L&P, Once Were Warrior, no. 8 Fencing Wire, State Housing, Rachel Hunter/Tip Top, NZ Music Month Icon, Sweetwaters Music Festival, Paua shell, Paua House, Bluff, Kaimanawa Horses, Americas Cup Racing, Moeraki boulders, Bungee Jumping off the Kawerau Bridge, Cardrona Hotel (from the Speights ads), 1981 Springbok tour, The Protests, Pohutakawa Tree, Beach Bach, Wizard of Christchurch, Raglan, Dame Whina Cooper and child.

Vocabulary associated with body language and gestures

Word of the week 16 - 22 March 2009 JIG

The jig is a Celtic dance which takes its name from the type of music to which it is danced, also called a 'jig.' The music takes its name from the French word 'gigue,' which is an older word for a fiddle (violin). Therefore, an Irish jig is one of many cultural dances that is done to fiddle music, specifically, Celtic fiddle music. There are Irish and Scottish variants of jig music, but the most well known of the jigs is the Irish jig.

A jig is danced with a lot of hopping, making it into a joyful dance; jigs are often danced at weddings and other types of celebrations.

A traditional Irish jig is a series of hops and steps that repeat themselves over and over again. The steps are very simple, either stepping forward or taking steps backwards, but the hops can require some practice in getting the timing and coordination right.

TALK BY JOHN BARLOW AT THE E.O.I.

EVERYTHING BUT THE SQUEAL: HOW TO WRITE A TRAVEL BOOK ABOUT GALICIA

TODO AGAS O GRUÑIDO: COMO ESCRIBIR UN LIBRO DE VIAXES SOBRE GALICIA

Wednesday 18 February at 10.00

If you want to read the first chapter of John Barlow's book, click here.

Useful vocabulary and cooking tips:

Halloween vocabulary

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