| Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series where you ask me questions and I answer them, maybe. |
| First question comes from Miyuki. Hi, Miyuki. Miyuki says, "I want to know about ‘test-taking tips.’" Okay. I will give you five tips. Tip number one is to know your test. On your test, do you need to write? Do you need to read? Listen? Speak? What do you need to do? First, make sure you know the test and know the requirements of the test. Number two, check and see if the sections are timed. Check to see how much time you have for each section of your test. Number three is to ask yourself, have you taken the test before? What was good for you? What was not good for you? So, what do you need to improve? Review your past tests to see what you need to work on for the next test. Number four, if you can, if it's available, take a practice test. Practice tests can help you find your weak points and your strong points and help you if you have timed sections in your test as well. Number five, if your test includes speaking, you need to practice speaking. If you don't practice, you won't be able to do it at the time that you need it. So, if you don't have a language partner, you can look for one online or you can practice with media like repeating, shadowing media. Those are five quick test tips. I know they're very general but I hope that they can apply to lots of different tests. So I hope that this helps you. Thanks for the question. |
| Okay. Let's go on to your next question. Next question comes from Nerdon Emenette. Hi again, Nerdon. Nerdon says, "Hi, Alisha. What's the difference between ‘blame,’ ‘accuse’ and ‘charge?’" Alright, “blame,” “accuse” and “charge.” These are three verbs that have very similar meanings. Let's begin with “blame.” To blame means to assign someone responsibility for something. This has a negative nuance to it. Some examples. "My parents blamed me for the broken vase.” “The police blamed the accident on a broken traffic light." To accuse someone means to suggest that someone did something bad. So, it's a little bit different from “blame.” “Blame” is like assigning responsibility to someone for like a negative effect. To accuse someone of something is like someone did something wrong, maybe on purpose and you want to suggest that it was that person. Some examples. "The landlord accused him of not paying rent.” “She accused the company of fraud." Let's move along then to the last one, to charge. To charge is a legal term. This is a legal word which means you formally accuse someone of wrongdoing. So, we do not use “charge” in everyday conversation when we're saying like, "You did this bad thing" or, "I think it was you." “Charge” is used in courts. To charge someone with a crime means to officially and legally accuse them of a crime. Examples. "The suspect has been charged with murder.” “She's been charged with breaking and entering." So, that's a quick introduction to the differences between these three verbs. I hope that that helped you. Thanks for an interesting question. |
| Okay. Let's move on to your next question. Next question comes from Isaac Alexander. Hi again, Isaac. Isaac says, "Hi, Alisha. What's the difference between ‘soccer’ and ‘football?’" Yeah. “Soccer” is just the word that people from the U.S. use to talk about what the rest of the world calls “football.” So, to my knowledge, most, if not all other countries use the word "football" to talk about the game with the black and white ball that players kick around the field. We do have a football of our own. We have what many people call American football, which is a totally different game which involves passing and a little bit of kicking. If you're speaking with an American English speaker, “soccer” refers to the black and white ball sport, “football” refers to that kind of egg-shaped, brown leather ball sport. If you're talking to maybe a British English speaker, “football” probably means what American English speakers call “soccer.” I hope that that helps you. Thanks for the question. |
| Alright, let's move on to your next question. Next question comes from Ahmed Magdy. Hi, Ahmed. Ahmed says, "Hi, Alisha. What does ‘whiplash’ mean?” “Whiplash,” this is an injury. “Whiplash” is an injury that happens when the body is like jerked in a strong way, like in a car accident or maybe another transportation-related accident. “Whiplash” is an injury around the head and neck and shoulders where the body and the head move separately. If this is the body and this is the head, they move separately in a very quick jumping whip motion. If you know a whip, it's like this. Indiana Jones has one. “Whiplash” is the name of the injury we get from our bodies being moved in this way. So, I hope that that helps you. Thanks very much for the question. |
| Okay. Let's move on to your next question. Next question comes from Karima. Hi, again, Karima. Karima says, "Hi, Alisha. I want to ask you what does the preposition ‘up’ mean or refer to in the following sentence, 'What exactly are you up to?'" Alright, this “up” doesn't have any meaning. So, "What are you up to? or "What's up?" this is just a set phrase. “Up” doesn't have any directional meaning. There's no movement or positioning. Just consider this a set phrase like, "What's up?" means "How are you?” or "What are you doing?" Same thing with, "What exactly are you up to?" It means "What exactly are you doing?" “Up” doesn't really have a function here. It's just a set phrase. So, don't worry too much about what exactly “up” means here. It's just an expression that we use. |
| So, that's everything that I have for this week. Thank you as always for sending your questions. Remember, you can send them to me at EnglishClass101.com/ask-Alisha. Of course, if you liked the video, please don't forget to give it a thumbs-up. Subscribe to our channel if you have not already and check us out at EnglishClass101.com for some other things that can help you with your English studies. Thanks very much for watching this episode of Ask Alisha and I will see you again next week. Bye, bye. |
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