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Vocabulary: Vauxhall to Battersea, Saturday 20th September

24/9/2014

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Hello to all of you
What a mixed group - from Spain (Basque), Germany, Italy, Columbia and Brazil! Fantastic!

Thank you so much for the hard work you put into the history research. They were interesting, relevant and presented exceptionally well.

We went through a lot of vocabulary together at the end. You will find most of it below. i hope it's useful and I really look forward to seeing you all again on a future walk.

Best Wishes
Gail

Vocabulary Vauxhall to Battersea Saturday 20th September 2014

To salvage (something from something) (verb): to manage to rescue something from being lost or damaged. E.g. the company, LASCO, salvages old furniture, paintings, road signs, lights, clocks, books etc and displays them at Brunswick House to sell them.

A price-tag (compound noun): the small piece of card attached to an time in a shop etc, with the price written on. E.g. We looked at lots of price-tags of salvaged items in Brunswick House. A clock, for instance, had a price-tag on it for £2,000. It was beautiful though!

A name-tag (compound noun): A small piece of card with your name written on, that you wear on your clothing. Often used at conference.

A badge (noun): A small piece of metal or plastic with a design or words on it that you wear on your clothing. E.g. She bought a birthday card for her daughter that had a 'I am 5 today' badge attached.

A button (noun): A small, often round, piece of plastic, wood or metal that you use for fastening your clothes.

A pass (noun): A form of ID (identification) needed to enter an office building, museum, work place etc. E.g. Filippo showed his pass to the security people to get into his work place.

To tremble (verb): To shake, for example because you're cold, frightened etc. E.g. Albert Bridge was known as 'The Trembling Lady' when it was built because it shook when people walked across it.

To shake (verb): To move from side to side or up and down with short, quick movements. E.g. I was so nervous when that huge dog jumped up that I was shaking.

To shake in your boots (expression): Often used to describe how frightened, nervous, scared you are. E.g. I was shaking in my boots before the job interview.

To wobble (verb): To move from side to side in a way that isn't steady. E.g. To wobble like a jelly!

An eyesore (noun): Something that is ugly and unpleasant to look at. E.g. When Lots Road Power Station was first built, people thought it was an eyesore.

Bear with me (phrasal verb): To be patient with somebody/thing. Often used as a polite expression to keep people waiting!

To bear weight: When something has to carry/take the weight of something. E.g. Albert Bridge couldn't bear the weight of the traffic.

To not bear something (expression / informal): E.g. I can't bear it! I can't stand it! I hate it!

Creepy (adjective / informal) (creepier, creepiest): That makes you feel nervous or frightened. E.g. One of the upstairs rooms at Brunswick House felt creepy when we entered. There were lots of wooden heads and faces on the walls!

To creep (verb): To move very quietly and carefully so as not to wake him. E.g. The traffic was only creeping along.

Creepy crawlies (informal): Insects, particularly those that we don't like!

To crawl (verb): To move slowly with your body on or close to the ground, or on your hands and knees. E.g. An insect crawled across the floor. E.g. The traffic crawled along (we also say 'the traffic crawled along at a snail's pace!)

To stroll (verb) To walk slowly for pleasure. E.g. We strolled through Battersea Park and saw the young musicians on the bandstand.

A bandstand (noun): A covered outdoor platform for an orchestra or band to play music on. E.g. We stopped at the bandstand in Battersea Park where some youth were preparing to play some music.

To mushroom (verb created from a noun): To describe how something shoots up unexpectedly and very quickly. E.g. In London, buildings are mushrooming all the time.

To pop up (phrasal verb): To appear or happen when you're not expecting it. E.g. The mushrooms popped up through the earth over night.

To pop (verb): to make a short sudden sound like a small explosion. E.g. The balloon popped.

To pop in (phrasal verb): To make a quick visit. E.g. Why don't you pop in for a cup of tea?

To pop out (phrasal verb): To come out (of something) suddenly and quickly. E.g. Her eyes popped out of her head in surprise!

A pop-up (noun): When shops, cafes, cinemas etc move into empty premises for a temporary period. E.g. There's a pop-up clothes store on the High Street. Hurry, it'll only be there for a week!

To belch (verb): To let gas out from your stomach through your mouth with a sudden noise. E.g. The Battersea Power Station chimneys belched out smoke and polluted the air.

To burp (verb): To make a noise with the mouth when air rises from the stomach and is forced out.

Note: belch and burp are the same actions in the body. However, we don't say 'the chimneys burped out smoke' No, we say 'they belched out smoke'

To moor (something to something) (verb): To fasten a boat to the land or to an object in the water with a rope or chain. E.g. The house boats are moored in front of the new residential buildings.

Mooring (noun): A place where a boat is tied; the ropes, chains etc. Used to fast a boat.

The tide (noun): The regular change in the level of the sea (or river) caused by the moon and the sun. At high tide, the sea is closer to the land. At low tide, it's further away and more beach can be seen.

We also say: the tide is in (high tide) or out (low tide).

A tree-lined avenue: When a street, path, road etc has a row of trees along both sides. E.g. We walked up the tree-lined avenue in Battersea Park to the bandstand.

To set (something) up (phrasal verb): To start a business, an organisation, a system etc. E.g. The company has set up a new branch in Vauxhall.


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Vocabulary: Exploring the Thames Industrial Past (Vauxhall to Battersea) 08 December 2012

14/12/2012

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Dear all,
Thank you for joining the last English Conversation Walk between Vauxhall and Battersea. I hope you enjoyed it. I was really impressed with your level of English ... all of you! It was a pleasure to chat with you as well as share another area of London.

Below, you'll find the vocabulary from the walk. If I've missed anything, please do add it yourself to the blog.

I look forward to seeing you all again. Have a lovely Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
Best Wishes
Gail

Vocabulary: Exploring the Thames Industrial Past: Vauxhall to Battersea 08th December 2012

a doddle (noun): Informal English. When something is very easy, sometimes we say: ‘it’s a doddle!’ E.g. I made some chocolate cakes. They were a doddle to make!

to doodle (verb): Sometimes we draw while we concentrate on something else. This is doodling.

nibbles (noun): Usually food that we take to a party e.g. crisps, nits, cheese straws etc. Items of food that we can easily pick up with our fingers without needing a plate.

to nibble (verb): To take very small bites out of food. E.g. the children nibbled their biscuits. E.g. I’m always nibbling at food and then I’m not hungry at dinner time. 

to tremble: (verb): When our body shakes either because we are scared or excited or old. E.g. We heard the history about The Albert Bridge – it was known as as ‘the trembling lady’ because it trembled when lots of people walked over it! E.g. she trembled with fear when the door slammed shut.

sewage (noun): the waste from people (water and excrement). We talked about the amount of sewage that used to flow into the Thames.

smog (noun): a mixture of fog and smoke. E.g. Battersea Power Station used to have so much smoke pouring out of the chimneys, that it caused serious pollution. In London, during the 1940s to 50s, the smog was so thick that people couldn’t see where they were going. In 1952, it was known as the ‘Great Smog’ because it was so bad!

to belch (verb): when wind from the stomach comes up through our body, and then comes out of our mouth and makes a noise. We used this word to describe the smoke that came out of the four chimneys at Battersea Power Station. E.g. It belched out tons of smoke.

a pea-souper (noun): a very thick yellowish fog. In London during the 1940s and 50s, the air was so polluted with the smoke from factories, power stations and homes that the it became thick fog (smog)

a swamp (noun): an area of ground (low ground) that is uncultivated (it has not been transformed or cared for by people) and it collects water. It is a ‘bog’ or ‘marsh’. E.g. We talked about how the area around Nine Elms in Vauxhall was once swamp that went all the way down to the Thames.

swampy (adjective): from ‘swamp’ (see above). E.g. A long time ago, Vauxhall was a swampy area.

marsh (noun): (see ‘swamp’ above). An area of low-lying land that gets flooded during the rainy season or by the tide of a river or sea. E.g. the area around Vauxhall used to be flooded by the River Thames when the tide came in. It caused the area to be a marsh.

Mars (noun): A planet – fourth in order from the sun.

March (noun): The third month of the year.

to march (verb): a) to walk quickly, often to a rhythm like the military. b) when someone walks quickly away from something or toward something, we use ‘march’. E.g. She was very angry and marched out of the room! c) When we have demonstrations, we ‘march’. E.g. In October 1936, 207 unemployed people marched 300 miles from Jarrow to London to protest against unemployment and poverty.

sleet (noun): rain that has ice mixed in it. It melts quickly when it lands on the ground. It’s between snow and rain!

urban foxes (noun): the name we often use to describe the foxes that live in cities now. Foxes originally lived in the countryside areas only, but today we see lots of them in London and other towns and cities.

urban seagulls (noun): the same as the foxes (above). When you walk by the Thames, have a look to see how many seagulls there are in London!

to abuse (verb): to treat a person or animal regularly with cruelty or violence. E.g. we walked past Battersea Cats & Dogs Home. This is where animals are taken if they have been abandoned, abused or mistreated.

to mistreat (verb): to treat a person (or animal) badly, cruelly or unfairly.

to put down (phrasal verb): to put an animal to death because it is ill. We also say ‘to put to sleep’ when we kill an animal because we care about it. E.g. They are looked after here and many people give them a new home. Often, they are put down because they are too ill or because a home cannot be found for them.

a put down (noun) informal:  a remark intended to humiliate or criticise someone.

a London plane (noun): a tree that is very common in London (and other parts of the UK). The bark is resistant to pollution which is why it is used so often! The majority of our parks have these trees in long lines on either side of the path. We call this an ‘avenue of trees’.

a piece of cake (expression/phrase) informal: if something is achieved easily, we say that it’s ‘a piece of cake’! E.g. If anyone told you that learning English would be a piece of cake, they were wrong!!

easy-peasy (adjective): if something is very easy and straightforward, we say that it’s ‘easy-peasy’.

topsy-turvy (adjective and adverb): a) Adverb = upside down E.g. The roller coaster at the funfair turned everyone topsy turvy.

 b) Adjective = in a state of confusion E.g. The topsy-turvy policies of this government mean that unemployment is still very high.

a catch-22 (noun): a difficult situation or dilemma from which there is no escape because one possible action depends on another and another etc. E.g. I want to stay in London but if I need to find a job so that I can pay for a flat and I can’t get a flat until I find a job!


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New vocabulary: Vauxhall to Battersea Walk, May 20th, 2012

20/5/2012

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Dear all,I really enjoyed spending the afternoon with you last Monday, despite the rain and cold wind! Here are some of the new words from the walk. If you can think of any others that I've missed here, just add them!

I look forward to seeing you on some other walks
Best Wishes
Gail


A goose (noun). A large waterbird. It has a long neck, short legs and webbed feet and a short wide beak.

Geese (noun). Plural of ‘goose’.

A gosling (noun). A baby goose.

A heron (noun). A large water bird that seeks and eats fish. It is often found along the shore of a river, lake or reservoir. It has long legs, a tall neck and a long pointed beak.

London planes (noun). Their scientific name is = platinus hispanica.Type of tree common in England and especially London. It is often used to line a road with trees. In London, you are likely to find them in every square, park and other open spaces. They are tall with rough multi-coloured bark. They have ‘nuts’ that look like little cones that hang from their branches.

The trees line the road (noun + verb + noun). When you see a road or avenue with trees planted in a straight line on either side so that it almost forms a tunnel, we say: ‘The trees are lining the road’ or ‘a tree-lined road’.

To tremble (verb). When something shakes without being able to stop. It makes quick, short movements. People and animals can tremble from fear, excitement, weakness or cold. Objects, such as a bridge, can tremble from the vibration of people crossing over it.

Trembling (present participle of the verb ‘tremble’). E.g. I can see some leaves trembling in the breeze. E.g. She is trembling in anticipation of her exam results.

To vibrate (verb). When something moves very quickly and continuously backwards and forwards. E.g. The bumblebee’s wings vibrated while it hovered over the flower.

To shake (verb). a) When you are scared of something you can feel your body shake. It moves or sways with short, irregular movements and you can’t stop them.

b) To shake something. E.g. we shake a carton of pineapple juice before we use as it separates when still.

Fussy (adjective). a) Anxious, usually about the smallest of details. E.g. She is very fussy about her food.

b) ‘I’m not fussy’ (expression). This means: ‘I don’t mind’.

E.g.                                                                                                                                       Person A: Would you like to live in a houseboat or one of these waterside flats?            Person B: I’m not fussy.

To crash (verb). a) When something breaks violently or noisily. E.g. When the vase fell off the table and crashed onto the floor, it broke into hundreds of pieces.

b) To crash into (something or someone). When something bangs violently into something else. E.g. His car crashed into the lamppost.

c) A crash (noun). A sudden, loud noise. E.g. We heard the crash of thunder during the night.

A pedalo (noun). A small boat with pedals, usually used for leisure.

A canoe (noun). A narrow boat with pointed ends. Paddles are used to steer it.

Bark (of tree) (noun). a) The outer ‘skin’ of a tree. It can be rough or smooth and different colours, depending on the tree type.

b) The bark (of an animal) (noun). The sharp cry of some animals such as a dog, a fox or a seal. E.g. That dog barked all night long and kept me away!

To bark (verb). When an animal (such as a dog) gives a loud, explosive cry or series of cries.

A village green (noun). The grassy area in the middle of village. Traditionally, it was used for playing cricket, holding fairs and other community activities.

A village square (noun). As above, but not a grassy area.

To burp (verb). When we make a noise to release air that has come up from our stomach and through our mouth.

To belch (verb). a) As above. When we emit gas that has come up from our stomach and through our mouth. It makes a loud noise.

b) We also use ‘belch’ to talk about buildings and objects. E.g. the chimneys belched out smoke. E.g. the power station belched out pollution.

To stray (verb). To go a different way from the planned route. E.g. She strayed off the path and got lost. E.g. He strayed from the main road and discovered a beautiful park.

A stray (noun). A person or thing that is lost or not where it should be. E.g. there are lots of stray dogs in Battersea Dogs and Cats Home E.g. They found a stray child on the beach (the child was lost/not where he/she should be).

To have a view (noun) across somewhere. When we are high up (on a hill) above a town or area and looking at the view. E.g. She had a wonderful view across London.

To have a view (noun) of somewhere. When we are closer to something, including a town or area. E.g. She had a good view of the football match. E.g. She studied the picture and enjoyed seeing a view of Richmond.

A view (noun) from ... When we are inside or on something. E.g. We had a really good view of the play from where we were sitting.

A bumble bee (noun). Large, hairy flying insect that makes a buzzing sound. From the species of the social bee family.


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