Mr Vig

I was five or six years old.

My family was on vacation at a resort in the mountains of Virginia.

In the 1970s, it was still common for resorts to have formal dinners with music and dancing.

During dinner, my sister, ten years older than me, told me to walk up to a little girl sitting nearby with her family and ask her to dance.

I trusted my sister and obeyed.

I walked over to the little girl, asked her to dance, and…

THE ATOMIC WORD OF THE WEEK IS….
Major.

You’ve probably heard it before.

But do you know ALL the ways it can be used?

And do you know the most popular idioms with “major”?

Check your inbox this week for all that and more…

A MAJOR BLOW
The little girl looked right at me and in a very loud voice said “No!”

Well, that was a major blow to my fragile, young ego.

It would be quite some time before I would ask another girl to dance…

TOMORROW: More major!

Cheers,
Mr. Vig

P.S.
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Sometimes you think you know a word.

But then a native speaker throws a preposition onto the end of the word and the meaning totally changes.

Isn’t English wonderful?!

Never a dull moment.

EXAMPLE
You know the word “chicken,” right?

What about “chicken out”?

No, it’s not when you get KFC to go; but that’s a good guess.

See if you can figure out the meaning from this story.

SCARED BRITS IN PRAGUE
I have a friend who owns a haunted house in Prague.

One day, I was walking by just as a British couple was walking out.

I thought I’d make some small talk and maybe get some business feedback for my friend.

I asked the couple how the haunted house was.

“Dunno, mate” said the British man. “Wez chickened aaht.”

After I found my English to American dictionary, I realized they had been too afraid to walk through the haunted house.

They had chickened out.

P.S.
Ready for real progress in English?

Upgrade to Atomic Homework and in just 15 minutes a day, you’ll get better speaking, understanding and vocabulary:
https://english.mrvig.com/atomic-homework-premium

Who’s the best teacher in the world?

The best teacher in the world is the question “Why?”

Ask this question every day, and you will learn a lot.

Try it now…

Either vs Neither
Saturday night, I went to an expat bar.

That’s where you can go to meet other English speakers.

I got to talking with a Sicilian guy.

“Where in the U.S. are you from?” he asked.

“Virginia,” I answered.

“Oh, I spent a few days in jail in Virginia.”

Here’s the story.

One summer, he went to visit his uncle who lives in a small town.

One afternoon, he was walking down the street when the cops stopped him.

They didn’t believe he was from Italy.

“You’re either from Mexico or El Salvador,” they told him.

“I’m from neither of those places,” he replied.

They didn’t even believe his passport and visa were real.

So they threw him in jail.

I apologized and blamed it on Obama. (This happened in 2016.)

Why?
Why did I use “either”?

Why did I use “neither”?

Why?

P.S.
Ready for real progress in English?

Upgrade to Atomic Homework and in just 15 minutes a day, you’ll get better speaking, understanding and vocabulary:
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I used to be afraid of swimming.

Come to think of it, maybe I was afraid of water: I also hated bath time.

Anyway, I no longer fear the water – I’ve already taken two showers this year:)

And I love swimming!

So here’s how I overcame my fear…

THE SUMMER OF 1970 SOMETHING
A young Mr. Vig was wading into the family backyard swimming pool with his usual water wings strapped to his arms.

Then some friends came over.

They didn’t need water wings.

Instead, they took turns jumping off the diving board into the deep end.

They were having fun without me!

I didn’t like that.

So I took off my water wings and joined them.

And that is how I conquered my fear.

I jumped into the deep end.

But not right away.

And I definitely needed some motivation in the form of peer pressure.

ONE SIZE FITS ALL?
Yesterday, I asked you if you agree or disagree that jumping into the deep end is a good way to learn to speak.

Polyglot Benny Lewis, who wrote the book Fluent In Three Months, says “Speak from day one.”

But I’m not convinced it’s a good idea for everyone.

Tell me what you think in the comments.

P.S.
Ready for real progress in English?

Upgrade to Atomic Homework and in just 15 minutes a day, you’ll get better speaking, understanding and vocabulary:
https://english.mrvig.com/atomic-homework-vsl