Hi everyone\uff01<\/p>\n
There’s nothing like a good story to lift one’s spirits: a good pick me up!<\/p>\n
First off, have you heard any of these phrases?<\/p>\n
Let’s begin\u00a0with\u00a0there’s nothing like (something)<\/strong><\/em>. We normally use this phrase to emphasise something that’s useful or effective at something.<\/p>\n For example,<\/p>\n There’s nothing like a cold beer\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>on a hot day to refresh yourself.<\/em><\/p>\n This sentences means that a cold beer<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>is one of\u00a0the most useful or effective ways\u00a0to refresh yourself\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>on a hot day!<\/p>\n Another great phrase in our first line was\u00a0lift one’s spirits<\/strong><\/em>. We use this phrase to refer to something that makes us feel good.<\/p>\n For example,<\/p>\n In times of trouble, a good story can lift one’s spirits<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n I hope\u00a0the meaning is easy to see here! In this case,\u00a0a good story\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>can make us feel good in times of trouble or sadness. And last but not least,\u00a0a pick me up<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>is something that makes you feel energetic and happy.<\/p>\n For example,<\/p>\n I need a pick me up after\u00a0the difficult exam.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n So, in\u00a0the hopes of lifting everyone’s spirits,\u00a0I\u2019ll offer a short story here as a pick me up!<\/p>\n We join our 2\u00a0heroes, Nathan and Kristen, in their apartment. They’ve just finished dinner and are wondering what to do next.\u00a0The sun has already set, and from their view on\u00a0the 12th floor of their building, a dense darkness has blanketed\u00a0the surrounding city. However,\u00a0occasional flashes of light between the\u00a0buildings through the window remind them that there are still cars flitting back and forth out there, enjoying\u00a0the empty streets and temporary retirement of\u00a0the rush hour traffic.<\/p>\n In fact, it’s those very flashes of light that gives Kristen a flash of brilliance. She shouts out suddenly, ‘A game! That’s what we shall play to burn\u00a0the midnight oil!’<\/p>\n Nathan, scared out of his reverie and staring out\u00a0the window, replies, ‘I second that, but what are we going to play?’<\/p>\n Kristen screws up her fast in concentration, and posits ‘A game of chance, but not just any game of chance. Whenever either of us gets\u00a0the chance to make\u00a0the other smile, we have to take it, regardless of how embarrassing or difficult it may be.’<\/p>\n A sly grin splits\u00a0Nathan’s face. ‘You’re on,’ he challenges, ‘to\u00a0the victor go\u00a0the spoils!’<\/p>\n Nathan’s eyes wander to\u00a0the table in front of them.\u00a0The remains of their meal, vegan burgers, lay scattered around them, thrown clear in\u00a0the environmentally-friendly feast they have just enjoyed. Without a second thought, he begins gathering\u00a0the dishes and washing them vigorously in\u00a0the sink. He knows that one thing that Kristen can’t stand is a messy apartment. In addition, the second thing she can’t stand is an ungrateful dinner guest.<\/p>\n The well-meaning gesture brings a smile to Kristen’s face, and\u00a0gives\u00a0the first point in this game of chance to Nathan.<\/p>\n ‘You know what,’ Kristen begins slowly, ‘I think\u00a0I’m really going to like this\u00a0game. Not only that, but I think\u00a0the world would be a much better place if this wasn’t just a game.’<\/p>\n And\u00a0with that suggestion, both Nathan and Kristen begin to formulate a way to spread this message of happiness around\u00a0the world. But how?<\/p>\n ‘Well, it’s easy,’\u00a0Nathan suddenly blurted out, ‘we can just learn English from\u00a0Nic-sensei!\u00a0English is spoken around\u00a0the world!’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So, do you have your own message that you want to share\u00a0with\u00a0the world?<\/p>\n Then why not share it in a language that everyone speaks: English<\/strong>. I speak your language, and I’d be glad to teach you mine, so why not come and learn\u00a0with me!<\/p>\n Or, just follow and enjoy my message of happiness today!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hi everyone\uff01 There’s nothing like a good story to lift one’s spirits: a good pick me up! \u3053\u306e\u4f7f\u3048\u308b\u82f1\u8a9e\u30d5\u30ec\u30fc\u30ba\u3001\u77e5\u3063\u3066\u3044\u307e\u3059\u304b\uff1f First off, have you heard any of these phrases? Let’s begin\u00a0with\u00a0there&#…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":8775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[276,441],"tags":[122,614],"class_list":{"0":"post-8773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-native","8":"category-word","9":"tag-english","10":"tag-614","11":"article cf"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8773"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8776,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8773\/revisions\/8776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u30b7\u30e7\u30fc\u30c8\u30b9\u30c8\u30fc\u30ea\u30fc\u3092\u8aad\u3093\u3067\u307f\u3088\u3046\uff01<\/h2>\n