Obsessive Behavior - Bài dịch [Effortless English DVD1 > LV2 > 08]

Ám Ảnh Hành Vi

PARENTS DENY PROBABLE CAUSE OF SON'S OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOR 
BỐ MẸ PHỦ NHẬN KHẢ NĂNG GÂY RA BỆNH ÁM ẢNH HÀNH VI CỦA CON TRAI MÌNH

DEAR ABBY: 
GỬI ABBY,
My nephew, "Vincent," is 16 and has had problems with obsessive handwashing for years. I have enough professional experience to strongly suspect that he suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). 
Cháu trai tôi, "Vincent", 16 tuổi và nó có vấn đề ám ảnh với việc rửa tay. Tôi có đủ kinh nghiệm chuyên môn để để nghi ngờ có khả năng cháu bị  chứng rối loạn ám ảnh cưỡng chế (OCD).

My brother and his wife refuse to believe their child has a problem and will not take him to get help. My nephew's hands are chafed and raw, and his parents reprimand him for this behavior when he really needs professional help. 
Vợ chồng anh trai tôi không tin con của họ có vấn đề và sẽ không đưa cháu đi tìm sự giúp đỡ. Tay của cháu trai tôi phồng rộp và trầy xước, nhưng bố mẹ cháu lại khiển trách cháu vì hành vi này trong khi cháu thật sự cần sự trợ giúp chuyên nghiệp.

His mother is the biggest problem. She nixes all issues that suggest a problem, and my brother will not stand up to her. What can I do? 
Mẹ cháu là vấn đề lớn nhất. Bà phủ nhận ngay tất cả kết luận đưa ra vấn đề, còn anh trai tôi sẽ không cự cãi lại bà ấy. Tôi có thể làm gì được đây?

-- WORRIED AUNT IN FLORIDA
-- NGƯỜI CÔ LO LẮNG CHO CHÁU TRAI - Ở FLORIDA


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

WIKIPEDIA:

Rối loạn ám ảnh cưỡng chế (tiếng Anh: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - OCD) là một rối loạn tâm lý có tính chất mãn tính, dấu hiệu phổ biến của bệnh đó là ý nghĩ ám ảnh, lo lắng không có lý do chính đáng và phải thực hiện các hành vi có tính chất ép buộc để giảm bớt căng thẳng^[1], đây là một dạng trong nhóm bệnh liên quan trực tiếp đến Stress^[2]. Bệnh còn có tên khác là rối loạn ám ảnh cưỡng bức.

Có người rửa tay rất nhiều lần mỗi ngày, mặc dù thực tế tay không bẩn nhưng họ bị ám ảnh rằng nó không được sạch.

Read More

Obsessive Behavior Vocabulary [Effortless English DVD1 > LV2 > 08]

Welcome to the vocabulary lesson for Obsessive Behavior. Let's get started.

In the headline we see the title: “Parents deny probable cause of son’s

 obsessive behavior.”

“To deny” is to say something is wrong or you don't believe it. So if you deny  the cause it means you won't listen to the cause, or you say the cause is wrong. “It’s Not!”, “That's not!” , “That's not the cause!” You're denying it. You're saying “no, it's not true”, “no, it's not true”, that's to deny. To deny. Okay.

And “an probable” means…  probable cause. You probably know “probably”, right? That’s an adverb, “probably”. But “probable” is the additive. So probable cause means the likely cause. It means it's not a hundred percent, but maybe you know, ninety percent. We're sure ninety percent that this is the cause. Okay.

And then… What are we talking about? The cause of what? We're talking about the cause of their son’s obsessive behavior. To behaviors how you act.

“Obsessive”. “Obsessive” is to do something too much. You focus on only one thing. Now it can be a verb: to obsess. To obsess. Yep, it means you focus on one thing, you think about it all the time.

For example, if I obsess about studying English, it means everyday I think about English, English, English. I wake up in the morning, I'm thinking about English, must study English, must study English. At lunch time I'm thinking about English. Must study English, must study English. You only think about this. That's the verb: to obsess.

If you use it as an additive, we use it, we say “obsessive”. So obsessive behavior means doing something all the time. For example, somebody washes their hands a lot, every five minutes they wash their hands and then they touch something on a desk, they wash their hands again. Hen they touch a person, they wash their hands again. They’re washing their hands, washing their hands  all the time. This is obsessive behavior. it's doing one thing too much or all the time. Okay.

And then in the first paragraph of the letter, we say that… The woman says that her nephew has problems with obsessive hand-washing. (That's what I’ve just described.)

“Obsessive hand-washing” means you wash your hands all the time, much, too much, always doing it, again and again, and again, and again. “Obsessive hand-washing”.

“Nephew”. What’s a “nephew”? A nephew is your sister’s son or your brother’s son. That’s a nephew. Okay.

So this nephew  he has obsessive hand-washing. He washes his hands much, too much.

And then in the… She says, “I think he needs professional help.” He needs somebody to help him.

“I suspect” means I think , (in this case). She strongly suspects that he suffers from  obsessive-compulsive disorder – OCD.

“To suspect” means to think. It means you're not sure but you think probably this is happening. And obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), it's a kind of a mental illness, mental sickness, where you… you constantly always do something again and again, and again. Hand washing is common example. But you're always thinking about one thing and doing one thing. Maybe this kid thinks about cleanliness. Always wants to be clean and he always washes his hands. So if you do that too much, if it's really, really, really too much, all the time,  it's kind of crazy. Then we might say the person has obsessive-compulsive disorder – OCD. All right.

And then she said her brother and his wife refuse to believe their child has a problem. So, again “refuse” is a little bit like “deny”. “Refuse” means to say no. To say no to something. Usually, when you refuse, it's because of request. You say “I won't do something”. All right! Somebody wants you to do something but you won't do it. You say, “No, I won't do it.”  That's “refuse”. You refuse to do it. In this case, they refuse to believe. So, usually refuse to do something, refuse to think something, refuse to believe something. Alright. So, you deny a situation. You deny information. But you refuse an action. That's how they're different. Alright.

And then, in the next sentence she says, “My nephew’s hands are chafed and raw.”

“Chafed” means fairy rub. It means if you rub your hands together, alright, you’re rubbing your hands together very fast. Together, together, rubbing together, if you do that a very very long time, your hands will start to hurt, right? Your hands become red. Maybe they get a crack. Maybe they start to bleed, right?  It's very… It becomes painful if you do it too long. Well, that's called “chafed”. “Chafed”, it means your skin is hurt from rubbing, from moving against something else. So it's… it’s not like, like scratched. It similar to scratched. But “scratched” is usually like one line. Alright!  Scratched with a… with a knife. Scratched with scissors. It's one thin line.

“Chafed” usually is a larger area. Like a… a bigger area. Like all of your hands can be chafed, or part of your legs can be chafed. It's rubbing against your pants maybe. And rubbing, rubbing, rubbing, the skin becomes red, the skin hurts a little bit. That's…We call that “chafed”.

And sometimes we’ll say the skin is raw. Skin is raw (in this situation). And that again, that also means the skin is very red and painful.  So “chafed” and “raw”, quite similar. Okay.

And then she says that the boy's parents reprimand him for his behavior when he really needs help.

“To reprimand”. “To reprimand” is… is a little bit like criticizing but ,it's a little different. When someone does something wrong, you reprimand him. So, “to reprimand” means to tell somebody they did something wrong.They say, “Stop washing your hands so much. That's bad!”

Okay. I reprimanded him. Or maybe you steal money and then I tell you, “That's bad! You stole the money. You should not do that.” Okay? I'm reprimanding you.

“Reprimanding” is different then “punish”. “Punishing”, is as you actually do something to the person. So “reprimand” or “to reprimand”, just means you say something. Okay. It's only talking. So that's how “reprimand” and “punishment” are different. All right.

And then finally,… last paragraph she says, “His mother is the biggest problem. She nixes all issues that suggest a problem, and my brother will not stand up to her.”

Okay. “To nix” (N-I-X), to nix something. “To nix” means to…. It's kind of like to destroy it, or eliminate it, or get rid of it. And usually it means somebody makes a suggestion,  and then you shoot this suggestion. Alright! We sometimes say “shoot it down”. You… You immediately you say “No, this is not true”, “No, we will not do it”. Okay. You’re nixing the idea. You’re nixing the suggestion. You're immediately saying “no”. And denying it and refusing to do it. That's “to nix”.

So , she says, “she mixes all issues that suggest a problem”, it means she immediately and quickly says “no” anytime somebody says their son has a problem. So, they say, “Look, I think your son might have a problem”. Immediately, she says, “No, he did not have a problem. Absolutely not. There is no problem”. That's “to nix”.  to immediately deny something, to immediately say no to any suggestion.

Okay. And finally, she says  her brother will not stand up to his wife.

“To stand up to”, is a common phrase in English. “To stand up to” means to

 go against somebody. Maybe argue with them. Maybe fight them. But it means you will not be bullied, you won't let somebody else push you around, or make you do something.  You… If you stand up to someone, it means somebody else is strong, but you will go against them, you will disagree, you will tell them they're wrong. That's “to stand up to somebody”.

And we sometimes use it in the negative. If you say, “he won't stand up to his wife”, it means he always says “yes” to his wife. If his wife says, “Wash the dishes now”, he will say “Yes, yes. Okay”. And if she says “Take out the garbage.” He’ll say, “Yes. Yes. Okay.” And if she says, “You’re stupid. Your your ugly.” He'll say, “I'm sorry. I'm sorry”. Alright! He won't stand up to her. He won't go against her. He won't argue with her. He won't fight with her.

If he does fight with her if she says “you're ugly and stupid”, and then he says “don't call me ugly and stupid. Don't ever say that again. Damn it!” Okay. Now he is standing up to her. All right. You have… You can picture it in your head. “To stand up to someone” means you stand tall against them. If they… They're yelling at you, if you… if you sit down and you put your head down, right, it means you're very weak. But if you stand tall, face to face, then you’re… you're also strong.  So “to stand up to someone” means be strong against somebody else.

All right. That is all of the vocabulary for this lesson. Move on to the mini story. Thanks!

This vocabulary is typed by MT.Dang. Please do not use it in business. Nội dung bài Vocabulary được gõ lại bởi MT Dang. Vui lòng không sử dụng lại với mục đích kinh doanh - mua bán.Thank you!

    

Read More

Nudist Vocabulary [Effortless English DVD1 > LV2 > 07]

Hello! Welcome to the vocabulary audio for the Nudist lesson. Let's get started. Vocabulary.

 "Neighbors get an eyeful when nudist steps outside."

To talk about and eyeful. "To get an eyeful" means to see a lot. Alright. It means feels your eyes. He say, "Wow! That was an eyeful." Or "I got an eyeful", it means you saw a lot, a lot of something.

In this case, a lot of somebody's body. And it talks about when the nudist steps outside.

"Nude", (N-U-D-E), means without clothes. Alright. No clothes. Naked. "Nude" and "naked" are similar.

But a nudist is a person who does not wear clothes. And it's a... We can also use it as an additive.

For example, "a nudist beach", is a beach for people who don't wear clothes. You go to the nudist beach and nobody's wearing clothes. (Sometimes we also say, "a nude beach".)

So, a nudist is a person who does not wear clothes.

 Alright. And then she says in the letter Dear Abby, we have a male name neighbor I call "Flash".

"Flash", is a slang for somebody who is nude, does not wear clothes, that you know... runs around very fast. They run around without clothes. So this is their funny nickname for their neighbor, the guy who lives near them.

And he frequently, often walked outside to get his newspaper. Or go to them get the mail or retrieve something from his car.

"To retrieve" means to get something and bring it back. So if he retrieve something from his car, it means he goes to his car, he gets something from the car,  and he brings it back inside the house.

Sometimes we talk about dogs. Dogs will retrieve, right? You throw *** stick. The dog runs, gets the stick and brings the stick back to you. That's retrieve, or retrieving. "To retrieve".

Okay. So this guy retrieve something from his car and he's naked. He's naked  when he does it. He's nude or naked.

"Nude" and "naked" have the same meaning. They mean no clothes. So, this guy naked. he goes to his cl.... his car, he goes to the mailbox, but he's naked. No clothes.

Okay and... She says that... you know, many people in the neighborhood, especially women, they don't like to look at his house, because they're afraid,right?

They're afraid that if they look they will see him in the buff.

"In the buff", "in the buff" is a slang. It means naked. It's another way to say "naked" or "nude". "No clothes". "In the buff".

"He is in the buff" means he is naked, he has no clothes. "In the buff", "in the buff."

Okay! So this guys always in the buff. (He doesn't have clothes on, right?)

And will be in the buff, standing at his door, or standing in front of his window or walking out side in front of his house, and she says, Flash, her nickname for this guy "Flash". He the basically likable. He's a nice guy.

"Likable" means easy to like, friendly. And he's generally... He's generally helpful guy.

And she says, "We hesitate to say anything."

"To hesitate". "To hesitate" means to wait to do something. Itmeans you want to do something. You... You are planning to do something, but you wait first. You're not sure. So you wait.

So they want to say something to this man. They want to say something to Flash, but then they stop. (oh) "Maybe we shouldn't."

Alright. They think and, "Oh, I don't know, maybe, should we say something? Should we not?" They hesitate. They wait to say something.

She says they don't want to destroy their friendship. Their relationship with him. So that's why they hesitate. That's why they're waiting. That's why they don't take action.

Okay. She said, in her city, she's from Austin, Texas. Austin, Texas is a liberal city, a college city and the capital of Texas. It's probably the only liberal city in Texas.

But anyway, she said in their city in Austin, it's not against the law to be a nudist. So if you are someone who likes to be naked in Austin, its okay. The police will not grab you. You can walk around your house. You can walk around your yard, outside your house. Nude; naked; in the buff.

Okay. And also women can go topless in public in Austin. A woman can take off her shirt and walk around of Texas. No problem.

So, they can't call the police. It's not a possibility. The police won't do anything.

She says, "However to see a fella streak to his car is surprising and unsettling."

Alright. "Fella". "Fella" means guy. Alright! “G-U-Y” or man; a fella. It kinda old word, really. …. Not many people say “fella” anymore. You might have heard the… the movie Goodfellas, right? It means good guys or good men. So “fella” means man or guy; fella. But it's an old word. Maybe in 1915.

Okay! In the verb “to streak”. She says, “To see a fella streak to his car…”

“To streak” means to run naked, to run nude, to run naked. So you have no clothes and then you run across the… the street, or you run somewhere. So you're running in you’re in the buff.  You're running and you're naked, that's called streaking or to streak. (The verb is “to streak”).

She says, “this is unsettling…”

“Unsettling”. “Unsettling” means something that upsets you. Something that makes you… may be angry or may be sad, or maybe shocked and surprise. The emotion is called “unsettled”.

Alright.  She say, “I feel unsettled” it means you feel a little strange. You feel a little nervous, maybe. You feel a little bit wrong, a little upset. It's not a strong word if you say “I feel unsettled”, it's not strong, its weaker than upset.

“Upset” is strong, “I'm upset” means you feel strong emotion. If you say, “I feel unsettled”, it means you feel a little wrong but it's not too strong. It’s not, not, not very strong.

 Okay. And then she says, “In the normal course of things”.

“In the normal course if things”, that's a common phrase. It means, in normal life, in normal daily life,  in the normal course of things.

He, Flash (is a neighbor). he may be spotted in the nude once a week.

“To be spotted” means to be seen. Alright.  “To spot”, the verb. “To spot means to see something. Usually it means to see something that is hard to find. Alright. It means you're looking and finally,  “Ah, I see it”,  “ah I spotted”. Alright. So we use pot when something is difficult to find or maybe you don't want to see it. In this case you don't want to see it.

So she says she spots him in the nude once a week. She sees him in the nude or in the buff once a week.

She says, “I'm sure this happens more, but luckily, thankfully our paths don't cross more than once a week.”

Okay. She says “our paths don't cross”, it means we don't meet each other. The phrase “to cross paths”. “Path”, “a path” is like a road, right? It's a road for walking. So if you say “to cross paths”, means to meet another person. Alright! You're walking on a little road. They're walking on a little road. And your roads cross each other. So you meet each other.

So, it's kinda an idiom. “To cross paths” means to meet somebody. Usually, it's to meet somebody suddenly. It similar to, to bump into. Alright! I… “I bumped into her yesterday”, it means you met somebody yesterday. You were not planning to meet them, but by accident, oh you met them,

-        Hi! How are you?

-       Oh! Hi, how are you?

The same you could say, “We crossed paths yesterday”. Alright! We crossed paths yesterday. We met each other yesterday.

Okay. She says this happens once a week. She crossed paths with the naked guy once

 week.  She sees him once a week.

And finally, she  asks Abby is this something we should be worried about/concerned about?

“to be concerned” means to be worried. “Concern” means worry.

And finally she signs her name. She signs it, “Startled in Austin, Texas”.

“Startled” means surprise or shock. Sometimes both ideas, surprised and shocked: startled.

So if I.. “AHHH!”

If I shout suddenly, alright? I startled you. I can use it as a verb. I startle you. I startle you, it means I surprise you.

 It can also be an emotion. You can say “I was startled”. Alright! “He made me feel startled”

So it can be a feeling. So, you say startle. An emotion and an adjective, or it can be a verb. “He startled me”, “he surprised me”.

 All right. That is all for the vocabulary for the nudists lesson. Go on to the mini story.

See you next time. Bye bye!

--------------------------

Lời thoại bài Vocabulary này được gõ lại bởi MT Đặng. Xin vui lòng không sử dụng trong mục đích kinh doanh - mua bán.Cảm ơn!

MT Dang - http://IDich.com

Read More

Nudist - Bài dịch [Effortless English DVD1 > LV2 > 07]

NEIGHBORS GET AN EYEFUL WHEN NUDIST STEPS OUTSIDE

Cả xóm nhìn há hốc khi một gã lõa lồ bước nhỡn nhơ ra đường

DEAR ABBY:
Gửi Abby,

We have a male neighbor I'll call "Flash" who frequently walks out to get his newspaper - or the mail, or to retrieve something from his car - while he's as naked as the day he was born. (He's in his late 50s and divorced.)
Chúng tôi có một gã hàng xóm mà tôi gọi là "Flash", gã thường ra xe của gã để lấy báo,  thư, hoặc cái gì đó trong khi anh ta đang trần trụi y như cái hôm gã được sinh ra đời ấy. (Dù gã đã gần 60 và đã ly dị).

Some of the women in the neighborhood know not to look toward Flash's home if they're out for a walk. They have discovered that he is most likely in the buff, standing at his glass door or sitting at his front office computer with the door open.
Vài phụ nữ trong xóm biết thế nên họ không bao giờ đưa mắt về phía nhà gã Flash nếu mà họ có đi ra ngoài. Mọi người nhận ra rằng gã ta hầu như là lõa thể khi đứng trước cửa kính hay ngồi trước bàn máy tính trong lúc cửa thì mở toan.

Flash is otherwise a likable and helpful neighbor. We hesitate to say anything. We do not want to say anything that might destroy that relationship. It's not against the law to be a nudist, or for a woman to go topless in public in this city. However, to see a fella streak to his car is a little surprising and unsettling, even for another adult.
Nhưng mặt khác Flash lại là một người hàng xóm láng giềng dễ mến và tốt bụng. Chúng tôi vẫn lưỡng lự chưa phàn nàn bất cứ điều gì. Chúng tôi không muốn nói lên bất cứ điều gì có thể làm rạn nứt mối quan hệ giữa hàng xóm láng giềng với nhau. Hành động khỏa thân hay một phụ nữ thả rông ngực ở nơi công cộng trong thành phố này không phải là một hành vi vi phạp pháp. Tuy nói vậy, nhưng thấy một gã trần trụi chạy lơn tơn ra ngoài đến với chiếc xe của gã thì hơi sưng sốt và đáng lo ngại đấy. Ngay cả với những người lớn khác cũng thế.

In the normal course of things, he may be spotted in the nude once a week. I can only assume this goes on daily, but thankfully, our paths don't cross more than once a week. Is this something we should be concerned about?
Thường thì hay bắt gặp gã khỏa thân mỗi tuần một lần. Tôi đoán chừng điều này có thể rồi sẽ diễn ra hàng ngày. Thật hên là chúng tôi phải không chạm mặt nhau trên cùng một đoạn đường nhiều hơn một lần một tuần. Có điều gì đó mà chúng tôi nên bận tâm đến phải không?

-- STARTLED IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
Hoảng hốt vì tên lỏa thể, tại Austin, Texas

-------NOTES:------- In the buff: naked
Fella streak: guy run naked

Read More

Share file text Effortless English

Trích từ EffortlessEnglishViet.com/

 Bạn có cảm thấy bối rối, mất tự tin mỗi khi nói Tiếng Anh?
 Có phải bạn phải mất nhiều thời gian suy nghĩ, dịch từ tiếng Việt sang tiếng Anh mỗi khi nói?
 Bạn hay nói vấp, mắc lỗi ngữ pháp và phát âm sai?
 Bạn nghe không kịp khi người bản ngữ nói nhanh?
 Bạn rất thích thú khi nghe người bản ngữ nói chuyện với nhau nhưng mình thì chẳng hiểu gì ?
 Bạn luyện nghe nhiều những vẫn chưa nghe hiểu hết khi xem các bộ phim nước ngoài hay chương trình truyền hình thực tế?
 Bạn cảm thấy chán nản, khó chịu, bứt rứt khi mình học tiếng Anh rất nhiều năm nhưng vẫn chưa thể nói tiếng Anh dễ dàng?
 Năm này qua tháng nọ, bạn cố gắng học chăm chỉ nhưng khả năng Tiếng Anh của bạn vẫn chẳng thay đổi thậm chí là rơi vào ngõ cụt ?

Đó không phải lỗi của bạn đâu! Hầu hết các lớp học và giáo viên đang dùng những phương pháp cũ, bài học cũ, và sách cũ, đây là nguyên nhân dẫn tới vấn đề của bạn. Với phương pháp mới này, bạn sẽ nói tiếng Anh một cách xuất sắc! Bạn sẽ cảm thấy thoải mái, vui vẻ và tự tin khi nói tiếng Anh.

MỘT BÀI HỌC SẼ GỒM CÓ (POV & commentary có thể không có ở một số bài)

Audio Article (Chủ đề của bài học)

Vocabulary Lesson (Bài học từ vựng)Bạn có biết rằng bạn sẽ phải học từ vựng bằng tai, bạn sẽ sử dụng nó rất nhanh khi nói.Với bài học của Effortless English , bạn học chỉ bằng cách nghe; cực kỳ dễ dàng

Listen & Answer Mini Stories (Bài học nghe và trả lời)Giúp bạn luyện tập giao tiếp và thói quen sử dụng tiếng Anh hằng ngày. Bạn nghe tiếng Anh thực tế. Bạn được tự mình đối đáp với những câu hỏi của tác giả trong suốt bài học.

Point of View Story Lessons  (Bài học văn phạm)

Hãy nghĩ đến việc bạn có thể học văn phạm tiếng anh chính xác giống như một trẻ em Mỹ. Bạn học tự nhiên, dễ dàng và bằng trực giác.

Commentary 

Free download: 

1. Original Effortless English

2. Learn Real English

3. Flow English Lessons

4. Business English Lessons

5. Power English Now

6. VIP Global Leadership Program 

(dvd 6 chưa cập nhật )

Lưu ý là đó mới chỉ là file text (pdf) thôi nhé. Không có audio. 

Trong DVD1 gốc không có file text vocabulary, bạn có thể tải file text vocab miễn phí tại đây    

Khuyến khích bạn nào có điều kiện nên đăng ký cũng như học theo phương pháp này tại trang effortlessenglishclub.com

Read More

Sổ tay bí mật học tiếng Anh cực hiệu quả

Mấy ngày trước mình vô tình tìm được handbook này. Không biết các bạn đã biết quyển này chưa, hay mình là người cuối cùng biết đến nó nhỉ? Mình đọc xong nó hôm qua, muốn lên viết review ngay mà bận "ngủ" quá. :))

Download here

Link dự phòng

Sau đây là đánh giá của cá nhân mình về handbook này:

Thật ra mình chỉ giật tít tiêu đề thôi. Không có bí mật hay phương pháp thần thánh nào ở đây cả. 

Quyển handbook này nói chúng đã giúp mình thông suốt được một số vấn đề. Nó bao gồm về những điều nên và không nên, xóa bỏ vòng lẩn quẩn mà những người học English mãi vẫn không thành. Mình chỉ tóm gọn lại... (cho những bạn học tiếng Anh), dù cho tiếng Anh của bạn có đang ở con số 0 hay 1000000, thì hãy bỏ ra một ít thời gian, đọc hết quyển handbook này, rồi tiếp tục bắt đầu hành trình học tiếng Anh của bạn. Mặc dù nó là chuyên về thi IElTS, nhưng tiếng Anh giao tiếp, TOIEC hay TOEFL đọc đều rất có lợi.  Mình cam đoan là bạn sẽ không hối tiếc khi bỏ thời gian ra đọc nó đâu. Người ta gọi nó là cuốn tẩy não, thật, nó đã tẩy đi một số suy nghĩ mà trước đây mình luôn nghĩa là đúng về cách học của mình. Tóm gọn lại quyển handbook này: ngoài học đúng cách phù hợp với bản thân, bạn còn phải rất cố gắng và kiên trì để thực hiện.

Kien Tran's IELTS Handbook

Update: Hiện Kiên đã ra thêm nhiều ebook khác, nếu đã đọc ebook trên, có lẽ bạn sẽ có hứng thú đọc thêm những ebook khác. Bạn có thể mua để ủng hộ tác giả ở website chính thức của anh ấy tại đây: http://kientranhandbook.com/

-----------------

Cám ơn anh Kiên Trần đã viết quyển handbook này. 

Read More

Meddling Mother-In-Law - Bài dịch [Effortless English DVD1 > LV2 > 06]

Sự can thiệp của Mẹ chồng

WIFE READY TO WASH HER HANDS OF MEDDLING MOTHER-IN-LAW
Người vợ sẵn lòng chấm dứt quan hệ vì sự can thiệp không cần thiết của mẹ chồng.

DEAR ABBY:
Gửi Abby,

How do I politely tell my mother-in-law to stop doing my laundry? It all started when I was on bed rest due to my pregnancy. I didn't mind her doing an occasional load to help us out. But now she does it anytime she's over to watch the kids.
Làm thế nào để tôi nói chuyện lễ độ với mẹ chồng trong việc ngừng giúp tôi giặt ủi đồ đạc của nhà đây? Tất cả bắt đầu từ lúc tôi nghĩ dưỡng trên giường trong thời gian mang thai. Tôi đã không để thi thoảng bà đã giặt một đống (một lượng lớn) quần áo giúp chúng tôi. Và giờ thì bà đều giặt giũ bất cứ khi nào mà bà tới chăm nom mấy đứa cháu. 

I'm very picky about how I do my laundry, and this is the main reason I don't want her doing it. Also, I'd prefer she spends time playing with the kids than with the laundry!
Tôi vô cùng kỹ lưỡng trong việc giặt ủi, và đây là lý do chính tôi không muốn bà làm việc này nữa. Hơn nữa, tôi thích bà dành thời gian chơi với bọn trẻ hơn là lo cho việc đó.

She also puts things away in the wrong places. She does it with my dishes, too. Once I told her not to worry about my laundry because I wasn't done sorting it. She took it upon herself to do it anyway.
Bà còn để đồ đạt lung tung không đúng chỗ. Bà cũng làm thế với chén đĩa nữa. Dù tôi đã nói với bà rằng đừng bận tâm việc giặt ủi của tôi nữa, vì tôi chưa sắp xếp xong. Nhưng bà vẫn theo ý mình và làm nó bất chấp ra sao. 

She's very strong-willed. My husband and I have had problems with her not respecting our parenting, too. She often takes things the wrong way. What's the best way for us to tell her that her help is not needed?
Bà ấy rất kiên quyết. Vợ chồng tôi đã gặp rắc rối bởi bà chẳng tôn trọng nguyên tắc dạy dỗ con cái của chúng tôi. Bà thường hay hiểu sai ý (của chúng tôi) lắm. Có cách gì tốt nhất để chúng tôi nói với bà rằng sự giúp đỡ của bà là không cần thiết đây?

-- DIRTY FAMILY LAUNDRY
-- Phơi bày điều đáng xấu hổ của gia đình.



------------Notes------------

MEDDLING: Xỏ mũi vào chuyện người khác/ sự can thiệp hông cần thiết
WASH HER HANDS OF: to end one's association relationship with someone or something 
one’s dirty laundry: bí mật đáng xấu hổ / Vạch áo cho người xem lưng

Read More

Meddling Mother-In-Law Vocabulary [Effortless English DVD1 > LV2 > 06]

Okay. Welcome to the first Dear Abby letter. And this one is called: Meddling Mother-in-Law. Let's get started.

This is a vocabulary lesson for Meddling Mother-in-Law, Dear Abby.

Okay! "Meddling mother-in-law", "meddling", what is "meddling" mean? "Meddling" means to interfere or to cause a problem with for somebody else. It means you get involved with another person's life, when you shouldn't.

So, for example, the mother-in-law is causing problems for the wife. She's doing things that wife should be doing. She's causing problems for the wife's life. She's interfering, she's sticking... with a sticking her nose in...

"Sticking her nose in", it means she's shouldn't be worried about this. She shouldn't be doing something, but she does it anyway. So it's a meddling mother in law. "mother-in-law", of course means the mother of your husband or wife. In this case, mother of husband.

So, it's about laundry. So the mother in law is doing the wife's laundry. Alright. This is none of her business. She should not be doing the wife's laundry. It's not her own laundry.

Since it's not her own laundry, she's meddling, she's meddling with the wife. She's interfering with the wife, she's doing things, she's doing the wife's job.

Okay!

And in the title says: wife ready to wash her hands of meddling mother-in-law.

Okay, it's another common phrase: "to wash her hands of", or "to wash your hands of".

"To wash your hands of something", or "to wash your hands of somebody" means you're totally finished with them. You will never do anything for them again. You will never talk to them again. You don't want to deal with them at all. You totally finished with them.

So, "wash her hands of mother-in-law" means, the wife is ready to completely forget the mother-in-law, break her relationship, not talk to her anymore, not see her anymore, nothing. She wants to wash her hands of the mother-in-law.

You could say, maybe you're tired of English, right? You're sick of English. So, you say, "I wash my hands of English", it means you will never study English again. You totally sick of English. You'll never do it again, never speak it again, never study it again.

Hopefully that's not true! Don't wash your hands of English.

Okay. Wife ready to wash your hands of meddling mother in law.

And then down in the first instance Dear Abby, the first line says: the mother-in-law is doing my laundry.

"Laundry" means dirty clothes, right? Laundry: Dirty clothes that need to be washed.

So if you "do the laundry", or "do my laundry", or "do your laundry", it means you wash your dirty clothes. So, doing the laundry means washing clothes.

So the mother in laws washing the wife's families clothes. And she said it started when she was on bed rest.

That's a common phrase, "to be on bed rest". "To be on bed rest", (the phrase, learn the whole phrase). "To be on bed rest", means you must rest in your bed all day. You must stay in bed all day. Usually because you're sick or you have some physical problem. Some problem with your body. The doctor says "you need to be on bed rest", it means the doctor tells you stay in bed, rest in your bed all day. That's what on bed rest means.

And she was on bed rest due to her pregnancy.

"Due to" means "because". So. That little phrase, two words phrase, "due to her pregnancy", means because of her pregnancy.  "Due to" means because or because of.

So, she was on bed rest for doctor said, "you're pregnant, you need to stay in bed  and rest". You're on bed rest.

Okay! She said, she didn't mind her mother-in-law would do an occasional load to help her out.

"A load" means an amount. "A load" is an amount. In this case, "a load of laundry", it means, it's the amount of clothes you put into the washer. Alright! So you... If you have some clothes, you put one group of clothes into the washing machine, that is one load of laundry. After you wash it, maybe you have more dirty clothes, you put more clothes in the washing machine, that's your second load. Alright! Load number two.

 If you have more clothes, after that you put another one in, now that... now you have three loads of laundry. So it's the amount of laundry that goes into the washing machine at one time. That's a load of laundry.

And she... But then ***** say, "I didn't mind that, but now she does it anytime she's over to watch the kids."

So when she's over to watch the kids. When she's over means when she's visiting. We say, "Hey come over to my house". "Come over to my house" means visit my house. So the mother-in-law says she's over to watch the kids, it means she's visiting to watch the kids, to help watch the kids.

So, come over, or to be over, it means to visit.

Okay. And then the woman says, "I'm very picky about my laundry".

"Picky", that's what the [/ck/] sound. [/ck/], "picky". So don't say "piggy" with the "[/g/]", then it... that's an animal, right? *&%$@#! Don't say that. You have to say "picky" with a strong "[/k/]" sound. "Picky".

"She's very picky about her laundry", it means she has very, very specific ideas about how to do laundry. It means the laundry must be perfect, must be done exactly one way.

So, for example, if I am picky about food, it means I will only eat certain kinds of food. The food must be exactly like I wanted. Let's say I'm picky about Spaghetti. If they bring some Spaghetti, some noodles, right? And I eat it and I say, "Ohh! This noodle, it's too hard, it's too hard!" And then the restaurant brings me more noodles and I say, "Ohh, these, these noodles are too soft. And then they bring more moodle, I say, "These noodles are too hot!" And then they bring more, "these noodles are too cold!"

Okay. It means I am very, very picky, right, About noodles. The noodles must be perfect for me. Means they must be one way only. They must be exactly how I want them. That means I am very picky about noodles.

If I say, "Oh, I don't care hard or soft, hot or cold, I don't care, it doesn't matter, then I'm not picky.

Okay. This woman is picky about her laundry. It must be washed exactly like she wanted, a certain way. Maybe all the white clothes together, all the red clothes together, all the dark clothes together. It must be this way. She's very picky.

Alright! And then in the next paragraph of the letter, she says, "One time I told her not to do the laundry, because I wasn't done sorting it."

To sort, (S-O-R-T). "To sort" means to organize. So it means you have a group of things, and you separate them and organize. So, separate and organize, equals sort. Separating plus organizing both.

So you can imagine with clothes, you have a big group of clothes, a lot of clothes, a load of clothes. And you... you look at them, you say, "Oh this is a red one." And you put it to the left, and, "Oh this is a black one." You put it on to the right. And, "Oh, this is white", and you put it in another pile. You are storing them, right?

You're sorting them by color. The white ones together, the red ones together, the black ones together, etc.

So that means you're storting, you're separating them, and you're organizing them. That's "to sort".

You can sort by size. All the big ones on the left side, all the small ones on the right side. Separating in organizing by size. Usually with laundry, we sort by color.

Alright! And then she said, "my mother-in-law took it upon herself to do the laundry anyway."

"To take it upon yourself" or "take it upon herself", "take it upon himself", it means you decide to do something without asking. you don't ask permission. you don't ask if it's OK. You just do it yourself without asking.

So, "she took it herself", or "she took it upon herself to do the laundry", it means she did the laundry, she decided to do the laundry but she never asked the wife, is it okay.

"Is it okay?", "Can I do the laundry?", "Can I do your laundry?"

 She never did that. She just decided and she did it. She took it upon herself, without asking.

And the wife says, "the mother in law is very strong-willed."

"Strong-willed" means a very strong mind. It means you make a strong decision. When you decide to do something, you won't change your mind, nobody can change your decision.

So if I decide... I will eat pizza tonight. And, maybe you want to eat hamburgers, and you say, "No, no A.J. Let's eat hamburgers". I say, "No, pizza!

He say, "Please, come on. Maybe, let's eat something else. Maybe we can eat Italian."

I say, "Okay. But only pizza."

And you say, "Well, how about spaghetti?"

And I say, "No. Pizza! Pizza! Pizza! Only pizza!

Alright? I will not change. I will not change my mind. I am strong-willed. We sometimes say, "stubborn". "Stubborn" is another word. It's very similar. "Stubborn" or "strong-willed".

Alright. And then... *** she says the mother-in-law does not respect our parenting.

"Our parenting". "Our parenting", what does that mean?

"Parenting" means how you take care of your children. The rules you have for your children, how you punish them, how you teach them, all of that raising a child, we call that "parenting".

You can use it as a verb: "to parent".

And it can also be a noun: "parenting". Alright!

So she saying the mother in law does not respect their parenting. It means the mother-in-law does not respect their rules of... with the children. Their rules for the children. She did not respect how they teach their children.

So the mother in law does not respect that. She does not follow their rules.

Okay.

And then finally, "the mother-in-law often takes things the wrong way".

"To take something the wrong way" means to misunderstand it. Usually in a negative way. For example, if you say, "A.J don't take this the wrong way but your English class is a little boring."

 Uh! Right? And then I get angry, "What? What? Why are you criticizing me? Why do you hate me?"

Alright! I take it the wrong way. You don't hate me. You don't want to be bad to me. You're just suggesting something politely but I get angry. I misunderstand, right?

I don't understand what you're telling me. I decide that you hate me. I take it the wrong way.

So she's worried. This wife is worried if she says something to the mother-in-law. If she says, "Please don't do my laundry", she's afraid the mother in law will take it the wrong way. The mother in law will think she's attacking her, she's criticizing her, she doesn't like her.

Alright. She will have a negative idea. she will take it the wrong way. She doesn't want the mother-in-law to take it the wrong way.

Okay. That is all of the vocabulary for this Dear Abby letter.

I like the Dear Abby letters because they're very short but they have a lot of idioms, a lot of common conversational phrases, a lot of phrases you never see in textbooks or learn in school, but we use them every day in speech.

So, learn them.

See you next time. Bye-bye!

This vocabulary is typed by MT.Dang. Please do not use it in business. Nội dung bài Vocabulary được gõ lại bởi MT Dang. Vui lòng không sử dụng lại với mục đích kinh doanh - mua bán.Thank you!

    

Read More