Click here to view the embedded video.

In this song you heard “so long” and “farewell,” which are both nice, semi-formal ways of saying ‘goodbye.’ Another semi-formal way to say ‘goodbye’ is “take care.” All three of these ways of saying goodbye are good to use with a person you have recently met or don’t know well. Below I have a list of informal and fun ways to say ‘goodbye’ to people you know a little better.

Let’s take a look:

“See ya” or “See you later” or “Bye for now”

These are all ways of saying ‘goodbye’ to someone you expect to see again soon.

“Take it easy.”

This is a nice way to say ‘goodbye’ while expressing the hope things go well and are not too hard for the person as they continue on. It is like saying, ‘enjoy your life.’

“Have a good one.”

This is essentially telling someone to ‘have a good day’ or that you hope they have a good day.

“Catch you later.”

This is a relaxed and informal way of saying ‘goodbye’ to someone you expect to see again.

“Peace out”

This is a slang way of saying goodbye, that is sometimes, but not always, accompanied by someone showing a peace sign (using the pointer and middle fingers of their hand).

“Cheerio”

Americans think of this as a British way of saying ‘goodbye,’ but it can be used on both sides of the Atlantic or wherever you are in the world.

“Toodle-oo”

This is a silly or funny way to say ‘goodbye.’ By saying this you might make someone laugh .

“See you later, alligator.”

This is a way of saying ‘goodbye’ that children often use, but so do adults who are saying ‘goodbye’ to children. This rhyming ‘goodbye’ expression is often followed by another rhyme. Which you can see in the following conversation:

A: “I’m going now.  See you later, alligator!”
B: “In a while, crocodile!”

Alright, now it is time to say goodbye for real. I hope you enjoyed this post and will be back again soon to learn more English that you can use on an everyday basis. Don’t forget to also check out all the resources available to you at www.transparent.com as you continue on your English language learning journey.

To start let’s look at one of my favorite ways for saying ‘hello,’ which was made famous by a cartoon carter from my childhood “Fat Albert.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now, if you think you can pull off a “hey, hey, hey” like Fat Albert I say go right ahead, but if you are looking for something a little more tame, take a look at some of the different options for say ‘hello’ below.

“Hey”

Use “hey” with people that you know well. This is a familiar term and though not rude to use with strangers, if you say “hey” to someone you don’t know they might wonder if they do know you.

“Yo”

This is a very short informal slang version of the word ‘hello’ that people started using in the 1980′s and 1990′s and it is still used today.

“What’s up?” or “Sup” or “Wazzup?”

Again these are casual terms, often used with people who already know one another. Although this is a question, it doesn’t need to be answered; it is just like saying ‘hello.’

“How’s it going?”

This is another question greeting that you can use instead of ‘hello’, and does not necessarily require an answer. People often just say this to one another as they pass by on the street and don’t wait for an answer from the person they say it to. But if you stop to talk, it would be nice to give an answer to this question with something like: “good” or “fine.”

“Greetings” or “Greetings and salutations”

Here is a very formal way of saying ‘hello.’ People use this in formal situations, but sometimes they also use it informally, just to be funny.

“Well hello!” or “Why hello there”

These are expression you can use to say ‘hello,’ when you are surprised to see someone, or if you haven’t seen them in a long time. Alternatively, sometimes men use these greeting when they say ‘hello’ to a beautiful woman, particularly someone they find very attractive.

“Howdy” or “Howdy partner”

This is a way of saying ‘hello’ that is associated with cowboys. It is perfectly fine to use in causal company as a substitute for ‘hello’ for non-cowboys too.

“Look what the cat dragged in!”

This is a really fun way to say ‘hello’ to someone that you haven’t seen in a long while. If you use this expression to say hello to a native English speaker (who you haven’t seen in a long while) I am sure she/he will be quite impressed. This greeting is a bit of a joke that is referring to a person like a dead mouse or some piece of trash that a cat has found outside and carried inside. It is a strange expression, but trust me, people do say this.

“Long time no see.”

This is another way of saying ‘hello’ to someone you haven’t seen in a long time. You might be more comfortable using this greeting instead of  “look what the cat dragged in,” although they are both used in the same instances.

Later this week I will have another post for you about how to say ‘goodbye’ in English in a number of different ways .See you again soon.

There are two common types of conditional sentences in English, either real conditionals or unreal conditionals. The difference between these two is simple, real conditionals refer to things that are true/fact or possible, whereas unreal conditionals refer to things that are unreal, hypothetical or not possible.

Here are some true conditionals:

If you study hard, you will get an A.

If I have extra money, I will buy a soda.

If John grows up to be rich, he will buy his parents a mansion.

In all these examples you can exchange the words ‘might’ and ‘may’ with the word will if the conditional result is less likely to happen.

Here are some unreal conditionals:

If I were rich, I would buy you a new car.

If children ruled the world, there would be ice cream for every meal.

If my sister were here, she would know what to do.

You will notice in these examples that the past tense is used when talking about the present or future. This may seem strange at firsts, but when you see an “if” sentence like this it should help you remember this is an unreal conditional.

The Pony Express was a mail delivery service that took messages and letters from Missouri to California on horseback. (Even though the mail system was called the Pony Express, no ponies were ever used. Ponies are very small horses. Only large/normal sized horses were used in the Pony Express.) The reason this mail delivery service was called the Pony Express was because the mail was delivered very fast, which made it express.  It only took 10 days for mail to go from the beginning of the route in St. Joseph, Missouri to the route’s end in Sacramento, California.  I know that sounds like a long time now, but back in the 1860’s that was pretty fast, especially considering there were no trains that went all the way across the United States, so mail usually had to travel in horse drawn wagons.

So, how did this fast moving mail service work? There were two key components: the riders (men riding horses with bags of mail) and the stations (the different locations the riders went to in order to pick up and drop off mail, change horses, and rest). There were 184 different stations along the Pony Express. The stations and station keepers (those who worked just at the stations) were essential to the successful, timely delivery of the mail. The riders of the Pony Express were the heroes and legends of the Pony Express though.  There are many stories told about these brave and adventurous men, who rode through parts of the country with rough weather, difficult terrain, desolate landscape, and places where Native Americans were hostile to the riders. Riders on the Pony Express worked hard, riding as fast as they could for 75 miles (120 km) before stopping, and letting the next rider take over.  The riders changed their horses about every 10-12 miles (16-19 km) at stations. They rode a regular route, so there was little danger of getting lost, but there were a lot of other dangers of course. The riders even rode at night! The mail didn’t stop moving from morning until night until it reached its destination – that is how it went so quickly across the country after all.

Below is short video about the Pony Express, which you can watch to find out more about this interesting time in American history. If you watch the video you will also learn why the Pony Express lasted only 2 short years.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Hiking, backpacking, trekking, and tramping are four different ways to talk about going for a long walk. Hiking, backpacking, tramping, and trekking all usually involve carrying food, clothing and shelter on your back in a backpack and walking for an extended period of time. Hiking is sometimes used to describe more casual walks, but can be used to talk about months long journeys in the wilderness. Backpacking usually describes a walk taken with a backpack (in which you store your personal items), where the person intends to spend the night (or multiple nights) sleeping away from home. Trekking is sometimes used to describe more difficult journeys. Tramping is a long distance walk as well. The word tramping is very commonly used in New Zealand and Australia instead of the word hiking.

So, now lets talk about some trails…

The Appalachian Trail, or simply the AT, is a hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between the states of Georgia and Maine. The exact length of the trail changes over time as the trail is modified, but the total length now is approximately 2,200 miles (3,500 km). The trail was first proposed in 1921 and completed in 1971. If you hike this trail from beginning to end you will walk through 13 American states.

The Pacific Crest Trail, commonly abbreviated as the PCT, is a long-distance hiking and horse trail that starts in the desert at the Mexican-California border and travels through the high mountains of the west coast of the United States, to the Washington state-Canadian border. The trail only goes through three US states, but it is 2,663 miles (4,286 km) long. Before the PCT became an official long-distance hiking trial in 1968 it was a route used to transport material on horseback.

Te Araroa is New Zealand’s newly completed (finished in 2011) long-distance trail that extends from the southern town of Bluff to the northernmost point in the country at Cape Reinga. The trail is divided into approximately 300 sections ranging from hikes of 1–2 hours to up to 9-day routes. It takes multiple months to hike the whole trail. Although the straight line distance from Cape Reinga to Bluff is 1475 km, the Te Araroa Trail covers a distance of 1860 miles (3000 km).

The Israel National Trail is a hiking path that crosses the entire country of Israel from the trail’s northern end in Dan near the Lebanese border to the southern end in Eilat on the Red Sea. The total length of this twisty-turny trail is between 580-620 miles (over 1,000 km).  The Israel National Trail officially opened in 1994.

El Camino de Santiago or The Way of St. James is a famous trek that originated as an important Christian pilgrimage during medieval times. The trek starts in points throughout southern Europe with people walking to northern Spain (where St. James is believed to have been buried) in Santiago de Compostela.  There is no specific length for this trek, because people can start anywhere in France, Italy, Spain, etc., but all those walking on the trek are walking in the direction of Santiago de Compostela.

Do you know of any other long-distance hiking trails? There are many more out there. Later this week I will have a post about hiking or tramping gear, in case you have been inspired by reading this post and want to get out do some backpacking yourself.