Used to/ Be used to/ get used to

Here are some exercises:

http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/115.html

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/usedto/menu.php

*NEW* OCT 7

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-m_used-to-do.htm

This next one is from BBC English. At the bottom of the page see "Podcasts" and "Download" for free audio lessons. The Download link has texts to accompany the audio lessons.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode38/languagepoint.shtml

And a song! "Can't Get Used to Losing You"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUeaqHHq2II

Here's an example of an Intermediate student's work:

Ke is from China. She wants to tell you about things you might have top get used to if you visit or live in her country:

What will people who are thinking of living in my country have to get used to?

By Ke

1.They will have to get used to using chopsticks instead of a knife and fork when they have a meal.

2.They will have to get used to making and eating jiaozi (dumplings) at festivals. Especially at the Spring Festival, almost every family makes jiaozi and eats them together at midnight on New Year's Eve (lunar calendar). After that, everyone bows to whoever is older than himself in his family, and says "Happy new year!” If you are a kid, you get money from your elders as a lunar New Year gift. This is a Chinese custom. Before I worked, I got gifts from my grandmother, mother and aunts etc.

3.They will have to get used to fireworks. In the Spring Festival, every family, especially with kids, buys lots of fireworks. Kids love them very much. Be careful of fireworks when you are setting them off or looking at them!

4.They will have to get used to crowds. There are many people on buses, in shops, restaurants, markets, on streets, especially in big cities.

5.They will have to get used to eating noodles on their birthdays. According to Chinese custom, the noodles that you eat on your birthday are called "long life noodles”. They mean health and long life.

6.They will have to get used to drinking tea. There are many kinds of tea in China, for example green tea, red tea, flower tea etc.

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Rika wants to tell you what you'll have to get used to if you are planning a visit to Japan:

What will people who are thinking of living in my country have to get used to?

1) They will have to get used to taking off their shoes when they visit a house. We like to keep our houses clean.

2) They will have to get used to sitting on a tatami mat and not on a chair. A tatami mat is made of straw.

3) They will have to get used to not washing their bodies in the bathtub. They have to wash their bodies beside the bathtub, and then they can take a bath.

4) They will have to get used to using a mechanical toilet. It’s so nice!

5) They will have to get used to not opening or closing taxi doors. They are automatic.

6) They will have to get used to buying canned hot drinks from a vending machine.

I love hot canned corn soup!

7) They will have to get used to bowing when they greet people. Bowing is a very polite way to greet someone.

8) They will have to get used to Japanese people making noise when they eat noodles.

Be careful of splattering yourself!

9) They will have to get used to not blowing their noses in front of people.

10) They will have to get used to eating raw fish with wasabi. Wasabi kills bacteria.

Now Rika tells us about how she had to get used to life in Quebec and Ontario:

Getting used to Canada.

I used to live in St-Hyacinthe, Quebec. It is a small city. Not many Asians live there, so I had to get used to living in St-Hyacinthe.

1) I had to get used to speaking French. People there don’t speak English.

2) I had to get used to people staring at me. Old people did this a lot.

3) I had to get used to driving very carefully. People drive like crazy.

4) I had to get used to the smell of pigs. Sometimes the wind brought the smell [probably from a farm somewhere.]

5) I had to get used to listening to “Nous sommes Québecois”.

People don’t celebrate Canada day and don’t sing “O Canada” even though two Québecois wrote the song. Canada Day is moving day in Quebec!!!

6) I had to get used to seeing French signs on the streets. No English signs.

After I moved to Ottawa, I had to get used to some things again.

7) I had to get used to English.

8) I had to get used to seeing small traffic lights.

9) I had to get used to cashiers who don’t say “Thank you”. In Ottawa, customers say “Thank you” and cashiers say, “You are welcome”. How come?

In Quebec, all cashiers say “Merci beaucoup. Bonne journée.”