English in Advent
Part 3

Santa’s phone lit up and started ringing off the hook.

So he decided then and there to take it off the hook.

It’s sort of like turning off your cell phone,

But how you did it in the old days when you wanted to be alone.

No. 8 came to Santa with worry in his face.

There were many problems that day that he had had to chase.

T’was about as bad as Christmas could ever really be,

For many presents were delivered underneath the wrong tree.

The elves had all forgotten that words could be spelled the same,

But have different meanings based on the sentence frame.

Like how “bark” can refer to the sound made by a dog,

Or the covering found on a freshly fallen log.

One home got a pool kit to build so that they could swim.

Except they wanted a billiard table matching the room’s fancy trim.

Another wanted something for the season, bright and merry.

Instead of something for Christmas, they got a garden full of rosemary.

When they talked about squash, Santa knew they were in a rut.

They’d delivered some rackets instead of seeds from butternut.

And when he heard they’d delivered a bird to the construction site,

It wasn’t a crane that was causing Santa’s hopes to take flight.

The elves were doing well, but they needed to keep on learning.

Santa knew the practice would help his business keep on earning!

“No. 8!” he declared. “We need more lessons to try!”

“Learning English will truly help us create the profits that fly!”

Some questions are offered below as a little follow up,

Filling your knowledge to the brim of your mental cup!

Can you help Santa find the answers he will need?

Tune in again next week to see if he can succeed!