As you can see from the title, this week’s focus is on books, magazines and newspapers. Accessing these three online is a great way to practise English and not just reading practice either. You can also practise pronunciation, spelling, sentence construction, improve your vocabulary and learn about intonation. Continue reading
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Resources for Learning English
Learning English needn’t be dull. There are plenty of resources you can use alongside your course materials to help you improve your English. One of the best is what you are using right now – the internet. The beauty of the internet is that you can access all manner of English language media to help with your reading, writing, listening and speaking practice. And what’s even better is that most of those resources are free! Continue reading
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Planning Your day for Study
Keep a Time Dairy
Finding out how you spend your time will help you identify where you can fit study into your day. It’ll also help you identify the best time of day as well as how long you should study for. The best way to achieve this is to keep a time diary. The information this exercise gives you is invaluable in helping you make the most of your valuable study time. Continue reading
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Preparing Your Home for Study
Once you’ve prepared your mind for study you now need to prepare your home so that you get the most out of your precious time. The number one problem students encounter when trying to study is disruption. This can be interruptions by family members who don’t realise you are studying, external noise from cars and people or simply being uncomfortable. So, to prevent these kinds of disruptions there are some basic bits of kit and conditions you’ll need to make your study successful. Again, we realise that you may not be able to apply all the advice we give you, but the more you can do the more productive your time will be. Continue reading
Happy New Year!
We hope those of you who had a break enjoyed it and are back raring to go. Over the next few weeks we’ll be focussing on making your home study as effective as possible. Continue reading
Do you Make New Year Resolutions?
New Year Resolutions are a very old idea indeed. In fact, they go all the way back to 153 BC and a mythical Roman King, Janus. This king had two faces and because he could look forwards and backwards at the same time he became known as the god of gates and doors, beginnings and endings, especially the beginning of important events in a person’s life. This is why he is also the ancient symbol of resolutions, and at the start of each new year Romans would seek forgiveness from their enemies and exchange gifts. Continue reading
Christmas Carols
Following on from last week, I thought I’d expand a little more on carols, as they are a true Christmas favourite in many English speaking countries. In Roman times people would run naked in the streets singing songs as part of the pagan celebration of Saturnalia. This was transformed and adopted by the Christian faith and became carolling. Thankfully, now the singing is performed fully clothed and it is usually done by children who move from house to house. Continue reading
Merry Christmas!
The biggest holiday of the Christian and UK calendar – Christmas – is almost upon us. Most people recognise December 25th as the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, but the truth is a little more complex than that. Actually, Christmas is a mix of ideas, incorporating ancient Roman Pagan, Norse and modern day commercial influences. This can be seen in the variety of names given to the large, white-bearded man tasked with delivering the gifts on Christmas Eve. He’s known as Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus and Father Christmas! The night before Christmas children will leave out a mince pie, carrot and glass of milk for Santa Claus and his reindeer
In the UK we celebrate by decorating Christmas trees, giving gifts and eating a special Christmas meal together. Many people go to church to listen to special services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day morning and special Christmas songs called carols will be sung.
The traditional Christmas meal is made up of turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, sausages wrapped in bacon, vegetables, roast potatoes and gravy. However, turkey is a recent addition to the Christmas meal as it was only introduced in the 16th century. Prior to that time, the meats of choice in medieval England were peacock or boar. And following the meal, if there’s still room, there’s Christmas or plum pudding with rum or brandy sauce and mince pies to enjoy.
When the feasting is over, it’s time to relax. This is usually done by sitting in front of the TV watching films and falling asleep.
Do you celebrate Christmas in your country and, if so, what will you do? Let me know and I’ll print the best responses.
Words to think about
Do you know what these word mean?
See if you can use them in another sentence.
CHRISTMAS QUIZ
Test your comprehension and research skills and have a bit of fun with the quiz below. Some answers are in the text above, others you’ll have to find elsewhere.
1. A synonym for gifts
p_ _ _ _ _ _ _
2. Another name for Father Christmas
S_ _ _ _ C_ _ _ _
3. The animals that pull Santa Claus’ sleigh
r_ _ _ _ _ _ _
4. The region where Santa Claus is supposed to live
N_ _ _ _ P _ _ _
5. Decorations to hang on a Christmas Tree
b_ _ _ _ _ _
6. What you usually find written inside Christmas cards
s_ _ _ _ _ _ g _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
7. Special hymns that are sung at Christmas
c _ _ _ _ _
8. A bird that we associate with Christmas dinner
t _ _ _ _ _
9. The traditional pudding served with rum sauce
p_ _ _ p_ _ _ _ _ _
10. It is traditional to kiss someone you like under bunches of this evergreen shrub
m _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Taking the Stress out of Telephone Calls
I’m not keen on making telephone calls but I do appreciate that a telephone call can be more personal and get me the information I need quicker than by sending an email or fax. Continue reading
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Business Training – the Eight Parts of Speech
I am part of a generation that was not taught grammar at school. Back in the seventies and eighties the fashion in teaching English in England was that learning grammar wasn’t necessary. But, I can assure you from personal experience that learning the basics of grammar will help you enormously with your written English. Thankfully the educationalists have changed their view and my children are taught grammar. Continue reading
Susan Metcalfe - head of Business Training - discusses business, training and work issues. Come and join in the conversation or just enjoy the read!
