In the film, a man travels back in time to kill someone who will become an evil gang lord in the future. On the way he meets his younger self and their actions change time, possibly. The chart shows the original path of the main character Joe as well as an altered path and possible path for the young and old Joes, as well as 2 other characters called Sara and Cyd.

Conditionals

Now, to discuss all these future and past possibilities we need conditionals. We’ll start off with a basic rule of time travel:
 
If you travel back in time, you change the future

Not everyone believes this though, some say it’s only possible, such as:

If you travel back in time you can change the future
=It’s physically possible
 
 
Here’s another example that’s less probable:
If you travel back in time you could/might change the future
 
 
We can also use the Will conditional:
Cyd will become a gang lord if Joe doesn’t stop him
=This is a future possibility
 
 
Again, we can add could/might or may to make it less probable and to have an element of choice:
Cyd could/might become a gang lord if Joe doesn’t stop him
If Sarah supports Cyd, he will/could/might/may grow up and not become the rainmaker
 
 
We can use conditionals to talk about the results of past events in the film by using the Would conditional:
If Joe hadn’t become a Looper he wouldn’t be in this mess
If Sara hadn’t raised Cyd on her own, he would be fine
 
 
The infamous third conditional is useful too for thinking about past events that didn’t happen and their results.
Old Joe wouldn’t have fled to the past if the rainmaker hadn’t attacked his wife
Young Joe couldn’t have saved Cyd and Sara, even if he had survived.
If young Joe hadn’t killed himself, would old Joe have been stopped?
If young Joe had survived, he and Sarah might have started dating.
 
 

Here are some questions to think over

1. Would losing his mum turn Cyd into the rainmaker if he didn’t know he had special powers?
2. If old Joe had only been planning to kill the rainmaker why did he travel back with so much gold?
3. If being attacked by old Joe is what causes Cyd to turn evil in the future, would he stay good without that experience?
4. Will there be a sequel if enough tickets are sold?

 

The Home of English

The English language was born in England, so where better to learn it? Learning English in its native home is great because you’ll be learning the whole time. It doesn’t matter whether you attend a day course every day of the week or evening courses arranged around a part-time job, you’ll be learning outside of the language school as well as in the classroom. Unless, of course, you seek out others from your own country and remain exclusively with them, every experience you have will be conducted in English. This kind of ‘forced’ practice is one of the best ways to help you improve and get over your lack of confidence and nerves.

Internationally Recognised and Respected Qualifications

The UK has some of the world’s best and most prestigious universities. As such, the UK has gained a global reputation for academic excellence and saying that you have studied here is a credit to any CV. Many of the 600,000 students coming to the UK are also looking to attend university here, and we also offer university foundation courses to help you get the preparation you need in academic English.

We also offer IELTS courses, as preparation for another internationally recognised qualification.

Culture and History

For such a small country, the UK has a lot to offer in terms of culture and history. London itself is full of wonderful museums, parks, monuments, and entertainment, and has excellent transport links to give access to the rest of the country. Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of Shakespeare, isn’t too far away, and Cornwall, the Lake District and Scotland boast breathtakingly beautiful scenery.

Opportunities for Development and Progression

Learning English is just the start of an exciting journey which can lead you anywhere. English is the language of international business and globalisation, and improving your English language skills can really open doors for you in your career. However, learning in the UK, and in particular London, offers even more opportunities. London has been at the centre of much of this year’s high profile events and has been the place everyone wanted to be.

Make New Friends

You could argue that you might be able to make friends wherever you learnt English, but with so many international students flocking to the UK, you’ll have the opportunity to meet new people from all over the world. The capital is a melting pot of different cultures and meeting these people will give you the opportunity to share and learn from each other, as well as finding people to share your new experiences with.

Convinced that you want to learn English in the UK? Then check out our fantastic array of courses for all of your English needs!

Business English differs from general English, so even if you know how to get by on holiday or could have a reasonably fluent conversation with an English-speaking friend, you will probably still struggle in a business environment. There is a lot of vocabulary that you will need to learn how to use and understand that you will probably not have come across in a non-business environment.

Our business English language courses in London will be able to help you with the basic language and structures you can use for common everyday business situations such as sending an email or making a telephone call, however a lot of the language you will use all the time will actually be specific to your industry or company. Before attending your course, it is a good idea to compile a glossary of industry-related terms that you will need to use and spend some time looking these up in a dictionary or on the internet. You can then check with your tutor if you are using them correctly and put them into practice during spoken and written tasks while on your course. If you need some extra individual focus, then why not sign up for our Combination course, which gives you the Standard group course plus some one-to-one time in the afternoons. The Combination course is also a good idea if you need to prepare a specific important project or presentation and don’t have time to wait until you’ve learnt everything you need.

An important aspect of business English is learning how to express yourself in a confident and professional manner. You may have to convey important information to groups of people, and so will need to know how to do so clearly and without confusion. Work hard on your pronunciation and fluency by speaking as much as possible during the classes, and spend your time in London wisely by going out and meeting new people with whom you can practise.

Improving your English can make a difference to your business’s success, as well as your own personal and professional development.

We offer a range of different IELTS courses in London to help you get the score you need, as this is a particularly hard qualification. Our ELTS courses include the Intensive course (IELTS preparation plus general English) and the Combination course, which provides one-to-one lessons as well as 20 group lessons, allowing you to focus on your particular difficulties and problem areas.

As the IELTS qualification is notoriously difficult, we have put together a set of tips to help you improve your performance in each section.

Listening

Listening is often a skill that non-native English speakers find most difficult to master, as it requires concentration and the ability to separate and pick out words when native speakers are talking quickly or using slang and colloquial expressions.

As with all the sections of the test, you should make sure you read the instructions properly and try not to leave any blank answers. The more questions you get right in parts one and two will give you a higher score overall. Try and write in your answers as you go along while listening and then go back and check your spelling and grammar afterwards.

During the pauses between sections, read the next set of questions so you can prepare yourself and try and anticipate what the speaker will say.

Reading

Remember that you don’t need to have any previous knowledge on the topic to be able to answer the questions – all the answers will be found somewhere in the text. You should, however, spend your time preparing for the exam reading as much and as widely as possible to get yourself to reading different text types, particularly those with an academic style. You’ll also get plenty of practise on your preparation course at our English language school in London.

Speaking

Speaking is often another problem area for English students because nerves make it easy to make silly mistakes. Nevertheless, you should avoid over rehearsing your answers or trying to learn a prepared script off by heart at all costs. You will be tested more on fluency and communication than on grammatical accuracy. Try and give fully developed answers and make sure that you speak more than the examiner does.

Writing

Plan your piece of writing so that it is clearly laid out and divided into logical paragraphs. Read the question thoroughly and come back to it several times while writing to make sure that you stay on topic. Make sure that your style of writing and register is appropriate to the test and don’t use informal expressions or words. Go back and read through your answer, where possible, as this will give you the best chance of correcting any mistakes.

Nevertheless, and however you’re learning, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most common mistakes you can make in English to help you out.

Adjectives

In many languages, adjectives come after the noun they describe. So, in French or Spanish, for example, you would talk about ‘a T-shirt white’ rather than ‘a white T-shirt’. It can be hard not to translate everything the way it appears in your own language, but you need to remember that in English, adjectives always come BEFORE! There’s even a certain order to use when using multiple adjectives to describe one thing – opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material and then purpose.

Third Person ‘S’

In some other languages, verbs are conjugated so that there can be six different parts. However, in English, the present tense just has two parts. Less to learn, but foreign students tend to forget about the second one, which only applies to the third person singular (he/she/it). Students often say ‘he eat’, for example, instead of ‘he eats’. While this may not be so important for general understanding, as the meaning doesn’t change or get confused, those wanting to study academic English and apply for university courses should try and master this early on.

Countable vs Uncountable Nouns

Many common nouns, such as information, advice, sugar and fruit, are uncountable in English, meaning we don’t precede them with the indefinite article ‘a’ or ‘an’, nor do they usually exist in the plural. However, these can sometimes be countable in other languages, or the idea may just confuse students, so again this is something to try and learn earlier rather than later.

Articles

Related to the previous section, getting the wrong article (‘the’ instead of ‘a’, for example), or using an article where there shouldn’t be one is another common mistake non-native speakers often make. Most uncountable nouns don’t require any indefinite article, while it is used for non-specific, countable nouns. The definite article ‘the’ is used for specific singular or plural nouns.

Make and Do

These two words often translate into just one in another language. Consequently, it can be confusing to know which word to use in English. As a basic rule, ‘make’ is for things you can create, while ‘do’ is for actions, although there are certain expressions which you will just need to learn.

Say and Tell

Like ‘make’ and ‘do’, these two words often pose a problem, particularly with the use of the prepositions (or not) which follow. Remember, you can say something TO someone, or you can tell someone something.

There are many more complexities to this wonderful language, but once you get the hang of them, the world is your oyster!

1. Listen to as Much English as Possible

If you are serious about learning English then one of the best ways to pick up the language quickly is to listen to other people speaking it. Think about how babies first learn how to talk. They learn by listening to the language spoken by the older children and adults around them. Fortunately, it is incredibly easy to listen to English! You can listen to the radio, watch English TV, or go to the English movies. Listening to as much English as possible will help accelerate your communication abilities. Try the SGI Real & Relevant conversation podcasts to boost your English vocab.

2. Talk to Friends

One of the benefits of attending general English courses is that you are likely to start making friends with other people who want to learn the language. Try to talk to as many people as possible in English to practise your skills. Take up a conversation with a fellow learner, or talk to friends over the Internet using online video conferencing facilities such as Skype. This will help improve your confidence when it comes to speaking English in real life situations.

3. Start Your Own English Dictionary

Every time you learn a new word which interests you, be sure to note it down in your own English dictionary. Invest in a small notebook which you can carry with you everywhere and read through your entries whenever you have some a bit of spare time such as when you are travelling home on public transport. Writing down the definitions to English words by yourself will help lodge vocabulary in your mind, and you can use the dictionary as a guide whenever you get stuck for words.

4. Read English Stories

If you are serious about learning English you should really learn how to read the language as well as speak it. Great Britain has one of the strongest literary scenes on the planet, and the small island nation has produced many of the world’s greatest storytellers. Choose a book to suit your own interests, and don’t be embarrassed if you want to read a children’s book such as Harry Potter or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – the important thing is to enjoy what you’re reading so that you come back for more! Find books at a bookshop, or take them out for free from your local library.

The United Kingdom produces some of the best TV series in the world, and many programmes are bought or replicated on an international basis. If you have been improving your general English, here are a few TV series that you definitely don’t want to miss.

1. Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey is a period drama which is set during Edwardian England covering a time span from the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 onwards. Soon to return for a third series, the programme follows the fortunes of the aristocratic Crawley family and their staff living in the fictional North Yorkshire estate of Downton Abbey. Featuring popular characters such as Lady Mary and Matthew, Carson the Butler, and the Dowager Countess (played by Maggie Smith), the series has become a huge international hit. The show is the most nominated non-American programme in Primetime Emmy Awards history with 27 nominations over two series and has a massive British and American audience following.

2. Doctor Who

Perfect for both adults and children, Doctor Who has been happily entertaining a Universe for over 40 years. Doctor Who is a Time Lord who travels the Universe in his Tardis battling various foes, saving civilisations, and generally trying to put wrong things right. This sci-fi family favourite has taken on iconic baddies such as the Daleks and the Cybermen, and continues to enthral audiences to this very day. Matt Smith currently acts as the eleventh reincarnation of the Doctor and is intent on saving Earth as ever before. The Doctor is famous for having human companions as sidekicks. Previous well-known actresses that have played The Doctor’s companions include Billie Piper and Catherine Tate.

3. X Factor

Simon Cowell may currently act as a judge on X Factor USA, but his programme was first made here in Britain. Every year thousands of hopefuls line up and audition for their shot at musical stardom, and the audience at home can follow them every step of the way. Successful alumni from the show include Leona Lewis, JLS, and One Direction.

4. The Great British Bake Off

A somewhat unlikely hit, The Great British Bake Off has succeeded where many others have failed and attracted an audience of millions. Contestants are set baking challenges every week which are judged by cookery writer Mary Berry and professional baker Paul Hollywood. Definitely a show which tantalises your taste buds, the Great British Bake Off received a very prestigious 2012 Rose D’or nomination in the lifestyle category.

An iPod can be carried anywhere, meaning that students always have access to their learning resources. Although concerns were raised about students using mobile devices for entertainment rather than education purposes, this has not proved to necessarily be the case. Resources such as voice recorders and translators have proved ideal for English language learners whilst doing their homework assignments. What’s more, iPods can be listened to absolutely anywhere, meaning that spare time can be more efficiently utilised. For example, students travelling home on a bus could listen to ripped teaching CDs on their mp3 device.

Dr Min Liu claimed that the study revealed that “the positive outcomes for the students were that they had a home-to-school connection, could engage in language learning away from school, could accomplish more content learning, were able to extend the amount of time they were able to do schoolwork and they had multimodal support.” These are clearly huge benefits for anyone trying to learn a language quickly.

So, how can mobile multimedia devices help students studying on English courses in London? The rise of 24/7 internet access means that there are more language learning resources available to students than ever before. An entire dictionary can be carried on a mobile phone, or audio translations listened to on an iPod. London English courses are well suited to the use of multimedia technology. Many colleges offer online resources and websites that are aimed at enhancing the English language learning process.

The rise of video call facilities such as Skype and Facetime means that it is now easier than ever before to test out your English with fellow course mates. Although you may not have the time to meet face to face every day, programs such as Skype and Facetime allow you to converse in English for free with people located all over the world. Indeed, video conferencing technology has helped to revolutionise the English language learning business, as tutors can now be contacted in a number of different ways.

Then get deep into understanding the choice between the two tenses with the grammar explanations of each sentence.

Transcript

 
Q = Queen
J = Jeeves
 
Q: Jeeves, have you polished my crown today?

Q: Indeed, indeed.

Present Perfect v Past Simple

WHY IS IT PRESENT PERFECT?

Jeeves, have you polished my crown today?

‘Today’ for the Queen is not finished… the time/today is still continuing, so in her opinion, ‘today’ is still NOW. So she is thinking about some point in the past AND all the time up until now (‘now’ is still part of ‘today’)

No, Madam. I’m afraid that I haven’t had time to do that yet.

yet is a keyword for the present perfect. He is thinking about the past and all the time continuing up until now.

Have you finished reading this blog yet?
No, I haven’t finished reading this blog yet.

You started reading the blog a few minutes ago (the PAST) and you have continued reading it… up until now (the PRESENT). This is thinking about the past and the present at the same time.
Think of yet as meaning ‘up until now’

Then please tell me what have you done this morning?

Same as 1. This morning is a time period that has not finished in the speaker’s opinion.. it is still continuing. It would be the same meaning if the Queen said, “What have you done IN ALL THE TIME OF THIS MORNING UP UNTIL THIS MOMENT NOW?”

…your beloved doggies have done their “toilet business” all over the royal throne.

Jeeves implies/means that the dog poo (or some of it) is still on the throne… he is in the middle of cleaning it/he has not finished the cleaning yet.

It would be possible for the Queen to still see the evidence of the dogs’ action. There is a specific, visible result in the present because of a past action.

…that is why I haven’t cleaned your crown yet.

There is a result of a dirty, unpolished, uncleaned crown in the present. This is because of Jeeves NOT doing any cleaning of it throughout the whole morning.
All the time of the morning, there wasn’t any moment when he cleaned the crown and we can see the result now: an unclean, unpolished crown. Jeeves is thinking of all the time in the morning up to AND including NOW.

…and I’ve just arrived back.

‘Just’ often goes with the present perfect. It basically means ‘a short time ago’.

With this sentence she is saying, “I arrived a short time ago and Look! Here I am in front of you”. A past action that has a clear result now in the present moment.

… you have definitely had an extremely difficult morning.

Jeeves is thinking about all the past time of the morning up to now. In his opinion the morning has not finished – it is still happening. Past & Present together = Present Perfect

WHY IS IT PAST SIMPLE?

I got up at 5am and then the first thing I did was to iron your newspaper.

Got up – finished action. He did it one time and it was completed/ended/finished. He did NOT continue to keep getting up lots of times.
Plus he said the exact time in the past when it happened (5am). This time does not connect to the present time.

He ironed the newspaper and then it was finished. It’s a completed action, that is not being repeated or having any effect on the present moment.

Plus here, Jeeves is telling a story of past events, like a list of things. When you do this, you use the past simple.

Then at half past five I took your corgis for a walk. Then at 6 o’clock I took Prince Philip to the bathroom.

Exactly the same reasons as before. He says the exact times in the past and he is telling a story of past events

But then I discovered something in the palace.

He is continuing with his story/list of past events.
Also, he discovered/found something (the dogs’ poo) once and then he did something about it: he implies/means that he started cleaning it. Again, it’s like he is telling a story of past events, but this time he doesn’t say what the second past event is (the cleaning)

…your beloved doggies have done their “toilet business” all over the royal throne.

Jeeves implies/means that the dog poo (or some of it) is still on the throne… he is in the middle of cleaning it/he has not finished the cleaning yet.
It would be possible for the Queen to still see the evidence of the dogs’ action. There is a specific, visible result in the present because of a past action.

Yes, yes. What was it?

The Queen is responding to the sentence “I discovered…” which is about a past, finished action. So she continues talking in the past simple.

It would sound very strange if she used present perfect and said, “What has it been?”

Did you meet the Prime Minister?

The Queen is not with the Prime Minister now. So if she did actually meet him in the morning, she MUST have completed that action, because he isn’t standing there now with her. Completed, finished action in the past = Past Simple.

I left the palace at quarter to eleven…

She is talking about a completed action and mentions the specific time in the past that it happened – definitely past simple!
It sounds strange to say, “I have left the palace at 10:45″. This specific time has been and gone – it’s finished, so we can’t use the present perfect. Present Perfect is for when you are thinking about the past and the present at the same time.

 
 
You might like our other Present Perfect blogs in this series…

1. Infographic
2. Jack The Ripper
3. Love Story
4. ‘Need to drink’ Cartoon & timeline
5. Alien Search

Every university student seems to want an internship. In some countries undergraduate and postgraduate degrees include one or more internships. Quite a few students actually choose their university because of the internships they will provide. But internships are also for graduates and are a way to try to get their first and most important job.

The reason why companies hire interns is because they don’t want to take on full-time and permanent employees. They are expensive and companies are scared about employing the wrong people. So, they prefer interns who they can try out first.

One London recruitment agency finds and places interns in companies. It promises good interns in less than three days to fill almost any position. It receives over 300 CVs every day. They say that about 70% of their interns are given permanent jobs.

The average intern has no work experience and so may not know what working life is like. Internship recruitment agencies give applicants personality tests, prepare them for interviews and even help them make a video CV.

As you probably already know, most interns are unpaid but the agencies do earn money every month and if the person is eventually recruited they get 10% of their salary. However, for most people this is the first step to being put on the payroll so most people accept it.

These agencies are making lots of money, in some cases just for finding young people to fill vacancies. This doesn’t seem fair, but it does seem to be the way of the world these days. Why can’t interns get paid at least a minimum wage? Students from rich families don’t have a problem because they can afford to work for free, even for a year in some cases.

 
 
If you are interested in doing an internship and not using an agency, SGI has…

 
1. An internship program where you can gain professional work experience in companies in London and improve your English language skills.

2. An Evening English course + Internship

3. Three-month long internships in London within SGI itself as an office assistant/receptionist… these SGI internal internships are advertised on our Facebook page.

Getting a job words

to hire someone

to take someone on

to employ someone

to give someone a permanent job

to recruit someone

to put someone on the payroll

If you are talking about a company who hires someone because another person has left you can use:

to fill a vacancy

to fill a position

Here is a review of the new movie, Super 8. There are lots of mistakes in it, but is it really a problem?

Super 8 review

Latest movie big release from Hollywood is new movie called Super 8. Steven Spielberg produced movie and it was directed by JJ Abrams, which did blockbusters Mission Impossible III and Star Trek.
Abrams, which is a lifelong fan of Spielberg, have made the movie in same style as any of the master director’s early film like E.T., Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Super 8 take place in 1979, what is when JJ Abrams was 13 years old. Story are about group of young childrens which are making a zombie film with a Super 8 camera in their small town. The informations coming from the press releases tell that first part of story is biographical about JJ Abrams own childhood.
Film do not match the classic blockbusters who it is modelled on, but it have great reviews from critics and it leave majority of modern blockbusters way behind.
So, I suggest you that you should see it. You will go, no?

The majority of people in the world who speak English are NOT native speakers. That means that most English speakers probably only speak English with other people who learnt English as a second language and who also probably make ‘mistakes’…that is they speak differently from the standard English of a native speaker.

Here is a better version of the review. The mistakes are now corrected in bold.
Is this review better than the first one?

Super 8 review (2)

The latest big movie release from Hollywood is the new movie called Super 8. Steven Spielberg produced the movie and it was directed by JJ Abrams, who directed the blockbusters Mission Impossible III and Star Trek.
Abrams, who is a lifelong fan of Spielberg, has made the movie in the same style as some of the master director’s early films like E.T., Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Super 8 takes place in 1979, which is when JJ Abrams was 13 years old. The story is about a group of young children who are making a zombie film with a Super 8 camera in their small town. The information coming from the press releases state that first part of story is biographical about JJ Abrams’ own childhood.
The film does not match the classic blockbusters which it is modelled on, but it has got great reviews from critics and it leaves the majority of modern blockbusters way behind.
So, I suggest that you should see it. You will go, won’t you?

With English as a Lingua Franca, mistakes that appear in the first review are becoming more and more common. So, should we accept them? The British, or the Americans, or any other native speakers do not own the English language any more, so do you think that it’s OK to be satisfied with communicating in English that is good enough for understanding? Or should all students try to speak like a native speaker?

Let me know what you think.

Even future queens sometimes make spelling mistakes

In 2008, she was a guest at Wimbledon and very sweetly sent the organisers a handwritten thank you note afterwards. She went to a very expensive public school, Marlborough College, where the annual fees are £29,000, then St Andrews University and yet she still doesn’t know the difference between ‘quiet’ and ‘quite’.

In her note, she wrote,

‘Dear Sir. Thank you for your kind hospitality at Wimbledon last week. My friend and I had such a fantastic time and it was great to be able to enjoy the day knowing that we could have a little peace and quite if things got a little too hectic.’

Of course, she meant to write ‘peace and quiet’, but when you actually use pen and paper and don’t have spellcheck to sort out your document, then it’s very easy to make spelling mistakes like these. If she had studied at SGI though, she probably wouldn’t have made this mistake. (BTW, this is a good 3^rd conditional sentence. Can you see how easy they are to just throw into normal conversation?)

In the two-page letter, she goes on to say, ‘It was a wonderfully relaxed day and we even spent part of it on the “Henman Hill”, which was great fun.’

It’s a good job that she will be in Canada with William very soon and not attending Wimbledon (but I’m sure her sister, Pippa will) because Murray Mound, as it is now known (the small grassy hill in front of a huge video wall, where up to 5,000 spectators can watch the important matches), has been closed due to Health & Safety fears. Apparently, the management is worried that somebody might slip and fall over. Hmmm…. yes, that’s right: why don’t you spoil the fun for thousands of people just because some little, old granny down from Oxford for the day has had a glass of champagne and falls on her arse?!?!

Anyway, here are a few spelling errors that I have seen while correcting English essays. You should try to avoid these if you are doing an exam like the IELTS, where you will get marked down for classic spelling mistakes.

Of course, most of the population spends New Year’s Day nursing a hangover and trying to remember the night before… or the nightmare trying to get home in the freezing cold. On Jan 1^st, it’s traditional to make a New Year’s Resolution, where you make a promise to yourself to do something (or refrain from doing something) in the New Year, which will make you a better person and ultimately, a happier individual. For lots of people, the New Year’s resolution is to go on a diet, eat less chocolate, drink less alcohol, do more exercise… something like that. Resolutions like these usually last until about the second week of January.

In Germany, there is a New Year’s Eve tradition of watching an old, black-and-white TV programme called “Dinner for One”. The strange thing is that all the dialogue is in English! The comedy sketch was written in the 1920s and played in little theatres in UK seaside towns for holidaymakers. In 1962, a German entertainer saw Dinner for One in Blackpool and thought that Germans would love it because it is filled with slapstick humour and the dialogue is simple and repetitive. He invited the actors (there are only 2 performers in the sketch) to record the show for German TV and now it is an integral part of celebrations in Germany on New Year’s Eve – or Silvester as the Germans call it.

In a 1972 colour recording, the show began with a German presenter, Heinz Piper giving an explanation of what was about to happen. The key phrase that is repeated several times in the sketch is ‘The same procedure as last year’, which Heinz Piper incorrectly said as ‘The same procedure than last year’. This is a common grammatical mistake that lots of German speakers make. After years of complaints (apparently mainly from English teachers) the TV channel edited out the mistake in 1988.

Germans think that the sketch is a typical example of British humour, but Dinner for One has never been shown on British TV. English people who have seen the show (while in Germany, or on YouTube) generally don’t find it very funny.

What do you think? Does it make you laugh?

What are the New Year’s Eve traditions in your country?

In many European countries, the 24^th Dec is the most important day of the holidays, when the Xmas tree is put up with its decorations, the family gathers together and presents are handed out.

In Britain, the 24^th is a very important day…for last minute shopping! Some shops stay open until 8 or 9pm in order to feed the demand of people (usually men) frantically running around trying to cross off all the items on their present lists.

Before children go to bed on Xmas Eve (24^th Dec), they hang stockings (a big red sock) from the mantlepiece or the end of their bed. Traditionally, this was filled by (Santa Claus of course!) with things like satsumas, nuts, chocolates and small gifts like crayons or playing cards. Children are allowed to open the contents of the stocking when they wake up on Xmas morning…which could be as early as 5am! Nowadays, I think that the main purpose of the stockings is to keep the children satisfied for a little while in the morning, so that the parents can sleep until maybe around 6am.

Father Christmas should enter the living room of every house by coming down the chimney and through the fireplace at sometime during the very early hours of Xmas Day. To entice Santa down and thank him for the presents, some families leave out a small treat of mince pies and sherry.

When I was a child, on Xmas Day my family used to get up early and have a big cooked breakfast. This was because afterwards we had to go to church and then wait until about 2pm for the large turkey to be ready from the oven. We used to open the main, bigger presents around midday. However, these days I think that people who have young children, who get very excited about Xmas, usually open their presents at some early time in the morning.

Xmas dinner was always turkey in the UK. But now, more and more people have different types of meat, like a big joint of beef or pork, or perhaps a goose.

The important thing about the dinner is to have the meat with all the trimmings – this is the phrase used for all the vegetables and extra stuff that you eat with the meat…not forgetting lashings of gravy! (Gravy is a salty brown sauce made from the juices of the meat and other ingredients like wine and the water used to cook the vegetables).

Lots of alcohol is drunk throughout the meal and people pull crackers and wear the paper hats and also tell the really bad jokes that you get inside the crackers.

Then if you have a proper traditional Xmas cake, you get more alcohol. A real Xmas pudding cooked in the traditional way by your granny, should be soaked in alcohol for months before Xmas actually arrives.

After dinner at 3pm, there is the Queen’s speech on TV. In the distant past, I think that people stood up and saluted while the national anthem was played at the beginning of the Queen’s Speech and then listened intently to what she had to say. But now, I think that anyone who watches it, probably does so just to have a laugh at how posh her voice is.
After the Queen’s speech there is always a big film on the TV for the whole family to sit around and watch together. It always used to be a James Bond film, or something like Ben Hur or Spartacus. But now things have improved a bit and this year for example the big Xmas Day movie on BBC 1 will be ‘Shrek the Third’. During the film, most of the adults try to sleep off the Xmas Dinner on the sofa. This is when someone uses their new video-cam to make a film of grandad snoring with his mouth open and then puts it on YouTube.

Oh, one thing I forgot about Xmas that really makes it a special time of year…the family arguments!

History

Why??! The original use of do and make seem fairly clear and is still the reason commonly given in course books. Do is to reflect an action taking place, for example do your homework or do somebody a favour, a process if you like. Whereas make reflects the production of something – make a cake, make a mess, make peace not war and so on.

The situation is confused by the fact that do is an auxiliary verb as well as a main verb, for example Do you make bread? and What do you do? Searching for the origins of these words do can be found in Greek, Latin, German, and even the Scandinavians used it as a term to mean get/make ready.

It is said that the change came from hospitals where do replaced make, for example as in make/do the bed.

During the 1990s do also took on a different meaning. People were asking each other if they did blues, did jazz, did football, as a way of saying ‘do you like’ something.

A Possible Solution

In class recently the make and do problem led us to this question: “Would you make friends or do friends?” In a business context we also had make a network or do a network. From these examples it seems easier to use make if you’re not sure as you will be understood more easily even if it is not necessarily 100% correct!

A false friend (also known as a false cognate) is a word from a foreign language that looks like it might mean the same thing as a word in our language but actually means something else. Even the best of us can get caught occasionally using one and they can cause a lot of confusion!

I plan to have an ongoing blog post on the mistakes made by students learning English from different nationalities. I shall start with Spanish mistakes as this is a language I know quite well and will move onto other nationalities in later posts. All the mistakes are those I’ve encountered with the students I teach in the Business class but are also ones which other learners encounter daily.

So, onto a few simple mistakes which are made by Spanish speakers using English.  Zador has highlighted a few very insightful mistakes and false friends.

• actualmente – Sounds like actually (which means really)! It’s commonly mistaken by Spanish speakers to mean currently or at present in English.
• constipado – Sounds like constipated in English (which actually means you have problems going to the toilet!). The equivalent real phrase to use is blocked up.
• ganar – Sounds like gain and is often also narrowly translated to mean win. An alternative equivalent might be to earn, as in to earn money.
• aprobar – A false friend in I approved the test. We should say I passed the test. The real meaning of approve is if you think something is a good or positive, for example I don’t approve of my sister’s new boyfriend.

What can we notice about false friends? They are confusing because there is no real logic behind them. There are plenty of ‘real friends’ (cognates) which help us learn a new language but at the same time we have to be careful because sometimes very familiar looking words can have such different meanings.

Why not keep a list of the common ones you meet as you learn English? And leave new ones in the comments box below to help other learners!

*The false friend     English meaning      Spanish meaning

So the title of this post should read – Be sensitive to false friends!

There are false friends for Spanish speakers in each of these sentences…..can you guess what they are and what should be the correct version of the sentence

1. English is an easy idiom to learn.
2. She couldn’t go to the party as she already had a compromise.
3. It was a good notice – Sheila had twins.
4. They went to the bar for a vase of wine.

Let us know your answers!

Somewhere in the middle of that journey we can zoom in on a period commonly known as Early Modern English (1500-1800) where the English produced starts to look like the English we recognise today. This is the period that produced the famous William Shakespeare, the English poet and playwright, widely considered the greatest writer in the English language with his plays and poems still hugely popular nearly 500 years after his death.

Many people, particularly schoolkids!, will say that Shakespeare is difficult to understand, but a fascinating fact about Shakespeare, is that a huge number of expressions we use in everyday life originate from this prolific English writer.

Here are just a few, set into sentences, that were either popularised by or originate with William Shakespeare. All are regularly used by native speakers today, even if they don’t realise it!.

1. He’s such a funny guy, he had me in stitches!
2. I know it may seem like a crazy idea but there’s method in my madness.
3. It’s really strange, it is as though he just vanished into thin air!
4. Well you know what they say, you can have too much of a good thing!
5. It’s very sad, he’s become a laughing stock in the village with his behaviour.
6. He’s got an unbelievable appetite! He’s eaten us out of house and home.
7. We checked his pulse, he was as dead as a doornail.
8. It’s neither here nor there what he thinks about the situation.
9. His behaviour was unacceptable so we sent him packing
10. It was amazing! In the twinkling of an eye she was gone.
11. Mum’s the word about this, we mustn’t tell anyone what happened

Social Activities - Shakespeare Globe Trip

Why not visit Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on the Southbank (opposite side of the River Thames to St Paul’s Cathederal); see a show, visit the exhibition.

But where are they now?

Well there are of course still Cockneys in London but less and less as the years go by and in many inner-city areas, this ancient London English is being replaced by the more exotic Multicultural London English, with it’s youthfulness and numerous ethnic influences. You are now more likely to hear the Cockney dialect in the outer regions of London and in the counties that fall just outside the Greater London boundaries, counties like Essex and Hertfordshire. There are two distinct and significant reasons for this.  Greater prosperity has meant that many Cockneys moved away from their original inner-city homes to the leafier suburbs with its larger houses and green spaces. Secondly, much slum clearance, particularly before and after the 2^nd World War, meant that huge numbers of Cockneys were relocated to housing estates on the outskirts of London, a good example being the massive Becontree estate in the Barking and Dagenham area, home to 100,000 people and probably the largest public housing development in the world.

Rhyming slang

Of course, wherever they may live, the cockneys are famous for their inventiveness with the English language and this is typified by their use of rhyming slang, originally developed as a kind of secret language by Cockney street traders ( costermongers ) and criminals to discuss their illicit activities without strangers (possible police informants) being able to know what they were talking about.

Basically, the ‘slang’ is created by replacing a word with a pair of words, the second of which rhymes with the original word and then you eliminate the rhyming part. A simple example would be: head > loaf of bread > so loaf = head in Cockney…..example use: ”Use your loaf, you silly boy!”

It is of course fun to play around with the language in this way and to this day cockney rhyming slang is still very much a part of London English: Here’s a few examples still in regular use:

Slang                   Standard English        Example use

Barnet Fair                     Hair                        “ Your Barnet looks good today”

Ruby Murray                  Curry                      “ I really feel like a ruby tonight”

Butcher’s Hook               Look                       “ let’s have a butcher’s”

Half-Inch                         Pinch                      “ who’s half-inched my pen?”

Trouble and Strife            Wife                        “ I’ll speak to the trouble later”

Whistle and Flute             Suit                         “Nice whistle!”

Adam and Eve                 Believe                    “ I don’t Adam and Eve it!

Boat Race                        Face                       “ Look at his miserable boat!”

China Plate                       Mate (friend)         “ Hello my old China!”

Dog and Bone                   Phone                    “ call me on the dog”

There are countless examples of Cockneys and their brand of London English in films, TV and books. Cockney characters can be found in the books of Charles Dickens ( The Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist, Sam Weller in the Pickwick Papers), written nearly 200 years ago, through to the present-day phenomenally popular BBC TV soap opera Eastenders which is still running after 25 years!

To give you an idea as to how it sounds, here’s two examples of Cockney speech.

Firstly here’s a clip of three London men, the older two are definitely cockneys, interviewed at the Lord John Russell Pub in the Bloomsbury area of London. They are talking about cockney rhyming slang they know.

And here’s the opening sequence from the feted London gangster movie Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Plenty of Cockney talk in this film!

Childhood Ambitions

My first choice of career was in agriculture. I was 5 years old and had a wonderful summer holidays on a farm. What could be more natural? It is a good thing we usually forget about our childhood ambitions; farmers get up at five in the morning everyday and that would probably not have suited me.

After that, what else could I do? Both my parents were teachers. In fact, worse than that, they were teacher trainers. No way did I want to follow in their footsteps! On top of this, my mother used to say, “If you can’t spell, can’t be a teacher.” Well, spelling was not my strong point at the time. What to do? No idea! I really did not want to be a teacher!

My Early Career

So, my career, if you can call it a career, was a succession of different activities, including the following: gardener; factory worker; painter and decorator; building labourer; computer programmer; silk screen printer; civil servant; motorcycle courier; van driver; taxi driver; busker; administrator; market researcher; university lecturer.

A Terrible Destiny

You are probably thinking, “Where did that last one come from?” There came a point in my life when I decided that I should do something serious. I went to university and studied philosophy. I started a research degree … and then … I was, quite by chance, invited to do some teaching. I enjoyed it and have never looked back.

There is no point in running away from one’s destiny.

English Teacher

After that, I trained in English language teaching because philosophy was not providing a regular income. I had thought of doing this before but I had never felt confident enough. However, once I started training, I realised it was for me.

It is precisely my really wide experience of people, places, situations and occupations that helps me do my job well. I can usually find something in common with most of my students and have a good appreciation of all the cultural and social differences that you can find in an international classroom.

So much better than being a farmer!

It is often called ‘Jafaican’ meaning ‘fake Jamaican’, suggesting that it is largely spoken by white kids trying to be cool. However, this is unfair and inaccurate, as in reality, young people from all backgrounds growing up in Inner London have been exposed to the mixture of second-language English and local London English that has resulted in this new dialect of MLE. If you wanted a quick and amusing reference to MLE then you could do worse than check out the comic actor Sacha Baron Cohen’s comic creation, Ali G, who delivers his comic routines in a colourful version of the dialect.

In some London boroughs, for example, MLE has taken over from Cockney, the prevailing London accent for many generations, as inner-city white youths picked up the speech patterns of their black and Asian classmates. Not that surprising when you consider that four out of ten London residents are now from ethnic minority backgrounds.

To get a feel for this new version of London English, compare the following snippets of speech shown in both MLE and Standard English.

MLE ( Jafaican)
Safe, man. You lookin buff in dem low batties. Dey’s sick, man. Me? I’m just jammin wid me bruds. Dis my yard, innit? Is nang, you get me? No? What ends you from then?

Standard English
Hi man. You’re looking good in those trousers. They’re good man. Me? I’m just hanging out with my mates (friends). This is my home, isn’t it? It’s cool, you understand? No? What neighbourhood are you from?