The English Blog

David Beckham Retires – Third conditional

Bren Brennan — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:34:01 +0000

Finally, the golden boy of English football has retired from playing. But if we use some third conditional sentences, we can imagine a different past and how his life may have turned out in another way, if he had not done specific things at certain moments.There is a grammar table at the bottom of the page to help you understand ‘the impossible’ conditional.

David Beckham has retired from ‘the beautiful game’ and no matter what you think about his playing and his success as a advertising megastar, you surely can’t deny that he has had an amazing and unprecedented footballing career. As he said himself in a statement…
If you had told me as a young boy that I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over one hundred times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy

Clearly, his best days are behind him, but somehow he has still managed to bow out at the top, whilst still playing at the highest level. When he was a teenager, he broke through on to the world stage when he scored an incredible goal from the halfway line. If he hadn’t scored that goal,
would he have become a legend?

Since, then, you could say that he hasn’t put a foot wrong. However, there were some ups as well as downs, which have made it a bit of a roller coaster career in which he has gone from being the poster boy for English football all the way down to the bottom, too.
If he hadn’t been sent off in the World Cup against Argentina, then England might have won the match and gone on to be the world champions. That alone would have made his legacy all the more shiny. In fact, real success at international level is the only blemish on his record. However, when he was public enemy number 1 he had to do his talking on the football pitch and sort out his personality to get back in public favour. If he hadn’t worked hard, then maybe he wouldn’t have become England captain or the fantastic person that he is …. even though I don’t know him personally, apparently he’s very nice!

If he hadn’t acknowledged that he was too old to play football at 38, then he would have continued playing and perhaps he would have become an embarrassment and tarnished his reputation.

What do you think about this different idea about his past?
If he had married a different Spice Girl like Geri Haliwell, he wouldn’t have modelled in a million advertisements. And just one last thing….
If Posh Spice, hadn’t married David Beckham, she would have disappeared by now, wouldn’t she?

(BTW, this last sentence is a nice example of QUESTION TAG GRAMMAR)

Third Conditional English Grammar

The third conditional is like a dream, because it can NOT come true. We are thinking about how the past could have happened in a different way. But it is impossible to go back in time and change something in the past.

IF one thing (Condition) in the past HAD HAPPENED differently then another thing (result) also WOULD / COULD / MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED differently.

Here’s a news report about Beckham’s retirement that uses some of the advanced language from above…

Here’s some more Beckham posts you might like…

1. English Grammar Beckham style
2. Beckham speaks about the future
3. Playing with past tenses: Beckham baby part II
4. How do you pronounce -ed endings: Beckham baby part I

DON’T FORGET TO ENTER OUR FANTASTIC COMPETITION WHERE YOU CAN WIN 2 WEEKS OF FREE ENGLISH LESSONS HERE AT SGI IN LONDON

One last Becks video

Angelina Jolie double mastectomy

Bren Brennan — Tue, 14 May 2013 08:55:04 +0000

This shocking news will be published in every newspaper and on every news bulletin around the world over the next 24 hours. This is an opportunity for language learning, as you can hear or read the story in your own language first and then see almost exactly the same vocabulary, but in English, so you can learn a lot of new words and verb phrases (here to do with the medical field) and see and understand English grammar in action. The difficult vocabulary in bold is explained in the vocabulary glossary below.

You can also practise your listening skills by listening to the mp3 of the text below.

If you are an English teacher and want a lesson plan for this article/audio, then please go here to download the free lesson plan.

Angelina Jolie has undergone an operation to have a preventative double mastectomy to reduce her risk of developing breast cancer. She has also surprisingly gone public with the news (in an article in The New York Times) to raise awareness of the disease.

Tests revealed that Jolie is a carrier of the BRCA1 cancer gene, which meant that she had an 87% chance of contracting the disease. Angelina’s mother died of ovarian cancer at the age of 56, which is also caused by the same inherited gene mutation, so Jolie bravely decided to undergo the procedure for the sake of her children.

The actress said that her kids often asked her if she would get the illness that killed her mother: “My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children now that they don’t need to fear that they will lose me to breast cancer.”

The actress praised her fiancé, Brad Pitt for being loving, supportive and constantly at her side while she underwent 3 months of medical procedures.

She also said: ‘I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity. I am writing about it now because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience. Today it is possible to find out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer and then take action.’

It is extremely admirable that Jolie has given a worldwide platform to this sensitive and deeply personal issue which could now benefit so many women: ‘For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options. I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices.’

Vocabulary Glossary

to undergo an operation: to have a medical procedure
mastectomy: surgery to remove one or both breasts
to go public with sth: to tell everybody some news that was a secret before
to raise awareness of sth: to help more people know about a subject
a carrier of a (usually disease linked) gene: a human that has DNA that means they are likely to get a disease
to contract a disease: to get a disease
for the sake of sb: the main reason to do sth is so that it benefits that somebody
to develop (a disease): to get a disease
I feel empowered: I feel strong, confident and in control of my life
to be highly susceptible to sth: to have a high chance of being harmed by sth
to make your own informed choices: to make a good decision based on knowing lots of correct information

DON’T FORGET TO ENTER OUR FANTASTIC COMPETITION WHERE YOU CAN WIN 2 WEEKS OF FREE ENGLISH LESSONS HERE AT SGI IN LONDON

FREE ENGLISH LESSONS: I want to study English at SGI because…

Bren Brennan — Mon, 06 May 2013 10:02:19 +0000

Congratulations to the lucky winner of the Easter Bunny competition Sandra Marina Fernandes from Portugal. She will be coming to London in 2013 to claim her ’1 week of Free English tuition’ prize.

But, now you have another chance to win! But this time, it’s different: the prize is now 2 weeks of free English classes here at SGI in London! And remember the English classes at SGI are officially ‘excellent’. So, it is quite a good prize!!!

How do I win 2 weeks of Free English Lessons?

Make a short video (Minimum length 20 seconds. Maximum length 4 minutes) with the title “I want to study English at SGI because…”, including your NAME and your COUNTRY, e.g. MIKEL from SPAIN (see Demo Video below for an example)
Upload your video to YouTube
Fill in the form below to inform us of the YouTube video link. Or write an email to bbrennan@stgeorges.co.uk.
SGI will upload your video in a special Competition blogpost. Our readers will vote to decide which is the best video.
The video that receives the largest number of votes will win the 2 weeks English lessons prize

DEMO VIDEO

To get the most votes and win the competition, you will probably have to make your video entertaining. Try to make your video funny or unusual… definitely NOT boring! Maybe a horror movie or Sci-Fi film will be the winner. Let your imagination fly! The video does not have to be high-quality – it is what you say and do in the video that will help you to win the prize. Here below is a demonstration video (made by SGI) to start you off with some ideas. Good luck and have fun making your video!

ENTRY FORM: 2 Weeks of FREE English Classes in Central London Competition

Good luck.

Terms and Conditions: The boring official bit

The competition ends at midnight on Sunday, 30th June, 2013 ; The draw for the winner will be made in the first week of July, 2013.
Only entries with a video uploaded to YouTube with the title beginning with “I want to study English at SGI because…” will be valid for the competition selection;
Videos must be minimum 20 seconds and maximum 4 minutes in length;
Any video that contains offensive or insulting remarks will not be entered into the competition;
By entering the competition, you give SGI the permission to make a copy of your video and use it on any page of any SGI website;
The winner will be notified by email by SGI within 14 days of the closing date;
The winner’s name will feature on the website on the corresponding competition page;
The winning prize must be taken and completed before 1st December, 2013 at SGI London. The course is not transferable to another date or another individual;
Entrants must be at least 16 years of age and proof of age will be required before the prize is dispatched;
There is no cash alternative to the prize;
No responsibility can be accepted for entries which are not properly received due to communication systems beyond our control;
The winning prize is “2 weeks of Free English Lessons”. This covers the cost of a two-week Standard, general English group course at SGI London. The prize does not include flights, accommodation or airport transfers.

Advanced English CAE Sample Answer: Speaking

Bren Brennan — Fri, 03 May 2013 09:47:07 +0000

You need to have a very high level of English to sit the CAE (Certificate of Advanced English) Exam. Here, I give a sample answer to a typical Speaking Test Part 2 question.

In the video, before you hear my answer, I explain

Some of the requirements of the speaking test
What happens in Part 1 of the CAE speaking
What the Cambridge examiners are listening for
What you should say to get high marks
How to approach the speaking testli>

Advanced English Transcript

(My Sample answer in the video begins at 6:37)

The first picture in the top left hand corner obviously represents education. We’ve got 3 children in school uniform and this is a completely different classroom than when I used to go to school. They are gathered round a computer. There’s no teacher there and they’re probably involved in some collaborative learning of some task based solving problem.

The next picture in the top right hand corner: We’ve got banks and banks of computer screens. This is probably a stock exchange, so we’re talking here about finance, industry, international trade and commerce where people are buying and selling shares across continents instantaneously.

In the next picture on the left, we can see some pensioners online, so this is about communication. We’ve got video messaging, possibly SKYPE going on. And they are perhaps speaking to their relatives on the other side of the world in real time.

If we go across to the right hand side we can see a father and son. They’ve both got controllers in their hands and they’re playing on their console, perhaps X-box, Nintendo or Playstation. And this shows how they are using their leisure time. So, here this represents entertainment: how people use computers in their free time. Perhaps not only for video games, but for reading – reading a book or watching a film, perhaps.

In the final picture at the bottom of the page, we’ve got a woman getting her shopping bags via the computer screen, so obviously this is online shopping depicted here. Popular websites like ebay and Amazon mean that you never have to leave your home to get what you need, or even to browse around. And computers have really changed our daily lives here because we’ve seen a decline of the high street, where traditional shops have closed down because online shopping is generally cheaper and you can find what you want almost immediately.

So, I think actually, all the pictures show a massive reshaping of our daily lives and how we’ve adapted and incorporated computers so easily. And if I were to choose just one picture to best represent the most significant change, it would be an exceptionally difficult task.

Finance and industry is of momentous importance, but not everyone is a banker. Perhaps it’s only a small percentage of the population involved in that industry… of the global population. And people perhaps, some people are still wary of online shopping, so perhaps those pictures are less important than things like entertainment or education.

But if we consider the dramatic changes in computer technology advancement in the communication field, it’s nothing short of astounding. How I used to live when I was a child, we didn’t even have mobile phones, so….

Video conferencing is quite astounding. If I had told my grandmother that soon, instead of sending a letter to Australia and waiting months for a reply, or having to spend an incredible amount on a phone call in the middle of the night, that she could actually speak and almost touch her brother’s face as she spoke to him in Australia on a video call, she would have been absolutely amazed and possibly she wouldn’t have been able to have even believed that that was possible.

So, I would plump for the communication picture with the pensioners as the biggest change to our lives. Even though the others are still incredibly important.

How to make my answer better

Even as a native-speaker AND being an experienced English teacher, there is still room for improvement and the need to change some basic things.

As you can hear, I keep repeating: daily lives, perhaps, call, astounding.

Under the pressure of the time limit, I forgot to use synonyms for these words. This was on my Mental Checklist – ‘Use different vocabulary‘

So, it just goes to show that when you are practising giving verbal answers to speaking exam questions, you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself. Even mother-tongue speakers and supposed ‘experts’ make mistakes. We are all human!

Watch the video, remember the best points and practise, practise, practise!

Good luck in the CAE exam!

IELTS Speaking Sample Answer from a teacher – Pt 1 Interview

Bren Brennan — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:15:21 +0000

Here is an IELTS Speaking Sample Answer from the first part of the IELTS test: “The interview”.

In Part 1, the examiner asks the candidate questions about him/herself, his/her home, work or studies and other familiar topics.

Examiners IELTS Speaking Part 1 Sample Questions

Where are you from?
Tell me something about your family.
What about your studies? Are you in the middle or end of your studies?
How long will your course take you to study?
Where would you like to work in the future after university?
Can you tell me something about Kazakhstan?
What are the best things about your culture that foreigners should know about?
Can you talk about food in your country?
Is television important in your country?

IELTS Student answers

Here you can hear Ica, from Kazakstan answering the questions.

Ica part 1 Interview

How do you think Ica did with her answers? I think she was very good.

IELTS Speaking Sample Answer from a teacher

Here’s a different set of answers by me (pretending to be a student from Germany) to a variation of the first four questions. Hopefully you will hear some improvements in the variety of vocabulary and more complex grammar being used.

4 IELTS Part 1 Standard Questions

Where are you from?
Tell me about your family
Are you a student?
Where would you like to work in the future?

Full transcript of teacher’s answers

1. Where are you from?
I’m from Germany. I live in the capital city, Berlin, but I don’t live in the city centre, I live in a suburb called Wilmersdorf.

2. Tell me about your family.
Well, I’ve got two older sisters and one younger brother, so I’m right in the middle. My mum and Dad are divorced and they’re remarried. So, actually I have quite a lot of stepbrothers and stepsisters, so there are quite a few of us. I also have a large extended family with lots of uncles, aunts and cousins.

3. Are you a student?
Yes, I’m at university. I’m studying business and economics degree. At the moment, I’m kind of in the the middle of my studies. I’m just over halfway through my course. I’ve got about a year and a half left. But if I get good enough marks when I graduate, I will go on to do a masters degree… probably.

4. Where would you like to work in the future?
Hmmm, that’s a good question. I would like to start off working somewhere in Germany, maybe in a more business oriented city than Berlin, like Frankfurt or Munich. Then if I branched out and worked for a big international corporation in somewhere like London or NY, then that would be perfect.

ANALYSIS OF TEACHER’S ANSWERS

1. I’m from Germany. I live in the capital city, Berlin, but I don’t live in the city centre, I live in a suburb called Wilmersdorf.

VOCAB:

GOOD – Variety with ‘capital city‘, ‘city centre‘ and ‘suburb‘
BAD – ‘Live‘ is repeated 3 times
HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER:
– Instead of repeating live, live, live…. say ‘I’m from‘ ‘My flat is in a suburb…‘.
– You could also give more info like ‘I’m only a teenager, so I haven’t got my own place yet and I still live with my parents, of course‘

2. Well, I’ve got two older sisters and one younger brother, so I’m right in the middle. My Mum and Dad are divorced and they’re remarried. So, actually I have quite a lot of stepbrothers and stepsisters, so there are quite a few of us. I also have a large extended family with lots of uncles, aunts and cousins.

VOCAB:

GOOD – Variety with ‘older / younger‘, ‘Mum and Dad‘, ‘divorced / remarried‘, ‘stepbrothers / sisters‘, ‘uncles / aunts / cousins‘ and ‘large extended family‘
BAD – ‘quite‘ and ‘lot‘ are both repeated twice
HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER:
– Instead of repeating lot…. say ‘loads of…‘
– You could also give more info (with even more new ‘family’ vocab), like ‘I really love my granny, because she is such a kind person and she always tells me interesting stories about…‘.
– How about using some of Ica’s vocab from her audio above, like ‘We are very close‘???

3. Yes, I’m at university. I’m studying business and economics degree. At the moment, I’m kind of in the the middle of my studies. I’m just over halfway through my course. I’ve got about a year and a half left. But if I get good enough marks when I graduate, I will go on to do a masters degree… probably.

VOCAB:

GOOD
- Variety of appropriate ‘education’ terms, like ‘university‘, ‘course‘, ‘studies‘, ‘marks‘, ‘graduate‘ and ‘degree‘
- Nice vocab chunks, like ‘at the moment‘, ‘I’m kind of…‘, ‘in the middle of sth‘, ‘just over halfway through sth‘, ‘to have sth left‘
- No repetition of language (apart from ‘degree’, but I think this is acceptable in this university context)

GRAMMAR:

GOOD
- 1st conditional sentence, ‘if I get good enough marks when I graduate, I will…‘
BAD
- Grammar slip: ‘I’m studying business and economics degree‘. I didn’t intend to say degree at the end of this sentence. I was just going to say ‘I’m studying business and economics’, which is correct. However, because I added the word ‘degree‘ on the end, the sentence was missing the article ‘a‘. In this instance, the correct version should have been, I’m studying for a business and economics degree.

4. Hmmm, that’s a good question. I would like to start off working somewhere in Germany, maybe in a more business oriented city than Berlin, like Frankfurt or Munich. Then if I branched out and worked for a big international corporation in somewhere like London or NY, then that would be perfect.

VOCAB:

GOOD
- Variety of appropriate ‘work’ terms, like ‘business oriented‘, ‘international corporation‘
- Use of Phrasal Verbs, like ‘start off‘, ‘branch out‘
HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER:
– Maybe use more ‘work’ vocab, like ‘do an internship / become a manager / office job / climb the career ladder / 9 to 5‘
– Maybe utilise more ‘desire’ vocab, like ‘I would love to… / It would be great if I could get a job with… / The perfect scenario would be to (infinitive)… ‘

GRAMMAR:

GOOD
- Comparative clause, ‘…in a more business oriented city than Berlin‘
- 2nd conditional sentence, ‘if I branched out and worked for… that would be perfect‘

Come back soon for sample answers from student, Ica and also from SGI teacher, Bren in parts 2 and 3 of the IELTS speaking test.

Good luck in your IELTS exam! If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments section below and I will try to help you.

R&R 31: Scottish accent

Bren Brennan — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:18:13 +0000

Real & Relevant English conversation with native-speakers of English. You can hear the Scottish accent here along with British English.

This is a natural conversation between two English teachers, made without any preparation. We haven’t changed the speed that we speak to make it easier for English students to understand. This is real English conversation.

In this podcast, we have Adam and Bren. Adam is an English teacher at the SGI sister school in San Sebastian, Spain: even though their accents are very different, they are both mother-tongue English speakers, so you should try to understand what both are saying.

Pod Subject: Advantages of living in Scotland, including whisky.

Pod People: Adam & Bren

Which accent is clearer for you: Scottish or English?

Click below to hear more native-speaker accents…

1. Irish accent
2. Northern accent
3. Colonial Received Pronunciation
4. Received Pronunciation
5. Australian accent

Go to a list of all our podcasts

Go to itunes to DOWNLOAD ALL OUR PODCASTS FOR FREE

Controversial topic: Margaret Thatcher – for and against

Bren Brennan — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:06:35 +0000

A controversial topic with vocabulary to match highlighted in bold. If you do not understand any of the language, please ask me about it in the comments section and I will try to help with an explanation.

You can listen to me reading the whole text aloud on the grey audio player below.

Without any question of a doubt, the biggest news story in the UK in the last few weeks has been the death of Margaret Thatcher and the quarrels surrounding her legacy.

She was the Prime Minister (the political leader of the country) for the whole of the 1980s. Not only was she the first female to be elected to rule a European country, but she was also the longest ever serving Prime Minister with 11 years in power from 1979 to 1990. In that time she made a huge number of significant changes to Great Britain, which are still being felt today.

She was an incredibly controversial figure: you either loved her, or hated her. Even in death, she still splits the country down the middle into staunch supporters and those who despise her. It is very difficult to make an objective assessment of her political legacy, as she is still so divisive and the debate rages on as to whether she was good or bad for the UK.

Some commentators have been saying that she saved the economy of Great Britain just before it was too late and others are adamant that she destroyed the fabric of society and promoted greed, money and individualism as the only important things in life.

It is undeniable though that she is considered as a symbol of Great Britain. When people abroad think of the UK, the cliches are The Queen, The Beatles, fish and chips, Princess Diana, Winston Churchill, Harry Potter and Margaret Thatcher, right?

But not many know about her political decisions that have friends and enemies alike:

Taking away schoolchildren’s free milk
The Falklands war
Fighting the coal miners and trade unions
Economic deregulation
Privatising state-owned companies
The poll tax
Selling off council houses cheaply
Selling off school sport fields
Scepticism towards Europe
Helping end the Cold War

The anti-Thatcher hate campaign has continued with:

Some people having ‘Thatcher Death Parties’ in city streets
Protest song going to number 2 in the pop charts called ‘Ding Dong the witch is dead’
Protests planned for her funeral which is costing £10 million

SGI English School London is outstanding – that’s official!!!

Bren Brennan — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:43:32 +0000

This is not the usual type of blogpost, with a focus on English vocabulary or grammar. Instead, you can practise and learn English by reading some extracts from an official report from a British Government organisation called ISI that make the official inspections of English schools in London and all over the UK.

In March, two ISI inspectors came and examined all aspects of SGI in London for two days. Everything was under examination from the quality of the teachers, through to the standards of the toilets. We are proud to announce that SGI passed the test with flying colours.

TEACHERS

Under the heading of THE QUALITY OF CURRICULUM, TEACHING AND LEARNERS’ ACHIEVEMENTS, this is what was written in the official report about the SGI teachers:

Teaching is good or outstanding with high levels of student participation and ownership of learning. Teachers are well qualified and demonstrate outstanding subject knowledge. Planning for learning is particularly good and delivery provides high levels of challenge and encouragement for all students.

All lessons observed by inspectors achieved well-defined outcomes and demonstrated excellent preparation for meeting students’ needs.

Academic managers seek to inspire a culture of learning among teachers.Several members of staff participate as speakers at teacher conferences. Teachers confirm that the school supports them in developing high level professional skills.

With such incredible comments, we thought that we had to boast about our teaching staff. It is definitely reassuring for students wanting to book a course at SGI that there is a guarantee of teaching excellence to aid your English learning in the best way possible.

STUDENTS

The inspectors also sought the independent opinion of our current students and found that:

The school’s quality procedures are excellent. Student views are regularly sought through surveys and focus groups. Students are extremely satisfied with their courses and the support provided.

Assessment is thorough and effective in supporting progress. Attainment is consistently high in external examinations and in non-examined courses. Progression from the University Foundation course into UK higher education institutions is outstanding.

Pastoral support is excellent and provided by staff in all departments. Support for students progressing on to higher education or work in the UK is exceptional.

So, when we say say on our website that we are the best English school in London, it appears that we were telling the truth!

Have a great Easter holiday and if you haven’t entered our fantastic Easter Bunny competition to win free English lessons here at SGI London yet, why not have a go?

Upper Intermediate English: David Bowie Fever in London

Bren Brennan — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:04:12 +0000

To improve your Upper intermediate English, add these chunks or phrases to your vocabulary. You’ll be amazed at how regularly you see them in newspaper articles. Look at the glossary at the bottom of the page to help you understand the advanced vocabulary.

David Bowie is hot again!

After making TV news bulletins and front page headlines with the release of a single (Where are we now?) in January to coincide with his 66th birthday, now Bowie has gone straight in at number one with his new album, the first in a decade. His success has not only been in the UK though; the album The Next Day has gone to the top of the iTunes charts in over 40 countries – not bad for a pensioner, is it?

It seems that London is Bowie-tastic at the moment, with a brand new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum entitled, David Bowie Is. The retrospective look at his career has sold more than 42,000 advance tickets. That is double the amount of tickets sold before for the opening of previous exhibitions.

This is the first international retrospective of Bowie’s career and the curators have gained full access to David Bowie’s personal archive. They have selected over 300 objects that display the creative songwriting process, his changing fashion style and the way that he constantly reinvented himself with iconic characters.

As you would expect, the items on display include original costumes, photographs, film, music videos and album artwork. But there are also lots of personal items included such as Bowie’s own sketches, diary entries, handwritten lyrics, his own instruments and never-before-seen items.

All the buzz surrounding Bowie shows the power of the man, the music, the cultural icon and influential performer especially considering that he has shunned the limelight since 2004 when he suffered a heart attack shortly after a live gig.

Upper intermediate English Vocabulary Chunks

making headlines: to be so popular that you are the main topic of conversation in a country
the release of a single: to have a new song available to buy
has gone straight in at number one: to be extremely successful as soon as you start something new
retrospective look at: an examination of the past history of something
gained full access: to be allowed to look at everything
iconic characters: a fictional person that symbolises something (usually positive)
never-before-seen: something that has not been previously available or perhaps even known about
the buzz surrounding: the hype, the media, people talking about a fashionable and opular subject
shunned the limelight: for someone who is famous to not look for publicity and not let people know about their private life

Chris Stark interviews Mila Kunis/ The best Mila Kunis interview ever

Phil Wade — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:43:03 +0000

The latest internet viral hit features a nervous British BBC radio presenter doing a Mila Kunis interview. These kinds of interviews normally feature questions like:

What is the film about

Which character do you play?

How much did you enjoy making the film?

Why should people watch your film?

Well, in this interview the questions were slightly different. They were mainly about the presenter inviting Mila out for a drink and to a soccer match. Scott, the interviewer also managed to teach Mila a lot about modern British youth culture. What’s fantastic about the interview is that it was a real conversation about the people’s lives rather than just the same answers to the same questions that everyone asks.

Before you watch the interview between Chris and Mila, check the following words and phrases to help you understand what they talk about:

Vocabulary

Down the pub at the pub

The boys a young man’s friends who goes to the pub with

Lad points praise from other young men

Dosser a lazy person who does nothing

Kick off the beginning of a football match

Chant sing and repeat a short phrase about football players

To bosh a pint to drink a pint of beer

To neck a pint to drink a pint at once

To bartend to work at a bar serving beer

A plus one another person who you can invite to a social event

Watch the interview then check how much you understand with our quiz.

Quiz
LEAVE YOUR ANSWERS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW – I WILL TELL YOU WHICH ANSWERS YOU GOT RIGHT!

1. Where is Scott used to being?

Down his local pub with the boys

Down the street with his brothers

2. What will Scott get for interviewing Mila?

A round of drinks and a bottle of whiskey

Massive lad points and maybe a free drink

3. What’s a ‘lad bomb’?

An alcoholic drink

An explosive

4. What is the name of Scott’s local pub?

The Misty Moon

The Watford pub

5. What does Sir Dosser do?

He writes films

He writes music

6. Which football team does Scott support?

Watford football club

Manchester United

7. What is Nandos?

A chicken restaurant

A beef restaurant

8. What time is kick off?

1 p.m.

3 p.m.

9. What will they do on the terraces?

Sing songs and chant

Play football

10. What will they do at half time?

Have a hot dog and drink some Coke

Have a steak n’ ale or chicken balti pie and bosh a few pins

11. How quickly can Mila neck a pint?

Very slowly because she’s never drunk

Very quickly because she used to bartend

12. What’s Dicko doing soon?

Getting married
Getting divorced

13. What did Dicko tell Scott?

That he could have a plus one to the wedding

That he could go to the wedding

Scott’s boss wasn’t very happy about how his first interview went. Watch this video to see what he thinks during the next day’s live radio show:

English lessons for free: Easter Bunny & Eggs Competition

Bren Brennan — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:18:06 +0000

Congratulations to the lucky winner of last month’s February Valentine’s Day competition, Elena Sacramento from Spain. She will be coming to London in 2013 to claim her ‘English lessons for free’ prize . But, now you have another chance to win in this month’s competition!

Spring is in the air, which means the Easter holidays are on the way very soooooon! In the UK, when we think about Easter, chocolate Easter eggs and the Easter bunny spring to mind.

Our March competition to win a week of English lessons in London is all about the Easter infographic below.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO EXPAND

English Lessons For Free Competition

IMPORTANT: Remember to leave your contact details in Q3. If you are the winner, we need to get in touch with you.

Good luck.

Terms and Conditions: The boring official bit

The competition ends at midnight on Tuesday, 2nd April, 2013 ; The draw for the winner will be made in the first week of April, 2013.
Only entries with name, email address and country of residence will be considered;
The winner will be notified by email by SGI within 14 days of the closing date;
The winner’s name will feature on the website on the corresponding competition page;
The winning prize must be taken and completed by 1st September, 2013 at SGI London. The course is not transferable to another date or another individual;
Entrants must be at least 16 years of age and proof of age will be required before the prize is dispatched;
There is no cash alternative to the prize;
No responsibility can be accepted for entries which are not properly received due to communication systems beyond our control;
The winning prize is “A week of Free English Lessons”. This covers the cost of a one-week intensive Standard, general English group course at SGI London. The prize does not include flights, accommodation or airport transfers.

R&R 30: Australian accent – Living in the UK

Bren Brennan — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:22:14 +0000

Real & Relevant English conversation with native-speakers of English. You can hear the Australian accent here along with British English.

This is a natural conversation by English teachers about how an Australian visitor has to adapt to life in the UK. How is life different in the two countries?

In this podcast, you can hear Bren and Lauretta… She is an English teacher at the SGI sister school in San Sebastian, Spain: both are native speakers of English.

SGI-030-Australian-Accent-Living-in-England

Pod Subject: An Australian living in the UK

Pod People: Lauretta & Bren

Which accent do you find the easiest to understand here: English or Australian?

Click below to hear more native-speaker accents…

1. Irish accent
2. Northern accent
3. Colonial Received Pronunciation
4. Received Pronunciation

Go to a list of all our podcasts

Go to itunes to download all our podcasts for free

IELTS Speaking practice: Speaking test Part 2

Phil Wade — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 13:34:10 +0000

Improve your IELTS Speaking by working through this lesson.

Get your answers to the questions by clicking on SUBMIT TEST in the bottom right hand corner.

Do NOT click on NEXT at the top of the page BEFORE you do this. – if you do you will go to the next part of the lesson and you will not see which questions you answered correctly.

You may also like our other IELTS practice/tips/advice posts…

1. IELTS exam preparation advice from a teacher who knows

2. Speaking Part 2: Sample answer

3. IELTS speaking sample answers: Part 3 – The Two Way Discussion

FEELING ROMANTIC?
If you liked the image above because it was Valentine’s Day this week and you’re feeling romantic, remember to enter our fantastic Valentine’s competition, where you can win a week of free English lessons with us at SGI English school in Central London. Yes, it’s true!
Good luck!

IELTS exam preparation advice from an English teacher

Phil Wade — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:26:24 +0000

A few people have asked us about how to improve their vocabulary, writing and other skills for the IELTS exam. So, I’ve decided to share some advice I give all my IELTS students. I hope it helps you as much as it does them.

BTW, make sure you mouse over the images below!

1) Find out which band you need.

If you want to do a BA or MA then look at the university’s website to see which IELTS band you need. Be realistic! The top universities demand higher scores than the others. Choose a course with an IELTS grade which you think you can achieve.

2) Assess your current IELTS band score.

Do an IELTS practice test in a book or online. You can easily find free reading and listening papers but it’s harder to get speaking and writing ones that are marked. For this, I would ask your English teacher or a friend with good English to assess you. Remember that you need to rate all your skills so you know your band in reading, listening, speaking and writing.

3) Ask yourself “how long do I need to reach my target band?”.

If you are an overall band 4 and you need band 7, you can’t improve that much in a week or even month. However, if you have 7766, then you just need to push 2 skills up a band each so a month may be enough, with the right amount of lessons and homework.

I know students who’ve gone up from a 5 to a 6 in less than a month but they had regular classes almost every day and studied hard at home. I’ve also had private students who’ve improved from a 4 to a 5 in a week due to daily intensive lessons.

So, it all depends on how you are going to prepare. You will improve faster with regular private classes but also quite fast with daily group lessons. Think about this when you choose your exam date. The IELTS costs a lot of money and it’s very depressing to fail it. So, make sure you have enough time to reach the band you need before you do the test.

4) Work out a study schedule.

I know students who study IELTS at school for 2 or 3 hours a day and then go home to revise and do practice tests for another 3 or 4 hours BUT they have time as they really have to pass the test and aren’t doing anything else. Not everyone is this lucky.

It’s a good idea to get a calendar and schedule study time every day, if you can. Start off revising what you learned in class, then work on some of your weaknesses and do some practice test sections or a full paper like a reading test. Don’t forget to time yourself though!! Time management is a very important IELTS skill.

You can give yourself days off as a reward but you have to stay motivated and keep studying. It’s easy to think you’re not improving though so keep a record of your practice test scores. I know quite a few teachers who give their students a full listening, speaking or writing test every week either in class or for homework. They correct them together and the teacher adds their scores to a chart on the wall. This way, everyone can see how they are progressing and where they still have problems.

5) Think about how you learn best.

Do you prefer listening to lessons, playing games, using apps, reading blog posts, doing book exercises or just doing tests and correcting them? Figure out what works for you best and use it to help you get better at IELTS.

The IELTS is a hard test if you want a band which is far higher than your current level. It can also be difficult for high levels who just don’t know the format of the test.

A perfect IELTS student has the right English level, knows all the sections of the test, has done practice tests, has great time management skills and is confident: not afraid of the exam, but ready to prove how great their English is!

I hope this advice helps you get the band you need.

Here are some useful sites to help you:

http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/prepare-test/free-practice-tests

http://www.britishcouncil.org/professionals-exams-ielts-intro.htm

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/ielts-mock-papers

Irregular Past Simple review

Phil Wade — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:17:47 +0000

Time to revise Irregular Past Simple grammar!

In this lesson, look at our posts on verbs with irregular preterite forms and answer the questions in the quick quizzes related to the information in the articles.

To get your answers and results, CLICK on SUBMIT TEST in the bottom right hand corner of the Quiz screens, BEFORE you move on to the next page of the lesson

Have a great weekend!

Family Tree vocabulary: The Hobbit traces his ancestors

Bren Brennan — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 13:41:59 +0000

Lots of family tree vocabulary in our glossary will help you understand all the words in the article below. Watch the video, read the text and then vote and/or leave a comment about your opinion on the hobby – not, Hobbit – of finding out about your ancestors.

Family Tree vocabulary

family tree: a record of the people in your family going back in history
lineage: you family line through history going back to an ancestor
great great grandfather: In English we don’t have different names for different past generations. If you are talking about your grandfather’s father, this is the great grandfather. You add another ‘great’ to the name for every other generation that you go back to
to have a likeness: to physically look the same as someone else
mum’s side of the family: your mother’s family
family traits: characteristics that are the same amongst people in your family, like red hair or blue eyes
to be the black sheep of the family: to be the one person in your family who is considered to be different (in a negative way) to all the other family members
distant relative: someone who is not in your immediate family, like a cousin twice removed, or a great, great uncle three times removed
heritage: object or qualities that have been passed down from previous generations
branch of the tree: one side of the family (mother or father’s)
public records: historical official documents that anyone can look at
to trace: to find/discover or describe the origin of something by investigating
ancestors: a person, from before your grandparents generation, that you are descended from
census: public record taken every 10 years giving lots of details about all the people in a country
cause of death: how a person died
predecessors: a thing/person that has been followed by another

Looking into your family’s past

Why is it that people only start getting interested in their family tree once they get older? Do they want to look back into their lineage to see if their great, great, great grandfather was someone famous or important?

Perhaps it’s because people want to understand if they have a likeness to someone from their mum’s side of the family. Or maybe they have noticed that some family traits have been passed down to their own children and they want to discover if that characteristic has appeared before in their family history.

It could even be that they have a suspicion that they are the black sheep of the family and they want to prove that there was someone further back, maybe some distant relative, who was definitely more of a misfit than them.

As you can see in the video below, there is a BBC TV series called Who Do You Think You Are in which famous people (famous in the UK, that is!) investigate their heritage with the help of genealogical experts. Quite often, the celebrity ends up in tears when they find out that something sad or tragic happened to one or more of their family. The experts go through various public records to trace the ancestors and of course, find a lot of information from the census.

In the clip here, the actor Martin Freeman, who has the starring role in The Hobbit movie finds out about his previous generations. He is very interested in finding out about his Dad’s side of the family because his father died when he was only 10, so he doesn’t know much about that branch of the tree.

However, for me, the problem with constructing a genealogical record is that the official documents only give you basic information like the date of birth, occupation, husband’s/wife’s name and maybe the cause of death. There is quite a lot of imagination and guesswork involved in making assumptions about your predecessors, so that you can make the story interesting.

Also, recently I spoke to a student who has an uncle that traced her family tree all the way back to the 16th Century. That’s very impressive of course, but one thing worried me (and her) about it all: she said that her uncle had got her date of birth wrong. He had put 1984 as her date of birth, not 1983. Well, if he couldn’t even get the current generation’s details correct, then how can anyone trust the other ‘facts’ that he found going back four centuries!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Free English classes competition: Valentine’s Day

Bren Brennan — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:06:22 +0000

Congratulations to the winner of last month’s January New Year’s Resolution competition, Iryna Fucci from Italy. She will be coming to London in 2013 to claim her prize of one week of free English classes. Now you have another chance to win in this month’s competition!

Now it’s time to get romantic because February means Valentine’s Day, of course!

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO EXPAND

Free English Classes Competition

IMPORTANT: Remember to leave your contact details in Q3 because if you win, we need to get in touch with you.

Good luck.

Terms and Conditions: The boring official bit

The competition ends at midnight on Sunday, 3rd March, 2013 ; The draw for the winner will be made in the first week of March, 2013.
Only entries with name, email address and country of residence will be considered;
The winner will be notified by email by SGI within 14 days of the closing date;
The winner’s name will feature on the website on the corresponding competition page;
The winning prize must be taken and completed by 1st September, 2013 at SGI London. The course is not transferable to another date or another individual;
Entrants must be at least 16 years of age and proof of age will be required before the prize is dispatched;
There is no cash alternative to the prize;
No responsibility can be accepted for entries which are not properly received due to communication systems beyond our control;
The prize “A week of Free English Lessons” covers the cost of a one-week intensive Standard, general English group course at SGI London. The prize does not include flights, accommodation or airport transfers.

Work Vocabulary: Retirement is for wimps!

Phil Wade — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 07:09:20 +0000

Read the text to find out about one British man who never wants to retire. Learn the work vocabulary then check you understand it in our quiz.

The age of retirement seems to get higher every year. Men and women used to retire in their early sixties and even before. As people are living longer, the retirement age has increased and may keep on going up.

It makes sense that people should work longer if they live to an older age. More people means more taxes are needed to pay for health care, schools etc. However, can a 65 or 70 year old work? If so, what kind of job can they still do?

Jim Clements is a workaholic which is which normal nowadays but he is a centenarian. 100-year-old Jim officially retired over 30 years ago but got bored. The majority of retirees stay at home, do some gardening, watch TV or go travelling. They don’t normally find a new job and go back to work. Jim is different, he works part-time at a company in South England and does basic administration work like answering the phone, filing and photocopying. He started as a temporary employee but is now a permanent member of staff.

This great-grandfather has no wish to retire, he likes his job and wants to keep busy. He says it helps him to stay fit and healthy and enjoys working with his younger colleagues. In fact, he likes them so much he makes them cups of English tea with milk and sugar.

Jim started working aged 14 and hasn’t really stopped. That means he’s had a job for 86 years and it looks like he may have one for a lot longer. He’s a great example of a hardworking employee and a person who wants to contribute to society. Yet, should companies be hiring or keeping staff who should have retired years ago? It’s an interesting question as there are so many people unemployed at the moment.

Work language

retirement: the part of your life when you reach 65+ and don’t work
workaholic: someone who loves working and can’t stop
centenarian: a person who is 100 years of age
retirees: people who reached 65 and stopped working
part-time: not every day like a person who only works 2 days a week
administration: work involving documents and tasks in an office
filing: when you put documents in folders in an office
photocopying: when you make more duplicates of a document
temporary: only for a short time
permanent: forever
great-grandfather: a person whose grandchildren have children

Work / Retirement Vocabulary Comprehension

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Comparatives and Superlatives: Beer v Guinness

Phil Wade — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:31:39 +0000

Test your knowledge of Guinness and Beer by reading this post and then test yourself with our quiz. You can also learn some comparatives and superlatives too.

English people like to drink alcohol. They drink it in the pub, in bars and even at home. Remember that it’s not a good idea to drink lots of alcohol so only have it in moderation!

There are 3 types of alcohol which English people really enjoy. They are lager, beer and Guinness and they are drunk in pints or halves.

Check our previous post to learn about English Measurements:

Guinness v beer

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Which do you prefer – Beer or Guinness (or neither) and why? Tell us in the comments section below

The infographic and questions use lots of comparatives and superlatives. Learn about them by reading our previous posts here:

1. Comparatives

2. Superlatives

3. Language for making comparisons

Better IELTS speaking: Advice & Practice

Phil Wade — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 09:55:53 +0000

Practise for your IELTS exam and make your IELTS speaking better.

This lesson focuses on IELTS Speaking Part 3: Two Way Discussion, where you have to talk with the examiner in a natural conversation about the topic that you have already been going over in Parts 1 & 2.

When you are asked questions in this lesson (Step 2 & Step 4), you MUST click on SUBMIT TEST (in the bottom right hand corner of the page) to get your results.

Marketing for English: Essential Brand vocabulary

Bren Brennan — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:28:42 +0000

If you’re in business in the Marketing department, then you might find this marketing for English language quite useful. Revise your vocabulary knowledge first, then watch the video and read the article below which talks about the brand.

Marketing for English

brand identity: what the company wants the customer to think about a brand
brand image: what the customers/public actually think about the brand
market leader: a product that sells more than all similar products e.g. Red Bull
premium brand: a brand with a high price for quality products e.g. ferrari
economy brand: a brand/products with very low prices e.g. supermarket’s own-label goods
target market: the ideal group of people that a company aims a product at
brand awareness: knowing about a brand
consumer: the person who actually uses a product. The customer buys the product but might not be the consumer e.g. children’s sweets: customer = parent, consumer = small children
consideration set: a group of products that a consumer will choose from e.g. a teenager may consider buying trainers from a selection of either Nike, Adidas or Puma, but not Reebok
brand consideration: a brand that you would think about buying when you look at all the available options
brand loyalty: always buying the same brand because you like it and not buying products from a rival brand
brand ambassadors: someone who represents the brand; the face of the brand becuase this person has certain qualities that makes the brand appealing e.g George Clooney with Lavazzo coffee
creatives: people whose job it is to think up the ideas for cool content like adverts, videos etc
social demographic: a certain group of people in society e.g. Ferrari cars are NOT aimed at the student demographic
pitched: to pitch sth at sb means ‘to aim’
brand positioning: where is a brand placed in the market? Is it expensive, quality or low-cost etc
must-have item: a product that everyone wants
psychological pricing: in your mind, £14.99 seems much cheaper than £15
post-purchase dissonance: after buying a product the customer is not completely happy because the product was not as good as they thought it would be
post-purchase consonance: after buying a product the customer is very happy because the product is better than they thought it would be

This latest piece of promotion from the OPI brand is undeniably compelling. The brand identity they are trying to put across to the buying public is definitely that they are cool, contemporary and high-quality.

Does that identity equate to the brand image? I think the answer would be a definite, ‘yes’. Every person that I’ve shown this to has been super impressed with the creativity, images, music and the slow reveal of the product.

Is OPI the market leader? I’m afraid that my knowledge of nail products is not good enough to know, but the marketing budget would suggest that this is a premium brand with pricing to match, rather than an economy brand.

It’s also an amazing ad because it appeals to a far larger customer base than just the target market. Nail varnish typically would be aimed at females, but this campaign is ticking all the right boxes for brand awareness for all those boyfriends and husbands out there. OK, they are not going to be the consumer, but now the males who have seen this ad would certainly have OPI in their consideration set (possibly the only product in their brand consideration). For existing female customers it works extremely well serving to cement brand loyalty.

For me, a very interesting aspect of the ad are the models, or shall we say the brand representatives or ambassadors? If you consider the top models used for fashion mega brands like Gucci, D&G etc, these girls are a lot lower down the scale. Likewise, whilst they are great dancers, they are not the absolute best – if you compare them to a Russian primera ballerina or a leading flamenco dancer etc. This is clever casting from the creatives in the advertising group to appeal to the right social demographic of customers, positioning this brand as ‘obtainable’ (as opposed to unobtainable) for female teenagers and twenty-somethings… whilst at the same time remaining aspirational. This is clearly pitched as a product for the cool girl in the street in 2013.

The only downfall I can see is in answering the question, ‘Does the product live up to expectations?’ It could well be that after seeing this ad, the ‘want factor’ could be very high and it could turn into a must-have item. However, assuming that this range might be priced at 14.99 EUR (a nice piece of psychological pricing), then there might be some post-purchase dissonance (as opposed to post-purchase consonance) coming into play. After all, the über-cool advert may lead a customer to believe that this product is going to change their lives and make them super cool or sexy, but at the end of the day it is only nail varnish!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

English Quiz: Towns around the UK

Phil Wade — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:10:47 +0000

Here’s an English quiz to test your understanding of some of blogposts (old and new) about UK cities, towns and villages.

In this new type of English lesson there are
- articles to read
- a quiz for each piece of content to test your understanding,
- a podcast to listen to
- immediate results for each question you are asked… just like in our English tests.

So, you will have the opportunity to practise your listening skills, reading skills and Use of English vocabulary knowledge – all for free!

Click on STEP 1: Lesson Objectives and then you will be given instructions to work through this cool lesson.

Please leave us a comment to say what you like (or what you don’t like) about this new kind of lesson. We make the blog for you, so we’d like to get it right.

How to say numbers: Apple share price drop

Bren Brennan — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 19:39:20 +0000

You can hear how to say numbers in British English with the latest news about the share price of Apple.

Click on the grey audio player to hear the text (below) being read aloud by a native English speaker.

how to say numbers Apple share price

After Apple reported lower than expected iPhone sales last night, their share price tumbled more than 6%.

They sold 47.8 million in the last quarter of 2012, but that was not as many as the 50 million that analysts had predicted.

In the regular day’s trading Apple’s stock had risen, closing up 1.8 per cent at a share price of $514.01.

However, Apple aren’t doing too badly. For the first fiscal quarter they posted a net income of $13.07 billion, which works out at $13.81 per share. That compares to the previous year when for the same period, their profits were $13.06 billion, or $13.87 a share.

The predicted profits were 54.8 billion USD, but Apple just missed that target with sales totalling $54.5 billion. Unbelievably, this amount is the slowest growth for the company over a financial quarter since 2009.

Even with the 48m iPhones sold over Xmas being a little under target, it still means that the total number of iPhones sold in total since its creation in 2007 are a whopping 320m units.

Despite this latest blip, some financial experts have suggested that fears over Apple without Steve Jobs are misguided and that investors could see the stock slide as an opportunity to buy while the share price is low. One expert said that if Apple continues to grow in the same fashion for the next five years, then company revenues will reach a staggering $1.2 trillion – equivalent to the size of the GDP of Australia!

Weather vocabulary: Severe Weather Conditions

Phil Wade — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:03:39 +0000

There has been lots of snow in the UK lately. It has made travelling very difficult and even dangerous for many people.

Read the post and check the words about severe weather conditions in bold with the definitions below. Then, try our quick weather vocabulary quiz to see if you can use some of them properly.

London is known for red buses, black cabs and the underground. All of them have had problems in January because of the heavy snow. People who normally drive to work have also experienced difficulties. The bad weather has affected people across the country and made travelling impossible in some remote places. The roads have been covered in packed snow and black ice so driving anywhere has been very hard. Local councils have tried to grit major roads but there has been so much snow that it has been a hard task.
The number of car accidents has increased rapidly. During one weekend in January, almost £3.5 million of damage happened to cars and about 8,000 cars were written off in just 5 days. Many of the collisions were with walls and parked vehicles. Drivers simply lost control of their cars. There have been a number of cases of parked cars sliding down roads and hitting others and even pedestrians.

In some cases, car and bus drivers have tried to avoid incidents by staying at home, at work or even abandoning their vehicles in poor visibility. One newspaper said that a group of English people hid in their local village pub until the snow stopped.

Another problem is that when the ice and snow melts it turns to slush and can make it challenging for drivers to break. Pilots can also have problems taking off when there is a lot of slush on the runway.

The best advice has been to stay at home and only go out if it is really necessary. Then you should wear snow boots or wellies and avoid slippery areas. The government also advised drivers to clear snow and ice from their cars to prevent damage and possible accidents when they drive.

Even though we’re not very good at dealing with the snow in the UK, it doesn’t usually last for long and everything gets back to normal pretty quickly. For example, Heathrow cancelled flights last weekend, but they are back on schedule now.

Severe weather conditions vocabulary

heavy snow: lots of snowfall
packed snow: snow that has been compacted together and is more solid
black ice: a thin layer of ice on a pavement which you can’t see but is very dangerous
grit (verbb/noun): when a machine or a person puts very small stones or sand on roads to destroy the snow and make it better to drive on
to be written off: when a car is damaged so badly that it can’t be used again
collisions: when 2 or more things hit each other
lost control: the person wasn’t able to change the direction of their car any more
sliding down: moving down slowly like an ice cube moves down a glass
pedestrians: people walking in the street
incidents: accidents
abandoning: leaving something where it is like when you are in a car accident and you leave your car to go and get help
poor visibility: when you cannot see well because the weather is bad
slush: a mix of ice and water
wellies: rubber boots children wear when it rains or farmers for working in the field
slippery areas: places where you could fall over

Watch this video to see what the severe weather did to London (thankfully it’s all back to normal now though!):

Vocabulary quiz

1) What kind of snow has London experienced?

Light snow / Heavy snow

2) What can make people slip and hurt themselves when walking on the pavement.

White ice / Black ice

3) What do councils do to the roads to make them better for driving on?

They grit them / They clean them

4) Why do some people decide not to drive ?

Because of good visibility / Because of poor visibility

You may also like other weather vocabulary themed posts…

1. Prince Charles the weatherman
2. Podcast: Natives speak about British weather
3. Heavy Rain in the UK
4. Lightning – Word of the Day
5. Wrong weather forecast

Flat to Rent Vocabulary: Landlord from hell

Bren Brennan — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:49:11 +0000

If you are looking to rent a flat in London or the UK, here’s all the vocabulary you need and a story that you will probably find very interesting!

Last week a female prospective tenant went to view a flat in London and the guy who owned the flat (who she would be sharing with) seemed nice and everything was going smoothly. Then as she left the appointment, her future landlord gave her a list of house rules to look at before she made the final decision to move in agreed to sign a contract.

As you can see from the rules below, she decided NOT to go for it. In fact, she posted the rules online and the photos went viral, with over 1,000 retweets on twitter and over 4,000 comments about the nightmares of renting a flat, shared houses, landlords, tenants and flatmates.

Flat to Rent Vocabulary

prospective tenant: someone who is thinking about renting a flat
landlord: the owner of a flat that rents out the living space to other people
sign a contract: putting your signature/name on an official document to say that you agree with the details of the document. Slang version – “putting pen to paper”
flatmates: people that live in the same flat as you. This does not definitely mean that they are your friends!
deposit: the money you pay in addition to the rent at the start of a renting contract. This is sometimes the cost of up to 4 months rent to cover any damges that you may cause in the flat.
vacate premises: to leave the flat
One month notice: If you plan on leaving, you have to tell the landlord about this one month before your leaving date.
deducted: money taken from you
£15ph: 15 pounds per hour
pets: dogs, cats, birds, rabbits etc. Animals that live with you in your house
personal belongings: the things that are yours
communal areas: place that all people use… like bathroom, corridor, kitchen etc
dishes in the sink: after you have eaten, these are the dirty plates, knives, forks, glasses etc that you have used and have not cleaned/washed up
toiletries: things that you use in the bathroom e.g. toilet roll, soap etc

THE HOUSE RULES

1. No pork ever in the house or fridge

2. No visitors can stay over (unless discussed with me in advance and I will decide). If I catch anyone sneeking in, your deposit will be lost and you will need to vacate premises immediately)

3. Not more than 2 visits a month and visitors must be in your room and cannot stay the night unless discussed with me beforehand.

4. No using other people’s things (shampoo, hand wash or anything I buy – this will be charged to you)

5. One month notice to leave

6. Alcohol must be kept in room

7. Showers can not last longer than 15 mins in morning and evenings between 6am and 10am also between 7pm and 11pm)

8. Cooking must be no longer than 30 mins as other people will or might need to cook also after work and mornings, doors must be opened whilst cooking. (If doors are not open then a charge will be added to your rent for new wallpaper, as how I feel)

9. There is no living room included, only room. So if you sit in the kitchen area which is my personal living space you must eat then wash up and go back to room.

10. If I feel at any point you are abusing anything at all including
a) Electricity
b) Water
c) Gas
Or cleaning products, this will be deducted and added to next month’s rent and failing to pay will result in vacating premises immediately

11. Washing machine and dryer must be empty if not in use

12. If you do not clean after yourself, I will pay for a cleaner and she charges £15ph and I will get her in 2 hours a week and charge you at the end of the month. Failing to pay will result in vacating premises immediately.

13. If you break anything or stain carpet, this will be charged as how I feel, so please respect house

14. No pets allowed in house ever

15. No smoking in rooms otherwise deposit will be lost and you will need to vacate premises immediately

17. DO not leave personal belongings in communal areas. All belongings must be kept in rooms otherwise it will get thrown out as I will take it as junk

18. Stealing will result in deposit will be lost and you will need to vacate premises immediately and the police will get called.

19. Don’t leave dishes in the sink otherwise a charge of £15 will be added to rent.

20. Noisy people and rude people will get one chance to calm down and then if not deposit will be lost and you will need to vacate premises immediately

22. Never go into anyone else’s room. This will be looked on as theft deposit will be lost and you will need to vacate premises immediately and police will get called.

23. Every week £5 will need to go towards communal toiletries/toilet roll as how I feel.

24. NO food to be eaten in bedroom as if carpet or walls get dirty or messed up I charge for my time to evaluate and fix the issue and I am not cheap, so best you eat downstairs and sleep in room.

26. No parties, loud music or other excessive noise ever otherwise deposit will be lost and you will need to vacate premises immediately

Hope you enjoy your read and your stay – rules are here for a reason, so everyone lives without problems. Please speak to me if you have any problems.

READER’S COMMENTS

Having been a landlord I wish I’d thought of those rules. My tenants with one exception were from hell.

For someone who has shared many flats/houses over the last 7 years, I can understand the point of view of the landlord. No party/music during the week days is important as some of us need to work and need a quiet space to get back to. But I still find that list too excessive

I agree with 90% of the rules.

I’ve lived with so many dkheads that this List doesn’t surprise me. Rules in a house share are important. This is a bit much though.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

R&R 29: British Comedy is not ‘Dinner for One’

Bren Brennan — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 22:36:52 +0000

Real & Relevant English conversation with native-speakers from London, UK.

This is a natural conversation by English teachers about British comedy. Monty Python, Benny Hill, Mr Bean, The Office all get a mention. Plus we even talk about Norman Wisdom and Dinner For One. What do people in the UK like now when they sit down to watch some English comedy? How is it different than the humour that we export to other countries?

In this podcast, you can hear Charlie and Bren, who are SGI English teachers and Mark, who is the school CEO. All the people that you hear are native speakers of British English.

SGI-029-British-Comedy

Pod Subject: Comedy in the UK

Pod People: Charlie, Mark & Bren

To hear Mark, Charlie and Bren in another podcast talking about the Royal family, click here

Click below to hear more from Charlie, talking about…

1. Clothes
2. English Gentlemen
3. The Olympics
4. British weather

Do you like British comedy? Tell us about your favourite show in the comments

Go to a list of all our podcasts

Go to itunes to download all our podcasts for free

English measurements: The London Shard

Phil Wade — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 07:30:18 +0000

The latest tourist attraction in London is The Shard but what is it and why should you visit it? The read the article to find out and to learn some useful vocabulary and information about converting English measurements.

The Shard is now the tallest building in London and Europe. It’s height is 1,015ft. The tower has a total of 72 floors.

It’s made of glass and has 360 degree views of London. You can enjoy incredible views of all the famous landmarks like St Pauls, Buckingham Palace, The Gherkin, Tower Bridge and The London Eye. On a nice day, visitors can see for about 40 miles. You may even be able to see France.

Some people call The Shard ‘the new symbol of London’ and many tourists and locals want to visit it. The entrance is £25 for an adult ticket and £19 for a child. The tower opens on February 1st but all the tickets are sold out.

What’s in The Shard?

The makers of the shard want visitors to learn about London and the people in it. So, on the ground floor are funny photos of famous people living in London.

Level 33 has painted maps of London and its suburbs.

Rich people can visit a luxury hotel and spa on the top floors or even buy a flat there. There is also a restaurant where you can have a meal and drink a pint of beer.

Level 68 has amazing views of the city. The viewing gallery is 800ft from ground level on level 69. It has free digital telescopes that use augmented reality so you can see almost every inch of the city. They also give viewers extra information about all the tourist landmarks.

Maybe the best view is from level 72. It is open-air so you can feel like you are outside.

Have a look at The Shard for yourself:

This is the official website

Useful language

360 degree views: you can see in every direction
incredible views: really good look at the landscape
the new symbol of London: the latest thing to represent the city
entrance: the door or gate you use to go into a building
sold out: no more tickets left
suburbs: a town on the edge of the city
augmented reality: technology that provides images about places that you look at through a camera
open-air: outside

English measurements

The text mentions feet, miles, inches and pints. These are UK measurements (Imperial system) and they are not the same as in Europe (Metric system). Here are how they compare:

1 foot = 0.305 metres

1 mile = 1.61 kilometres

1 inch = 2.54 centimetres

1 pint = 0.57 litres

You can convert all the measurements from the text using this site:

http://www.metric-conversions.org/

Also, if you are coming to study English with us in London this year, you may find this information extremely useful – English shoe sizes!

IELTS writing: Background knowledge importance

Phil Wade — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 23:01:33 +0000

As you know, in the IELTS writing test, the academic writing paper has 2 sections. In the second part you have to write an essay about a given topic. This is often a for, against or both style.

The topics are quite general but it does help if you know more about them. One tip is to watch the news and read papers and our SGI blog posts so you can keep up-to-date with general trends in the world related to IELTS topics such as education, environment and work.

IELTS writing part 2 question:

In recent years, the number of organizations permitting their staff to work from home has increased significantly. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this development?

The topic is working from home or homeworking or telecommuting.
Without knowledge of this topic you would only have the idea stated in the question. You would then have to think and invent some advantages and disadvantages which would take a great deal of time. However, if you had read about it or watched a programme on it then you would know related vocabulary and have several ideas to choose from.

Fans of our blog will remember a post a few months ago on teleworking. If you missed the post then read it here: It contains both for and against arguments.

Now, using what you learned you can easily plan an essay to answer the question.

SAMPLE IELTS ESSAY PLAN

Introduction:

Teleworking is on the rise in numerous countries. As an alternative to the traditional office-based method it brings benefits related to cost-saving. Nevertheless, isolated homeworking is certainly not for everyone.

For:

Cost saving: Companies can make huge cost savings and thus increase their profits. BT saved £11m because staff worked from home. They reduced spending on office space, equipment and electricity.

Against:

Isolation – Working in a home-office reduces your contact with people and colleagues. Thus, workers can suffer from loneliness and become demotivated or even depressed.

Conclusion:

On paper, remote works can potentially increase a company’s profitability but to balance the risk of isolation part-time telecommuting may be the best option or the development of more telework centres where distance workers can benefit from being in a social environment.

As you can see, almost all these ideas and a lot of the vocabulary were based on the blog post.

Make sure you check out all our other daily blog posts (and our archive of hundreds of entertaining posts) to see which others may help you to improve your IELTS band score.

London Undergound: The Queen on the Tube

Bren Brennan — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:25:53 +0000

London Underground celebrates its 150th birthday today. It’s sometimes easy to skip over a factoid like that, but that means that it was the world’s first ever undergound train system and opened in 1863, which is pretty incredible to think about!

London Underground Vocabulary

the Tube: The name that Londoners use for the London Underground system
stop: Here it means, Tube station
passengers: people who use buses, trains or planes i.e. public transport
daily commute: the journey every weekday to your workplace
the platform: the place where you stand when you are waiting for the train to arrive
oystercard: the credit card ticket system in the London Underground
Mind the gap: the recorded warning that tells people to be careful when stepping on and off the tube
penalty fare: the fine you have to pay if you get caught using the Tube without a valid ticket
busking: people playing music in public and trying to get money from passers-by

As you can see, the Tube is so famous that even Britain’s most famous resident has visited it: In 1969, HM The Queen visited in 1969 and even became a driver of one of the trains for a day… but I don’t think she got paid for it.

Of course, The Queen made her visit for a special reason – she was opening the then brand new Victoria Line. She got on at Green Park (the closest stop to Buckingham Palace) and she got off at Oxford Circus… a very short walk from St George International in Central London. Even though SGI had opened 7 years before that in 1962, unfortunately we cannot confirm if she popped in to the school that day for a cup of tea with the SGI teachers or to meet the students!

QUEEN OPENS NEW VICTORIA LINE

Click on image to watch the video

That meant that The Queen was basically alone on The Tube and didn’t have to deal with all the normal passengers in the rush hour on their daily commute. She wouldn’t have had any trouble walking down the platform and she certainly didn’t have to swipe her oystercard to get into the tube (because the oystercard system wasn’t even established until very recently in 2003).

In fact, I would bet a lot of money that she didn’t pay for her journey, but no-one would have dared to ask to inspect her ticket… because she is The Queen – and also because the penalty fare system wasn’t introduced until 1994.

One thing is for sure: like all tourists and people who go on the Tube for the first time, The Queen must have smiled when she heard the announcement to “Mind the gap“.

Some other famous firsts in The Tube were…
1933 – The world-famous underground map (designed by Harry Beck) was first introduced
2003 – Legal busking allowed for the first time

Shopping vocabulary: Waitrose’s profitable Christmas

Phil Wade — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 07:41:34 +0000

Waitrose is a British premium chain of supermarkets that was very profitable before Christmas. Read the text to find out why and to learn some vocabulary about shopping and supermarkets.

Waitrose is possibly the most upmarket supermarket in the UK. While Tesco’s aims at shoppers on a budget, Waitrose targets more upper class customers.
During the run-up to Xmas, Waitrose’s sales soared on account of shoppers stocking up on luxury food. Like-for-like sales were 4.3% higher compared to the seven weeks prior to Xmas day. What’s more, in the final week sales shot up by over 7% compared to the year before. Consequently, Waitrose had a record trading period unlike many other high street shops and supermarkets.

The company attributes their success to a ‘magic formula’ which included affordable prices and tons of promotions and price reductions on high quality brands and exclusive ranges. These included confectionery and baked goods such as cakes and biscuits. Waitrose also offered innovative Christmas food such as Christmas Chocolate Cake. Another strategy was their Brand Price Matching where they offered the same prices as cheaper supermarkets on basic grocery items.

Although Delia Smith has been famous for years, Heston is a newer celebrity chef. Both of them are featured on Waitrose’s cooking channel and their recipes appear in their supermarkets. This idea provides shoppers with new food options and encourages them to buy and try new products.

The company’s overall aim has been to appear as affordable and it seems to have worked. Shoppers have flocked to Waitrose supermarkets in larger numbers than before and been pleasantly surprised at just how much they have spent.

Supermarket vocabulary

upmarket: expensive and aimed at higher classes
on a budget: to have limited money to spend
run-up to Xmas: the period before Xmas
stocking up on: buying large amounts of a product
like-for-like sales: directly comparable such as the sales of the same product in December in 2011 and 2012
record trading period: a time when they made the highest amount of money ever
exclusive ranges: a group of products not available anywhere else
Brand Price Matching: a strategy where a supermarket offers the same prices on some brands as in other supermarkets
strong run: a successful time period of good sales
flocked to: went to i.e. ‘customers went to their stores’
confectionery: chocolate and sweets
baked goods: food which is cooked in an oven, often sweet foods like cakes and biscuits

Led Zeppelin: The best band ever! – Music Vocabulary

Phil Wade — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 07:25:26 +0000

Music vocabulary

debut album: the first album
guitar riffs: a sequence of repeated notes or chords played on a guitar. It is usually played at the beginning of a song and throughout it.
psychedelic blues: a style of blues music influenced by 60s culture
deep grooves: strong rhythms that make you want to dance
English folk music: traditional music from the UK normally played on an acoustic guitar
hard rock: loud rock music
heavy metal: rock music often with dark lyrics and aggressive playing… and long hair
blues rock: a mixture between the blues and rock
folk rock: folk music played on electric guitars with rock influences
acoustic numbers: songs played on acoustic guitars

avant-garde music: experimental and unconventional music
studio albums: albums recorded in a room or building and not live

Britain has produced a great amount of great bands, singers and musicians. Music-lovers around the world know about Coldplay, Oasis, Elton John and The Rolling Stones. So, it is hard to say who is the best but one British group was recently honored as such.

If you recognise the names Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Robert Plant or John Bonham then you know which band was chosen. These musicians were part of the blues rock band called Led Zeppelin who wrote some of the best rock songs in the history of music.

In a recent awards ceremony, Led Zeppelin were given the title of The Best Band Ever. To understand why, have a look at this video with a selection of their best songs:

For many fans, Led Zeppelin’s debut album was their best. It was simply called Led Zeppelin. What made it so revolutionary at the time were the amazing guitar riffs, and psychedelic blues and deep grooves. They also incorporated English folk music. As a result, they created a new mix of hard rock and some argue created heavy metal. That record is still popular today with rock fans of every age.

Their following albums featured more blues rock, folk rock and avantgarde musicic as they blended styles as well as acoustic numbers. The released several more studio albums and later some live ones. Sadly, when their drummer died they split up but occasionally reformed for occasional performances.

Led Zeppelin facts

1)Led Zeppelin was first called The New Yardbirds during their first gigs.

2)Robert Plant co-wrote several songs on their first album but was not credited because of legal reasons.

3)Led Zeppelin rarely performed on TV. They claimed the sound quality was too poor.

4)Led Zeppelin are one of only 2 bands with 5 diamond albums. That means they sold more than 10 million copies.

5)Led Zeppelin’s manager was a great businessman. He made sure that the band got 90% of the money from concert ticket sales. Normally bands only got 10%

Led Zeppelin have always been an amazing live band. For many fans, their live recordings are far better than their studio albums.
This is a trailer for a new live concert where the remaining members reformed:

What’s your favourite Led Zeppelin song and why? (Tell us in the comments section below)

R&R 28: English Village Life

Bren Brennan — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 07:01:49 +0000

Real & Relevant Podcast 28 Natural English Conversation between English teachers

Paul is back in the pod today. If you heard his last podcast, you will know that he is a very experienced English teacher, specializing in the Cambridge FCE exam. He also grew up in a very small English village near the Lake District in Northern England.

SGI-028-English-village-life

Pod Subject: Growing up in an English village

Pod People: Paul Greening & Bren Brennan

You may also like some of our other ‘accent’ podcasts…

1. Northern accent – Paul again talking about Xmas day traditions

2. Irish accent – Teacher Dave talking about Boxing day in Ireland

3. Colonial RP accent – Teacher Naz talking about her historical hero

4. Received pronunciation accent (male) – Charlie talking about English gentlemen

5. Received Pronunciation accent (female) – Melissa talking about her love of books

Go to a list of all our podcasts

NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes.

Click on that link OR follow these instructions….

How to download from iTunes

Open up iTunes
Go to iTunes Store
In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’
Click on the SGI Symbol
Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE

Free English lessons competition: New Year’s Resolutions

Bren Brennan — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 00:07:43 +0000

Congratulations to the winner of last month’s Xmas competition, MARILIA ISLIA BRASILEIRO from Brazil. She will be coming to London in 2013 to claim her prize of one week of free English lessons. Now you have another chance to win in this month’s competition!

Have you started off 2013 with the best intentions to improve the way you live your life with a New Year’s Resolution like ‘quit smoking‘?

Free English Lessons Competition

Remember to leave your contact details in Q3 because if you win, we need to get in touch with you.

Good luck.

Terms and Conditions:The boring official bit

The competition ends at midnight on Sunday, 3rd February, 2013 ; The draw for the winner will be made in the first week of February, 2013.
Only entries with name, email address and country of residence will be considered;
The winner will be notified by email by SGI within 14 days of the closing date;
The winner’s name will feature on the website on the corresponding competition page;
The winning prize must be taken and completed by 1st September, 2013 at SGI London. The course is not transferable to another date or another individual;
Entrants must be at least 16 years of age and proof of age will be required before the prize is dispatched;
There is no cash alternative to the prize;
No responsibility can be accepted for entries which are not properly received due to communication systems beyond our control;
The prize “A week of Free English Lessons” covers the cost of a one-week intensive Standard, general English group course at SGI London. The prize does not include flights, accommodation or airport transfers.

How to quit smoking cigarettes: Smoking Vocabulary

Bren Brennan — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 21:52:48 +0000

Apparently, experts have learnt that we fail nine times out of ten when we try to make a significant change to our lives, so that is not very good news for all those people who have made New Year resolutions. One of the classic New Year’s Resolutions is ‘stop smoking’. So if you’re looking to give up the fags for good, here are some tips from the experts about the right way to go about doing it.

Quit Smoking

Everyone who smokes knows that they should stop sooner rather than later, but having the willpower to overcome the addiction to nicotine is very tough. So, if you smoke like a chimney and you’ve tried and tried to kick the habit before without success then this might help…

WHAT WORKS

1. Tell your friends:
Studies have found that setting a ‘quit date’ and announcing it to your colleagues and friends is very effective. The support of friends and possible public shame are powerful motivators to stay off the ciggies.

2. Exercise Regime:
Research has shown that a quitting smoking program combined with a new exercise regime is around 85% more successful than without exeercise. This is because when people start exercising regularly, they prioritise health issues (especially the health of their lungs). Proper exercise also releases endorphins making you feel happier which replace the pleasure that smokers used to get from puffing on a cigarette.

3. Avoid triggers:
Smoking is a bad habit and you need to get out of those habits to avoid the temptation of needing a smoke. Eliminate your smoking urge by identifying your danger moments or ‘triggers’ where you would always normally light up, like a mid-morning coffe break, talking on the phone, having a drink down the pub. Whatever they are, try to avoid them as much as possible for the first 3 weeks (see the next point) and occupy yourself with new activities to replace these habits.

Psychologists say that it’s impossible to have two thoughts in your mind at the same time, so you can replace your smoking pleasure trigger with a new enjoyable habit, like eating a strawberry or going for a fast 5 minute walk.

4. Calendar Progress:
Put a calendar in a prominent place where you (and others) can see it. Every day that you don’t smoke, mark off that day. At the end of a week of non-smoking, give yourself a small and meaningful reward like a small shopping trip, listening to some of your old, favourite music for an hour, meeting an old friend for a meal.

According to experts, 21 days of a new action/behaviour is needed for a new thought pattern to become automatic. The first few days without smoking are the hardest, but very soon the cravings weaken and the time between cravings gets longer and longer. After you’ve broken the first 3 weeks, it’ll be much easier.

Have you given up smoking? How did you do it?
(Let us know in the comments section below)

Smoking Vocabulary

give up the fags: stop smoking
to have the willpower: to have self control
kick the habit: to stop the smoking addiction
quit: to stop
smoke like a chimney: someone who smokes a lot
addiction
nicotine: the addictive chemical in cigarrettes
stay off the ciggies: not go back to smoking
puffing on a cigarette: smoking
a bad habit: something that you regularly and normally do that you know is not good for you
avoid the temptation: stop the desire to do something wrong
the cravings: the feelings of wanting a cigarrette
endorphin: the feel-good chemicals in the brain
light up: to smoke

Verb Noun collocations: English Butlers are back

Phil Wade — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 09:24:57 +0000

English Butlers are back in fashion. Read the text to learn more about this trend and study the verb noun collocations.

Verb noun collocations

Here are some of the collocations from the text with extra nouns which you could use to talk about butlers or similar jobs.

Answer + the door/the phone/a question

Attend to + guests/visitors/your duties

Select + clothes/an outfit/a menu

Manage + other staff/a team/employees

Serve + afternoon tea/brunch/lunch/supper

Arrange + appointments/deliveries/meetings

Order + food and goods/a meal/a drink

Look after + pets and plants/children/the house

Polish + shoes/a car/a trophy

The Queen of England and other rich and important people have always had their own private butlers, but now British butlers are in demand more than ever.

Demand for butlers has changed over the years. At the beginning of the century, butlers were common in the homes of the rich. This number then declined and the International Guild of Professional Butlers says only 100 butlers were employed by 1980s. That figure is now up to 10,000. The same as in the 1930s.

This latest demand is driven by Asia and Russia where British butlers can earn over £100,000 a year. Whereas in Arab countries, it can be double, triple or even be 10 times that figure. That’s enough to make almost anyone think about a career change.

Not only that, but butlers are back in vogue due to the hugely successful TV series Downtown Abbey. So, not only is the career lucrative, but it’s also cool!

The role of the modern butler is slightly different to before. He or she doesn’t just answer the door or bring you your pipe and slippers. They can also act as a PA, chef and even a bodyguard.

Typical duties of a butler

Answer the door

Attend to guests

Run a bath

Select clothes

Dress their employer

Lay the table

Manage other staff

Serve afternoon tea

Arrange appointments

Order food and goods

Take messages

Look after pets and plants

Polish shoes

Iron clothes

Arrange flowers

British butlers are popular because of their classic Received Pronunciation accent and their Queen’s English. To meet this demand, several butler schools have opened in China to train new butlers.

Advantages of being a butler

You get to live in a mansion, castle or penthouse apartment for free. You have free use of the swimming pool, gym and sauna when your boss isn’t around. You can also get to visit many international locations.

Disadvantages of being a butler

It is hard work. Getting up at 5 or 6 and going to bed at 1 or 2 isn’t easy. You are also responsible for everything that goes on in the house so if things go wrong you are to blame. Another problem is that you cannot say ‘no’ to any demands, however strange they are.

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Past Simple Irregular & Regular Verbs: Queen’s Xmas Speech 2012

Bren Brennan — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 15:08:53 +0000

The Queen’s Xmas message was full of Past Simple Irregular & Regular verbs. There are other past tenses (present perfect & past perfect) as well as passive sentences, but here we will just concentrate on the preterite tense.

Read the transcript (below the video) and look out for…

Regular

Irregular

list of the most common Past Simple irregular verbs

You may also like to hear the SGI Teachers discussing the benefits of the Royal Family in our Real & Relevant Conversation Podcasts

Queen’s Xmas Speech 2012 Full Transcript

“This past year has been one of great celebration for many. The enthusiasm which greeted the Diamond Jubilee was, of course, especially memorable for me and my family.

It was humbling that so many chose to mark the anniversary of a duty which passed to me 60 years ago. People of all ages took the trouble to take part in various ways and in many nations. But perhaps most striking of all was to witness the strength of fellowship and friendship among those who had gathered together on these occasions.

Prince Philip and I were joined by our family on the River Thames as we paid tribute to those who have shaped the United Kingdom’s past and future as a maritime nation, and welcomed a wonderful array of craft, large and small, from across the Commonwealth.

On the barges and the bridges and the banks of the river there were people who had taken their places to cheer through the mist, undaunted by the rain. That day there was a tremendous sense of common determination to celebrate, triumphing over the elements.

That same spirit was also in evidence from the moment the Olympic flame arrived on these shores. The flame itself drew hundreds and thousands of people on its journey around the British Isles, and was carried by every kind of deserving individual, many nominated for their own extraordinary service.

As London hosted a splendid summer of sport, all those who saw the achievement and courage at the Olympic and Paralympic Games were further inspired by the skill, dedication, training and teamwork of our athletes. In pursuing their own sporting goals, they gave the rest of us the opportunity to share something of the excitement and drama.

We were reminded, too, that the success of these great festivals depended to an enormous degree upon the dedication and effort of an army of volunteers. Those public-spirited people came forward in the great tradition of all those who devote themselves to keeping others safe, supported and comforted.

For many, Christmas is also a time for coming together. But for others, service will come first. Those serving in our armed forces, in our emergency services and in our hospitals, whose sense of duty takes them away from family and friends, will be missing those they love.

And those who have lost loved ones may find this day especially full of memories. That’s why it’s important at this time of year to reach out beyond our familiar relationships to think of those who are on their own.

At Christmas, I am always struck by how the spirit of togetherness lies also at the heart of the Christmas story. A young mother and a dutiful father with their baby were joined by poor shepherds and visitors from afar. They came with their gifts to worship the Christ child. From that day on, he has inspired people to commit themselves to the best interests of others.

This is the time of year when we remember that God sent his only son ‘to serve, not to be served’. He restored love and service to the centre of our lives in the person of Jesus Christ.

It is my prayer this Christmas Day that his example and teaching will continue to bring people together to give the best of themselves in the service of others.

The carol, In The Bleak Midwinter, ends by asking a question of all of us who know the Christmas story, of how God gave himself to us in humble service: ‘What can I give him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; if I were a wise man, I would do my part’. The carol gives the answer ‘Yet what I can I give him – give my heart’.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas.”

Past Simple Irregular Verbs Glossary

to be: was / were
to choose: chose
to take: took
to pay: paid
to draw people to sth (this means ‘to attract’): drew
to see: saw
to give: gave
to come forward (this means ‘to volunteer): came
to send: sent

Received Pronunciation

BTW, if you’re interested in the famous Received Pronunciation accent, it’s interesting to hear how the Queen has softened her English accent over the years since her first televised Xmas Speech in 1957. Back then her accent was a lot sharper and “posher”

R&R 27: Irish accent – Irish New Year celebrations

Bren Brennan — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 14:11:09 +0000

Real & Relevant Podcast 27 Natural English Conversations between English teachers

Dave O’Hanrahan is from Dublin in Ireland. He’s an English teacher at SGI sister school, The British Centre in San Sebastian, Spain. He’s got a great Irish accent for you to listen to. Remember that to really improve your English listening skills, you should listen to as many different accents as possible.

Also, remember that until Dec 21st TOMORROW, as an early Xmas present celebrating 50 years of SGI, you can get a 25% discount on any SGI course in London during 2013. Click here for 25% discount details.

Don’t forget to enter our easy Xmas competition with a chance to win a week of free English lessons at SGI London in 2013.

SGI-027-Irish-Accent-Irish-celebrations

Pod Subject: Irish festive season

Pod People: Dave O’Hanrahan & Bren Brennan

You may also like these posts…

1. Northern Accent – British Xmas Day Traditions

2. Christmas traditions in the UK

3. Boxing Day: Used to

4. New Year’s Resolutions

Go to a list of all our podcasts

NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes.

Click on that link OR follow these instructions….

How to download from iTunes

Open up iTunes
Go to iTunes Store
In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’
Click on the SGI Symbol
Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE

Financial Vocabulary: Is HMV finished?

Phil Wade — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 11:41:46 +0000

Read the text about HMV and learn some language about Music, Business and Finance.

Do you remember the days when we used to buy records, tapes and CDs from music shops? For years HMV was the main music retailer on UK high streets. It was the cool place to go on Saturdays to listen to music and buy chart singles and albums. They also sold T-shirts with band names on and concert tickets. Later on, they moved onto selling video games and their stores were packed full of young kids playing the latest releases.

Times have changed though. Virgin opened up Virgin Megastores and attracted a lot of HMV’s customer. Then, digital music became common and people started downloading from the net at a lower price. Now, people no longer buy their products like before in shops, everything is online because it’s more convenient.

At the moment, HMV is feeling the effects of a summer sales slump and is fighting to stay open. They lost around £36m in Q1 of 2012 alone. Some experts think they will have to sell more unprofitable stores or go into administration. Another option is to cut running costs.
The majority of HMV’s profits are made at Christmas when shoppers buy music as presents. There is also the important number 1 single sales. Experts predicted a £10m profit for this year but HMV’s sales decreased by 10% over the summer. As a result, HMV’s shares fell by 40% and their future does not look good.

The biggest problem facing HMV at the moment is their £176m debt. To pay the money back they sold off Waterstones and their live music venues but it didn’t raise enough. Another bold move was to give equity to their suppliers such as EMI in return for greater access to back catalogues and the ability to buy on consignment. This has saved them lots of money as they only pay for what they sell.

Is HMV finished? FOR:

AGAINST:

So, what should HMV do next?

1) Sell off more outlets?

2) Sell more equity?

3) Take out a loan?

4) Develop more online sales?

5) Cut costs?

Music Vocabulary

albums: collections of songs released together
back catalogues: previous releases
chart singles: songs in the top 40

Business Language

bold move: an important decision
feeling the effects of something: to experience the result of an event
fighting to stay open: trying to survive
sold off: bought by someone else

Financial Vocabulary

Q1: First quarter
buy on consignment: an agreement so you only pay for what is sold
cut running costs: reduce money spent on the money needed to operate the company such as the rent and salaries
equity: shares
pay the money back: repay or return borrowed money
stores go into administration: to go bankrupt and be controlled by someone else to deal with the debt/financial problems
summer sales slump: low sales during the summer
unprofitable: not making money

Language focus: The Queen breaks her silence again over the crisis

Phil Wade — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 11:46:36 +0000

The Queen of England caused a stir when she visited the Bank of England this month. Read the text to find out what happened then read the language focus to learn some of the phrases from the text and how to use them in other example sentences.

Her Majesty put several bankers on the spot with questions about the financial crisis. The Queen quizzed them about the causes of the crash and why they let it happen.

The bankers were surprised by her questions because her Majesty doesn’t normally express her views and become involved in these matters. The bank employees did their best to answer her. She then asked if the problem was people being too lax and complacent. This isn’t the first time she’s tackled the subject head on. 4 years ago her majesty accused financial experts of taking their eye off ball when the crisis happened.

Prince Philip, The Queen’s husband, asked if there is another crisis coming? The central bank employees said they will see the next one coming and they won’t let the country down. Prince Philip replied by telling them not to do it again.

The queen went further and said the Financial Services Authority lacked teeth and didn’t act effectively.

Language Focus

1)The Queen of England caused a stir
=To create interest/excitement/agitation in a group by asking questions or saying or doing something

Examples:
The Queen’s remarks caused a stir
When The Queen arrived for a surprise visit it caused a stir

2)Her Majesty put several bankers on the spot
=To force someone to make a decision or answer a question without preparation

Examples:
Prince Philip put bankers on the spot and asked them difficult questions
The bankers looked uncomfortable when the queen put them on the spot

3)The Queen quizzed them
=Asked them lots of questions

Examples:
Her Majesty quizzed several bankers about the crisis
The Queen didn’t find many answers when she quizzed the bankers

4)The problem was people being too lax and complacent.
Lax=Not firm enough
Complacent=Happy with the way things are and not interested in other things

Examples:
The bank was too lax with their finances
The bank managers were complacent and didn’t try to improve the bank

5)She’s tackled the subject head on
=Dealt with it directly

Examples:
The queen tackled the issue head on and asked many questions
The bankers didn’t think The Queen would tackle the crisis head on

6)Her majesty accused financial experts of taking their eye off ball
=No longer paying attention to something important

Examples:
The bankers took their eye off the ball and lost millions
People in finance should never take their eye off the ball

7)The central bank employees said they will see the next one coming
=Recognise early signs of a crisis

Examples:
Because of new financial measures, bankers will see the next crisis coming months before it happens
Experts say they have seen the next crisis coming and are getting ready

8)They won’t let the country down.
=Fail them

Examples:
The bank let their customers down when they lost their money
We were all let down by our banking system

9)The Financial Services Authority lacked teeth
=Not have the power or ability to punish someone for something

Examples:
The manager lacked teeth and didn’t fire his staff who lost the money
The government lacked teeth so they didn’t arrest the bankers

Musician vocabulary: Paul McCartney in Nirvana reunion

Phil Wade — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 11:35:23 +0000

Read the text about Paul McCartney and learn some useful vocabulary about musicians.

Sir Paul McCartney, or Macca as he is known, is one of Britain’s most famous musicians. He is probably best known for being the bassist in The Beatles. He also co-wrote most of their songs with John Lennon.

Macca is a gifted multi-instrumentalist. He can be heard playing a large range of different instruments on his records. Although he often uses a backing band when playing live. Most of the time he is the lead singer and the lead guitarist but you may also see him as a rhythm guitarist during performances. In some videos he’s even the drummer. There were rumours that he wasn’t happy with The Beatles drummer so he recorded the drumming tracks himself.

McCartney is without a doubt and an amazing songwriter. He wrote a great number of Beatles classics like Yesterday and Hey Jude where he performed as the keyboard player. Since The Beatles broke up McCartney has had a successful solo career. He has also played in groups like Wings and played alongside other British greats like Eric Clapton, Sting and Elton John.

Macca’s latest performance saw him front a Nirvana reunion. During the song he played lead guitar and sang.

Interesting Paul McCartney facts

The Guinness book of World Records calls McCartney the “most successful composer and recording artist of all time”

Macca has made millions from his music and is one of the richest people in the UK.

“Yesterday” is officially the most covered song in the world.

He made a deal with John Lennon when they were teens to share the credit for all their songs but he actually wrote about half of them

According to some, Paul split up The Beatles

Macca wrote the song Hey Jude for John Lennon’s son when his parents got divorced

Watch this to learn about Macca’s career

Musician vocabulary

bassist: the person who plays the bass guitar
co-write: to write something with another person
multi-instrumentalist: to be able to play several musical instruments
backing band: a group which plays your songs with you live
lead singer: the main singer in a band
lead guitarist: the guitarist who plays the solos
rhythm guitarist: the guitarist who plays the main tune of the song
drummer: the person in the band who plays the drums
songwriter: a person who creates new songs
keyboard player: the person in the band who uses the piano
solo career: when a musician works on their own and not as part of a band
groups: bands
played alongside: perform with
to front: to be the singer of a band/the main focus
reunion: when a band broke up and gets back together

Christmas songs to get in the festive spirit

Bren Brennan — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 12:26:33 +0000

Christmas is getting nearer and nearer!!!

Here is a video playlist of the famous Xmas music that you can hear when you are doing last-minute Xmas shopping in ALL the shops in the the UK.

Almost all of the songs contain the sound of sleigh-bells and numerous references to all the same Xmas cliches like presents, trees, snow and Santa Claus. However, the strangest song that’s included in the British Xmas songs list is by Jona Lewie, called Stop the Cavalry. This song is actually about war, but the word ‘Christmas’ appears once in the song. Way back in the 80s, this song was at number 1 over the Xmas period one year and since then it has been forever linked to the Christmas feeling in the UK. Funny, eh?

Which is your favourite song here? (Let me know in the comments below)

Of course all these songs are what the Brits listen to in the festive season.
But what about your culture?
What songs does everyone know, love to hear and sing-along to at this time of year to get in the festive spirit? (Leave a comment below, please)

Don’t forget to enter our easy Xmas competition with a chance to win a week of free English lessons at SGI London in 2013.

Also, remember that until Dec 21st, as an early Xmas present celebrating 50 years of SGI, you can get a 25% discount on any SGI course in London during 2013. Click here for 25% discount details.

If you are interested in English culture, also listen to our podcast on Xmas Day traditions in the UK

ENJOY THE UK CHRISTMAS TUNES PLAYLIST

Phrasal Verbs English test

Bren Brennan — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 23:15:01 +0000

Phrasal verbs. Ah! those little annoying things that the English use to make it difficult to learn the language!

But don’t worry, here’s an English test to confirm and/or improve your phrasal verbs knowledge.

When you finish your test, you will immediately receive your score. You will also see all the correct answers!

Phrasal Verbs

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There is a gap in each sentence (sometimes two gaps) Click on the correct option: A, B, or C. There is only ONE correct answer for each question.

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Thank you for completing the Phrasal Verbs. You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%. %%PERCENTAGE%% %%RATING%%

Your answers are highlighted below.

Question 1

She ____ in a little town in Scotland and moved to London when she was eighteen.

A	Threw up
B	Grew up
C	Brought up

Question 2

Cash I borrow a pencil please? My pen has just ____

A	Give out
B	Run out
C	Died out

Question 3

Ben Hur is a good film but it ____ for ages! It's about 4 hours long!

A	Lasts on
B	Sticks out
C	Goes on

Question 4

My dog ____ running off whenever I open the front door. I don't know what to do!

A	Keeps on
B	Takes off
C	Runs out

Question 5

As soon as I move into my new flat, the first thing I need to do is ____ my computer and internet.

A	Put up
B	Set up
C	Do up

Question 6

OK, so the flight leaves at 08:40. So what time do we need to be at the airport to ____.

A	Check out
B	Check up
C	Check in

Question 7

How did we meet? Well actually Sarah's brother ____ a blind date and it was love at first sight.

A	Set up
B	Made up
C	Rang up

Question 8

Every night his mum makes him ____ the rubbish ____ to the bin as one of his daily chores.

A	Take, out
B	Put, off
C	Pull, down

Question 9

___ the music ____ now! It's way too loud!

A	Put, off
B	Do, down
C	Turn, down

Question 10

When you get a new mobile phone, it's frustrating because you want to play with it, but first you have to ___ it ____ and leave it to charge for a few hours.

A	Jack, in
B	Take, in
C	Plug, in

Question 11

"Where's John?". "He just ____ for a few minutes for a fag break."

A	Popped out
B	Dropped out
C	Gave out

Question 12

It's so sad that they've _____. How long were they married - 20 years, or something?

A	Split up
B	Torn up
C	Given up

Question 13

Have you got a smart suit and tie to _____ for your job interview?

A	Wear out
B	Put on
C	Turn into

Question 14

Where do you want to ____ on Friday before we _____ to the club?

A	Meet up / go on
B	Start off / get away
C	Begin out / Speed off

Question 15

I ____ at 5.30 this morning because I couldn't sleep.

A	Got out
B	Stood up
C	Got up

Once you are finished, click the button below. Any items you have not completed will be marked incorrect. Get Results

There are 15 questions to complete.

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When you see the correct answers, if you can’t understand them, leave me a comment below (explaining which question number) and I will write back with an explanation of the answer.

Try our other English quizzes:-

1. Advanced English (C1-C2) test

2. Business English

3. FCE Exam Preparation Vocabulary

4. Beginner’s Elementary English

5. Common Business English Idioms

6. Listening Exercise: James Bond profits

7. Get: Phrasal verbs

£64 million lottery: Lottery Vocabulary

Phil Wade — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 07:00:21 +0000

A British resident lost out on £64m this month. Yes, you read it right sixty four million pounds.

The precise amount was actually £63,837,543.60. It was the prize from the EuroMillions Lottery but it was never given to the ticket holder. The man or woman didn’t claim the money but no one understands why.

The lottery organisers know the ticket was sold in a town called Stevenage, located in Hertfordshire. Thousands of local residents looked for the winning ticket but nobody found it or the owner. People across the country and the world have no clue as to why the buyer of the ticket never came forward.

The almost £65m jackpot is the biggest ever unclaimed in the history of the lottery. The sum was so large because the winning ticket contained all 5 numbers and lucky star numbers. The mystery man or woman missed out on one of the biggest lottery wins in history.

Maybe they lost the ticket or just didn’t check the numbers. Whatever the reason, they let a millionaire’s lifestyle slip through their fingers. That kind of money could buy you almost anything and it would mean you would never need to work again.

But it’s not all bad news because unclaimed lottery wins generally go to the National Lottery Good Causes scheme as well as the interest. It is then distributed to organisations like The Arts Council and Sport England.

This is not the first large unclaimed amount this year though. A total of £15,084,539.80 is still waiting to be claimed. The lottery organisers even know the names of the cities where the tickets were bought but not the names of the people or where they live.

A £500,000 jackpot ticket was bought from a shop in Haringey London only last month but it hasn’t been seen since.

Possibly the unluckiest city is England is Doncaster where 2 unlucky residents failed to collect a £9.4m and £7m jackpot prize.

Whoever these people are they must be kicking themselves to know that they missed a once in a lifetime opportunity of becoming incredibly rich.

Lottery Vocabulary

lost out on: failed to win or receive something
claim the money: to say that something is yours and collect it
came forward: to present themselves as the winner
unclaimed: when nobody says the ticket is theirs
missed out on: failed to win or receive something
let a millionaire’s lifestyle slip through their fingers: to have and lose the chance to become very rich
failed to collect: when someone does not go to get/pick up something
kicking themselves: to be angry with what you did and to blame it on yourself
once in a lifetime opportunity: never to be repeated

What could you do with £64m?

1) Pay the wages of the players of Manchester City football team for
one season.

2) Buy a £5m Sunseeker yacht and sail around the world.

3) Pick up a Lear jet for £4m… and learn to fly it.

4) Purchase a Lamborghini Aventador for only £253,000.

5) Give all the money to charity.

What would YOU do with £64m?

R&R 26: Northern accent – Xmas day traditions

Bren Brennan — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 07:46:53 +0000

Real & Relevant Podcast 26 Natural English Conversation between English teachers

Paul joins the pod today. He is the owner of an SGI sister school, The British Centre in San Sebastian, Spain. He is also a very experienced English teacher that has successfully put hundreds of students through the Cambridge FCE exam.

Paul comes from the Lake District region in the north of England, so you will notice that his northern accent is very different to Melissa’s received pronunciation accent for instance. But Paul is a native speaker, of course which means that his English is as valuable as anyone else’s. To improve your English listening skills, you should listen to as many different accents as possible.

SGI-026-Xmas-Day-Traditions

Pod Subject: Xmas day traditions

Pod People: Paul & Bren Brennan

Go to a list of all our podcasts

NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes.

Click on that link OR follow these instructions….

How to download from iTunes

Open up iTunes
Go to iTunes Store
In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’
Click on the SGI Symbol
Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE

You may also like some of our other Christmas posts…

1. Christmas Eve comparatives

2. Christmas traditions in the UK

3. Christmas hates & Christmas loves

4. Boxing Day: Used to

5. Queen’s Xmas Message 2011: Often in Received Pronunciation

English Vocabulary: Pregnant Kate

Bren Brennan — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:18:43 +0000

Always trying to improve your English vocabulary is what we try to do here on the SGI Blog and in this article you’ve got lots of different ways to say ‘being pregnant’ (highlighted in bold)

The next member of the British Royal Family is on the way. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last week, you will know that Kate Middleton, now officially called The Duchess Of Cambridge Kate Windsor is expecting. The news wasn’t such a massive shock because William and Kate were seen drinking only chilled water, not alcohol, on their latest Royal tour raising suspicions that Kate was with child.

The news that Kate was definitely having a baby sent the world media into a frenzy, of course. A possible heir to the throne, a future King or Queen no less) is big news! As soon as she was admitted to hospital on Monday suffering from extreme morning sickness (a common and not too serious side-effect of being preggers) reporters and cameras have been camped outside the King Edward VII hospital in London trying to squeeze as much out the Royal pregnancy story as possible.

They didn’t have to wait long for a twist in the story: the hosts of an Australian radio show rang up the hospital pretending to be Prince Charles so that they could get secret details about the Duchess being up the duff. The news was that she is not even 12 weeks gone, which is the time that couples usually announce that the mother has a bun in the oven.

Prince William (also known as The Duke of Cambridge) has visited his wife everyday and it’s clear from the grin on his face that he is delighted that Kate is eating for two. Other senior members of the Royal Family including HRH The Queen and Prince Charles have also visited the walking, talking baby factory while she has been in hospital.

Yesterday (Thursday), Kate left hospital with her husband by her side. But don’t think this is over – this story is going to run and run. Here’s people on a news programme in the UK talking about the possible names, the sex of the baby and more. This story will run and run and dominate the headlines over the coming months!

1. Do you think it will be a boy or a girl?
2. What is a good name for a baby prince or princess in 2013?

Sleeping at work

Phil Wade — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 20:04:04 +0000

You wanted different ways to talk about sleeping – You got it!

We all have to sleep. Doctors generally advise 9 hours a day but it’s not always possible. When you work long hours, you may only get 5 or 6. Extremely busy people sometimes ‘pull an all-nighter’ where they don’t sleep at all. Then they try to catch up on lost sleep later on.

by Online Clock.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Here are 2 common types of sleep people have:

Light sleep
This is where any noise will wake you up. You may hear people say “I’m a light sleeper so please be quiet”
Heavy sleep
This is where you are completely asleep and ‘dead to the world’. A person may say that “I’m a heavy sleeper so I’d even sleep through an earthquake”.

English speakers use numerous ways to talk about going to sleep. Have a look at these:

To doze off
to nod off
to drop off

These all mean to fall asleep but are also used to refer to when someone is sitting down and is very tired. They probably don’t want to sleep but you’ll hear something comment that “he just dozed off on his chair”.

To get some shut-eye

To hit the sack

To hit the hay

To grab some z’s

To turn in
All of these mean ‘to go to sleep’. So, tonight you can tell your family you are going to do any of the above before you say good night.

If you don’t have time for a proper sleep then you can have a nap. You could also call it:

A catnap

A power nap

Instead of saying “I’m going for a nap” you could try:
I’m going to have a snooze

I’m going to catch forty winks

Another alternative that is popular is:

I’m going to lay down for 5 minutes.
If you decide to have a nap at school or work and you get caught then say:
I was just resting my eyes

If you nap at work this is called:

Sleeping on the job

Christmas Facts: December Competition

Bren Brennan — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 02:02:09 +0000

Congratulations to the winner of last month’s James Bond competition, Federica Rabbaglietti. She will be coming to London in 2013 to claim her prize of one week of free English lessons.

How many Christmas facts do you know? Do you know how the classic, well-known Christmas traditions came about? If not, here is your super guide to Xmas so that you can impress all your friends and family this festive season with your amazing knowledge.

This is also our Christmas/December competition for your latest chance to win a week of free English lessons at SGI London in 2013!!!

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

IMPORTANT

To answer the 2 questions (below) click on the Christmas Facts image above to magnify and read the information.

Remember to leave your contact details in Q3 because if you win, we need to get in touch with you.

Good luck.

Terms and Conditions

The competition ends at midnight on Wednesday, 2nd January, 2013 ; The draw for the winner will be made in the first week of January, 2012.
Only entries with name, email address and country of residence will be considered;
The winner will be notified by email by SGI within 14 days of the closing date;
The winner’s name will feature on the website on the corresponding competition page;
The winning prize must be taken and completed by 1st September, 2013 at SGI London. The course is not transferable to another date or another individual;
Entrants must be at least 16 years of age and proof of age will be required before the prize is dispatched;
There is no cash alternative to the prize;
No responsibility can be accepted for entries which are not properly received due to communication systems beyond our control;
The prize “A week of Free English Lessons” covers the cost of a one-week intensive Standard, general English group course at SGI London. The prize does not include flights, accommodation or airport transfers.

Past conditional – It should have been plain sailing!

Bren Brennan — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 18:46:34 +0000

There are lots of ways to talk about a “different past” in English. You can use the “difficult-to-remember-how-to-say-it-right” third conditional, (which English teachers love to teach students, because they know it and their students don’t), but there are lots of other easier phrases and ways to indicate a hypothetical past

It was supposed to sail for 3,600 miles from the UK across the Atlantic to America. The plan was for it to become the first ever model, solar-powered boat to make a transatlantic crossing. However, things didn’t quite go to plan when the four-foot long, 10kg vessel crashed after just six miles!

All things being equal, the unmanned craft should have left the South coast of England, sailed south to The Azores to catch some favourable winds and then it would literally have been plain sailing to the Bahamas and finally on to the USA. The whole journey ought to have taken six months months, but it turned out that it was only six hours.

All very embarrassing for Robin Lovelock, the retired NATO scientist who had spent 4 years designing the Snoopy Sloop. However, he wasn’t too downhearted and was quite upbeat considering the circumstances: “There were always going to be problems, so I’m not too upset. If we had launched her a few miles further down the coast or an hour earlier, she would have missed The Needles (the place where the boat crashed – see picture) and would have been well on her way by now.”

PAST CONDITIONAL – a different past

…or

Could have / Would have / Should have

Could have = It was possible (to be different)
Would have = Imagining how it was possible (to be different)
Should have = It was the correct/right/best thing to do at the time (to be a different past)

These three options are all followed by a past participle (see below)

It could have been so different….
Maybe it would have been better to have waited for some calmer conditions, rather than the bad weather that the UK has recently experienced.
Perhaps they could have set sail from the west coast of Ireland, so that there wouldn’t have been any obstacles on the way to the USA.
Or maybe they should have spent more time in the design process. After all, it can’t have been built properly if it all went so wrong so quickly.

Milking – latest internet craze

Phil Wade — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:21:38 +0000

If you like doing fashionable things then you’ll love this text about Milking. Read the text, found out what it is, watch the videos, learn some related words and then do our quiz.

Crazes come and go. What is cool this week usually isn’t by next week. A lot of fads nowadays start on Youtube. A video can quickly reach thousands of viewers in just a few days. So, a craze can spread around the world very quickly.

One new internet hit is called ‘Milking’ but it doesn’t have anything to do with milking a cow or having a cup of tea. Like all the best crazes, the idea is simple: get a bottle or carton of milk and pour out its contents all over yourself.

Milking has been labelled as “stupid and pointless” by one British newspaper. Other people have said it is a very dangerous activity and a waste of good milk.

The internet craze started in the city of Newcastle in the North of England. The original video ‘Milking Newcastle’ was made for fun by a group of University students. In the short two-and-a-half minute clip posted online, several young people empty litres of milk over their heads in different places in the city. The video was uploaded to Youtube so their friends and family could see it.

The video has gone viral and attracted almost 30,000 views on the internet. The students have inspired others across England and even the US to record their own versions.

Take a look at various people enjoying Milking:

Milking is not the first internet craze. Previous internet fads include ‘Planking’ which involved laying across an object and having a photo taken. People then uploaded the images to Facebook. Like Milking, it was called silly and dangerous by some groups. Take a look at this video:

So, if you would like to try Milking, here is a quick guide:

A how to guide to Milking

You need:

1) A bottle or carton of milk.
2) Some friends.
3) A mobile phone.
4) A public place.

Step 1: Take your milk into a public place
Step 2: Wait for the right moment
Step 3: Tell your friend to record you
Step 4: Open the bottle/carton of milk
Step 5: Pour the milk over your head
Step 6: Upload the video to YouTube
Step 7: Count all the views

Useful language

crazes: short-term fashionable activities
fads: as above
internet hit: something which is popular on the web
clip: a short video
gone viral: when something attracts attention and is spread by users quickly around the world
inspired: motivated people to do something

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Get: Get phrasal Verbs test

Bren Brennan — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:39:57 +0000

GET has loads and loads of uses in English.
There are 28 different GET phrasal verbs (get about, get above, get across and so on…) and most of these have 2 or 3 different meanings! So, I think we can all agree that really improving your English requires some practice with this very important verb. So try this GET test to learn some common-usage phrases that you might not yet be aware of.

When you finish your test, you will get the results immediately afterwards. You will also be able to view all the correct answers!

GET Phrasal Verbs

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There is a gap in each sentence. Click on the correct option: A, B, or C. There is only ONE correct answer for each question.

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Thank you for completing the GET Phrasal Verbs. You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%. %%PERCENTAGE%% %%RATING%%

Your answers are highlighted below.

Question 1

Jane is so desperate to be famous, she'd do anything to get _____ the telly.

A	in
B	on
C	by

Question 2

John always makes mistakes at work, but somehow he always manages to get _____ trouble!

A	out of
B	in
C	on with

Question 3

Just ignore whatever she says to you. She's only doing it to wind you up and get a reaction out of you. Don't let her get _____

A	together
B	on it
C	to you

Question 4

"Ben's really upset about splitting up with Sarah." "Don't worry about him. He's a ladies man. He'll get _____ and be on to the next girl soon enough.

A	off her
B	himself
C	over her

Question 5

There were some drunks making noise in the street last night at about 4a.m. and then I couldn't get _____ to sleep after that.

A	down
B	back
C	in

Question 6

When I was at school, I cheated once in a chemistry exam by writing some formulae on my hand and I'm ashamed to say that I got ______.

A	down on it
B	away with it
C	it off

Question 7

Luke tried to get ______ Kate at the party, but she told him that he doesn't kiss drunk tramps. It was hilarious!

A	off with
B	on it with
C	out with

Question 8

I had the flu last week and I still feel a bit under the weather. I still haven't got _______ 100 percent.

A	through it
B	over it
C	up to

Question 9

"How are you getting _______ your new neighbour?"

A	over to
B	round
C	on with

Question 10

My Grandad gets a lot of pleasure ______ the gardening.

A	himself over
B	out of doing
C	round

Question 11

What time do you get ______ when you have to go to work - 7ish?

A	behind
B	up to
C	up

Question 12

I've stopped lending my books to people because you never get _____.

A	away with it
B	them back
C	your act together

Question 13

I can't ask her at the moment coz she's just speaking to someone. I'll ask her when she ______ the phone.

A	gets off
B	gets off with
C	gets out off

Question 14

In the old days of Hollywood, actresses used to get ______ in the movie business by using the 'casting couch' or marrying big producers.

A	ahead
B	through
C	together

Once you are finished, click the button below. Any items you have not completed will be marked incorrect. Get Results

There are 14 questions to complete.

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If you have a problem understanding some of the correct answers when you see them after completing your test, then leave a comment below (stating the Question number that you don’t understand) and I will try to explain.

Try our other English quizzes:-

1. Advanced English (C1-C2) test

2. Business English

3. FCE Exam Preparation Vocabulary

4. Beginner’s Elementary English

5. Common Business English Idioms

6. Listening Exercise: James Bond profits

English Rain – The floods are back

Phil Wade — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 19:08:36 +0000

England is the home of rain. It is traditional. That’s why you should always carry an umbrella. This text is about rain and flooding. Useful phrases are explained and then some different types of rain are detailed, followed by some famous quotes.

This blog is a bad news story about the English climate, but for some balance, listen to SGI teachers Charlie and Bren talking about the normal British weather in this free podcast (also available for free download on itunes)

Heavy rain has forced many British residents to evacuate their homes recently. The widespread flooding has hit homes in the South West and Wales the hardest.

Weather forecasters have predicted even more downpours in coming weeks and the London Met (Meteorological) Office has issued flood warnings. A few sunny spells are expected though so it isn’t all bad news. The floods have caused lots of damage which has included broken fences, damaged houses and countless trees have been uprooted and knocked down blocking roads.

Almost 3 inches of rain fell in the worst affected areas and winds of up to 70mph left some parts of England under water. As the level of water rose, a large group of people were left with no power for several hours. Some residents had no choice but to abandon their homes and even cars in some cases. So far, thousands have been rescued by police as the rain continues to batter the UK.

Weather forecasters said the risk of flooding will remain for some time to come and warned of further heavy storms across England, Wales and Ireland. Government authorities are doing what they can to strengthen flood defences and monitor river levels but are quite powerless if rivers overflow.

Useful phrases about English rain and flooding

flooding: when there is lots of rain and it enters houses
heavy rain: a large amount of strong rain
evacuate their homes>: to leave your house because it isn’t safe
widespread flooding has hit homes: many homes are affected by strong rain
downpours: large amounts of rain
issued flood warnings: released predictions of flooding to tell people about the danger
trees have been uprooted and knocked down: trees were pulled out of/pushed to the ground
abandon their homes: to leave them because they aren’t safe
rain continues to batter the UK: the strong rain hasn’t stopped in the UK
flood defences: systems set up to prevent flooding
rivers overflow: when the water in a river rises and spills over

Ways to talk about rain

It’s raining cats and dogs

=This is a typical idioms originating from the old days when cats and dogs slept on the roof of a house which had a straw roof. When it rained, the straw got wet and the animals fell through.

Light summer showers

=Short periods of a small bit of rain as one or two storm clowds pass over on a nice summer day.

Drizzle

=Fine rain which doesn’t wet you very much

A heavy downpour

=Lots of heavy rain

It’s pouring it down

It’s coming down in buckets

The heavens opened

=All mean you better find some shelter otherwise you will get very wet because it is raining a lot

Some famous quotes about rain from writers:

Rain, so loud, like horses weeping —F. Scott Fitzgerald

Rain … swept the deck in angry gusts, like a nagging woman who cannot leave a subject alone —W. Somerset Maugham

Rain poured down like a waterfall —Jilly Cooper

If you’re really interested in precipitation, you can learn more about the rain in UK here

Vocabulary phrases: Books v Kindle

Bren Brennan — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:50:34 +0000

Focus on the vocabulary phrases highlighted in bold. Sounding good in English is not just a case of good grammar, you really need to use “chunks” of English. These are phrases (of 3, 4, 5 or more words) that are commonly used by native speakers. When you hear/read one of these chunks, you should note it down in your vocabulary book. You might already know all of the individual words in the chunk phrase, but if you put them together in the same way, that’s when you start to sound really natural with your English.

If you need any vocabulary explaining, please ask me in the comments section and I’ll reply asap.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Vocabulary phrases Books v Kindle

I love a good read but like most people, I suppose, it’s difficult to find the time to get lost in a book these days. I can’t really remember the last time that I read a real page-turner that I couldn’t put down. I’m not really one of those people that can go on summer holiday and chill-out on a beach with a summer blockbuster. I would like to get into reading a bit more because it would be nice to be able to label oneself as a bookworm that has read all the classics.

At the moment, I would probably say that I’m just a bedtime reader. I got a Kindle a while ago and I love all the free books on it. Yes, they are all classics like Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights and Jane Austen novels, but these are the kind of books that I feel I should be reading. That probably makes me out to be a literary snob, but I don’t care.
I do a lot of travelling as well, so the kindle is great for having something to read on trips.

However, I think that if I wanted to read my go-to book (The House at Pooh Corner – yes, it’s true, don’t laugh) then I think that I’d prefer to read the ‘real book’ version, which means that I’m not fully brainwashed into being a kindle-user just yet.

Here are some short, funny videos of Books v Kindle

These videos are obviously biased towards real books and very much against e-readers, so I thought I’d even it out a bit by listing some advantages of both.
IF YOU CAN THINK OF ANY MORE ADVANTAGES FOR EITHER CATEGORY, PLEASE TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.

KINDLE ADVANTAGES

Light and easy to hold
Font-size adjustable
More portable – you can carry your entire bookshelf with you
Instantaneous download/start reading immediately
Start where you left off last time, without the need of a bookmark
Instant dictionary – great for language learners
Can make notes & highlights and then search for them
Can see other peoples’ notes & highlights
Books slightly cheaper
Doesn’t take up any space in your home
Environmentally friendly – no paper used

REAL BOOK ADVANTAGES

Very tactile
Has the comforting, reassuring ‘book’ smell
Don’t have to recharge it
Doesn’t break if you spill your drink on it
Doesn’t break if you drop it
Doesn’t matter if you get sand in it
If you lose a book it’s not too much money
A full bookshelf looks great
A book can become a prized possession / heirloom
Can be a centrepiece, like a hardcover coffee-table book
Browsing in a book shop is a nice experience

And to really make it fair, here’s an advert for the latest Kindle e-reader

English Grammar David Beckham style!

Phil Wade — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 13:56:40 +0000

David Beckham needs no introduction. Beckham (or ‘Becks’ as he’s often called) is a huge international star and a footballer too. Yet, some people criticise him for his English grammar.

Beckham is English and speaks, well, English but how well? A number of people have said that his English isn’t very good but why? The answer is that he doesn’t always use correct grammar. Instead he speaks how people speak in some towns and cities, especially around London.

Lets take a look at Beckham grammar:

1) “My parents have been there for me, ever since I was about seven.”

Translation = This means that his parents were not there for him before he was 7. Maybe he had other parents, they were on holiday or he lived on his own.

2) “Well, I can play in the centre, on the right and occasionally on the left side.”

Translation = He can play almost everywhere except the back.

3) “I remember so clearly us going into hospital so Victoria could have Brooklyn. I was eating a Lion bar at the time.”

Translation = He must have really liked that Lion bar to remember it so well or maybe it was more important than the news his wife was having a baby. It may also just be a way to advertise the chocolate bar.

4) “Maths is totally done differently to what I was teached when I was at school.”

Translation = Maths is taught in a very different way to when Becks learned it at school. However, maths hasn’t changed. Numbers are numbers so maybe he’s referring to how students use computers more.

5) “I’d like to have Brooklyn christened, but I don’t know into what religion yet.”

Translation = Only Christian churches officially do christenings so either he means different branches of the religion or he thinks that every religion does them.

Check out these great quotes from Becks:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/david_beckham.html

To learn common British slang have a look at the Urban Dictionary at:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/

You might like our other posts about Beckham…

1. Beckham speaks about the future

2. How do you pronounce -ed endings? – Beckham’s baby

3. Playing with past tenses: Beckham baby (part II)

4. Football Vocabulary: Introduction to soccer English

R&R 25: My Hero Thomas More – English conversation

Bren Brennan — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:22:00 +0000

Natural English Conversation Real & Relevant Podcast 25

Naz joins the pod today. She is an extremely experienced and highly respected English teacher.

As with all our Real & Relevant podcasts, we didn’t prepare anything before we sat down to talk. This is natural English conversation between two native speakers without any modifications (like slowing down, using easy vocabulary or artificially including certain grammar or phrases)) to help English students – this is the real thing!

SGI-025-My-Hero

Pod Subject: My Hero from History

Pod People: Naz & Bren Brennan

You may also like our other ‘My Hero’ podcast…
Shakespeare, my hero

Go to a list of all our podcasts

NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes.

Click on that link OR follow these instructions….

How to download from iTunes

Open up iTunes
Go to iTunes Store
In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’
Click on the SGI Symbol
Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE

Tax Language: Corporate Tax Avoidance

Phil Wade — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:55:01 +0000

Tax may have increased on many of our goods and services but do companies also have to pay more tax? Read the text and find out. You’ll find useful tax language highlighted and explained below to expand your Business English vocabulary.

Image source & copyright: Guardian.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/oct/16/tax-biggest-us-companies-uk

What do Amazon, Google, and Starbucks all have in common? They’re huge companies, they have thousands of employees and they make more money in one day than I will earn in a lifetime. Yet, more importantly, they pay very little tax.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Some of them, like many companies, have based their European businesses outside the UK to avoid paying full UK tax. This is called corporate tax avoidance and it’s not illegal. Using an Ireland or Luxembourg-registered office for a company simply incurs lower tax rates. It’s a piece of cake.

Another trick they use is that they charge their own subsidiary companies for services, referred to as transfer pricing: again, completely legal. Both of these examples are commonly called exploiting loopholes in the law.

So, how much are these companies paying or not paying?

One British MP said that Amazon.co.uk allegedly had the highest UK tax rate of 1.9% in 2011 when the company’s turnover was £208m. Google also got away with paying 0.9% but based on a turnover of £396m. The biggest tax dodger though was Starbucks. The coffee giant with stores all over the world and one on practically every London street paid absolutely nothing. It earned £398m but not one penny went to the tax man in corporate tax.

More shocking though is that some say Starbucks has paid no tax at all during the last two years. While Amazon has also been able to only pay 3% VAT on book sales within the UK when the official rate is 20%.

As you can see in the infographic above, some of the companies aren’t actually profitable. Starbucks claims to have lost £33m in 2011 and Google just over £21m. Amazon is the only one to have turned a profit with £3.1m. From the perspective of British customers and taxpayers, these companies are taking their money and running away with it. Yes, they are employing many local people but why do other companies have to pay full corporate tax when they don’t? Each of these companies argues to support corporate responsibility but this doesn’t look very responsible.

Several politicians have said tax laws need to change in the UK. In nearby France, the government may have already taken action and issued (£629m) a tax bill to Google. Whether they pay it though is anyone’s guess.

Tax language

corporate tax avoidance: when companies don’t pay tax
incurs lower tax rates: their actions mean they pay less tax
subsidiary companies: companies owned by them
transfer pricing: when one part of a company makes another pay for products or services it provides
exploiting loopholes: taking advantage of gaps in the law
turnover: the money a company gets from sales
tax dodger: a person or company who/which avoids tax
the tax man: a slang way to refer to the person who collects tax but generally is used to refer to the tax office
turned a profit: made a profit

IELTS Writing Part 1: Academic Module

Phil Wade — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 22:53:08 +0000

In IELTS writing part 1 (academic module), the first part is often based on describing a graph/chart or comparing 2 of them. They generally include academic information about standard IELTS topics like unemployment levels or the ages of people who…

One reason why students say this part is difficult is that the topics are unusual to them, as in the speaking test. Another is that they aren’t accustomed to describing and comparing graphics using numbers and percentages. So, they don’t have varied grammar structures and vocabulary.

A good way to tackle these problems is to use information and topics you find interesting, then to learn and use more advanced/varied structures and language. So, here is an extremely visual infographic about American voters in the recent presidential elections and which parties they voted for:

This is perfect for practising your IELTS part 1 writing because it has lots of data. Read through the example sentences below and learn the structures that you don’t know so you can expand your range.

Gender

According to the infographic, 47% of voters were male and 53% female.
There was only a 6% difference between the sex of voters, with women accounting for 53% and men 47%.
Female voters slightly outnumbered their male counterparts, standing at 53% and 47% respectively.

Race/Ethnicity

The most prevalent ethnic group (of voters) was white, representing 72%. The remaining 28% consisted of blacks with 13%, followed by Hispanics (10%) then Asians (3%). Whereas the last 2% were attributed to others.

Tip 1

What’s wrong with these answers? Well, writing a full description of all the information is not often what you are asked to do. If the question says ‘summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features..’ then just describing everything will not earn you points and probably just give you a 5. Thus, you need to find the most important data.

This is a better summary:

The most striking difference regards the ethnicity of voters. A significant 72% were categorised as white, in stark contrast to the 13% of blacks. At the other end of the scale were 10% Hispanics and 3% Asians.

Tip 2

It’s also VERY IMPORTANT to avoid adding personal opinions and extra information such as:

as was to be expected
far more than 4 years ago
an unsurprising…

State the facts and only the facts!

Final tip

You only have 150 words so make sure every one counts. A current trend is to write over 150. Some produce 200+. I wouldn’t advise this at all.

If you find this part boring then do like here – choose an interesting topic and practise writing about it. If your weakness is your lack of vocabulary then try learning and using 5 to 10 new words in every writing you do. If you need to work on your structures then learn and use a few of those.

English School in London for 50 years!

Bren Brennan — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 22:27:25 +0000

1962 is when it all began at SGI English School in London. Being open for business for 50 years is quite a success story and we are humbly proud of all those great memories, happy students and fantastic teachers over the last half-century! How did we do it? By working hard every day to give our students from all over the world what they want – great English lessons in the heart of London!

Even though the best English school opened its doors in 1962, we shouldn’t forget some of the other big events of that year.

Surely you’ve heard of the people in the pictures below? Something significant happened for all these people 50 years ago, too – it wasn’t just SGI grabbing the headlines! :)

1962: SGI opens – but what else happened?

The Beatles

5th October 1962: Love Me Do was released and The Beatles legend began. Their first record came out in January, but Love Me Do was their first record to really hit the big time.

James Bond

5th October 1962: Dr No released with a Scottish bodybuilder who had never acted before in the lead role as James Bond: Sean Connery would go on to become a Hollywood superstar, but no subsequent role was ever better than the world’s coolest secret agent.

Don’t forget to enter our James Bond Competition, where you can win a Week of free English lessons at SGI here in Central London!

The Rolling Stones

12th July 1962: The Rolling Stones played their first gig at The Marquee on Oxford Street in London (just round the corner from SGI). On 7th April, Brian Jones had been introduced to Michael Philip Jagger and Keith Richards (who was then studying at art college). 50 years later they are still going strong – just like SGI.

Marilyn Monroe

5th August 1962: Marilyn Monroe was found dead at her home in LA. She was only 36. It was reported that the last person she phoned was President John F Kennedy, who she was rumoured to have had an affair with.

Bob Dylan

August 1962: Robert Allen Zimmerman legally changed his name to Bob Dylan. He also travelled to London in December to play some gigs at London folk venues. One of those was The King & Queen pub in Fitzrovia (just a short walk from SGI, where you can find some of the SGI teachers having a drink on Friday nights).

Nelson Mandela

25th October 1962: Nelson Mandela sentenced to 5 years in prison. However, he spent the next 27 years in jail.

R&R 24: Best James Bond

Bren Brennan — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 22:23:50 +0000

Who is the best James Bond? We’ve tried to answer that here in our cool infographic, but here are two SGI teachers giving their opinions on the matter.

Have you seen our latest competition about James Bond? You could win a week of free English lessons at SGI London by answering 2 easy questions about the world’s faourite secret agent!

This is a natural conversation – real English, not actors reading from a script, so you will hear lots of pauses, stops and starts, interruptions

SGI-024-Best-James-Bond

Pod Subject: James Bond actors & movies

Pod People: Ben Nicholas & Bren Brennan

Go to a list of all our podcasts

NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes.

Click on that link OR follow these instructions….

How to download from iTunes

Open up iTunes
Go to iTunes Store
In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’
Click on the SGI Symbol
Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE

If you don’t have the chance to speak to native-speakers, this is the next best thing – a great way to improve your English vocabulary & listening skills.

Fish n chips in London

Phil Wade — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:27:54 +0000

Nothing is as British as Fish n Chips.

A popular Fish n’ Chip shop in Essex has been in a legal battle with Warner Bros over their name. Scooby Snax has been using their name for over 8 years. It refers to the favourite treat of a popular cartoon character called Scooby Doo. As the chippie can’t afford to pay thousands of pounds for a court course they have decided just to change their name to Johnny Mac’s Plaice.

Hopefully, locals won’t care about the change of name and continue to eat their chip butties and battered cod at the award-winning chip shop.

Fish n’ chip shop language

chip shop: a shorter version of fish n’ chip shop
chippie: a slang version of the above
plaice: a type of fish
chip butties: a chip sandwich
battered cod: a type of fish which is covered and fried in batter (flour, eggs, milk)

To become truly English you need to know what to order in a fish n’ chip shop. Fish n’ chips are well-known but what about all the other things on the menu?

The menu

Seafood

Cod: a popular fish which is good for frying
Haddock: a relative of the cod but which is smaller
Plaice: a large flat fish
Lemon Sole: a more expensive type of flat fish with a slight yellow colour
Scampi: a large shrimp fried in breadcrumbs (small pieces of bread)
Cod Roe: the eggs of the cod fish
Fish Cake: pieces of fish mixed with potatoes and herbs fried like a hamburger in breadcrumbs
Fish Finger: the same as above except made into a long shape

Pies

Steak And Kidney: the most traditional type of pie which contains beef and kidney pieces baked in pastry
Beef And Onion: the same but with beef and sliced onion
Chicken And Mushroom: another variety with a less strong flavour

Sausages

Sausage (Regular): a normal sausage which is normally made of pork
Sausage (Jumbo): the biggest version
Battered Sausage: a sausage covered and fried in batter
Saveloy: a smoked pork sausage with added salt and pepper

Savouries

Pineapple Fritter: sliced pineapple fried in batter
Onion Rings: sliced onion circles fried in batter
Spring Roll: a Chinese long and thin snack which contains meat and vegetables and is fried
Curry Roll: the same but with curry sauce in

Pickles

Onion

Gherkin

Egg

All of these are kept in a jar containing vinegar and spices for a long time.

Extras

Mushy Peas: peas that are soaked overnight and become like soup
Baked Beans: white beans in tomato sauce (very, very British!!!)
Curry Sauce: a liquid made of spices that is used as a topping
Gravy: a sauce made from meat juice
Bread Roll: a breadcake like a small bun that is cut in half and filled
Chip Buttie: chips but in a sandwich

To be really English, you should order:

Curry n’ chips

Chips n’ gravy

Chips n’ mushy peas

Scraps (these are the bits of fried batter which are left from frying the fish and they are free)

Scallops (a slice of potato covered and fried in breadcrumbs).

Have a look at a typical London chippie:

If you come to study English in London why not try some of these fish n’ chip shops?

Football Vocabulary: Introduction to Soccer English

Phil Wade — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 19:41:10 +0000

If you don’t know anything about soccer, don’t worry because with this football vocabulary you can learn how to talk like an expert!

English people love soccer and fans live and breathe it. Every country has a national sport and soccer is Britain’s. We may not have the best players or teams in the world but very few people haven’t heard of Manchester United or David Beckham.

Soccer is a great small talk topic for men and women. In fact, it’s one of the most common at work. Take a look at this video of 3 people in a company talking about soccer:

Soccer talk

A typical soccer conversation often starts with:

Did you see the match last night?

=The big match that was on TV last night. It was probably featuring 2 famous teams high in the league such as Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal etc.

What was___thinking of though?

=Someone did something bad and you ask the other person about it.

That referee was an idiot

=A referee made a wrong decision, often causing your team to lose a point or the match

You can also talk about the goals or misses:

What did you think of ____’s goal?

I couldn’t believe ____ missed.

To become an expert at soccer speak you should follow these rules:

1. Find a team to support. Choose one that is doing well. Nowadays, you don’t have to support your local team.

2. Learn all the player’s names

3. Watch the highlights of each match or just check the scores

4. Have an excuse if you missed a game so when some says “did you see the game?” you need to have a very good reason why you didn’t.

Soccer slang

To sound like you are a soccer expert you need to know slang. Try these:

Dive=When a player is touched by another and pretends to have been knocked down to the floor. They often lay there as if in agony just to get a freekick or penalty.

Bicycle kick=This is like a Jackie Chan kick where the player jumps in the air and does a back flip to kick the ball behind them

Dummy =When on eplayer passes the ball to another who just lets it go through his legs to another player.

Juggling =When a player keeps the ball off the ground using his feet, legs , kees, chest and head.

Soccer teams

There are lots of soccer teams in the UK but we don’t always use their real names. Here are the nicknames of some famous teams:

Chelsea = The Pensioners

Everton = The Toffees

Liverpool = The Reds

Manchester United = The Red Devils

The Toon Army = Newcastle United fans

The Gunners = Arsenal

Tottenham Hotspur = Spurs

These are some funny nicknames:

Man Chest Hair United

Liver Pool

New Cattle United

IELTS language: Comparing tablets – iPadmini v Nexus7 v Kindle Fire HD

Phil Wade — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 17:21:24 +0000

Find IELTS language below that if you use, you will definitely improve your band score:

a)Comparing & Contrasting – very useful for the IELTS writing section

b)Technology vocabulary

c)Informal language

It seems that everyone has or wants a tablet these days and the tablet wars are really heating up. Now there’s even more choice for all you tablet fans.

You can choose from full-size tablets or mini versions. These are smaller and cheaper than normal tablets and may be the latest Christmas must-have gift.

The current 7 inch tablet market contains 3 main products. Take a look at this infographic to see what they are and how they compare:

(Copyright for this image at ITPro here)

The screen

The iPad mini has a 7.9 inch screen, compared to the Google and Amazon tablets which only have a 7 inch one. Although the iPad’s is bigger it actually has less pixels with 1024 by 768. Whereas, the 2 others both have 1280 by 800. That means the iPadmini has the lowest quality image.

Price

The new smaller ipad is £110 more expensive than the Kindle and the Nexus. However, we all know how expensive all the Apple products are so that’s not much of a surprise and you do get what you pay for. The iPadmini comes with iOS 6, the newest Apple OS but contains the older A5 chip.

You should also remember that you aren’t just buying the device but the whole ecosystem. So, if you get an iPadmini you have to use iTunes and the App store. Get the Nexus and you need to access Google Play while the Kindle is for downloading from Amazon’s App store and Amazon.co.uk.

Cameras

Both the iPadmini and the Kindle have front HD cameras. While the ipad also has a rear 5 MP one. In comparison, the Nexus only has 1.2MP front camera. Neither, the Nexus nor Kindle have rear cameras. Therefore, if you want to take photos and do Skype then the iPadmini is the tablet for you.

Connectivity

All the mini tablets have WIFI and Bluetooth capability but only the iPadmini has 4G LTE. Another difference is that every tablet except the Kindle has GPS.

Memory

Tablets generally have less storage capacity than laptops. The iPadmini has several different versions ranging from the basic 16GB to the 32 and the biggest with an impressive 64GB of storage. In contrast, the Kindle does not have a 64GB version. The Nexus has far less memory, starting at 8GB and only going up to 16GB.

Conclusion

Each tablet is different so it depends on what you want it for but if you have a Mac or an iPhone then getting the iPadmini makes sense. If price is an issue or you just like Android then maybe the Nexus or Kindle is a better decision.

Informal language

heating up

getting more competitive

tablet fans

people who like tablet computers a lot

Christmas must-have gift

the present that everyone wants for Christmas

you do get what you pay for

the price of a product is related to the quality



Techie language and abbreviations

ecosystem

the environment and how everything is related such as iPhones, iTunes and iTV

HD

High Definition

MP

Mega Pixels = A million pixels

4G LTE

4th Generation Long Term Evolution telephone network

GPS

Global Positioning System

GB

Gigabytes = 1000 Megabytes

Comparing and contrasting language

The text uses basic comparatives and superlatives but also a number of different structures. These are very useful for IELTS when comparing graphs or charts.

The iPad mini has a 7.9 inch screen, compared to the Google and Amazon tablets which only have a 7 inch one.

Although the iPad’s is bigger it actually has less pixels with 1024 by 768

Whereas, the 2 others both have 1280 by 800.

The iPadmini comes with iOS 6, the newest Apple OS but contains the older A5 chip.

Both the iPadmini and the Kindle have front HD cameras

While the ipad also has a rear 5 MP one.

In comparison, the Nexus only has 1.2MP front camera.

Neither, the Nexus nor Kindle have rear cameras. T

All the mini tablets have WIFI and Bluetooth capability but only the ipadmini has 4G LTE.

Another difference is that every tablet except the Kindle has GPS.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Listening Exercises: James Bond profits

Bren Brennan — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:09:12 +0000

If you need to practise listening exercises for an English exam? Try this listening test below about the massive success of the latest James Bond movie.

Instructions

Click on the audio below and START the test to say what the missing numbers from the text are:

Listening Exercise: Missing Numbers

The (1)____________ James Bond movie arrived in cinemas last weekend with a bang! It was the number one film in 25 overseas markets grossing   (2)____________  million on its opening weekend. In Britain alone, the film made an astonishing (3)____________ million (or £20.1 million). That means that it is the biggest opening so far of 2012 and in the UK it was the second biggest opening of all time; the record is held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

This proves that Daniel Craig’s popularity is rising, despite there being some doubts over his casting when it was first announced in (4)____________. Skyfall looks certain to become the most successful Bond movie ever and beat Craig’s first Bond outing in Casino Royale, which saw profits of (5)____________.

The release of SKYFALL coincided with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series which began in (6)____________  with Sean Connery as Bond in Dr. No. Does the financial success of Daniel Craig mean that he will now be considered the best James Bond over and above Sean Connery? (Look at the stats comparing the two here.)

It seems that everybody makes money out of James Bond. When the crew were filming in Istanbul, local shopkeepers were paid (7)____________   per day to compensate them for the disruption. Do stores in Istanbul make that much every day? Expenses like these help us to understand why the producers took a reported (8)____________   from Heineken to promote their products in the film.

Audio

Listening Exercise_James Bond Numbers

Listening Exercise: James Bond numbers

Start

Congratulations - you have completed Listening Exercise: James Bond numbers.
You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.
Your performance has been rated as %%RATING%%

Your answers are highlighted below.

Question 1
(1)____________
A
24th
B
23rd
C
33rd
D
21st
Question 2
(2)____________
A
£48.3
B
£34.8
C
£58.4
D
£58.3
Question 3
(3)____________
A
$32.5
B
$24.3
C
$34.2
D
$32.4
Question 4
(4)____________
A
2004
B
2005
C
2009
D
2010
Question 5
(5)____________
A
£586
B
$586
C
$486
D
$568
Question 6
(6)____________
A
1966
B
1952
C
1962
D
1963
Question 7
(7)____________
A
$418
B
$480
C
$518
D
$580
Question 8
(8)____________
A
$49
B
$55
C
$44
D
$45

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You may also like our other James Bond posts:

1) Win a week of free English lessons – James Bond Competition

2) Who is the best James Bond – Infographic

3) 007 Product Placement – Business Vocabulary

Listening Exercise Answers/Transcript

The 23rd James Bond movie arrived in cinemas last weekend with a bang! It was the number one film in 25 overseas markets grossing £48.3 million on its opening weekend. In Britain alone, the film made an astonishing $32.4 million (or £20.1 million). That means that it is the biggest opening so far of 2012 and in the UK it was the second biggest opening of all time; the record is held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

This proves that Daniel Craig’s popularity is rising, despite there being some doubts over his casting when it was first announced in 2005. Skyfall looks certain to become the most successful Bond movie ever and beat Craig’s first Bond outing in Casino Royale, which saw profits of $586m.

The release of SKYFALL coincided with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series which began in 1962 with Sean Connery as Bond in Dr. No. Does the financial success of Daniel Craig mean that he will now be considered the best James Bond over and above Sean Connery? Look at the stats comparing the two here.

It seems that everybody makes money out of James Bond. When the crew were filming in Istanbul, local shopkeepers were paid $418 per day to compensate them for the disruption. Do stores in Istanbul make that much every day? Expenses like these help us to understand why the producers took a reported $45m from Heineken to promote their products in the film.

Free English lessons: James Bond Competition

Bren Brennan — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:53:59 +0000

Well done to Francesca Ragni from Italy who won a week of free English lessons at St George International in our last competition.

Don’t worry if you didn’t win, because here’s our latest, monthly competition to give you another chance to win a week with us at SGI English School in London.

To celebrate the arrival of the new James Bond movie. All you have to do is answer 2 easy questions about James Bond. The information for the answers is here in the Bond infographic.

Answer the easy questions and you could win a week of free English classes with the entertaining SGI English teachers here in London!

The Boring Official Bit

All qualifying entrants who answer all the quiz questions correctly will be placed in a free prize draw and the winning entry will be chosen at random from all the correct entries received. Entries to the competition will be accepted up to midnight, Sunday 2nd December, 2012.

The winner will receive one-week of free English classes on our Standard English course here at SGI London.
END OF THE BORING OFFICIAL BIT

IMPORTANT

To answer the 2 questions (below) you need to look at the James Bond infographic here.

Remember to leave your contact details in Q3 because if you win, we need to get in touch with you.

Good luck.

Terms and Conditions

The competition ends at midnight on Sunday 2nd December, 2012 ; The draw for the winner will be made in the first week of December, 2012.

Only entries with name, email address and country of residence will be considered;

The winner will be notified by email by SGI within 14 days of the closing date;

The winner’s name will feature on the website on the corresponding competition page;

The winning prize must be taken and completed by 30 August, 2013 at SGI London. The course is not transferable to another date or another individual;

Entrants must be at least 16 years of age and proof of age will be required before the prize is dispatched;

There is no cash alternative to the prize;

No responsibility can be accepted for entries which are not properly received due to communication systems beyond our control;

The prize “A week of Free English Lessons” covers the cost of a one-week intensive Standard, general English group course at SGI London. The prize does not include flights, accommodation or airport transfers.

Who is the best James Bond ever?

Bren Brennan — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:48:07 +0000

Bond is back! The world’s favourite secret agent will be doing his cold-blooded killing, hard-drinking and womanising in his latest outing, Skyfall, starring of course, Daniel Craig.

Most critics rate Sean Connery as the best ever incarnation of Bond – probably because he was the original. But Daniel Craig is certainly giving him a run for his money.

But take a look at the stats and then vote in our poll – “Who is the best James Bond ever?”

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

You may also like our other James Bond posts:

1) Win a week of free English lessons – James Bond Competition

2) Listening Exercise – Bond numbers

3) 007 Product Placement – Business Vocabulary

Financial English – What was the Olympic’s cost & legacy?

Phil Wade — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 07:05:01 +0000

This text is all about the cost of the London Olympic Games and the next stage in its legacy. The Financial English that you should learn to improve your Business English vocabulary is highlighted in bold and explained in the Vocabulary glossary below.

The 2012 London Olympics was spectacular by anyone’s standards. The organisers created an unforgettable event with a wonderful atmosphere. They also built and adapted some amazing facilities which helped combine traditional and modern London.

Lets talk money

The original budget for the games was set in 2007. It was almost four times the estimated cost of the London 2005 bid. The higher price was when VAT, security costs, and regeneration costs were included.

The Beijing 2008 games had been extremely expensive. So, when the financial crisis started British tax payers began to worry. Some people even talked about cancelling the games. They were scared that the games would cost too much, the organisers would go over budget and possibly bankrupt the nation.

Now it is all over, the Department for Culture Media and Sport has released some interesting information about the financial side of the games. Originally, it had been forecasted to cost £9.3bn but in the end only £8.92 billion was needed. That means that the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics combined were £377m under budget. That’s an incredible saving.

Where did all the money come from?

A quarter of the Olympic money came from the Organising Committee’s own £2.2bn operational budget. It was generated from sponsorship, ticket sales, merchandise and the rest came from the actual International Olympic Committee.

Another £3bn was for the running of the games itself like security and ceremonies. This money came out of the public purse.

More savings were made by the Olympic Delivery Authority from the building of the facilities and reduced transport savings. This accounted for £1bn in saved money.

What’s next?

The Olympics may be over but not the legacy. The next challenge is to turn the Olympic Village apartments into almost 3000 homes for new residents and the East London site into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The government says the saved money may still be needed though to cover any large costs to do with the revamping of the Olympic Park.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

FINANCIAL ENGLISH

budget

a set amount of money reserved for one purpose

estimated cost

the predicted price

VAT

Value Added Tax is added to products and purchases

security costs

the price of making something safe and protected

regeneration costs

the price of making something better

to go over budget

to spend more money than you have

to bankrupt the nation

to spend all the money a country has and more

the financial side of the games

a perspective to do with money

forecasted

predicted

to be under budget

to have spent less money than you had set aside

public purse

money raised through taxing people

revamping

making something better

Food Vocabulary: British Grub

Phil Wade — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:00:43 +0000

Broaden your food vocabulary by reading about some ‘exotic’ British grub recipes (grub = slang for ‘food’). Any words that are new for you will be explained in the vocabulary glossary at the end of the blog

Over the past 10 years the amount of British food and drinks exported to France has doubled. The French now buy more of our cheese, whisky and beer than ever before. It seems that British food is finally becoming internationally recognised.

In this short video clip some local Parisians sample a few of of our British specialities. Watch and see which you recognise:

The video featured:

Scotch eggs
Cheese and pickle sandwiches
Bakewell tarts
Pork pies

But what are they?

The Scotch Egg

This is a small snack which consists of a hard-boiled egg covered in sausage meat which is coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried.

Scotch eggs are often eaten during picnics and can be bought in high street supermarkets like Sainsbury’s.

Interesting fact: The Scotch egg was created as a quick snack made from leftovers for poor people which was easy to carry around.

Here’s the recipe

Cheese and pickle sandwiches

We British love our big sandwiches and they don’t come better than with a cheese and pickle filling. This sandwich has a couple of slices of cheese and pickled onions or gherkins, some also add sliced ham. The combination is a wonderful blend of flavours.

This sandwich is extremely popular and can be seen in packed lunch boxes everywhere. We have a keen interest in pickled vegetables. Pickled onions are very common . In fact, we pickle lots of vegetables by putting them into vinegar and spices and leaving them.

Interesting fact: Some studies show that people who eat this sandwich generally have a higher IQ than those who eat others.

And here’s the recipe by Jamie Oliver

Bakewell tarts

Pastries and cakes are common in the UK. We all have sweet teeth (and fillings). Probably the most typical though is the Bakewell Tart. It’s a small shortcrust pastry covered with jam sponge filling with almonds. The most classic version is recognised due to the glacé cherry on top and why it’s often called the Cherry Bakewell.

Interesting fact: It’s so popular that you can find it as a mini cupcake, a small tart, a bigger pie-sized tart or even seen as big as a loaf of bread.

Make one for yourself with this recipe

Pork pies

Traditional British meat pies are still eaten across England, made and sold in butchers and even supermarkets. The most traditional is the pork pie, consisting of chopped pork and pork jelly cooked in a crust pastry.

Pork pies are eaten as a snack, with a salad or even with mushy peas, called pie n’ peas.

Interesting fact: There is an annual pork pie competition held in Yorkshire to find the best pork pie every year.

Here’s an easy recipe:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Food Vocabulary

hard-boiled egg

an egg that has been cooked in hot water for a long time

sausage meat

minced meat that is often used to make sausages

coated in breadcrumbs

covered in small pieces of bread

deep-fried

cooked in lots of oil

picnics

a meal eaten outside, often with cold food on the grass

leftovers

food which has not been eaten which can be eaten for the next meal

pickled onions

onions left in vinegar and spices for a long time

gherkins

a small green vegetable which is a variety of cucumber

sliced ham

thin cut pieces of dry meat, normally from the leg

packed lunch boxes

prepared meals for midday put in small containers

sweet teeth

an adapted version of ‘sweet tooth’ which means someone who likes sweets and cakes

shortcrust pastry

a crumbly pastry used as the bottom of tarts

jam sponge filling

a light cake mixture which contains jam

glacé cherry

a cherry preserved in syrup

cupcake

a small cake often made for children

pork jelly

a soft substance made from boiling animal parts

mushy peas

green peas soaked overnight and boiled until like a thick
soup



Conditionals – Looper Timeline

Phil Wade — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:07:30 +0000

For anyone who has seen the new film Looper, you may be a bit confused. If you haven’t then go and see it so you can be confused too. In a nutshell, Looper is about time travel and features one of Britains top actresses Emily Blunt, the one from The Devil Wears Prada.

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

Would losing his mum turn Cyd into the rainmaker if he didn’t know he had special powers?

If old Joe had only been planning to kill the rainmaker why did he travel back with so much gold?

If being attacked by old Joe is what causes Cyd to turn evil in the future, would he stay good without that experience?

Will there be a sequel if enough tickets are sold?

Business English Idioms: Idioms Test

Bren Brennan — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:59:20 +0000

Business English idioms are the focus here in our latest English test. Using idioms can really widen your Business English vocabulary and make you sound more like a native-speaker of English.

The sentences here come from authentic business documents and recorded conversations. This is real Business English in action and some of the vocabulary is quite advanced.

As with all our tests, you get your results immediately after finishing the test. If you get any questions wrong, you can also the correct answers!

Business English Idioms

There is a gap in each sentence. After each gap there is a definition of the missing Business English idiom written in brackets . Click on the correct option: A, B, C or D. There is only ONE correct answer for each question.

Start

Thank you for taking the Business English Idioms.

You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%

%%PERCENTAGE%%

%%RATING%%

Your answers are highlighted below.

Question 1
I asked them for a _________________ (estimate) just to get the negotiations under way.
A
ball park number
B
ball figure
C
ball park figure
D
park value
Question 2
The US government _________________ (rescued) GM Motors to save thousands of blue-collar jobs.
A
bailed out
B
threw up
C
bounced up
D
broke even
Question 3
The ________________ (result/summary) is that the failure of the discussions makes losers of us all.
A
bottom dollar
B
bottom drop
C
bottom line
Question 4
The large GCOS servers installed in current customers' businesses are an important __________________. (product generating lots of profit)
A
business drummer
B
cash cow
C
kickback
D
nest egg
Question 5
Our sales team are arguing that we are fighting a losing battle in this region, and we're better off ___________________ (accept the loss you have made) and start looking for new markets.
A
selling our losses
B
cutting our losses
C
cooking our losses
D
landing our losses
Question 6
Perhaps the odd local petrol station would __________________ (go bankrupt), sure, but it would quickly be replaced by part of a more reasonable chain that earns its money.
A
pay an arm and a leg
B
grease your palm
C
go belly up
Question 7
The Chairman informed the board in 2011 of his total waiver of the ___________________ (a large sum of money given to a person leaving a company) clause originally established in his contract, consisting of a net compensation equivalent to the gross annual salary of two years.
A
golden handshake
B
gravy train
C
golden handcuffs
D
nest egg
Question 8
Because no company has unlimited __________________ (an excess of money), we have to carefully weigh each decision for new investment in cooperation with our partners.
A
win-win
B
number crunchers
C
money to burn
D
brownie points
Question 9
The loss of their income can have an immediate and profound impact on families already struggling to _____________________ (to survive financially).
A
make ends meet
B
pay an arm and a leg
C
learn the ropes
D
cash in their chips
Question 10
I believe these subsidised organisations should work with ________________ (smallest number of people to operate) and outsource as much work as possible to local vendors.
A
an eager beaver
B
a lame duck
C
a skinny crew
D
a skeleton staff
Question 11
The exchange can be a ________________ (benefitting all parties) situation; for instance, both administrators and private suppliers can be in a mutually beneficial situation after the fraud of a public procurement.
A
yes man
B
win-win
C
up and running
D
quick buck
Question 12
After exhausting all efforts to recover the outstanding account receivable, UNBS would proceed with _________________ (to accept a debt will never be repaid) procedures under UNBS financial regulation 10.4.
A
walking orders
B
write-off
C
in the red
D
flat broke
Question 13
Once your new program is _________________ (started and working successfully), you'll be able to directly import your e-mail into it at the click of a button.
A
wheeling and dealing
B
making a killing
C
above board
D
up and running
Question 14
The shareholders will demand that the consumers ________________ (pay for something) for the R&D budget.
A
foot the bill
B
feather the nest
C
talk shop
D
turn over
Question 15
As my boss always told me, "You shouldn't be a ______________ (someone who always agrees with superiors); you have to tell a guy that's five pay grades higher than you that something is not workable."
A
chicken feed
B
bean counter
C
yes man
D
cheapskate
Question 16
It's not surprising to hear that more and more small and medium-sized enterprises are complaining that they ____________________ (exceptionally busy) with paperwork due to the new stricter regulations.
A
in the crossfire
B
holding the fort
C
sticking to their guns
D
are snowed under

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All done
This test was a bit too difficult for your current level. Try one of our easier English tests.
Keep trying! You are not Warren Buffet yet.
Not bad! Just a little bit more knowledge and you will be flying in business class pretty soon!
Very good! Your Business English is at a very high level. Why don't you start your own company?
Perfect! Are you related to Bill Gates?

After you get the correct answers, if you still have a problem understanding a question, leave me a comment below and I will try to explain the answer for you.

You may like our other Advanced/Business English tests:

1. Business English Vocabulary

2. Advanced English (C1 – C2)

English test for Beginners – Elementary English

Bren Brennan — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 20:45:44 +0000

The English test for beginners is only for elementary level students. Find out how good you are at basic English grammar with this multiple choice quiz.

You get your results and the correct answers at the end of the test.

Beginner's Elementary English

There is a gap in each sentence. Click on the correct option: A, B, C or D. There is only ONE correct answer for each question.

Start

Thank you for completing the Beginner's Elementary English. You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%. %%PERCENTAGE%% %%RATING%%

Your answers are highlighted below.

Question 1
Jenny ___________ tired.
A
be
B
is
C
has
D
have
Question 2
" ___________ is she?" "She's my friend from London"
A
Who
B
Why
C
Which
D
What
Question 3
Today is Wednesday. Yesterday it ___________ Tuesday.
A
were
B
is
C
be
D
was
Question 4
It's Thursday today. Tomorrow it ___________ Friday.
A
be
B
was
C
will be
D
will
Question 5
___________ lots of animals in the zoo.
A
There
B
There is
C
There are
D
There aren't
Question 6
How many people ___________ in your family?
A
are there
B
is there
C
there are
D
there
Question 7
"Has Steve got a sister?" "No, he ___________, but he's got 2 brothers."
A
has
B
hasn't
C
haven't
D
not
Question 8
Where ___________ Sarah live?
A
are
B
is
C
do
D
does
Question 9
___________ to London on the train yesterday?
A
Did Mary went
B
Did Mary go
C
Mary go
D
Mary goes
Question 10
Jack ___________ English, Spanish and a bit of French.
A
speaks
B
speak
C
speaking
D
is speaking
Question 11
Be quiet because the baby ___________ now.
A
is sleep
B
sleeping
C
sleeps
D
is sleeping
Question 12
___________ too fast?
A
I talk
B
Am I talking
C
I is talking
D
I talking
Question 13
She ___________ to Oxford next week.
A
go not
B
is going
C
going
D
go
Question 14
He met his wife, when ___________ in Spain.
A
he was working
B
he works
C
he is working
D
he was worked
Question 15
Tourists in London ___________ to see Big Ben - it's fantastic for photos.
A
must go
B
could
C
should go
D
can
Question 16
At school, we ___________ to learn French.
A
will
B
must
C
had
D
should
Question 17
___________ is very bad for your health.
A
Smoking
B
To smoke
C
Smokes
D
Smoke
Question 18
Harry Potter is ___________ famous book.
A
(nothing)
B
an
C
a
Question 19
I don't understand ___________ words.
A
these
B
this
C
that
Question 20
I'm really hungry because I didn't have ___________ breakfast this morning.
A
any
B
some
C
lots
D
many
Question 21
You should always wash ___________ hands after you use the toilet.
A
his
B
my
C
your
D
our
Question 22
Usain Bolt ran very ___________ in the Olympics 100m race.
A
quick
B
quickly
C
fastly
D
faster
Question 23
London is ___________ Paris.
A
as bigger than
B
bigger as
C
bigger like
D
bigger than
Question 24
I'm starting my new job ___________ Monday.
A
in
B
on
C
at
D
for
Question 25
She doesn't look very happy, ___________?
A
does she
B
no
C
or
D
she does

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Try again!
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Perfect! try one of our more difficult English tests

GOOD LUCK!

Adverbs Vocabulary: Surprisingly good Stones song

Bren Brennan — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:14:49 +0000

Check out all the adverbs highlighted in bold (and explained in the glossary). Imagine how the article would read without them: adverbs add colour, flavour and readability to a piece. Remember that when you are writing in your next English exam – using adverbs results in better English scores!

The Rolling Stones have released a new single for the first time in a long time!
Predictably, the single is promoting yet another version of their Greatest Hits. Surpisingly though, the song is quite good! Yes, it’s very Stones-y, but as everyone knows by now The Stones’ motto is clearly, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

The astonishingly ancient Stones (with a combined age of 273) definitely sound like they are really working hard to try to recapture the spirit that earned them the ‘World’s Greatest Rock Band’ moniker. It was incredibly nice of The Stones to consider the SGI English students and subtitle their video all the way through with the lyrics! Yay – Stones-tastic singalong time!

Inevitably, along with the greatest hits package, The Stones are enthusiastically celebrating their 50th anniversary with a comeback/celebration tour. Here’s a cleverly put together promotional video of the boys attempting to make even more money -

Before the whole tour is announced, The Stones will be playing 4 ‘teaser’ shows in London and New York. Unfortunately, the ticket prices for these mean that a normal Stones fan probably won’t be able to see their idols. Unsurprisingly, Mick and the boys are unashamedly cashing-in for what might be their last ever tour – a front row ticket will cost you an eye-watering £1,140. Even a seat ‘up-in-the-Gods’ at the O2 Centre in London will cost you £106.

Considering that The Stones only got paid £5 each (£88 in today’s money) for their first ever show at The Marquee London Club on Oxford Street (just around the corner from SGI) on 11 July, 1962, can they justifiably charge that much for a ticket to see a concert? In view of the fact that The Stones will be paid around £16 million for four shows, wouldn’t it have been nice of them to to show a little generosity and just take 8 million and put on 2 shows for free?

ADVERBS

Predictably

anyone could know this news in advance

yet

still, even (used to emphasise repetition)

surprisingly

not expected

quite

to a significant amount

clearly

obviously

astonishingly

amazing, impressive

definitely

without doubt

really

used here to express strength or seriousness

incredibly

to a large amount

inevitably

certain to happen, predicatable

enthusiastically

showing lots of enjoyment or interest

cleverly

showing skill or intelligence

unfortunately

sadly, unhappily, regrettably

probably

almost certain/sure

unsurprisingly

not unexpected

unashamedly

acting openly without any embarrassment

justifiably

to be right, reasonable or defendable

Useful Vocabulary

motto

a short phrase that contains your beliefs

if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

sth wroks well so don’t change it

teaser

a short advertisement for a product (commonly used in the film world) to generate excitement

cashing in

making as much money as possible

eye-watering

sth so expensive that it makes you cry

up in the Gods

a seat in a stadium/concert hall very high up and far away from the action/stage

Why Learn English in the UK

Tommi Muttonen — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 10:50:42 +0000

Every year, more than 600,000 students hit Britain’s shores to learn English. However, there are English language schools all over the world, even in the students’ own countries, so why come to Britain? Here’s our list of reasons why we think English schools in London and the rest of the UK should be your only choice.

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!

The Importance of Learning Business English

Tommi Muttonen — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 10:46:48 +0000

Chinese may technically be the most spoken language in the world, but this is due to the sheer number of Chinese people. English, however, is the international language of business and is a skill ever increasingly sought after by employers. If you’re working in England, Australia, the USA or any other English-speaking country, then learning Business English is an absolute must. However, even if you are working in another country, the chances are that you will still need to learn some English, particularly if you work for a multinational corporation or work in international trade. It may even be that English is the shared common language between you and another non-native speaker from another country and is the only way you can communicate. In fact, three quarters of the world’s business communication is in English, and 80% of information stored on computers worldwide is also in English. And this is despite less than 10% of the world’s population having English as a native language.

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.

Preparing for IELTS Success

Tommi Muttonen — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 10:43:12 +0000

IELTS, the International English Language Testing System, is an internationally recognised qualification that many students need in order to access university courses in English-speaking countries, including the UK. A minimum score is required, usually determined by the university course, to demonstrate that the student has the necessary English language skills in order to be able to access the course.

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.

Common English Errors

Tommi Muttonen — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 10:39:34 +0000

Native speakers don’t realise it, but anyone learning English as a foreign language will know that it can be a hard language to learn. A certain period of self-study may be possible, but taught general English courses are really one of the best ways of learning, and even better to learn English in London, where you’re surrounded by native speakers and the culture.

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!

Top Tips on Learning English

Tommi Muttonen — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 10:36:17 +0000

English is not an easy language to learn for non-native speakers. Fortunately, there are now more ways than ever to bring yourself up to standard if you want to learn English. Whilst there are a multitude of teach yourself books and CDs available on the market, nothing beats having face to face access to a properly qualified teacher who can guide you through learning the complexities of the language. English schools in London will provide you with professional teachers who can address all of your English language learning concerns. However, if you are about to start a general English course, here are some top tips to help you learn the language as quickly as possible.

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.

Top English TV Programmes

Tommi Muttonen — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 10:32:17 +0000

If English is not your first language, then you should consider enrolling in an English language school in London. There are many benefits in learning how to speak and understand English fluently, not least of which includes watching English language films and TV! However, without a proper command of the English language it can be difficult to properly follow popular films or TV series. Fortunately, with intensive English courses in London you can bring your language skills up to scratch in hardly any time at all.

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.

iPods Can Boost English Language Skills

Tommi Muttonen — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 10:30:49 +0000

Students studying on English Language courses in London may be interested to hear the results of a recent survey which appear to reveal that iPods can significantly boost the achievements of English Language learners. A study from the University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education looked into ways that such devices could be used to help improve teaching and learning English. It is believed that the multimedia capability and flexible nature of an iPod makes it an ideal resource to aid language learning.

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.

English Test: FCE preparation (vocabulary)

Bren Brennan — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:48:12 +0000

This English test will assess your Upper Intermediate English vocabulary knowledge. It’s the level of vocabulary that you need to have to get a good pass in the Cambridge First Certificate exam.

When you finish, you will get your results immediately. You will also be able to see the correct answers!

First Certificate in English Exam preparation

There is a gap in each sentence. Click on the correct option: A, B, C or D. There is only ONE correct answer for each question.

Start

Thank you for completing the First Certificate in English Exam preparation. You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%. %%PERCENTAGE%% %%RATING%%

Your answers are highlighted below.

Question 1
Big Ben is one of the most popular tourist ______________ in the world.
A
buildings
B
attractions
C
attraction
D
building
Question 2
In ______________ of his dedication to charitable causes, John Stanley will go to The Palace next week to be awarded the MBE by HRH The Queen.
A
recognising
B
rememberance
C
recognition
D
remembering
Question 3
I'll be really happy when I pass my FCE. Complete the sentence, so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence I ______________ my FCE.
A
really look forward to pass
B
looking forward to really passing
C
really am look forward to passing
D
am really looking forward to passing
Question 4
He looks like my old schoolmate, Tom. Complete the 2nd sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence He _________________ my old schoolmate, Tom.
A
reminds me of
B
reminds of
C
is reminding me of
D
reminds to me of
Question 5
It's a well-known fact that people in Mediterranean countries tend to have a longer _____________ expectancy than countries in Eastern Europe.
A
alive
B
life
C
living
D
live
Question 6
European governments are attempting to ______________ the retirement age from 65 to 68.
A
raise
B
rise
C
move
D
increase
Question 7
My dog was chasing his tail all morning. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first. My dog _______________ chasing his tail.
A
was spent morning
B
was all morning spent
C
spent the whole morning
D
spent all morning at
Question 8
The printer hasn't worked for 2 days now. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence. The printer _____________ for 2 days now.
A
is being out of service
B
is out of order
C
had been out of service
D
has been out of order
Question 9
You _______________ insulted Jenny. She was really upset by what you said.
A
couldn't have
B
shouldn't have
C
mustn't have
D
wouldn't have
Question 10
All the class passed the test except David. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first. David was the _________________ the exam.
A
only student to fail
B
solely student that failed
C
only student who passed
D
student alone who failed
Question 11
a) The plane crash left little hope of any ______________. b) Lots of ________________ were arrested on the student today.
A
remainders, manifestations
B
survivor, demonstrations
C
survivors, demonstrators
D
remains, manifests
Question 12
Sunglasses protect your ____________ from harmful UV rays.
A
sight
B
site
C
sights
D
sites
Question 13
Everything in the room was white, so the colourful table really stood _____________.
A
up
B
off
C
out
Question 14
The south-_______________ garden means that we get the sun all afternoon.
A
heading
B
facing
C
looking
D
viewing
Question 15
Oops, sorry, that's my mobile. ________________ it.
A
I'll just answer
B
I'm just answering
C
I just answer
Question 16
It's extremely difficult for the panda population to significantly increase in number because they don't seem to _____________ in captivity.
A
mating
B
offspring
C
born
D
breed
Question 17
It's not ______________ to book a taxi. We'll pick you up at the airport.
A
necessary
B
neccessary
C
neccesary
Question 18
If I won the lottery and became a _______________ overnight, I don't think I'd tell my friends.
A
millionnaire
B
millionaire
C
milionnaire
D
milionaire
Question 19
When I got back to where I left my bike, I discovered that ______________.
A
it has been stolen
B
it had been stolen
C
it was robbed
D
it disappeared
Question 20
In the 1980s, who would have _______________ that China would have the most billionaires in the world now?
A
learnt
B
suspected
C
believe
D
trusted

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All done
This test was too difficult for you. Try one of our English tests for beginners.
Not bad. Try our intermediate test and you will probably get a very good score.
Good! You are doing very well and with a bit more study you will be ready for the FCE exam.
Excellent! Your vocabulary is at a level high enough to take the FCE exam.
Amazing!!! You should challenge yourself with one of our advanced tests!!!

If you don’t understand any correct answers when you see them after finishing your test, then leave me a comment below (with the Question number you don’t understand) and I will try to explain the question for you.

Try our other English quizzes:-

1. Advanced English (C1-C2) test

2. Business English

English Test: Business English Vocabulary

Bren Brennan — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 20:25:29 +0000

Another English test for you and here it’s time to assess your Business English vocabulary knowledge.

As with all our tests, you get your results immediately at the end of the test. You can also see the correct answers as a bonus!

Business English Test

There is a gap in each sentence. Click on the correct option: A, B, C or D. There is only ONE correct answer for each question.

Start

Thank you for taking the Business English Test.
You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.
%%PERCENTAGE%%
%%RATING%%

Your answers are highlighted below.

Question 1
When you start a presentation, it's _______________ to thank everyone in the audience for attending.
A
a specific task
B
a method
C
standard practice
Question 2
One of the ____________ of flying business class is that you get access to the VIP lounge before you fly.
A
tips
B
perks
C
snags
Question 3
The majority of European governments have drastically reduced ____________ with hard-hitting austerity programmes.
A
public expenditure
B
private expenditure
C
R&D
Question 4
Local authorities place a high emphasis on environmental sustainability to prove their ____________.
A
profit margin
B
macroeconomics
C
green credentials
Question 5
Drawing up a ______________ is a fundamental management process.
A
maturity yield
B
SWOT analysis
C
deficit
Question 6
I'm afraid that the _____________ didn't like the new colour of the packaging.
A
focus group
B
futures market
C
internal audit
Question 7
Bacardi are hoping to _____________ into the lucrative 18-30 market with their new vodka range.
A
acquire
B
adjust
C
penetrate
Question 8
Direct Line have been able to offer competitve rates by cutting out _____________.
A
the ROI
B
the middle men
C
working capital
Question 9
The iphone has been a real _____________ for Apple but the smartphone market is becoming dangerously oversaturated.
A
cash cow
B
problem child
C
stock option
Question 10
In the spreadsheet, look at the figure in cell F7, then go down 5 _____________ and tell what value you've got in cell F12.
A
columns
B
rows
C
files
Question 11
You've got too many tasks to manage. Can't you _____________ some of this work to someone else in your department?
A
delegate
B
jettison
C
substitute
Question 12
No matter how restrictive tax legislation becomes, accountants for the super rich can always find _____________ so that their clients avoid paying tax.
A
slumps
B
defects
C
loopholes
Question 13
Ok so let's start by _____________ the Q3 sales report
A
having a look through
B
taking a look
C
looking in
Question 14
The second point on the _____________ of an AGM usually is the apologies.
A
protocol
B
agenda
C
minutes
Question 15
Before we get to the final point, let's just quickly go over the ____________ item.
A
penultimate
B
closing
C
merge
Question 16
Sorry everybody, the next slide isn't showing. We must have a _______________.
A
problem technical
B
implementation issue
C
gremlin in the system
Question 17
Yes, the negotiation will be tough, but you've got to _______________ with them and not just accept their first price offer, OK?
A
wrangle
B
squabble
C
haggle
Question 18
I'm _______________ to meeting you at the conference.
A
look forward
B
looking forward
C
look forwarding
Question 19
The whole department is going off to do a day of white-water rafting next week as a ______________.
A
tax loss
B
team-building exercise
C
trade-off
Question 20
All corporations should have a _______________ in place to mitigate the impact of any potential disaster.
A
competitive advantage
B
consolidated statement
C
contingency plan

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All done
This test was a bit too difficult for your current level. Try one of our easier English tests?
Keep trying! You are not Steve Jobs yet.
Not bad! Just a little bit more knowledge and you will be flying in business class pretty soon!
Very good! Your Business English is at a very high level. Why don't you start your own company?
Perfect! Are you the child of Steve Jobs?

After you get the correct answers, if you still have a problem understanding a question, leave me a comment below and I will try to explain the answer for you.

Try our Advanced English (C1-C2) test

Advanced English Test (C1 – C2)

Bren Brennan — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:18:53 +0000

A high-level English test to check your advanced grammar and vocabulary knowledge.

Find out your current level of English by completing ALL 16 questions.

You will get your RESULTS & the CORRECT ANSWERS immediately after completing the questions – every question is multiple choice.

Advanced English Grammar Test (C1 - C2)

There is a gap in each sentence. Click on the correct option: A, B, C or D. There is only ONE correct answer for each question.

Start

Thanks for completing the Advanced English Grammar Test (C1 - C2) .
Your score is %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.
%%PERCENTAGE%%
%%RATING%%

Your answers are highlighted below.

Question 1
If __________ a man on the moon, why can't they sort out paper-jams?!?!
A
we are landing
B
they were able to land
C
we had landed
D
they had landed
Question 2
It'll be fine __________ you do it the way I told you.
A
as like
B
as could
C
so as
D
as long as
Question 3
Pete is arrogant and David's pompous - it's like __________ .
A
a bolt out of the blue
B
turning over a whole new leaf
C
six of one and half a dozen of the other
D
a different kettle of fish
Question 4
Sarah would have made sure John was here __________ were coming too.
A
when she had known I
B
if he has known you
C
if she had known you
D
if she knew
Question 5
You're not that good at singing - __________ yourself!
A
get rid of
B
get over
C
get out
D
get lost
Question 6
Oh God, the microwave is always doing that. Just __________ again and it usually works OK.
A
switch it off and on
B
turn off it
C
switch it over
D
turn it around
Question 7
__________ different food from all over the world in London.
A
There are a lot of
B
There's loads of
C
There's many
D
There is a lots of
Question 8
How many times __________ not to do that?
A
haven't I told you
B
have I told
C
I told you
D
have I told you
Question 9
"What's up with him?" "Oh, __________ mood about something."
A
he's in angry
B
he's in a bad
C
he had a bad
D
he has a angry
Question 10
"Paul's loving his new job in the States." "What? I didn't __________ abroad!"
A
even know he was living
B
even knew he is living
C
know he has lived
D
know he does live
Question 11
Remind me again - what __________ tea tonight?
A
do you like for
B
do you want
C
you want to have for
D
did you want for
Question 12
"James said that __________ word with me." "Yeah, come in and have a seat."
A
you can have a
B
you wanted to have a
C
you will want to have a
D
you had a
Question 13
"I forgot it was my girlfriend's birthday on Friday." "Ooh, bad one. I bet you were __________ all weekend."
A
crying crocodile tears
B
keeping the wolf from the door
C
flogging a dead horse
D
in the dog house
Question 14
Linda didn't even thank me for her birthday present. I can't believe she was so __________.
A
irreverent
B
modest
C
ungrateful
D
incoherent
Question 15
There are so many iconic buildings in London that you __________ come across some architectural classic if you just walk around for a bit. *
A
invariably
B
stubbornly
C
innocently
D
persistently
Question 16
Everyone knows that if you __________ your mortgage payments, then the bank will repossess.
A
fall through
B
fall back on
C
fall behind on
D
fall out with

Once you are finished, click the button below. Any items you have not completed will be marked incorrect. Get Results

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Question Text

All done
Your English is not good enough for this level of test. Try one of our lower level grammar tests.
This test was too difficult for you at the moment. Try our A1 - A2 grammar test.
Not bad! Maybe C1 is a bit high for you, but try our B1 - B2 grammar test instead.
Wow! Your English is very good! You are at C1 level in your English grammar knowledge.
Perfect! Your English is at a very high level - you should consider taking the Cambridge Proficiency exam

After you get the correct answers, if you still have a problem understanding a question, leave me a comment below and I will try to explain the answer for you.

Fitness Vocab: Girls Get Great Abs

Bren Brennan — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:20:05 +0000

How good is your fitness vocab and ladies, how good are your abs? Are they as perfect as Gwyneth Paltrow’s? In the video below, you can see a top fitness trainer explaining three core exercises to form the perfect stomach. But first let’s check out the essential vocabulary you need on the subject of exercise and fitness. Check out our groovy new slideshow with images representing the definitions of the fitness words/phrases.

Now you know the vocabulary, watch the video. And then get exercising girls!!! And boys!!!

If you don’t understand what he is saying, the whole transcript is written out below for you.

Hi, my name’s Johnny Lomax. Part of my everyday job is training models. Models like everyone else have certain issues with certain body parts, whether it be their bum, their abs, or their legs and I work with them to develop a series of exercises to overcome these issues. In this video we’re going to look at getting abs like Gwyneth Paltrow. Gwyneth’s abs are fantastic because she has focussed on 3 key areas.

The First: the intercostal muscles, which are the muscles in the ribs. The six-pack which has a lower and an upper portion. And lastly, the obliques, which give you the swish from here to here. We’re going to show you a series of exercises which will help you focus on those muscles.

The first exercise that we’re gonna do is thee classic crunching exercise. This focuses on the six-pack muscles, chiefly the upper part of those muscles. First thing to do is make sure your back is flat against the ground. So you suck your abdominal muscles in and really squeeze them. Second thing is you bring your legs up to 90 degrees - just like that. And they stay like this. Thirdly, fingers to temples. Don’t put them on the back of your head and crunch forward, because all you do then is hurt your neck. Once you’re in this position, you can perform the crunch. So, bring your legs together and your chest up and out – bring the legs nicely out there. Good. And then again, bringing it in and again out. In and out. All the time you should be focussing on keeping the muscles squeezed. You can really feel the upper abdominals work in this exercise. And one more time – out they go, back in they come – and perfect. And stop there.

The next exercise we’re going to look at focuses on the intercostal muscles – the muscles in the rib cage. That give you that nice, slender toned look through the upper chest. First thing to do is get into a seated position. Good. OK. Now you’ve got to find a balancing point here. So if you lean back slightly and then lift your feet off the floor. Once you are comfortable with that position, squeeze your abdominals, put your hands together up in front of you and simply twist from one side to the other, trying to keep the feet off the floor and balanced in that position at all times. Always remember to keep squeezing the abdominals and as you become more confident, you can reach further out to the sides. Good and then the last and relax. That will work through the intercostal muscles and the obliques.

Now what we need to do is focus on the lower abdominals. In this position, bring your legs up to about 90 degrees. Very important here is to focus on squishing the spine to the floor. Once you’re in position, you drop the legs down. Stop. Bring them back up and then push off the shoulders. Good. Exactly like that. Then up. Push off the shoulders. The slower you perform this exercise, the better. Down, good and you can really feel the focus down in the lower abdominal muscles creating that V-like structure. That’s it – 1 more for me. Down and then up. Good. And stop there.

These exercises work the abdominals in isolation. The abs get worked out all the time when you do other exercises, but you should try and perform these. Roughly speaking 4 sets. You do 12 to 20 repetitions in each set. You incorporate these into 3 to workouts a week – within a couple of months, you’ll have abs like Gwyneth Paltrow.

R&R 23: Received Pronunciation v South African English

Bren Brennan — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:21:53 +0000

English Conversation Real & Relevant Podcast 23

The Pod welcomes Rob and his Received Pronunciation accent. This is what you sound like if you have been publicly-educated in England! Although Rob has a “Queen’s English” accent, he can also do a very good impression of a South African English accent because he is studying at university there.

SGI-023-Received-Pronunciation-v-South-African-accent

Pod Subject: South African English

Pod People: Rob Jenkin & Bren Brennan

You may also like some of our other blogs on the RP accent…

1. Shakespeare’s Accent
2. Accent Reduction Training
3. HRH The Queen’s RP Accent
4. Speak like The Queen
5. Prince Charles the weatherman!
6. All of Melissa’s Podcasts – she’s speaks with a ‘BBC Accent’ too

Go to a list of all our podcasts

NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes.

Click on that link OR follow these instructions….

How to download from iTunes

Open up iTunes

Go to iTunes Store

In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’

Click on the SGI Symbol

Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE

If you don’t have the chance to speak to native-speakers, this is the next best thing – a great way to improve your English vocabulary & listening skills.

A meaning of a word ruined by mispronunciation

Phil Wade — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 13:33:12 +0000

A meaning of a word can be completely changed by wrong pronunciation and that’s why a lot of English humour is based on mispronunciation.

If you pronounce a word incorrectly it can change the meaning into something which is incredibly funny or just the way you say it may be quite amusing.

There are many words in English which are commonly mispronounced. Take a look at these:

Wednesday

Hamburger

Here is a funny clip which features the word message pronounced as massage:

The scene is amusing because the guest asks for a message but he says massage. His pronunciation is very bad so he does not know what he has said. The receptionist understands that he wants a massage and offers to arrange one. It is very funny because both people understand the conversation is about different subjects.

It’s a good idea to work on pronouncing similar sounding words. Below is a list of commonly mispronounced minimal pairs. These are words that only have one sound which is different between them:

A meaning of a word changed by one sound

a meaning of a word

Bat – Bet

Cash – Catch

Cat – Cut

Den – Then

Fair – Four

Grammar – Glamour

Hat – Hate

Pill – Bill

Poured – Bored

Rice – Rise

Ring – Rink

Sank – Thank

She – Sea

Ship – Sheep

True – Through

Wet – Vet

Work – Walk

…and some common rude ones from the classroom

piece (of paper) – piss

sheet (of paper) – shit

Now, imagine you are in a restaurant and when you finish eating you say “Excuse me, can I have the pill please?”.
What would your friend say if you told them that “I am going to France on a sheep”
…or even that “The Titanic was a big sheep that thank in the she”

It’s not easy to improve your pronunciation, but it’s worth the effort , hard wok and concentration. Here’s a pronunciation class where a French man is trying to learn the English RP (Received Pronunciation) accent… not very successfully!

Useful Business Vocabulary: iPhone 5 and Apple Maps

Phil Wade — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 08:59:28 +0000

This text is all about the new iPhone5 and Apple maps. Both are in the news but for different reasons. Various bits of useful business vocabulary and phrases that are related to new products are highlighted and explained at the vocab glossary. However, these words are not only used in the world of Business English; they are quite common in everyday, general conversation, too.

Don’t forget to vote in our polls at the end to give your opinion! They only need one click – and no sign-up or registering!

The iPhone 5 is out and Apple are raking it in. As usual, die hard Apple fans are breaking open their piggy banks to buy the latest mobile phone Even owners of the iPhone 4S are trading in their old phones for the new model.

Experts say sales are impressive. Apple shifted an unimaginable 5 million iPhone 5 handsets within the first weekend. That number continues to grow by the second. That’s over 1m more than the iPhone 4S managed. It’s not just analysts who are shocked, even Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple is impressed. He described the 5m sales as simply “incredible’ and told reporters that every single phone from their first shipment has been sold. That means that Apple needs to quickly produce more phones to keep up with demand.

It’s not all good news though for Mr Cook. Far from it. The latest iPhone model runs Apple’s very own map app. It’s well known that Apple and Google have an intense rivalry and don’t get on, so it’s not surprising to hear that Apple has made their own alternative to the massively successful, ubiquitous Google Maps

Apple and iPhone fans had high hopes for this app. After all, Apple has set the bar pretty high with their hardware and software. The iPhone 5 comes with iOS6 which is a decent improvement to the last operating system. However, Google maps is a tough act to follow.

Watch this video to see a CNN review of the map app:

As you can see, it’s not quite as good as Google maps but Apple have promised that it will get better. By the looks of this critical review though, Apple engineers definitely have their work cut out.

To see just how much they need to improve (and some of the funny bugs and mistakes in the software), check out this blog which shows quite clearly that Apple maps is nowhere near as good as Google Earth. Sorry, Mr Cook but your app has a long way to go yet.

Useful Business Vocabulary

Raking it in

making lots of money

Die hard fans

loyal followers of sth or sb

Trading in

using an old product to pay for part of a new one like when you trade in an old car. It can also just mean getting a new version of a product.

Shifted

this refers to moving goods from the shelves i.e. selling them.

Shipment

an order of goods delivered from the factory

Keep up with demand

to be able to sell as many products as customers want

ubiquitous

appears everywhere

Had high hopes for sth

had positive expectations of sth

Set the bar pretty high

when someone or thing is very good it creates a certain standard that everybody else needs to compete with or match

A tough act to follow

when someone of thing is very good it is very hard to make or do something better

Have their work cut out

have a lot of difficult and time-consuming work to do in order to them succeed at something

A long way to go

have a great deal of work to do which will take a lot of time so as to reach a certain goal

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

A	selling our losses
B	cutting our losses
C	cooking our losses
D	landing our losses

A	make ends meet
B	pay an arm and a leg
C	learn the ropes
D	cash in their chips

A	wheeling and dealing
B	making a killing
C	above board
D	up and running

A	in the crossfire
B	holding the fort
C	sticking to their guns
D	are snowed under

A	really look forward to pass
B	looking forward to really passing
C	really am look forward to passing
D	am really looking forward to passing

A	reminds me of
B	reminds of
C	is reminding me of
D	reminds to me of

A	was spent morning
B	was all morning spent
C	spent the whole morning
D	spent all morning at

A	is being out of service
B	is out of order
C	had been out of service
D	has been out of order

A	only student to fail
B	solely student that failed
C	only student who passed
D	student alone who failed

A	remainders, manifestations
B	survivor, demonstrations
C	survivors, demonstrators
D	remains, manifests

A	True
B	False

A	True
B	False

A	True
B	False

A	True
B	False

A	it has been stolen
B	it had been stolen
C	it was robbed
D	it disappeared

A	problem technical
B	implementation issue
C	gremlin in the system

A	competitive advantage
B	consolidated statement
C	contingency plan

A	we are landing
B	they were able to land
C	we had landed
D	they had landed

A	a bolt out of the blue
B	turning over a whole new leaf
C	six of one and half a dozen of the other
D	a different kettle of fish

A	when she had known I
B	if he has known you
C	if she had known you
D	if she knew

A	switch it off and on
B	turn off it
C	switch it over
D	turn it around

A	There are a lot of
B	There's loads of
C	There's many
D	There is a lots of

A	even know he was living
B	even knew he is living
C	know he has lived
D	know he does live

A	do you like for
B	do you want
C	you want to have for
D	did you want for

A	you can have a
B	you wanted to have a
C	you will want to have a
D	you had a

A	crying crocodile tears
B	keeping the wolf from the door
C	flogging a dead horse
D	in the dog house