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.
 

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

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

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

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

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.

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

 
Amazeballs
(adjective)(Slang) – better than amazing / an expression of enthusiastic approval

Example: OMG, have you seen Rhianna’s new video? It’s amazeballs, innit?

NOTE: If you are 30 or over, you would sound stupid if you used this new word – it’s a word used by young people!

 
Amazeballs has been making news this week because it has just been included in the Collins Online English Dictionary. Members of the public can write in and ask for a word or phrase to be put in the dictionary because it is in popular usage. Collins will then consider if the word is important enough for it to be included in their printed version.

 
Watch this episode of “Would I lie to you?” from 19:24 to hear some comedians talking about ‘amazeballs’
 

 
Check out our other blogs on British Slang…

1. Slang A – L

2. British Slang M – Z

 
You may also like our Word of the Day series from the summer…

Olympic Word of the Day

1. Olympomania
2. Bonkers
3. Unbelievable
4. Farcical
5. Relief
6. Lightning
7. Overwhelmed
8. Mobot
 

It seems like there is unisex everything at the moment. You see unisex toilets and unisex changing rooms in shops and even unisex clothes. But now the famous London department store Harrods has gone one step further with a groundbreaking idea.

Harrods has recently opened the huge 26,000 square foot Toy Kingdom. As amazing as this sounds there is something very special about it as the Toy Kingdom is not your average toy area. It’s very modern and breaks with tradition. In other words, there are no more separate boys and girls toys. Why? Well, because their competition (Hamleys) has done it already and unisex toys seem to be fashionable. These stores are breaking the rules. Many of us are used to having or buying different boys and girls toys. When I was a kid, boys had action men, cars and guns while girls had dolls, doll houses and cleaning toys. It seems that modern toy makers and retailers want to break away from these old-fashioned ideas that these toys create. Why can’t a girl play with cars or a boy with houses?

Harrods have broken up the typical shelves of all boy and girl shelves and organised the new area by themes. They’ve definitely broken the mould this time, no more blue for boys and pink for girls. Toy shops and toys may never be the same again. This could be the breakthrough toy makers have been looking for so they can just have 1 toy for everyone. This is extremely useful for families with more than 1 child. They can buy toys that everyone can use, no matter what their sex.

It’s a risky make or break move but Harrods seem confident that unisex toys are the future. Whether customers will think the same is not clear yet.

Break phrases: Advanced Vocabulary

groundbreaking

a new amazing idea or invention

breaks with tradition

doesn’t do the same as the others before it

breaking the rules

not following the laws or rules

to break away from

to do something different to the others

broken up

to be divided

broken the mould

to be new and different

breakthrough

an important discovery

make or break 

it will bring success or failure

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

Apple used to be the undisputed heavyweight tablet champion but then came along Samsung who became a serious contender. Yes, Apple created the whole market and is incredibly popular due to quality of product but Samsung now sell more tablets some say.

Google are now going head to head with Apple to become the number 1 tablet producer. Their tablet may be smaller but is a lot cheaper. Both companies are now trading punches in the advertising war. The web is full of comparisons saying which is best and why. It seems like nobody is holding any punches.

Sales and orders of the Nexus are so big that Google can’t deal with them. People are even calling the Nexus the iPad killer, saying that the Nexus is a real knock out. It looks great and is very comfortable to hold.

Make no mistake, the gloves are off and both companies are coming out fighting. With big companies like these seeking world domination they take no prisoners.

At the moment it seems like round 1 goes to the Nexus but Apple isn’t ready to throw the towel in just yet. Rumours are that an iPad is about to throw the next punch as the iPad mini will be launched soon. It looks like Apple are not out for the count yet.

Boxing idioms

duking it out

fighting

contender for the crown

a challenger for the number 1 position

entered the ring

entered the market or competition

undisputed heavyweight

everyone agrees that it is the best

going head to head

becoming a direct competitor

trading punches

fighting each other

holding any punches

attacking as hard as possible

knock out

extremely impressive

the gloves are off

to take sth very seriously

coming out fighting

to start aggressively

take no prisoners

to be merciless and not worrying who is hurt

round 1 goes to the Nexus

the Nexus won the first part

to throw the towel in

to surrender / to give up

to throw the next punch

to do the next attack

out for the count

to be knocked out or beaten

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

Nobody truly knows what Shakespeare’s accent sounded like. He wrote his plays nearly 500 years ago in English that is very different than it is spoken today. Just think how much your own language has changed in that time!

Of course, we have all his work written down, but what did it actually sound like back then? Nobody knows what latin really sounded like and the same goes for the sounds of Elizabethan English.

Experts have suggested that Shakespeare’s accent would have sounded something like Irish, Yorkshire and West Country accents mixed together. Also, they believe that words were spoken much more quickly than in contemporary Shakespeare productions.

 
So, don’t you want to hear a sample of Shakespeare’s accent (according to expert opinion)?
 
Watch this video from 42:00 to get the true flavour of what Shakespeare’s voice probably sounded like.
 

 
 
The British Library has also recorded famous bits from Shakespeare in what they believe to be early modern-English authentic accents – here’s a sample:
 

 
 

This is how Shakespearean accents are portrayed today. Most Shakespearean plays in the UK are spoken in received pronunciation accent.

SIDE NOTE: So many English students want to lose their accent and learn how to speak in the Queen’s English, meaning received pronunciation, but if Shakespeare himself didn’t even have this accent, why is it so important?

 
Here’s Gandalf… I mean Magneto.. I mean, Sir Ian McKellen (as a very young man) in a famous BBC production of Macbeth showing you how to do the Shakespeare RP accent perfectly… the script is below the video to help you understand.
 

Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw.
Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going;
And such an instrument I was to use.
Mine eyes are made the fools o’ the other senses,
Or else worth all the rest; I see thee still,
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,
Which was not so before. There’s no such thing:
It is the bloody business which informs
Thus to mine eyes. Now o’er the one halfworld
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse
The curtain’d sleep; witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate’s offerings, and wither’d murder,
Alarum’d by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace.
With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design
Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth,
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,
And take the present horror from the time,
Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives:
Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.
A bell rings.
I go, and it is done; the bell invites me.
Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven or to hell.

 
 
You may also like our other Shakespeare posts from this week...

1. Shakespeare, my hero – Podcast conversation with 2 SGI teachers

2. WIN free English lessons at SGI London in our September Shakespeare Competition

3. Did Shakespeare write his plays?

4. Shakespeare facts (you probably didn’t know)

Shakespeare Facts….you probably didn’t know

Shakespeare’s romantic lines were for men

Some of Shakespeare’s famous lines from his poetry are considered the most romantic ever written. Maybe you’ve heard this before, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and temperate” – but did you know that it was written about two men? In fact, 126 of Shakespeare’s sonnets are based on love between male friends. This doesn’t mean that Shakespeare was gay. In his day, homoeroticism was considered a normal part of male friendship.

Shakespeare mysteriously disappeared

From 1585 to 1592, there is absolutely no historical record of Shakespeare. After the record of the birth of his twins’ baptism in 1585, he has 7 lost years until his name is mentioned again in a theatre review in 1592, where a critic called him an ‘upstart‘. What did he do in these seven years? Historians have suggested that he studied law, travelled across Europe, acted or worked as a schoolteacher.

Shakespeare was not a great husband

Even though he ‘did the right thing’ and married his wife when she was 3 months pregnant, Shakespeare couldn’t be considered to be a good husband in modern day standards. After 3 years of marriage, he left his wife and children to move to London alone. There are lots of written references implying that he had numerous affairs in London. In his will, he only left his wife his ‘second-best’ bed.

Shakespeare was very old

Shakespeare died in 1616 when he was 52 – which is not too bad considering that the average life-expectancy of the time was between 30 – 40 years.

Shakespeare’s grave is cursed

Shakespeare is buried in the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon Avon. He is thought to have written his own epitaph which told of a curse if the body was removed. At the time, it was common for grave robbers to steal everything. This clever trick worked as Shakespeare’s grave remains undisturbed to this day. His tombstone reads:
Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forebeare
To digg the dust enclosed here;
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.

Shakespeare is an internet star

There are around 152 Million results for Shakespeare in Google. There are only 53 Million for J K Rowling (author of the Harry Potter series). However, Justin Bieber has 682 Million internet pages referring to him!

Difficult Vocabulary Explained

homoeroticism

producing sexual desire in a person of the same sex

twins

two children born at the same birth

baptism

a religious ceremony where water is sprinkled on the forehead and the person, usually a baby, is given their name

upstart

a person who has quickly risen to a high position and behaves arrogantly

standards

an idea or a normal model of behaviour

numerous

a lot, many

affairs

a person who is married that has a sexual relationship with another person

curse

to make a supernatural power cause harm or punishment on somebody

grave robbers

to uncover a tomb to steal the valuable things or body inside

You may also like our other Shakespeare posts from this week...

1. Shakespeare, my hero – Podcast conversation with 2 SGI teachers

2. WIN free English lessons at SGI London in our September Shakespeare Competition

3. Did Shakespeare write his plays?

4. Shakespeare’s Accent

YOU DECIDE!

 
Is Shakespeare a fraud? Did he really write all his works or was it someone else?

These are questions which people have been asking for quite a while. Let’s look at the evidence and then you can decide for yourself.

Round 1

For

William Shakespeare of Stratford is written on the printed cover of the manuscripts. Everybody agreed that he wrote them at that time and there was nobody else mentioned. Shakespeare was also mentioned as the author by other writers.

Against

None of the original books survived so we don’t have any evidence now. Also, there is no written proof that he even was a writer. Some documents do describe him as an actor though. We also don’t have any of his own writing for support.

Round 2

For

William Shakespeare of Stratford was an actor who performed the plays of William Shakespeare. Therefore, it seems a coincidence that they had the same name. It’s almost impossible to say that there were 2 different people. Also, all the other actors knew him as the actor and author.

Against

Some of his sonnets refer to Shakespeare as an older man, near death and the publishers even wrote dedications to him as though he were dead. However, the Shakespeare we know wasn’t. Furthermore, when he did die few people went to his funeral. A bit strange for such an important writer and actor perhaps?

So, if Shakespeare didn’t write his plays & sonnets, then who was the author?

Christopher Marlowe was born in the same year yet he allegedly died just as Shakespeare started writing plays. Could he have changed names and started a new career?

Sir Francis Bacon was intelligent enough to have written such masterpieces but why would he have done it with a fake name? Believers say that Bacon wrote secret messages in the texts to reveal his secret.

Several of the plots in Shakespeare’s works are very similar to the life of Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford.

Useful language

fraud

a fake

works

here: books, poems or plays

manuscript 

a text or book written by hand

evidence and proof

something which shows or confirms that a belief is true

coincidence 

something which happens by chance

sonnet 

a short poem

dedication

a short message in book, poem or CD that says it is for them or says thanks

masterpiece

an amazingly good book, play, poem or other type of creative work

plot

the main story line

Vote time!

You may also like our other Shakespeare posts…

1. Shakespeare, my hero – Podcast conversation with 2 SGI teachers
2. WIN free English lessons at SGI London in our September Shakespeare Competition

Anyone who has been shopping on an English high street may have seen a shop called Oxfam. It’s one of our oldest and most popular charity shops. Inside you can find second-hand clothes, books, CDs, games and toys. As well as tons of new Fair Trade products. Most goods have been donated by regular people and the money they make goes to worthy charities to help the poor and starving. This bucks the system of other retail shops.

You may, however, be surprised to know that Oxfam has bucked the trend of struggling retail shops and reported a large increase in profits recently of 5%. In 2011 it reported retail sales of £90m. The managers of the company say their shops are doing well because of the recession. Charity is big bucks nowadays. People are looking for bargains and cheap goods. Because they mainly sell what other people donate, Oxfam is always looking for more good quality goods.

It’s not only Oxfam who are doing well, charity shops in general have seen an increase in sales of around 3% so far this year. In contrast, normal retail shops experienced a drop. With profits this high, other retailers may need to buck up their ideas if they want to survive. At the moment, they are passing the buck and blaming anybody and anything to explain their poor sales.

Oxfam is also making more than a quick buck from donations and fundraising events. This increased to almost 7%. A large percentage is from direct debit donations where people agree to give a set amount every month or year. Large donations have also come from the UN and governments. In the first quarter of 2012, Oxfam raised over £390m and helped people in 55 countries.
This is what some Oxfam shoppers have to say:

“My income is quite low because I work for myself. I donate clothes when I can and also buy things I like. It saves me tons of money”

“I’m a poor student so don’t have enough money to buy new designer clothes but you can find some great stuff in Oxfam, even designer labels but at affordable prices. It helps me save a buck or two”.

“You can get clothes in Oxfam at a huge fraction of the price of the high street big names. You get plenty of bang for your buck.”

Have a look at whose clothes Oxfam sell

Buck phrases

bucks the system

goes against the rules that others follow

bucked the trend

did something different to the others

big bucks

a large amount of money/dd>

buck up their ideas

put in more effort and do better

passing the buck

blame other people

making more than a quick buck

earning a large sum of money

save a buck or two

get something at a lower price

bang for your buck

get something of high quality for a low price

Questions for Comments

Would you shop at Oxfam? Why/Why not?
Would you donate money or clothes to Oxfam? Why/Why not?

 
Final Olympic Word of the day –

MOBOT

Translation: Mobot – in every language

Definition

To make an ‘M’ shape with your hands above your head

Olympic Story

There is a new craze that’s sweeping the nation -’The Mobot’. When Mo Farah won the 5,000m and 10,000m races in the athletics, for his victory celebration, he put his hands on his head and his arms made the shape of an M.

His friend, Usain Bolt also did the Mobot when he crossed the line in a new world record in the 4 x 100m Relay. Seeing as Bolt is probably the world’s most famous athlete, then if he does the Mobot when he recieves his gold medal, then you know it’s going to be something to take over the world. BTW, Farah reciprocated by posing with Bolt’s famous thunderbolt pose.

Since then, everyone has been getting in on the act. You can tell when something is really popular because politicians like to get involved too… as you can see in the picture of London’s Mayor Boris Johnson

But how did this phenomenon come about? Well, some time back, Mo Farah was on a TV sorts/comedy panel show and the host, James Corden said that he should prepare ‘a move’ to be able to celebrate if he won the Olympics. The BBC Sports host, Claire Balding (who was also on the show) said that he should do an M like in the YMCA dance, M being for Mo, i.e. Mo Farah.

 
If you don’t believe me, here is the birth of the MOBOT

Vocabulary Glossary

craze that’s sweeping the nation

something that becomes very popular in a very short time that everyone knows and does

to take over the world

to become globally famous very quickly

to reciprocate

to respond to an action by making the same or similar one in return

to get in on the act

to join in with something that is already popular

to come about

to happen for the first time

 
Check out our other Olympic blogs….

Olympic Word of the Day

1. Olympomania
2. Bonkers
3. Unbelievable
4. Farcical
5. Relief
6. Lightning
7. Overwhelmed

Olympic Podcasts

1. Expectations
2. Opening Ceremony
3. Gymnastics
4. Swimming Scandal
5. Greatest Olympian Ever
6. Sport = Patriotism
7. Female Olympians
8. Crying Olympians
9. Olympic Summary
 

 
Olympic Word of the day No#8 –

OVERWHELMED

sopraffatti, abrumado, перегружены, accablé, boğulmuş, 圧倒, طغت, überwältigt, megrendül, перевантажені, 不堪重負, zahltení, osvaja, συγκλονισμένοι, אָוווערוועלמד

Definition

verb: to overwhelm

to be overwhelmed: to have a strong emotional effect on somebody
 
Synonyms: overcome, moved, affected, touched, left speechless
 

Olympic Story

Apparently, to get the full experience of winning an Olympic gold, you’ve got to stand on the top step of the podium and beomce totally overwhelmed with full on tears and blubbing like a baby. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like more and more athletes are breaking down in tears at these games than any other before. Maybe it’s because I have been concentrating on the British athletes and because they are on home soil with their family and friends there in support, it’s just all a bit too much for them and they just can’t stop themselves from crying.

Of course, famously we are meant to be able to keep a stiff upper lip and Olympians should be made of sterner stuff, but the fulfilment of a lifetime dream in front of your nearest and dearest can break down even the toughest emotional wall.

The Scots are probably generally tougher than the English (I think it has something to do with the cold weather up there in Scotland) but even the very masculine, Scottish powerhouse Sir Chris Hoy couldn’t stop his emotions getting the better of him as he won his sixth and final Olympic gold medal before he retires.

What’s your opinion?

Is it only natural that athletes cry uncontrollably when they win an Olympic gold?
Or is it unnatural if the athletes DON’T cry when they win?
Should the athletes be able to keep their emotions under control and maintain an air of dignity?

Vocabulary Glossary

full on tears

crying a lot

to blub like a baby

crying a lot

to break down in tears

crying a lot

to be on home soil

to be in your own country

to keep a stiff upper lip

to be able to be unemotional in an emotional situation, commonly said about the British

to be made of sterner stuff

to have a stronger character and be able to overcome problems more easily than other people

your nearest and dearest

your family and friends

powerhouse

describing someone who is VERY strong at sth

 
Olympic Word of the day No#6 –

LIGHTNING

fulmine, rayo, foudre, молния, 稲妻, Blitz, yıldırım, 閃, 번개, błyskawica, relâmpago, αστραπή, villám
blesk, برق

Definition

Noun: a flash of electricity from a weather storm
Adjective: very quick
 
 

Olympic Story

Surely, almost everyone in the world has seen or heard about the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt and his victory in the Olympic 100 metres last night.

It seemed like the whole world had stopped to watch the blue ribband event as you could hear a pin drop in the stadium as the athletes waited in their starting position. Just 9.63 seconds later and it was all over. It was a case of lightning strikes twice as Bolt had retained his Olympic title; only achieved once before by Carl Lewis in the 1980s.

This was the second fastest time of all time (the World record is also held by Bolt) and perhaps it wasn’t expected, as Bolt had been beaten twice recently by his team mate Blake. However, Blake could only manage the silver medal here as the Lightning Bolt (one of his nicknames) got down to business in the true style of an Olympic defending champion.

Before the start, Bolt looked a little bit more nervous than he had done at Beijing 2008, where he was supremely relaxed. This time he had his usual signature warm-up poses and some clowning around, but you could see that there was some tension in his face. But 10 seconds later when the job was done and with the crowd going wild, it was business as usual with his legendary lightning bolt stance, that signifies that he is truly the fastest man alive.

However, to truly seal his legacy, he’s going to have to do what no man has ever done before and do it all over again at Rio 2016!

What’s your opinion?

Is Bolt the biggest star at the Olympics?
Will Bolt win the 200m, too?
Are there other events which are more exciting/important than the Men’s 100m?

Vocabulary Glossary

blue ribband event

the most important event in a sporting competition

to be able to hear a pin drop

idiom: to be extremely quiet situation where there is a large number of people

lightning strikes twice

a play on words – common phrase is ‘Lightning never strikes twice: meaning something unusual will not happen two times, but here, the unusual thing DID happen twice

to retain sth

to continue to have sth

to get down to business

to be serious and professional about doing sth

signature

here – sth that you are famous for

pose

noun: to stand in a specific way in order to be photographed

to clown around

the opposite of ‘being serious’

tension

the opposite of ‘relaxed’

to seal your legacy

to do sth that confirms that you are great

 
Olympic Word of the day No#5 –

RELIEF

 
sollievo, alivio, soulagement, kabartma, помощь, 救済, 緩解, допомогу, ulga, ارتياح, megkönnyebbülés, ανακούφιση, рељеф, 구조, תבליט, úľava
 
 

Definition

Noun: a feeling of relaxation and reassurance after anxiety or distress

Example: It was such a relief to get his exam results and get his place at university
 
 

Olympic Story

What a relief! The goldrush has finally started for the Olympic host nation and Team GB. First it was the rowing pair Helen Glover and Heather Stanning and then the already legendary cyclist, Bradley Wiggins that landed Britiain’s first gold medals of these games.

There had been some earlier silver and bronzes won by the Brits, but the nation collectively breathed a sigh of relief as we finally came first in an event. Some great chances of placing first had already been wasted, most notably Mark Cavendish in the Road Cycling event, so it was a comfort to finally get the ultimate prize.

Team GB management had predicted before the Games that we would collect around 70 medals, but they had already downgraded that estimate to around 60 after the first few days. I’m sure now, everyone is expecting that the floodgates will open and see the gold medals snowball. London 2012 Chairman, Sebastian Coe said that, “Winning is infectious” and that Team GB was now “in full stride“.

So, people in the UK are hoping that there’s plenty more where that came from!

What’s your opinion?

Will the Brits start to win lots of medals now?
Is 60 medals too high an estimate?

Vocabulary Glossary

goldrush

here – winning lots of sporting events and gold medals being won

to breathe/heave a sigh of relief

to blow out air and make a osund to show that you are suddenly happy again after being worried about sth

sth to waste sth

to have the chance/opportunity to do sth good, but then not to do it, i.e. to miss the chance/dd>

to downgrade sth

to reduce sth to a lower level of grade or importance

the floodgates will open

after a long wait, suddenly it will be possible for sth to happen a lot

to snowball

to increase rapidly in size/importance

infectious

here – to quickly influence other people

to be in full stride

to be progressing at a good speed/ moving forward at the best speed

there’s plenty more where that came from

there will be more than one occasion where this thing happens, in fact there will be LOTS more

 
Olympic Word of the day No#4 –

FARCICAL

 
absurdo, farsesco, ridicule, possenhaft, ばかげた, фарсовый, كوميدي, abuk sabuk, 滑稽的, ridículo, 익살맞은, śmieszny, farsowy, γελοίος, מגוחך, nevetséges
 
 

Definition

Adjective: having ridiculous or absurd aspects

Example: In a farcical situation in the first 10 seconds, England let San Marino walk through their defence to open the scoring 1- 0

Synonyms: ridiculous, absurd, ludicrous, preposterous, pointless, stupid, crazy
 
 

Olympic Story

Yesterday the scenes on the Olypmic Badminton courts descended into farce as the female Chinese doubles team tried to throw their match. Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli (the top seeds in the tournament) started deliberately playing badly; serving into the net and shooting wide on purpose.

The pair had already qualified for the next round and were trying to lose so as to avoid their Chinese compatriots (seeded no#2) until they reach the final. Their South-Korean opponents started doing the same and the crowd began booing at the farcical scenes. It became so ridiculous that the referee warned the players over their conduct and threatened them with disqualification.

Afterwards of course, nobody admitted they had done anything wrong. The Chinese players said that it was a tough match and the South Koreans said that they only started playing to lose because the Chinese did it first. However, the World Badminton Federation is holding a hearing about the ridiculous events and will make a decision later today.

It’s not in keeping with the Olympic spirit is it, to not do your best and try to lose!

What’s your opinion?

Should these players be banned from the rest of the competition?
Is this normal behaviour for sports teams to try to avoid the best players and the Olympics is no different?

Vocabulary Glossary

descended into farce

for sth to become ridiculous

to throw a match

to deliberately attempt to lose a game/ to play badly so that you can not win

to do sth on purpose

to do sth deliberately

compatriots

people from the same country as you

opponents

people you play a game against

booing

to make a noise to show you don’t like sth, especially at a sports contest or performance

 
Olympic Word of the day No#3 –

UNBELIEVABLE

 
increíble, невероятно, incredibile, incroyable, 信じられない, unglaublich, inacreditável, 令人難以置信, لا يصدق, 믿을 수없는, niewiarygodny, απίστευτος, לא יאומן, hihetetlen
 
 

Definition

Not likely to be true; extraordinary; difficult to believe
Example: Usain Bolt ran the 100m in an unbelievable time at the last Olympics.

“it can not be true”, but also it can be used in a positive way like, “Wow, the singer has got an unbelievable voice!”… meaning ‘amazing in a good way’
 
 

Olympic Story

You may have read that a Chinese female swimmer, Ye Shiwen has been in incredible form at the Olympics. She broke the world record in the 400m medley and she even swam the last 50m of the race faster than the Ryan Lochte, who won the same event in the men’s race.

Plus, she is only 16.

Plus, she smashed her own personal best by 5 seconds.

It was definitely an out of this world performance and so suspicion has been raised by various commentators. Chief among them has been the top American Swimming Coach, John Leonard who said that Miss Ye’s time was unbelievable and disturbing. He added that, “Any time someone has looked like superwoman in the history of our sport they have later been found guilty of doping.”

In the 1990s, lots of Chinese swimmers were found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs, so I presume that Leonard is thinking that where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

What’s your opinion?

Should the swimming world be suspicious of this super fast world record?
Are people being racist, because this swimmer is not from the West?

 
Find out what our Olympic podcasters have to say on the subject
 

Vocabulary Glossary

to smash sth

here – to break a record by a large amount

out of this world

amazing, incredible, unbelievable

to raise suspicion

unusual, not normal

chief among them

the main person

disturbing

worrying

performance enhancing drugs

steroids, doping

where there’s smoke, there’s fire

saying meaning, ‘If it looks like something is wrong, it probably is wrong’

M&S has reported its lowest clothes sales figures in over a decade. This has led to a number of senior staff leaving the company. Their replacements will hopefully be more successful and increase sales and profits. That is the idea anyhow. But what exactly is the problem? M&S is a very famous clothes retailer, famous for quality and affordable prices or it was. For some it is now a lost cause.

1) Experts and many customers say M&S has lost its touch. For years it was the best retailer with the highest quality clothes. Tourists would visit London just to go shopping and the first place they went to was M&S. Every year they had new clothes and labels that sold well. That’s
not true anymore. They seem to have lost the Midas touch. Shoppers now go to other stores because they are more fashionable and cheaper.

2) Some shoppers believe M&S have lost their way. They now have too many labels and have lost their identity. They want to sell clothes to young people, middle-aged people and the elderly. That’s very difficult. Their competitors focus on one group and it explains why M&S have lost
track of several markets.

3) M&S has had problems with timing. It hasn’t had enough winter clothes to meet demand this year. This meant that customers went to other shops. Maybe they didn’t order enough or maybe there was a problem with delivery but a few critics claim they have lost the plot entirely. They don’t seem to understand what they need to sell, when and how much of it. This explains their current losing streak.

4) Marketing and advertising is important for a business but M&S seems to have lost touch with reality. This year the company created several campaigns that seemed very old. One was about
recycling and another used people from the X Factor. Both were no longer fashionable and so the campaigns failed.
 

Lose idioms

A lost cause

Cannot be helped or made better

Has lost its touch

No longer successful at doing something

Lost the Midas touch

No longer lucky

Lost their way

Does not know where it is going

Have lost track of several markets

Does not know about certain groups

Have lost the plot

To behave and act in a crazy way

Losing streak

To be unlucky again and again

Have lost touch with reality

Does not know what is happening around it

Discussion Questions

Leave a comment and an SGI teacher will reply to you
 
Which is the biggest problem for M&S?
Why do they have these problems?
What can the company do now?
 
 

Rich people live a life that most of us will never experience. They have enough money to buy and do almost anything they want. Whether it be flying a fighter jet or having lunch on a deserted tropical island, money is no object for them.

Companies like Red Carpet Enterprises organise events for the ‘mega-rich’ and their business is booming. Although the rest of Europe is feeling the pinch of the economic crisis, this London-based enterprise is doing better than ever.

The company’s target market is top-level business people and millionaires who like to splash their money around. Some people may argue that they even have more money than sense. Spending 1 million dollars to hire an exotic island or having a champagne lunch onboard a huge luxury yacht are not normal activities.

The Jet Business is another company aimed at the super-rich. It sells planes and the owner will fly to your house, wherever it is, to sell you one. Priced from $19m to over $90m, they mainly target executives and entrepreneurs who have money to burn.

The rule seems to be that if you have enough money you can get anything you want. There are even companies that will fly you into space. It’s not unusual to hear of executives driving a sports car in the morning and a yacht in the afternoon. They spend money like there’s no tomorrow but they can afford it.

There are about 12m millionaires in the world. Those in Asia Pacific are greater in
number than in the US and explains why the luxury goods market stands at £1bn. However, the majority of these people actually prefer ‘experiences’ to physical products. They spend their money like it’s going out of fashion. A day hiking a mountain or taking a helicopter ride over a jungle is not unusual for them. An experience which is becoming more popular is relaxing at a private health spa hotel in the Maldives. Not just hiring a room but the entire hotel. This is an experience most of us will never have unless we suddenly come into a lot of money!

Money phrases

money is no object

they have so much money that they don’t worry about prices

feeling the pinch

experiencing the negative effects of the economic crisis and having to spend less money

doing better than ever

being more successful than before

splash their money around

to spend lots of money

more money than sense

to spend money on things that aren’t important

have money to burn

tohave an endless supply of money

spend money like there’s no tomorrow

to spend a lot of money

spend their money like it’s going out of fashion

to spend a lot of money

come into a lot of money

to inherit or win a large amount of money

Comment Section Questions

Leave a comment and an English teacher will give you a reply
 
What would you spend your money on if you were one of the super rich?

Would you prefer to have products or unique experiences?

 

All of Europe is talking about the Euro crisis and how hard business is… but not for ZARA. It is the world’s largest clothing retailer and has just made a €432m profit. That is even higher than forecasted. Their secret weapon is expansion.

Shoppers are generally spending less and many shops and retailers are closing down throughout Europe. Yet, Zara has reported a 30% increase in the number of customers visiting their stores. This is a huge amount of shoppers who now prefer Zara to other clothes shops.

As a result, the retail giant has become Spain’s largest company. It is so big that it can design, make and sell new clothes within just 2 weeks. That’s why they seem to have the newest fashions on the high street. This “fast fashion” formula has proven a hit at home and abroad.

Zara’s domestic market only accounts for a 1/4 of their sales so where is the rest from? Well, they have expanded almost everywhere, establishing chains in 85 countries including the very profitable emerging markets such as Asia. Due to this expansion they now only make 1/3 of their clothes in Spain and so save money on transport and labour costs.

The clothing giant’s main competitors are faring far worse.  Esprit and H&M see sales flagging. Zara, on the other hand, is expanding even more, opening 91 stores in 26 different markets including a flagship store on New York’s Fifth Avenue.

Zara has even expanded into other areas too. It now owns eight other retail brands including
Bershka, Massimo Dutti and Pull & Bear. In total Zara has more than 5600 stores worldwide and an estimated market value of nearly €48bn.

The future of Europe may be uncertain but Zara’s future looks very bright indeed!
 
 

Useful English Vocabulary Words

Euro crisis

The current big economic problems in Europe

Forecasted

Predicted

Secret weapon

Powerful strategy or method

Expansion

To grow and move into other areas

Retail giant

A big retail company

Fast fashion

Clothes shops that can create and sell new designs very quickly

Proven a hit

Become popular

Domestic market

Selling in the home country of the business

Emerging markets

New places where you can sell lots of products

Labour costs

The price you pay employees

Faring far worse

Doing badly in comparison

Sales flagging

Poor and maybe declining sales

Flagship store

The main shop which is a good symbol of the company

Discussion Questions

1. Why do you think Zara is so popular?
2. What can other companies learn from their success?

To get more young people involved in voluntary work every May there is the Scout Community Week. It is a time when members of the scouts volunteer to help their communities. There are always lots of community projects to work on. The scouts do many things like planting flowers, cleaning parks and even painting houses. This has a big impact on towns and cities in the UK. It gives young people something positive to do and sets a good example for others to follow. It’s also good work experience for the young people.

The scouts don’t earn any money, they work for free but encourage people to make donations. The money is for their local scout group and also for the national scout organistation. It creates much-needed funds for poor people to take part in scouting, funds expeditions and helps families buy uniforms. All the scout staff also work for free and there are scout groups up and down the country.

There are lots of reasons to do voluntary work and you don’t have to be a scout. Every year many young people, students, adults and even older people volunteer in different organisations. It’s a great way to meet local people and do something useful. You also get to practise your English and learn new skills. Whatever your interests are there is a project for you.

Scouting

For the National Volunteer website in the UK click here.

Volunteering Words

Retirement home

A special place where old people live and are looked after

Meals on wheels

A service where cheap food is delivered to people who cannot leave their house

Disabled people

People whose bodies do not work normally like someone who cannot walk

Refugees

People who leave their country because it is dangerous

Scouts

Young people who are members of the scouting organisation

Communities

Local people who help each other like a family

Sets a good example

Shows a good image for others to follow

Donations

When you give money to a charity

Funds

Amounts of money for something like a repair fund

Expeditions

Trips or excursions, often to natural places like a forest

Andy Murray went down fighting in the Wimbledon Tennis final on Sunday. The ambitious young Scotsman really had his eyes on the prize this year as Rafael Nadal had been knocked out earlier in the tournament. However, Roger Federer was going to stop at nothing as he was gunning for his seventeenth major singles title.

He had defeated Murray in three previous Grand Slam finals without the Scot even winning a set. But since training with his new coach (the legendary Ivan Lendl), Murray has become much more driven and single-minded in his pursuit of glory.

There was a feeling amongst the British public that this could have been Murray’s time to shine as it is the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – the last British winner was Virginia Wade in 1977 in the summer of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. So with the partisan supp0rt this time, Andy was extremely focussed and won the first set.

But Federer’s never-say-die attitude proved that he is still incredibly motivated to show that he may just be the best player ever….even years after he had been written off as a has-been.

For Murray it’s a case of back to the drawing board, but surely it’s only a matter of time before he goes all the way and wins his first Grand Slam. Until that day, he will be called a Scotsman, but if he wins we will call him a Brit! 

Being Determined

to go down fighting

to lose but not giving up until the game is completely over

ambitious

showing determination to succeed

to have your eyes on the prize

to only be focussed on success

to be gunning for sth/sb

to really try to acheive something with all your effort

to be driven

to be very ambitious

to be single-minded

to only have one goal/target

to be focussed

very concentrated on acheiving something

never-say-die attitude

never giving up

to be motivated

to have a strong aim

back to the drawing board

to start again with new plans so that you can have a new method of acheiving success

to go all the way

to be successful

Saturday 23^rd June 2012 was a very special day. Two former SGI teachers got married to each other – thus, making it the first SGI wedding in all of its 50 years! Yes, congratulations to the ever-lovable Amy Coppins and the super-talented Chris Wilson!

Amy left SGI earlier this year; however, she started way back in 2007. Chris also started teaching there at that time, but only for the summer. The students they taught will tell you what great teachers they were, although they probably would have been oblivious to their blossoming romance.  Not for some teachers though, they could instantly tell there was chemistry. Sure enough – and by chance – they were thrust together to prepare for the annual SGI summer party. Chris smoothly asked for her number to help them co-ordinate the strenuous task of putting up decorations. Who would’ve thought this would have led to him popping the question a few years later and moving with his fiancé to Bristol where they would spend most of their engagement?

After much planning, the big day finally came last week. Very much like Amy to go for the alternative, their countryside wedding was held in a barn in the heart of the Kent countryside. The set-up was mostly hand-crafted materials with original designs and bunting all around the venue, mainly produced by the lovely bridesmaids. A few SGI teachers were in attendance to witness the arrival of a stunning Amy, walking down the aisle towards a centre circle with the nervous-looking groom looking in awe of his beautiful bride. After their vows, we sang a few solemn and meaningful songs; “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong and “Love me Tender” by Elvis Presley. Afterwards was the obligatory confetti throwing and photos, taken in the lush outdoors (thankfully it wasn’t raining). The only hiccup was the numerous bugs getting caught inside Amy’s incredible wedding dress!

The meal was then served which consisted of 3 delicious courses and our very own SGI table reminisced about old times and colleagues. To emphasise the SGI influence, the ever-delectable Melissa Humphries rolled back the years as social programme co-ordinator by hosting a TV theme quiz show. Unfortunately not even her enthusiasm could help us – our table came last. Next up were the speeches, with the Best Man going first giving plenty of anecdotes. Finally, Chris’s old band played a number of songs, including himself singing a duet with his new brother-in-law; a heart-warming rendition of “Where Do You Go To (my lovely)”, bringing the biggest smile from Amy since hearing Chris say “I do”. She herself became a backing singer for the lovely number, “Video Killed The Radio Star” and who’d have thought she had a voice in tune behind that glowing smile?? Lastly, a lot of dancing, drinking and partying!

In true SGI fashion, everyone had a wonderful day, and I’m sure the newlyweds will have an even better time on their honeymoon. If it wasn’t for SGI, this special love and event would never have taken place. Relationships have come and gone through their doors, but this is the first that resulted in marriage. So when you come to SGI, you may just find a little bit more than learning and improving your English – you could fall head over heels in love, just like our very own Chris and Amy!

Marriage Vocbulary

A blossoming romance 

a developing love between two people

Chemistry

mutual attraction

To pop the question

to make an offer of marriage

Fiancé / Fiancée 

future groom / bride

Engagement 

a promise to marry

Bridesmaid

a member of the bride’s wedding party

Aisle

a passage between rows of seats where the bride walks at the beginning of the wedding

Groom

a man to be married on the wedding day

Bride

a woman to be married on the wedding day

Marriage Vows

promises the bride and groom make to each other during the ceremony

Confetti 

small pieces of coloured paper thrown at special occasions, particularly weddings

The Best Man

the groom’s main attendant at the wedding

Brother-in-Law (Sister-in-Law, Father-in-Law etc.)

a relative by marriage

Newlywed

a person recently married

Honeymoon 

the holiday after the wedding

To fall heard over heels in love

to fall deeply in love with someone, especially suddenly

This year a number of famous celebrity couples have broken up. For some of them it’s the first time but for others it isn’t.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were one of the most famous couples in the world. He was a super rich film star and she was a young actress when they met. They seemed to be very happy together and had a large family but things changed. Now they have split up. Tom was married several times before so it’s not the first time he has to get a divorce. For Katie, however, it’s her first marriage.

Another famous couple is Johnny Depp and French actress Vanessa Paradis. They have announced they will end their relationship and go their separate ways. But why? Is having a relationship too hard for celebrities? Do they spend too long apart? Do they receive too much attention from the media?

Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore also called it quits in 2012. He is a young actor and she is a very famous actress who was previously married to Bruce Willis but they separated many years ago. Some believe it was their different ages that made their relationship difficult because he was a lot younger than her. Like many other celebrity relationships, she also had children from her past marriages.

Nobody really knows why celebrity couples decide to break up or file for a divorce. Some say they had differences or that they just drifted apart and no longer feel the same way about each other. Whatever the reasons are, it’s always surprising when it happens. Some couples though manage to patch things up or get back together later on. Whether Tom and Katie, Johnny and Vanessa or Ashton and Demi will rekindle their relationship is unsure but many fans hope they do.

Relationship phrases

These phrases can be used to explain that 2 people have finished their relationship and are no longer together

 
To break up

To split up

To end a relationship

To go their separate ways

To call it quits

To separate

These are for when a marriage ends and they want a divorce

 
To get a divorce

To file for a divorce

These are other phrases for talking about relationships

To drift apart

  When the 2 people don’t spend much time together and don’t feel close anymore

To patch things up

When 2 people fix their relationship problems and become a couple again

To get back together

When 2 people who were together then split up now become a couple again

To rekindle their relationship

When 2 people who were together start seeingeach other again (usually after a long split

Discussion Questions

 
Please leave a comment

 
Do you think that celebrity couples break up more easily than ‘normal people’?

Are you surprised when they do?

Do they just do it for publicity?

HTML is the language of the internet.  Programmers use it to make websites. If you have a blog you may have seen HTML. Most of us just type in text and click and choose what we want it to look like but programmers use HTML code. If you have ever embedded a YouTube video you have probably seen and used HTML to do it.

HTML was invented a long time ago before blogs, video-sharing and other Social Media. It did not support audio and video. So, a company made FLASH which is used on YouTube, lots of other video and animation sites. If you have an iPad or iPhone you probably know that you cannot use Flash. Why? Because Steve Jobs didn’t like it.

Nowadays, we like to use lots of videos, MP3 files and other widgets on our blogs and websites….basically all social media. But because HTML doesn’t support them we need to download ‘plug-ins’ or ‘players’. This is very time consuming and it doesn’t always work. It also makes websites slow because you may have lots of them and they all need to download at the same time.

HTML 5 is a dream come true. It supports videos and audio so you don’t need to use all the other ‘add-ons’. This means faster and more reliable websites that shouldn’t crash.

HTML 5 isn’t finished yet but many companies have already started to use it. They have been changing their websites to HTML 5. This is brilliant news for iPad and iPhone users.  They will be able to use every website.
 
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Social Media Vocabulary

HTML 5

Hypertext Markup Language 5. The latest version of the main computer language for making web pages

Blog

A weB LOG. A small website for people to write anything they want on a regular basis.

Embedded

Put inside something else like you embed a YouTube video into your blog.

Social Media

Web sites for people to interact like Facebook and Twitter.

To support something

To be compatible with it like HTML now supports video

Widget

A small application that can be used on another blog or website

Plug-ins

A small application that improves others like a plug-in to let you view videos on another site.

Players

An application that lets you watch or listen to a file like Windows Media Player

Add-ons

Extra applications

To crash

When a website, blog, widget, plug-in or application stops working

 
British weathermen predicted yesterday that the UK would be battered by the ‘perfect storm’ over today and the weekend: torrential downpours, thunderstorms, gale force winds, hail and flooding have all been forecast.

Well, I am glad to report that (at the time of writing) it seems that they have slightly miscalculated.  Not only have they made a slight error, they seem to have got it completely wrong.

Today in London, the sun has been shining brightly and people are walking around in t-shirts and shorts. In fact, I would go as far to say as that it’s been a very nice summer’s day. Which means, all in all, that the weathermen were clueless on this one.

They have done it before, too. A very famous BBC weatherman, Michael Fish said this during his weather forecast on 15 October 1987:  “Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way… well, if you’re watching, don’t worry, there isn’t!”
 

 
That night, the worst storm hit Britain since 1703 causing terrible damage and killing 18 people.

I think that everyone can agree that the weathermen were quite a bit wide of the mark in this particular case. In fact, you might go as far to say as they got it so spectacularly wrong that they couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery.

Of course, everyone makes mistakes and we shouldn’t be so harsh on the poor old weathermen. But the thing that annoys me is that they never own up to their mistakes. They never admit that they got it completely wrong the previous day. Have you ever heard a weatherman say, “Yesterday I said that it was going to be sunny today, but actually it was hammering down with rain all day. Sorry about that. Sometimes I don’t know my arse from my elbow.”???

No, I thought not. Me neither.

Being Wrong Vocabulary

to slightly miscalculate

to make a small mistake

to make a slight error

to make a small mistake

to get it completely wrong

to be 100% wrong

to be clueless

to be an idiot

to be a bit wide of the mark

to make a small to medium error

to get sth spectacularly wrong

to really make a bad mistake

to not be able to organise a piss-up in a brewery

to be an idiot that gets everything wrong, making mistakes all the time

everyone makes mistakes

Phrase meaning we can all be wrong sometimes, it’s only human

to not know your arse from your elbow

to be an idiot that always makes very big mistakes

 
Here’s 3 more weather-related, recent blogs you might be interested in:

1. Listen to the SGI native-speaker teachers having a natural conversation about British Weather in April this year.
2. Watch Prince Charles giving a weather forecast on the BBC.
3. The Sun is Shining in London: Win a free week of lessons at SGI.

The phrasal verbs are in bold in the text and then explained below.

 
As the London Olympics draws ever closer, the daily news stories about them are hotting up. Today the world got its first glimpse of what the organisers have dreamt up for the Opening Ceremony. If you think back to previous Olympics, then the phrase, ‘opening ceremony’ probably conjours up images of ridiculously huge fireworks, doesn’t it? Well, it turns out that LOCOG (London Organising Commitee for the Olympic Games) have gone off in a completely different direction.

A few eyebrows may have been raised today as they showed off the plans to what essentially looked like a big garden.

The brainchild who came up with it all is Danny Boyle, the director who walked off with the best film Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire. He teamed up with the director of Billy Elliot, Stephen Daldry to create the plans. You would have thought that super creative guys like these would have blown everyone away with their ideas, but this seems a little bit underwhelming, if you ask me. OK, yes it ticks the boxes of some well known cliches about England (green fields, calm summer life with people playing cricket on the village green) but does that really tell the true story the urban, multi-ethnic reality of the UK?
 

 

However, I think that the organisers are holding something back and the complete plans will not all be revealed until the actual show. Surely, there have got to be some fireworks involved somewhere! Surely some A-list British rock star will show up to add a bit of pazazz to the proceedings.

It’s going to turn everyone off and be a big anti-climax if a global audience sits down in front of their tellys epecting the greatest show on Earth and they only get to see some anonymous members of the British public taking a cup of tea in a quaint English country garden.

I think that there’s going to be a few surprises in store.
 

Listen to what the SGI teachers have to say about the build-up to The London Olympics in one of our natural conversation podcasts.
 

PHRASAL VERBS

to draw closer

sth gets nearer and nearer / happening very soon

to hot up

to get more exciting

to dream up

to invent / have a new idea / to create

to conjour up

to raise a memory

to turn out

the true meaning of sth becomes known

to go off

to choose. Here it means to choose an unexpected way of doing things

to show off

to reveal / to display the best things

to come up with

to invent / have a new idea / to create

to walk off with

to unexpectedly win sth

to team up

to collaborate with sb / to work together with sb

to blow sb away

to make sb amazed at sth fantastic

to hold sth back

to keep sth secret / to not reveal everything

to show up

to appear (perhaps unexpectedly)

to turn sb off sth

to make sb bored or uninterested in sth

to sit down

Here: to have a seat and wait for sth to happen

It all began with a record breaking flotilla on The River Thames. A seemingly endless number of boats, rumoured to be over 1,000, followed the Queen’s barge past world-famous London landmarks. Despite the ceaseless rain, there were thousands of people with undampened spirit cheering her Majesty from the banks of The Thames.
 

 
There was an abundant outpouring of positive emotion for The Queen as an immeasurable number of well-wishers thronged on to The Mall outside Buckingham Palace to sing ‘God Save The Queen’, ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ and chant ‘We Want The Queen’.
 

 
 
However, unlike her unending reign, the Queen chose to keep her Jubilee Speech short and sweet.

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Speech

“The events that I have attended to mark my Diamond Jubilee have been a humbling experience. It has touched me deeply to see so many thousands of families, neighbours and friends celebrating together in such a happy atmosphere.

But Prince Philip and I want to take this opportunity to offer our special thanks and appreciation to all those who have had a hand in organising these Jubilee celebrations. It has been a massive challenge, and I am sure that everyone who has enjoyed these festive occasions realises how much work has been involved.

I hope that memories of all this year’s happy events will brighten our lives for many years to come. I will continue to treasure and draw inspiration from the countless kindnesses shown to me in this country and throughout the Commonwealth.
Thank you all.”

The Diamond Jubilee Concert held in honour of the Queen was a different matter though. An untold number of stars with never-ending careers (Yes, I’m talking about you Elton John, Paul McCartney & Kylie Minogue) did their same-old, same-old routines to a crowd that gave the biggest cheer of the night to the most enduring rock star of them all, The Queen herself.
 

Yes, you heard it. McDonalds is going healthy, again! You may remember the film SUPERSIZE ME. It was about a man in good physical shape who ate at McDonalds every day. A month later his doctor said he was sick and had to stop eating Fast Food. After the film was made McDonalds started selling salads and even changed the colours of some restaurants to green.
 

 
McDonalds are now selling a new healthy fizzy drink called Fruitizz with their kids meals. Their menu has other food which they say is good for your health. This includes carrot sticks and mineral water. They want to help children eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetable every day so they can stay as fit as a fiddle.

Many people say that Fast Food is bad for your body but as part of a balanced diet and with regular exercise, you can stay fighting fit. The problem is that a lot of Fast Food contains large amounts of sugar. For example, 100 ml of Fruitizz has 40 calories and about 10 grams of sugar. That is more than most fizzy soft drinks like Coca Cola. That much sugar is bad for your teeth. Children need milk because it has lots of calcium and helps their teeth grow and become very strong.

To stay in good health you should avoid eating lots of sugar because it can make you very fat. This is a serious issue in England and America. Children and teenagers are increasingly not fit and healthy because they don’t eat the right food or do enough exercise. They like Burgers, Pizza and playing computer games.

Doctors always recommend us to eat the right things to stay in the pink. A bad diet can make you sick. We also need exercise to keep our bodies in a good condition or to be as fit as a butcher’s dog.

Healthy Vocabulary – phrases about being healthy

Healthy

In good physical shape

Good for your health

As fit as a fiddle

Fighting fit

Strong

In good health

Fit and healthy

Stay in the pink

In a good condition

As fit as a butcher’s dog

Discussion Questions

 
How important is staying healthy?

How healthy is Fast Food?

In the video below, a chef explains how to make a famous English dessert/snack called flapjack. If you’ve never tried it, believe me, it’s incredible. Try to make it yourself and enjoy the wonder of flapjack and pretend you are sitting in an English garden in the summer sun having a conversation about the upcoming Olympics.

The secret ingredient is the golden syrup – that might be difficult to find in your country. But, if you can get your hands on some, you won’t believe how delicious it is…it’s tastes like an angel crying on your tongue!

Enjoy the video and use the transcript (below) if it’s too difficult to understand. Use the images to try and understand what she is saying.

Some of the recipe vocabulary is explained below the vid.
 
What’s your favourite sweet-tooth recipe from your country? Let me know in the comments, please! I’ll try to make it
 

Recipe Vocabulary Transcript

 
Going to be making flapjacks, which have quite an unjust reputation for being a healthy snack, when in fact, as you can see, they contain butter, sugar and golden syrup. I think the mitigating factor might be the oats. So, we’ve got jumbo oats, which give a really nice interesting texture because they’re chunky… and Delia uses them. And I’ve also used some ‘Quick-Cook’ oats, which are cut more finely. Now this is a tip I picked up online. It actually helps to bind the mixture together, so it doesn’t fall apart when it’s cooked. You could also use flour – the National Trust Book of Baking uses flour, but I think it gives a sort of strange, fudgy, fine texture which I don’t really like, so I’m using two types of oats instead.

First step, we’re going to turn the oven on. Now you to have to decide at this point whether you want quite soft, classic flapjacks, in which case we’re going to go for 150 degrees. Or whether you want those lovely, crispy, thinner ones, in which case you’re going to go for 190.

So we’re going to start off by making the softer kind of flapjack. I’m going to use this tin here which is quite deep, as you can see. Just need to grease it with a little bit of butter. Measure it slightly larger than the tin. Now you’re ready to make your mixture.

First of all you need 300 grams of butter. I would usually use unsalted butter because that way you control the amount of salt you put in yourself. Add that to a saucepan on a medium heat, just to melt the butter. Now you just tip in the sugar: 75 grams of demerara sugar. And then, add 6 tablespoons of golden syrup. It is quite difficult to measure completely accurately because it does cling to the spoon. But don’t worry too much about that. You just really want to dissolve the sugar at this point and mix it all together.

So you need 300 grams of jumbo oats and 150 of the Quick-Cook oats which are the finer ones. Turn the heat off and just tip the oats in. Stirring until they’re all nicely coated. Add a pinch of salt at this point if you’re using unsalted butter. I think it just brings out the flavour of the other ingredients. So, once it’s all nicely coated, then we take the tin and just spoon it in. Push it into all the corners. This will give you a more solid, final texture. Put it in there for 40 minutes. And let it cook.

The crispy flapjacks uses the same mixture. In fact, everything’s exactly the same. You just need to turn the oven up slightly higher and use preferably a slightly larger tin so you can spread the mixture out more thinly. There we are. Here are our nice crispy, golden flapjacks. Once you’ve left them to cool for a few minutes in the tin, you just cut them into squares. If you do this while they’re still hot, then it’ll be much easier than leaving them until they’ve set. They might feel a little bit squidgy. But don’t worry, they will firm up as they set and cool down.

It’s very important with flapjacks to let them cool in the tin. If you take them out, they won’t set and you’ll end up with those crumbly things that are no good for taking on picnics.

Recipe vocabulary glossary

texture

the ‘feel’ of sth – like soft or hard

chunky

food that has big bits in it

to cut finely

to cut into thin bits

to bind

to stick little bits together into one big bit

Stirring

to stir – to move a spoon around in a liquid

coated

food that is covered in sth else…like chicken coated in breadcrumbs

to cool

to allow sth to become colder

to set

as sth becomes colder it becomes hard and solid

squidgy

soft, spongy and wet

crumbly

food that easily breaks into small pieces

It’s cheap, the songs are terrible, the performances are abysmal, the dancing is ridiculous and the outfits are just plain silly but we still watch the Eurovision Song Contest. Why? What is it about this group of amateur performers that people like to watch every single year?

For those of you who don’t know, the Eurovision is a singing contest that is held in May every year. Each participating country chooses 1 singer or group to represent them. This involves a competition so that only the best are chosen, or that’s the idea anyway. Then, they all perform together and countries vote. The artist with the highest votes wins and hosts the next event.

What people seem to like about the Eurovision is that it’s fun, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. the presenters are quite light-hearted and the way they speak is even tongue-in-cheek. The songs aren’t very professional and are very poppy. This is why this year’s UK entry was a bit surprising. 76 year old Engelbert Humperdinck sang a rather slow and traditional acoustic ballad. This is unusual because most Eurovision songs tend to be pop or disco songs. So, it came as no surprise that he finished 25th out of 26. England suffered another national disaster. Take a look at the video here:

In contrast, the winner was a much younger female singer called Loreen from Sweden who sang a modern dancy number, wore trendy clothes and actually danced. Not like Engelbert who wore a suit and just sang. Take a look here:

Some say England are cursed but maybe it’s just that we don’t enter good singers and songs. The UK music charts are full of great bands, some of the best in the world, so why do we enter such terrible performers who will never win?? Answers in the comments box please!!

Language about the bad parts of the Eurovision

1) Negative words
 

Cheap

Didn’t cost a lot

Terrible

Very bad

Abysmal

Really really bad

Ridiculous

Incredibly bad or silly

Just plain silly

Honestly, quite stupid

Amateur

A very low or beginner level

Aren’t very professional

Unprofessional

2) Types of music
 

Poppy

A pop song or very similar

Fun

Not serious

Acoustic ballad

A slow song with an acoustic guitar

A modern dancy number

An up-to-date dance song

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The discourse markers are highlighted in bold in the text. Maybe they are obvious what they mean. If you need an explanation for a phrase or vocabulary, please ask me in the comments section and I will do my best to clarify.

Well, what a week it has been for the Olympic Torch!

First of all, the Olympic Flame arrived in Cornwall in South-West Britain. It had been flown from Greece on a special plane escorted by Princess Anne, David Beckham and other VIPs who had been involved in the bid for the Olympics. You might be thinking that having a flame on a plane is not allowed these days… and you’d be right. The Olympic Flame was carried in 4 specially designed miner’s lamps.
 

 

The next day, the Olympic Torch started off its 8,000 mile trip around the UK until it gets to its destination of the Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremony on July 27th.The first torchbearer (the person carrying the flame) was Ben Ainslie, a three-times Olympic gold medallist for sailing. Thousands of people turned up at dawn to see Ben carry the flame from Land’s End, the southwestern most tip of mainland UK.
 

 
Surprisingly, 2 days later, the torch went out due to a faulty burner whilst being carried by David Follett – a wheelchair badminton player. In the event of this exact situation happening, the back-up miner’s lamps are transported alongside the main flame and it was re-lit in no time at all and continued on its journey.

By the way, every torchbearer has their own torch and they have the right to keep them. Despite the fact that you would think they are something to be kept and cherished as a family heirloom, unfortunately, some torchbearers had put them up for sale on ebay… even though they hadn’t even been used!
One Olympic Torch up for sale had even received a bid of £150,000. As a result of the huge criticism that some sellers started to receive, many of them came out to say that they were going to give any money from the sale to charity. Incidentally, the Olympic torches cost the torchbearers £215 to buy.

Following on from that scandal, Will.i.am  from The Black Eyed Peas had a turn at carrying the Olympic Torch. Nearly all of the 8,000 torchbearers have been selected by family and friends because of good work that they have done in the local community. Therefore, it was hard not to look on the inclusion of  Will.i.am cynically: he is not British, not an athlete and hasn’t done charitable work for local communities in the UK. However, he is a high-profile judge on a prime-time TV singing show at the moment that needs free advertising. To make matters worse, he was tweeting on his phone to his twitter followers whilst carrying the flame, which makes a mockery of the whole event in my opinion. Frankly, I think that there’s no excuse for celebrities being able to bend the rules like this.
 

 
Subsequently, Didier Drogba from Chelsea FC got the honour of carrying the flame through Swindon – well, at least he’s involved in sport! Someone ran from the crowd to try to grab the flame from him, but he was tackled by the police escorts before he got near Didier.

Finally, the torch got back into Royal hands as Zara Phillips (Princess Anne’s daughter) rode on her horse into Cheltenham racecourse showing off the flame to the crowd’s delight.
 

If you want to hear what SGI teachers think about the build-up to the London Olympics, you can listen to the podcast here.
 
 

• Terminall ill boy sends farewell message
• His heart-breaking video goes viral
• “Live live to the fullest”

 
A terminally-ill Australian boy, Shaun Wilson Miller was making a heart-rending, private video farewell message to his family and friends. Accidentally, he posted the video on to YouTube via his Facebook account and has become the latest viral-video sensation.

Doctors have told Shaun that he doesn’t have long left to live after his body rejected his second heart transplant. So he recorded an agonising message to say that he didn’t want his friends to “feel sorry for him”. Even though the video is upsetting and traumatic at times, with Shaun fighting back tears, the overall message is uplifting: Shaun urges viewers to “live life to the fullest” in one of the video’s most poignant moments.

It’s hard to think that anyone could see this gut-wrenching message and not become emotional at his inspiring bravery.

Shaun’s tearjerker video has lead to an outpouring of emotion and donations in his native Australia and the Herald Sun newspaper reports that he is not pitiful for himself and is definitely living live to fullest in the short time he has left. In recent weeks, Shaun has been to Disneyland, met some of his sports star heroes and appeared on one of his favourite TV programmes, Neighbours.

I think that Shaun’s tragic story and the courageous way that he is dealing with it puts things into perspective for us all that get stressed about little, stupid, unimportant things in life. My advice: Say “I love you” today to someone that is really important to you.

Shaun’s Heart-breaking words

 
Hi Guys. I have some bad news I wanna tell you all. I have chronic heart rejection and I won’t be here for as long as I thought. What I wanna say is that this has been an awesome ride and I have no regrets. Live life to the fullest because you never know what’s going to happen. I just wanna thank all my family and friends, who’ve been my life. Please don’t cry for me. I will be OK. I do ask all my friends to make sure my Dad will be OK. I will miss you guys so much. I love you all. I know this is bad news, but good news came as well. I now have a girlfriend now called Maddie and I’m so happy at the moment. Nothing can bring me down. I hope I left footprints in all of your hearts because I’m going to miss you all and I love you dearly. Bye. Love from Shaun.
 
 

Heart-breaking Vocabulary

heart-breaking

very upsetting

heart-rending

sth causing great sadness

agonising

causing great pain

upsetting

sth that makes you unhappy

traumatic

emotionally disturbing

poignant

making you have a feeling of sadness

gut-wrenching

extremely upsetting

tearjerker

a story evoking sadness and sympathy; a story that makes you cry

The close of the English football season provided a remarkable comeback story, the likes of which had never been seen before.

A Hollywood scriptwriter wouldn’t have dared to invent a story so ridiculous. In unbelievably dramatic fashion, Manchester City won the Premiership Football league in the dying seconds of the last match of the season that amazed even people with absolutely no interest in football.

The winning goal, scored with the last kick of the game, meant that Man City had made a comeback so incredible that normally dull commentators went absolutely mental (see video).

At the start of the game, Man City only had to win against their opponents, Queen’s Park Rangers (one of the worst teams this year) and they would beat their arch rivals, Manchester United into second place in the league. If they lost or drew, Man Utd would be handed the title if they won their game. After 90 minutes played, Man Utd had finished and won their game 1-0 and Man City were losing 2-1, with 4 minutes of added-time still to be played.

Man City also has a history of screwing things up and pretty much nobody believed that they could come back from the dead and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Maybe it was nerves, but the millionaire players of Man City, some of the best-paid footballers on the planet, had no response to two great goals from QPR and a last-minute rally looked impossible. The cameras showed pictures of the mostly silent crowd looking on in disbelief, crying and even leaving the stadium. But in the 92nd minute, Dzeko scored and suddenly there was a huge resurgence in the Man City team. But still, all looked lost. Only victory would be good enough to win the league title after a 44-year wait.

But then in the 94th minute, Aguero, rising like a phoenix from the ashes burst into the QPR penalty area and slammed home the winner for Man City, sending the crowd into absolute bedlam.

With the final kick of the season, Man City had gone from villains to heroes, from chokers to champions, rising like Lazarus from the grave and completely transcending sport with a piece of pure theatre.

That was liquid football!

Comeback Vocabulary

to make a comeback

to be in a winning position after being in a losing position (usually in sport)

to come back from the dead

to return to a successful position from a very bad position – going from dead to alive/very bad to very good

to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat

to win at the last moment when it seemed that you were 100% going to lose

rally

to come together to continue fighting

resurgence

an increase in activity or strength after a period of weakness or little activity

to rise like a phoenix from the ashes

to make an amazing comeback

to go from villains to heroes

to become very successful after being in the worst position

to go from chokers to champions

‘choker’ – a person who performs badly in a high-pressure situation

to rise like Lazarus from the grave

as from the story in the bible where Jesus resurrects Lazarus from the dead – i.e. going from dead to alive

 
Do you know of a better comeback story than this?
 

Central London received all the pomp and circumstance of the State Opening of Parliament this week. This lavish ceremony is an annual event which normally takes place in October but has now been moved to May to fit in with new sessions of parliament.

This spectacle full of grandeur first began over 500 years ago and all the pageantry is exactly the same as back then…but they’ve probably fitted a new red carpet at some point along the way.

It all begins with the searching of the cellars underneath the Palace of Westminster. This is to avoid anything happening again like The Gunpowder Plot – this was when Guy Fawkes (maybe the first ever terrorist) tried unsuccessfully to blow up King James I in 1605.

Then a politician from the House of Commons is taken hostage (don’t worry, it’s only for ceremony – it’s not serious) by the Crown. This tradition was started by King Charles I, who had a very bad relationship with Parliament and eventually had his head chopped off after the end of 2 civil wars with them.

Eventually, the Queen arrives (as you can see in the video) in her horse-drawn carriage at the Sovereign’s Entrance (which is a special doorway only used once a year by the Queen). What you can’t see in the video is that the police close down all the roads in central London for this, so it causes a traffic nightmare.

While she is there, the flag on top of parliament is changed from The Union Jack to The Royal Standard (to show that she’s in the building).

The Queen, dressed in all the ceremonial robes, slowly makes her way to the House of Lords, sits down on the throne and then says, “My Lords, pray be seated”.

At this point, Black Rod (a Lords official) is ordered to go and get all the members of the House of Commons from the other chamber in the Palace of Westminster. He walks towards the Commons with the Doorkeeper of the House of Lords and a Police Inspector. As they begin their short journey the policeman/woman shouts, “Hats off, Strangers”.

As Black Rod approaches the Commons, the doors are slammed shut. This is symbolic to show that the Commons are independent and have the right to debate without the presence of the monarch. Black Rod then knocks on the door 3 times and they are then opened. He enters the House of Commons and bows to the speaker and declares: “Mr Speaker, The Queen commands this honourable House to attend Her Majesty immediately in the House of Peers.”

As you can hear on the video, this is unofficially traditionally followed by a joke from a very long-serving Labour MP, Dennis Skinner, who is an anti-royalist. Then the speaker follows Black Rod back to the House of Lords, followed by the leaders of the political parties and then everyone else…except Dennis Skinner, who stays in his seat.

The Queen then reads a speech that she did not write! It is written for her by the government of the day and it details all the plans for the forthcoming session of the parliamentary year.

The Queen isn’t smiling in the video because she probably wishes that she was at home with her corgies!
 

 

Royalty Vocabulary

pomp and circumstance

splendid celebration, usually involving lots of people in uniforms, trumpets, swords, gold and royalty

pageantry

elaborate display

grandeur

impressive appearance or style full of splendor

the crown

Here referring to officials who are representing the Queen

horse-drawn carriage

like an old fashioned car, but with horses instead of an engine . Obviously the queen’s carriage is very expensive (see video)

The Royal Standard

the flag used by HRH The Queen

ceremonial robes

expensive clothes only used on very special occasions

throne

the big chair that a king or queen sits on – not like the chair that you are sitting on now!

monarch

the ruling King or Queen

Corgies

the small, funny dogs that the Queen owns

But this time, it’s a bit special. HRH Prince Charles tried his hand at ‘doing the weather’ today on BBC Scotland television news, which must have been surprising for viewers tuning in to see what their daywould be like weather-wise. Weathermen, like news readers, typically have voices that are easy to understand, so it was unusual to hear the Prince with his received pronunciation accent talking about sunshine and rain.

Once Charles had got used to ‘the clicker’ (the gadget that makes the pictures move forward), he seemed to do the forecast like a professional. His famously exaggerated and expressive hand movements made him a natural for the job.

When he mentions Balmoral (the holiday home of the Royal family) thinks turn a bit humorous – well as funny as you can be when you get royalty on the BBC.

But whether you hear it from the weatherman/woman or royalty, the weather forecast is always filled with specific vocabulary that needs explaining if you are not a native speaker: the difficult vocabulary is highlighted in bold and then explained below the text.

 

 
Prince Charles’ weather forecast vocabulary:

Well it’s an unsettled picture as we head towards the end of the week. This afternoon it’ll be cold, wet and windy across most of Scotland. We are under the influence of low pressure and this weather front pushing northwards is bringing clouds and outbreaks of rain. The rain, of course, will be heaviest over the borders and around Edinburgh, where it could lead to difficult conditions on the roads. In the west, rain will be lighter and patchier with maybe a few drier interludes over Dumfries House in Ayrshire. There will be snow for the higher ground of the Highlands and Aberdeenshire. There will be the potential for a few flurries over Balmoral…who the hell wrote this script! The best of the drier and brighter weather will, of course, be over the far northern isles and far north of the mainland. So a little hazy sunshine for the Castle of Mey and Caithness. But a cold day everywhere with temperatures of just eight celsius and a brisk north easterly wind.
Thank God it isn’t a bank holiday!

Weather Forecast vocabulary

unsettled

changeable: the weather will be changing a lot – sometimes good, sometimes bad

under the influence

We are experiencing: We are having

weather front

a body of weather: can also say ‘cold front’ or ‘warm front’

outbreaks of rain

rain that starts suddenly, usually not for a long time

difficult conditions on the roads

not easy to drive because of the amount of water

patchier

small bursts of rain, only in some areas

drier interludes

small periods of time without rain

flurries

short periods of rain in windy conditions

hazy sunshine

sunshine that is not 100% (difficult to describe!!!)

brisk

fast and strong

 
Going shopping can often be expensive nowadays. The prices of products and goods are frequently high in most shops. Sometimes when you go in a shop you only want to look at their products. However, more often than not, you purchase something.

Why?

Shops and shop assistants use different sales tactics:

1) Flattery

Compliments work on everyone. Shop assistants consistently say positive things about you and how good their products are for you. They may say that you look amazing in one of their shirts or how fashionable you look using their latest iPhone. Time and time again this really works.

2) Guilt

We all like helpful staff who answers our questions and tell us information. A lot of customers feel bad about not buying something when an assistant is very nice. This happens repeatedly in shoe shops because the assistants have to find bring you the shoes. After you have tried on the 5th pair you may feel guilty and just buy one.

3) The last product

Some assistants say that they only have 1 product left, like the last laptop or pair of jeans. They by and large tell you to buy them quick because there are no more. You see this online when you book rooms in a hotel. On a regular basis, the websites say ‘1 room left’ and suggest you ‘reserve now’. This is commonly used in sales when prices are reduced.

4) False discounts

The big sales are typically after Christmas. Some prices are reduced by 50% or even 70% so you can find very cheap products. However, not all of the discounts are real. The original prices are sometimes increased so that shops can afford to reduce them to the normal price. This regularly happens with cars.

Ways of saying often

 
Frequently
More often than not
Consistently
Time and time again
Repeatedly
Normally
By and large
On a regular basis
Commonly
Typically
Regularly

Discussion questions

1. Do these tactics work on you?
2. Do you know any other tactics?

Microsoft’s research department is developing a home operating system called the HomeOS. In the future it will control every electrical device in your house.

The HomeOS can use single devices or several devices together. It can control the locks, TVs, Hi-Fi, cameras, air conditioning and anything else that is electrical. It turns a house into a ‘smart home’ so you can have more time to relax.

It is a simple system and easy to use. There will a number of main tasks like for lights or heating. Devices can connect to these tasks or you can download more from the internet. It will be like using Apps on your phone.

The system is intelligent so it can guess what you need and do it. But the best thing about the HomeOS is you can use it with your mobile phone. You will be able to manage all your home from inside or even outside. When you are on the train home you could turn on the cooker to make your dinner.

Most people like the idea because it will make our lives easier and maybe safer. However, a few people say it is a bad idea. They think it is dangerous because the system will control everything. If there is a computer problem or no electricity you may get trapped in your house or won’t be able to enter.

At the moment, Microsoft is planning how to make drivers for every device. A driver is needed so the device can be used with the HomeOS. They are also developing a Home Store website where people can buy and download these apps. It is the Microsoft version of iTunes.

Many university students are helping Microsoft develop this technology. There are also 12 houses testing HomeOS prototypes.

Useful language

Operating system/OS

The main software on a computer like Windows

Electrical device

Something that uses electricity like a TV

Task

Something that needs to be done

To connect

To join together

Apps

Applications or small programs for a mobile phone

To manage sthg

To control sthg

Turn on sthg

To make it work like when you turn on a laptop

To be trapped

When you cannot leave somewhere like in prison

Driver

A small computer program you need to make a device work with your computer like a printer driver

Prototype

The first model that is being tested

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Discussion questions

 
1)    How would you use the HomeOS?

2)    Do you want to live in a ‘smart home’?

The London Marathon last Sunday attracted it’s usual thousands of entrants who were running to raise money for charity. The London Marathon is famous for its fund-raising reputation. This year, the post race news was dominated by the tragic story of Claire Squires, who collapsed and died in the final mile of the race. The 30-year-old hairdresser’s chosen charity was The Samaritans, because her mother had volunteered with the charitable organisation for more than 20 years.

As with many people who do things for charity these days, Claire had a page on the justgiving.com website, where supporters could pledge their donations online. On justgiving the standard statement asks people to “dig deep and donate now” and Claire’s personal message said “if everyone I know could donate £5.00 that would be a great help and change lives”. Before the marathon began, Claire had raised £500 in sponsorship, but since her story went viral, donations have been pouring in from all over the world. At the time of writing, there have been 57,952 donations and the total raised has been £659,286.50.

Her devastated family have urged well-wishers to give what they can, so that her death can result in something positive. They said: “Don’t stop giving – just like her. It’s what she would have wanted.”

In 2006, Sir Steve Redgrave (winner of five consecutive Olympic gold medals for rowing) set the Guinness World Record for money raised through a marathon by collecting £1.8 million in sponsorship. In 2011, Steve Chalke broke the record by raising £2.32 million.

Charity Vocabulary

raise money for charity

to get money from people, not for yourself, but to give to people who are in need of help in some way

fund-raising

the act of getting/obtaining money for charity

chosen charity

the particular organisation that you are hoping to collect money for

charitable organisation

a company that tries to help people

pledge their donations

to give money to a charity

dig deep

Saying ‘dig deep in your pockets’: meaning to reach down into the very bottom of your trouser pockets to get all the little coins that you forgot about

sponsorship

the money that someone promises to give to charity because somebody completes an activity i.e. When you run the marathon, I will give £10 to your charity (or “I will sponsor you £10″)

change lives

common phrase used when talking about charity: a little bit of money can make a big difference to people whose lives are less fortunate than yours

do things for charity

run a marathon, get sponsorship

donations

money that is given to charity

 
This month will see the release of Marvel Avengers Assemble, also called The Avengers. Fans of superhero films have waited a long time for this film. It features several popular characters like The Hulk, Thor, Iron Man and Captain America. They unite to fight an evil villain called Loki and his large army of aliens.

Normally, these superheroes fight alone but in this film they join forces to work for an organisation called SHIELD. Nick Fury is the head of SHIELD and thinks that the superheroes can beat Loki and save the world if they team up and all fight together.

The film is all about the superheroes coming together and fighting Loki and his huge army. Each superhero has special powers and only by combining forces can they beat their enemy. Thor is a god and has a magical hammer, Captain America is a super soldier and has an indestructible shield, Iron man has robot armour and lots of weapons and The Hulk is super strong. In the trailers you can see all of The Avengers fighting side by side in the streets. 

However, these superheroes will also fight each other. We will see some amazing fight scenes between the characters. In the trailer you can see Thor, Iron Man and Captain America battling each other in the woods. This is what fans of the characters and the comic books have waited a long time for.

Later in the film the superheroes will learn to work together. It is the only way they can beat Loki and save everyone from the aliens. But how long will they cooperate for? How difficult will it be to work with each other?

This is the first time these characters will work as a team but there are already rumours of a sequel. Reviews of the first screenings have been very positive and some say this is the best superhero film ever made. It is released soon so buy your tickets now.

Phrases for ‘unite’

 
join forces

team up

fight together

come together

combine forces

fight side by side

work together

cooperate

work with each other

work as a team

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Discussion questions

1. Will The Avengers manage to work together and beat Loki and his army?
2. Which is your favourite character? Why?
3. What should the sequel be about?

Almost everybody knows James Bond 007. He’s famous for his cool gadgets, beautiful women and expensive sports cars. Bond is also known for drinking a Martini “shaken but not stirred”.

The current James Bond, British actor Daniel Craig, will surprise many viewers in the new Bond film called Skyfall. Instead of enjoying his usual Martini, he will be seen drinking beer.

Why is Bond changing his favourite drink? It’s all to do with a marketing term called ‘product placement’. The large Dutch beer producer, Heineken has done a huge deal worth millions of dollars with the filmmakers. In return, the beer will feature in the film and the director, Sam Mendes, will also write a short advert with Bond for Heineken

This is not the first time product placement has appeared in a James Bond film and it probably won’t be the last. In the first Bond film Craig starred in, Casino Royale, he wore a fashionable and expensive Omega watch. He also starred in several TV ads. The previous Bond, Pierce Brosnan, was seen using an Ericsson mobile phone in Tomorrow Never Dies. It featured a lot in the film because he used it to drive his car by remote control.

Product placement makes money and can help finance a film. The makers of Skyfall will receive a total of $45 million just for using some branded products in the film. That represents a third of the whole production budget. Action films are costly to make because of all the stunts so extra finance is good news.

When Skyfall is released it will become the film with the most product placement. However, Minority report, starring Tom Cruise, is still the number 1. The producers received $20m for incorporating famous brands like Pepsi and Gap into the film.

Daniel Craig has defended the use of product placement in his latest film. He argues that without it there would not be a film at all because these kinds of films are so expensive to make: they need all the money they can get, even if it comes from advertising.

Here’s a video demonstrating the products that were carefully/secretly advertised in Casino Royale
 

 
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Useful phrases/ Vocabulary Glossary

Cool gadgets

Small devices like laser pens that people think are great

Sports cars

A vehicle for driving fast and racing

A huge deal

A very big and important agreement

Filmmakers

The people who create the film like the producer

Ads

Advertisements

To finance sthg

To give the money it needs like a film is financed buy product placement

Branded products

Goods made by large famous companies

Production budget

The amount of money available to make a film

Stunts

Dangerous action scenes like jumping out of a plane or off a building

Incorporating famous brands

Putting  well-known company names and products into a film

Discussion questions

1. Should James Bond change drinks?
2. How will product placement change the new Bond film?
3. Is this the best way to finance a film?

You can be very good at speaking a language, but if you don’t know any slang, then you can get really lost in a conversation with native speakers. Learning slang can be cool anyway because it can be amusing to find out what a word or phrase means and where it comes from. With British slang, my students usually find it very funny to hear these strange expressions.

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Play the audio to hear how to pronounce these slang words
 

British Slang

M to Z (find Slang words A – L in British Slang: Part 1)

mental

crazy: “I can’t remember how to do anything today. It’s like I’m going mental or something”

moobs

man boobs – when a man has a chest that is fat, so it looks a little bit like he has small breasts: “I couldn’t go out with him coz he’s got moobs!”

mate

friend: “My mate works for Google, Let’s ask him”

nasty piece of work

a horrible person: “I’ve never trusted him. He’s a nasty piece of work”

newbie

somebody who is new in a job: “Give that photocopying to the newbie and you get on with some more important work”

no probs/no worries

No problem: “Thanks for helping me out earlier – No probs, anytime”

on the piss / on the razz / on the lash

Getting drunk: “I can’t come out tonight coz I was out on the piss last night I’ve got a killer hangover”

O.T.T.

Over the top: “She was dressed a bit OTT just for going to the cinema”

pants

not good, useless, bad: “The first 10 minutes of the film was absolute pants, but then it got quite interesting”

party pooper

Someone who spoils fun for other people by being negative: “Come on, come to the birthday party, you can get to know people. Don’t be such a party-pooper”

peckish

feeling hungry: “I’m a bit peckish. I’m just nipping out to get a bag of crisps. Do you want anything?”

piece of cake

sth that is easy to do: “That test was a piece of cake. I thought it was going to be super difficult!”

punter

customer: “This new promotion should get more punters through the door”

quid

pound: “Have you got a quid for the parking meter?”

quids-in

a profit: “If you put all your stuff on E-bay, you’ll be quids-in”

rip-off

a scam, a con, or something that is overpriced: ” Don’t buy the new iPhone, it’s a rip-off. It’ll be 100 quid cheaper in a few months.”

round the bend

something that is irritating/frustrating: “Can you help me with this spreadsheet. It’s driving me round the bend!”

sad

an insult for someone who is pathetic: “It’s so sad having your tongue pierced”

safe as houses

something that is very secure, sth with a definite outcome: “I’ve got a bet on that Barcelona are gonna win the Champions League…Safe as houses.”

schoolboy error

A stupid mistake that is only expected from a child: “I bought a microphone for my laptop without checking if it was compatible first – Schoolboy error”

shoot off

to go: “Do you want another drink? – No thanks, I’ve gotta shoot off after I finish this one”

short-arse

insult for someone who is not tall: “How can she go out with him when he’s such a short-arse? She towers over him!”

six-pack

a muscular stomach: “My perfect man would have blue eyes and a six-pack, of course!”

smart-arse

someone who shows off their intelligence: “You don’t have to tell everyone about your success. Remember, nobody likes a smart-arse”

snog

to kiss heavily: “There was this couple on the bus this morning snogging like crazy. I was like, Get a room, why don’t you?”

tear-jerker

a film or book, that is very emotional and makes you cry: “You’ve got to read this book. It’s a real tear-jerker. I read it on holiday and was crying my eyes out. It’s great.

tight-arse

someone who doesn’t like to spend money on anything: “John’s a good laugh in the pub, but he never pays for a round of drinks. He’s such a tight-arse.”

tree-hugger

an environmentalist, a hippy, a pejorative term for someone concerned with green or liberal issues: “You can’t talk about money or capitalism in front of Davina. She’s such a bloomin tree-hugger. She goes mental.”

ugly as sin

someone who is the exact opposite of very beautiful: “Have you seen Debbie’s new boyfriend? He’s as ugly as sin!”

up for it

to say that you are willing to do sth: “I’m going to order a pizza for lunch. Anyone else up for it?”

veggie

short way of saying ‘vegetarian’ (sb who doesn’t eat meat): “You can’t cook chicken for the dinner party. Dave’s girlfriend is a veggie”

veg-out

to chill-out, to relax by doing absolutely nothing, including not moving, usually done in fron of the TV: “I’m so knackered. I just wanna go home and veg-out”

verbal diarrhoea

to describe sb who never stops talking: “I can only take about 5 minutes of Anna before she drives me round the bend. She’s got verbal diarrhoea”

waffle

to talk on and on and usually nonsense: “You don’t even know what you’re talking about. What a load of waffle”

wannabe

sb who wants to be famous, usually with no talent or skill: “I can’t stand all the people who go on Big Brother. They’re all such wannabees!”

what’s his face / what’s her face

Expression used when you ca’t remember someone’s name: “Can you give what’s-his-face a call to come and fix the printer?”

whachamacallit

expression used for something that you can’t remember the name of: “Can you pass me the whachamacallit? – What this? – Yep, chuck it over here. Ta.

yonks

a very long time: “Alright John. I haven’t seen you in yonks! How’s it going?”

yummy-mummy

a mother who is very attractive: “I saw a yummy-mummy driving a Range-Rover this morning. Absolutely gorgeous she was!”

 
If you can think of any better example sentences for uses of these slang words, please feel free to write them in the comments section below

Along with Zara, H&M was a founder of ‘fast fashion’ which refers to the quick speed that latest fashions move from the catwalk to the stores. This is on account of a rapid-response production system which has made H&M and Zara so profitable. They offer reasonably priced versions of just about every high-end label. Their chairman, Stefan Persson, is still impressed with how popular the shops have become. You can find H&M in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and North America. H&M is more or less everywhere.

Low prices mean low wages and H&M is accused of exploiting workers in undeveloped countries. In fact, it is pretty much the main target in the clothes retailing world for this criticism. It’s not surprising when you realise that some clothes only cost 1p to produce in a third world sweat shop yet retail at something like £30 on the high street.

To improve their image, H&M are having a serious makeover. They want to reposition themselves as an ethical retailer in the eyes of their customers. Helena Helmersson, head of sustainability at H&M, promises that the company is trying its best to improve and be a responsible producer.

It seems that H&M is doing just about everything it can. Last year, they created ‘good working conditions’ contracts and increased use of recycled and organic materials. By 2020, they hope to have almost 100% sustainably sourced cotton. While later this year, customers will be able to buy new Conscious Collection created from eco-fibres.

 
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Different ways to say ‘about’

When you don’t know a precise number or amount you can use these phrases as alternatives to just saying ‘about’:

roughly

around

approximately

in the region of

just about

more or less

is pretty much

something like

just about

almost

Useful language: Vocabulary glossary

A common sight

Can be seen in many places

Garments

Clothes

Net quarterly profits

How much a company has earned/lost over 3 months

Fast fashion

New fashions which quickly become available in shops

The catwalk

A long stage where models show the new designer clothes they are wearing

Rapid-response production

Where new clothes are made quickly when needed

High-end label

A famous and expensive brand

Third world sweat shop

A factory in an undeveloped country where people, often children, are paid very poorly and made to work hard and long hours

Makeover

An improvement

Sustainability

Being able to be used again and again without running out

Working conditions

Everything about a job such as the hours and amount of work

Recycled

Used again

Organic materials

Fabrics made from natural substances

Ethical retailer

Shops which care about doing the right things

Sustainably sourced

Bought or taken in a way which will have no or little affect on the environment

Eco-fibres

Thread used for making clothes which is environmentally friendly

Discussion questions

1. Why do you think H&M wants to reposition itself as an ethical retailer?
2. Will they make more money?
3. Are eco-clothes better than normal ones?

 
One of England’s most famous sporting events was punctuated with controversy at the weekend after a protestor interrupted proceedings. The Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge Universities (which has been running since 1829) had to be temporarily drawn to a halt after Trenton Oldfield, an anti-elitism campaigner jumped into The River Thames, swam towards the boats to cause an obstruction and thereby  impeded their progress. Everything was thrown into disarray as the race referee ordered the boats to stop for safety reasons. Later he said: “I was totally focused on the boat crews. The assistant referee saw something in the water and was shouting, ‘up ahead, up ahead’. I didn’t realise it was somebody swimming. He swam right into the path of the boats, so we had to stop.” 

There was a 30-minute hiatus as confusion reigned while the officials pulled the demonstrator dressed in a wetsuit out of the water. The police later confirmed that he had been arrested on a public order offence and was being held in custody in a west London police station.

Eventually, the race was restarted, but there was even more chaos to come: the boats raced too close to each other, they crashed and one of the Oxford team’s oars snapped in half.  This time the referee didn’t feel that there was any need to intervene again, as the problem had been caused by Oxford going off their racing line. This decision severely hampered Oxford’s chances and effectively the race was over from this point onwards. Cambridge went on to win by 4 boat lengths, when sometimes in the past the winning margin at the finishing line has only been a few inches. The Oxford crew complained that there had been no second stoppage after the crash, but the win was given to Cambridge after an appeal was turned down.

Normally, the Boat Race victorious crew is ecstatic and there are jubilant scenes from supporters. However, the 2012 Boat Race will also be remembered for yet another disruption. One of the Oxford crew collapsed in the boat at the finish and there were worrying scenes as he was dragged into a rescue boat and rushed off to hospital. This meant that the victory ceremony was cancelled and all celebrations were put on hold to bring to a close the very unusual proceedings.

You can see all of the incidents in this video

Disturbance Vocabulary

to punctuate with

sth happens at different points throughout an event

to interrupt proceedings

to stop the progress of an event

to draw to a halt

to stop the progress of an event

to cause an obstruction

to stop the progress of an event with sth

to impede sb progress

to stop the progress of sb activity

to be thrown into disarray

chaos after an unusual event

hiatus

a pause in an event

confusion reigned

chaos after an unusual event

to intervene

to stop the progress of an event

to hamper

to damage the progress of sth

stoppage

a moment when an avtivity is stopped

disruption

problem that stops an event

to cancel

to stop a planned event from happening

to put on hold

to say that a planned event will take place on a later date

to bring to a close

to finish (usually sth that has taken a long time)

The American socialite, Kim Kardashian is probably used to receiving plenty of flowers and expensive wine. However, she probably wasn’t expecting to whine about the type of flower she got recently. She was on the red carpet in Hollywood launching her new perfume when she was unexpectedly attacked with flour!

An unidentified woman threw the cooking ingredient right on Kim’s head, and although she wasn’t hurt, her ego was certainly left sore. As a lot of the press were there, photographers and TV cameras saw and captured the incident. The woman who committed the white-powdered assault managed to get through security but she didn’t manage to escape, as she was caught running down the road.

The day of the incident last week had all started so well for Kim, as she arrived wearing a smart black blazer, leather trousers and a new blue blouse. After being flour-bombed, she was quickly rushed into the hotel where the event was taking place. She got dressed and came back out to the press and made a joke of the situation, but everyone knew she was humiliated and tried to laugh it off so that she didn’t look weak.

Kim Kardashian is only famous for being a reality-star, where TV cameras followed her super-rich family (totalling eight members) and their daily lives – including what they wore and ate. Paris Hilton and Kim reign as the queens of reality TV and you would think that they would be rivals and at war with each other. However, rather surprisingly, they are good friends and come rain, wind or shine, both are normally seen out partying or at an opening for something. (Interestingly, in English to describe someone like this who goes to every opening party, you say, “He/She would go to the opening of an envelope”).

There’s no official reason why she was targeted by the protestor, although according to reports it is because she wears fur, mainly around her waist. She responded by saying that if protestors are trying to promote non-violence towards animals, then why are they being violent towards humans. Very poetic and I am sure people will now listen to her wise words when she’s next out drinking booze. As well as less boos, people won’t waste food but attack her with love!
 

 

Homophones

You say these sets of words with exactly the same pronunciation

Flower/Flour

plant/white powder used for baking

Wine/Whine

alcoholic drink/to complain

Threw/Through

past of throw/go one side to another

Saw/Sore

past of see/when something hurts

Weak/Week

not strong/7 days from Monday to Sunday

New/Knew

not old/past of know

Reign/Rain

dominate or have power in something/water from the sky

Wore/War

past of wear/fight

Eight/Ate

number/past of eat

Waist/Waste

part of body between legs and body/to do something with value

Booze/boos

alcohol/sound of displeasure from people

You definitely won’t learn this kind of thing from a textbook, but I think it’s very important to know the ‘real’ things that happen in culture and insulting and abusing people happens everyday. So let’s learn a little bit about it!

Watch the video and hopefully the pictures will help you understand exactly what I am saying. Below the video is a transcript of what I say about rude hand gestures. Some of the words are highlighted in bold and then explained in the glossary.

Rude Hand Gestures in the UK

Rude Hand Gestures Transcript

So, here are some hand gestures and an explanation of what they mean to normal people in Britain. Of course we can shake hands and show friendship, but it’s much more interesting to talk about the rude and insulting gestures, isn’t it? This means that ‘You’re a wanker’. This is the most insulting hand movement in the UK and if you use it, you’ll probably end up in a fight. Here’s a young Tony Blair, ex-Prime Minister, showing us how to do it properly. This is called “flicking the v’s” and it’s an insult if you’re English. Don’t confuse it with V for Victory, as copyrighted by Winston Churchill. At the start of the war, Churchill flicked the V’s at his enemies, but then changed it halfway through to be more positive. Here’s an updated version from Liam Gallagher of Oasis, proving he’s hard. Here’s John Lennon with V as a sign of peace. Here’s Liam again showing that he can use both hands. This means ‘peace’. In the UK, this means ‘piss off’. Can you see the difference?
Another insult is called ‘giving the finger’ and is probably the most universally understood hand gesture. This is the wrong way to do it. That’s also a finger, but not insulting, Thank God. Of course we got it from America and it can be done by the young, or the old, but is it really insulting anymore, or is it just something to do in a photo? Us Brits prefer to use 2 fingers to insult someone, but we have learnt to do it with just one. If you give someone the finger, make sure there are no distractions. Here’s Liam again, proving that he’s multi-talented. This isn’t quite right. This guy is happy, because he knows how to insult someone properly. Are you sick of these hand gestures yet? Well, don’t worry, there’s only a few left to go. This means ‘You’re crazy’, or ‘I’m crazy’. This is of course, “You’re a loser’, or “I’m a loser” and it’s so easy that even Royals can do it. This means perfect, or everything’s OK, but don’t do it in Germany because there it means, “You’re an asshole”. This also means, “Great”, “Fantastic”, “Perfect”… I don’t know what this means. And this is a sign of peace from the future, which means, “Live long and prosper”.

Vocabulary Glossary

wanker

very offensive insult used to abuse sb: literal meaning – sb who masturbates

flicking the v’s

sticking up 2 fingers at sb as an insult

halfway through

in the middle of sth

proving

showing that sth is true

hard

slang: sb who is aggressive, crazy and you should not get into an argument or fight with them

piss off

an aggressive and angry way to tell sb to ‘go away’ (not as strong as ‘fuck off’, which is VERY aggressive)

universally understood

‘everybody knows what it means’

distractions

sth that stops you giving full attention or focus on sth

multi-talented

sb who can do lots of different things very well

sick of sth

annoyed or bored of sth

loser

a person who is very unsuccessful in life

asshole

an aggressive way to describe a person that you don’t like

Watch this video of a dog, Libby doing an agility course at possibly the world’s most important dog show, Crufts, which is an annual event here in the UK. Watch carefully – something might catch you by surprise!
 
 

 
Good, eh? As a dog owner, it kind of took me by surprise because the dog was really sprinting just before she stopped to ‘do her business’. I think the dog handler, Sarah was really stopped dead in her tracks because they had been doing so well on the obstacle course in a very fast time and it really was a bolt out of the blue.

Even though Libby’s unscheduled pit-stop might have raised some eyebrows in the audience, it wasn’t really a jaw dropping event for the organisers. You can see that the stewards , who must have seen it all before, were not exactly rooted to the spot or caught unawares, as they quickly swung into action to give Sarah a bag to clean up the item that led to Libby’s disqualification. I’m sure that Sarah just didn’t know what to say – better luck next year!

 
Here are some expressions of surprise to show that you were really not expecting what is happening…

I don’t believe it!
Unbelievable!
That’s incredible
Blimey!
Crikey!
You’re kidding!
I’m speechless!
Jesus!
 

And this one is very old-fashioned, but was made famous in the Back to the Future films: Great Scott!
 

 
 

And this is what youtube was made for: Watching people have the surprise of their lives! You can hear probably the most common phrase for ‘surprise’ here over and over again: OMG! (Oh, my God)

Expressions of Surprise

to catch sb by surprise

sth unexpected happens

to take sb by surprise

sth unexpected happens

to stop sb dead in their tracks

you stop doing what you are doing and literally stop moving because of fear or extreme surprise at the situation

a bolt out of the blue

sth completely unexpected happens

to raise sb’s eyebrows

to show expression on your face that you are surprised by/disapproving of some unusual behaviour

to see sth all before

nothing surprises sb anymore becuase of their experience

to be rooted to the spot

you stop doing what you are doing and literally stop moving because of fear or extreme surprise at the situation

to be caught unawares

to be surprised and unprepared for the situation that is happening

to not know what to say

to be speechless becuase of the surprising/shocking nature of the thing that is happening

Oh my God (OMG)

probably the most common way to say that the situation is surprising/shocking/unbelievable/outrageous etc

As you can see lots of the expressions can mean the same thing – that’s the beauty of the richness and colour of the English language, isn’t it?

 
Finally, it couldn’t be an article on Surprises without this video, ‘No Surprises’ by Radiohead. Enjoy

If you like that song and you want a learning English experience with it, check out this link. I think you’ll like it. Try the game on Beginner level at first before you move on to Intermediate. Click on the HELP button on the right hand side just under the song lyrics to help you.
 

If, like me, you like photography and wildlife, there is only one place to be this weekend – The Natural History Museum! It is one of the top 5 museums in London and even better, every year they have the Wildlife Photographer of the Year. The 2011 exhibition finishes on the 11 March, so it is your last chance to see the best wildlife photographs taken in all corners of the world last year.

It always amazes me that young photographers alongside adult ones can take such incredible photographs of all life on this beautiful Earth. It is not just the subject, but also the positioning and lighting of the photo and judging certain elements to get the best shot.

A few of my favourites include a Polar bear swimming in the sea. The photo shows the bear in the centre of it with its whole body underneath the water and its head just above it. To capture this picture the photographer had to be brave enough to stay facing the bear.

Another good one is in the urban wildlife category and involves a little reptile on the Italian Riviera. The lizard is in shown in detail in the foreground, with the traditional houses distorted by the lens in the background. It gives a good impression of how people live so close by to nature.

There’s another great water photo involving small whales, but if you look closer, you can see a dolphin in between them – a truly intriguing picture. There’s also a very magical photo of a group of flamingos at dawn in Kenya, with a few flying overhead of a large group of standing ones. Beyond them more can be seen flying and standing around.

The overall winner of the competition, and deservedly so, is a stunning photo of pelicans sitting beside each other, covered in crude oil from the oilrig disaster in the USA in 2010. The white sheets they are sitting on top of are stained orange because of the blackness of the oil (as well as their white heads).

Although you might now have an idea of what the photos might look like, it is worth going to see them for yourself. Enjoy the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011 while you can…it’s also half-price for students at £4.50, so even better. And if you are still not interested, then there’s always the Science museum adjacent to it, as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum nearby!

List of Prepositions of Place

Alongside

next to

In the centre of

the middle

Underneath

below the level/surface of something

Facing

In front of

Foreground

In the front part (of a picture/photo)

Background

In the back part (of a picture/photo)

Close by

not far away, near

Beside

next to

On top of

on the surface of something

Adjacent to

next to

Nearby

not far away, near

Beyond

Further back from the main thing

Overhead

above (something)

In between

In the middle of two or more things

It’s based on one simple rule which is that the participants or ‘Talkaokeyists’ make the agenda. Talkaoke is a modern form of open debate where practically no topic is off bounds. Participants debate whatevertakes their interest with people they know or have never met before. Things can get quite heated, especially when people disagree with each other but this just adds to the fun and appeal.

Talkaoke is all about drawing participants in and creating a platform where people feel inspired to talk about what’s important to them and then comment on what others have to say. Pauline Wu, a local student, says that “it’s like a night at the pub but without the beer and is a great way to make new friends. It’s also a great way for student sof English to practise their vocabulary”. Whereas, Philippe Gomez finds it addictive because “it’s the only place I know where I can really talk about important issues in a serious but enjoyable way”.

For an onlooker it could appear a little bizarre as the debaters sit around a large doughnut-shaped pink table nicknamed the “flying saucer of chat”. In the centre is the host who manages discussions. Thanks to his/her microphone, some large speakers and a video projector, the audience can watch and listen to the whole event. A recent upgrade has introduced a ‘heckle’ system where images are projected onto the screen which represent the exact words from the discussion.

Invented by a London art student called Mikey Weinkove in 1997, Talkaoke has been gaining followers in the UK and abroad ever since. Recent saucers have been spotted in the National Theatre and the London Science Museum and bookings have been made for Brazil, Italy and even Saudi Arabia.

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

Useful vocabulary phrases

The latest craze to sweep the nation

The newest fashion all over the country

A modern twist on sthg

A new and adapted version of an old idea

Fame

Popularity

Off bounds

Not allowed

Whatever takes their interest

Anything they like

Heated

Intense

Appeal

Attractiveness

Drawing participants in

Pulling them mentally into the conversation

Onlooker

Someone watching from a distance

Bizarre

Unusual

Nicknamed

Given an informal name

Upgrade

An improvement to a higher level

Followers

Fans

Spotted

Seen/noticed

Discussion Questions

1)What makes Talkaoke popular?
2)What would you talk about?
3)Would it be successful in your country? Why?/Why not?

The Artist was the top dog at this year’s Oscars. Well, with a little help from a friend – man’s best friend to be precise: Uggie the dog! Forget the best actor, forget that there’s no sound and even forget that it is in black and white – anyone who has seen this highly-praised film will know that the real reason to see it is because of its canine actor.

Ok, seriously, The Artist is a great film as it proves that there’s life in the old dog yet of black and white silent films. Who would have thought a film that’s homage to the 1920’s would be so successful? But a big part of that success is because of Uggie. His charm and charisma oozes off the screen and everyone involved worked like a dog to get the film made, including him.

However, Uggie is not the only charismatic animal that has had a big influence on the Oscars. Here are a few more who people may remember:

The horse in War Horse (2011): When it comes to serious war films, Spielberg does not horse around. This is no different, and the horse gives a powerful performance amongst the English actors. This was also a dark horse for this year’s Oscars but in the end it didn’t win anything.

The whale in Whale Rider (2002): This New Zealand film touched a lot of people about a little girl having a whale of a time with her new aquatic friend, and the bond that connected them.

The pig in Babe (1995): This family-friendly film brought home the bacon for the studios and was nominated because of its sweet talking piglet. He pretends to be a sheep-dog to save his bacon and makes a lot of talking animal friends along the way.

The shark in Jaws (1975): Technically the shark was mechanical, as even Spielberg would have bitten off more than he could chew if he tried to use a real one. However, it was still a menacing and terrifying performance by the shark that still scares people today.

Last but not least…

Milo, the Jack Russell dog from The Mask (1994): He was full of energy, charming to watch and a fresh face in Hollywood – plus Jim Carrey wasn’t bad either! The original “Uggie”, Milo, was outstanding in this and that lucky dog Jim Carrey owes much of his career to him.
 
 

Animal Idioms:

To be top dog

the most important or powerful person/thing in a group

Man’s best friend

synonym = dog

There’s life in the old dog yet

even though something is old, it/they are still good at something

To work like a dog

to work very hard

To horse around

to have fun when it should be serious

a dark horse

someone who unexpectedly might win something or be successful

To have a whale of a time

to have a really enjoyable time

to bring home the bacon

to earn money / to be successful, especially financially

Save someone’s bacon

escape from injury/harm/trouble

Bite off more than someone can chew

to do something more than is possible

A lucky dog

a very lucky person

Have you heard of Pinterest? No? Well, it’s the latest in what seems like a never ending list of social networking sites. Dubbed the ‘Facebook killer’ it may also have what it takes to outdo even Twitter and take its place as the king of the internet social experience.

 
How does it work?

Pinterest is basically an online pinboard where users share images of products they like which they ‘pin’ to their boards. Other people can then comment on what their friends have pinned. Thanks to their new widget, appearing on more and more retailer websites day by day, customers can effortlessly browse, pin and repost product images. Imagine completely redecorating your flat using the best items the web has to offer, well with Pinterest you literally have the world wide web at your fingertips.

 
Is it popular?

The numbers speak for themselves as traffic has sky rocketed tenfold over 6 months. In January 2012 alone, Pinterest clocked up 11 million unique visitors, double that of the month before. It now boasts a third as many visitors as Twitter and experts place its value at a cool $200 million.

 
Is it useful for companies?

From a business perspective, Pinterest works, there’s no doubt about it. Smartattire4u Ltd, a small online menswear company, reported a boom in annual revenue from £475,000 to £692,000. It attributes this increase almost exclusively to Pinterest. And they’re not alone, with some others allegedly quadrupling their revenues thanks to Pinterest.

 
What’s the future for Pinterest?

As strange as it may sound, Pinterest isn’t actually profitable and doesn’t appear to know how to become so. You can’t blame the company though, they’re only following in the footsteps of Facebook and Twitter which started with no clear game plan or strategy. It’s hard to believe that the 16 person start-up has no business model at all. For the average business man or woman this would seem unthinkable.

Pinterest co-founder and former Google employee Ben Silbermann claims he’ll worry about the business side later. For now, he remains more concerned with nurturing a valuable service and attracting users but eventually the company will need to turn a profit. How exactly they can do this is still unclear.

 
Here’s a tutorial to teach you how to use Pinterest:
 

Vocabulary Phrases

Dubbed

Labelled or named

To have what it takes

To have the abilities/skills & determination to succeed

To outdo someone else

To do something better than sb

To pin sthg to sthg else

To attach sthg with a small nail type object

Widget

A small application that you can install onto a webpage

Effortlessly

Easily without any difficulty

To browse

To look at sthg leisurely

To repost

To write a web page again

Redecorating

To paint/wall paper again

At your fingertips

Easily accessible

The numbers speak for themselves

The statistics are obvious and results can be easily understood

Sky rocketed

Increased at a high level

Tenfold

10 times

Clocked up

Reached a certain level/amount

Boasts

Brags, to say you are great at sth

Menswear

Clothes for men

Boom

A large increase in a short time

Attributes X to Y

Believes the cause of X is Y

Exclusively

Only

Allegedly

Apparently

Quadrupling

Increasing 400%

Following in the footsteps

Copying the idea of someone/thing

Game plan

Strategy

Start-up

A new and small company

Unthinkable

You cannot imagine

Business side

Everything to do with running the company

Nurturing

Developing in a caring manner

To turn a profit

To start making money

Discussion questions

 
1)Why is Pinterest popular?

2)How can Pinterest become profitable?

A British couple have just finished a long boat journey. It was very long. They sailed around the world together for 36 years!!!

This is a dream for lots of people, but Bill Cooper and his wife really did it. Mr Cooper worked in London in finance and for the government. But in 1974, when he was on his way to work one day he decided to stop doing a job that he didn’t really like. When he was waiting for his train to work, he said to himself, “I’m not going in today. I’m fed up!” So he went back home and asked his wife to ring the office and tell them that he wasn’t coming to work ever again!

The couple started building their own boat. It took 2 years to make. Mr Cooper did the building and Mrs Cooper did the painting. Then they set off on their incredible journey. At first they cruised around the Meditteranean and the Caribbean islands. They also went along canals and rivers, including from New York to Florida. They crossed the seven seas and in total they sailed over 100,000 nautical miles and stopped off at over 45 countries.

Some of the places they visited were:

Gibraltar, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Crete, Turkey, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Sicily, Sardinia, Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Canary Islands, the Caribbean islands, the USA, Portugal, Morocco, Greece, Monaco, the Azores, Corsica, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Tunisia.

Now, they have returned to England because of ill health. At 83, Mr Cooper is slowly losing his eyesight. But they won’t live on land in a house. They will still live on their boat on a river in Kent. It will probably be a bit quiet for the Coopers as they have survived 25m waves, 100mph winds and hurricanes. Now, Mr Cooper wants to write a book about their adventures. He said, “We have had an absolutely amazing life. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

What great story. I can’t wait to read it.
 

Here’s a large map of the world with all the country names. You can make the picture big by ‘zooming in’, so that you can read everything.

 
If you want more beginner’s English blogs, read this about Whitney Houston’s funeral or this about books and technology.

Pupils have been banned from using slang words in a secondary school in Sheffield. Words like Hiya, ta & cheers should not be used so that the children get used to speaking in a way that will improve their chances of getting a job in the future when they leave school.

The Springs Academy in Sheffield is located in one of the poorest and rundown areas of the city. The charity that runs the school has introduced the policy so that pupils learn to recognise the language that is OK to use with friends in social situations but not appropriate for more formal situations, like in job interviews.

Now, the policy is, ‘The street stops at the gate’. Therefore, Hiya, ta & cheers must be replaced with Good morning & Thank you.

The head of the charitable organisation that introduced this new rule, Kathy August said that “If you get top grades in your exams, but then you can’t shake hands properly, look someone in the eye and speak in the proper manner, you are not going to get a job or a place at university”

Kathy August was previously a headmaster in Manchester, where in 2008 she banned pupils from using, ‘innit’ (a slang question tag) when they spoke to teachers. In that school, as well as controls on language use, she introduced compulsory uniform and strict discipline. The results of the pupils improved dramatically. Numbers of pupils getting five good GCSEs (the exams you do in the UK when you are 16) went up from 10% to 33%. Also, the number of students who left the school without a job or going into further education went down from 26% to only 6%.
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British Slang

 
A to L (For M to Z click here)
 

aggro

aggravation: sth annoying, sth violent

bog

toilet. Also ‘Bog roll’ = toilet paper

banger

sausage: as in ‘bangers and mash’ = sausages and potatoes

chav

a person of low education, probably unemployed and with no sense of style or understanding of normal acceptable social behaviour (see video below)

cheers

thank you. This is also what the British say when they have an alcoholic drink together and touch glasses

chuffed

pleasantly pleased with yourself: “When I got my exam results I was chuffed

coz

because: “I can’t come tonight coz I’ve gotta stay late at the office. Soz. (Sorry)

daft

stupid: “You really think you’re gonna win the lottery. Don’t be daft!”

Donkey’s years

a very long time: “I just saw a girl that I used to go to school with. I haven’t seen her in donkey’s years”

fancy

to desire someone: “I really fancy that new guy in the office. He’s gorgeous”

fancy

would like to have: “Do you fancy going to pub for a quick pint?”

git

an unpleasant man: Jane – “Did you hear that he just left his wife after 19 years of marriage coz (because) he’s having an affair with a 20-year-old? What a git!”

git

Or can be used in a positive way: John – Did you hear that he’s shagging (having sex) a 20-year-old? Lucky git!

gonna

going to: I think I’m gonna have a pizza for lunch instead of a sarnie (sandwich)

hoover

vacuum cleaner. Can also be a verb: “You’re gonna have to move while I do the hoover”

hiya

hello

innit

Isn’t it? Is it? You know? Oh, really?: “Check dis shit bra! My new moby is to’ally shizzle, innit?” Translation into standard English – Would you care to look at this my good friend? My new mobile phone handset is extremely nice, don’t you agree?

killer

very good / very difficult: That was a killer meal / That exam was a killer!

karzi

toilet: “I’m just going to the karzi. Watch my drink, will you?”

loo

toilet: “Excuse me, could you tell me where the loo is, please?

laters

goodbye: “OK, I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good night. Laters!”

I iz a chav, innit?

Here’s a man with a London accent talking at natural speed and he finishes his very quick story with a great bit of Brtish slang
 

There is lots of vocabulary to do with smell in the text. It’s all explained below in the glossary. After your daily bit of free English study, have some more fun by watching the videos at the end!

“Will be home in three days – Do not wash”

This is the famous message that Napolean Bonaparte sent to his wife, Josephine when he was on his way back home from a war. Obviously, he was turned on by her pungent smell and wanted to experience it at full power. I imagine that Napolean would have had quite an odour too after being at war and riding home for 3 days on horseback: horses are not exactly known for their sweet aroma, are they? (This sentence is an example of a question tag. Find out more here). So Napolean, the horse and Josephine must have made quite a stink when they finally got together. I wonder if Josephine had the same romantic idea about sweaty stench as her husband?

Well, probably not, because apparently she introduced him to bathing and perfumes…take a hint, Boney! Josephine, who grew up in The West Indies, liked exoctic fragrances like vanilla and cinammon. Napoleon preferred Eau de Cologne, which included citrus oils as well as lavender, rosemary and jasmine. So why did he want to breathe in the bouquet of Josephine’s b.o.?

In a new Royal Society of Chemistry book, Lust & Love: Is it more than chemistry?, it states that pheromones are included in sweat. These natural body chemicals, which have a specific scent, can be attractive to the opposite sex. Think about how animals know when it is the right time to mate. That’s why sometimes boyfriends and girlfriends like swapping t-shirts – the smell of the perspiration of their lover is comforting.

But don’t think that if you go for weeks without washing and reek you will suddenly become irresistible. The author, Gabriele Froböse says that sweat is only OK up to a certain point…then you just stink to high heaven.

Everybody perspires all the time, even if you use deodorant. The interesting thing is that perfume or deodorant mixes with everyone’s individual smell, so that the same brand of perfume, say Chanel No#5, smells slightly different on every single person.

Anyway, forget the expensive products! Be romantic and this Valentine’s Day, go au naturel for your lover. Isn’t that the most romantic thing you could do for them?
 

 
You might be interested in our other Valentine’s Day posts:
Valentine’s Day means saying numbers
‘As’ – Rules of Date Club
Anti-Valentine’s Special: I promise not to keep that promise
 

Smells Vocabulary

Pungent

having a strong smell (usually bad)

Odour

a distinctive smell (usually unpleasant: the odour of cigarette smoke)

Aroma

a distinctive smell (usually pleasant: the aroma of fresh coffee)

Stink

a strong unpleasant smell: His breath stank of booze

Stench

a strong VERY unpleasante smell: the stench of rotting meat

Fragrance

a pleasant, sweet smell

b.o.

abbreviation: body odour

scent

a pleasant smell

reek

to smell strongly and unpleasantly

stink to high heaven

Idiom: sth is incredibly smelly (in a bad way)

 
Or maybe you will use deodorant…

 
And here’s our very own Kate Winslet showing the attraction of a good perfume…

 
Not to be outdone, here’s Keira Knightley earning her money by saying whatever the advertisers tell her to

 
These perfume ads are like works of art, aren’t they?

 
OK, this is definitely the last one!

Discussion Questions

1. Which is your favourite advert from the ones here? Why?
2. Do you think people buy perfumes because of the smell or because of the advertising?

A band from Manchester, Marconi Union, have composed a song that has been described as the most relaxing song ever written! The band worked together with sound therapists to create the soothing tune, Weightless which helps listeners slow down their breathing and reduce stress levels and brain activity (which is what keeps you awake at night).

Motorists have been warned to not listen to the tune while driving as it could make them drowsy and cause road accidents!

Scientists carried out a study with 40 women and the results were that Weightless was 11% more soporific than any other peaceful songs that were tested: these included tunes by Enya, Coldplay and even Mozart.

Why is Weightless so sleep-inducing? Well, the song combines lots of elements that are known to have a calming effect. It has a rythym that starts off at 60 beats per minute (bpm) and slows down to 50 bpm. Just to compare, catchy dance/pop songs normally have around 120 bpm, so this shows that Weightless is much more slow-moving. When you listen to music, your heartbeat speeds up or slows down to match the beat. It is important that the song is 8 minutes long because it takes 5 minutes for this process to happen. This phenomenon is known in science as entrainment.

In Weightless, the gaps between the notes (intervals) are designed to be comforting. Also, there isn’t a repeating melody (like with a chorus in normal songs) so your brain can switch off from its alert state because it is not trying to predict what is coming next.

What do you think of the tune?

 
You can find thousands of chill-out Youtube vids to put you in a meditative state like this below. To me though, this just sounds like someone who is playing with all the weird noises on their new synthesiser!

When I am trying to concentrate on work and want to be relaxed, I find it really difficult to listen to music. I can’t understand people who can listen to music and study at the same time. Maybe it’s because I am also a musician and I can’t block out the music from my brain – it always takes priority, so my work suffers. However, if I put Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor on repeat then sometimes I can ignore it and it goes round in a loop and it gives me a tranquil state of mind.

To be honest, Weightless doesn’t really do anything for me and it doesn’t make me sleepy. If I want to slow my brain waves down, I like listening to some of my favourite relaxing songs like this below. It’s by Gil-Scot Heron, who definitely has a mellifluous voice…this tune also has heavy use of the Rhodes piano which is just a beautiful sounding instrument…one of my faves.

 
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Which is your favourite piece of music for chilling-out to?
Let me know in the comments section below.
 

Vocabulary about Relaxation

Relaxing

sth that makes you become less anxious or tense, e.g. a hot bath or a long holiday

Soothing

to gently calm sb e.g. the mother sang a soothing song to help her baby go to sleep

Drowsy

you behave like you are half-asleep, this can happen if you take medicine at the same time as alcohol

Soporific

sth that makes you sleepy, e.g. travelling on a gently rocking train

Peaceful

calm e.g. I walked home at 5am and everything was so peaceful

Sleep-inducing

sth that makes you go to sleep

Calming

to make sb quiet and relaxed

Comforting

sth that gives you satisfaction in a gentle, relaxed way e.g. It’s really comforting to go home for Xmas and to taste your Mum’s cooking again

Chill-out

A type/genre of music made especially for relaxing to

Meditative state

being 100% focused in meditation

Tranquil state of mind

to be extremely relaxed and calm

Mellifluous

a voice that is sweet, soothing & pleasant to hear

If you were in the UK on Saturday, as well as feeling the cold snap, you would have seen a special event. Around 5pm it started snowing, but not just a little – a lot! Usually, snowfall happens during the night so when you wake up you see this wonderful sight of snow-covered houses and buildings. This time was different as you could see snowflakes in front of your very eyes, and it was very cool to see.

In normal cases when this happens overnight everything just stops the next day, like transport, work, and football games – particularly in London. Some people break into a cold sweat at the thought of not being able to go out or being trapped inside some place after it has snowed heavily. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending how you look at it) snow doesn’t settle for long here as the weather is so changeable.

However, if you’re snowed in again, here are some ideas what you can do being stuck indoors:

• Email people

Usually when you haven’t emailed friends for a while, they start to think that you are giving them the cold shoulder. Email them back to reassure them you’re not. When people had to write letters before the internet, it was understandable that it could be a tiring thing to do regularly. However, in the cold light of day, there are no excuses not to catch up with your emails and reply to a friend, particularly when you can’t go outside!

• Watch a scary movie

I know not everyone likes horror films but spine-chilling movies that make your blood run cold always warm up the spirit!

• Take a bath

Although not an economically good idea, it’s a great way to relax and take you away from the outside world. If you’re stressed at being snowed in or you’re snowed under at work, a bath is a good way to take away your troubles.

• Talk to family

Don’t leave your family out in the cold on what is happening in your life. People usually forget how quick time goes, so give them a call and update them. Parents in particular would be very happy to hear from you.

• Book a holiday

When you can’t go outside because of the bad weather, it always cheers you up to start looking at holidays online. If there is one you have always wanted, don’t get cold feet and just book it.

• Give up a bad habit and start cooking

Cooking is the fashionable thing to do nowadays. Don’t pour cold water on the idea if you can’t cook because you can find recipes and TV shows anywhere for ideas. It’s also a good time to stop a bad habit like smoking as you can’t go outside. People do say the best way to give up is to go cold turkey and replace it with something like this.

Cold/Snow vocabulary

A cold snap

a sudden period of extreme cold weather

Snowfall (n)

amount of snow that falls during a specific period of time

Snowflake (n)

a particle of snow

To settle (snow)

verb that snow does when it falls on the ground and stays

To snow heavily

Snow a lot

Spine-chilling (adj)

Very scary

Cold Idioms

Break into a cold sweat

to suddenly become very scared about something

To be snowed in

trapped somewhere because of too much snow

Give someone the cold shoulder

to behave in an unfriendly way to someone / ignore

In the cold light of day

to think about something clearly and often feel shame afterwards

Make your blood run cold

to make you very scared about something

Snowed under

overworked, especially busy

Leave someone out in the cold

to not involve someone in something, like a group

To get cold feet

to suddenly become too scared to do something planned

To pour cold water on something

to try and stop and idea to do something

To go cold turkey

to stop a habit all in at once, not slowly bit-by-bit

For celebrities these days, it seems that falling in love with another celebrity (not a ‘normal’ person) is mandatory in their ‘profession’. No sooner has a film star actor worked with a new actress, then he takes the plunge, gets down on one knee and asks her to marry him (Daniel Craig & Rachel Weisz).

Of course marriage is meant to be a solemn vow that you only take with your true love; someone that you can be with through thick and thin and til death do us part etc. Maybe that’s a bit outdated and possibly too much with the pressures of modern day life, but at least couples should be able to get through a few ups and downs without fighting like cats and dogs or being at each other’s throats, shouldn’t they?

Modern divorce statistics across the globe would probably be shocking for people of past generations. Why did more marriages last in the past? Perhaps it was because divorce wasn’t such an easy thing to do; women depended financially on their husbands; was there a social stigma of failure attached to divorce? Or were people just prepared to try a bit harder to make their marriage work when they didn’t see eye to eye on something and could talk things out to clear the air?

Heidi Klum and Seal are currently going through an amicable split. But this has been immediately followed-up with rumours of a possible reconciliation. Is that the difference these days? Would people in the past have worked things out behind closed doors, whereas now everything has to be done out in the open (Demi Moore & Ashton Kutcher)?

Surely the example from some celebrities of falling head over heels in love, shortly after tying the knot and a few days later separating because of irreconcilible differences doesn’t help the whole situation (Kim Kardashian/Sinead O’Connor). If you really hate each other’s guts because of an argument about something trivial, then perhaps it’s too easy and socially acceptable these days to go your separate ways, rather than to work through your differences.

 
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Relationship Idioms (and some more vocabulary)

to fall in love

to start to love someone/to start to have a romantic feeling about someone

to take the plunge

to take a chance and ask someone to marry you

to get down on one knee

the act of asking someone to marry you

through thick and thin

in good times and bad times

til death do us part

one of the vows/promises that couples make in a wedding meaning that ‘we will be together forever’

ups and downs

in good times and bad times

to fight like cats and dogs

constantly fighting

being at each other’s throats

fighting very strongly…almost ‘killing’ the other person

to not see eye to eye

to disagee

clear the air

to solve a problem by speaking about it

amicable split

a friendly separation

reconciliation

to come back together again after a separation

to work things out

to solve a problem by talking about it together

falling head over heels in love

to fall in love very quickly and very strongly

to tie the knot

to get married

irreconcilible differences

problems that cannot be solved because you hate each other

to hate each other’s guts

to very strongly hate another person

to go your separate ways

to separate permanently

to work through your differences

to solve your problems

The New Year officially began on Monday 23^rd January. Well, for the Chinese anyway. Chinese New Year is one of the most important dates in the Chinese calendar and lasts for 15 days. In most big cities around the world, I’m sure you will find a Chinatown and London has one of the biggest. Get yourself down to Trafalgar Square on Sunday 29^th January as there will be a big celebration for it.

Traditionally, Chinese New Year is spent with family, mainly eating huge meals with lots of different dishes. Married couples give money in red envelopes as a gift to children or unmarried family members, up until they are 65. Like the western calendar, there are also signs of the Zodiac. Although rather than months, the Chinese zodiac is based on years. Each sign is that of an animal and last year was the year of the Rabbit. People born under that are known for their sincere and timid character. This year, however, could not be any more different – it is the Dragon.

The Dragon is the mightiest of the signs and it symbolises, as one might expect, dominant, bossy and ambitious character traits. They prefer to live by their own rules and are driven, bold and are willing to take risks. They are passionate in everything they do but at the same time, narcissistic and grandiose in their actions. Ultimately, this leaves them frequently unfilled.  They generally like to work on their own and rarely ask others for help. This preference can make them seem conceited but deep down that is not always the case. Finally, they are short-tempered, hence their sign!

Overall, considering their hard-working nature, Dragons are surprisingly healthy. As they are also very single-minded, the right type of job for them would be a managerial position – they like to lead rather than being led. With regards to love, because they are hot-headed, their partner needs to be thick-skinned to deal with their temper – but once they find the right person, they are committed to them for life. They are most compatible with the Rat or Monkey sign, both being quick-witted and having upbeat characteristics.

So if you are born under the Dragon, this is your year and I wish you good luck and prosperity. Check out the table below and see what sign you are and when your year is:

 
 
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Character Adjectives:

Sincere

genuine, free of lies

Timid

not having self-belief or courage

Dominant/Bossy

having, or forcing, authority

Ambitious

wants to be successful

Driven

having the determination to succeed

Bold

brave, having no fear

Passionate

having a lot of passion for something

Narcissistic

fascinated with one’s self and importance, loving yourself

Grandiose

having an exaggerated belief in one’s importance

Conceited

arrogant

Compound character adjectives

Short-tempered

easily made angry

Single-minded

determined in one particular thing

Hot-headed

fiery in spirit or temper

Thick-skinned

insensitive/no affect to criticism

Quick-witted

having a fast/intelligent mind, esp. when responding to someone

Upbeat

happy, cheerful

If you had to name one of the greatest ever sportsperson in the world, who would it be? Most people would say, including myself, Muhammad Ali. I would also like to say happy belated birthday to him as he celebrated his 70^th birthday on Tuesday.

To mark this special occasion, he spent the day in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky in the US. He spent several minutes meeting well-wishers with his wife and sister-in-law, while other partygoers were cheering and chanting his name. He also had a special birthday bash where celebrities and former boxers paid tribute to him – 350 people in total at a cost of $1000 per seat went to his charity.

The self-proclaimed ‘Greatest of All Time’ is still one of the most recognisable people in the world, and the praise he got from his landmark birthday just shows the impact he has had. Britain’s very own former World Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis wished him a happy birthday, adding how much he was inspired to box because of him. Former US president Bill Clinton wished him many happy returns, saying how he has helped lead the way for black people such as Barack Obama. Even his legendary rival George Foreman hoped he had a special day, as well as saying how he loved him!

This milestone is just one of a number of remarkable things in Ali’s life. He was born Cassius Clay in 1942 and won an Olympic gold medal in the 1960 Olympics in Rome. He converted to Islam in 1964 and went on to become the youngest boxing world champion at that time. He was also put into prison and had his world boxing title taken away from him for refusing to fight in the Vietnam War. He has also had to battle Parkinson’s disease for a number of years, so reaching 70 years old is certainly a big achievement.

As a small birthday treat, many articles and websites are highlighting his quotes. So, by wishing him a special day to remember, here are some of his best and most famous ones:

“I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and got into bed before the room was dark.”

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee — his hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see”

“A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life”

“Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up”

Birthday vocabulary and expressions:

To celebrate

to observe / enjoy a day or event, usually with people

To mark a special occasion

to identify a special moment/ event

Well-wishers

people who wishes well to someone or a cause

Partygoers

people who goes to or attends parties

A birthday bash

a birthday celebration party

To pay tribute to sb

to give respect to sb or something by words or actions

A landmark birthday

an important birthday, more than the other ones

To wish sb a Happy Birthday

to say Happy Birthday to sb

A milestone

an important event

A birthday treat

a pleasant (often surprising) gift or act

Birthday Sayings:

 
Happy Belated Birthday (for late birthdays)

Many Happy Returns

Hope you have a special day

Wishing you a special day to remember

First it was a comic-book. Then it was a cartoon show. Further on it became a film franchise. Next it was a video game. Now it is a successful Broadway show in New York. Yes, Spider-Man has now reached all forms of entertainment! It was reported a few days ago that the musical has also just broken the record for the highest single-week takings in Broadway history. It took almost a huge £2million over a nine-day period during the festive season.

The rock musical’s full-title is Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and it is a pretty much based on the film about the origins of Spider-Man. It actually opened last summer and is the most expensive theatre production of all time, with the music and lyrics done by Bono and the Edge of U2. It did not begin well though as there were opening night delays, injuries to some of the cast during rehearsals, and critics initially giving it bad reviews. However, the show has overcome all these problems to continue to be a sell-out, and played to over 600,000 people over the last year.

Broadway is famous for its shows and musicals, with 40 theatres competing for audiences. Before Spider-Man broke it, the previous record set was by ‘Wicked’, followed by ‘The Lion King’. Both of these also run in London’s West End. If anyone has seen them, they can tell you that it is well-worth going, regardless of whether you are in the stalls, the circle or the front row. Although I can’t speak for Spider-Man, the costumes, numbers and choreography for ‘Wicked’ and ‘The Lion King’ are really something magical. Once the curtain goes up, you are immediately impressed and a huge round applause is totally deserved when it ends too. Spider-Man seems to be just as exciting, with audiences constantly giving it a standing ovation every night.

Even though Spider-Man is a hugely popular film and comic book character, it is funny how it can successfully transfer itself to the stage, as people usually assume that audiences for the theatre and cinema are distinct. It just goes to show that musicals can break down any barriers! Sooner or later, I have no doubt that the show will come to London. When it does, I am sure that Owen (our amazing theatre/tour guide teacher on the SGI social programme) will be able to get the best seats at an amazingly discounted rate for our students!

Theatre Vocabulary

A Musical

A type of theatre entertainment containing music, songs, and, usually, dance

Takings

Receipts, especially of money

Opening Night

premiere/first performance for a new theatre show

The cast

all the actors involved in the show

Rehearsals

Practice sessions in which the actors and technicians prepare for public performance through repetition

A sell-out

An event for which all the tickets are sold

Audience

The spectators or listeners assembled at a performance

Stalls

the seats in the front part of the theatre

The circle

A curved section or tier of seats in a theatre

The front row

the first line of seats at the front of the theatre

Costumes

the clothes worn in a show

A number

a specific song and performance from a musical

Choreography

the set-up and arrangement of a dance

Curtain

A hanging cloth or similar barrier for concealing all or part of a theatre stage from the audience

Applause

praise given by the clapping of hands

A standing ovation

enthusiastic recognition of a great performance, especially one accompanied by loud applause and the audience standing and cheering

A stage

the platform in a theatre where actors perform

Whenever we have to say farewell to a member of the SGI staff, it’s always a sad occasion. However, there’s always the knowledge in the back of our minds that actually it might not be the last time that we see them. The majority of teachers who leave, come back because it’s a great school to teach in. So, whenever, we see someone off, it’s more a case of Au Revoir…and they actually return with more experience and are even better teachers than before…if that’s possible!

When I first started working at SGI a few years ago, it was nice seeing friendly faces to settle in. Amy was one of them. I can’t exactly remember how we got talking, but whatever happened, it was the start of a great friendship. Her friendly nature and ability to get on with everyone really made her such a lovely person to hang out with. She also became the unofficial leader of the teachers and everyone saw her as such even when she wasn’t at school.

We did have to say “so long” to her on a few occasions, but those were for only short periods. We stayed in touch, so we always knew she would come back. She had projects in Syria to promote photography and give kids over there an opportunity to express themselves with it who would never normally have the chance. So, having a heart of gold was also one of her other endearing qualities. As was stealing all the crisps from people’s lockers, intentionally getting colleagues into trouble and borrowing money and not paying it back.

The truth is, now that she’s going for good to Bristol with her future husband, we will certainly be sad to see her go. It’s been great knowing her and we wish her all the best. At times like these you don’t really know what the best thing to say is. Of course there’s the standard ‘take care’, ‘keep in touch’ and ‘see you soon’. I would normally say something cheesy and silly, like ‘see you later, alligator’. But I know her response would be ‘In a while, crocodile’. As you can see, we are all very mature at SGI!

We’ll certainly be giving her a good send-off, no matter what. So Amy, my partner-in-crime, “take care, keep in touch and see you soon!”

On another sad note, Jenny, our beloved social programme co-ordinator, will also be leaving to work at SGI India. Again, she’s been a mainstay within our merry group so she’ll also be sorely missed, particularly by our social-loving students. However, just like all the other teachers in the SGI family, we won’t lose touch because she is coming back in 6 months!

(If you studied at SGI and had Amy or Jenny as your teacher when you were here, maybe you could leave them a nice goodbye/thank you message in the comments section below.)

Goodbye Vocabulary

To see (sb) off

to accompany sb to the point of departure for a trip and say goodbye upon departure

To be sorely missed

to really miss someone

A send-off

a demonstration of affection when saying goodbye to someone – sometimes a party

To go for good

to leave permanently

To stay in touch

keep in contact

To lose touch (with somebody)

to no longer communicate with someone

Expressions when someone leaves

It has been nice/great knowing someone

To be sad to see someone go

To wish someone all the best
 

Ways to say goodbye

So long

Farewell

See you later

Take care

Keep in touch

See you later, alligator (response: In a while, crocodile)

Traditionally in the UK on Jan 1st, people make a promise to themselves about improving their lifestyle in some way: a new start for the new year. This is called a New Year’s resolution.
Lots of people go for a classic like joining a gym and exercising 3 times a week, giving up smoking, writing a book…and the all-time favourite – going on a diet!

The problem with new year’s resolutions is that they are made with the best intentions, but then life kinda gets in the way and before you know it, the new regime has been broken and your dreams of looking like a sex-god/goddess in time for the summer beach holiday lies shattered at your feet, making you feel even worse than when you began.

Broken Promises

Did you make a New Year’s Resolution and have broken it already? Probably the best thing to do if you really want to change something in your life is to think what is realistically acheivable and then work on it in little steps – not changing too much too quickly. So instead of something like…

I will never eat chocolate again!

A more realistic option could be….

I’m only going to have a bar of chocolate on a Saturday as a treat for not eating chocolate in the week.

My New Year’s Resolution

For me, I would really like to be able to do some killer yoga positions because I’m really inflexible and always have been. Now, I really want to do something about it. But instead of saying…

I will join a yoga class and do 1 hour of yoga every day!
I’ve made it more manageable…

I’m going to do 5 mins of simple stretches everyday. (I’ve also been doing this when I get up in the morning, so that it’s done immediately and then I don’t have to build-up to it all day and then it becomes yet another thing to do on my ‘to-do’ list that can be avoided because of time issues!) I’ve managed to keep it up so far

My Friends

Here’s what some of my friends put on facebook – this is real English ☺

• 2012 is going to be like every other year. We’ll make promises to ourselves that we can’t keep. We say it’s a new start but it’s just like the year before. Once we mess up during the year, we can’t wait for the next so we can repeat that empty process. You don’t need a new year to change your life.
• Obligatory new year facebook status update: I dont make resolutions and I’m also not one of those people that thinks you should “live each day like its your last” because you’d no doubt be fired from your job, get slapped around the face a lot & be flat broke very quickly. So in a nutshell! Dont focus on what you dont have, but be grateful for what you DO have. Stay away from negative energy. Be a good friend. And be kind.

General Public

And here’s what some people wrote in The Guardian newspaper….

• Do more of what makes me happy. See less of the people who don’t make me happy. Stop seeing exercise as a punishment
• New year’s resolutions are generally a load of bull. It’s the mini high before the let-down of failure. Simply don’t make any and decide to make some changes to your lifestyle that you can live with. A long-term goal needs small incremental steps along the way that ultimately may lead you away from your original goal, that’s not a bad thing. It isn’t the destination, people, it’s the journey…..AND with that I’ll leave you and sit in this job I’m not happy with for the foreseeable future.
• Find a new job (I hate my boss and some of my colleagues.)
• Go to sleep earlier.
• Keep the flat tidier.
• Read 100 books this year.
  
• Worry less.
• Spend less time online.

If you have made a New Year’s Resolution, keep up the will power and best of luck in finding a new and improved version of you!

Real English Vocabulary Glossary

a classic

(slang) something that everybody does the same way in a given situation

all-time favourite

(slang) a cliched thing

kinda

(kind of) – has the habit of

done with the best intentions

doing sth with determination in the hope of achieving a good result

regime

a system or planed way of doing things

little steps

small bits of action

inflexible

can’t bend your body easily

killer

very good or impressive

time issues

not having enough time

keep it up

to maintain/carryon/continue doing sth

mess up

to do sth incorrectly/wrong action

live each day like its your last

common phrase: live without worrying about the consequences

flat broke

having absolutely no money

in a nutshell

to say sth in a short way, but still having all the necessary information

a load of bull

stupid/nonsense (British – a load of bullshit. American – A load of bullcrap)

a high

(informal) very excited – usually by using drugs

Incremental

an increase on a fixed scale (normally small increase)

the foreseeable future

a period of time in the future that is near enough to make an accurate prediction

Oasis defined the Britpop movement of the early 90’s and became the inspiration for an entire generation of young bands. The group was formed by Noel Gallagher, one of the most popular songwriters in British popular music, and his brother Liam, an outspoken frontman. Their chemistry created a unique style of music but unfortunately their turbulent relationship between the pair was a constant problem.

After years of travelling the world and playing to thousands of fans a minor disagreement snowballed into a huge argument after a Paris gig in 2009. By the end of the night OASIS were no more and the brothers went their separate ways. Although loyal followers were devastated by the news Liam was quoted as saying “I don’t regret having an argument with our kid, I don’t regret the break up, it had to happen.” After over 15 years of being at the top he appears to be happy with what he accomplished: “We smashed it, man. We took it as big as we could. And hey, we inspired a lot of kids”

Since the split both brothers have relaunched their careers and are back on the road yet rumours are circling of a possible reunion. Liam recently suggested they get back together in 2015 for the 20^th anniversary of what many agree to be their best album, What’s the story (morning glory). Even though Noel rejected the offer Liam remains optimistic.

In an interview with a leading music magazine, Liam stated that “he’ll come round as soon as he realises he’s not that good without me”. Until then, fans of the Gallaghers can catch Liam on tour with Beady Eye, while Noel is also playing dates as a solo act pushing his number one album entitled High Flying Birds.

The jury is still out as to whether they’ll patch things up, but in the meantime fans can look forward to more upcoming material and tour dates from both brothers.
 

Adjective+Noun collocations

 
In English we often add adjectives before nouns to give more information but you can’t just add any adjective. Certain words go together or ‘collocate’. Here’s a list of some from the text:

Popular songwriters

Their songs are liked by many people

Outspoken frontman

Principal member of group who is not afraid to say what he thinks

Unique style

Completely different to others

Turbulent relationship

A very unstable friendship

Constant problem

Always a difficult issue

Huge argument

A very large disagreement

Loyal followers

People who are devoted to others

Upcoming material

New soon to be released music

Phrases/Vocabulary about bands/music groups

Britpop movement

A type of British pop music popular in the 90’s

Songwriters

People who create music and words together

Frontman

The lead singer of a band

Fans

People who like a band

Gig

A concert

Break up

When a band stops being together and separates

The split

The event when the group separated

Relaunched their careers

To start new careers

To be/go on the road

To tour

Reunion

The event when a group reforms

To get back together

To reform

He’ll come round

He will become convinced later

On tour

To play concerts over several dates in different places

Playing dates

Performing at concerts on different days

A solo act

A person who performs alone

To patch things up

To become friends again

What’s your opinion?                                                                                
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Noel Gallagher – High Flying Birds

Liam Gallagher – Beady Eye

All the Christmas Vocabulary is explained in the vocabulary glossary below the article. Don’t forget to to vote in our Xmas question poll. It only takes one click!

Someone said to me recently that the older you get, the more you hate Christmas. This is because you realise that there is so much hassle for one day. I responded by saying the opposite; the older you get, the more you appreciate it, because you realise this is one of the few occasions when people do not think about themselves, but others.  However, what do people in general think are the good and bad points of the festive season?
I asked around to get people’s opinions…

Reasons for Hating Christmas – Or “I hate Xmas”

• Presents (often expensive) are given to loved ones  which have been chosen, or demanded, beforehand – they might as well have bought it themselves
• The weeks leading up to Christmas are all about fighting your way through hordes of shoppers, causing more stress even just for buying wrapping paper or decorations
• Office Christmas parties mean socialising with colleagues which you may not like
• The obligatory family get-together is more of a yearly chore, particularly for the ones in the family who have to host these meetings
• Boxing Day, the worst day of the year for people who hate cleaning
• Watching The Snowman for the 100^th time on TV
• Listening to the same Christmas songs and carols on the radio/TV ad nauseam
• Putting up with nephews and nieces running around screaming their heads off
• Spending more money than usual, therefore turning people into a scrooge

Reasons for loving Christmas – Or, “I love Xmas”

• Spending time with family that you might not have seen in a year because you have just been too busy
• Having the traditional family meal of turkey with stuffing, mince pies and Christmas pudding, as well as pulling Christmas crackers together – lovely!
• Wrapping presents and then seeing the look of surprise and happiness on a friend of family member’s face when giving it to them
• The excitement on Christmas Eve (more about Xmas Eve here) of being able to unwrap presents given to you
• Putting up the Christmas tree and decorating it with tinsel and baubles
• Counting down the days to Christmas by eating the chocolate inside the advent calendar
• The Christmas office party supplying free food and drinks, with the added bonus of maybe being able to get a kiss under the mistletoe by someone you’ve always fancied
• Waiting for Father Christmas to come on his sleigh with his reindeer and elves to deliver presents down the chimney!

Personally, I love the spirit of togetherness of being with friends and family that this time of year brings. I hope you all do too. Remember, it’s all about the giving. Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Vocabulary:

presents

gifts, usually given at Xmas or birthdays

Wrapping paper

Paper to put around presents and give to people

Decorations

Things to make a place look and feel like it is Christmas

Boxing Day

26th December

the festive season

the Christmas period

A snowman

a model of packed snow in the form of a figure (The Snowman is a popular Xmas cartoon about a flying snowman)

Carol

A song of praise or joy, sung especially at Christmas

A scrooge

a mean-spirited stingy person, after the main character from Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’

Turkey

A big bird usually eaten in the UK at Christmas

Stuffing

A mixture of seasoned ingredients (herbs, spices and vegetables) used to put inside the turkey

Mince Pie

A small, round pie or tart containing sweet mincemeat, typically eaten at Christmas

Christmas pudding

a rich fruitcake (usually covered with icing and marzipan) and eaten at Christmas

Cracker

a tube of brightly coloured paper given at Christmas parties, which makes a noise when pulled apart by two people and contains a small present, a paper hat and a joke

Wrap

to put presents in wrapping paper

Unwrap

to open presents

Christmas Eve

December 24

Tinsel

A form of decoration consisting of thin strips of shiny metal foil

Bauble

a round-shaped decoration that is commonly used to put on Christmas trees

Advent Calendar

a large card with a brightly coloured design that contains small numbered doors for children to open on each of the days of Advent, revealing pictures beneath them or chocolates inside

Mistletoe

a European plant often used as a Christmas decoration which people traditionally kiss under

Father Christmas

The personification of the spirit of Christmas, usually represented as a jolly fat old man with a white beard and a red suit, who brings gifts to good children on Christmas Eve

Sleigh

a usually large sledge pulled by a horse or other animal

Reindeer

Deer-like animal

Elf (plural: Elves)

a small, helpful, mythical person