Beautiful English expressions and art combined

When I ask you to learn all kinds of weird expressions, you are often unwilling supporting your opinion by saying no one really uses them. Here you can see how many of them are beautifully illustrated. Yes, I agree that the theme of getting separated maybe is not the best for you to learn about at this age, but still... I hope you can appreciate at least some of them :)

Confusing English

This article gives some examples of words which are easily confused by quite advanced learners of English. I believe the list can still be "complemented"? Or should I use a different word?

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Games

I believe games are something that many of us are interested in. Mark Prensky has compiled various games for various subjects and levels into one site spreegames. It contains additional information on who it is for as well as aims for each. Enjoy exploring :)
If you have any favourites, don't hesitate to share :)

Timelines of Britain

Learning the English language is not only covering grammar and vocabulary. It involves discussing various themes, developing skills and it also entails discovering facts and figures about English speaking countries. If you would like to have more info on Britain (and not only) or if you are simply interested in history per se, I suggest visiting Timelines - a site that offers information on events, videos of some quite remarkable happenings in history and, if you are not so sure about your knowledge of English, there are video transcripts with text available :)

Enjoy intelligent entertainment!
Any comments or questions - don't hesitate to ask :)

Himalayas

Did you know that the Himalayas translate from Sanskrit as "abode of the snow"? If you wish to find out more about the "top of the world", check it out here, on BBC.

Nature and animals

It is becoming less and less important to learn English as a foreign language in a secondary school. Instead, it is turning into learning about the world, nature, people and cultures. For those of you who love animals and are interested in learning more about them, I would like to suggest exploring the following sites:

ARKIVE offers a collection of photos and videos of plants and animals. You can choose a region and explore its wildlife. It is also possible to play a game. For example, I tried a climate change quiz and it turned out I don't know enough about it :)

EXPLORE offers photos, high-quality documentaries and live webcam feeds. I believe you will not be disappointed :)

Have fun and learn something new every day!
If you have comments, you are welcome to share.

Give up/away/off...

Phrasal verbs are often difficult to master. Here you can try how well you can do an exercise with "give+preposition" :)

Beyond Planet Earth

I believe people have always been interested in things around them as well as things that are either far away or not possible to see. Here you can find scales to both - galaxies and neutrons. Click on start, go right or left and I hope you will enjoy having a look :)

IELTS practice

IELTS exams are one way how to prove your level of English if you are planning to study at a university where the language of instruction is English. Here you can find some practice material that you can use either to prepare for IELTS or for your school leaving exam :)

Twitter vs Facebook

I belong to both of these social networking sites - Twitter and Facebook, however, I had never considered either their advantages or shortcomings before reading this article by Matt Haughey. Although I would say each of them has its value that I appreciate, I go with the opinion expressed in the article concerning here and now as well as positive emotions regarding Twitter. 

What do you think?

For maths lovers

I am always amazed how science can capture everyone's mind. Have a look at any of these :)

Book Report

As December is not very far, I would like to remind you of the home-reading assignment. You can use these questions while discussing what you have read:

TITLE / AUTHOR
TYPE: Is it a detective story, spy thriller, horror story, historical novel, science fiction, romance, etc.?
SUBJECT: What is it about, e. g. family life, an unusual person, a mystery, an adventure?
CHARACTERS: Who are they? What are they like?
SETTING: Where does the story take place?
TIME: Is it written in the present time, or is it historical, or set in the future?
EVENTS: What happens? (Don't tell the whole story, just enough to interest your listener) Your favourite episode, why this?
IDEAS: Is the writer saying something important about people? Is there a 'message' in the story?
COMMENTS: What was it like to read? easy / difficult? short / long?
                        How would you describe the story? realistic / amusing / exciting / fast-moving?
                        What did you like especially about it?
                        How did you feel?

Correction of mistakes in written work

This entry is for those who are not familiar with the way some teachers including me correct their written work :)

The mistakes are marked in the following way:
wo - word order
ww - wrong word
wf - wrong form
wm - word missing
pr - incorrect preposition
a - incorrect article
gr - unspecified grammar mistake
t - verb tense
sp - spelling
? - it means there is something unclear
p - punctuation
wavy line - I do not exactly like the way you have written something (as it probably does not sound natural), but it can be left as it is :)

If I have missed any, you are welcome to remind me :)

All the mistakes need to be corrected in the text (with a differently coloured pen or pencil) except for the spelling mistakes - each misspelt word needs to be written five times correctly :)

If your work is in a printed version, use track changes for correction.

Remember that diligent correction work improves your grade :)

Questions

As some of you have asked me to provide a few more tasks on indirect (or embedded) questions, here are some pages you can have a look at:

1. Some good examples for indirect questions can be found here. Be sure to click on Part 1 and Part 2 for more examples :)
2. You can have a video to listen to some theory (if you feel like it) and examples :)
3. If you want to practice more, open this :)

For you - biology lovers

I believe that this film on butterfly migration can be an exciting experience for all of you who love nature and biology.

British vs American English

When students study English, they quite frequently ask the teacher whether the English they are studying is British or American English. I usually tell them I do not have any preference as regards one or the other, as there is also a term "general English" or "global English". Sometimes I try to demonstrate the differences by giving examples, sometimes students themselves bring examples to class for discussion. However, the argument is always alive and this article from BBC news shows exactly what I mean :)

If you have come across any good examples, you are welcome to join the discussion :)

Premium B2 Vocabulary

As we have together discovered that some of you have a problem with vocabulary, for each unit there is a long list of words that you can check out if you feel like :) The list can be found here; if you have any questions, you are very welcome to.

Plagiarism

You all know how frustrated I am if there is a situation of a student having copied material without referencing it properly. I also believe that most of you after having thought about it would never do this. However, in the age of technologies, it cannot always be escaped. Ana Christina, a teacher of English whose blog I follow, has beautifully reflected on the issue and offers some insightful videos for you to watch in her blog. If it raises any thoughts, you are very welcome to share :)

New vocabulary approved!

Hey, good news for those who are looking for new words or wondering whether this or that word is in the dictionary. Here you can find out which words have been added by Collins Dictionary. Some examples like FaceTime, cyberbully and other can be found on this list. Honestly, I think it's high time for me to start learning :) Which ones do you know? Which ones should be added to the list?