Hi Jan,

Your job as an events organiser sounds fascinating. You must get to meet lots of interesting people and work in lots of amazing venues. I find it complicated enough just having a few friends round to dinner, so I can't imagine being able to do a job like yours because it sounds like a logistical nightmare to me. But that is the great thing about work - everyone has different skills and aspirations - and for every one of us there's the perfect job if we're lucky enough to find it.

After graduating, I wanted to see the world so I headed down under and travelled around Australia and then, Indonesia. At the end of my time travelling, I decided I wasn't ready to go back to Britain just yet and wanted to find a way that I could continue staying in Asia and work for a bit longer. So I decided to learn how to be an English language teacher - "Just for a year or two, OK?' I told myself. 'I'm not going to become like everyone else in my family. This isn't some kind of major life-choice, it's just a short-term thing.' Well you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and (wo)men! I started teaching, and guess what? I really liked it! 20 years later, I'm still teaching - albeit in a slightly different way to the way I started out in the classrooms of Singapore all those years ago.

Putting my teacher's hat on now and looking at the learning aspects of your blog, I thought today we'd mainly concentrate on apostrophes and ways of showing possession, as well as touching on a few prepositions and a bit of vocabulary.

Possessives
To show that something or someone belongs to somebody we often use an s and an apostrophe in English, but not always. There are three rules about showing possessives that I'd like us to look at today. Rules 1 and 2 are about using this s + apostrophe, and rule 3 is about the times when we don't use s + apostrophe

Rule 1: If the thing or person doing the possessing is singular, for regular nouns, we use apostrophe + s. In all these examples below the owners are just one person, animal or country. For example:
John's shoes
The dog's bowl
Russia's novelists

Rule 2A: If the thing or person doing the possessing is plural, for regular nouns, we use s + apostrophe. In all these examples below the owners are more than one person or animal. For example:
The sisters' houses
The horses' food

Note: It doesn't matter if the thing being possessed is singular or plural, the person or animal which is the possessor is what's important here.

Rule 2B: If the possessor is a plural irregular noun, we use apostrophe + s.
The children's toys
The women's dresses
The men's ties

Rule 3: If the possessor is an inanimate object, we tend not to use either the apostrophe + s or the s + apostrophe. Sometimes we use nothing at all and other times we use of. For example:

The computer screen
The leg of the table
The cinema entrance

rather than
The computer's screen
The table's leg
The cinema's entrance

From reading your blogs Jan, I think you overuse rule 3. Quite often when students do this it's because their native language uses a kind of rule 3 construction and/or their native language doesn't have an s + apostrophe construction. Isn't that the case with Russian?

Your homework task is to look at these sentences - some from your most recent blog, some from your earlier ones - which are all of the rule 3 construction. Your job is to decide if rule 3 is correct in each of the sentences or not. If you think rule 3 isn't right here, you should re-write the phrase or sentence using the correct possessive structure.

The second part of the homework is a bit more difficult, and it's more of a long-term project. Each time you write in English, try taking a few minutes when you've finished to re-read it with a critical grammar eye - and check for just one key grammar area. For example, look at each instance of possessives or articles and see if you're happy with your writing or if there are any errors you'd like to correct.

A mantra you'll often hear writers say is that 'writing IS re-writing'. Sounds simple enough, but actually there's a lot to it. To be a real writer means not only writing something down, but editing it, re-reading it, changing it, and re-writing it.

1. It was on the eve of the New Year 2005.
2. The secretary of our company.
3. You have to meet the expectations of the client.
4. A Russian conference of the accountants.
5. The idea and development of our team.
6. I was on a presentation of event management.
7. The sorcerer's hat become the logo of Disney Hollywood studio.
8. When I was reading, I was living among the heroes of the book.
9. In this book he describes the life of a rich young man.
10. With each of his word you begin to imagine and feel the atmosphere of his novel.

Prepositions
Here are three example of prepositions from your blog. Can you look at the underlined prepositions and correct them? Note that you might not need any preposition at all in some of them.
11. On the interview I filled in a test.
12. He couldn't believe in my results.
13. I sent my CV for the best events company in Russia.

Vocabulary
And now, here are a couple of vocabulary bits and pieces to finish off today. I'm not quite sure what you mean in a couple of places (the italics highlight the problematic parts):

1. I afford to remind you ....
2. It was a quite a tricky one with a little bit difficult verification
3. It's a kitchen of event!
4. We grooved to the inflammatory disco music!

Here are my guesses/suggestions:
1. Since you'd already introduced the topic with In my introduction I promised to tell you about my profession, there really isn't any need for any further introduction. You could drop the I afford to remind you .... entirely. In fact the phrase doesn't actually exist in English, but if you wanted to you could say something informal like, well:

In my introduction I promised to tell you about my profession. Well, in the last five years I've been working in event management.

or

Remember how I promised to tell you about my profession? I haven't forgotten. You see in the last five years I've been working in event management.

2. You might want to re-word this sentence in one of these ways:

It was quite tricky and a difficult one to verify.
or

It was quite a tricky test and a difficult one to correct.

or

It was quite tricky and difficult to score.

3. I really have no idea what you mean here, sorry! Is this perhaps a saying or expression in Russian? Can you re-phrase it another way?

4. If something is inflammatory is means it's intended or likely to cause anger or hate. We might use the word like this:

The right-wing politician made a lot of really racist remarks. Her whole speech was highly inflammatory.

Now, I'm not sure what kind of music you like to groove to, but I sincerely hope the music you like isn't inflammatory, but do let us know!

That's all for now.

All the best,

Nuala

Vocabulary
a logistical nightmare - very difficult to organise and co-ordinate
won me over - persuaded me to do something (after I had been opposed to it before)
a social worker - a person whose job it is to give advice and support to people who need it
wasn't entirely unheard of - wasn't surprising or shocking because people had known about or experienced it before
an old people's home - a place where old people live together and are looked after and cared for by paid staff
albeit - although
an inanimate object - something that isn't alive (for example, a table or a chair)
mantra - a word or sound which is believed to have a special spiritual power

It's also interesting to learn about books you might never pick up in a bookshop until you hear they're someone you know's favourites. I fall into the latter camp with you because I haven't read any of the books you mentioned. Indeed, apart from The Forsyte Saga and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living', I hadn't even heard of your top books before. And here's me thinking I read quite a lot!

When I was 7, every afternoon for about a week my school teacher would gather all of the primary 3 pupils around her desk to read us The Secret Garden. It's the first book I really remember, and though I can't for the life of me remember my teacher's name, I have incredibly vivid memories of hearing the tale of Mary and Colin and being completely captivated by their life in the rose garden.

To Kill a Mocking Bird was also a school book I remember with great fondness. I read it when I was about 16 and thought it was a brilliant read - opening my eyes to novels which tackled big subjects like prejudice, justice and revenge - as well as introducing me to the completely other world of the southern USA. It's 50 years since the book was first published and to commemorate that, here's a BBC article entitled Why is To Kill a Mocking bird so popular?

My most recent reading includes a couple of best-sellers and one complete unknown. I don't know if the Stieg Larsson 'Millennium Trilogy' has been a huge hit where you are but these three Swedish books have taken Britain by storm. I saw the film of the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, picked up the second book ,The Girl who Played with Fire , and just couldn't put it down. It was a real page-turner. It's a very violent book - not something I usually like - but somehow in this fast-paced thriller, it works.

The second best-seller I've read recently is The Road. A beautifully haunting book by Cormac McCarthy. It tells the tale of a father and son trying to survive after some kind of unnamed apocalyptic event. It's a very simple story but told in amazingly poetic language. It's gripping and incredibly moving. It's also been made into a film but I haven't seen it yet. Think it's unlikely I will because I have such strong images in my head about the characters and the landscape I don't think I want them disturbed by someone else's version.

My current book is one that I picked up in a second-hand shop. Lots of people here shop in charity shops, and Rosie from BBC Learning English is addicted to shopping in them. Here's Rosie on what she calls 'chazzering'

I was in a charity shop last week and I picked up a book called Tethered by Amy MacKinnon. Why? This is Amy's only book and I'd never heard of her. The title didn't sound too interesting. But the cover? Well, that was another thing entirely. Now I know we're not supposed to do that - judge a book by its cover - but the picture just really drew me in. And in this case judging the book by it's cover worked a treat for me. I only bought it a few days ago and am already nearly half-way through. It's the story of a woman who works in a funeral home and, though it's not quite clear yet, there's a ghostly feeling to the whole thing. I think either she's actually dead or some of the people she meets in the story are, or maybe the whole world Clara inhabits is the world of the dead. I'm not sure. But no matter, I'm completely riveted by it. Have a look at Amy's website (to find details of the languages this book has been translated into) and you can see the cover that hooked me too. Although the book I've got is the British version, it actually has the French cover (the one with the girl with the flowers scattered around her head).

Turning now to look at the language aspects of your most recent posting, I thought we'd do a bit of tense revision. In particular I'd like to concentrate on the past simple and the present perfect. And I thought we'd look at some vocabulary items too.

Past simple and present perfect
I'm sure you know the main difference between the past simple and the present perfect tense but I think it's worth highlighting a couple of rules here to remind ourselves how each tense works. The little bit I know about Russian (and from talking to some of my colleagues in the BBC Russian Service), I've gathered that the English tense system in general is difficult for a lot of Russians speakers, and the present perfect in particular is tricky because in Russian, you'd use a past tense to express what we use the present perfect for.

So to re-cap on a couple of rules.

1. We use the past simple for actions that are completed and which happened in the past.
We create the past simple by adding 'd' or 'ed' to the base form of regular verbs (walk - walked, live - lived). But there are also a lot of irregular verbs too (come - came, buy - bought, cut - cut).

Some key words that flag up a past tense include:

yesterday
10 days ago
in the past
last week/month/year

For example:
He worked in a hotel in the past (but he works in a shop now).

They got married six years ago.

2. One of the uses of the present perfect is to talk about something which began in the past but which continues up to and including the present.

We create the present perfect with has or have and the third part (or past participle) of the verb (he has walked, they have drunk, we have swum)

Some key words that flag up the present perfect include:
since
for
all my life

For example:
He's worked in that shop for ten years.

We've been married since 2004.

So, your next homework task is to decide which of the options in brackets is the correct one. Most of the sentences come from your last posting. I hope you don't mind that I've edited some of them a little bit so we can concentrate on the grammar rather than on vocabulary or spelling here.
1. All through my life books (were / have been) my best friends.

2. While I was at school I (had been reading / read / have read) a lot.

3. When I was young, every time I (started / have started) a new piece of writing, I (was / have been absorbed).

4. (I've read / I read) all Remarque's books.

5. When I was a teenager, (I've re-read / I read) the 'Three Comrades'.

6. Honestly, I (had been thinking / have been thinking) about my own business.

7. (I learned / I've learned) from it how to present myself.

8. As you can see, (I've always been / I always was) interested in books.

9. After reading his novels, I (started / have started) to write my own short stories.

10. Dale Carnegie's book (was / has been) exactly the right book at the right time.

Vocabulary
Here are a few vocab items from your blog that I thought you'd be interested in looking at.
Rather than saying
1. My mom is guilty of it.

We'd say:

It's all my mom's fault.

or

My mom's to blame.

When we use guilty it tends to be like this:

My mom feels guilty about it.

2. Rather than:

During all my life ...

it's more natural to say:

Throughout my life ...

or

All my life...

3. A rich young man ... who despises a high-society.

High society (two words, no hyphen) means rich people, or people from higher social classes. For example, She belongs to high society and spends her time on yachts and going to parties.

High-society (one word, hyphenated) is an adjective we use to describe people or things. For example, a high-society party or a high-society wedding.

So your original sentence could be improved like this:

A rich young man ... who despises high society.

or

A rich young man ... who despises the high-society life style.

4. I still couldn't understand the character

is an improvement on:

I still couldn't find out the character.

5. You could improve:

When I'd risen in my work

by saying:

When I'd been promoted at work

or

When I'd risen to a higher grade/ post in my work

That's all for now. I'm sure I'm not the only one reading you blogs who'd love to read some of your short stories too. What language do you write in and have you been published at all? I'm sure your stories are very lyrical and beautifully written. Best of luck with them.

All the best,

Nuala

Vocabulary
I fall into the latter camp - I belong to the second (of two) groups presented
I can't for the life of me - It's very difficult or impossible for me to
vivid memories - clear memories
captivated - extremely interested, excited or charmed
read - usually read is a verb but here when it is being used as noun, it means something you read, like a book
tackled - dealt with, addressed
prejudice - treating someone differently because of their race, religion, sexuality, etc.
revenge - punishment given to someone because of the harm that they have done to someone else
commemorate - celebrate and remember
couldn't put it down - (of a book) that's so good you don't want to do anything else but read it
a real page-turner - (of a book) that's very engrossing or interesting
apocalyptic - showing or describing the complete destruction and end of the world, or extremely bad future events
a second-hand shop - a shop which sells things that aren't new, things that people have previously worn or used
a funeral home - a business that prepares dead bodies to be buried or burned
riveted - not be able to stop looking at something (or here, reading something) because it is so interesting or frightening
hooked - enjoying something so much that you aren't able to stop having, watching, doing (or here, reading) it

Hi Jan,

This is just a short note to send all our best wishes from everyone here in the BBC Learning English offices. We're very sorry to hear you were in an accident but happy to hear that no-one was hurt.

Hope these flowers cheer you up.

Take care and best wishes,

Nuala

Vocabulary
traumatic - stressful or emotionally upsetting
delayed reaction - unpleasant effect which happens some time after a stressful event (rather than immediately afterwards)
cheer you up - make you feel happier

Hi Jan,
Your blog around Sofia was brilliant. I've never been to Bulgaria but if I ever do get the chance to go there, the first thing I'll do when I get to the capital is find a map, get out my red pen, copy your circular route and know that if I follow it, I'll have a fantastic tour of the city. Thank you!

I also thought Vitosha Boulevard looked lovely, with the trees lining the street and the mountains in the distance. It kind of reminded my of my home town - Glasgow. Most people think of it as a post-industrial, old shipbuilding city - which it is - but it's also a bit like Sofia because it's a city nestled in the hills. The hills that you can see in the distance here (behind the spires of Glasgow University) are called the Campsies:

It looks like there are tramlines on the Boulevard. Do trams still run in Sofia?
We don't have trams anymore in Glasgow but whenever I'm in a city that has them, I always enjoy riding on them. Do you?

Now, turning to the learning English aspects of your blog, I have to say no particular grammar point jumped out at me. But I did notice a rather formal tone creeping into some of your writing again. It might be because written histories of cities or countries are often quire formal and perhaps you've picked up on that and used it in your blogs. But as you know, blogs are quite informal - they're almost like having conversations with people - so whenever possible, I'd encourage you to use informal language whenever you can. I also thought we could have a look at some spelling too.

Formal language
I know we've looked at this aspect of writing already in your blogs but, a bit like our work on articles, I think it's the repetition and revision that will help you take your writing to the next level.

Can you look at the sentences below and try to change them into a more informal style? I've italicised a few words here and there to highlight the areas you should be concentrating on:

1. Its population is about 2 million people.
2. Here were founded the structures, dated the 4th century BC.
3. We begin our tour on the square where Alexander Nevsy Cathedral is situated.
4. It accommodates about 5,000 persons.
5. 14,000 students receive their education annually.

Spelling
I'm sure a few of these spelling errors are actually just typos but I thought I'd include them just in case they weren't. See if you can correct the spellings which I've put in italics:

6. if you ever do get the change to go there
7. bus rout
8. a salutary yogurt bar
9. frozen barriers
10. St Nicholas the miracle make
11. Yang people choose this place to ride their skateboards

Thanks again for your informative and colourful tour round Sofia.

All the best,

Nuala

Vocabulary
imposing - (often used to talk about buildings) to describe something which looks important or causes admiration
spires - tall pointed structures on the tops of buildings
jumped out at me - was noticed by me immediately
creeping into - coming gradually or slowly into
take your writing to the next level - If you take something to the next level, you take something (which is already good) and improve it or make it better
typos - (informal) typing mistakes

Hi Jan,

Thanks for doing your homework so promptly and for blogging again so soon after your last posts. You really are a very fluent writer and the topics you've covered so far have been original and thought-provoking.

And your posting on momentary art was a real eye-opener. I've never seen anything quite like Kseniya Simonova's sand art before. It really blew me away!

It's not quite up to your very high standards but here's some art that I see on my bike ride to work every morning (I mentioned passing this piece of art in a staff blog I wrote ages ago). It looks like it's a sign for a fish shop but there's no shop behind the sign. The fish art just appeared on the wall one morning - a lovely mysterious piece of urban graffiti I think.

I thought today we might look at articles again and some collocations (or words that go together).

Articles and over-correction
I know we've only just looked at articles but I thought we might do some work on them for two reasons - to revise what you've learned already and to help you expand your knowledge of articles by refining some of the rules we've looked at so far.

Something that lots of teachers notice when they teach a new rule of grammar is that students often start to over-correct or hyper-correct. So for example, if I teach an elementary class the 'ed' ending on verbs for the past simple, I'm not surprised to hear them say 'Yesterday I buyed some coffee and drinked it.' They've taken a rule they've learned but then applied it too widely.

So although this rule that we looked at the other day is true:

if we are referring to something that is unique, that there's only one of, we use the.

it's not always true. There are a few exceptions to this rule including:

If we're taking about things in general, we don't use the.

Here are a few examples for your recent blogs which I've corrected so you can see the rule in action:

1. It's a story about realising dreams. (Rather than: the realising of the dreams)

2. The Ukrainian artist draws with sand. (Rather than: draws with the sand)

3. People use unusual things to create unusual pieces of art. (Rather than: the unusual things to create the unusual pieces)

I'll add a few more examples into your next homework task to see if you've got the hang of this new rule.

Collocations
Collocations are words that go together. Often there's no reason why they go together, they just do. Your job as an English language student is to try to remember what goes with what when you come across a new piece of grammar or vocabulary. If you keep a learning notebook, it's useful not only to record a new word when you learn it but also note what words or phrases collocate with it. For example, when you learn the noun risk, it'd be useful to note not only that it means chance but also what words and phrases go with it.

Take a risk.

Run the risk

There's a high/low risk

Here are a few collocations you didn't get quite right in your recent blogs:
1. Think carefully (Rather than: think well.)

You can think well of someone or something but that means think fondly of them. And from the context of what you were saying, I don't think that was the meaning you were after.

2. I asked him in my broken Bulgarian. (Rather than: It was on my unsteady Bulgarian.)

Now I'm not sure I've got the right idea here but if what you mean is that your Bulgarian wasn't very good and you spoke slowly with quite a lot of mistakes, then the word broken is the one you're looking for here. I think it's quite a nice word to describe the way we speak a language when we're fist learning it, don't you?

3. Luckily for me he was interested in me (Rather than: he showed a keen interest).

It's true we say show a keen interest. Unfortunately, that's only half the story because we usually say show a keen interest in something or someone.

So, now for your homework task. Have a look at these sentences. 1- 5 are about articles (including the rules we looked at in this blog and in my last one), and 6 - 10 are about collocations. I've italicised the areas to concentrate on in 6 - 10 to guide you. Can you spot the mistakes? If the sentence is correct, you know what to do. Just write 'OK'. If you find a mistake, your job is to correct it.

1. It gave me something to think about! A momentary art!

2. He draws with the brushes.

3. Using the toothpick, the master draws on the whipped cream.

4. But we have invented more attractive way of doing it!

5. One step and you'll fall into a waterfall!

6. I was far away from home all along!

7. There was nobody on the illuminated streets.

8. It reminds me of scientists during excavations.

9. In ancient times people drew on rocks in the ground and we, their issue, continue this tradition.

10. He is bathed in magnificent sunrises and sunsets!

That's all for today.

Many thanks again for those amazing links. You've opened my eyes to a whole new art world.

And your own art is fabulous too!

All the best,

Nuala
Vocabulary
a real eye-opener - something very surprising
It really blew me away! - It really surprised me!
got the hang of - learned and understood something new]]> Nuala Nuala https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/learningenglish/2010/06/art-on-the-go.shtml https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/learningenglish/2010/06/art-on-the-go.shtml Teacher blog Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:36:46 +0000 This is a reply to this blog from Jan

Hi Jan,

How lovely to read the story behind your move to Bulgaria. It seems for you that the saying 'love conquers all' really is true, even if it takes a while to figure out who - or where - you're in love with!

Happy endings and holiday romances always make me think about the tale of the eponymous heroine of the play and film Shirley Valentine. Look away now if don't you want to have the ending ruined!

Shirley Valentine is the story of an unhappily married, middle-aged, working-class woman living in Liverpool. Her best friend wins a trip-for-two to Greece

and Shirley goes off with her for the holiday of a life-time. Shirley promptly falls in love with Costas, a handsome local man she meets there. After her best friend goes back to Liverpool at the end of the two weeks, Shirley decides to stay in Greece to be with her man. But then she finds out that Costas has holiday-making women falling in love with him every other week. She is just one of lots of women Costas uses his chat-up lines on and his smooth ways with. She's devastated. But then - and here's the unique twist in this holiday-romance saga - rather than somehow making Costas magically fall in love with her or going back to her unloving but safe husband, she dusts herself off and settles into a new life in Greece as a completely independent, self-sufficient woman living alone. And she loves it!

So, happily ever after for some, and a life alone for others, who can say what love is?

Turning now to your blog, I thought we'd look at using the indefinite article (a and an) and the definite article (the), as well as a few vocabulary items.

Articles
I know we've looked at this topic a few times before on the blogs here and for those of you who have been following the blogs for a while, this might seem repetitive, but I think it's worth revisiting this important but sometimes tricky area of English because, as I'm sure you all know, one of the keys to learning is revising, revising, revising.

We'll look at just two simple rules today. I think articles are especially tricky for Russian speakers because I believe Russian doesn't have articles. But in English, if we're introducing a singular topic for the first time, we usually use a or an. And if we are referring to something that is unique, that there's only one of, we use the.

Here are a few of examples from your blog where you needed to add an article (I've underlined the added articles below):

I had been preparing to be an economist.

I devoted all my free time to singing in an academic choir.

We were a perfect team.

And here are a few examples from your blog where you got the article the just right:

We wanted to see the world.

We had one amazing week in the sun on the Black Sea.

We didn't win the prize.

Can you take a look at these sentences and decide if they are correct or not? I've edited them a little bit so that we can concentrate just on your use of articles (a, an or the). If the sentences are correct, you only have to write 'correct' or 'OK' but if they're wrong, your homework is to re-write the sentence correctly.

1. Everyone must have a dream!


2. It turns into defined plan.


3. We had great time.


4. Our performances were based on classic European manner of singing.


5. Varna is a pearl of Bulgaria.


6. We met a lot of interesting people.


7. We visited his friends' house with lovely enclosed court.


8. The first event was International May Choir Competition.


9. I returned to Moscow with broken heart!


10. I fell in love with the country, not with the boy!

Vocabulary
There are a few items I thought you might like some help with. Your writing is really very good, and to take it to the next level, it's all about finding and learning to use new vocabulary and ways of expressing yourself. I hope these few pointers help:

1. I was super young and sweet when I was in my 20s.

Rather than:

I was on my super sweet 20.

Incidentally, in English we tend to talk about sweet 16, rather than sweet 20.

2. The thought of doing something different crept in.

Rather than:

Thought to change something crept in!

3. We exchanged thousands of e-mails and messages!

Rather than:

We exchanged thousands of e-mails and massages!

This suggestion only works if your long-distance relationship was much less physical than I'd imagined! :)

4. I started to learn Bulgarian.

Rather than:

I started to learn Bulgarian language.

That's all for now.

Have a good weekend,

Nuala

Vocabulary:
love conquers all - no matter what happens, if you love someone you will be happy with them in the end
fling - short relationship which is not very serious
souls - people
eponymous - an eponymous character in a play, book or film. has the same name as the title of the play, book or film
the ending ruined - be told how the story ends
a trip-for-two - a holiday for two people
the holiday of a life-time - a holiday that is so expensive or so far away you're likely only to go there once in your whole life
chat-up lines - phrases used by people to start conversations with other people they are sexually attracted to
smooth ways - behaving in ways that are polite, confident and able to persuade people, but in a way that is not sincere or true
devastated - very upset
twist - change in the way a story unfolds
saga - long, complicated story
dusts herself off - fixed expression used to talk about moving on after a set-back or negative experience

Hi Jan,

Lovely to meet you! And thanks for posting your first blog.

Like everyone who's been reading your blog, I'm looking forward to learning more about the woman who's Russian but who spends almost all her time speaking Bulgarian!

Though honestly, the languages spoken in Glasgow and London aren't that different ... or are they? How good are your language skills? Can you Parliamo Glasgow?

Here in the UK we have lots of different days to celebrate families, religion and culture but not one to celebrate children. I wonder why that is? As you say, it'll be interesting to find out how other people celebrate Children's Day around the world.

You've got a lovely chatty style in your blog writing, and you used lots of interesting expressions like:

Moscow is an impressive city.
The truth is that my profession is my passion!
I'd like to write a few words about my hobbies.

I thought we'd take a look at a few vocabulary items as well as looking at formal and informal language today.

Vocabulary

Here are the vocab items I'd like us to concentrate on today:

at the beginning
mansion
practically
24 hours tempo
very various
except

• When we want to introduce something we can say:
  

To start with,

or, to make it more informal, we could say:

To kick off with,

Rather than At the beginning

• The word mansion means a very big or grand house

I think the word you were looking for is mention which means to talk about something quickly or briefly without giving too many details.

So you could improve your original sentence:

At the beginning, I'd like to mansion that the 1st of June is International Children's Day!

by saying this instead:

To kick off with, I'd like to mention that the 1st of June is International Children's Day!

• The word practically means almost or nearly but in this sentence:

Its population is about 11 million people officially and about 18 million people practically!

you're contrasting officially and practically, and that's not quite right. Usually we contrast officially with unofficially. So we'd say:

Its population is about 11 million people officially and about 18 million people unofficially!

• When we want to talk about a city that never stops we say:
  

Moscow is an impressive city with a 24-hour pace of life!

rather than:

Moscow is an impressive city with 24 hours tempo of life!

Note that even though 24 is plural, hour isn't plural here. Other examples of this noun + noun (usually hyphenated) construction, where the first noun is normally in the singular are:

a five-day working week

a six-kilometre swim

a 55-minute lesson

• A word like various means very many different types, so the idea of very is already incorporated into various. So we usually use various on it's own, rather than saying very various. Having said that, various still isn't quite the right word here:
  

• Except means all others, but not that one. But it's not quite the right word here:
  

Informal language

There were a few instances when you used more formal language than is necessary in a blog. So your first piece of homework is to try to rewrite the italicised words in a more informal way:

1. I'd like to express gratitude to BBC team
   


2. It possesses the world's second busiest (after Tokyo) metro system
   


3. and comprises 180 stations
   


4. It's important that our society cares about the observance of children's rights.
   


5. So, I intend to tell you about the most exciting moments of these great events.

Ta-ta ra noo (that's Glaswegian for Goodbye for now),

Nuala

Vocabulary
chatty - speaking in an informal way
construction - particular way in which the words in a sentence or phrase are arranged
incorporated into - included in

Hello Mitzi,

Wow! Talk about making us feel jealous! I'll second all the comments that other people have left on your last post about your glorious photos. The beaches look really incredible - the sand and sea look so inviting, I wish I was there right now!

Not quite in the same league as the beach Huatulco, is it?

It's been lovely getting to know you and learning more about Mexican life and culture. Before I sign off, I'd like to look at a few verbs from your last post and use some of them for your final homework task. Have a look at the verbs in the sentences below. Some of them are correct and others aren't. You know the drill by now: if the sentence is correct, just write 'OK' or 'correct' but if the verb is wrong, rewrite the sentence with the correct verb.

1. I remembered a trip.
2. A trip I made a few years ago.
3. Why not share the experiences I lived on the trip?
4. We went for a week to Hustulco.
5. When we got there the only things we made were eating, swimming and sleeping!
6. One day we decided to know some beaches.
7. You have to ask for permission to swim or camp there.
8. We took the tour.
9. We knew downtown Huatulco.
10. We went there only in the afternoons.

And so, it's time to say goodbye.

Good luck and all the best,

Nuala

Vocabulary
second - agree with
glorious - beautiful
inviting - tempting
a tiny bit - a very small amount
in the same league as - as good as
know the drill - know what to do

Even though I've just had lunch here in London, your posting about Mexican food has set my stomach rumbling uncontrollably! I think I'll have to go for a very early dinner at this rate.

]]>I'll try to get your taste-buds going with a story and a picture or two from my recent holiday in the US.

One morning we went to Baltimore's Cafe Hon for some of its famous cake and coffee.

While we were tucking into the delicious pies, I saw a number of women - all of a certain age, dressed in purple and wearing red hats. Curiosity got the better of me, and (strictly with you in mind), I went over to their tables and asked them why they were all dressed in a similar (if slightly unusual) way. They told me they were members of The Red Hat Society and that there were only four rules for joining this special club:

• you're a women over 50
• you dress in purple when you go out to a Red Hat Society do
• you wear a red hat when you go out to a Red Hat Society do

• "you encourage fun, friendship, freedom and fulfilment".

They kindly posed for some photos, we said goodbye and I went back to my coffee and cake.

It was only then that it dawned on me - I passed 3 out of 4 of the criteria (I'll give you a clue, I might have salt and pepper hair, but I'm not quite 50 yet!). Yes, I try very hard not to take life too seriously but, perhaps more bizarrely, I saw I had on a purple t-shirt and my red cap was sitting on the table next to my cake. So I popped my red hat on and went back to my new friends and asked if I could take one more picture. I think I'll be a great Red Hat Society member one day soon, don't you?

All your Mexican food looks really delicious. I particularly liked that tomatoey soup, Pozole. Do you ever eat it cold? Sometimes on a hot summer's day there's nothing I like better than cold soup - my current favourite is one I make with cucumbers, mint, dill and yogurt.

Now, let's have a look at some of the language of your Mexican food blog. I thought today we'd look at is, it's and there is, as well as some items of food vocabulary.

Is, it's and there is

I notice that you often use it's in a way that not quite right. For example, you wrote:

Mole it's difficult to prepare.

There are two ways you can correct this:

Mole is difficult to prepare.

or

It's difficult to prepare Mole.

You also have a tendency to run sentences together using it's when you should really make two separate sentences. For example:

On a rainy day I really enjoy eating Pazole it's a dish from Guerrero.

Should be:

On a rainy day I really enjoy eating Pazole. It's a dish from Guerrero.

Can you look at these sentences and see if you can find any mistakes in them? Not all of them have mistakes, of course! If the sentence is OK, you can just write 'correct' or 'OK' but if you can see a problem, rewrite the sentence correctly:

1. I say that because it's one of the most important social activities.

2. Mexican food it's famous around the world.

3. Today in Mexico City it's difficult to be together with your family for lunch.

4. The principal characteristic of Mexican food it's the variety of dishes.

5. In the north the food it's simpler.

6. This is the most important ingredient in some dishes.

7. You can tell it's Mexican food because is spicy.

8. Is it easy to find Tacos? Well, especially in Mexico is very easy.

9. Sometimes for breakfast I make a torta it's like a sandwich.

10. The most common ingredient we use in Mexican food is corn.

Food vocabulary

And to describe:

sheep meat

we don't use either of those words! Instead to talk about meat from a young sheep we use:

lamb

And for meat from a older sheep we use:

mutton

The white sauce that you put on snacks is called mayonnaise (not mayoneza) and the contraption the meat is carved from is a spit (rather than a spin).

Well that's all for today. Is it time for tea yet?

All the best,

Nuala
Vocabulary
my stomach rumbling - my stomach was making noises which indicated that I was hungry
at this rate - if the situation stays the same (here, that your food blog continues to make me feel hungry)
to get your taste-buds going - to make you look forward to eating some food
tucking into - (informal) start eating with a lot of enthusiasm
of a certain age - a polite way of saying 'middle-aged' or 'old'
strictly - only
do - (informal) event or party
fulfilment - feeling of pleasure because you are getting what you want from life
it dawned on me - I realised
criteria - conditions or rules
salt and pepper hair - hair that is black (pepper) with some grey or white (salt)
not to take life too seriously - not be worried about life, work, problems etc
bizarrely - very unusually
popped - informal (put)
tomatoey - (informal) tastes strongly of tomatoes
contraption - a machine or device that looks awkward or old-fashioned, especially one that you do not know how to use or don't know the exact name of

Hi Mitzi,

First off, I'd like to say a huge thanks to Callum for being the teacher blogger for the last two weeks while I was away on holiday. I hope you enjoyed working with him as much as he enjoyed working with you.

I hadn't heard of 'visionary art' before visiting this museum. Do you know what it is? Here's how the Visionary Art Museum defines visionary art:

"....art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself."

This was my second visit to Baltimore and, on my last visit there, I saw an interesting exhibition at the museum that now makes me think of you, even though we hadn't met when I saw it. It was a beautiful collection of quilts made by a group of women who were Mexican immigrants living in the USA. The quilts told their stories - both happy and sad - of their lives in the USA and what (and who) they had left behind in Mexico. The quilts were all beautifully made and the tales they told were really moving. Do you or anyone in your family quilt? I always think it looks so intricate and complicated. I just don't think I'd have the patience to do it!

The audio in this clip from Youtube isn't very good, but it does show a similar exhibition which took place in the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago with a group of Mexican women quilters which you might find interesting

Your blog about Xochimilco and Mariachi bands was really interesting. Until recently I'd always thought that Mariachi bands were male, but then I heard of this group, Las Alteñas, in Texas. And after hearing about them, I discovered there are quite a few other all-female bands. Are there many female Mariachi bands in Mexico? If so, which type of band do you prefer - male or female - and why?

Turning now to you most recent posting, I thought we'd take a look at the passive structure. As I'm sure you know, the passive looks like this:

• The president was shot last night.
  


• Rice is grown in Japan.
  


• The votes have been counted.

And is made up of part of the verb to be (for example, was, is, have been), plus the past participle (or the third form) of the verb (for example, shot, grown, counted). 

And we can use the passive to put the focus on the receiver of the action (rather than where is usually is, in active structures, on the do-er of the action). 

Compare these sets of sentences:

1 - Passive: The president was shot last night.

Active: Someone shot the president last night.

2 - Passive: Rice is grown in Japan.

Active: Farmers grow rice in Japan.

3 - Passive: The votes have been counted.

Active: People have counted the votes.

Can you see how the passive voice works better in each of these sentences? In each of the sentences we're not really interested in who did the action - either because we don't know who it is, in the case of sentence 1 or because it doesn't really add any extra useful information in sentences 2 (of course it's farmers who grow the rice) and 3 (of course people count the votes).

So now let's have a look at a few passive examples from your blog. I've changed a few little bits and pieces of your writing so that we can concentrate solely on the passives here. Hope that's OK with you:

1. It's locate south of Mexico City.

2. In the past the use was to transport farmers' crops.

3. The first trajineras was decorated.

4. These names were put there rich people.

Can you see if you can correct these sentences? Try and do the task without any more help ... but if you think you need some clues, here are a few pointers for you:

1. The problem here is the main verb.

2. Have a look at the words "the use was".

3. The form of the verb "be" is wrong.

4. You need to add one more word to this sentence.

That's all from me for just now. Looking forward to hearing more about your colourful life in Mexico soon.

All the best,

Nuala

Vocabulary

This is just a short note to say goodbye and good luck. It's been lovely getting to know you over this last month. I'm sure I speak for lots of our blogging audience when I say you've taught us lots of fascinating things about Thailand.

Brighton is famous for its pavilion. It was commissioned by King George IV, when he was still a prince, at the turn of the 19th century.

The building is a great tourist attraction in Brighton and, even though I consider myself to be a fairly regular visitor to the city, I never tire of looking at it. I think I like it so much because it looks like it's made of sand. We Brits love to build sand castles like this

whenever we're on holiday, so the sand-like Brighton Pavilion is a perfect castle to be beside the sea. Or is it? The strange thing about Brighton beach is that it's not a sandy beach at all, but a pebbly one.

The beach is made up of lots of little stones,

which makes it quite uncomfortable to walk on, but as the tide goes in and out, the waves make the most wonderful, soothing, swishing sound as they rush over the little stones on the beach.

Hope you have a great weekend too.

All the best,

Nuala

Vocabulary
It was commissioned - Someone was formally chosen to do a special piece of work (here, build the pavilion) the turn of the 19th century - at the beginning of the 1800s
a fairly regular visitor - a person who visits a place often
never tire of - don't ever get tired or bored with
the tide - the rise and fall of the sea that happens twice every day
soothing - calming, relaxing, peaceful
swishing - moving quickly through the air, making a soft sound

Hi Lyn,

What a tricky situation you found yourself in! Isn't it interesting that we can say that we don't like mice in general, but when faced with one in particular it's not quite so easy? Kirsti had a similar experience too which she mentioned in the comments of your last blog. Once we see a mouse as friendly, scared, brave or even blue-tailed or red-tailed it's a bit harder to think of it as a nuisance we need to get rid of, isn't it?

We had quite a long discussion in the BBC Learning English offices a while ago when we found evidence of little creatures making inroads into our biscuit selection. We talked and talked about what to do. Officially we had to inform the building supervisors, but unofficially ... well let's hear from Kaz, one of the producers here at BBC Learning English:

Kaz holding a mouse made by student blogger Anita

"We found a little mouse scurrying around the office, people were standing up looking worried and then I saw it run behind the rubbish bin. I picked up a plastic cup and a postcard and moved the bin to one side. I saw the little mouse looking up at me. With one swift movement, I placed the plastic cup over the mouse and slipped a postcard underneath. And there was the mouse looking and me, and me looking at it - I'm not sure if it was a boy or a girl mouse. I could feel the warmth of its little body though the postcard on the palm of my hand. The next problem was - what do I do with the mouse? By this stage, the mouse was quite happily grooming itself - cleaning its whiskers and scratching behinds its ears. It was a cold January day but that didn't stop me. I carried the little mouse out of Bush House down to the first piece of green ground that I know of nearby - Lincoln's Inn Fields - and I released the little creature into a flower bed. I fancy it blew me a little kiss before it scuttled off!"

But would he recommend using this technique again? "Most definitely. It's one of the best solutions for anyone who wants to humanely dispose of our little furry friends."

I thought today we'd look at some individual sentences from your latest blog - 12 in total. In each one, I'll give you two options - the original sentence you wrote and one other. Your task is to figure out which of the two options is correct. But here's the tricky bit, not all of your original sentences are wrong. I've included quite a few of yours that are perfectly fine, so there are a few red herrings you have to look our for! For each sentence, you should write out the complete correct sentence.

1. (a) When I have time next week I am willing to finish this book.
(b) When I have time next week, I am hoping to finish this book.

2. (a) I plan to go and stay at the temple for 3 or 4 nights.
(b) I have a plan to go to temple and lived there for 3-5 nights.

3 (a) I saw his eyes.
(b) I see his eyes.

4. (a) To make a Meditation and Yoga.
(b) To do meditation and yoga.

5 (a) He trapped.
(b) He was trapped.

6 (a) It likes the time to Detox my mind.
(b) I like to have the time to detox my mind.

7. (a) Our plan didn't work.
(b) For our plan we did not succeed.

8. (a) The mouse was so intelligent, that may be he could understand all secret plan.
(b) The mouse was so intelligent that he was able to understand all our secret plans.

9 (a) It's a long story.
(b) It's long story.

10. (a) Why did my angel have to laugh like this?
(b) Why my angle had to laugh like this?

11 (a) My heart beating I did not dare to move.
(b) My heart was beating but I didn't dare move.

12 (a) We celebrate late than other.
(b) We celebrate later than others.

13 (a) In the morning, I told mom what I had faced.
(b) In the morning, I told mom what I have been faced.

That's all for now.

Take care,

Nuala

Vocabulary
get rid of - dispose of
making inroads into - starting to have a direct and noticeable effect (on something)
biscuit selection - different types of biscuits (usually sold together in one box or container)
scurrying - moving very quickly
swift - quick
palm of my hand - the front part of my hand
whiskers - long, stiff hairs growing on the face of a mouse (or cat or other mammal)
fancy - think
scuttled off - moved very quickly
red herrings - facts, ideas or subjects (or here, correct sentences) that take people's attention away from the central point being considered (here, trying to figure out which sentences are incorrect)

Well, I feel a bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator - not so much 'I'll be back' as 'I am back!'

I took yesterday as a day's leave (and kept my fingers crossed that our flight would actually take off) but I'd arranged with my boss on Friday that if my flight was cancelled, I'd come back to work today.

I suppose things could have been worse. Here's how some people around the world have been coping with their interrupted travel plans.

I've been trying to re-book my flight for the beginning of May but so far the airline's website has been too busy to be able to deal with my request. And because the course of true travel never does run smoothly, there's one more potential blot on the landscape of my travel plans. My partner's passport is due to run out in the middle of May, so if we don't mange to get off on our holiday before then, we'll have to wait quite a long time, till Nat's passport gets renewed. Oh well maybe a spring-time holiday in the middle of June isn't such a bad idea after all!

I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying The Shadow of The Wind. I mentioned in a previous blog - when Emilio was the student blogger - that The Shadow of The Wind was one of my favourite books. I hope you keep on with it. Although it's quite a long book, it's a real page-turner too.

I hope your mouse-trap is successful. Let us know if you catch the little creature or not. I've had mice a few times in my house too - I think everyone in London has - over the years. I've had quite good luck with using chocolate as bait.

It might be interesting to find out what works around the world. Send us in a comment and let us know what the best thing is to trap a mouse. And what do you do once you catch a mouse? Do you kill it or do you take it somewhere - an open park or a field perhaps - and set it free, or have you even thought about using it for a radio broadcast?

Today I thought we'd look at using colours in English. If you don't already know our very own lovely Teacher, this might be the perfect time to get to know him and learn a few colour idioms with him on Youtube:

Colours in English
We can use the word blue - meaning sad - to talk about our feelings, but we don't usually use to talk about weather. You can however say, It's a blue day if you mean the day makes you feel sad or melancholy.

Here are some sentences with other colour in them. Your homework task is to decide which is the correct colour in each blank:

1. Joe wanted the first prize of a weekend in Paris. He was green / red with envy when Karen won the raffle.

2. Whatever you do, don't start going on about politics when you meet my dad - it's like a black / red rag to a bull. He can't stand discussing politics!

3. That's the second yellow / white card the referee has given Johnston in this match, so he's being sent off now.

4. The investigators want to find the brown / black box so that they can figure out what caused the plane to crash.

5. The hotel is very gay-friendly. It makes economic sense too to try to attract gay and lesbian travellers. You know the pink / purple pound is a big piece of the economic pie these days.

6. She's got a nerve telling me to be more punctual - she's always late! Talk about the pot calling the kettle silver / black.

7. My gandma has just got her first computer. She said she didn't want to be left behind in the digital age. I bet she'll be a silver / golden surfer in no time at all.

8. I told my grandma she has to try to keep her brain active. It doesn't matter if it's just a simple crossword or a Sudoku puzzle. It's important to use the old brown / grey matter every day.

9. Ben's dad had been a blue-collar / red-collar worker all his life so he was really proud of Ben when he graduated from university as a doctor. Ben would have a very different working life from his father, that was for sure.

10. It's not exactly true that I enjoyed her art exhibition but I thought telling a little white / orange lie would be better than actually telling the truth and hurting her feelings.

That's all for now.

All the best,

Nuala

Vocabulary
the happiest of campers - the happiest person - from the fixed expression to be a happy camper
leave - paid holiday from work
blot on the landscape - future problem
run out - not be able to be used anymore (or in the case of a passport, to not be valid any longer)
page-turner - very exciting or interesting book
bait - small amount of food used to attract and catch an animal

Hi Lyn,

Thanks for your latest blog. The political situation in Thailand does seem very volatile at the moment. I'm sure I speak for all of us who read the blogs when I say I hope a peaceful solution will soon be found.

The only day that we have over here that's a bit similar to Songkran - in that people behave in a way they wouldn't normally - is April Fool's day. On 1st of April (but only in the morning), we're allowed to play practical jokes on our teachers, bosses or families, or dress up in funny costumes or clothes.

I always had high hopes of making a bucket of water fall on my teacher's head when she opened the classroom door and unintentionally set off the booby-trap we pesky students had laid for her. But in reality my friends and I were always too wimpy to ever actually execute such a daring plan. Who knows maybe next April will be my year (so the boss had better watch out!)

Today I thought we'd have a homework-free blog. It's time for you to celebrate Songkran and I'm in a holiday mood too, so I think we both deserve a break from the rigours of English language tasks and exercises!

I'm due to fly off to America on Monday so I'd like to say goodbye to you now... except I can't because I'm not 100% sure I'll be going anywhere for my holidays! I don't know if you've heard the news, but all flights from the UK have been suspended. There's a huge cloud of volcanic ash, which has floated over from Iceland, which is now high up in the skies above Britain, so at least until tomorrow (Saturday), flights have been grounded.

So this might be goodbye or it might just be 'au revoir' as the French say. I might not be blogging with you again, Lyn, or I might be back in the office on Monday!

So if this is goodbye, well ... goodbye! It's been lovely getting to know you and finding our about your life in Thailand. And if this is goodbye, you'll also be meeting a mystery teacher blogger next week. Lucky you!

But if this isn't goodbye, well ... we'll be writing to each other next week, as usual!

So either way, all the best and bye for now.

Nuala

Vocabulary

volatile - likely to change suddenly and unexpectedly or suddenly become violent or angry
solution - answer, outcome
sipping - drinking small amounts
soaked - very wet
had high hopes - was very hopeful
unintentionally - not done on purpose, don't mean to do something
booby-trap - something dangerous or unexpected that is hidden somewhere that looks safe
pesky - troublesome, annoying
wimpy - not brave, fearful
execute - complete
daring - brave
watch out - an expression we use as to tell people that they should be aware of some kind of danger
rigours - forceful or very strict set of rules
suspended - stopped temporarily
grounded - (used to talk about a plane) kept on the ground and not able to fly
au revoir - French for 'goodbye' but which also means 'I'll see you again'

Hi Lyn,
Thanks for your most recent blog. It's nice to be able to get a clearer idea of your job and how you spend your time. From the comments that people have left so far, it seems almost everyone wants to know more about your religion, and the festivals and holidays you celebrate in Thailand. I hope you'll tell us all about that as well as lots more about your day-to-day life in Pattaya. Although I have to admit it's the amazing food that I want to hear about most! I lived in Bangkok for three years and became quite addicted to the sweet and sour soups and the hot chillies in almost everything, so I'd love to hear about the dishes you cook and your favourite food stalls and restaurants!

Here, spring has finally arrived and we've had the first few warm days of the new season. Everyone seems much more cheerful. All of us in the BBC Learning English office had a bit more of a spring in our step when we come into the office this morning.

I bike to work most days and today was the first day I didn't need my gloves or jacket. The trip along the canal towpath was a real delight in the spring-time sunshine. Fingers crossed the good weather is here to stay! But since this is Britain it could be rainy and cold tomorrow - or even later today, knowing my luck!

Today I thought we'd look at articles (that's 'the', 'a' and 'an'). Actually, I hope this topic will be of interest to some of our audience too (Negee in particular asked about some advice on using articles).

Articles
There are a lot of rules about using these three little words (no, not 'I love you' but 'the', 'a' and 'an'). Today we'll look at five of the rules:

Rule 1
When we introduce a new topic or talk about something for the first time in a conversation or a piece of writing, we tend to use 'a' or 'an'. For example:

a. I'm going to look at a house later today.

b. She's got a car and a bike.

c. Joe needs a pen. Can he borrow yours?

Rule 2
When we refer to something that's been mentioned before, we tend to use 'the'. If the conversations from (a - c) above were continued, they might go like this:

d. I really liked the house and I'm thinking about renting it.

e. The car is red and the bike is green.

f. Did you get the pen for me? Thanks. Glad you got the black one and not the red one. I don't like writing in red.

Here are some sentence from your blog where you use the indefinite article ('a' or 'an') correctly. In all of these examples you're referring to something for the first time.

'Khun' is a polite and common word. (You hadn't mentioned this term before).

Somebody wants to sell and waits for a buyer. (This is the first time that a buyer has been mentioned).

I'm just waiting for Khun Nuala buy me a lovely small apartment. (This is the first time an apartment has been mentioned)

And here are some sentences where you used the definite article 'the' correctly. In all these examples, we both know what you're talking about because it's been mentioned before (either in your blog or in a previous one).

Thank you for the useful homework. (I'd talked about giving you homework before so we both knew which homework you were referring to).

If you want to lease your house, just list it with the agency. (You'd mentioned your agency before so we know which agency you're talking about).

The global recession makes people afraid. (I'd already asked you about the recession - and there's only one of them going on just now - so we both know which recession you're talking about).

Rule 3
If there's only one of something, we use 'the', rather than 'a' or 'an'. So for example, we talk about:

the White House

the moon

the Alps

Rule 4
We don't use any article when we're talking about things or people in general. So for example, when we're referring to all things, we don't say:

The mice like the cats.

She loves the poetry.

The rice is very expensive at this time of year.

Instead we say:

Mice like cats.

She loves poetry.

Rice is very expensive at this time of year.

Rule 5
We use 'a' or 'an' to talk about jobs (not 'the' or no article), so we don't say:

She teacher.

What do I do? I'm the sales assistant in Harrods department store. (There are lots of sales assistants in Harrods).

Instead, we say:

She's a teacher.

What do I do? I'm a sales assistant.

Incidentally, we also use the expression I'm a / I'm an to talk about our jobs, rather than saying My job's a. So I'd say I'm a writer, not My job's a writer.

So here's today's homework task. Here are a few sentences from your blog. Your task is to decide if they're right or wrong. If they're right, you just have to write 'correct' next to them. If they're wrong, you have to re-write them correctly, and that might include putting in as well as taking out articles. I hope you don't mind that I've edited your sentences a bit but I just want you to concentrate on the articles here, nothing else.

I've given you a clue in brackets at the end of each sentence to tell you what rule or rules you should be thinking about and I'll give you one more clue before you start - two of these sentences are correct:

1. We use 'Khun' as the polite title. (rule 1 and rule 2)

2. I work as the agent between the buyer and seller. (rule 5 and rule 2)

3 I just want to save the energy and save the world. (rule 4 and rule 3)

4. My office is the central place for people who want to do any property business. (rule 2)

5 The global recession makes people afraid to do the business. (rule 3 and rule 4)

6. I'm the property consultant. (rule 5)

7. I love flowers. (rule 4).

That's all for now.

All the best,

Nuala

Vocabulary
addicted - if you are addicted to something, you can't live without it. We often talk about people being addicted to drugs, for example.
a spring in our step - set expression - used to talk about feeling cheerful
the canal towpath - the pavement for walking or bike riding bikes at the side of canal