Keeping up with the news
January 27th, 2009It's important to me to keep up with the news, but as I don't live in the UK, I can't easily find English newspapers and magazines. I can sometimes get the World Service on the radio, but the reception (=signal) is quite weak.
My favourite online newspaper for keeping up with the news is the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk). As well as current events, there are also sections on work, education, sport, Life and Style, and the environment.
What are your favourite English-language newspapers or magazines? Can you share your favourite links?
Aches and pains
January 23rd, 2009Good health is something I take for granted. I'm rarely ill, and I'm quite fit and active. So when I had such serious back pain that I had to get a painkiller injection, I suddenly realised just how lucky I normally am. A day of forced bed rest made me think about all the different ways we describe pain.
Chronic pain = bad pain that doesn't go away
A sharp pain = pain that feels like a knife
A dull pain = an ache, rather than a sharp pain
A nagging pain = pain that always seems to be there, almost as if it is reminding you, like a nag!
There are also some slang expressions:
a pain in the ass (American English) / a pain in the arse (British English) to describe someone who irritates you
a pain in the backside (British English – same as above)
Today's the big day
January 20th, 2009
It's a historic day – the first black American president Hundreds of thousands have arrived in Washington to witness this moment.
If you could name "the most historic day" in your country's history, what would it be?
Winding down
January 16th, 2009For most of us in Europe, Friday is the last working day of the week (spare a thought for some of my teacher colleagues who also have to face classes of noisy teenagers on Saturday mornings!) I love the idea of two whole days of freedom stretching out in front of me. Although I spend some of the weekend preparing for the week ahead, I try and relax as much as possible, and do as little as possible on Saturday and Sunday.
What about you? What are you favourite weekend activities?
Meant to be
January 15th, 2009I had an interesting question on the Help Me! forums today. Someone wanted to ask about the meaning of "I wasn't even meant to be here".
The answer is that it means "I wasn't supposed to be here" or "It wasn't destined for me to be here".
Then I looked in the dictionary and saw that "mean" is used much more in spoken English than in written English. Apart from using it in expressions like What does X mean? or Do you know what I mean?, we use it to say we are serious: I really mean that!, to show how important something is: She means the world to me! and to talk about responsibility: You're meant to be helping me, not getting in the way!
Loony tunes
January 12th, 2009I haven't been sleeping at all recently. A few hours here or there, but for someone who likes her eight hours' of sleep a night, it's just not enough! I was talking to a friend about it, who suggested that maybe I'm having difficulty sleeping because it's the full moon.
We have quite a lot of expressions in English using "moon" (over the moon, honeymoon, to moon about, moonstruck, moonshine etc) and also one that I think comes from French (la lune): "loony", meaning "mad". If you're into tarot, then you know that the moon card represents illusion, madness and genius.
What about in your language? Does the moon have any special meaning?
And, is it just me, or do others have difficulty sleeping when it's the full moon?
First day back…
January 7th, 2009Today's the first day back at school or work for many of you in Europe after the Christmas / New Year holidays. So my question's really for you:
-What's the most difficult thing about going back to school or work after three weeks off?
Getting up in the morning?
Adjusting to a new routine?
Not being able to do the things you want to do when you want to do them?
Hope it's not too bad a day for you all!
January issue of the newsletter
January 5th, 2009The January issue of our newsletter is now online. You can read it here.
Brrr!
January 5th, 2009"Feeling hot, hot, hot?" Well, no actually. Here it's freezing cold and we're all wearing our thermals. Check out our new page on idioms using "cold".
Overview of 2008
January 5th, 2009So how was the year for you?
Have a look at the Wikinews' overview of famous events in 2008 in the reading section of the site.
