english-at-home.com » In the news

Weekly English lesson – 2010 World Cup

Clare — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 13:19:44 +0000

There are a couple of great reading and vocabulary exercises on our sister site Rich Reads. Scroll down to Newest Links (on the right of the page) for the links "Play your vuvuzela" and "2010 World Cup – who will win?"

I'm not so confident now about England's chances after Friday's match against a great Algeria. Who do you think will win?

General Election 2010

Clare — Thu, 06 May 2010 07:04:57 +0000

Britain goes to the polls ( = votes) today. Will the Conservatives get in (= be elected to form a government) after 13 years? Will the increased vote for the LibDems mean that there is a hung parliament ( = no overall majority)? And will voters use tactical voting – a strategy where you vote for a party who isn't your first choice in order to exclude another party from winning?

If you're interested in finding out more about British politics, parties and polling (how people vote), Election 2010 gives you a useful timeline, with audio, video and text.

Passengers left stranded

Clare — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 07:21:49 +0000

Hundreds of thousands of travellers have been left stranded (= unable to go anywhere) because ash from the Icelandic volcano eruption is preventing aeroplanes from travelling.

The British government has drawn up plans to evacuate (= bring home) passengers trapped ( = unable to move) in airports and hotels around Europe.

Do you have any "travellers tales" (stories from your travels) about travel disruption?

Can you help the people of Haiti?

Clare — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:14:45 +0000

Please help if you can. You can donate money using your credit card or paypal account to the World Food Programme:

https://www.wfp.org/donate/haiti

Thank you.

English-at-home.com members – help save the planet!

Clare — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:11:31 +0000

Climate change experts are warning us that time is running out. The world is getting hotter, and more and more people are at risk of extreme weather conditions, and losing their homes and livelihoods. What can we all do to cut our energy use, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help save the planet? Every little counts, so here are my "resolutions" to become more energy-efficient and reduce my carbon footprint.

I promise to
- replace all the lightbulbs in my house with the new low-energy ones
- use saucepan lids when I cook to save gas
- walk or cycle to the local shop rather than driving (this is a hard one for me – the shop is a good 20 min uphill cycle away!)

What can you promise to do?

(PS: If you need ideas, click this link to the 10:10 climate change campaign.