Time & Place Phrases + 'in', 'at, and 'on'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv246.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv61.shtml

Learn It

Colour idioms Michal Juda from Poland writes:   Learning with colours was a leitmotif of Learning English recently. Can you help me to understand two of the expressions:whiter than white and paint the town red?     Roger Woodham replies:   We have many idiomatic expressions involving the whole range of colours in English. In answering your question, Michal, we will have a look today at just three colours: red, white and blue (the colours of our national flag).   white colour idioms   White in British culture is traditionally associated with purity and innocence. See if you can work out the meaning of the following white colour idioms word for word. Then check your understanding by reading examples of how they are used in context. Finally, check again against the explanations given.   go as white as a sheet white coffee a white-collar worker tell a white lie whiter than white   The news must've been bad. She went as white as a sheet when she read the telegram.   - Do you want white or black coffee? - White please. Well, dark brown, actually - just a dash of milk.   He hopes to get a white-collar job, though, with his level of education, he'll be lucky to get a blue-collar one.   It's OK to tell a white lie. It doesn't do any harm and it nearly always does some good.   She's whiter than white - the image of perfection. In her entire life she has never put a foot wrong.   go as white as a sheet: become extremely pale in the face   white coffee: coffee with milk (note: not white tea; instead: tea with milk)   white-collar worker: an office worker (note blue-collar = factory or physical work)   tell a white lie: telling a lie to avoid making someone upset   whiter than white: someone who is totally fair and honest   red colour idioms   Red is often associated with anger or danger (red traffic lights). In British culture, red-haired people (redheads) are traditionally hot-tempered and high-spirited. Try to work out the meaning of these red colour idioms in the same way as before.   be in the red see red roll out the red carpet paint the town red a red-letter day   She's always in the red, never in the black. No overdraft would ever be big enough for her.   When she realised saw that no housework had been done all week, she saw red and banished us from her holiday home.   It'll be time to roll out the red carpet when Auntie Meg returns home. We haven't seen her for twenty years.   They decided they would paint the town red after winning so much money by gambling on the horses.   It was a red-letter day for us when we were able to move into our new holiday house - the house of our dreams.   be in the red: have minus amounts on one's bank account (in the black = in credit)   see red: lose one's temper; become suddenly angry   roll out the red carpet: put on a special welcome for an important person   paint the town red: enjoy yourself by going to bars and/or clubs   a red-letter day: a very happy or exciting day   blue colour idioms   Blue is traditionally the colour of boys' clothes in British culture - pink for girls. It is also associated with loyalty and true love. Try to work out the meaning of these blue colour idioms in the same way as before.   a blue movie out of the blue scream blue murder the boys in blue a blue-eyed boy   Blue movies, or adult videos as they are sometimes called, are normally only available from sex shops.   His suggestion that we should move to Cyprus came completely out of the blue. I wasn't expecting it.   They started to scream blue murder when I told them they would have to work an extra half an hour on Saturday afternoons.   It's a criminal offence. We can't sweep it under the carpet. We should hand it over to the boys in blue.   He's the blue-eyed boy of skateboarding all right. He's won this competition five times.   a blue movie: a film with explicit adult scenes   out of the blue: suddenly and unexpectedly   scream blue murder: make a lot of fuss; shout loudly and emotionally in protest   the boys in blue: the uniformed police   a blue-eyed boy: a young man (grudgingly) admired because he is successful

Laptop learning in Italy

Read and listen to the article from BBc's 'Words in the News'.
Continue to read about computers in the follow-up article from BBC's 'One-minute World News'.

BBC Learning English

Words in the news

8th October 2008

Laptop learning in Italy

Words in the news © British Broadcasting Corporation 2008

Page 1 of 2

bbclearningenglish.com

Children at a school in Italy have today begun an experiment to replace all their books with

personal computers. The pupils involved will each be given a special laptop that contains

their entire curriculum. From Rome our correspondent Duncan Kennedy reports:

Until today, the Don Milani di Rivoli elementary school in central Turin was like any other.

Children turned up, got out their books and pens and began the process of learning. But now,

in what's being described as a unique experiment, 60 fifth-grade pupils and a number of thirdgraders,

will start using computers only.

The mini-laptops, which run Windows software, all have a full curriculum programmed into

them. The pupils will use the computers to do all their reading and writing. Security systems

within the laptops mean the children's access to the internet is strictly controlled. The

machines weigh less than a kilogram, can be dropped from a height of 1.5 metres and are

waterproof.

Instead of spending the equivalent of 700 dollars a year on books, the laptops, built by the

Italian company Olidata, cost less than 400 dollars. One of the teachers involved in the

scheme says that, for the first time, schools will be able to verify in a scientific way how a

computer alone can improve the learning process. The experiment, which has the backing of

parents, is due to last a year.

Duncan Kennedy, BBC News, Rome

Words in the news © British Broadcasting Corporation 2008

Page 2 of 2

bbclearningenglish.com

Vocabulary and definitions

elementary school a school that provides the first part of a child's education

(usually for children aged 5 - 11)

turned up here, came to school

grade a class or group of classes in a school where all the

children are of a similar age and/or ability

curriculum all the subjects taught at a school, college, university etc.

The word 'curriculum' can also be used to mean the same

as 'syllabus', i.e. the topics or books studied within a

subject

access to here, ability to surf/search/use

are waterproof cannot be damaged by water

the equivalent of the sum of money that amounts to/equals

involved in the scheme taking part in the experiment

to verify to prove that something is true or not

backing support, encouragement

More on this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7642985.stm

Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:

http://www.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2008/10/081008_italy_laptops.shtml

Learning English - Words in the News 14 January, 2005 - Published 14:54 GMT Kraft cuts snack ads for children

The American food group Kraft Foods says it will stop marketing junk food to children. It means that the company will not advertise products with a lot of fat, sugar or salt to children under twelve years old. This report from Mark Gregory: Kraft is one of the world's largest food producers. In America its products include Oreo biscuits and Kool Aid drinks. Likerivals, the company has come under mounting pressureto encourage consumers to cut back on potentially unhealthy foods. There's been particular concern about risingobesity levels in rich countries - in America two thirds of adults and fifteen percent of children are overweight. In a statement Kraft said it recognised that parents were concerned about the mix of food products advertised to young children. The company will no longer run advetisments for high calorie, high fat products in cartoon shows and other television programmes aimed at young viewers. It will also change marketing policies for advertisements in newspapers and other media. Health concerns among the big food firms are driven by legal worries as well consumer pressure - last year the hamburger chain McDonalds fought off a lawsuitby children who blamed their weight problems on its products. Mark Gregory, BBC rivals people or companies which compete in the same market come under mounting pressure if you come under mounting pessure, somebody expects something from you urgently to cut back on to reduce obesity the state of being very fat a statement a declaration health concerns worries about health driven here, forced fought off defeated a lawsuit a legal claim made against a person or company Click here to go to the web link

Calorie counting menus

Listen to the audio report in this link and then learn the vocabulary from the section below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2012/07/120706_witn_calories.shtml

Multicultural Britain

Watch and listen to the video link below, then try the language exercises.

Click to go to the link

Click to go to language tasks

Multiple Choice Exercise

Click here to go to Flo-Joe FCE multiple choice exercise

Can, could and could have

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/modal-verbs/can-could-and-could-have

Multiple Intelligences

Click here to read about Multiplr Intelligences

Bonfire Night

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-street/bonfire-night

MacMillan English Campus is an on-line platform where learners can practice their English skills from home at any time. This allows MEC users to learn in the comfort of their own environment without having to travel to school. Learners can maximise their free-time and study when best suits them.

MEC offers on-line reference, progress tests, exercises and much more.

Adult individual students may access the MacMillan English Campus (MEC) by purchasing a password from Giga.

Click to go to MacMillan English Campus Login page

The Interesting Most Boring Man in the World

Click here to go to the British Council link

People often said that Thierry Boyle was the most boring man in the world. Thierry didn’t know why people thought he was so boring. Thierry thought he was quite interesting. After all, he collected stamps. What could be more interesting than stamps? It was true that he didn’t have any other hobbies or interests, but that didn’t matter for Thierry. He had his job, after all. He had a very interesting job. At least Thierry thought it was interesting. Everybody else said that his job was boring. But he was an accountant! Why do people think that accountants are boring? thought Thierry. Thierry thought his job was fascinating. Everyday, he went to his office, switched on his computer and spent seven and a half hours looking at spreadsheets, and moving numbers around on them. What could be more interesting than that?

But Thierry was unhappy. He was unhappy because people thought he was boring. He didn’t want to be boring. He wanted people to think that he was a very interesting person. He tried to talk to people about his stamp collection. But every time he talked about his stamp collection he saw that people were bored. Because people were bored when he talked about his stamp collection, he talked about his job instead. He thought people would be very interested when he talked about his job, but no. People thought his job was even more boring than his stamp collection. Sometimes, people even went to sleep when he talked to them.
Thierry thought about how to make himself more interesting. He decided that he needed to be famous for something. He thought about his stamp collection, and decided that perhaps his stamp collection could make him famous. Perhaps he had the biggest stamp collection in the world, or perhaps he had a very valuable stamp. Yes, this was it, he decided.
He wrote a letter to a local newspaper, and asked them if they wanted to come and write an article about a local man with the biggest stamp collection in the world. The local newspaper wrote a letter back to Thierry telling him that actually the Queen of England had the biggest stamp collection in the world. Thierry was very sad to learn this, but wrote back to the newspaper telling them that he thought he had the most valuable stamp in the world. The newspaper wrote back to him telling him that the most valuable stamp in the world cost 2, 240, 000 dollars, and asking him if he was sure that he had it. Thierry wasn’t sure that he had it. In fact, he was sure that he didn’t have it. Perhaps his whole collection was very valuable though…
“Is it worth 10 million dollars?” asked the man from the newspaper on the telephone when Thierry called him.
“Erm, no, I don’t think so…”
“Forget it then” said the man from the newspaper.
Thierry thought about other things to make himself famous. Perhaps he could be the best accountant in the world! Yes, this was it, he decided. He told a friend that he was the best accountant in the world.
“How do you know?” asked his friend.
“Well” thought Thierry, “I have a good job, I like it …it’s very interesting … spreadsheets … numbers … taxes … finance …” He saw his friend going to sleep. “Hmmm” he thought. “Perhaps I’m not the best or the most interesting accountant in the world.”
“Listen Thierry” said his friend when he woke up again. “Perhaps you don’t have the biggest or the most valuable stamp collection in the world. Perhaps you aren’t the best or the most interesting accountant in the world. But there is one thing – Thierry, you are probably the most boring man in the world.”
Yes! Of course! This was it. Thierry could be famous because he was the most boring man in the world. Now he saw that his friends were right. He phoned the newspaper again.
“Hello!” he said. “Would you like to do an interview with the most boring man in the world?”
“The most boring man in the world...?” said the man from the newspaper. “Now that’s interesting!”
Next week there was a big article in the newspaper. “The Most Boring Man in the World!” There was a picture of Thierry in his office. There was a picture of Thierry with his stamp collection. There was an interview with Thierry, and interviews with his friends. His friends said they went to sleep when Thierry talked about his job or his stamp collection.
The next day the BBC and CNN called Thierry. They wanted stories about the most boring man in the world. “The most boring man in the world!” they said. “That’s so interesting!”
And so, finally, Thierry Boyle, became the official Most Boring Man in the World. You won’t find his name in the Guinness Book of Records, because they said that it was impossible to decide exactly how boring somebody is, but it was no problem for Thierry. Now he was famous, now he was so boring that he was interesting.
THE END

Modals – deduction (present)

Choose the correct modal verbs

Click here to try the exercise

English is Great - Part 1

The story of English starts more than a thousand years ago. Richard goes to the British Library to hear - and see - how the language has changed over the years.

Click here to see the video

Motivation in the Workplace

 

Listen to an extract of an interview with a professor of Business Studies about the subject of motivation.

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/professionals-podcasts/motivation-workplace

BBC Learning English

Listening to Vocabulary

What is Trafficking? Have you ever heard of the Black Market or Organised Crime?
Listen to some common words used by BBC news readers.

Click here to go to the BBC Learning English website

Fashion Comparison

Watch the video from the British Council link below and carry out the exercise.

Click here to go to the link

The Interesting Most Boring Man in the World

Click here to go to the British Council link

People often said that Thierry Boyle was the most boring man in the world. Thierry didn’t know why people thought he was so boring. Thierry thought he was quite interesting. After all, he collected stamps. What could be more interesting than stamps? It was true that he didn’t have any other hobbies or interests, but that didn’t matter for Thierry. He had his job, after all. He had a very interesting job. At least Thierry thought it was interesting. Everybody else said that his job was boring. But he was an accountant! Why do people think that accountants are boring? thought Thierry. Thierry thought his job was fascinating. Everyday, he went to his office, switched on his computer and spent seven and a half hours looking at spreadsheets, and moving numbers around on them. What could be more interesting than that?

But Thierry was unhappy. He was unhappy because people thought he was boring. He didn’t want to be boring. He wanted people to think that he was a very interesting person. He tried to talk to people about his stamp collection. But every time he talked about his stamp collection he saw that people were bored. Because people were bored when he talked about his stamp collection, he talked about his job instead. He thought people would be very interested when he talked about his job, but no. People thought his job was even more boring than his stamp collection. Sometimes, people even went to sleep when he talked to them.
Thierry thought about how to make himself more interesting. He decided that he needed to be famous for something. He thought about his stamp collection, and decided that perhaps his stamp collection could make him famous. Perhaps he had the biggest stamp collection in the world, or perhaps he had a very valuable stamp. Yes, this was it, he decided.
He wrote a letter to a local newspaper, and asked them if they wanted to come and write an article about a local man with the biggest stamp collection in the world. The local newspaper wrote a letter back to Thierry telling him that actually the Queen of England had the biggest stamp collection in the world. Thierry was very sad to learn this, but wrote back to the newspaper telling them that he thought he had the most valuable stamp in the world. The newspaper wrote back to him telling him that the most valuable stamp in the world cost 2, 240, 000 dollars, and asking him if he was sure that he had it. Thierry wasn’t sure that he had it. In fact, he was sure that he didn’t have it. Perhaps his whole collection was very valuable though…
“Is it worth 10 million dollars?” asked the man from the newspaper on the telephone when Thierry called him.
“Erm, no, I don’t think so…”
“Forget it then” said the man from the newspaper.
Thierry thought about other things to make himself famous. Perhaps he could be the best accountant in the world! Yes, this was it, he decided. He told a friend that he was the best accountant in the world.
“How do you know?” asked his friend.
“Well” thought Thierry, “I have a good job, I like it …it’s very interesting … spreadsheets … numbers … taxes … finance …” He saw his friend going to sleep. “Hmmm” he thought. “Perhaps I’m not the best or the most interesting accountant in the world.”
“Listen Thierry” said his friend when he woke up again. “Perhaps you don’t have the biggest or the most valuable stamp collection in the world. Perhaps you aren’t the best or the most interesting accountant in the world. But there is one thing – Thierry, you are probably the most boring man in the world.”
Yes! Of course! This was it. Thierry could be famous because he was the most boring man in the world. Now he saw that his friends were right. He phoned the newspaper again.
“Hello!” he said. “Would you like to do an interview with the most boring man in the world?”
“The most boring man in the world...?” said the man from the newspaper. “Now that’s interesting!”
Next week there was a big article in the newspaper. “The Most Boring Man in the World!” There was a picture of Thierry in his office. There was a picture of Thierry with his stamp collection. There was an interview with Thierry, and interviews with his friends. His friends said they went to sleep when Thierry talked about his job or his stamp collection.
The next day the BBC and CNN called Thierry. They wanted stories about the most boring man in the world. “The most boring man in the world!” they said. “That’s so interesting!”
And so, finally, Thierry Boyle, became the official Most Boring Man in the World. You won’t find his name in the Guinness Book of Records, because they said that it was impossible to decide exactly how boring somebody is, but it was no problem for Thierry. Now he was famous, now he was so boring that he was interesting.
THE END

Modals – deduction (present)

Choose the correct modal verbs

Click here to try the exercise