My father complains all the time. His back aches, the supermarket seems to be further and further away every day, computers... oh, don't get him started. He was very active when he was younger and all of a sudden his years are weighing heavily on him. "It is tough being old", he says. But some old people are tough. They are as tough as old boots.

You're never be too old to enjoy an afternoon by Buckingham Palace.

Take three elderly men in the headlines recently. Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the great British explorer, has pulled out of an expedition across Antarctica because of severe frostbite. Some people were disappointed. I wasn't. He is 68 years old and had the stamina to ski in temperatures close to -30C. No matter that he had to give up now. For me he is even a greater hero than when he was younger.

Pope Benedict XVI took a lot of flak because he resigned. I praise his courage to stay in the post till the ripe old age of 85.

But the person I would give a gold medal to is Fauja Singh from India. He has finally given up his career as a marathon runner. Singh is 101 years old! That's resilience for you!

I think we should celebrate old people more. We should tell them every week how brave they are. It is tough being old, but we should be grateful for it. There is a quote attributed to French actor and singer Maurice Auguste Chevalier: "Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative."

Go and give a kiss to your old relatives!

Graciela

Glossary:

don't get him started - don't encourage him to discuss the subject because he will never stop complaining about it.

his years are weighing heavily on him - he is very old and feels weak and vulnerable.

as tough as old boots - very strong and does not get injured easily.

frostbite - injury to the fingers, toes, ears or nose caused by very low temperatures.

stamina - the ability to do physical activity for a long time.

took a lot of flak - was heavily criticised.

ripe old age - very old.

resilience - ability to recover quickly from problems and difficulties.

The English classical actor Derek Jacobi as Hamlet

I've been chatting with some British colleagues here in the department to find out how they feel about this "star" of their culture. They have to study Shakespeare's work at school and I was wondering to what extent a teenager can appreciate the Bard. It mustn't be easy, as he writes about the human condition and it requires some life experience to be able to relate to it on a deeper level.

Some colleagues told me that they had to memorise speeches from King Lear, Macbeth and other plays and in the original Elizabethan English. Let's face it: relating to the archaic forms of our own native languages is always a bit taxing and for the Brits it's no different. Poor Carrie still remembers some of it. Richard was luckier as he studied it in depth at university and was blown away by Shakespeare's plays. He said Shakespeare is not a particularly good read but it is pure drama - it has to be acted out!

Catherine agrees that it is not an exaggeration to say that for British kids Shakespearean English does sound a bit like a foreign language. Well, guys, it's foreign for us too. She watches the plays at the Globe theatre and the richness of Shakespeare comes to life in the actor's facial expressions, the tone of his voice etc.

It all made me wonder about language and emotion. Can you feel all the emotion of a word even if it's in a different language? For me, a Portuguese speaker, "love" and "amor", for example, feel a bit different. How about you? How much human emotion do you think gets lost in translation?

Useful vocabulary:

intrigued - fascinated, curious about something

soliloquy - it's a speech an actor delivers which describes his thoughts

unsettling - disturbing

to relate to - to feel empathy for

speech - a series of lines delivered by one character

Elizabethan English - 16th century English

taxing - that demands some degree of effort

was blown away - was amazed and very impressed by

an exaggeration - an overstatement

comes to life - becomes animated

That's something else that we all have in common. It has been very inspiring for me to read your comments on my last blog, about the challenges we all face when learning English and the sense of achievement that we have to keep going even when we make mistakes and feel powerless or even silly when we think we failed to communicate an idea properly. But Shakespeare goes beyond words. "To get" Shakespeare is to understand, up to a point, human nature. Some of his characters are archetypes and the stories are as timeless as they can be: Romeo and Juliet's doomed young lovers; Richard, the III's boundless hunger for power; Othello's destructive jealousy. And his witty fools that mocked arrogant kings!

And for us, interested in language too, there are a number of words incorporated into the English language and that can be heard in daily conversation that date from his days: a foregone conclusion; a tower of strength; fair play; in a pickle; green-eyed monster - they are all in his plays!

What about you - what do you think about Shakespeare's plays? Have you ever had the opportunity to watch one in your country?

Useful vocabulary:

to be keen on - to be very interested in (something)

The Bard - a poet, expression usually used when referring specifically to Shakespeare

powerless - having no controlling influence

"to get" - to understand (informal use)

archetypes - a typical example of something

doomed - bound to end tragically

boundless - that has no limit

witty - clever way of saying things

mocked - made fun of

Where have I stored that word?

Aware of this anxiety among non-native speakers of English my colleagues Neil and Chris invented a story for the traditional April Fool's day about a pill that makes you regurgitate the whole dictionary. You should check it out - it was published as a Words in the News item and it's funny but unfortunately it is not true.

Neil taught English in Japan, Spain, the Czech Republic and Poland in the past so I asked him for some tips on how to make it easier to remember new words. He suggested that we revisit the word within 24 hours from learning it and make a note of the word in a sentence that is relevant to our personal lives. I think this might work for me.

But if after a while it takes a few minutes for you to remember it, don't feel frustrated. Neil said that when he wasn't surrounded by people speaking English all the time, sometimes it would take him a few seconds to search for it in his own mind. "That house in the garden where you store tools?... Oh! It is called a shed!"

I think we're all facing some level of information overload nowadays and it might make things a bit difficult sometimes. I grew up speaking Portuguese and when I started to be able to crack jokes in English or remembered that I had actually dreamt in English the night before I really felt that the language was starting to be part of me. It is great to be able to communicate in a different language even if you don't do it as well as a native speaker. Rejoice! Let's enjoy learning and appreciate the fact that with a new language we see our world expand!

What about you - when have you felt a sense of achievement regarding learning English?

Useful Vocabulary:

concern - worry

anxiety - worry or nervousness

regurgitate - throw up

relevant - linked to what is happening

frustrated - annoyed

information overload - too much information

to crack jokes - to tell jokes

rejoice - feel very very happy

It's because the street-by-street route of the London 2012 Olympic torch relay has been released. This precious flame's journey will start on 19 May and will involve a total of 8,000 lucky people who have been chosen to be the torchbearers. Not me, I'm afraid.

Studying the route, I've noticed the number of British cities it will be carried through and remembered that I have had the opportunity to visit some of them since I came to this country some years ago. Images of great moments rushed though my mind like sprinters in the last few metres of a race.

Ah, the gold medal 'cream tea' I enjoyed on my way to Oxford in the company of a friend and fellow BBC producer I carried a torch for, and where, I wondered, if the cream would go in the tea or in the scone it was served with. It was all new for me.

Brighton can be a nice place for a picnic

A picnic on a Brighton beach went swimmingly. We had to sit on pebbles (not particularly comfortable) but the atmosphere was great. There was this stretch specific for brave naturists who probably thought that sandy beaches were for wimps!

As I've always been busy at work I had to take a rain check regarding going north of the border. I wish I had explored the sights of Scotland more. But a visit to Edinburgh proved unforgettable! The castle on a hill in the middle of the city is a magic view.

A visit to Edinburgh can be unforgettable

But in the run up to the Olympics I intend to get the ball rolling and allocate some weekends to go to some of the cities in the route unveiled today. Nothing puts more fire in the belly of a sports enthusiast than an Olympic torch!

How about you - are you looking forward to the Olympic Games?

to light (someone's) fire - to make (someone) excited, enthusiastic
to take a peek - to be able to look briefly at something
fat chance - impossible
a sprinter - an athlete that takes part in races
to carry a torch for (someone) - to be in love with someone who does not reciprocate
swimmingly - very well
a naturist - a nudist
a wimp - a person who is not adventurous
to take a rain check - to postpone the acceptance of an invitation to do something
to get the ball rolling - to start something
to put fire in the belly - to make someone determined to do something

You know what? Probably it was the same blank face I had when I heard about cockney rhyming slang. I could see that my life wouldn’t be easy if some people said ‘baker’s dozen’ when they meant ‘a cousin’. But cockney today seems to be in the past. The new hurdle we, non-native speakers of the English language, have to jump over is something called MLE or Multicultural London English.

 

One of the most exciting things about living in London is meeting people from different cultures. It’s not unusual to hear three or four different languages at the same time when walking around the capital. But it can feel a bit unsettling when you learn that ‘sick’ means ‘feeling ill’ and hear people around you using the word as a synonym for ‘good’. ‘Wicked’? It means ‘bad’ or ‘immoral’ but some use it when they mean ‘great’, ‘excellent’.

About accents, DenisSA, I share your pain. I had my share of accent heartache. I remember the first time I had to deal with a dropped ‘t’. An example? When the ‘Ts’ of the word ‘butter’ are turned into what I could describe as a hiccup. The same happened with the ‘t’ in ‘water’. And what about Britons from other cities? Well, once I asked a girl I had just met on a London bus what country she was from. She said she was from Manchester and people around laughed.

Neil, sometimes I wonder how you manage to keep track of all the changes in your own language. Is it wicked? Or is it … ‘wicked’?

Useful words:

popped up: appeared suddenly
to cheer: to shout expressing approval
stoic: unaffected by emotions
serene: calm
blank face: face that lacks expression
hurdle to jump over: obstacle to overcome
unsettling: that causes uneasiness, discomfort
share your pain: felt the same difficulties as you did
heartache: suffering
to keep track: to stay informed

And some of the language that I think I understand... well, I know the meaning of the words but I wonder if I really understand the sense. And then, there is the biggest mystery of all for many of us who weren't born in a Commonwealth country: cricket! They look very smart on the pitch but I don't get what is going on.

Two teams are playing but... which is which?

Some of my colleagues in the international team that makes up the Learning English department feel the same way about it - Chinese, Russian and Indonesian. And our British colleagues are always happy to enlighten us. They also find themselves a bit confused by us.

I slip into Brazilian-mode sometimes and literally translate some Portuguese idioms into English. You should see their faces when I say: "I have a pineapple to peel". They look around and guess what? There is no fruit in sight. This in Portuguese refers to a difficult task. I think you agree that it is quite awkward to peel a pineapple. The right idiom in English is "a hard nut to crack".

So we decided to start blogging about the things we find quirky about the British and our British colleagues will try to explain to us what it is all about. They are free to say what they do not understand about us too.

I will start blogging with Neil. He is English and loves cricket and I will tell him soon what I find strange about the sport. For the next few weeks I will also share a secret with you. I have learnt how to tell when a typical British person is really angry to the point where you should just give up on a discussion. I will check with Neil if I got it right.

How about you, what puzzles you about the British?

USEFUL VOCABULARY

witty - quick and funny

popped up - appears suddenly and unexpectedly

wouldn't dare - would not have the courage to

endearingly - creating affection

puzzle - confuse

howling - making a loud sound expressing pain

I don't get - I am unable to understand

makes up - forms

to enlighten - to make someone understand

slip into - pass gradually without noticing

in sight - visible

awkward - difficult

a hard nut to crack - English idiom used to refer to a difficult problem to solve

quirky - unconventional