First of all, thanks and well done for doing your articles 'homework'. You have improved the sentence greatly by following some of the rules I directed you towards.

...if examined closely nuclear power plant seems to even tighten embrace of our "big brother" (that's how is Russia sometimes called in Belarus). Why? Simple: we get workforce to build and support power plant, money to build it and nuclear fuel from Russia...

And this is what you changed it to:

WHEN examined closely, A nuclear power plant MAY WELL MAKE THE embrace of our "big brother" (that's HOW WE CALL Russia sometimes HERE in Belarus) EVEN TIGHTER. Why? THAT IS Simple: we get A workforce to build and support THE power plant, THE money to build it and A nuclear fuel from Russia...

It's a vast improvement. The only article mistake now is 'A nuclear fuel from Russia'. As the noun 'fuel' is uncountable, you can't use an article in front of it. However, I think you've done very well to make such an improvement.

I really enjoyed reading your blogs on healthcare and internet privacy. They are interesting subjects in themselves but you also present them in a very engaging way. I think that this is your great strength as a writer in English. Here is an example of what I mean from your piece on healthcare:

Well, thoughts like these were running through my head the last week, while I was laying in my bed with a terrible cold, with my plans and schedule ruined. The situation also had a silver lining: I got a chance to slow things down a bit and think about health and healthcare.

By personalising your writing, you bring it to life. We can imagine you lying there sick thinking about the subject and so it becomes more 'real' rather than abstract.

This is how you started you blog on internet privacy:

I have to confess: I am a paranoiac. Not in a severe way, but still: I always try to clean up my internet traces, not to publish sensitive information (photos, addresses, telephone numbers) on the Net and keep my privacy as private as possible.

Right from the first line, I was interested. Why is he paranoid? What is he worried about? I'd better read more to find out... I recommend this writing technique to anyone who wants to make their prose more interesting. I also really like the way you divide your writing up with subheadings. This makes them easier to read and also gives a nice little summary of what you are about to write. Anything to help the reader is to be encouraged!

Before I say goodbye and good luck with your English, just a couple of pieces of advice:

Sometimes it seems like you've reached for a bilingual dictionary when you want a trranslation. This can be very helpful, of course, but beware that direct translation doesn't always work, or can provide you with words which wouldn't really be used by native English speakers. Try to use an all-English learner's dictionary. They are often better at providing more natural vocabulary.

Thanks for writing the blog this month, Nick. See you!

Vocabulary:

Vast improvement - a very big improvement.
Abstract - about ideas rather than real things.
Paranoid - when you wrongly think other people don't like you or are planning to do you harm.
Prose - written language that is not poetry.

It is possible to see Sellafield, one of Britain's nuclear power stations, from the top of England's tallest mountain. I've always found the contrast of the beautiful and serene mountain landscape with the awsome power of nuclear energy rather strange.

Sellafield Nuclear Power Plant, Cumbria in England.

You put forward your argument very clearly and use some nice expressions in the process. I was particularly impressed with:

Our leaders seem to have forgotten the lessons of the past.

I also liked this for the way you present both sides of the debate in a concise fashion here:

The thing is controversial by nature. Yes, nuclear energy is really cheap, but it might be also really expensive in terms of ecology.

Once again there are a few problems with the use of articles (a, an, the). I've decided to set you a challenge! I'd like you, and your followers, to correct the following sentence from your blog.

...if examined closely nuclear power plant seems to even tighten embrace of our "big brother" (that's how is Russia sometimes called in Belarus). Why? Simple: we get workforce to build and support power plant, money to build it and nuclear fuel from Russia...

There are a number of article errors here. To help you find them, here are some links to programmes we at bbclearningenglish.com have made on the subject the definite article and the indefinite article. Good luck!

To end, I'd like to say well done to Corinna who got all my weather idioms correct last time!

Vocabulary

thorny issue: a question which is difficult to deal with.
compatriots: people from the same country as you.
troubling: worrying.
serene: peaceful.
awesome: very large or great.

You've written a very engaging entry, Nick. I like the way you convey your frustration with the way the authorities seem to be unable to cope with extreme weather. Believe me I feel the same way about Britain. It seems that every year we get a little bit of snow and the entire country grinds to a halt. The thing that really gets up my nose is that they say that the reason we aren't prepared for the snow is that it doesn't happen very often. However, we've had to deal with gridlocked traffic on London's streets after just the lightest of flurries every year I can remember. Last year I even had to walk home for three hours because of snow!

London buses out of service in snow

There are a couple of things to work on in your English, Nick. I noticed that sometimes you forget to use articles - the words 'a', 'an' and 'the'. For example, you wrote:

On simple issue, instead of 'On a simple issue.'

On another occasion you have used an article when it isn't necessary:

Mankind that managed to solve mysteries of a DNA, which should be 'Mankind that managed to solve mysteries of DNA.'

You write very fluently, which is a good thing, but you should also be careful not to let more basic mistakes slip in. For example, you wrote:

But why it happens? I'm sure you know that the questions should be formed like this: 'But why does it happen?'

To end, I'd like to introduce you a few weather-related idioms. There's already one in the title 'under the weather'. Can you guess what this means? Here are a few more. Please let me know what you think.

1. To be snowed under.

2. To throw caution to the wind.

3. A storm in a teacup.

Good luck!

Vocabulary

Overwhelming: very strong in effect.
Obsessed: thinking about something all the time.
Grinds to a halt: comes to a complete standstill.
Gets up my nose: really annoys me.
Flurries: light snow falls

"A dialect identified among young people in the capital which blends the phonetics and vocabulary of such diverse influences as West Indian, south Asian and traditional cockney."

Would these cockneys from the 1940s understand today's young Londoners?

I used to think it was bad that I couldn't make head nor tail of my fellow Londoners' English. But now I've realised a simple fact - I'm not supposed to understand it. That's the point. Speaking using this special dialect gives them a sense of group identity. And because I'm too old in their eyes, I'm not part of the club.

Language is a living thing, not a museum piece. Shakespeare is said to have added over 2000 words to the English language. Do we criticise him for not sticking to the rules? Of course not; we celebrate his creativity. Therefore, I am proud of the inventors and speakers of MLE.

So here is a challenge for Graciela and other followers of this blog. Here are some words in MLE. Can you match the word on the left (a-e) with the correct definition on the right (1-5)? I'll let you know the answer next time. Good luck!

a) blud - 1) trainers (sports shoes)
b) chops - 2) friend
c) creps - 3) boring
d) long - 4) often
e) regs - 5) jewellery

USEFUL VOCABULARY

deciphering - trying to understand something which is confusing
mental image - a picture in your head
feel for you - have sympathy for you
phonetics - the study of the sounds of language
couldn't make head nor tail - couldn't understand at all
a museum piece - something very old

Graciela, you mention cricket. I really don't see what's so difficult to understand about this magnificent game. It's really very simple, as explained in this famous, humorous list of rules written by an anonymous author:

Did you understand that? I doubt it. You're not supposed to. It's a deliberately confusing description of the game. But the thing I like about it is that to people who understand the game, these rules do actually make perfect sense!

I am, of course, willing to answer any of your questions on the game, but first I have one for you. Can anyone tell me what "Howzat?" means? I look forward to your replies and Graciela's further questions.

I'll leave you with a photo I took recently of a match I went to: England vs India. What a perfect day out!

USEFUL VOCABULARY

• take it - interpret this information
• my fellow countrymen - people from the same country as me
• navigate - find your way
• baffling - very confusing
• anonymous - not named

Hold on a minute. Did you notice our coffee plants aren't green this time

And then later you write:

But now we have music. Can you hear that song? Did you notice those women in the middle of the coffee plants?

You are clearly very motivated. I have noticed in a lot of your writing that you have been using our materials from bbclearnignenglish.com. In your final blog you have used some great expressions such as:

Coming on in leaps and bounds.

Blowing my own trumpet

ADVICE

• Stay enthusiastic. It's your strongest point!
• Keep working hard and using bbclearningenglish.com
• Think about what you want to write before you start typing. Can you say it more clearly and simply? Sometimes your enthusiasm makes you get carried away. The result can be that it's difficult to understand what you mean.
• Re-read your writing before you send or publish it. You'll probably notice little mistakes and be able to correct them yourself.
• Give your first draft to someone else to read. They will be able to tell you if your writing is clear and makes sense. They can also spot mistakes.

So that's that! Thank you for your blogs and best of luck in the future with your English. Goodbye!

USEFUL VOCABULARY

• enthusiasm - energy and interest in a subject.
• motivated - enthusiastic about doing something.
• coming on in leaps and bounds - improving very quickly.
• blowing my own trumpet - talking about my own achievements.
• get carried away - get so excited about something you lose control.
• first draft - a piece of writing in its original form.
• that's that - this means something had ended.

Let's go together through the mountains of Columbia...
Pop up your heads and just take a look around. What do you see?

This type of writing sets the scene well and engages the readers by making them feel you are guiding them somewhere interesting. Well done!

LANGUAGE

Sometimes your enthusiasm gets the better of you and it's difficult to understand what you mean. In this blog I'd like to look at three words or expressions you've used which I don't understand or are wrong in this context.

This is what you've written. The words in bold are where I don't understand the sense:

1. Believed or not, with Coffee. I swear of God is true!
2. ...make a living spinning off around the coffee.
3. Music is less festive, just a little bit sorrow but beautiful and sticky.

HOMEWORK

Alfonso, for this homework I would like you to try to have another go at writing these sentences in a clearer way for the reader. Think about what you are trying to say and express it as clearly and simply as you can. Other followers of this blog, I'd like you to help Alfonso. Do you know a better way of saying in English what he has written above? Help each other!

USEFUL VOCABULARY

• draw the reader in - make the reader believe your story.
• sets the scene - describes a situation before you tell a story.
• engages - interests someone.
• gets the better of you - allows you to do something you know is wrong.
• to have another go at - try again.

I can also see you've also been using some recent bbclearningenglish.com programmes and videos to improve your English. For example, the word do meaning party, hooked on, and revellers . Normally I would define these words for you at the bottom of my blog, but this time I want you all to find them out for yourself by visiting the pages on our site.

LANGUAGE

In this blog, I'd like to concentrate on some expressions you've tried to use but haven't quite got right.

You've written:

However, don't make mistakes, thinking as Columbians...
The correct expression in English for this situation is make no mistake, so the correct sentence should be: However, make no mistake. Columbians are not...

Here's another one.

Our country has been facing up hard times and meet the ends every month turn out to be the hardest task to our folks.The right way to say this is making ends meet. Here's the corrected sentence: Our country has been facing up to hard times and making ends meet every month turns out to be the hardest task for our folks.

And one more.

The haves and haves not.
You are almost right, but it should be The haves and have nots. This means the people who have everything and the people who have nothing.

HOMEWORK

I'd like you to think about expressions you use in your own language frequently but don't know how to say in English. Explain what it is literally. There may be an English equivalent I can teach you next time. In the meantime have a look at The Teacher's video lessons. He loves English idioms.

USEFUL VOCABULARY

• taking onboard - understand and accept advice.
• instalment - edition or episode.

LANGUAGE

Your writing is full of enthusiasm and energy, Alfonso. I don't want you to lose any of that, but I think there are things you could do to make your English easier for the readers to understand. That's what I'll concentrate on for this blog. Next time I'll look at other aspects of your English.

1. Make your sentences shorter. Some of your sentences are very long. Think about places you can split them up, and try to contain just one or two ideas in each. It gives the reader time to take a breath! Let me give you an example. Here's your opening sentence:

Barranquilla, in the Colombian northern coast and one of the main sea ports located in the Atlantic Ocean,is part of that chain of cities that make up the Colombian Caribbean, as a region full of folklore,music, joy ,magic and yellow butterflies as masterfully described by Gabriel Garcia Marquez ,in his book One hundred years of solitude,wich gave him the privilege of win , in 1982, the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Here's my version:

Barranquilla is on the northern Colombian coast. It's one of the main sea ports located on the Atlantic Ocean coast and part of a chain of cities that make up the Colombian Caribbean. It's a region full of folklore, music, joy, magic and yellow butterflies as masterfully described by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his book One Hundred Years of Solitude. The book gave him the privilege of winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982.

2. Think before you write. Spend a couple of minutes thinking about what you want to say and how you want to say it before you start writing. It will probably make your sentences clearer and easier to understand for readers.

3. Check what you've written. The beauty of computers is that you can throw all your ideas down on the page and then sort them out after. If you write that way, make sure you check what you've written afterwards. You'll soon discover that what's on the page may not be as clear as the idea you had in your head!

HOMEWORK

Alfonso has told us about a local festival in his home town of Barranquilla. My parents live in Somerset, in the west of England, only a few kilometres away from Glastonbury. Music lovers will know that Glastonbury is the location of one of the biggest music festivals in Europe. This year 135,000 people attended.

Heavy rain means that the festival sometimes turns into a mud bath, like in this picture. Oh dear...

 

For the homework, I'd like to hear about an event or festival which happens near you. Try to follow my writing advice and see if it helps. Good luck!

USEFUL VOCABULARY

• Backpacking - to travel using public transport carrying all your possessions in a rucksack (or backpack).
• Vivid - bright and colourful.
• Top of my list - my priority.
• A must - something you have to do.
• hypnotic - describes regular sounds which make you relax deeply.

It's been great to get to know you and to hear your take on life in the UK. I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip and your English learning journey. You're already well on the road to being an excellent writer of English!

All the best!

Neil.

USEFUL VOCABULARY

• Scorching - very hot.
• Chucking it down - an informal way of saying 'raining very hard'.
• Holiday snaps - photos from your holiday.
• Take on life - your way of thinking about the world.
• On the road to - likely to achieve something.

LANGUAGE

A few things of interest and to work on:

Mailbox
In British English we say usual say letterbox.

...that's something I don't still get used.
You need to use present perfect tense for this because you weren't used to it in the past and you are still not used to it now. The correct way of saying this is ...that's something I still haven't got used to.

...you can easily see what people is doing in their houses.
This is quite a common mistake for Spanish speakers of English. We say 'people are...' You can easily see what people are doing in their houses.

British drink 165 million cups daily.
'British' is an adjective, so it must be followed by a noun. In this case British people drink 165 million cups daily. Another was of saying it is The British drink 165 million cups daily. Or a more informal way would be Brits drink 165 million cups daily. You can read more about that in the USEFUL VOCABULARY section.

...she gave her some advices.
Again this is quite a common error. 'Advice' is an uncountable noun in English, so the sentence should be ...she gave her some advice.

HOMEWORK

Thanks to everyone who did the homework last time. Here are the answers:

Verbs

1. to poach - c. to cook something in gently boiling water.
2. to steam - a. to cook food using the gas from boiling water.
3. to deep-fry - d. to cook food in a pan so it's completely covered with oil.
4. to braise - e. to cook food slowly in a covered dish with some fat and liquid.
5. to grill - b. to cook something using direct heat, especially a very hot surface.

Paloma's been describing what she finds unusual about British life. Often it's quite difficult to look at your own culture from outside. But I'd love to hear what you think someone visiting your country would find unusual about it.

USEFUL VOCABULARY

• Brits - informal way of saying 'British people'.
• Odd - strange or unusual.
• Trampoline - a piece of sports equipment for jumping on.
• Jam-packed - full of people or things.
• Off the beaten track - away from the usual places people visit.
• Eccentric - strange or unusual in a humourous way.

Welcome (back) to Britain! It's been a very gloomy summer here so far, but the sun has finally come out, so perhaps you brought the weather with you from Spain.

I'm going to pick up your fish theme for my blog this time. But before that, here are a few things I noticed in your last post.

LANGUAGE

In your blog you say:

I went with my family to a restaurant by the beach to say goodbye to the sun, the nice weather and the Spanish food.
In this case you shouldn't use the article 'the' in front of 'Spanish'. It should say: I went with my family to a restaurant by the beach to say goodbye to the sun, the nice weather and Spanish food.Your title for one of your pictures says:

Fried little squids.
When it comes to fish, English plurals start behaving quite strangely. For the majority, the singular and plural form of the word is the same - one squid, two squid, three squid etc. So, you should have written Fried little squid. There are exceptions to this, as we see in your next example of anchovies. You wrote Fried anchovies, which is absolutely correct!

Later on you write:

She cooks it every sunday and all my siblings come to my house...
In English, days of the week should always be written with a capital letter. Also, your use of the word 'siblings' seems too formal for this type of writing. It's not incorrect, but 'brothers and sisters' sounds more natural. Here's the correct sentence: She cooks it every Sunday and all my brothers and sisters come to my house...

HOMEWORK

There are numerous ways of cooking fish other than frying it. I thought I'd set this matching exercise so you can expand your cooking vocabulary. Which verb (1-5) goes with which definition (a - e)?

Verbs

1. to poach.
2. to steam.
3. to deep-fry.
4. to braise.
5. to grill.

Definitions

a. to cook food using the gas from boiling water.
b. to cook something using direct heat, especially a very hot surface.
c. to cook something in gently boiling water.
d. to cook food in a pan so it's completely covered with oil.
e. to cook food slowly in a covered dish with some fat and liquid.

Good luck with that. Of course the freshest way of preparing fish is to do nothing to it. That's right, raw fish is my favourite type! Here's a picture of me about to tuck into a massive plate of sushi on a trip to Japan. Mmmm!

 

USEFUL VOCABULARY

• Fishy - an adjective meaning strange or dishonest (I'm only joking, Paloma - I don't think your blog is fishy!).
• Gloomy - unhappy and hopeless.
• To bring the weather with you - people say this when your arrival coincides with better or worse weather associated with the place you came from.
• Musings - deep thoughts on a subject.
• To pick someone's brains - to ask someone who knows a lot about a subject for their expert advice.

The video you posted is fascinating. I remember seeing a Holy Week procession in a village called Arcos de la Frontera in the south of Spain. The streets were so narrow and crowded with revellers that I couldn't cross the road to my hotel until 3am!

LANGUAGE

Again it's hard to find mistakes in your writing, Paloma, but here are a few things I noticed.

In your blog you say:

Picasso was born in the first floor of a building...
When we talk about the floors of buildings we use the preposition on rather than in. So, it should say Picasso was born on the first floor of a building.

There's something here I didn't understand. You wrote:

There's a very interesting Picasso Museum, a native home museum, a Picasso walking tour...I'm not sure what 'a native home museum' is. Can you explain?

One more thing. You wrote:

He does a lot for his town like a charity for helping financially students.

In English, adverbs should come after the object of the sentence. In other words, it should say:

He does a lot for his town like a charity for helping students financially.

HOMEWORK

People are proud of the artists who come from the same place as them. I discovered recently that the French Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro lived in the same part of London as me. In fact a couple of his paintings are of places I walk past regularly, though they have changed quite a lot in the 150 years since he was active. Here's a link to one of them

I find it really strange that something as ordinary as a road in my part of London should be captured in something as exotic as a French Impressionist painting. I'd like to hear from you about artists local to you. How have they captured the spirit of the place? I'd love to hear.

USEFUL VOCABULARY

• Confirm your suspicions - to make certain that something you though was true actually is true.
• to put the record straight - to say something in order to make the true facts known.
• procession - a line of people walking in the same direction.
• revellers - people celebrating in a noisy way.

It'll be interesting to hear more about your hometown, but I also love your idea of reflecting on the peculiarities of life in the UK from the perspective of an au pair. Perhaps you could visit Brighton. It's a British seaside town which became popular in the 19th century, so it would be interesting to contrast it with Pedregalejos. As you can see from the photo, the weather is probably quite different for a start.

Brighton beach in August

LANGUAGE

Your English is of a very high standard and you don't need much help, but there are a few things I noticed which could be improved.

In your blog you say:

I have the pleasure to be the blogger of this month.
When we use I have the pleasure... it should be followed by of + verb + ing. So the correct sentence is I have the pleasure of being the blogger this month.

I have been working as an au pair in the UK the last two summers and at the end of this month I'll go back...
We use the structure have + been + verb + ing when we are talking about activities which started in the past and continue to the present. Because you are not working as an au pair in the UK any more (even though you will again soon), you need to say I worked as an au pair in the UK the last two summers.

A very minor but interesting point next. You wrote:

It's so easy to find someone to practice languages with.
What's wrong with this? Nothing! However, In British English, when it's a verb, we tend to spell the word practise with an 's' rather than a 'c'. So in British English your sentence should be It's so easy to find someone to practise languages with.

One more thing I noticed. You say:

In Pedregalejos there's a historical building called...
They look similar, but there is an important difference in meaning between the adjectives historical and historic. Historical means that something is connected to the study of history. For example, an historical novel is set in the past and concerns events from history. Historic means that something is important in history. For example, in the USA, 4th of July is an historic day. So your sentence should say:

In Pedregalejos there's a historic building called...
That's all I'm going to look at this time. As I said, your English is very accurate so there's not that much work to do!

HOMEWORK

Seeing as we've been talking about historic towns, for the homework I'd like everyone to write about a building where you live. Why is it important and what makes it historic? I look forward to reading your answers.

USEFUL VOCABULARY

• a trip down memory lane - to remember happy times.
• to miss (something or someone) - to feel sad that something or someone you like is not there.
• vibrant - exciting, colourful and full of energy
• package tourists - people who pay a company to provide them with an all-inclusive holiday.
• a well-kept secret - something good which only a few people know about.
• hordes - a large group of people.
• reflecting on (something) - to think carefully about opinions.
• the peculiarities of life - things you find unusual or strange about life.
• for a start - the first among many things

In many ways the World Cup is about memories. It's easy to remember where you were or who you were with during a great game. Unfortunately, as an England fan, my memories are mainly bad! I'd like to hear about your favourite World Cup memories. If you are from Italy you won't have much trouble. But I'm also interested in memories of games when some of the smaller footballing nations have beaten one of the favourite teams, like when South Korea won against Italy in 2002.

For me, watching the underdog do well is one of the best things about the World Cup. Looking at the fixtures I can see that North Korea are playing against five-times champions Brazil, while the holders Italy have a match against New Zealand.

It's also great to see the host nation doing well at the World Cup. It makes the atmosphere at the tournament even more special. So if you're South African I'd like to hear about the excitement in your country. Send us your pictures and video clips.

Last, but not least, I want to hear your World Cup predictions. My heart says England will win, but my head is telling me that it's much more likely to be Spain or Brazil. What do you think?