Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady

Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister, died on 8th April 2013.
She was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and the Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century and is the only woman to have held the office. A Soviet journalist called her the "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.


She was loved and hated. They even said she divided the country in two parts.

In this article the Telegraph analyses how the newspapers covered her death

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9980529/Margaret-Thatcher-how-the-papers-covered-her-death.html

If you want to learn new words linked to politics and Thatcherism, watch this video

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/04/130410_vwitn_thatcher_legacy.shtml

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Can you count your friends, the chairs around your kitchen table, your books and the apples in your fridge? I think so. However I am sure you cannot count the milk you had for breakfast this morning nor the bread you made your sandwich with.
COUNTABLE NOUNS        UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
friends                                     milk
chairs                                       bread
apples

When a noun is COUNTABLE there are both singular and plural forms.
for example: There is an apple on the table. There are two apples on the table.
When a noun is UNCOUNTABLE there is only the singular form
for example: There is some pasta in the plate.
You CANNOT use A/AN with UNCOUNTABLE nouns but you MUST use SOME.
SOME can also be used with COUNTABLE NOUNS when they are plural (always in positive sentences).
for examples: There are some apples on the table.

HAPPY EASTER/BUONA PASQUA

Desidero augurarvi una serena Pasqua con dei link che ho trovato qui e lì su questo giorno per migliorare alcune delle vostre abilità in lingua inglese!

Una spiegazione semplice della parola Pasqua in inglese
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/easter/Easter.aspx

Alcuni IDIOMS con le parole EGGS e BUNNY
http://languageandthecity.tumblr.com/post/46578806990/8-idioms-and-phrases-in-english-using-some-easter

Alcune tradizioni del weekend pasquale
http://learnbritishenglish.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/uk-easter-weekend/

my interview in the Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/mar/26/teaching-dyslexia-strategies

Language Exchange: Pizza party!

I have been hosting Language Exchanges (Italian and American students who meet each other to improve their language skills and of course have fun together) since November 2011. The first time was a "Speed dating". It was a sort of meeting at a bar (with real coffee and tea, by the way) to get know each other five minutes in English and five minutes in Italian, then the pairs changed...
We played Who wants to be a millionaire (Chi vuole essere milionario), Taboo, Pictionary and so on...
Last Wednesday, for the first time, we went out to eat a pizza all together! I really had fun! I was proud of my students who tried to express themselves in a language that was not theirs.
I know they made a big effort and their improvements were terrific! I hope we will replay it soon!

BRIT CULT: St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day: by David Collett
Who Is St. Patrick?
St. Patrick is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. He was born in the
fourth century and is famous for bringing Christianity into Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day
is a very well known Irish national holiday, which is celebrated not only in Ireland
but all around the world. It falls on the 17th of March.
History of St. Patrick
St. Patrick was born to wealthy parents in the late fourth century. Until the age of
16 years old, he thought of himself as a pagan. He was kidnapped and sold as a
slave at this age by Irish marauders. It was during this capture that he turned to
God.
He managed to escape after being a slave for six years and then studied in a
monastery in Gaul for 12 years. This was when he knew that his ‘calling’ was to
try and convert all the pagans in Ireland into Christianity.
St. Patrick went from monastery to monastery, successfully converting people to
Christianity. The Celtic Druids were very unhappy with him and tried to arrest him
several times but he always managed to escape.
After 30 years of being a missionary in Ireland, he finally settled down in a place
called County Down. He died on the 17th of March, AD 461.
Legend and Folklore
Shamrocks, leprechauns and the blarney stone are associated with St. Patrick’s
Day. Shamrocks are threeleaved clovers found growing in patches on grass. You
are thought to be lucky if you find a four-leaved clover, so do keep it if you ever
come across one!
Leprechauns are little Irish fairies, and they are thought to work as shoe-makers
for other fairies. The Irish say that if a leprechaun is caught by a human, he will
reveal where he hides his pot of gold. On this day, pictures of shamrocks and
leprechauns are hung everywhere. Some people even dress up as leprechauns
complete with their big green hats!
The village of Blarney is situated northwest of the Irish village of Cork. Blarney
comes from the Irish word ‘An blarna’, meaning the plain. Blarney Castle is a very
famous castle in this village and is 90 feet tall. The world famous Blarney Stone is
on the top story. It is said that if one kisses this stone, one will be given the gift of
eloquence, meaning to have beautiful speaking abilities. Nowadays, the word
blarney means the ability to influence and coax with fair words and soft speech
without offending.
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© BBC | British Council 2010

Collocations, connectors and a tragic story

Hello everyone! This is a brief summary of last ADULTS class.
This is the reading text we put in order last night.

We used this picture to re-tell the story after listening to the ending on the tape

We also learnt what COLLOCATIONS are:
(from Cambridge Dictionary)
Collocation is a word or phrase which is often used with another word or phrase, in a way that sounds correct to people who have spoken the language all their lives.
 For example we say DO HOUSEWORK NOT MAKE HOUSEWORK

Do you remember the verbs phrases we studied last class?
Here you are 
BE IN A HURRY
RUN ACROSS THE ROAD
KNOCK ON THE DOOR
PLAY A SONG
INVITE SOMEBODY TO DINNER
MEET IN A COFFEE BAR
TAKE SOMEBODY TO A RESTAURANT 
TRY TO STOP
WAIT FOR SOMEBODY

 

Then we got a gnawing doubt: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TAKE AND BRING?LET'S SEE TOGETHER




 We use TAKE when the movement is away from the speaker.
Example: It's raining. Take your umbrella with you.

Or When you go somewhere with somebody

Example: The boss is taking his new girlfriend to the new Japanese restaurant.

We use BRING when the movement is toward the speaker

Example: I've brought my son with me this morning.

Can you bring the book I lent you some weeks ago?

  For further information or questions please contact me