For learners of English who understand that language is not just grammar. Idioms, phrasal verbs, vocabulary, and more besides, help strengthen language skills.
If you wear it on your hand, wrist or arm, it’s a WATCH.
These sports watches are all mine. Yet, I seldom wear a watch in everyday life.
If it’s on the bedside table, hanging on a wall or even part of the microwave oven, it’s a CLOCK.
This is the clock on my microwave oven.
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Send in your answers using the form below.
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Recently I have written a couple of posts about postcards: Postcard expressions and Send a postcard. Today I will carry on with this theme in order to introduce some useful vocabulary.
First of all, after choosing and buying a postcard, you’ll probably start by writing a message. Click here for some useful sentences: Postcard expressions. Once done, you need to write down the addressee – the name and address of the person you are sending the postcard to. Make sure to include the postcode – usually a combination of numbers and letters (or only numbers) which we put at the end of the address to help the post office sort the mail. Next, we need a stamp – a small pretty picture which we buy and stick in the top right corner of the postcard. If the card is special in any way or what you write is too personal, you might prefer putting it in an envelope – a type of paper cover usually used for sending letters. Finally, look for a letterbox – the place where you put the postcard for a mail employee to collect.
Look at the flags. Can you name the country and the nationality (what we call the people from that country)?
Example:
Send in your answers using the form below. And if your country flag isn’t here, tell me so that I can include it!
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I know many people think that sending postcards is old fashioned and, anyway, it’s only something you do when on holiday.
It’s true that few people write postcards these days. With smartphones stuck to our hands, it’s easier to take a photo and send via a messaging app or post on social media. However, you don’t have to be on holiday to send postcards. Besides, it can be a fun and interesting way of practising a bit of writing in English. This is why I recommend Postcrossing.
The goal of this project is to allow anyone to send and receive postcards from all over the world!
The idea is simple: for each postcard you send, you will receive one back from a random postcrosser from somewhere in the world.
Simply because, like its founder, there are lots of people who like to receive real mail.
Receiving postcards from different places in the world (many of which you probably have never heard of!) can turn your mailbox into a box of surprises — and who wouldn’t like that?
Go ahead, try it out: Postcards connecting the world – Postcrossing
I’m giving you the chance to try a test I had set for my students in April of last year . Click on the link below and test yourself!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjnBoveFePpYCx6KHhY8ejalIo6J_xma-1lJLuolm4woyxZA/viewform
Here’s a brief text about a local savory biscuit, known as “galletti”.
I’ve taken out a few words. Use your language skills to omplete it.
Email your answers using the form below.
Also known ___1___ water crackers, the savory galletti are thin, hard, and brittle Maltese biscuits consisting ___2___ flour, salt, semolina, yeast, sugar, warm water, and either olive oil ___3___ butter. They are often flavored ___4___ caraway, oregano, black pepper, or sesame seeds.
Galletti are baked until golden-brown ___5___ color, and they can be served before or ___6___ a meal, paired ___7___ dips, cheese, and cold cuts, or consumed ___8___ their own. These biscuits are found ___9___ almost every home kitchen ___10___ the island, but it is also possible to find them in bars and restaurants.
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Let’s look at a couple of interesting ways of talking about the time.
Midnight, for example, can be described as THE WITCHING HOUR. Yesterday evening I drank so much water that I woke up at the witching hour to pee. Yes, I use real-life situations as examples!
You go to a party and get home at 1am ( or 2am or 3 in the morning). Then IN THE WEE HOURS is a delightful way of expressing it. On my holiday last year, I arrived at Dubai airport in the wee hours – at 0115hrs to be exact. THE SMALL HOURS has the same meaning.
What about in your language? Do you have expressions for THE WITCHING HOUR and IN THE WEE HOURS? Send them in using the comments box below.
Have you ever written a postcard while away on holiday? If you grew up in the days before emails and instant messaging, you probably have. On the other hand, if WhatsApp, Twitter, Messenger and Snap Chat were the first words you learned at school, then you might not even know what a postcard is!
Well, today’s task is for those who, when they are on holiday, find time to buy and send picturesque postcards to their friends and loved ones.
Send in your answers for my correction, using the form below.
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#elcome #o #he #editerranean. #elcome #o #he #eeling #f #he #ummer #un #n #our #kin, #nd #he #mell #f #alt #n #he #ir. #o #he #aste #f #esty #ranges, #o #he #ome #f #ittersweet #emories.
#ELCOME #O #HE #ORLD #F #INNIE.
Here’s an interesting challenge. Above is an advertising slogan of a popular local soft drink. I’ve replaced the first letter of every word with a #. Can you work out what the complete slogan is?
Put it in the form below and send.
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Not Only Grammar 