EnglishVP

Good Friday is the start of the long Easter weekend here in the UK. Today is a bank holiday and so is Monday! Shops are full of Easter eggs and all sorts of decorations. How lovely! I am looking forward to going on an Easter egg hunt with the children and eating lots of chocolate! The 'Good' in Good Friday comes from old English when Good meant Holy. So you could call Good Friday, 'Holy Friday'. There are parades all over the world to celebrate and remember Good Friday. In Spain and some other countries, people who are very sorry for their wrong doings (called 'Penitents') walk through the streets wearing long robes with hoods and carrying a big cross of wood. In some countries, including the U.K., sometimes a single person or group of church members carry a large wooden cross, around the streets near the church, before the Good Friday service. They may be also followed by the rest of the people going to church. Sometimes they will stop and have a reading...

Don't forget to put your clocks forward tonight! This year, Sunday, March 25 marks the start of British Summer Time and clocks go forward by one hour. The change ensures that there is more daylight in the evenings and less in the mornings. Did you know there are lots of expressions and idioms with time ?  See if you can learn a few to use in your next conversation!

Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17th March.  Although he made his mark by introducing Christianity to Ireland in the year 432, Patrick wasn’t Irish himself. He was born to Roman parents in Scotland or Wales in the late fourth century.

We've had lots of great conversations this week, haven't we?   It's the best way to improve your pronunciation, grammar and learn new vocabulary! The more you speak the more confident you become!  If you worry about your pronunciation of certain words just listen and repeat and make sure you open your mouth and always speak slowly.

March is all about the ladies! International Women's Day ( 8th March) and Mother's Day in the UK ( 11th March) This week I have seen some fantastic presentations and we've had lots of discussions about the role of women in the world today. Excellent practice for your exams and such an interesting topic! Take a look at some useful vocabulary and expressions related to women

A snowy day today! All white here today! Schools are closed and it is not easy to travel anywhere. A good day to stay at home and speak about the weather! ( And drink hot chocolate!) There's lots of vocabulary and expressions to learn about the weather. Look at the weather worksheets weather worksheet  to help you plan a discussion.

Today is  Chinese New Year   and there are colourful celebrations happening all over the world.  New year is the biggest event in the Chinese calendar, the occasion is also known as the Spring Festival, and it’s marked by many countries around the world. Celebrations include parades and festivals full of incredible performances, colourful props and light shows surrounding the theme of the New Year. This year it is the Chinese Year of the Dog so if you were born in 2018, 2006, 1994, 1982, 1970 and 1958 you are all ‘dogs’! The traditional belief is that the animal you’re represented by can tell you a lot about your personality and with each animal comes a different type. This year’s dog is the ‘Earth Dog’ which last appeared in 1958. Earth dogs are communicative, serious and responsible in work. Go to worksheet 16 and practise a presentation with me.

                                         Hope you are having a LOVEly day! This is a famous love poem ( thee is old English for you) How Do I Love Thee? Elizabeth Barrett Browning ,  1806  -  1861 How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. ...

Yummy!!!!  Today is Pancake Day! Are you going to make some? So, today is Shrove Tuesday and tomorrow is Ash Wednesday.  It all relates to the Christian festival of Lent. "Shrove" is the past tense of "shrive" which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as "presenting oneself to a priest for confession, penance, and absolution". It's basically the day in which Christians traditionally confess their sins in church ahead of Lent. What's Lent?  It's a Christian festival and the roots come from people replicating the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus Christ over the 40-day journey he made through the desert. A lot of people use Lent as a way of testing their willpower - often giving up things like chocolate or other sweet treats before Easter. That's why they would eat pancakes on the day before Lent started, because they contained e ggs, flour and milk which  were once very common things to give up for Lent. It's a ver...

The weather is starting to look good! Spring is coming! Yesterday I had a lovely conversation with one of my students about the flowers we can see growing now in gardens and in parks. Everywhere looks so pretty, doesn't it? Do you know the names of any of the flowers? You could pick up extra marks in an oral exam if you learn a few.  These are daffodils on the left and primroses on the right. So pretty!                   Look up the names of more flowers -  they could get you extra marks in your speaking exams......     Her's a few to get you started Rose Tulip Daisy Dandelion Buttercup Iris Lilly                                                                                          ...