Apr 30, 2017 Chunks, Word of the day Word of the day: pimp A few weeks ago, I ran a teacher development course in Norilsk, Siberia. In one session, we were talking about how to give better examples of new language and I was trying to get teachers to think more about not only collocations – words which often go together, like blissfully ignorant, beat an egg and […]
Apr 25, 2017 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: two-fingered salute At some point during most courses we run, we end up taking whichever students are up for it to the pub. It’s a grand British tradition and the pub is basically where we go to let our hair down, relax and talk. Having spent lots of time over the years in pubs with foreign students, […]
Apr 23, 2017 Chunks, Word of the day Word of the day: snap For many years, Britain had a reputation around the world for stability. Rightly or wrongly, it was widely believed that things here happened as they should and there were no sudden or harmful changes. Over the last couple of years, though, all that has changed. There’s an oft-quoted curse – “May you live in interesting […]
Apr 20, 2017 Chunks, Word of the day Word of the day: allotment Is it a sign that I am fully middle-aged, not to say old, that I have just nipped down the allotment? Probably – although, as we shall see, the nature of allotments and gardening has been changing in the UK. But first, what is an allotment? Basically, it’s a small area of land usually owned by […]
Apr 18, 2017 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: deeply divided Last Sunday, Turkey went to the polls to vote on whether to approve 18 proposed amendments to the Turkish constitution that had been put forward by the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). If implemented, the proposals would see the office of Prime Minister abolished and the existing parliamentary system […]
