http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/ This is the Learning English blog for staff en-gb Copyright 2008, British Broadcasting Corporation http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014139.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014139.shtml#comments Hi everyone,

I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while! Maybe you can guess from the title of this blog why I've been so quiet?

I haven't been abroad since last December...and now suddenly, I'll be visiting 4 countries in the space of 6 weeks. If you count England, it's actually 5 countries! Anyway, I promise I will sit down and write about each country properly - but before I do, I thought you might like a little quiz to see if you can work out where I've been (or where I'm going). Here goes:

October: a European capital city. A city of fairytales.



November: another capital city, but on a different continent. A city of Wonders:



November: a different European capital - home of giant mice, ducks and a castle fit for a princess:




December: this one is easy if you look back to December 2008 - shopping, shopping, shopping!



Take care

Carrie

Comment corner

Asma: Twinkle, twinkle is one of my favourite rhymes too. The actions are so sweet - especially when you see a whole class of small children pretending to be stars!

Marianna: snow already? Here in England we have had very warm weather - and over the last few days a lot of rain and some very bad floods in the north.

Adrianna: they say that there is a book in everyone. An awful lot of people start to write and then never get anywhere. I must say I would like to be patient enough to write a book, but I'm not sure I would be able to sit still long enough!

Rabail: daisies are beautiful - as a child I used to make daisy chains: chains of daisies made by putting the head of a daisy through the stalk of another daisy. We made crowns and felt like princesses.

Tanya: we have a counting rhyme about piggies (that's baby talk for pigs) - it's done counting toes, starting with the big toe:
This little piggy went to market
This little piggy stayed at home
This little piggy had roast beef
This little piggy had none
And this little piggy went wee wee wee, all the way home!

Cristina: you made me think: where does the name Bailey come from? Well, it comes from the name of the street and comes from the rampart - also known as a bailey - constructed just outside the wall of the City in Norman times.

Kuldeep: you're right, it is a great way to learn - music and actions definitely help!

Anita: Wow! I'm going to have a go at your rhymes - they look like real tongue-twisters!

Shiny Sue: you write beautifully - your childhood memories are lovely - and a little bit sad.

Filippo: a little bit late, I know, but I didn't dress up for Halloween - did you?

Daria: thank you for the poem - it's still not quite the one I remember, and I'm beginning to think maybe I imagined it! Learning English Staff Blog 2009-11-23 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014111.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014111.shtml#comments Hi everyone,

Well, here it is finally: I hope it's worth the wait!

The idea for this blog came to me back in May, when I was on holiday in Cornwall. Walking down a country lane, I saw a field of yellow flowers:



I leant over the gate to take a closer look and saw that the flowers were buttercups:



These pretty little flowers are really weeds - they grow in fields and hedgerows from April until late summer. Who decides what are weeds? I checked the dictionary definition and it said: "A plant considered undesirable, unattractive, or troublesome, especially one growing where it is not wanted, as in a garden." It seems to me to be very unfair, don't you agree? Just because a gardener wouldn't want them in the garden, they are called weeds!

Seeing the field of buttercups made me think of a nursery rhyme about buttercups and daisies



I started singing it to myself (it's a good job there was no-one else walking along the lane - they would have thought me very strange), but do you know, I couldn't get further than the first few words. The rest of the rhyme had completely gone out of my head! (Now that is very odd, because somehow the brain often stores songs. I don't know about you, but I can hear the first few bars of a song from my teenage years and find I can sing along with the whole song!) Anyway, when I came back from holiday, I checked on the internet to see if I could find the words....and do you know, I couldn't find any! Maybe I imagined it!

Nevertheless, it started me thinking about other rhymes I learnt as a child. Of course there are hundreds, but I thought I would share just a couple of them with you. I'm hoping you'll share some of your nursery rhymes with me too! The first one is a rhyme about London - here it is and I'll explain it afterwards:

"Oranges and lemons" say the Bells of St. Clement's
"You owe me five farthings" say the Bells of St. Martin's
"When will you pay me?" say the Bells of Old Bailey
"When I grow rich" say the Bells of Shoreditch
"When will that be?" say the Bells of Stepney
"I do not know" says the Great Bell of Bow
"Here comes a Candle to light you to Bed
Here comes a Chopper to Chop off your Head...."

Have you noticed how many nursery rhymes and fairy stories are really gruesome? Have you read any of the Brothers Grimm fairy stories: they are very bloodthirsty! This nursery rhyme is no exception, although as a child, I just thought it was a good song! All the bells mentioned in the rhyme are (or were) in churches in London. I thought I knew where they all were, but do you know, I have been doing some research and discovered I didn't know anything at all! Today I've been out on a voyage of discovery with my camera!



Oranges and lemons" say the Bells of St. Clement's
The rhyme begins with this church because when the Thames was wider than it is today, oranges and lemons from the Mediterranean were delivered by ship just across the street. It is said the church bells pealed when a cargo arrived. There is also a church called St Clement's almost outside Bush House. If you walk by the church at 9 a.m. you'll hear the bells play the tune to this nursery rhyme!



"You owe me five farthings" say the Bells of St. Martin's
St Martin's church was almost completely burnt down in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The tower and the bell remained. Above you can see all that is left of the church: the tower is now offices in Martin Lane. Martin Lane was once notorious for moneylenders. A farthing is an old English coin.



"When will you pay me?" say the Bells of Old Bailey
The Old Bailey (the Central Criminal Court in London) stands on the original site of Newgate Prison. The 12 bells mentioned in the rhyme hung in a nearby church and the tenor bell in the bell tower was rung on mornings when there was an execution at the prison. The church still has the 'Execution Bell' in a glass case: but it's not used any more!


The Old Bailey

"When I grow rich" say the Bells of Shoreditch
Shoreditch was a very poor area of London

"When will that be?" say the Bells of Stepney
The church has ten bells, the oldest of which was recast in 1385



"I do not know" says the Great Bell of Bow
There has been a church on the site since 1070. During the 14th Century a curfew was rung on the Bow Bells every night at 9pm. It is said that anyone born within hearing distance of Bow Bells ringing is a true Cockney.

"Here comes a Candle to light you to Bed
Here comes a Chopper to Chop off your Head...."
Apparently, on the night before an execution, the prison warder would stand outside the prisoner's cell with a candle, at midnight, to let them know that the next day their head would be chopped off!! Hmmm. I'm not sure if that's actually true, but it's certainly gruesome!

The other nursery rhyme I wanted to share is a bit more obscure. It's one my Dad used to say to me when it was bedtime.

"To bed! To bed!"
Said Sleepy-head;
"Tarry awhile," said Slow;
"Put on the pan,"
Said Greedy Nan;
"We'll sup before we go."

Right, that's enough from me! Over to you. Please share your nursery rhymes with us!

Take care

Carrie

curfew : a law stating that people must stay inside their houses after a particular time at night until a particular time the next morning

Sleepy-head: an affectionate name for a person (usually a child)who is very tired or not paying attention
Tarry: an old fashioned word for "linger"
Nan: Nan is a version of the name Ann. It can also be what you'd call a children's nurse-maid (from nanny)
sup: to eat supper
Learning English Staff Blog 2009-10-13 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014100.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014100.shtml#comments Hi everyone,

Although I keep promising "Childhood II", I thought I needed to catch up with a few comments first. I love reading all your comments and feel bad that I haven't replied. So, here goes:

The Prince, the Duchess and me
Cris & Naheed: the food at Buckingham Palace was delicious - the trouble is, the plates are very small, so I only ate about 2 mouthfuls of food between breakfast and 7 o'clock in the evening. Fortunately there was plenty of water, juice, tea and coffee to drink!

Ana Paula and Rabail: I found some photos of the Buckingham Palace gardens here

Filippo and Anita: I'd like to say I was cool, calm and collected, but in reality it was very nerve-wracking. One of the Rangers got completely tongue-tied and couldn't remember anything - I suspect that if the Prince had asked her her name, she wouldn't have been able to remember!

Thank you Alessandro - it would be nice to do nothing except sit and blog everyday - but I think you would soon be bored of me! When I was a teenager, I tried to keep a diary every day. I managed for a couple of years - I still have the diaries and looking back they make me laugh! Do you keep a diary?

We are 100
Cris: I admire people who go against the current too - especially when it is for the good of others. You have to be courageous to stand up for something you believe in - it can be very hard to go against convention and traditions. Lord Baden Powell's sister Agnes was the Guide first leader. To ensure that Guiding was considered "acceptable", she is included things like sewing, cooking and laundry, as well as adventurous outdoor activities. Very clever!

Toni: Scouts allowed girls to join almost 20 years ago: I heard recently that there are more girls than boys in Scouts in the UK now: I'm not sure if that is true. However, there are 400,000 Scouts (boys and girls) and 575,000 Guides (girls only), with a waiting list of 50,000 (that's girls wanting to join who can't because there are no spaces available), so Guiding must be doing the right thing! A couple of years ago, 3,200 girls were asked about the issues shaping the lives of their generation: one thing that came out was how much they value the girl-only environment – a place where they can share their feelings, grow in confidence, form strong friendships and know that they have a chance to talk about the issues that matter to them. In the UK we still have a large number of single-sex schools too: not so much for younger children, but for children aged 11-18. Do you have boys or girls-only schools or are all your schools mixed?

Take care

Carrie

cool, calm and collected: very calm
tongue-tied: unable to say anything because you are shy or nervous Learning English Staff Blog 2009-09-29 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014089.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014089.shtml#comments It seems unusual that there haven't been many comments on any of the blogs on Learning English (the student blog, the teacher blog and the staff blog) recently.

Have you sent us a comment in the last few days (since Monday 14 September) that hasn't been published on our site?

If you have, and it hasn't broken the house rules, please let us know, and re-send your comment using the contact form


Best wishes,
The Learning English team

Learning English Staff Blog 2009-09-17 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014079.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014079.shtml#comments Hi everyone,

Thank you to Diema, Ana Paula and Cristina for your guesses. The World Service actually started teaching English back in 1943 - so Cristina's guess was the closest - well done!

Ana Paula and Cristina both guessed that Rangers are 100 years old and you were almost right - but Diema was spot on with "Girl Guides". Actually, the first Guide Company was founded in 1910, but the idea of Girl Guides was born on 4th September 1909. This is the story of how it all began.

Back in 1907, Robert Baden-Powell, a Lieutenant-General in the British Army, held a small camp for boys to teach them activities around camping, observation, woodcraft, chivalry and lifesaving. In 1908, the Scout movement officially started and quickly grew. By 1909, so many boys had joined up that on 4 September, Baden-Powell held a rally at Crystal Palace in London. 11,000 boys were there, but in amongst the boys there were a handful of girls. One of those girls was Sybil Cannadine, in an interview* she explained that in the summer of 1909 they saw the boys going off every Saturday afternoon and having fun. She says "The whole of the summer of 1909 we followed the boys...we did all the things that we were told to do in the books: tracking, stalking, bandaging, knotting, law, promise and the flag." But girls were not supposed to do those sort of things - in 1909 they had to wear long skirts and weren't allowed to run or to raise their arms above their heads. That didn't stop Sybil and her friends though. They heard about the Crystal Palace rally and decided they would go. They marched straight through the turnstiles and no-one stopped them. However, Baden-Powell spotted them, went up to them and said "And what the dickens do you think you are doing here?!" One of the girls replied "We want to be girl Scouts." B-P told them that Scouting was only for boys, but the girls clustered round him and begged for "..something for the girls." And so the Girl Guides began. When it officially started in 1910, 6,000 girls signed up.



This is a picture of Guides at camp in 1910 - can you imagine pitching tents, cooking on a fire and running around dressed like that? Things have certainly changed and although we do still cook on wood fires, we no longer have to dig our own toilets!



Back in 1909, many people were shocked by the idea of girls doing all those things, they said it was an "idiotic sport". But, in spite of the critics, the Girl Guide movement continued to grow. Today there are 10 million girls and women involved in guiding in 145 countries around the world: perhaps you are one of them, or know someone (other than me!) who is a involved? Half of all women in the UK today have been in guiding at some stage during their lives!

Last Saturday there was a huge party at Crystal Palace for more than 6,000 girls and leaders (and other parties all around the UK). The girls in 1909 had fun stalking, bandaging and knotting: on Saturday, the girls had fun climbing, learning circus skills, drumming, dancing and learning yoga. They also enjoyed a concert and firework display.



As a permanent reminder of the centenary of Guiding, the famous Crystal Palace maze has been redesigned. The maze was originally created in about 1870 - it was known as a "tea maze" because people liked to stroll through the maze after having afternoon tea! Sadly, in the last few years, it has fallen in to disrepair, so it was fantastic to see it redesigned and full of children last Saturday. It took me about 20 minutes to find the middle: when you get to the centre, this is what you find:



The trefoil in the middle is the symbol of Guiding and represents the three parts of the Guide promise (duty to God or to your religion; duty to your country; keeping the Guide Law). The stalk signifies the love of mankind. Around the outside are the words: "Pause here for a while, listen for the echoes, past, present, future, follow in their footsteps." I wonder whether Sybil and her friends realised what they had started when they asked for "Something for the girls"?

Take care

Carrie

spot on: absolutely correct
a handful: a few (not literally 5!)
what the dickens: a very old-fashioned exclamation of surprise meaning "What on earth..."

*(which I saw the other day on BBC4, but that was recorded back in 1971) Learning English Staff Blog 2009-09-08 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014077.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014077.shtml#comments Yes, yes. I know. I promised I would write Childhood II, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait just a little bit longer. I'm sorry. Actually, I'm not sorry, because this is the start of an exciting year, which I thought I'd tell you about. You see, we're 100. Not me personally, you understand. Not even BBC Learning English. In fact, to go off on a slight tangent, can any of you guess how long the BBC has been teaching English on the World Service? We haven't always been called BBC Learning English - we've been called: English by Radio, English by Radio and Television and BBC English.

Anyway, back to the title of this blog. "We" were 100 on 4 September. Any idea who the "we" is? Do you know, I'm going to be very mean and see if you can guess. Tonight is Sunday evening. I'll give you until 5 p.m. GMT on Monday to see if you can work it out.... Would you like a clue? Hmmm. OK: well we have 10 million members around the world. Does that help?

So there you go: two puzzles for you:

1. When did the BBC start teaching English on the World Service?
2. Who or what was 100 years old on Friday?

Take care

Carrie

Learning English Staff Blog 2009-09-06 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014050.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014050.shtml#comments Hi everyone,

You're probably expecting "Childhood II"....well it's coming up soon. In the meantime, I feel I just have to show off a bit!

A few of weeks ago I was lucky enough to go to Buckingham Palace to a royal garden party. Garden parties have been held each summer at Buckingham Palace since the 1860's, when Queen Victoria was on the throne. Originally they were called "breakfasts" - even though they were in the afternoon! From the 1950's onwards they became a way of rewarding and recognising all kinds of people who are involved in public service - either working or volunteering. Every year the Queen hosts 3 garden parties at Buckingham Palace and one at Holyrood House in Scotland. About 10,000 people are invited to each party. You can see a short film about the garden parties here.

"So", I hear you ask, "How did you get invited?". Well, the Metropolitan Police are trying to prevent young people getting involved in crime by starting a scheme called YOU. This stands for Youth Organisations Uniform and the idea is to encourage young people to join youth organisations like Scouts, Guides, Sea Cadets, St John Ambulance or the Prince's Trust. The latter is a charity set up by Prince Charles (he is the Queen's eldest son, the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne). To celebrate the start of the YOU project, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla (the Duchess of Cornwall) hosted a garden party for members of the uniformed organisations and special guests. 11 of the Rangers were selected to go and I went along as their leader. They were chosen because they have an act called Camp Stomp, which they have performed at a couple of events. Basically this involves using objects you would use to go camping as percussion instruments: things like buckets, kettles, mallets and even a portable toilet!! They were asked to perform Camp Stomp at the Buckingham Palace garden party....six times! Here some of them are, practising hard!



The day started early. We all met for one last rehearsal before packing up all the "instruments" and walking to our local train station.



We travelled to London and were given new uniform to wear and told what to expect. There were 14 pages of instructions about where to go, what to do and what to say if Prince Charles spoke to you. At 2 p.m. the gates of Buckingham Palace opened and we were allowed in:



The gardens are behind the Palace, so you have to walk through the Palace and out the other side to get to them. When we got there, we could see 2 enormous tents each with a table inside that was 124 metres long and laden with little sandwiches and cakes (at a garden party for 8,000 people they serve 27,000 cups of tea, 20,000 sandwiches and around 30,000 pieces of cake). We had about an hour to set up before the guests arrived at 3 p.m. The Rangers performed Camp Stomp 3 times - inviting the guests to come and have a go at playing the instruments too. I'd love to show you, but no cameras were allowed in the grounds!

Although the guests arrive at 3 o'clock, members of the Royal Family never arrive until 4 o'clock, so after performing we had time to get tea. Tea is served in china cups and you can help yourself to food. All the food is finger food and is cut in to small portions - I guess that's so that you feel elegant when eating! There were cucumber sandwiches, ham sandwiches (both with the crusts cut off), mini hot dogs, fruit tarts and delicious little squares of chocolate cake. To drink there was tea, iced coffee or fruit squash. The plates are quite small, so you can't be too greedy!

Just before 4 o'clock we were all asked to go and stand by the steps of the Palace as the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were about to arrive. As they came out, the band started to play the National Anthem. After that Prince Charles and Camilla walked around and met young people and leaders from all the organisations. When they came round to us I was lucky enough to talk to both of them. Prince Charles asked us what Rangers did and the Duchess of Cornwall asked whether we had had tea - I told her to be careful of the chocolate cake, as it was very gooey and melted quickly!



Then there was just time to perform Camp Stomp 3 more times and have a wander around the garden. The garden is the largest private garden in London: it has more than 300 types of wild flower, 30 different species of wild birds, over 150 mature trees, a lake and a tennis court, where King George VI and Fred Perry played in the 1930s. Every Monday morning when The Queen is in residence, the Gardens Manager sends Her Majesty a posy of the interesting plants in flower in the Palace garden. It's really peaceful - there are busy roads on each side, but in the garden you can only really hear the birds and water - although with so many young people at the garden party, you could also hear quite a lot of chattering voices!

At 6 o'clock we all had to make a long corridor of people and the Prince and Duchess walked down it to their car and drove away. All that was left to do was pack up the instruments, walk back to the station (stopping for a burger and chips - cucumber sandwiches don't really fill you up) and travel back home. We just got back when there was an almighty thunderstorm and torrential rain...thank goodness that didn't happen when we were at the Palace!

Take care

Carrie

public service: doing something for the benefit of the public e.g. firemen, nurses, charity workers
heir to the throne: in this case the person who will become King after Queen Elizabeth II
an act: a short performance
percussion: musical instruments that you hit e.g. drums
finger food: food you can eat with your fingers (rather than with a fork)
fruit squash: a kind of concentrated fruit juice that has to be diluted with water Learning English Staff Blog 2009-08-05 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014028.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000014028.shtml#comments Hi everyone,

A few weeks ago I spent a weekend racing. I don't mean horse racing or even racing cars - I mean running. Together with my goddaughter and her sister, I took part in the "Race for Life" - a 5km fun run to raise money for Cancer Research. You may remember that last year Dani wrote a blog about the colour pink: well, this was a charity event that only women could take part in and everyone was encouraged to wear pink.



I use the term "racing" quite loosely. Although Chelsey ran all the way (she took 29 minutes!), Kerrie and I alternated between walking, jogging and running. This was partly because I'm not fit enough to run all the way ;-) and partly because there were so many people taking part that most of the time it wasn't possible to run.



Of course the main aim of the event was not just to have fun, but also to raise money for Cancer Research. We were very pleased that between the three of us we raised over £500!



Earlier on the same weekend I took part in another kind of race. This time it was only about 100m and involved a potato! Perhaps I should explain. "Sports Days" are very common during the summer term at schools in the UK. At secondary schools (that's children aged 11-16 or 18) these are usually serious affairs. The events will be proper athletic events - running, javelin, discus, long jump and so on. At primary school, where the pupils are younger, the events will be more fun. Things like a 3 legged race - where two children have one leg tied to the other person so that they have to run as if they have 3 legs.




Then there's the sack race - children have to stand inside a sack and jump to the end of the race. So, a few Fridays ago, I was able to relive my childhood. We had a sports evening for all the Rainbows, Brownies and Guides in our area -and at the very end of the evening there was a race especially for leaders. Normally this race would involve an egg and spoon. You have to carry an egg (usually hard boiled, or it gets very messy) on a spoon and race down a course. Fortunately, we decided that potatoes would be better and cheaper, so instead of an egg-and-spoon race, we had a potato-and-spoon race. Now you probably don't know this about me, but I'm very competitive and so I was standing at the start line, one leg forward, just waiting for the whistle to blow...and I was off. I'm not sure whether I jumped the gun but there was no-one near me until the last 5 metres - so I pushed that extra bit -and guess what I won! Honestly, it felt like I had won Olympic gold!! I'm not sure I ever won any races at sports days as child, so it was really nice to revert to my childhood - even if it was only for a couple of hours.



If you had the chance to go back to your childhood, what would you like to do?

Take care

Carrie

fun run: a non competitive race - usually to raise money for charity
hard boiled: a hard boiled egg is an egg that has been cooked in it's shell in boiling water until the yolk and white are completely solid
to jump the gun : to do something before the proper time - in this case to start runiing before the whistle had been blown Learning English Staff Blog 2009-07-14 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000013993.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000013993.shtml#comments Hi everyone,

Well, I'm back from both my holidays now - yes that's right both: I actually went on holiday twice! Last time I teased you with a couple of photos and asked where you thought I'd been: there were a lot of good guesses: Ana Paula was close when she guessed a zoo, but Hania, Anita and Rabail were spot on (oh, and of course James, who guessed "on the earth"!). Actually, I never left England: I drove to Dorset, which is a county in the south west of England. On the way I took the scenic route via Longleat and visited the safari park there. Back in 1966 it opened as a drive-through safari park: it was the first one of its kind in the world (outside Africa), where the animals roamed free and the visitors were in cages (cars!!). Lord Bath, who owned Longleat House had already opened the house to the public, but he needed to raise more money, so decided to introduce lions to the English countryside. Of course, they do not roam completely free, but are in large enclosures. I wonder what the locals thought back then, when they heard there would be lions living on their doorstep? Nowadays you can see not just lions, but tigers, rhinos,



giraffes, wolves



and monkeys. Apparently the lions are very adaptable and have no problem living in England! What do you think about zoos and safari parks? Do you think it's right to take animals away from their natural habitat?

Back to the subject of holidays! So, for my first holiday, I took my Mum with me and we had a lovely time exploring the countryside and being real "grockles". Here we are at a beauty spot called the Blue Pool.



We stayed in a self-catering cottage. British people have plenty of choices when they go on holiday here: hotels, guest houses, B&B, camping, a caravan or holiday camp. Personally, I prefer self-catering : it gives you the freedom to come and go whenever you like: to eat when and where you want to and gives you a lot more space to call your own! Where do you stay when you go on holiday?


Talking of beauty spots (can you talk in a blog or should it be "writing"?): for my second holiday I spent 5 days in Cornwall. Lovely weather and nice long walks, which are a good time to think about what to write in the blog! Actually, I was also thinking about what subject to choose for the crossword next week. Someone suggested "holidays", so if you look here on Friday 12 June, you should see a crossword about the language of holidays! * I was trying to decide which words to include in the crossword and "beauty spot" seemed like a good one - it came to me when I was sitting here eating my lunch....I wonder why? ;-)



Looking forward to hearing about your favourite beauty spot and where you go on holiday!

Take care

Carrie

spot on: absolutely right; correct
scenic route: to take the pretty, quiet, back roads to get somewhere. You can also make a joke if you get lost: "Of course I know where I'm going - I'm just taking the scenic route!"
safari park: a park where wild animals are allowed to roam free and visitors can see them from their cars
locals: people who live somewhere that tourists visit (a "local" is also another name for a pub)
grockle: a word from the south and south-west of England used by locals to mean a tourist or holidaymaker. It's not particularly polite!
beauty spot: a very pretty place. It can also mean a dark spot or mole on a woman's face
self-catering: accommodation where you cook and clean for yourself
B&B: short for "Bed and Breakfast": a guest house that provides a bedroom and breakfast each morning. Full board means that all the meals are provided.
holiday camp: very British! This is a resort for families that includes accommodation, entertainment and other facilities. Visitors stay in chalets or caravans.
it came to me: I had an idea


*if you have any suggestions for subjects for the crossword, please send them in: there's a link on the front page of each crossword.

Learning English Staff Blog 2009-06-04 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000013980.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/staff/0000013980.shtml#comments Hi everyone,

Thank you for your comments on my last couple of posts: I've loved hearing about all the traditions. Our Minister has read all the comments and is really excited that some of you are going to suggest using the "Christmas tree to Cross" idea in your own churches. James: she said thank you for saying she's quite a guy....but she definitely a "gal" ;-)

Cheikh: there are certainly lots and lots of superstitions in the UK: probably the most common one is saying "Touch wood" when you hope that something will happen e.g. "I'll be home by 7 o'clock, touch wood" - and then making sure you do actually touch a piece of wood when you say it. If they can't find a piece of wood to touch, people will often touch their own head (implying it's made of wood!).

Lena: we have a female minister in our church: the Methodist Church was one of the first to accept women as ministers, so for us this is nothing new. I think male and female ministers bring different characteristics to the job. In the Methodist church, we don't have the same preacher each Sunday - our own minister has two churches, so she preaches at our church one week and on the alternate week she preaches at the other church. In between we have visiting preachers - that way we hear different things each week. Women had a different role in society when Jesus was alive, so all his disciples were men. Nowadays, I think he would have chosen some women too. What do you think?

Anyway, this is going to be a short blog, as I have just come back from holiday. I noticed that Callum hasn't written yet, so I thought I'd get in! Here's the teaser. These are a couple of my holiday snaps. Can anyone guess where I've been?





Take care

Carrie

gal: a girl/woman (US English) - guys and gals: boys and girls!
teaser: a question to make you think - to tease you
snaps: photos Learning English Staff Blog 2009-05-23