It's Christmas!

At the London School of English we've been celebrating the festive season with our Christmas staff dinner, Christmas concert and Christmas themed lessons. Now the school is closed until the new year but everyone in London is very busy getting ready for Christmas.

So, what do people in the UK do at Christmas time, and what do we say to each other? Here's a list of cultural references about an English Christmas, and some Christmas language too.

Christmas Displays in Shop Windows

Christmas seems to start earlier every year. Shops start putting up Christmas displays almost as soon as Halloween has finished. So, seeing Christmas decorations in shop windows as early as October sometimes makes people feel a bit cynical towards the commercialisation of this traditional festival.

What people say: "I can't believe they're advertising Christmas already! It's disgusting how commercialised it has become. Christmas decorations in October? I mean, come on!"

The Christmas Office Party

Every office has to have a Christmas party, even if all the members of staff don't want to do it! An office party usually involves the staff members getting drunk and doing embarrassing things in front of the boss. Sometimes it is the other way round - and the boss gets drunk and does embarrassing things in front of the staff. Whatever happens - it usually involves drinking and embarrassment!

What people say:

"Thanks for all your hard work this year!"

"I love you Tracy... I've always loved you... give me a kiss will you? Tracy? Tracy I'm sorry... I ... Sorry Tracy! ...oh... oh no."

The Christmas Get-Together with Friends

This is one of the best parts of the Christmas season - the opportunity to meet your best friends and have a drink together to celebrate Christmas. Often this will be done in a good pub or restaurant. Sometimes friends will meet at someone's house and drink together, and be merry.

What do people say?

"Merry Christmas"

"Cheers!"

"What are you up to for Christmas?"

"Where are you spending Christmas?"

"Are you going back to your parents' place?"

"Have a great Christmas, won't you?"

Christmas Songs

There are two types of Christmas song: the Christmas carols, and the modern pop songs. Christmas carols are traditional religious songs which are sung in public places by groups of carol singers. It is a very traditional image: carol singers from the local town who stand in a public place, hold candles and sing.

The old pop songs from the 60s, 70s and 80s are also an important part of a typical Christmas here in England. Wherever you go, you hear these songs. They are played on the radio, in shops, in pubs, at the office party or on a CD player at home. Everyone knows them, and everyone can sing them (especially when they've had a few drinks). Some of the most famous Christmas pop songs are: Merry Christmas Everyone by Slade, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day by Wizard, Last Christmas by Wham and The Fairy Tale of New York by The Pogues. You can check YouTube and Google for all of those songs, and the lyrics are all available online too.

What people say:

"Oh look - it's some carol singers! Oh how lovely!"

"Oh, I LOVE this song!"

"Oh no, not this old Christmas song again... I can't stand it..."

Christmas Shopping

Giving gifts is one of the most important parts of Christmas, so it is important to buy presents for your family members, and some of your close friends. The clever people (usually women) do their Christmas shopping in advance. The stupid ones (usually men) leave it until the last minute, and then have to struggle through crowded streets and busy shops to try and find good presents for their loved ones. Doing your Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve (December 24th) is definitely not recommended, as this is guaranteed to make you very stressed out!

What people say:

"Excuse me! Sorry, can I just squeeze past you? Sorry! Thanks!"

"Excuse me, have you got any wrapping paper left?"

"No, I'm afraid we've sold out"

"Oh my god, I wish I hadn't left this until the last minute"

"Have you got any idea what I should get Dad for Christmas?"

"Haven't you bought him anything yet??"

Bah! Humbug!

Anyone who doesn't like Christmas, is called a 'scrooge'. This is because of the story A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Scrooge is famous for saying "Bah! Humbug!" as a way of complaining about Christmas.

Christmas Pantomimes

This is a fun theatre performance which is designed for children, but which adults usually enjoy too. Christmas is pantomime season, and most of the theatres in town will show a pantomime at this time of year. Pantomime stories are usually based on well known children's stories, such as: Cinderella, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Snow White etc. The most popular pantomimes in London have celebrities as the main characters. Pantomimes (or pantos) always have a funny character, a loveable character and an evil character. The audience is encouraged to join in the performance by shouting lines such as "He's behind you!" when the evil character enters the stage. This year, Pamela Anderson (from Baywatch) is performing in a pantomime in London. Many people think she is doing this because she's bankrupt and really needs the money!

What people say:

"He's behind you!"

"Oh no he isn't!"

"Oh yes he is!"

"I hate pantomimes"

Snow

A white Christmas is a traditional image, but snow is quite rare in London these days. Snowfall on Christmas Day is a little more common in the north of the country and in Scotland where the temperature tends to be colder. Weather forecasters are saying there is a chance of snow this Christmas, so children all over the country might wake up to a snow covered garden this year.

What people say:

"Oh, how lovely - a white Christmas!"

"Daddy, Daddy! Can we go outside and make a snowman!?"

"Due to extreme weather conditions, all train services out of London have been cancelled."

Mistletoe

This is a plant with green leaves and white berries. It is traditional to hang mistletoe from the ceiling or some other high place. If you meet someone underneath the mistletoe - you have to kiss them!

The office party + alcohol + mistletoe = possibly embarrassing office romance which everyone talks about for the next twelve months!

What people say:

"Oh, look, it's some mistletoe - what a coincidence. Come on, give me a kiss then!" *smooch*

Christmas Eve - 24th December

Many people in England have to work on this day, but they will often leave the office early in order to travel home to be with the family. The evening is typically spent either at home with the family, in the pub celebrating Christmas, or in church for midnight mass. These days fewer people are attending church service than before, but there are still plenty of Christians who do go there to sing hymns. After the church service, people often gather round and drink mulled wine together. Before they go to bed, children leave stockings out for Father Christmas. If the children have been good, then Santa will come down the chimney and put gifts in the stocking. If there are any children reading this, get ready for the truth: Father Christmas doesn't exist. Your parents are liars. Sorry to tell you that, but it's a tough world out there - so, better start getting used to it now.

What people say:

"Be a good boy, or Father Christmas won't leave you any presents"

"My friend Jack in my class at school says that Santa isn't real, is this true Mummy?"

"No, your friend Jack is a terrible liar! Of course Father Christmas is real darling. Now shut up and go to bed."

Christmas Day - 25th December

For Children, this is the most exciting day of the year, because they get to open lots of presents! For the adults it is a chance to just relax with the family, eat lots of food, drink some booze, share gifts and fall asleep in front of the TV. Presents are given and received, a lunch/dinner of roast turkey and vegetables is eaten and quite a lot of alcohol is drunk (often starting before lunch). The Queen broadcasts a speech (actually written by the government) in the afternoon, there's usually an entertaining family blockbuster on the TV, and the Dad of the family usually falls asleep while watching it. Despite this emphasis on relaxation, Christmas Day is often a stressful experience, and families will sometimes argue because of disagreements over preparing dinner, what to watch on TV and the noisy & hyperactive children who are running around the house.

What people say:

"Oh, you shouldn't have!"

"It's the thought that counts"

"ZZzzzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzz"

Boxing Day - 26th December

This is the day after Christmas Day. No one really knows why it is called Boxing Day, but some people say it is because this is the day that factory workers were given gifts in boxes. Anyway, it doesn't really matter because this day is a public holiday and so everyone just continues doing what they started on Christmas Day - sitting around, eating, drinking and falling asleep. Great!

What people say:

"ZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz"

So, that's basically it. Merry Christmas everyone, and have a happy new year!

Luke

Glossary:

commercialisation - the act of making something commercialised - making it involved in commerce (buying and selling)

merry - happy and having fun

What are you up to? - What are you doing? / What are you going to do?

I can't stand it - I hate it

leave it until the last minute - do something at the latest possible moment

loved ones - people you love

can I just squeeze past you? - can I get past you? (We use this expression when we need to walk past someone when there is no space)

wrapping paper - paper we use to wrap Christmas presents

berries - small fruit that grows on trees

midnight mass - a church service which happens at 12 o'clock at night

hymns - religious (christian) songs

mulled wine - a combination of wine and spices, which is served hot

stockings - long socks

chimney - the part of a building which transports smoke out of the roof

booze - alcoholic drinks (slang term)

blockbuster - a very successful and popular movie

you shouldn't have - What someone says when they are given a gift. It means "You shouldn't have bought this for me!" or "You didn't need to buy me a gift!". It is a modest way to accept a gift.

Image courtesy of FreeFoto.com

http://www.freefoto.com/preview/90-13-2?ffid=90-13-2

Business Collocations

What is a collocation? It’s, two words that are commonly used together and therefore sound natural; such as do and business.

Our company does business in the Far East.
I'm going to give you ten words, see if you can think of any collocations for them:

1. Business
2. Sales
3. Customer
4. Target
5. Market
6. Brand
7. Money
8. Product
9. Highly
10. Commercially

Now read the following text and see how we can use them.

In order to make money in business you should have a good business plan. Firstly, you need to identify your target market and use your product knowledge to sell it. The product must be commercially viable to make a profit. In order to gain market share and increase sales figures, your product should be highly competitive. Once you have done all this you need customer satisfaction because this leads to brand loyalty, which is what all companies would love to achieve.

Other collocations with the above words are:

1. Business opportunity
2. Sales representative
3. Customer services
4. Target audience
5. Market leader
6. Own brand
7. Lose money
8. Product range
9. Highly motivated
10. Commercially successful

I'll write a follow-up blog giving you more examples of these collocations in use soon.

Here are some answers from the 'Decisions, Decisions' post. The correct collocations and the examples of the past tense have been highlighted in bold.

Can you choose one from each pair?

- We had to make a snap / click decision
- It’s a tough /strong decision
- It’s a(n) soft / easy decision
- You need to make a quick / speed decision
- That’s my final / end decision

Johnny in Fundon
Johnny arrived in Fundon feeling both excited and a little nervous. It was his first time away from his family, and he was looking forward to his new freedom, but also worrying about looking after himself. So, how did Johnny get on with his new life?He started well at school and was very enthusiastic about his lessons and about his new friends. He organised his study materials, kept up with his work and spent most of his free time doing lots of interesting cultural stuff around Fundon. Gradually, he was getting used to living away from home and the culture shock was not as strong as it was at the beginning. Johnny kept in touch with his family and friends back home and they were happy that he was having such a great time, as well as learning a lot too.After a few months, however…

Johnny’s attitude began to change. He started oversleeping in the mornings and getting to class late. Some days he didn’t even manage to come to school at all. Instead, he just stayed at home or walked around by himself. The energy he had at the beginning suddenly disappeared because he knew it was difficult to learn a language and he was getting frustrated because it takes time to make progress. The problem was that because Johnny now decided to hide away from these difficulties and spend his time speaking his own language and going out with people from his own country, he couldn’t develop his Pinglish.To be honest, Johnny didn’t really enjoy studying that much. He preferred listening to music, watching films and meeting new people (especially women!). What he didn’t understand was that with more Pinglish, he could enjoy these things more. In fact, his best friend Ronny was one of the best students in the school and because he really tried to improve, his life in Fundon really changed. Not only could he go back to his country with an excellent level to impress his friends, but he was also having a great social life: meeting people, doing a wide variety of different things, and really getting to know another culture. It was strange because he studied more than Johnny but he always seemed to have more free time and fun too. His philosophy was ‘Work hard, play hard’.
Unfortunately, Ronny didn’t really influence his friend and Johnny ended up going back to his country early. His parents were a bit surprised, although of course they were happy to see him. He got used to his normal life again, and slowly his Pinglish disappeared.A few years later, he was walking down his local high street and he saw a group of young Pinglish people playing music in the street. One of them was a beautiful young lady; a modern day princess. The music they were playing was great and Johnny really, really wanted to talk to them. They seemed so full of adventure and magic. But…of course he didn’t. Instead he just carried on walking and…he remembered clearly his time all those years ago in Fundon. I guess he regretted the opportunity he wasted. ‘I wish I could go back’ he thought. But time is a bridge that goes in only one direction!

...

Learning English Outside the Classroom

Working in a language school as a teacher, I’m often asked by students how they can improve their English when they return to their home countries or when they are not in the classroom. There are many ways to do this. So, I’m now going to share the best ideas with you.


Reading
Whatever level your English is, reading will help to consolidate what you have learnt in the classroom or from a grammar book and is a great way to learn new vocab. Reading should be an enjoyable activity so it often helps if you choose a subject that you have an interest in, for example I love football so I enjoy reading about football in another language (I’m currently studying Modern Greek at evening classes). You can read most English newspapers online nowadays. Something I sometimes do in class is compare a news story that has been written about in two different newspapers, you can see how the language and style varies in each newspaper, for example comparing an article in The Sun to the same article in The Guardian can be very interesting and shows how an article in the tabloid press (The Sun) can often be harder to read than an article in a broadsheet because The Sun uses far more phrasal verbs and colloquial language than The Guardian. See links for both newspapers below.

All good bookshops will sell graded readers from beginner to advanced; you can read anything from Shakespeare to John Grisham. Sometimes it’s a good idea to read a book that you’ve read in your language. Lots of my students have read Harry Potter in English and because they’ve already read it in their own language they don't feel the need to look up every word they don't understand.

When you are reading it sometimes a good idea to focus on one thing, for example, you just read one column of a text or newspaper article and you focus on one aspect of language such as prepositions or phrasal verbs. You can then see which preposition is used with which noun, adjective or verb.

Internet

There are so many internet sites for English language learners to use. As I mentioned earlier, most English newspapers have sites. If you are studying for one of the Cambridge exams like FCE or CAE then you can go on to Flo-joe and practise grammar, reading and listening. See link below.

My favourite site is the award-winning BBC website, as well as having podcasts and interesting news stories it has an English language learning section which is excellent. It an easy site to navigate so try it and see. See link below.

Films, TV and Radio

Watching films is a great way to improve your English, you can turn the subtitles on and play back scenes again and again until you understand or can follow what is being said. TV can be a lot harder to follow but can be good if you watch the same programmes each week like the Apprentice and Dragons’ Den (both on the BBC) and understand what’s happening. I like to listen to Greek radio so that I hear Greek everyday and I try especially hard to listen to the news. Find an English radio station that you like and listen regularly; there is a broad range to choose from such as Radio One with DJs from all over the British Isles with their various accents, to LBC which stands for London’s Biggest Conversation, this station has discussions and phone-ins, it never plays music. See links below.

Out and About

Something that I do and encourage my students to do is to use ‘dead’ time to learn English. For example, when you are travelling on a train or bus or are queuing in a museum or shop; you should look around and see if you can describe your surroundings and the people around you in English, is there any vocabulary that you don’t know? If so you could make a note of it in your own language and look it up later.

Finally, speak English as often as possible. If you go to English classes, ask the people in your group if they want to go out and speak English together. If you aren’t having lessons and live outside the UK then you could see if someone wants to do a language exchange with you. If you have a language school or university near you then you may find that there’s a native speaker who is willing to speak English to you for an hour or so in exchange for you speaking or teaching them your language.

Learning English should be fun…try some of these methods and let me know how you get on and if you have any tips on how you learn English outside the classroom let me know!

Good luck and have fun!


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/
http://www.lbc.co.uk/

Decisions, Decisions......…

The word ‘DECISION’ has many different collocations (word partnerships). Which ones of those below are useful collocations?

1. Can you choose one from each pair?

- We had to make a snap / click decision

- It’s a tough /strong decision

- It’s a(n) soft / easy decision

- You need to make a quick / speed decision

- That’s my final / end decision

You’re going to read a story about a young guy called Johnny. He’s a university student in his country and his family have decided to send him to Fundon (a great European city) to study Pinglish.

2. What kind of decisions do you think he will have to make?

Read the first part of Johnny’s story quickly and find all the decisions he made.

Johnny in Fundon

Johnny arrived in Fundon feeling both excited and a little nervous. It was his first time away from his family, and he was looking forward to his new freedom, but also worrying about looking after himself. So, how did Johnny get on with his new life?He started well at school and was very enthusiastic about his lessons and about his new friends. He organised his study materials, kept up with his work and spent most of his free time doing lots of interesting cultural stuff around Fundon. Gradually, he was getting used to living away from home and the culture shock was not as strong as it was at the beginning. Johnny kept in touch with his family and friends back home and they were happy that he was having such a great time, as well as learning a lot too.After a few months, however…

3. What do you think happened next in the story?

…Johnny’s attitude began to change. He started oversleeping in the mornings and getting to class late. Some days he didn’t even manage to come to school at all. Instead, he just stayed at home or walked around by himself. The energy he had at the beginning suddenly disappeared because he knew it was difficult to learn a language and he was getting frustrated because it takes time to make progress. The problem was that because Johnny now decided to hide away from these difficulties and spend his time speaking his own language and going out with people from his own country, he couldn’t develop his Pinglish.To be honest, Johnny didn’t really enjoy studying that much. He preferred listening to music, watching films and meeting new people (especially women!). What he didn’t understand was that with more Pinglish, he could enjoy these things more. In fact, his best friend Ronny was one of the best students in the school and because he really tried to improve, his life in Fundon really changed. Not only could he go back to his country with an excellent level to impress his friends, but he was also having a great social life: meeting people, doing a wide variety of different things, and really getting to know another culture. It was strange because he studied more than Johnny but he always seemed to have more free time and fun too. His philosophy was ‘Work hard, play hard’.

Unfortunately, Ronny didn’t really influence his friend and Johnny ended up going back to his country early. His parents were a bit surprised, although of course they were happy to see him. He got used to his normal life again, and slowly his Pinglish disappeared.A few years later, he was walking down his local high street and he saw a group of young Pinglish people playing music in the street. One of them was a beautiful young lady; a modern day princess. The music they were playing was great and Johnny really, really wanted to talk to them. They seemed so full of adventure and magic. But…of course he didn’t. Instead he just carried on walking and…he remembered clearly his time all those years ago in Fundon. I guess he regretted the opportunity he wasted. ‘I wish I could go back’ he thought. But time is a bridge that goes in only one direction!
Written by Rui Da Silva & Ben Butler

4. What do you think of the story?

5. What do you think the message of the story is?

6. How do you think you can get the maximum benefit from visiting and studying in a native English speaking country?

Think about some of the bad decisions you think Johnny made and then consider what you think he should have done.

7. He should’ve…

8. He shouldn't have...

Can you find all the uses of past tense in the story? How many are there?

Come to the Christmas party!

This Friday, 11th December, Banned Practice will be performing at the London School of English Christmas party. The party will be at The Hops Poles on King Street, Hammersmith. Tickets are £6 in advance (if you're at the school you can buy tickets in Reception) or £7 on the door. Everyone is welcome.

Hope to see you there from 8pm on Friday!

The School Band

Not only are our staff at LSE very experienced and well qualified in teaching English as a foreign language, they are also great entertainers! In fact, I think we might be one of the only schools in London to have its own band.

The group is called Banned Practice and is made up of teachers and members of staff at the school. Banned Practice have been practising, writing songs and performing for at least 20 years. The group has had many different members and has played possibly hundreds of different songs over the years.

I am the most recent member of the group. I joined about 3 years ago when I started working at the school. I play the drums, and I sometimes sing (but the less said about that the better). Teachers and staff members from both Holland Park and Westcroft Square are involved in the band. We have two guitarists (Robin Gray and Francis Duncan), a bass guitarist (Johnny ‘Danger’ Diablo), and lead singers (Michelle Oldman, Richard McNeff, Kevin Scanlan, Carrick Cameron, Simon Williams). Some of those singers are also guitarists, keyboard players, flutists, saxophone players and even tambourine players. There is so much talent packed into this group that sometimes it feels like we are going to explode!

We play cover versions of classic rock and roll songs from the 50s to the noughties, and we also write some original material. Richard McNeff in particular has written quite a few of his own tracks (Richard is also a published novelist – check out his website here).

We practise once a week either in the school or in a local rehearsal studio in Shepherds Bush, and we perform concerts to our staff and students regularly during the year. The concerts are usually great parties in which everyone has a good time grooving to the music or just observing the incredible display of musicianship and entertainment on stage! Our gigs often end with the crowd shouting “Encore encore!”

Being in the band is great fun, especially during gigs, but we also work very hard at learning the songs. Hopefully the hard work pays off when we get in front of the audience and start our set. We aim to entertain, and always hope that everyone enjoys themselves.

If you come to LSE or you are a student here now, watch out for up-coming social events involving Banned Practice. We are also on Facebook, so check us out!

Definitions:

is made up of - consists of

over the years – during the long time since it started

the less said about that the better – don’t talk about it

cover versions – songs which were written and recorded by someone else

the noughties – the informal expression for the decade 2000-2009 (e.g. 80-89 = the eighties, 90-99 = the nineties – 2000 – 2009 = the noughties). The word ‘noughties’ is a kind of pun on the words ‘naughty’ which means ‘badly behaved’, and the word ‘nought’ which means ‘zero’ or 0)

original material – songs written by the band (not cover versions)

tracks - songs

rehearsal studio – a place in which a band practises

grooving - dancing

musicianship – the ability to play a musical instrument

gigs – live concerts

to be in a band – to be a member of a musical group

the hard work pays off – hard work is rewarded in the end

a set – the whole list of songs which a band plays in one concert

English Expressions and their Origins

Today I thought we’d do a little quiz. Please read the story below and decide where the expressions in bold come from, Shakespeare, the Bible or elsewhere. Good luck!

Amy was from very small village in Kent and when she was 20 years old she was invited to her best friend Adam’s party, which was quite exciting as nothing ever happened in the village. She dressed up and spent a long time doing her hair and make-up and when she got to her friend’s house he told her to eat drink and be merry…so she did! She met Mark, who was tall dark and handsome. He told her that he was very successful and had a huge house in the next village, he asked her to go out with him. Adam was worried about his friend Amy and warned her that all that all that glittered is not gold. She replied that she understood this and wasn’t wearing her heart on her sleeve. She also told him that there was Hobson’s choice in this small village and if she didn’t go out with him then someone else would.

They dated each other for six months, then, he got bored and left her high and dry for a member of the Royal Family. She felt a bit sad and rather silly and went to talk to her best friend Adam about it. He told her that he was glad that she wasn’t seeing Mark anymore because he wanted to tell her how he felt about her. He told that he had loved her since he was 12 years old and that he would stay with her through thick and thin. She told him that she didn’t deserve his love as she had not been a good friend but he told her that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet and that, for him, it was better to give than to receive. She then realised that he was right and they got married and are still together 40 years later!

Now look to see if you have guessed correctly!

Answers

Eat, drink and be merry is from the Bible, Ecclesiastes VIII 15. The meaning is clear.

All that glitters is not gold has many references; the most common is from Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice (1596). It means that, just because something looks good, it may not be.

Wear your heart on your sleeve may be from the middle ages. Knights used to wear the colours or ribbons on their arms of the lady that they were trying to impress or support. It is also more famously in Shakespeare’s Othello (1604).

Hobson’s choice means that there is not choice at all. It is believed to come from Thomas Hobson (1545-1631) who rented horses to people; however, they could not choose the horse so they had to have the horse he gave you or no horse.

High and dry is from the language of sailing. If a boat is high and dry it is out of the water and has been for sometime, the situation is not good. It usually means that there is no hope of recovery or of things getting better.

Through thick and thin is a very old English expression. It refers back to a time hundreds of years ago, when England was mainly trees and woodland, there weren’t many roads therefore travelling was difficult. Through thick and thin meant how many trees and bushes there were (a lot or a few). It now means whatever problems or obstacles there are. It is usually used to express determination.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet is from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1594). It means that it doesn’t matter what we call something but what it is that is important.

It’s better to give than to receive is from the Bible, Acts 20:35. The meaning is clear.