General Election 2010

Image from http://www.freefoto.com/

The UK electorate will head to the polls on May 6th 2010 to cast their votes in a general election. The race to become the next government is extremely close and it seems any party that wins will find it difficult to get an overall majority. This could mean that we will have our second hung parliament since the end the second World War .
The Labour Party has been in power since 1997 and Tony Blair led the party and the country in the role of Prime Minister until 2007. He then passed the role to his sidekick Gordon Brown who was the Chancellor during Tony Blair’s reign as Prime Minister. Many people believe that after thirteen years, it is now time for a change of government, and that the Conservative Party and their leader David Cameron should be elected into power.
What’s interesting about this election however, is that the Liberal Democrat Party have gained a lot of popularity in the opinion polls as a result of the performance of their leader Nick Clegg in the first televised Prime Ministerial Election Debates to be held in the UK. In the debates the leaders of the three main parties discussed the key issues facing the UK today such as crime, education, defence, the environment, parliamentary reform, health, immigration, the economy, Europe, foreign policy and the war in Afghanistan.
Many of the UK voters are still undecided about who to vote for so all the parties are campaigning really hard to attract these floating voters and make sure that they win the majority of seats in the next parliament. Whatever happens, it’s sure to be one of the most exciting elections we have had for a long time and one that will change the future of the country.

Glossary

the electorate - (n) all the people in a country that have the right to vote.
to head to the polls - (col.) to go to give your vote.
to cast their votes - (col.) to give their choice officially.
a general election - (n) an election to choose the Prime Minister.
to get an overall majority - (col.)to get more than 50% of the positions in parliament.
a hung parliament - (n) a parliament in which no party has more than 50% of the votes.
the Prime Minister - (n) the leader of the UK.
a sidekick - (n) a person who often spends time with and helps another person who is more
important or powerful than they are.
the Chancellor - (n) the member of the government who manages the UK's finances.
a reign - (n) a period when some on is in charge of and organisation or country.
to be elected into power - (col.)to be chosen as the government by vote.
the opinion polls - (n) the process of asking a large number of people question to find out
their view of something.
Prime Ministerial Election Debates - (n) discussions between the leaders of the main
parties before the election to be prime minister.
parliamentary reform - (n) changing the system of parliament and voting.
foreign policy -(n) the governments attitude and plans regarding other counties.
to be campaigning - (v) promoting the party and their policies to the public .
floating voters - (n) people who haven't decided .

Feeling Blue

I’ve been here in Baku for two-and-a-half weeks now and although it’s been an incredibly interesting, exciting and rewarding experience, I can’t get away from a nagging feeling that things aren’t quite right. It’s a feeling of loneliness, of isolation. In other words, I’ve come down with a bout of homesickness

.
Let me explain. In London I’m constantly surrounded by people – I’m a very sociable person and have a very full social life. I live with my girlfriend and the only time I get to spend on my own is either when I’m out running or cycling! Being in Baku is different. Don’t get me wrong, the people here are very friendly and helpful, and the students in my three IELTS classes are all lovely.

The problem is when I leave work and go home. Although my apartment is very nice and I have everything I need, the one thing I don’t have is company. Living on your own in a foreign country can be a very difficult experience. I read a lot and try to go online, but I miss conversations. If I turn the TV on for company, all I can watch are channels in a language I don’t understand. On a good day I’ll get an English Premier League football match, on a bad day I might get a badly dubbed movie!

It’s a strange feeling, and it has really helped me to put myself in the shoes of some of our students and London school, and understand how and why they can often feel blue. The good news is that these feelings never last for too long, and there are things we can do to help us avoid feeling down.

I’ve heard that there are four common stages of homesickness: exaltation, frustration, depression and acceptance. I’ll talk about these more in a later blog, but for now I’d like to know if you’ve ever experienced any of these feelings when you’ve been away from home? Why don’t you drop me a line and let me know.

a nagging feeling a negative feeling or emotion that won't go away and that you can't ignore

isolation being completely alone

to come down with a bout of to be affected by a negative force, often illness

sociable an adjective used to describe a person who likes to be with other people

don't get me wrong an expression used to make sure that you are not being misunderstood

dubbed to provide a film with a soundtrack in a foreign language

to put yourself in somebody else's shoes to imagine how another person is feeling

to feel blue/to feel down to feel depressed, sad or upset

exaltation a feeling or state of being very excited

to drop somebody a line to contact somebody, often by phone but also by email

Image from istockphoto.com

Baku in time

Hello again everybody from Baku. I’m now into my second week of teaching IELTS out here and things are going very well. As promised in my previous blog post, I’m going to fill you in on a bit of the history of Baku and Azerbaijan. Did you know that although Baku has existed in some form since the 12th century (Icherisheher, the Old City, can be seen in the photo to the right), Azerbaijan has only been an independent state since 1991? Recently Azerbaijan celebrated the birth of its nine-millionth citizen, yet there is another Azerbaijan with over 20 million inhabitants – in Iran. Strange as that may sound, in1828 Azerbaijan (as it used to be) was divided between the Russian empire and Persia (now Iran). The province in Iran is still known by the same name as its European neighbour and both areas share cultural and linguistic ties.

The republic of Azerbaijan was first declared in 1918 and lasted for two years before the Red Army invaded and the republic fell under Soviet control for the next 70-odd years. Baku today is an fascinating mix of Islamic, Soviet and modern architecture, the latter being driven by the abundant oil and gas in the surrounding areas. The region has always been oil-rich, so much so that the Nobel brothers set up an oil company in the town back in the 1870s. The money they made in the city funded the Nobel prizes for many years.

Azerbaijan strikes me as a nation still finding its feet, still growing up, and the pace of change is phenomenal. While certain parts of the infrastructure are seriously underfunded, many parts of the city are shrouded in cranes as high-rise hotels and luxury apartments go up. A number of people have told me to come back in five years time “when the country will be finished”, though I get the impression that as long as there is oil in the area, the cranes will remain.

to fill you in to give you some information about something
an independent state a self-governing, unoccupied country
strange as that may sound discourse marker often used after some unusual or surprising information
ties links, connections or similarities, especially between families, cultures or countries
to fall under control to become under the rule or responsibility of a person or government
70-odd approximately 70
the latter the last thing mentioned in the previous sentence, in this case modern architecture
abundant available in many places

so much so that another discourse marker used to emphasize the result of a situation
to strike you to give you the impression, to make you think
to find your feet to become confident or established in your surroundings
phenomenal amazing
infrastructure the basic facilities needed for a country to function such as roads, water and electricity

shrouded covered
high-rise a building with many floors (like a skyscraper)
to go up to be built

Eruption Disruption Continues

Images by Photoeverywhere
Travel disruption to UK airports continued all weekend and planes are now grounded until 1.00 pm Tuesday 20th April, although this may change again depending on the situation. There have been no flights in or out of the UK since last Thursday and experts don't know exactly when they will allow planes to take off again.
The volcano in Iceland is still erupting and sending volcanic ash into the air which is then being blown by winds over the UK and much of mainland Europe. It's extremely hard for scientists to predict when the airspace in the UK will be safe again or when the volcano will stop erupting so the travel chaos is set to continue for a few days.

If you are planning to fly in or out of the UK visit The British Airports Authority website. for details, alternatively you can find lots of information on the volcano and the travel disruption on the BBC website. If you are worried about visiting the school please contact us on +44207 605 4123 (Holland Park Gardens) +44 208 563 6501 (Westcroft Square). If you are fortunate enough to be on holiday abroad make the most of the situation as it looks like you will have an extra long break before you are able to return to the UK.

disruption - (n) Difficulty in things continuing in the normal or planned way.

grounded - (adj) see previous post

erupt - (v) to eject matter from a volcano

chaos - (n) a state of total confusion or disorder

ash - (n) the powder that's left after burning

fortunate - (adj) lucky

make the most of - (exp) to use or do something so you get the greatest advantage

Are you travelling to the UK this weekend?

Following the Icelandic volcano most UK and many European flights have been cancelled until tomorrow morning. The flight restrictions will mean planes are grounded until at least 0700 tomorrow (Saturday) morning.

If you are flying to London this weekend to start a course with us on Monday and you are going to be delayed, you will need to do the following:

• If you are staying with a homestay family, call the family to let them know when you expect to arrive.
• Call the school on Monday morning +44207 605 4123 (Holland Park Gardens) +44 208 563 6501 (Westcroft Square) to let us know when you think you will be arriving.

For up to date airport information visit the British Airports Authority website.

Grounded - When an aircraft is not able to take off. Also used when teenagers have been naughty and they are not allowed to go out and see their friends, for example 'you've failed all your exams, you're grounded for two weeks!'.

Come in London - Azerbaijain calling

Hello everyone from chilly Baku. If you’re not sure where Baku is, it’s the capital of Azerbaijan. If you’re not sure where that is, perhaps it’s time you bought an atlas! To be honest, before I came here, I wasn’t quite sure where Baku was either, but for the record, it’s about as far east in Europe as you can go, sharing borders with Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey and Iran.

It’s a fascinating place, and I’ll write more about why in future posts, but for the time being perhaps it’s best if I explain why I’m here. As some of you may know, I’ve been teaching at the London School of English for nearly three years and in that time I’ve taught several IELTS courses. About a month ago, our courses director, Pete, asked me if I’d like to teach another IELTS course. "Of course" I said. "In Azerbaijan" said Pete. "Oh" I said, "let me think about it". After I’d slept on it (and hit the internet) I agreed to go, feeling that it was a great opportunity to visit somewhere well off the beaten track.

So here I am. I’ve been here for five days and taught for four of them. It’s been fascinating so far, and a real eye-opener. I’m teaching three IELTS groups a day for one month, in preparation for their exam on May 8th. The students are really switched on and keen to learn about the exam and Britain in general. I haven’t had much of a chance to explore the city yet, but I plan to have a good look around this weekend. I’ll let you know how I get on.

chilly quite cold, often after rainfall
for the record officially
for the time being until something happens at a later time
to sleep on something to wait a day or two before making an important decision
to hit the internet to use the internet a lot in a short period of time. You can also hit the books (revise a lot in a short time) or hit the shops (do a lot of shopping)
off the beaten track an unusual or uncommon place for tourists to visit
eye-opener a very interesting or educational experience
to be switched on to be intelligent and able to learn things quickly

to get on to make progress

Image taken from acus.org

The Hardest Job I've Ever Had

I was talking to Andy recently about some of the best and worst jobs we’ve had in our lives. It was a pretty interesting conversation, so I thought it might make a good blog post. Also, it’s a good way to introduce a few idioms which can be used to talk about work. So, here’s a description of one of the worst jobs I’ve ever had. You’ll find 8 idioms. Can you guess what they mean? Definitions are provided at the bottom of the blog post.

The Hardest Job I’ve Ever Had
When I was a teenager I got a job in the local pub in my village. It was a busy pub with a large kitchen. I was given the job of kitchen porter, which means I had to do all the dirty jobs which no one else could be bothered to do: cleaning the pots and pans from the kitchen, washing all the dirty dishes from the restaurant, sweeping and mopping the floor and cleaning the ovens and washing machines. I used to work my fingers to the bone in that place, scrubbing, sweating and getting covered in grease and muck from head to toe. There was another kitchen porter who worked with me, but he was too lazy to lift a finger so I always had a lot on my plate. On Saturday evenings the restaurant was always full, so in the kitchen we’d be rushed off our feet, completely up to our eyes in work. I took the job to get money so I could go out and have fun with my friends. They used to be jealous of the extra spending money I had because of my hard work. I used to burn the candle at both ends sometimes, especially at the weekends, and then I’d be exhausted at work. In the end, I decided that I had to leave that place. It was a dead end job to be honest. I knew it wasn’t going anywhere, so I handed in my notice. These days I’m much happier working as a teacher and I don’t miss the kitchen, but sometimes I might have a cheese sandwich and it takes me back to those long evenings when I used to slave away over a hot sink.

to work my fingers to the bone = to work extremely hard
too lazy to lift a finger = too lazy to do any work
to have a lot on your plate = to have a lot of work to do
to be rushed off your feet = to be very busy and in a rush
to be up to your eyes in work = to have too much work to do
to burn the candle at both ends = to get tired because you are working hard during the day but also socialising and going to be late at night
a dead end job = a job with no future or career prospects
to slave away = to work hard on a tough job

Other vocabulary from this post:
can’t be bothered to do it = to be too lazy to make the effort to do it
sweeping = cleaning loose dirt from the floor with a broom
mopping = washing the floor with soap and hot water and a mop
scrubbing = cleaning something which is difficult to clean, using lots of speed and pressure
grease = fat or oil
muck = general dirt (quite an informal word)
to hand in your notice = to tell your boss you are going to leave your job
takes me back to = reminds me of