Top 5 Things to Do in London in the Summer

London is at its best in the summer. This city has so much to offer, and when you add good weather into the equation, I think it is one of the best cities in Europe.

We have a lot of students in the school at this time of year and they all want to know about some of the best things to do in order to make the most of their time in London. So, here's my personal list of the top 5 things to do in London!

1. Go rowing on the serpentine in Hyde Park

Hyde Park is one of London's best known tourist attractions and it's a fantastic place to be during the summer. It's a really big park with lots of people enjoying themselves everywhere. It's also quite a historic place, with plenty of interesting sightseeing spots such as the Albert Memorial opposite the magnificent Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, the various Victorian era statues around the park and of course the Serpentine lake in the middle. Here you can rent rowing boats for an hour or more - what better way to enjoy the sunshine in a great location? You can row around and enjoy the peaceful feeling of being on the water and it's easy to forget you're in one of the busiest and largest cities in Europe. Lovely.

2. Go to the outdoor cinema at Somerset House

Somerset House is a very impressive neoclassical building on the north bank of the river Thames near Waterloo Station. It was built in the late 18th century and it's definitely one of London's most beautiful and interesting buildings. There are all kinds of events and exhibitions held there including music, art, an ice-rink and on warm summer evenings they show old movies on a big screen in the courtyard. Imagine sitting with hundreds of Londoners, surrounded by 18th century architecture, watching a classic James Bond movie such as Goldfinger (showing this August). It's magical!

3. Watch a game of cricket at Chiswick House

Cricket is the perfect summer sport in England. The atmosphere of a peaceful village green on a lazy Sunday afternoon is what cricket is all about. Chiswick House is a great place for this, and not many people know about it! The house (built in 1729) is beautiful, and there's a cricket field nearby. Go there on a Sunday afternoon and you'll feel like you've discovered the real England, with sporting gentlemen, cups of tea at 3.30, the sound of leather on willow, and long shadows as the afternoon becomes the evening. Don't worry if you don't understand cricket - just enjoy the ambiance. It's idyllic.

Walk along the canal from Camden Lock to Regents Park and have a picnic

This is a great way to sample the variety of enjoyment available in London. Start by taking the tube to Camden Town. Here you'll see a cool side of the city with plenty of live music venues, old fashioned pubs full of trendy young people dressed in the latest fashionable gear and market stalls selling cheap clothes and all kinds of cool hats and sunglasses. Walk along the high street past Camden Market and you'll get to Camden Lock where you can stop for a coffee and grab some sandwiches for your picnic later. Then walk along the canal (built the early 19th century) and you'll see lovely canal barges, some beautiful houses by the water and some genuine graffiti by Banksy. If you keep walking for about 10 minutes you can leave the canal to get into Regents Park. If you like you can stop and look at some of the animals in London Zoo before you find a quiet spot in the park to eat your sandwiches. Mmmm, nice.

Go on the London Eye during sunset

Why not finish your perfect day by seeing all of London, all at the same time? You might have to queue for a while, but it's worth it, especially if you get the timing right and go up while the sun's going down. The London Eye is one of the city's best attractions because it gives you the best view of the whole city. It makes you realise that London is very big indeed! Try spotting famous landmarks like Wembley Stadium, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge and Waterloo Station. During sunset it is absoultely stunning, and with a glass of champagne - perfect.

So those are my top tips for enjoying London in the summer. Of course, there are plenty of other things you can do so get out there and enjoy yourselves!

Luke

Have you been to London? What would you recommend?

What about your city? Do you think it can beat London for interesting things to do?

Feel free to leave your comments below.

Image courtesy of FreeFoto.com

Learn English Idioms

So, summer is now over and finally the next part of the idioms post is complete. Things have been really busy but I have finished creating a more detailed look at the idioms highlighted in my last idioms post 29th July 2009. Sorry it’s taken so long. You can see the full post by clicking here http://londonschoolofenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/idioms.html ,but here is the final piece of text again describing summer in the school.


So, summer's here (see previous post June) and all the staff in the school are rushed off their feet as there are a lot of learners here trying to brush up their English. It's an incredibly fun time of year in the school as we welcome people from all walks of life. Some of the young learners are trying to find themselves while some of the older learners are attempting to climb to the top of the career ladder or get out of a rut but whoever the learner may be they are all bending over backwards to improve their English.Summer is an excellent time to be in London because there are no end of things to do, from music festivals to day trips, from outdoor theatre to exhibitions. No matter, who you are, where you're from or what you do, there are things to do in London which are right up your street. So, why not come and visit us, experience the city and meet some new people from around the world? You never know you might just have the time of your life and your English could go from strength to strength and make all the difference to your life and career.


The idioms that were highlighted in the text (1-12) and their meanings (a-l), are listed below, Can you match them? Use the text above to help you.

1) to be rushed off your feet
2) to brush something up
3) to be from all walks of life
4) to find yourself
5) to have the time of your life
6) the career ladder
7) to bend over backwards to do something
8) to get out of a rut
9) no end of something
10) to go from strength to strength
11) to be up your street
12) to make all the difference to ……..

a) the job positions someone works through in an organisation
b) to really enjoy yourself
c) to escape a routine course of life that is usually boring and without opportunities
d) what seems to be an unlimited supply of something
e) to refresh your memory or renew a skill
f) to be completely suitable for you
g) to discover what you are good at or what your true ability is
h) to have a key effect
i) to work very hard or fast because you are busy
j) to come from different occupations, professions or social classes
k) to make a large effort
l) to become better and more successful

If you are not sure you can you use these questions to help you? They will also help you to check what you understand.


How much do you have to work if you are rushed off your feet? Why?

Does all walks of life only refer to your job?

If you find yourself what do you discover?

When you have the time of your life do you have the best time ever or just a really good time?

If you get out of a rut what do you escape?

Are you happy when you climb the career ladder?, What happens to you?

How much effort do you make when you bend over backwards to do something?

Is it good to brush something up? What do you do?

How much is available if there is no end of something?

How is it possible to go from strength to strength?

Are you usually happy if something is up your street? Why?

If something makes all the difference to you how significant is it? Why?


I will post the answers at the end of this week, as well as some example sentences with the idioms used in a different context. Until then I hope you have managed to work out a few of the answers.

Summer Music Festivals

Hello everyone. The summer time in England is known for a few things: long lazy evenings, eating strawberries and cream at Wimbledon, watching test match cricket on Sunday afternoons, picnics in the park, barbecues, croquet and of course, going to music festivals! I've been to a few music festivals this year so I thought I would write a blog post on the subject.

Music festivals are quite a big part of our culture in the UK, particularly in the summer. There are loads of festivals to go to. Click here to read a Times Online article about the Top 20 UK Festivals 2009. The most famous music festival is Glastonbury. You can see a video clip of the Glastonbury festival here.

But, what are festivals really like? Well, in this post I'd like to tell you about some of the highs and lows of a weekend at a summer music festival in the UK.

Music festivals are large events which happen in the summer. Usually, they last the whole weekend (Friday to Monday) and they take place in the countryside - in an area with a lot of grass fields, like a farm. Lots of famous bands and singers perform at the festivals. Some festivals are huge, and can accommodate over 150,000 people. Everyone sleeps in tents around the festival site. Summer music festivals have been happening for a long time now. The most famous one is Glastonbury. The most famous American music festival is Woodstock.

Here's a description of some of the good and bad things about going to music festivals.

First, the good things:

1. You can enjoy the atmosphere of people together, all camping, all having a good time in the fresh air.
2. There are loads of good bands to see and lots of good music to hear. Sometimes there are big name acts like Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Coldplay and Amy Winehouse.
3. If the weather's good you can get lots of sunshine and fresh air.
4. There are lots of local ales and ciders to drink.
5. You get to escape from London for the weekend.
6. Almost everyone sleeps in tents in massive campsites around the festival. It's a lot of fun to stay in a tent (if it's comfortable) in such a big 'community'.
7. You can meet lots of people, and make friends.
8. As well as music, there is a lot of comedy to see. The comedy industry is very big in the UK.
9. There's lots of delicious food at the festival. You can buy it from food stalls which sell things like Caribbean, Indian, Turkish, French, Italian, Chinese and Japanese food.
10. If you're a musician you can perform at the festival and expand your audience. In fact, the festival scene in the UK is very important for our music industry.

But it's not all good. In fact, here are some of the things that can make a festival into a complete nightmare:

1. If the weather is bad, and it rains a lot, the festival becomes quite a miserable experience. The ground just turns into mud. You get mud everywhere - all over your clothes, in your hair, in your tent. Everything is wet and disgusting!
2. If you are sharing a tent, it can be really uncomfortable and cramped if the tent is too small. You won't get a good night's sleep.
3. If you've had too much to drink in the evening, you might wake up in the morning with a hangover. There's nothing worse than waking up with a hangover in a tent which is in direct sunlight. It's like a sauna.
4. Festivals are expensive. The ticket alone may cost over £100. Then you've got to think of the transport costs, and all the food and drink you're going to buy. Some of the bars and food places are a rip off. They really rip you off.
5. The crowds can be difficult. If you're in front of the stage, the crowd might be very packed and it's difficult to squeeze past everyone to get out.
6. The toilets can be pretty smelly.
7. It can be difficult to get to the festival, and get back - especially with a big heavy bag on your back. Catching the underground at rush hour with all your camping equipment is very tricky.
8. Sometimes you need another 2 days to recover from the festival before you go back to work!
9. Mobile phone reception can be bad. Because there are so many people there, it can be difficult to call your friends, and if you lose your friends it's hard to find them again without any reception.
10. After a few days your whole body aches! Your back aches from sleeping in a tent, and your feet and legs ache from standing up watching music.

Despite the bad points, festivals are really worth going to. It's an important part of the summer calendar here, and every year, hundreds of thousands of people go to music festivals all over the country.

Let us know if there are any good festivals where you're from. We'd like to hear from you, so leave a comment below.

Cheers,

Luke

Glossary:

the fresh air (n) - this is an expression to mean the nice, clean, unpolluted air you get in the countryside. You can also use it when you want to go out of your office for air. "I'm just popping out to get some fresh air"

big name acts (n) - famous performers or bands

ale (n - uncountable) - a traditional English beer

cider (n - uncountable) - a traditional alcoholic drink made from apples

stalls (n) - temporary shops where you can buy things, e.g. food. You find stalls in markets, festivals and fairs

a nightmare (n) - this means 'a bad dream', but we also use it to describe a bad experience. "The job interview was a complete nightmare!

mud (n - uncountable) - this is the brown earth which grass grows in. When it rains the mud goes soft and sticky

cramped (adj) - this means it's uncomfortable because there isn't enough room. E.g. like a tall man sitting in a tiny car

a hangover (n) - when you have drunk too much alcohol the night before, you wake up with a hangover. You feel sick, you have a headache and you can't remember what you did last night. There's a popular movie called The Hangover (see the trailer here)

a rip off (n) - something which is sold for a really high price - the price is too high. E.g. "a can of coke for £10?? What a rip off!"

to rip someone off (v) - to charge someone too much for something. E.g. "I can't believe you paid £10 for a can of coke. He really ripped you off!"

to squeeze past (v) - this means to walk past someone who is very close to you. We do it when we want to get a seat on a busy train, or when you have to walk through a crowd, or when you walk past people in a corridor. We always say "Sorry, can I just squeeze past? Thanks..."

smelly (adj) - it smells bad

tricky (adj) - difficult

recover (v) - to get better, to feel ok again

reception (n - uncountable) - a mobile phone signal. You need it to make calls. When you are in a tunnel, you have no reception.

to ache (v) - to have a dull pain in your body. E.g. a headache, or "my back really aches today, I need to lie down" - pronunciation: /eik/