Feb 16, 2017 Grammar, Opinions Grammar nonsense 1: reported speech Is there anything that is more bizarrely and unnecessarily taught in ELT than reported speech? There have been many times when my heart has sunk as I’ve faced ‘the reported speech unit’ – both as a teacher and as a writer. I’ve often wanted to disappear into a dark corner and weep! And there have […]
Feb 16, 2017 Chunks, Word of the day Word of the day: bugbear A bugbear is a pet hate – a small thing that annoys you and that you probably moan about to other people. In less polite terms, we might say that a bugbear is something that gets on your tits (strangely, a phrase that seems to be said more often by men than by women!) or […]
Feb 14, 2017 Chunks, Word of the day Word of the day: snowflake London had its first real sprinkling of snow last weekend. It wasn’t that exciting, to be honest: a couple of inches fell on Friday night, which is nothing compared to the kind of snow I’m sure many of you get every year, but it was enough to bring the city to a standstill. As always […]
Feb 13, 2017 Chunks, Word of the day Word of the day: crush It’s Valentine’s Day today, the one day of the year when married men panic buy the last sad bunches of flowers from garages on their drives home, restaurants double their prices and still end up fully booked weeks in advance, suicide rates soar and emotionally-stunted teenagers send anonymous cards (often written using a range of […]
Feb 13, 2017 Chunks, Word of the day Word of the day: zero hours It’s the question every father dreads being asked by their children. “Daddy?” a little voice will ask one day, “what’s a zero-hours contract?” You dread this moment for it will signal the beginning of the end: the end of childhood, the end of innocence, the end of hope! “Well, kid,” you’ll begin, “it’s your future! […]
