TONGUE TWISTERS

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream!

I thought a thought. But the thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought, I thought.

While we were walking, we were watching window washers

wash Washington's windows with warm washing water.

Swan swam over the sea,

Swim, swan, swim!
Swan swam back again
Well swum, swan!

I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop.Where she sits she shines, and where she shines she sits.

I would if I could! But I can't, so I won't!

Love's a feeling you feel when you feel you're going to feel the feeling you've never felt before.

The big black bug bit the big black bear,

but the big black bear bit the big black bug back.

Four furious friends fought for the phone.

One-One was a racehorse.

Two-Two was one, too.

When One-One won one race,

Two-Two won one, too.

THE ENGLISH SHOOL SYSTEM

The school year runs from September to July and is 39 weeks long.

School holidays
End of October – one week
Christmas - 2 weeks
Mid February – one week
Spring - 2 weeks
End of May – one week
Summer - 6 weeks

Full-time education is compulsory for all children aged between 5 and 16. English children attend a primary school until they are eleven and then they go to secondary school. Some pupils go to state grammar schools and most of them attend comprehensive schools. The first–year classes at these schools are of mixed ability and after that they are divided into different groups for lessons in academic subjects.
A large number of comprehensive schools are independent specialist schools, which put emphasis on certain subjects like Information Technology or sports.
Private schools are not run by the state and they are fee-paying schools. Many of them are boarding schools which have very old traditions and a high academic standard. Many of them are boys’ or girls’ schools, but some are mixed schools. This type of schools has become more and more popular and more than 7% of all pupils attend these schools.

At the end of each term pupils get their school reports. Most schools set exams at the end of the school year to test students’ ability. At the age of 15 or 16, students take their GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education) whose results depend on course work and written examination.
After completing the GCSE, some students leave school, others continue at school for two more years and take A level exams, in three or four subjects. These exams determine whether a student is eligible for university.

British English

1. exercise book

2. timetable

3. mark
4. to leave school with A-level qualifications

5. holidays

6. certificate

7. primary school

8. secondary school
9. head teacher
10. break

American English

1. notebook

2. schedule
3. grade
4. to graduate from high school

5. vacation
6. diploma

7. elementary school

8. high school

9. principal

10. recess

Read and laugh
Pupil: Should we be punished for something we haven’t done?
Teacher: No, of course not!
Pupil: Good! I haven’t done my homework.

Happy New Year 2010

ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES

www.answers.com/topic/canada

Some of our students share the opinion that English is an easy language because there are no accents, adjectives are invariable and the verb tenses are quite easy to learn. They find this language interesting and cool because through it they can understand many films and the lyrics of their favourite songs. Other students think that the many different ways words are pronounced and the spelling are difficult for them to keep in mind. However, it is a language almost everybody understands and so it's easier to communicate with people from different nationalities. Indeed, English today is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. It is spoken as a native language by around 375 million speakers in countries like the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and Ireland. As a second language it is spoken by about 400 million, for example in Kenya, Pakistan and India. English is the main language of books, newspapers, airports and air-traffic control, academic conferences and international business, diplomacy, science, technology, advertising, sport, international competitions and pop music. Around 750 million people are believed to speak English as a foreign language. We can really say it is a language that helps the world talk, laugh and communicate together.

A WORLD LANGUAGE

More than half of the world's technical and scientific documents are in English. Approximately three quarters of the world's mail is written in English. About eighty per cent of the data in the world's computers is in English. Around seventy-five per cent of the one billion Internet users communicate in English.

English is a useful language to speak because it is the language of international communication. It unites people, countries and cultures. It is the principal language of air travel, business, science, technology, diplomacy, sport, international competitions, pop music and advertising.

There are around two million words in English today. English constantly "borrows" words from other languages, from Latin, Greek, French, Spanish. For example, siesta or fiesta. It also quickly invents words to describe new inventions, for example, iPod.

There are around 6,800 languages in the world. The most spoken world language is Mandarin Chinese with over a billion speakers. Spanish is another important world language, with about 425 million speakers.Estimates say there are a total of 750 million English speakers around the world, but only 350 million are really native speakers. So next time your teacher says "Speak English!" remember he or she is opening the door to a big world!

Adapted from British Council website and http://anthro.palomar.edu/language/language1.htm (in Step Ahead 8º4)


Can you complete the following sentences with these "new" words?

1. DVD 2. software 3. pirate copy 4. modem 5. mobile 6. search engine

a) A ... connects your computer to the telephone line.
b) A ... helps you find information on the Internet.
c) Another name for computer programmes is ...
d) An illegal copy of a film, CD or programme is a ...
e) Another name for a digital versatile disc with sound and graphics is ...
f) A ... is a portable telephone.