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Practical English On-Line
Comments for Discussion
Is it important to study the differences between American and British English? (25 July 08)
Students of English are sometimes bothered by what they think of as differences between the US and the UK branches of the language. They shouldn't be. We all speak American now. Well, more or less... continued
Can I learn English by watching television?
The short and simple answer is, “No.” If you are tired and cannot sleep, then watch television. If you enjoy American football or baseball, watch television. If you are too ill to work or walk, watch television. But... continued...
Is it easy to learn a foreign language? Well, it really depends on who you are.
If you are one of the lucky ones, one of the very few who have a natural ear for languages and can pick them up in minutes just by listening, then English or any other language will be very easy for you indeed.... It seems as if a particular part of the brain... continued
Success story: how do you compare with Joseph Korzeniowski?
Joseph Korzeniowski was born in the Ukraine. His parents were Polish. He left school at 17, went to France and lived there for four years. Then, at the age of 21, he went to England. Unable to speak a word of English... continued...
Audio Comprehension Practice Test and vocabulary builder.
How good are you at listening to English? Do you understand, and do you retain what you have heard?
Here is a passage at intermediate level. Listen to it twice, and then answer the questions. If you find it difficult, listen several times before going to the questions. You can also make notes as you listen. Or you can click to pause the recording.
When you check the answers, read through the vocabulary comment, especially if you had any difficulty understanding.
Note. Your English comprehension is at a reasonable intermediate level if you can listen to the passage twice and then answer six of the nine questions correctly. This is what (the minimum standard) you should aim for.
May 2010.
This month, like the rest of Britain, Hammersmith had an election for both national and local government. Two of the Parliamentary candidates reflected central London's diversity: one, the Conservative, was a charismatic West Indian and the other, the Liberal Democrat, a bright Chinese-Singaporean. The winner, however, was a stereotypical British Socialist, a highly professional performer, as inspiring and as English as a warm hot-water bottle.
The fringe parties, representative of the xenophobia that runs through the darker regions of English life, received little support. One, the UK Independence Party, wants Britain out of Europe and all Europeans to go home; the other, the British National Party, has wider ambitions and wants all bloody foreigners, from wherever, to return whence they came. With that policy, Hammersmith would lose half its inhabitants and all its restaurants, except perhaps for its local MacDonald’s. Lord knows, the future is bleak enough without that happening.
As regards local government, Hammersmith voters chose the Conservative Party, mainly because it keeps the streets cleaner and avoids tax rises. An irresistible combination. For the future, as we survey the roads ahead, the one through Hammersmith, though fraught with danger, will at least be a little less littered with the take-away rubbish of the consumer society.
In the country beyond Hammersmith Bridge, the Conservatives have become the largest party in Parliament, and the Labour (Socialist) Party, after 13 years in power, has been forced into opposition. The difference between the two is simple: in general, Conservatives cut while Socialists spend. Under the one, costs and government services will be reduced; under the other, taxes and services will be increased. With a new Conservative government, we can therefore expect unemployment to rise miserably.
The Conservatives. although now the largest party, do not have an overall majority in Parliament. They, or the Socialists, need the support of the Liberals. At this point, matters get interesting, because the Liberals, as the third party, demand some form of proportional voting system (PR). Conservatives dominate the countryside, and Socialists, the cities, but the Liberals are spread evenly across the whole country and so the number of seats (actual geographical areas) they can win is limited. With 23 per cent of the vote, they have only 54 Members of Parliament (MPs), while the socialists with 29 per cent of the vote have almost five times the number of MPs and the Conservatives with 36 per cent, almost six times the number. As the English say, it is not fair and, given a referendum, 62 per cent of them would vote for a change in the voting system to give the smaller parties more representation in Parliament.
My own interest in PR systems stems from my personal dislike of the sycophant and warmonger, Blair. A fishmonger sells fish; a warmonger sells war. It may be an idle hope, but I believe that with a PR system, a wider range of views will be heard in Parliament, and extreme policies such as the Iraq intervention become more difficult to implement. Along the road, in the next two years, we should have movement toward a new voting system because it is unlikely that the Liberals will continue to support any party unless there are clear signs, probably through a national referendum, that PR is going to be given a chance. Without Liberal support, considering the harsh economic measures that will need to be taken to control our national debt, no party will be able to govern effectively, and a new election will need to be called.
A rocky and uncertain road lies ahead. Hammersmith wishes its new government well, but its expectations are not high. It has learnt, the hard way, not to trust its politicians. On the other hand, it is grateful that its streets are cleaner.
English Speaker Lesson Blog - test your English every day
New every day. Have you visited the lesson blog? Its aim is to give you a little new English to think about each day. The level is intermediate. Build. Review. Maintain. Try it. Make it a habit.
The best way to learn and remember is to test yourself often. The 2-minute-english blog tests your English ability every day.
How wide is your vocabulary? Do you have a good understanding of the differences in nuance between one synonym and another? Are you ready to succeed in the Cambridge Proficiency examination?
