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[http://www.ec english.com] (very) Useful English every month - Issue 2= 4 March [http://www.ecenglish.com/signups/newsletter.html] Sign up for this newsletter

Dear Reader , Are you checking your emails instead of working? Good for you! Now that you’re here, take a few minutes to check out this month’s completely fantastic newsletter. Go on, relax. Grab yourself a coffee, put your feet up on your desk and loosen your trousers - it’s time to practise your English…you deserve to take a break and your colleagues can get by without you for a while. This month we’ve got lots of English language help for you. We know that you want to learn, but you say you can’t find the time. Well, no more excuses, now’s the time! We also want to see you using our free English lesson site and forum; otherwise, you are going to be in big, big trouble! Don’t make us angry! Learn English: [http://learnenglish.ecenglish.com] http://learnenglish.ecenglish.com Forum: [http://learnenglish.ecenglish.com/forum] http://learnenglish.ecenglish.com/forum Have a great month!

The EC Team

In this Newsletter… EC Toon What I Mean Is… Foldable Phrases Win Amazon Vouchers! Why Do We Say? Word Origin EC Games Top English-Learning Tips Top 5 lessons WIN 2 week Scholarships ‘March’ Idioms Manage My Subscription

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EC Toon: Look Up

As you know, we ‘look up’ at something that is above us. For example you can look up at a tall building or look up at a bird in the sky. But did y= ou know that it can also be used in the following way: Look Up - get better; improve. ‘The weather was terrible earlier, now it’s starting to look up.’ ‘After a terrible start, sales for the month are finally looking up.’

What I mean is..’Seeing a Doctor’.

Danny has been teaching English with EC for over 9 years. Danny, as I think you know, is not well! Email Danny!:ecteam@ecenglish.com And so this is winter the season that brings to mind images of snowflakes and snow-angels and snowmen and, well, general snow-iness. Children, wrapped in colourful bobble hats and scarves, happily throwing snowballs at each other before running away, laughing merrily, weaving through a forest of evergreens where robin redbreasts dart from branch to branch, chirping joyfully as red and grey squirrels scamper and frolic, collecting acorns as wild rabbits hop and bounce through white-blanketed abandoned gardens, as couples in love sit snugly in front of a fireplace, drinking hot cocoa and toasting marshmallows on a Okay, so that’s what winter is like in the heads of greeting card designers and Disney animators. This is winter where I come from…gale-force winds strong enough to blo= w the eyebrows off your face, and rain coming down so heavily that fish are actually swimming through it at eye-level, while a biting cold freezes parts of your body you didn’t even know you had from inside to out. The s= ky is grey, your breath is white and your hands are blue. And everyone you meet is suffering from Acute Viral Rhinopharyngitis - also known as the common cold. Let me say that last bit again, for those of you who missed it the first time round…Acute Viral Rhinopharyngitis the common cold. Now, granted, the common cold is not a very pleasant experience. The nos= e alternates between being as congested as a New York street during rush ho= ur and as runny as…well…a Thai cow track just after rush hour. The back = of the throat feels like a mad carpenter is going to town with a roll of sandpaper, your eyes feel like someone’s trying to push them out from the inside (probably that same evil carpenter) and your head feels so heavy that you can’t believe you’ve been carrying it around all your life. So…it’s not a pleasant experience. But, honestly, Acute Viral Rhinopharyngitis? If a doctor ever diagnosed me with Acute Viral Rhinopharyngitis, I would immediately call my lawyer and start dictating = my last will and testament. Of course, once the doctor told me what it was, I would be courteous enough to give him ten minutes in which to dictate this. I’ve never been a big fan of going to the doctor’s, and it’s not just because they choose to call common ailments by names that sound like the healthcare equivalent of the apocalypse (did you know, for example, that ‘paresthesia’ is the technical term for wait for it pins and needles?) There’s much more to it than that, and it starts in the waitin= g room Anywhere in the universe, a doctor’s waiting room always looks the same. The walls are covered in faux-wooden plastic paneling of such an awful brown colour that it got voted out of the rainbow years ago for bad taste= .. There is a small square table in the middle of the room that was made by that bloody evil carpenter again, and it is on this table that women’s magazines from the forties go to die. The chairs, covered in imitation leather the same colour as the walls, only browner, always have one leg shorter than the other three. And upon every single one of these chairs i= s a sick, grey, wobbling person who has been waiting for three hours to see the doctor, and who, due to the coughing, sneezing and spluttering patien= ts around him, now has at least six more diseases than he walked in with. “So what’s wrong with you then?” asks the doctor when I finally walk int= o his office, although I’m almost sure that it’s his job to answer that question, and not mine. I notice that he has a great, big, black leather swivel chair on wheels that looks really, really comfortable. “I’ve got a slight stomachache”, I say, “and whatever it was the previou= s eleven patients were suffering from”. The doctor pulls a lollipop stick out of nowhere and uses it to rip my tongue out. He then shines a tiny light into one eye and then the other, feels my throat and pokes me violently in the stomach. As a final touch, = he whips out a prescription pad and scribbles something illegible on it. “Take six of the top ones three times a day, two of the middle ones six times a day, and one of the bottom three twice a day for six days”, he says. “Would you like to tell me what’s wrong with me?” I ask, “or would you like me to guess?” “It’s nothing to worry about”, he reassures me. “You’ve just got a mild inflammation of the parietal peritoneum”. “Which means?” I ask suspiciously. “Slight stomachache”, he replies, which is exactly what I told him when = I first walked in. “So what’s with all the medicine?” I demand. “The first lot deal with the stomachache”, says he. “And the second lot deal with the side effects caused by the first lot. The last lot don’t actually do anything, but there are no side effects. Trust me I’m a doctor”. And then he gives me a bill to prove it. Maybe its just me. Or maybe it’s just my doctor. My mother tries to convince me that he’s a good doctor, and that the word ‘practice’ is just what it’s called, and not what he actually does. She tells me that he’s been the family doctor for years, and that he’s looked after my grandfather, and his father before him, which doesn’t particularly reassu= re me, since they’re both dead. And so this is winter the time of year when, statistically, most people get ill. No wonder the greeting card designers and Disney animator= s choose to disguise it with images of woodland creatures and rosy-cheeked children. I’m off now, because I’m starting to get idiopathic cephalalgia. Which is a headache. Trust me I’m an English teacher.

EC Word Game ] 7 Letters

This is a word challenge game where you have to find the 7 letter word from the jumbled letters. To score more points you can also try and find = as many smaller words as possible before finding the 7 letter word. Play the game online now:http://www.ecenglish.com/games

Your Questions

This months STAR Question! Congratulations to Jenniferwho has won worth of Amazon vouchers!

Dear EC team,

I was wondering which of the sentence underneath is correct: 1. ‘Tim, Danny and me.’ 2. ‘Tim, Danny and myself.’ 3. ‘Tim, Danny and I.’ I thought 3 was correct, but wasn’t sure. I hope you can help me! Jennifer, The Netherlands

It depends on whether you are using these examples as the subjects or objects of the sentence. If they are the subjects then it is 3. If they a= re the objects, 1. For example, ‘She invited Tim, Danny and me to the party,= ‘ and ‘Tim, Danny and I went to the party’. All the best, Tim

Tim is a full-time teacher at Brighton

Read more of your ‘Questions and Answers’

Foldable Phrases Each month we will add a new card to the foldable phrases booklet. All yo= u need to do is print it, fold it and pop it in your wallet. Card 24 in ou= r foldable phrases is: English used when banking. [http://www.ecenglish.com/newsletter/Foldable-phra ses/foldable-phrases.ht= m] click here to go to the phrase card.

Why do we say..? This month we take a look at two common English expressions which will make your English sound more natural. Find out what they mean, why we say them and how to use them.

Can’t Hold A Candle To…?

If something can’t hold a candle to something else, it means that it compares badly to it. The origin of this expression comes from the fact that apprentices used to be expected to hold a candle so that the more experienced workmen could see what they were doing. Anyone unable to do even this simple task would be deemed as inferior indeed. The expression = is first recorded in William Norris’s ‘No New Thing’ from 1883, where he writes “Edith is pretty, very pretty; but she can’t hold a candle to Nellie”.

Example “In my opinion, the last Spiderman film can’t hold a candle to the first ..”

To Have An Inkling? If you have an inkling of something, it means you have slight knowledge o= f it. As for the origin of this saying, I suppose we need to know first wha= t the word ‘inkling’ means, since it only ever appears as part of this expression, and the only thing you can actually do with an inkling is hav= e one! The word comes from the thirteenth century, and it is basically the indistinct sound of your own name being used. Therefore, if you heard an inkling, you would start paying attention, and it is from this idea that the expression derives.

Example “She must’ve had an inkling about what was happening.”

Top English-Learning Tips

Thinking in English

Imagine that you started to wear your wristwatch upside-down. At first it would seem strange and it would make telling the time slower than usual. Then, after a short time, it would become natural and you’d be able to te= ll the time quickly. The same rule applies to thinking in English. If you ar= e not in a situation where you can speak to other people in English, you should think about what you are doing in English. For example, when you a= re washing the dishes think about your actions in English. The more time you spend thinking in English, the more your fluency will improve as you’ll need less ‘thinking time’. Translating from your language into English takes time, so it’s better to get into the habit of thinking in English a= nd not translating at all. Give it a try!

Top 5 lessons on learnenglish.ecenglish.com

EC has a free site where you can take daily English lessons. Here’s a list of the most popular lessons of the month

Here are February’s five most popular lessons on http://learnenglish.ecenglish.com Check them out and see what youve been missing!

1 - ‘-ed’ and ‘-ing’ adjectives: describing feelings and things: (Lesson added: 11 July, 2008) Lesson on using adjectives finishing with -ed for feelings and ing for describing things: http://learnenglish.ecenglish.com/ed-and-ing-adjec tives-describing-feelin= gs-and-things

2 - Irregular past participle verbs quiz (Lesson added: 6 February, 2009) A quick review of past participle verbs: http://learnenglish.ecenglish.com/lessons/irregula r-past-participle-verbs= -quiz

3 - Can you find the mistakes in these sentences? (Lesson added: 5 February, 2009) Find the one mistake in each sentence: http://learnenglish.ecenglish.com/lessons/can-you- find-mistakes-these-sen= tences

4 - How to learn new words! (Lesson added: 17 February, 2009) A great tip on how to learn English words - first featured in last month’= s newsletter: http://learnenglish.ecenglish.com/lessons/how-lear n-new-words

5 - Can you guess the tenses? (Lesson added: 29 December, 2008) A quick & simple review and test of 8 tenses: http://learnenglish.ecenglish.com/lessons/can-you- guess-tenses

Introducing…’March’ Idioms

Learn English

Here are a few expressions that use the word ‘march’ Remeber: 1 - ‘March’ is the name of the third month 2 - A type of uniformed walking (imagine a group of soldiers) 3 - A group of people walking in a public area to show support or protes= t towards something: (For more lessons please visit: http://learnenglish.ecenglish.com

to be as mad as a March hare To be crazy: ‘I was just speaking to Tom. That guy is as mad as a March hare! He has the craziest ideas.’

to march to the beat of a different drum To be different from the rest; to do things in your own way: ‘Everyone except Sarah went to the bar. She marches to the beat of a different drum’

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb Usually, the start of March is wet and cold (lion), and the end of the month is mild and pleasant (lamb): ‘The start of this month was so stormy, and now it’s lovely. March really does come in like a lion and go out like a lamb.’

to steal a march on someone To do something before someone else does; to beat them to it: ‘We stole a march on the competition by winning that big government contract.’

to march against someone / something To march in protest or demonstration against someone/something: ‘The protesters marched against the unpopular new law!’

In 2008, 97% of students said they would recommend EC to a friend. All ou= r schools promote a culturally diverse environment that is friendly and educational. EC has English language centres located in the UK, Malta, South Africa and the USA. To find out more about EC visit: http://www.ecenglish.com If you would like to know more about the courses we offer then contact: study@ecenglish.com. We’ll be very happy to talk to y= ou. This message was sent by: EC - Language Centres, EC Central, ‘Paolo Court’, Giuseppe Cali Street, Ta’ Xbiex, Ta’ Xbiex XBX 1423, Malta