Invisible Audience

HELLO FROM SAMANTHA

Dear Juliette

Thanks for your update, or should I say, Part 2 of your Urban Jungle Adventure! It’s very interesting to read about how you worked in different jobs before arriving at the World Service! You say that you “still can’t really realise how lucky I am”, (more about realise in a minute) and that the comments from Learning English bloggers made you recognise this. Sometimes it’s good to receive feedback about what we are doing in life, and at the moment you and I are both very lucky because we have a huge invisible audience! I’m glad that the comments have made you feel so positive about what you are doing. Next time, you can say that you still can’t believe how lucky you are, rather than realise, (which is incorrect here).

Despite the fact that the audience is invisible, it is still possible to feel that we are taking part in a community. By the way, if you are reading these blogs and you haven’t sent a comment in to the website, why don’t you do it today? Don't stay invisible! You mention, Juliette, that you feel a “sense of bond with you all” (paragraph 1) which is a lovely way to describe your feeling. Now, here is a tricky grammar point! If we talk about a bond, we need to use the indefinite article (“a”). However, if we talk about a sense of bonding, it doesn’t need an article, because bonding is an uncountable noun! I know it confusing, what can I do except apologise about the complicated rules of English grammar?

You use a couple of phrasal verbs in today’s blog. You tell us to “keep an eye on BBC TV documentaries” (paragraph 4), which means to watch something carefully, and you say that you “set up my goal quite high”. The correct form of this verb is “set my goal quite high”, which means to aim or strive for something. However, we could use “set up” to mean establish or start (a new business, for example). Still on the topic of goals, you explain that jobs in the BBC are “much looked after”. I think here, you mean sought after, which means very popular and competitive!

Now, I am going to show you something really interesting! You use an identical grammatical structure twice in today’s blog, and you use it perfectly once but make a mistake the other time! So which one of these two sentences is correct?
[Task 1]
(i) I had never write a blog before but… (paragraph 1)
(ii) I’ve never been to Brazil but … (paragraph 5)

[Task 2]
Continue to use linking words within and between sentences.

Best wishes,

Samantha.

PS.

I love to see so many of you using the vocabulary from the blogs in your comments! You are very sharp students!

Jianna asks how to end a letter. You can do this by using “Best wishes” as I do quite often. Another way would be “All the best”. A slightly more formal ending would be “Regards” or “Best regards”. If you knew someone very well, you could end with “Lots of love” or “All my love” or just “Love”. Strictly speaking, all of these phrases should be followed by a comma (,) and your name. Many people now end emails with “Cheers” or “See you” (CU), but I never do this, as I am too old fashioned!

USEFUL WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS

update (noun)Latest news.

feedback (noun)
A response or reaction to something you have done.

invisible audience (noun)
The viewers / readers we will never meet except through cyberspace (the internet).

sense of bonding (noun)
An emotional connection with someone, possibly because of shared experience.

uncountable noun (noun!)
A noun that describes things that cannot be counted, so does not use an article.

keep an eye on (phrasal verb)
To watch something closely / observe something.

set a goal (phrasal verb)
To aim or strive (work) for something.

set up (phrasal verb)
To establish or start something

sought after (adjective)
Desirable, popular.

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