Fond Memories
Hello to Lidia and all of our World Service readers,
I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! Thanks for all your comments explaining about fundraising days in your own countries, it’s interesting to know that similar events exist all over the world. My son would have loved to join in some of the events, especially the fancy-dress fun run organised by his school, but believe it or not, I had to take him to the dentist’s on Friday afternoon! He had to have a tooth filled, so he missed out on most of the fun. He was very brave and didn’t complain! The other unexpected event this weekend was the freak weather. If you read my blog on Friday, you will know that I was hoping to take my family to the beach for a walk. I knew it would be cold, but wasn’t expecting snow! The British weather really is so unpredictable! Of course we didn’t go to the beach, and as it was so cold outside, I stayed in my kitchen for most of the time and baked a cake and cookies. The smell of homemade baking filled the whole house, and I stopped fretting about going to the beach. We all enjoyed eating the cake, it’s a good way to spend a freezing afternoon.
Thanks again to Lidia for sending us her latest blog. I love Greece, too. I went to Crete once with my elder son and my friend. We had a great time, the towns are beautiful and it was so easy just to spend whole afternoon in a little street café drinking coffee, chatting, watching people walk by, and looking at the sea. As Lidia says, it is a present to yourself, a chance to relax and slow down for a week or two. And the wonderful thing about holidays is that although they end, you always have your memories! Have you noticed how you usually forget about the disappointments, and your memories are always of blue skies, glittering sea and delicious food? In reality, holidays can be quite stressful. I always seem to have an argument with my husband when we go on holiday, usually about something trivial like buying the wrong subway tickets or getting lost (neither of us is good at reading maps). But we are always smiling on the photos, and we always talk fondly about the experience when we return back to our life in England. Perhaps it’s a good thing to have a selective memory!
Now, I’m just going to pick up a couple of points from Lidia’s blog, and focus on ways of linking sentences together. I like Lidia’s writing style in this blog, the style is descriptive and rich in vocabulary. She has described the sights, sounds and tastes of Greek life! Thanks, Lidia, for giving us such a vivid description!
We can improve the style of some sentences by linking them together with punctuation, adverb, verbs and phrases.
Linking with punctuation
Last week was a pretty warm weather here. Some beautiful days were with sunny and bright blue sky. (Lidia)
Last week was pretty warm here, there were some beautiful days with sunny, bright blue skies.
Linking with an example phrase
A lot of summer things have arrived to Moscow. New collections of clothes, footwear, hand bags and things for a beach. (Lidia)
A lot of summer things have arrived to Moscow, such as new collections of clothes, footwear, hand bags and things for the beach.
Linking with an adverb
I love Greece. Love a soft climate, beautiful beaches for vacation and a lot of historical places for visits. (Lidia)
I love Greece, especially its soft climate, beautiful beaches and historical places.
(Note here that I have also reduced the last part to three simple noun phrases, each modified by an adjective: soft, beautiful, historical. The use of similar grammatical structures is known as parallelism, and it makes a text pleasing to read, because of the sense of balance it lends to the language).
Linking with an –ing verb
I do Greek salad (cold snack) at home. Tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, Greek cheese, Greek oil and some special spices. (Lidia).
I make Greek salad (cold snack) at home, using tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, Greek cheese, Greek oil and some special spices.
Language improvement aims for Lidia
i. Again, this week please look at the subjects in your sentences! Remember, every sentence needs a subject.
ii. Try to use all of the linking techniques above to link your sentences together more smoothly!
Good luck, Lidia, I’m looking forward to reading your next blog!
Good night everyone,
Best wishes,
Samantha.
PS. Task
Can you find any other examples of parallelism in today’s blog?
USEFUL WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS
fundraising day (noun)
special day devoted to raising money for charity
fancy-dress (noun)
to wear fancy-dress means to put on a costume for example, of an animal, cartoon or historical character.
fun run (noun)
an organised run which takes place for entertainment rather than as a race or competition
dentist’s (noun)
abbreviation for dentist’s surgery
have a tooth filled (phrase)
this means to have a tooth drilled and then repaired by the dentist
miss out on something (verb)
to be unable to do something / take part in something (regret)
freak weather (noun)
very unusual weather conditions
unpredictable (adjective)
impossible to predict or know about in advance
baking (noun)
cakes, bread, cookies
fret (verb)
worry or feel anxious about
disappointment (noun)
unwanted / unforeseen event or thing
glittering (adjective)
shining, bright
stressful (adjective)
worrying
trivial (adjective)
unimportant, minor
fondly (adverb)
with affection, love
selective memory (noun)
this means that you only remember certain parts of an experience, in this case, only the good parts!
descriptive (adjective)
rich in details, expressive
vivid (adjective)
lively, realistic
grammatical parallelism (noun)
this means the use of structures or phrases which have similar grammatical structure
Comments
Good night Samantha! Hummmm... baking a cake and cookies, and after they are made eat them! This is a wonderful way to spend a freezing afternoon indeed. I love it bake cakes. If I can say that I really envy you [in a good way :)]. Unfortunatly I´m on a diet for reducing high cholesterol, so even though I make nutrition cakes, changing the flour and adding less fat, I have to stop eating cake for a while. In fact, it´s something genetic. I take so much care to my feeding habits and in the end the person who more takes care with health( me), has problems with high cholesterol, anyway... It´s life, nevermind. About the task, I can´t identify other examples of parallelism, I think I have to wait for your explanation. Best wishes, Ana Paula.
Hello, Samantha. I really miss you and Lidia and other readers. Last Thursday, I changed my job. These days I’ve been extremely busy. The new company is nearer to my home than the previous one. But for me it’s a new job and I have many things to learn. So I go back home later than before. I like such busy work because it keeps me away from some upset and depressed thoughts. Sorry I don’t know what I really want to say, I’m just want to say something to you like an old friend. Yes, I’m very depressed now. Something really bad happened between my friend and I. I hope I can become a better lady. Sorry, I make this comment really bad. Please forgive me. Wish you good! Jill.
Hello Samantha , I must say that I was impressed by your son's behavior when he missed fancy-dress fun run organised by his school , I still remember a long time ago when my mother wanted to go shopping with my father and she didn't want to leave me and my brothers alone at home , therefore she decided to take us with her but the fact that we used to watch cartoon episode everyday in the evening so we agreed to go as long as we'll back home before the episode gets started , but unfortunately there was a traffic jam and we couldn't back in time and for my mom that day was like a nightmare as we cried and shouted a lot , my mother tried to persuade us to take it easy but nothing she tried could make us calm down , in the end she bought us a chocolate box so she managed to get through it . Today's task about if we can find examples of parallelism in today’s blog , but I could find nothing but one example and I'm not sure , either , here it is (drinking coffee, chatting, watching people walk by, and looking at the sea) ! Best wishes ,
Hello Samantha, the smell of the cake is mouth watering, it must be very delicious, yummy! Could you please explain the use of "are" in the following sentance "We had a great time, the towns "are" beautiful and it was so easy just to spend whole afternoon in a little street café". As per your task the parallelism may be "drinking coffee, chatting, watching people walk by, and looking at the sea". I love Niagra Fall it is so beautiful with stunning view. It looks wonderful to watch how the water is flowing, rolling over and falling down, making loud sounds and fogging around. Boating near the fall in the fog is quite exciting. On the other side the beautifully curved roads, the slopes laced with green grass, the beds of multicolored flowers and the hanging flowering pots on the polls are unforgettable. It's time to go so take care. Farida
Today´s task, grammatical structures known as parallelism, for me is very difficult. I may use it at times unconsciously. I am so unsure about the topic concerned, that I am unable to answer. So I must be patient and wait for Samantha´s advice. Samantha I was surprised to hear that it was snowing in your home district, the weather seems to be very unpredictable all over the world nowadays, the weather changes are so rapid. Take care all of you...
A special note for Jill. Jill from Beijing you wrote: “Something really bad happened… I hope I can become a better lady.” I do hope Jill you feel better now. It is good to remember that our lives are made of ups and downs, we all make mistakes and it is the very same mistakes that help us to become better people. It is very hard, if one falls apart with someone. But the pain and the hurt are part of life. Do no let your heart ache so much that it makes you ill, it helps if you say your sorrows aloud. All the best.
Please substitute “learning?” in my previous comment with “constructive”. :) Thanks
Hi, samantha. I always enjoy reading your blog. you must be a good mother. My mom's never made cakes for me! That's why I might've become a cook,though. I found just one sentense in your blog for your question about "parallelism". is it " it was so easy just to spend whole afternoon in a little street café drinking coffee, chatting, watching people walk by, and looking at the sea."? I'm not sure if it's correct. Cherry blossoms have started to bloom in japan. it tells us spring has come. I hope spring will come to England soon,too. All the best.
Hi, it was really dissepointing, But you succeed having good time. Conguralions. Your boy is very brave :) I am sure he is very sweet. Take care
Hi Samantha! You can really good describe events which used to happen in an ordinary life.You point them out with a fine humour, I like it. I`m an expert in fretting about every other trivial situation. Last days I did some changes in my small flat to catch better signal to the internet, sorted my study materials and started re-reading a book as you had recommended. It needs focusing to shorter parts of the text by analytical reading as you said. Besides, the weather is cold and rainy here. I`ll see if I only curl up and read or take a brush and work on a picture which I started on Sunday evening. Best wishes!
Hi Samantha Again and again thanks for the nice ,interesting and learning? Points you mention. Here are other examples of parallelism, I found in today’s blog. I had to take him to the dentist.....He had to have a tooth filled I stayed in .......and baked a .... a cake and cookies my elder son and my friend drinking coffee, chatting, watching people walk by, and looking at the sea a present to yourself, a chance to relax and slow down for a week blue skies, glittering sea and delicious food buying the wrong subway tickets or getting lost pick up a ....and focus on.... descriptive and rich the sights, sounds and tastes with punctuation, adverb, verbs and phrases. Another one which I’m not sure about is: believe it or not It seems to me that this sentence initial form has been “believe it or not believe it” which is a sample of parallelism ,However to avoid repetition, the second “believe it” is omitted. Please correct me if I’m wrong. Thanks In advance.
Hello everybody! There are flowers all around here in Portugal, with lots of colours and so many different smells. It's spring time already. This is the first time that I write a comment here. I've just started to read the blog and simply love it! Samantha, you're the best! Thank you for all your teaching.
I think that I found two examples. The first is:fancy-dress fun run and the second is: blue skies, glitering sea and delicious food. About the weather I have to say that Almería is in the South of Spain next to Mediterranean Sea and in these days is very warm and sunny. I have a house by the sea "about one hundred metres" so I don`t have to travel very far to go swimming. best wishes
Hello Samantha, your son definitely prove he is smart. There is nothing to worry about in a dentist chair. Speaking of weather, it is so predictable here as well as seafood is the main dish of the week. It is always very hot and the sun in its fullness almost blind us. Presumebly, fishing on weekends is the best choice to relax. The sibilant wind seems to touch our faces just to remind us that the time is flowing like the waves on the sea. I do appreciate greek culture. I have a friend from there who lived in Brazil and by the time he made me participate in a typical greek dance with his family during a party in his house. It was so funny. We all together holding each other hand, had to move around in a circle, dancing according to the rhythm which gradually turned more and more quick. It was one of the best sensation I have ever had.
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