Comments

Hello Jo!As soon as I had sent a comment to your previous blog, the new entry had arrived already.As always,it's meaty and worth reading.The pictures you have posted this time are beautiful.I have once seen these types of houses on the BBC-Food channel.I wish you have a house of your dreams - even more beautiful than the ones in the photos.In Karachi there are only skyscrapers and big, big houses,there are also some areas where there are very old buildings built under the British rule and even before than that.There are parks,libraries and shopping malls, and worshipping places of almost all the religions.And last but not the least,beaches(:>)Bye for now

You are welcome Jo! How nice that your minces are fine now! Ah! By the way, just when I´ve read your blog I realized that I wrote mincies instead minces,haha! Oops! My fault! I´ve just started to learn English slangs, and I´m already 'creating' new ones! Oh Gee! Haha! Wow Jo! The village where you live is so beautiful. It seems that it was taken from a fairy tale book, just lovely! Well, my city is by far different from yours Jo. Mogi almost doesn´t have old buildings anymore. There are only few ones which have completed their centenary recently. Nowadays, when you arrive to Mogi by Dutra road( by the way a worderful view), you can see the new skyscrapers built in the city. Even having changed so much during these years, Mogi is still a good place for living. Ok, the cinema is terrible, but you always can go to Sao Paolo city, due the Mogi proximity to Sao Paolo. Hmm... Jo, does in your city has a cinema, or you have to go to London to watch a film? Oh Jo, just one more thing. Could you tell me which phrase is correct please( or maybe none of them are correct)? You know, when you start to write the doubts appear, and my grammar book didn´t help me too much. 'Was the new book already realesed?/ Has the new book been already released?' Best wishes, Ana Paula.

Hi, there must have been some troubles with Internet yesterday, because so few replies appeared for your blog Jo. I for one did reply, but for some reason my entry was not published. In fact I was hoping for some “Oxford Scholars” for my entry. I found your topic so amusing Jo, that I was as happy as a "saucepan lid" yesterday. Your home village looks very quaint; it reminds me of Stratford upon Avon, where I was fortunate to visit two years ago. I spent two weeks there with my pot and pan. Best regards to everyone, especially to Ha, her blog entries are also missing from yesterday.

Hi JO, How are you? It is very great to see your village photographs and no dought it is a very nice place. hey you have mentioned a word nosey parker it is a idieom or noun. Have a nice day Monu

Hello Jo, I must say I like a lot your village. I like places like your village is. I would like sometime to go there and visit places like this. Even more than to see London. I would like to see London, of course but I am not mad for 'fussy' towns. I live in a small town and I wouldn't change for anything ;)

Hello! the village on the pictures seems so neat and beautyful. I wonder to what extent people have an interest in politics in Britain? What do you think of your new PM? Cheers.

Hi Jo, you wrote in your entry that: "After Ha’s informative blog about Vietnam, I thought I would tell you" and " I thought I’d be a nosey parker". I wonder why did you use "though" here, I think we should use simple present. Pls explain, thanks.

I've just come back from my holidays and I haven't been able to follow the blog. I read your blog quite often,I like reading in English and lear new things, both language tips and culture curiosities, but... I have never time to write. Anyway, today ... I've seen those beautiful photos and they reminded me of a trip to Ireland 5 years ago (I was with my husband and my four-year-old son). The same architecture, the same atmosphere! Great! Also my village is teeny (we are about one thousand people, most are old people)and near the river Po, which is the biggest - and one of the most polluted - river in Italy, but the atmosphere is completely different; it seems as if we don't want to preserve our village and we try to move to bigger towns. In the village there is a shop, three bars, a pizzeria and a restaurant but there is no more the primary school and the nursery school has less and less children (is the expression right?). There is also a modern church and a "oratorio": a place where children and young people can go, near the church, to learn about religion but also to have fun together in a safe place, which is not so easy to find in our times (does this "oratorio" exist also in England? What is it called?) Now it's time to go... Thanks for the emotions due to your photos and bye bye

Dear Jo!I can´t say which place I should decide for taking a refreshment to escape this tropical heat in the middle Europa. Your beautiful, cool and calm looking English village or that wonderful sceneries from Vietnam which are so generous sended us as warm wellcome from both of you! I have to admit tasks given are too tough for me as those which learned us teacher Samantha using language for graduated law students. But I follow all this with much of desire to learn it. I am reading again blogs and comments across bygone months with a new pleasure and understand what a big work it´s to master this language a bit more. Your students are so clever! With me it comes time when I revise your cheerful writing again too! Nice greetings to everyone!

Hai Jo, I like to live in a country side. I am attracted by the calm and pleasant atmosphere of the village. It’s totally different from the crowded and polluted city side. Your village side looks very rich. That’s why it has got value. My village side is not like yours. But it has got it own style. It’s a plain area. We don’t have any river or hills in our part of the village. We usually get enough water in the tanks in the rainy season. At that time all the field will be fresh and greenish. If monsoon fails the village life in that year will be terrific. We have got good number of coconut trees, Mango trees, Neem trees, and huge banyan trees. I really enjoy go for walking in the morning seeing these trees with the background voices of birds singing. You won’t get this feeling when you go for a walk in the cities. These fields will be dry in the summer. We have also had thatched houses or huts in the village. But it is different from yours. Thatcher never signed. The straw is made up of grass. Jo, why do you prefer to live in village? I know you are a nature loving person. You love animals and like nature. Not many people have this quality, you are special. Why do many people choose to live in cities? I have read the editorial page of the news paper on population day last week. Many people are migrating from rural area to the urban areas. Particularly in the developing countries this trend is alarming. So there may be many problems in urban areas like housing, water and transport etc... How the government is going to tackle those problems? It is true that people moving from village to cities are increasing day by day. The land values in the cities are touching high. We can see apartments every where in the cities. Is it good for humanity? Shall we live peacefully in concrete jungle?

Hi Jo, I live in Tulcea, in the East of Romania, not far from Danube Delta. Perhaps you’ve heard of delta, in fact the ancient city of Tulcea is the starting point for a Delta adventure. Near Tulcea, the Danube-river splits into three branches and forms an amazing delta before flowing into Black Sea. When you have occasion or even when you have no occasion, don’t hesitate to come and visit the Danube Delta, you’ll love it:unique wetland can be admired: a labyrinth of canals bordered by thatch, water lilies, flocks of swans, pelicans and wild ducks and geese, egrets, a famous variety of fish: pike, herring, sturgeon, wherever you look, you can see floating islets covered by reed. There are probably other things I could have told you about Tulcea, but I thought that the Danube Delta is far much more impressive and is winning hearts. Thanks for the beautiful pictures you’ve posted: the old houses are really wonderful, I’m sure I’ve never seen these kinds of roof before. Best wishes to you, Richard, and your lovely pets Scratchy, Panther and Raffles of course!

Hello, Jo. This is my attempted rewritten of that little story: I rushed down the stairs. The phone was ringing. ‘Hello?’ I asked. ‘Where are you, you idiot?’ It was the wife. ‘You were supposed to be at the church an hour ago!’ I’d forgotten about the wedding! Oops! ‘I don’t believe it! For God’s sake, can’t you use your heart for once? Put your suit on and get here straight away!’ I’m looking forward to reading the correct answer in your next update. I’m stunned by the pictures of your village. It’s so beautiful! I think it’s much more easier and happier to live in such an amazing village than a big city. I have a question. How does the thatch which is made of straws and reeds survive in the rain or snow? Why they won’t be destroyed even when they dip in the water? I don’t know whether I made myself clear, can you help me? Enjoy your day in that pretty village. ::> Jill.

hello,Jo.my dear teacher.the traditional houses in your village look so beautiful,especially the roof that given me a strong impression.i think it must be a very clean ,quiet place and with all the people who are very friendly ,content to their life and living in an atmosphere that haven't much press.Jo,there are only 700 people in your village i think most of you must know each other. best wishes.hope one day i can go to your village to have a visit.

Hi Jo! What's up? How is life going on? hey! sometimes it became necessary to us to think about how old generation sustain their environment eco friendly but why we are going in apposite direction, making our environment dangerous day by day though we have lots of options by which we can preserve our environment. hey! Jo, it is very nice place and i think the people are there very conscious about environment and nature but other parts of the world people are not doing anything to preserve our old heritages and building. I like that you are willing to buy an old house like this, best of luck and I can say that you are very conscious about environment and nature loving person. Best of luck, my all wishes with you. By and Take care Monu

Hi Jo! Oh, what gorgeous pictures! I wish I was there. England, mainly the countryside left me utterly captivated in April when I visited my daughter in Reading and we spent ten fantastic days together. We rented a car and drove about 1000 miles so I saw the peace and quiet of the countryside. I think we were quite close to your village on our way to Bournemouth. I also live in a teeny-weeny village in the west of Slovakia that has a population of about 550. People live in houses with a garden, trees and flowers. They grow healthy vegetables and fruit for their own use or for sell, too. They all have green fingers, of course. Almost every person keeps animals. Some people raise pigs, poultry or rabbits, others keep dogs and cats only. But they always take some time to slow down. The people have a true traditional pig-feast two or three times a year here. They invite relatives or friends to help with the work and then they spend many hours together eating and drinking. My village does not offer a lot of shopping and entertainment facilities but has some cultural traditions. There are 2 small grocery shops and one pub.Every summer there is a fun fair, but I dont like it. What I like a lot better are the village days. Every year the mayor and his colleague organize these days. They invite guests and artist to the village especially from Hungary. In the afternoon some crafstmen made interesting things for children last year, for example a honey-cake and dolls from maizeleaves. It was exciting. In the evening there were some shows and performances of music groups.We had sport days, too. During these days young and old teams from the village played football with teams from surrounding villages and firemen made an exhibition. Visitors could taste goulash which was cooked in a big dish. I like living here but I miss cultural life: cinema, theatre or museums.

Hi ya Jo.How ya doin ? Wow what a nice website ! Jo,I have a question for ya,please,what' s the difference between "indeed" and " really" ? I'm gonna visit England in November,as I have friends living in London,Leicester,Cardiff,Manchester,Liverpool and Lincoln.Thanks for answering my question.Say hello to your beautiful country,please.Ciao ! ( bye),Diego

Hello Jo, Wow! How nice West Meon is! If you did not say about the Thomas Lord, I thought it was something like a library because it is so peaceful and quiet. I like watching the thatched house. I have looked at the roof of the house really closely but I do not see anything apart from things like the chimney and two white shapes of looking like windows. Do you mean these are the pheasants??? Actually, it's interesting to know that each thatcher signed their work personally with pheasants or hares. oooiiiitrrrooi! (that's my sound of passing out from shock) when reading its price. Jo, I hope you will win first prize in lottery so that you buy such a dreamy house. By the way, Jo, you are right about Ha's problem of English tenses. I think it's not only hers but the common problem to most Vietnamese leaners of English. You know, in Vietnamese, adverbs of time or time clauses are more likely to be used than the tenses to indicate when an action happens. That's why most of us confuse the tenses when using English. We'll try to make good our problem through the BBC learning English. Best wishes to you and your pets.

Hello, Jo. Long time no see! I'd had a bad cold recently so I couldn't leave my comment at all but now I god over it! Thank you for the pictures above. Rural life is quiet and peaceful, isn't it? Living in the city, I want to go into the country to get a fresh air! Jo, do you drink springwater or well-water from a tap? There is a well outside of my house and my family drink well-water from a tap. It's rare to see a thatched roof nowdays, isn't it? There are thatched roofs houses in two villages where are declared World Heritage sites in Japan. I've watched about the sites on TV before. According to it, to maintain the houses is not easy. To protect from fire, people live there patrol often, even midnight. To rethatch the roofs is much hard labor. See you.

Hello Jo! What a beautiful place! It seems that you live in a fairy tale. As I live in a city, and in the centre of Spain, a dry region, I haven't got such a green view as yours. The city where I live is Toledo. It is located in a hill, surrounded by the river Tajo that forms a meander. Here, you can find amazing and beautiful houses from the XVI century. Toledo is known as The City of the Three Cultures because Moslem, Jewish and Christian cultures were living together under the same rules. All of these civilizations have left us a wonderful legacy. I invite all the readers to come here, but if it isn't possible right now, you can look for photos by internet. (http://www.galenfrysinger.com/toledo.htm) Best wishes

Hi..., How was your day? A large number of pictures on the site look so wonderful. I think it is rather unique different from my home. Let 's talking about my home. I expect you are curious to know exactly. My home seem to be normal and antique home. I have lived for 20 years and have a lot of fun in there until now. The home made of wood and two floors. In my home decorte by the Thai handicraft just like jars, antique picture,desk wood and many furnitures differented from your home but in Ha's home I think not different. I feed one dog called Rambo and one bird called Jawkontong. They are the best friends for me when I have come back home . I usually play and talk with them. Particulary ,the bird, Jawkontong, it can copy my sound and quite hilarious bird and Rambo -the dog ,too. I really love both of them. Anyway,that bring me to the kitty,cartoon as you need to know. I know that most of girls love Kitty and my sister is also. The whole caracter of Kitty look pretty good and she dress up with pink dress and meny things of Kitty seem to be pink pink and pink... Do you like pink ? Better luck next time....

I love cartoon very much especially DORAEMON. And What is the most favourite cartoon in your country? I eager to know . I presume that you may not be too old to love cartoon . Bye for now.

Hello Jo, How are you today? I hope you are in very good health with plenty of money (1 million pounds; Ok?). Jo, I am grateful to you for your guidance that has helped me to learn more and encouraged me to go ahead in achieving my target of mastering English. Your pedagogic skills are really of great influence on my way of learning the language. I also thank all the BBC Learning English staff for their valuable efforts. Through this blog I'd like to express my deep gratitude to my former English teachers: Sabil, Mokhliss, Aziz1 and Aziz2, Jack, Jill and address my salutations and my best wishes to them. By the way, Jack and Jill are English teachers who taught me the language for three months each. And now back to our sheep! You asked us to describe our village or city. Well, I am not going to describe Casablanca, the big and bustling city where I am living now, but I'll try to talk about the village where I was born and spent my childhood, my adolescence and also part of my adulthood. This village is called "Beni Bouyalloul". It's located on the north flanc of "Mount Bounaceur", the highest mountain of the middle Atlas chain, near Berkine in Taza province. None of the readers have heard of it, I can bet my bottom dollar on that! The village consists of about 500 houses, but most of them are presently empty. Being attracted by the brilliance of urban areas, their dwellers, who used to lead a quiet and peaceful life, had left to the nearest villages and towns in the aim of making a life. The village has no essentials such as a tarred road, telephone, electricity, etc...A few people who are still in the village continue to live on subsistance farming, but always obsessed by the idea of leaving in their turn. I sometimes spend my holidays there. It's a beautiful place to visit from time to time, due essentially to the fresh air, the mountain sceneries, the wildlife, etc..., but it may be difficult to live there at once without equipments we are used to in urban life. JO, Please don't hesitate to correct my mistkes. Thanks a lot for all of what you've done and what you'll do for me and for all the readers.

Hello Jo, How are you today? I hope you are in very good health with plenty of money (1 million pounds; Ok?). Jo, I am grateful to you for your guidance that has helped me to learn more and encouraged me to go ahead in achieving my target of mastering English. Your pedagogic skills are really of great influence on my way of learning the language. I also thank all the BBC Learning English staff for their valuable efforts. Through this blog I'd like to express my deep gratitude to my former English teachers: Sabil, Mokhliss, Aziz1 and Aziz2, Jack, Jill and address my salutations and my best wishes to them. By the way, Jack and Jill are English teachers who taught me the language for three months each. And now back to our sheep! You asked us to describe our village or city. Well, I am not going to describe Casablanca, the big and bustling city where I am living now, but I'll try to talk about the village where I was born and spent my childhood, my adolescence and also part of my adulthood. This village is called "Beni Bouyalloul". It's located on the north flanc of "Mount Bounaceur", the highest mountain of the middle Atlas chain, near Berkine in Taza province. None of the readers have heard of it, I can bet my bottom dollar on that! The village consists of about 500 houses, but most of them are presently empty. Being attracted by the brilliance of urban areas, their dwellers, who used to lead a quiet and peaceful life, had left to the nearest villages and towns in the aim of making a life. The village has no essentials such as a tarred road, telephone, electricity, etc...A few people who are still in the village continue to live on subsistance farming, but always obsessed by the idea of leaving in their turn. I sometimes spend my holidays there. It's a beautiful place to visit from time to time, due essentially to the fresh air, the mountain sceneries, the wildlife, etc..., but it may be difficult to live there at once without equipments we are used to in urban life. JO, Please don't hesitate to correct my mistkes. Thanks a lot for all of what you've done and what you'll do for me and for all the readers.

Hello, Jo. Excuse me, but I think Paularej from India has used in his comment the word "terrific" to mean something bad, whereas this word has a positive meaning. He's said: "If the monsoon fails the village in that year will be terrific". He probably meant "terrible". According to the Oxford dictionary, "terrific" means: 1) very great, extreme. eg: He's driving at a terrific speed. 2)(informal) excellent,wonderful. eg: You're doing a terrific job. This last example is about you Jo. Sorry again.

hello evrybody, i just found this blog , it seems a good way of improving our english. I hope next time i will let you know something about my country