Comments

Hi, Rachel I had a look at two of the links given by Leila, and it seems to me that both of them use 'appear' where I would have written 'publish': 1. "The first edition of the Kalevala appeared in 1835..." and 2. "Prolific Finnish writer, best-known for his historical novels, especially The Egyptian (originally SINUHE, EGYPTILÄINEN), which appeared in 1945...". Is 'appear' correctly used in the two extracts?- BTW I've just finished reading a book written by Linda Olsson: "Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs". Sweden, which in many regards is alike Finland, is where the story is located, but there are also many glimpses from New Zealand. It's a touching book.

Hello, Rachel! I'm glad I can post a comment here once more because the repair men promised to come today or tomorrow, so it will, hopefully, and obviously be tommorow( I keep my fingers crossed) as I am reading your today's post.They are the people who make my skin crawl. I have relatives in Adamstown, NSW, who emmigrated or immigrated(is there any real difference between these two)from the former Yugoslafia when the wars there came to an end. We used to keep in touch, but I still don't know where this town exactly is? Do you know how to cook Yorkshire pudding? Here we call pudding the cooking powder in different fruit flavours and a chocolate flavour, which is cooked in milk with sugar and I eat it with my cereals in the morning. I hope I will be reading you soon, because of the conking of my computer. Its mistake is really bizarre. From time to time when I turn it on, the picture on the screen shows arches on the left and right side of the screen ) ( so that I can't see the title line and the start menu, the bottom line, because the picture is stretched up and down. I know I don't make sense but it's bad enough waiting in vain any repair men, let alone incompetent ones. I think that smth. as bad as this can happen only to me.

Dear Rachel, Yesterday my brother-in law called us from Australia to talk about Dipawali (festival of light) which ended yesterday. After long chat with him I asked weather conditions regarding raining. He got surprised and asked me how I knew that it was raining there. Then I told him that I am getting a little background about Australia from my teacher blogger then he get surprised and ask me whether I am planning to visit Australia. Nowadays he is settled there and ready to help me if I want to visit Australia. Though story about “Waltzing Matilda” is very short, it is able to highlight basic background behind song and interesting too. 1. Is there a place near where you live that’s dear to your heart? What’s it called? Pashupatinath temple is dear to my hearth and I like to visit in morning time. 2. Are there any businesses in your area that are doing a roaring trade? What do they sell? Roaring business nowadays is starting banking business and can you believe that more that 7 banks were launched in last three months. 3. Can you think of any other words in English that end in “-scape”? landscape 4. What kinds of things might you need to upgrade? I need to upgrade my computer soon. 5. When was the last time a machine conked out on you? What happened? Two days ago, my blending machine conked out. 6. Are you hooked on anything (I mean in a non-serious way, e.g. chocolate, learning English …) certainly I am hooked to learn English. to do sth (or sb) good (expr) –improve quality of sth (or sb) to take advantage of (expr) - to use the good things in a situation it’s bad enough … let alone (expr) –from bad to worse to do sth justice (expr) - to treat someone or something in a way that is fair and shows their true qualities crikey! (Aus. exclamation)-Used to express surprise

Hola! Rachel, How do you do? sorry for not posting comments more often,I´ve been busy a lot, here in my office and I only have time to read your blog. In your post on Nov/08 you asked if someone wants to talk about other topics,not only grammar but I´m afraid that I want you to help me with more of that! If you don´t mind of course;) Actually in my English class I´ve been studying "passives" , Could you explaining me more about this topic?I really apreciate that! Tell me about Passive with "by"(simple past) and Passive without "by"(simple present) Thanks in advance for your help:) Best regards! Rocio.

I hope you are doing well, Rachel. It seems you like mangoes very much, so do I. Here in Pakistan, mangoes easily come by in June, July and August as we are experiencing the summer season in those months. Would you like to share something about mangoes in OZ? Maybe some of the varieties or your own experiences of the fruit. I must write my answers too. 1)It's a garden of my school which is dear to my heart, I was really young then and instead of going to class I used to stand there watching little white bunnies playing. The name of my school was SMS Aga Khan School. 2)There's a flour mill in my area which is doing a roaring business, they sell all kinds of flour, you name it and they have it for you.3)The very first word that comes to my mind is 'landscape', there's one more 'cityscape'.4)The things we usually upgrade are machines, computer and job also. 5)It was in August when my monitor conked out, it only showed black screen and it took about two weeks to fix the problem.6)These days I'm hooked on potato crisps, but I'll have to get myself on track. Naheed

G´day Rachel! It´s still rainning here, therefore the temperature has cooled. Thanks God!:-) The Waltizing Matilda story is very interesting, later I´m going to have a look at the website you´ve mentioned. So you like REM Rachel, I like them too :-). Do you have a REM favourite song? I can imagine how amazing was to watch they performed alive! Lucky you :-)! Oh, I knew you haven´t forgotten my request, thank you :-). Well Let´s do the homework: 1. Is there a place near where you live that’s dear to your heart? What’s it called? Yes, there is. This place dear to me is the Itapety Mountain. Everyday when I leave home to work I look down the street and I can see the imponent moutain shapes so fantastic and beautiful. It´s so peaceful to look at the mountains before I go to work. 2. Are there any businesses in your area that are doing a roaring trade? What do they sell? Oh yes, there is a business here which is doing a roaring trade. It´s a restaurant. The food is fab! 3. Can you think of any other words in English that end in “-scape”? Landscape, seascape, cityscape. 4. What kinds of things might you need to upgrade? I might need to upgrade my computer program because it´s a bit low, and I also need to upgrade my English. 5. When was the last time a machine conked out on you? What happened? Well, I can remember the last time a machine conked out on me. Maybe it´s beacause I was so upset that I can´t remember the facts very well. 6. Are you hooked on anything (I mean in a non-serious way, e.g. chocolate, learning English …) Oh yes I am. I´m hooked on films, and I collect them. By the way Rachel, could you tell us about Australian films please? to do sth (or sb) good (expr): to help sth or sb; to take advantage of (expr): to use the good things in a situation; it’s bad enough … let alone (expr): this one I´ll kick: it´s difficult enough... imagine; to do sth justice (expr): to give the real value; crikey! (Aus. exclamation): an expression of suprise. Well Rachel, I´m looking forward to your next blog full of exciting news from Oz. See ya, Ana Paula X.

Hello again Rachel! I would like to say one thing to Naheed, if you allow me. Hi Naheed! I´m glad you have liked the azaleas! Here in our garden, we have white and pink azaleas. So, I´m virtually sending to you and to all our friends a vase full of azaleas :-)! Bye dear. Many thanks again Rachel, Ana Paula.

Hello, Rachel! Even though you haven't done the story justice, I really find it interesting! to do sth (or sb) good (expr)= provide something to someone resulting in benefits to them; to take advantage of = make use of for gain...(usually bad) to do sth justice (expr)= to emphasize or show the qualities of something crikey!= interjection; exclamation for surprise.... it is a euphemism for 'Christ' Now, I'm trying to explain the last "one it’s bad enough … let alone (expr) maybe it's used to emphasize the extreme character of something...idk how to explain =[ Good week!

Dear Rachal, Will you please have a topic on schools/ schooling in England. As I was working as a teacher for some time, I really would like to know how it is different from ours... Regards

Well Rachel!I heaped reproaches upon me as I had carelessly offered to show you the places of my walks. They are in fact a common landscape and it might bore others to see them. Then, I was born here and yet my father, a big hiking lover, used to push me inpatiently in a baby carriage up there. Cars, cars, cars are doing the nonstopable roaring trade here I reckon. I am the one from the last century so there are heaps skills which I won´t catch up with any more. But I read your blogs carefully. Each sentence and advice on using a searching maschine is helping me with upgrading language skills a lot. The machine conck out matter had Benka described much better than I would be able to do. I am hooked od watching documentaries on TV, especially about traveling and animals. I can´t resist watching the same ones repeatedly and then I can´t make bigger progres with my English. I am still afraid of using the punctation. It completely differs from using in Slovak. On Sunday, being cut by lots of snow off the other world I painted a flock of white-pink parots which I spoted in a programme at cooking the dinner to your honour. It is not big one but funny. Waiting for more warm sun from you!

Dear RACHEL, I'm very sorry, but I think I've misspelled your name in my previous comment. I deeply apologize. By the way, what's the meaning of Rachel? My name means "darling/dearly loved".

Dear Rachel, having been here on a few odd flying visits, I have finally resolved to actually leave a trace of my presence on whoever teacher's blog in might be and it happens to be yours. My name is Anastasia, but I always give an alternative version of my name to the foreign people I am getting acquainted with, as, you must agree, my name is rather long and can not be straightaway easily pronounced by an «inexperienced» (Russian names-wise) person. So you can call me Ana. Nice to meet you. I've got a question for you already. Could you please explain your choice of preposition in the sentence «Apparently this has been the wettest November FOR 24 years!». Why not IN? And is it possible to use in this context either of them? I also wanted to say that I like the structure of your blog messages, particularly the vocabulary bit. Talking of which, I have noticed that you omitted to give an explanation for «let alone»! ;) Personally, I always use this expression in my speech and was very glad when I came across it quite a few times while reading books in English, which means that it is used frequently. It's hard to find something really beautiful or in any way interesting in the place where I live. I might sound superficial but it is true. I used to love where I live, but I was a child then and little did I know about beauty and people inhabiting it. Don't be misled into thinking that I do not have a place dear to my heart. I do have it. It is the little village where my grandmother at my father's line comes from. My many fond memories and my love to the nature, which is in and all around the village, make this place very special. Now there is a touch of sadness every time I am reminiscing about the days I spent there. I still go there at weekends in summer, but the place is not the same as it was when I was a child and even a teenager. Some people died, some new people came, the children I played with grew up and barely come there. Some houses became derelict. And our dog I used to take for a walk in the woods can hardly walk at all, so old he is. I am growing sentimental, I am afraid. Thank you for the chance to think back to those days. Hope rain doesn't come back this week. Ana

Hi Rachel, the small correction on my sentence..I painted parots to your honour, I had spoted them on TV as I was cooking the dish. I cook when I am hungry without giving the proces so much attention and time, so I am afraid it wouldn´t be adequate honour to you.

Hi,Rachel How are you doing and your family? I have enjoyed your posters and l like the park where you and Chris got married. i could easily picture you and your man tying the knot.i have realised that you and me have in common which we got married in the same year 2000 and our husband's are foreiners and we have only child,son.the weather has been gogeous here and trees are beautiful in colour.My husband has been taking advantage of the wonderful weather to prepare a foundation for a builder.we are going to extend our house.About two months ago my tape recorder conked out.I needed it to teach my son korean so I took it to a local repair shop. I were told it was too old to mend if I insisted it could be mended but it costed me an arm and a leg.I haven't decided to buy a new one or not yet.I am hooked on eating healthy food.some of my friends call me a fitness and health freak.when you have a little child you must be fit and healthy.Don't you think so? Also I don't like my son call me a slow coach at all.Property market is booming here and lots of houses have been built and sold out very quickly.That's all today and I am looking forward to your coming blogs.so long!

Hi Rachel, I hope, you've had a nice day! You asked Leila, but may I answer to your question in connection to the origins of the Finnish language? (Although I'm sure, that Leila is more informed than me.) The Hungarians, the Finnish people, and several other ethnic groups lived together around 2000 before Christ. Their land of origin was somewhere in Northwest Asia. Later they moved away and settled down in different parts of Europe and Asia. The Finnish and Hungarian languages are very far from each other now, the relationship between them was proved by scientific methods. --- Some answers to the homework: 1. The bank of the Danube in my city is a place wich is really near to my heart. I'm fond of cycling there. 2. My friend is doing a roaring trade, he has a farm and sells cow's milk, fresh cheese, cream and butter in several cities. I would never have thought of that, but people are searching for these traditional products. 3. Unfortunatelly landscape was the only word which came to my mind, but I've read some more in the others' comments. 6. My little twins are extremely hooked on swinging. One of my weakness is articles. Would you deal with this topic a little more? I always enjoy your posts! ps. Owen is a really cute boy. I'm sure you're very proud of him!

G ' day ,What are you all doing ?How are you Dear Rachel ? How is your lovely son ?I like to send you the recipe of two kind very traditional Persian food . please try them . I think if you try them , you 'll like them .In Iran we say " khooresht " to stew which serve with rice . And rice is the main part of our daily meal . 1 )) "Khoresht Fesenjaan " : Ingredients: (6 servings) Chicken pieces, 1-1.5 kgs - Ground walnuts, 500 grams 3-4 onions -Pomegranate juice, 3-4 glasses (or 4-5 spoons of pomegranate paste) - Sugar, 2-3 spoons - 1/2 cup of cooking oil - Salt Directions: Peel onions and slice thinly. Fry in oil until slightly golden. Wash chicken pieces and fry in onions until color changes. Add 3 glasses of hot water and bring to boil. Turn heat down and let boil slowly for about 30 minutes adding more hot water if needed. Add salt, ground walnuts and pomegranate juice or paste (if using pomegranate paste, add 2 more glasses of hot water and bring to slow boil). If pomegranate juice or paste is sour, add some sugar to the khoresht. Care should be taken to cook the khoresht long enough so that the oil in walnuts comes out and the mix becomes quite thick. Khoresht fesenjan should be served with white rice. 2)) " Gormeh sabzy " : Ingredients: (6 servings) :750 grams boneless stewing lamb or beef - 1 large onion, finely chopped - 1/3 cup of cooking oil - 1 teaspoon turmeric - 1.5 cups water - 1/2 cup dried limes (or fresh lime juice) - 3/4 cup black-eye beans or kidney - beans -1 large potato, diced (optional) - salt - black pepper - 1 cup spring onions, - finely chopped - 1.5 cups spinach, finely chopped - 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped -1/4 cup coriander, finely chopped (optional) - 1/4 cup "tareh" (garlic chives), finely -chopped - 1/4 cup shanbelileh (fenugreek), finely chopped (optional) Directions: Trim meat and cut into 2 cm (3/4 inch) cubes. Fry onion over medium heat in half of the oil until golden. Add turmeric and fry for 2 more minutes. Increase heat, add meat cubes and stir over high heat until meat changes color and begins to turn brown. Reduce heat. Add water, black-eye or kidney beans, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer gently for 1-1.5 hours hours until meat is tender. Time depends on type of meat used. Fry potatoes over high heat in the remaining oil until lightly browned. Add to sauce, leaving oil in the pan. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add prepared vegetables to frying pan and fry over medium heat until wilted. Add to sauce, then add dried limes (or lime juice), cover and simmer for further 10-15 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve with white rice. An exquisite Iranian dish. Here are the link for a web page that I refereed fro above recipe : http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/F.Mokhtarian/recipes/index.html By the way , if you don't mind I like to know your story of migration form Uk to UZ and your love story would be fantastic too . Have a great time and bye

Hello Rachel…Sorry for doing the homework late!!! But, better late than never… don’t you think? Your post interesting as always! The first time you had mentioned Waltzing Matilda, as I had never heard about it before I made a kind of research in the web to get to know what you were talking about…and let me tell you that your story is by far more understandable than what I read! I also listened to the song! Thanks for your sympathy! Can you believe that is still raining and is very cold here? This never happens in Spring which is supposed to be the driest and hottest time of the year, with only one or two thunderstorm till December and that’s all!!) While I was writing my replay to you I decided to listen to the BBC radio that appeared at the top of the BBC page. I clicked there and a page displayed, showing something that immediately called my attention…Argentina’s 50000-peso notes (notes that were on circulation more than 20 years ago! Because as we always have economic problems, devaluation is something common for us and we change the notes quite often) It also appeared in that page our “Flag” ( light blue and white with a sun in the centre) and a couple dancing “Tango”! All this under a heading “Taxing Questions” which I of course started to listen to. I’m happy because I could undesrtand without any problem all what I was listening ( I laughed when hearing Argentinian people speaking in Enghlish and I’m sure that I must sound like them, awful!!!) The sad part is that the bad economic situation developed in this programme is absolutely true…which makes me feel a bit down! Things that happen in undeveloped countries like this! Sorry Rachel I got out of topic a bit! I must leave to pick up my children from school! I’ll send you the homework later on! Good Bye

Dear Rachel, thank you for the information about the national autralian anthem Waltzing Maltida. It was very interesting, so I did research on it. The lyrics of the songs were written in 1985 by a famous OZ poet Banjo paterson and the music was written by Christna Macpherson. The word Waltz is derived from german word and the meaning is: a craftsman travel while working and learn new technique from different masters before returning home after two or three years.This custom is still in use today among carpenters.Matilda means: a romantic term for swagmans bundle(swag)which is consider as a woman because he dance with th swag.Now let me come to today's home work.1) There is a temple, called Koneswara temple which is dear to my heart, because it is lacated on top of a mountain which surrounded by sea,but there is a path to reach the temple by land. From the temple , we can see the whole town and beyond that too. It is also one of a remarkable religious historical place in south asia. 3) landscape. 4)My wrist watch was conked out on me last month after 15 years of service. 5) I am hooked on writing comments to student and teacher bloggs.6) I would like to up grade my house paintings and curtains to upgrade my house.While I am writing this rain is pouring in spades out side.Kind regards.

Hey up, Rachel. Sorry for being out of the comment box recently but believe me, I have been reading your fascinating blogs. My answers: 1. Is there a place near where you live that’s dear to your heart? What’s it called? Yes, there is. It's the Penha's Convent. You can read about it in one of my posts of the student blog in September. I use to go there and pray at my lunch time during the week. 2. Are there any businesses in your area that are doing a roaring trade? What do they sell? Yes, there is the Garoto Chocolate, a factory funded by the german Henrique Meyerfreund. Well...they sell chocolate. :-) 3. Can you think of any other words in English that end in “-scape”? Yes I can think of tape and shape. 4- What kinds of things might you need to upgrade? Speaking but sadly you cannot help me with that. 5. When was the last time a machine conked out on you? What happened? The last time a machine conked out on me I was being given an esthetic treatment in the skin of my face using those devices wich produces a kind of electric shock and the machine stopped working I don't know why, perhaps I was not so electrical by the time. 6. Are you hooked on anything (I mean in a non-serious way, e.g. chocolate, learning English …). I'm hooked on reading and watching the news. I like to see the same news through different point of views and compare what people think in different parts of the World. It's like a hobby for me. I like to think about them and form my own opinion. Some of them I like to share with my little son and see what he thinks. By the way, in any second now, I have to keep an eye on him and his friends, they were in a video game competition and they are right now talking something about going outside. I need to know what they are going to do and make some recommendations. I don't want to pay for another glassing if they intend to play football outside. I admire Carolina so much for being able to control 22 children. It's hard to be in the zone here while the cheeky children are full of beans leaping with delight. Every now and then I have to feed them with fruits, pizza, juice, chocolate...but I have to confess I like keeping them near me. Good bye Rachel.

Hello Rachel It's me again...but this time with the homework! 1. Is there a place near where you live that’s dear to your heart? What’s it called? There is a place dear to my heart called "Loma Balcón" It's a hill (not very high) with a great view over a beautiful village and a river at 6km from the city centre. I love going there because I find it very relaxing!!... 2. Are there any businesses in your area that are doing a roaring trade? What do they sell? As tourism is one of Salta's main industries, Shops related with craftmanship are doing a roaring trade here!... 3. Can you think of any other words in English that end in “-scape”? The only word that comes to my mind is landscape! (not very original!)... 4. What kinds of things might you need to upgrade? To upgrate my English I need to practise it a lot more and also improve my grammar!... 5. When was the last time a machine conked out on you? What happened? The washing machine conked out last week. Some coins entered the water pump 6. Are you hooked on anything (I mean in a non-serious way, e.g. chocolate, learning English …)

Hello Rachel It's me again...but this time with the homework! 1. Is there a place near where you live that’s dear to your heart? What’s it called? There is a place dear to my heart called "Loma Balcón" It's a hill (not very high) with a great view over a beautiful village and a river at 6km from the city centre. I love going there because I find it very relaxing!!... 2. Are there any businesses in your area that are doing a roaring trade? What do they sell? As tourism is one of Salta's main industries, Shops related with craftmanship are doing a roaring trade here!... 3. Can you think of any other words in English that end in “-scape”? The only word that comes to my mind is landscape! (not very original!)... 4. What kinds of things might you need to upgrade? To upgrate my English I need to practise it a lot more and also improve my grammar!... 5. When was the last time a machine conked out on you? What happened? The washing machine conked out last week. Some coins entered in the water pump (is this ok?) and broke it...Fortunately, the repairman could fix it, but it cost us an arm and a leg!... 6. Are you hooked on anything (I mean in a non-serious way, e.g. chocolate, learning English …) I'm hooked on drinking milk with chocolate and cornflakes!!... And now the Vocabulary:/to do sth (or sb) good (expr) to have a good effect on sht or sb /to take advantage of (expr)to use the good things in a situation /it’s bad enough … let alone (expr) used to say that you already have one problem, so that you can not worry about or deal with another one /to do sth justice (expr) to treat or represent someone or something in a way that is fair and shows their best qualities /crikey! (Aus. exclamation) used to say that you are surprised or annoyed... Rachel you have asked us if there is a topic we'd like to discuss with you...I was thinking about the use of connectors // "colloquial English" I mean phrases or expressions that you use every day at home, for example with Owen! Have a nice day!!

The answers: I must confess that I'm hooked on watching horror movies and drinking tea/coffee at the same time. The last time our car conked out was when I was on a mission to Shiraz with some colleagues. The tyer burst out for no good reason while we were driving in the highway. I suppose I need to upgrade the software on my nephew's PC. "Scapegoat",first time I encountered this word was in one short story, Lottery by ...? Oh! you've said at the end... so "lanscape". I cannot think of any business that is roaring in our area, rather everything's failing. The river near my place is so much dear to my heart and I have lots of childhood memories from it.

Madurai is my native place. I had completed my studies from my school up to college studies. I have been away from my native place for the last fifteen years. Still it’s always dear to my heart.2, the artisans, gold smith; carpenters are doing roaring business in this part of my country. They are selling old and artistical things in wood, stone and gold.3.landscape, escape 4.I must upgrade my reading habit and organizing my day to day activities more systematic way 5. My computer was conked out two months back. I called the technician to correct it. it was alright when he came to attend it.6.I was more cooked on walking, if I miss one day I feel inactive the whole day.