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hello~ rachel ,missed your blog a long time.i 'm very busy in last two weeks beacuse of my school exam.but now ,i can take a break and catch up your blog .Unfortunately ,i need get a very 'long time' read it all.haha~ but ,actually ,since i've come to this blog ,my english reading improved so much !and i also give a answers for your question . which is a gerund and which is a participle? • I’ve never really been interested in watching sci-fi movies (interested =p.p watching=gerund) • I tripped over walking down the stairs (walking=pp) • Owen gets a lot of attention being so cute (being=pp) • Going to the park makes Owen happy. (going =gerund ) wow~!The Harbour Bridge is so wonderful .i'm really really looking for a tour in this city .and in my city ,it's known of Tsing Ma Bridge ,but there aren't a historic.it's far away in the harbour bridge .anyway , thank you rachel and have a good day see you next time ~~^^

G'day Rachel, you are almost nearing the end of your blogging as a teacher blogger, how do you feel? I would say on everyone's behalf that we would all love to see you again in future. You are a very dedicated teacher, Rachel. You provided us with a lot of information on OZ, and we will remember your grammar lessons. Along with this, I really liked the view of the Harbour Bridge and the rainy clouds are fairly visible. As for the Opera House, Utzon’s inspiration must have come from an orange because it resembles with an orange cut into segments. I come from the city of Karachi, there are many buildings that can be counted as landmarks and I would like to tell you about Mohatta Palace. It was built by Shivratan Chandraratan Mohatta as his summer home in the late 1920s, but he could enjoy living in it only for 2 decades. The partition of the subcontinent forced him to leave Karachi. The palace has an area of 18,500 sq. feet. Later on it was taken over by the government. Now the palace houses a meuseum which houses an exhibition named 'Tales of Tiles'. It's a beautiful palace to visit. In the end, all the best wishes to you and all, Naheed

Hi Rachel! How are things? sorry for not posting comments(you know working in an office sometimes it´s very stressfull there are a lot of papers need to catch up on!!! Well fortunately today I have the time to write a little to you. As you requested I'll talk about a landamark here in my city Mazatlán,we have a famous monument called "El venadito" (The Deer)it represents our city because a long time ago in the time of the Aztecs(I hope you have the chance to read about the Aztecs they were great warriors)the legends says that my city was plenty of Deers and that´s why the name of Mazatlán came, the meaning in Nahuátl(the language of the Aztecs)Mazatl=Deer / tlán=land or place ; so the right traduction must be Mazatlán= Place of the Deer. What do you think about this name? Nowadays you can´t find any Deer in the city,you can found them only in the countryside, you might been thinking in a zoo probably see one ,sorry in the city unfortunately we don´t have one yet! Can you imagine that..:( We only have an Acuarium of course,this is a Port. jeje Well Rachel I hope this information were useful to you to know a little bit more about my city. Best regards to you and your beautiful family. Byeee...

Hi Rachel! I can´t believe that our month with you is ending, snif! I´ve been learning so much from you and I really like to be your virtual student. Oh dear! It´s going to be hard to say good bye. Anyway, I loved to know that there´s an open-air cinema hold in Sidney´s Royal Botanical. It must be amazing to watch a film at an open-air cinema, aaahh... :-). Here in São Paulo, one of the most important buildings is the MASP( The São Paulo Museum of Art Art). MASP imposing and modern building is located at Paulista Avenue, therefore, it´s a landmark of São Paulo city. Besides, MASP collection is one of the most important in Latin America, and whenever I go there I have a great time. Vocab: iconic (adj): a fomouus people or building; spectacular (adj): very exciting to look at, beautiful; demolish (vb): destroy; fatten up (phr vb): to make an animal to gain weight for human consume ( I just kick Rachel); given the heat (expr – I’m focussing on the use of “given”, here): sensible to hot temperatures (?); wary (adj): not completely trusting or certain about something or someone. Ok Rachel, it´s better I go now. Tomorrow I´ll have a long work day... 14 hours. See you on Friday, when we´re going to bid you farwell. Enjoy your Wednesday, Ana Paula x.

Hi Rachel and Everybody The description about two most iconic building landmarks in Sydney was informative. The best building or the best place in the earth is my house, hehe. Well, there are many buildings to describe; the building which always makes me to look in amazement is the Ripon building in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and India. This was named after Lord Ripon, called as the father of self government in India. It’s huge and big. Any one who passes near this building will be enthralled. In India there are many old monuments and temples. Each of them is unique in its style and makes one wonder their engineering skills. Last month I and Adam, friend of mine in Australia (when he was here) went to Hampi. Hampi is in Karnataka, another state in India. It is an archeological site. The old palace, the royal houses, and many important buildings which once stood there are now in ruins because of power struggle and fight happened between kings. It did teach us a lot. Who know what may happen to the world especially when all nations are proud to have nuclear bombs. Till we meet again Good bye for now. Thanks Praveen Raj

G´day Rachel!The castle is a dominating building as you aproaching the valley of the river Nitra from Bratislava. It was built on a rock hill. There is a cave with a little lake inside the rock. The cave was discovered when I was a child by climbing down there via a castle´s well. Now, you may see the cave during a visit to the castle. It is beautiful and has three tovers and a chapelle. It was rebuilt by the last owner Palffy, a big art collecter, in style like one of castles on the river Loira. The work was finished in 1910 and he died unmarried two years erlier. I worked there as a guide two holidays on the trot and earned my good student´s money then. I managed to go up and down more than three hundred steps for ten or twelws times a day speaking to about two hundred people each time. You know, you are going to have to come here in order Owen can see it along with the nice ZOO just off the castle. I don´t paint buildings or landscape, they are much better for visiting them in reality and photography these days, so I don´t know to descride them properly.So you are sincerely welcome. And I am sure that your grandmother´s cake will turn a fortune. Enjoy the hot days down there!

Good Day Rachel and All friends! Thank you very much Rachel for information and facts about Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Why you did not add any picture of Opera House? I want to share with you some information about the National Monument of my country that was recently completed. It is located in the capital city of Islamabad. It represents the four provinces and three territories of Pakistan. The monument was designed by renowned architect Arif Masood. The four main petals of the monument represent Pakistan’s four provinces while the three smaller petals represent the Pakistan’s northern areas, Azad Kashmir and Federally Administered Tribal Ares (Fata). However, landmark of the Islamabad is Faisal Mosque, which official name is Shah Faisal Masjid, named after late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. And may be you all seen its picture anywhere. It is a state National Mosque and holds the title for being one of the largest mosques in the world, in terms of area. In 1966 King Faisal suggested construction of a mosque during his visit. In 1969, an international competition was held in which architects from 17 countries submitted 43 designs. Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay's design was chosen. Construction of the mosque began in 1976 by National Construction of Pakistan, led by Azim Borujerdi, and was funded by the government of Saudi Arabia, at a cost of over 130 million Saudi riyals (approximately $120 million USD). The mosque was completed in 1986, and used to house the International Islamic University (now shifted to its own campus in the same city). Many conservative Muslims criticised the design at first for its non-conventional design and lack of the traditional dome structure. . It’s relatively unusual design fuses contemporary lines with the more traditional look of an Arab Bedouin's tent, with its large triangular prayer hall and four minarets. However, unlike traditional masjid design, it lacks a dome, and like a tent, the weight of the main prayer hall in the center is supported by the four minarets. The minarets borrow their design from Turkish tradition and are thin pencil like. The interior of this prayer hall holds a very large chandelier and its walls are decorated with mosaics and calligraphy by the famous Pakistani artist Sadeqain. The mosaic pattern adorns the west wall, and has the 'kalima' written in early kufic script, repeated in mirror image pattern. The masjid's architecture is a departure from the long history of south Asian Muslim architecture; however in some ways it makes a bridge between Arabic, Turkish and Pakistani Muslim architectural traditions. The mosque located at the foot of Margalla Hills. It can hold about 300,000 worshippers, including those in the adjacent grounds. (Source: Wikipedia. You can also see nice pictures of the both buildings on the wikipedia.) Vocab: Iconic: distinguished building due to its structure or architecture. Spectacular: sensational in appearance or thrilling in effect. / demolish: to destroy something. / fatten up: making something fat, here I think it used in a sense that these chicken were feed unnaturally that they grownup quickly and returns good money. / given the heat: providing more pleasure or energy or taste. / Wary: caution, watchfulness

Hi Rachel, Though you are British, you have become an Australian. Your blogs reflects this in many situations. You like the place, people, and their culture except the climate in some time in Australia. More over you like very much Chris and Owen. I am living in a small town called Karaikudi, Southrn part of Tamilnadu in India. There are many huge architectural buildings and houses in this place. The chettiar community, one of the richest and wealthiest people in this part of the place had constructed these kinds of monumental buildings to show their wealth to the other people hundred years ago. You can’t believe that there are 1000 windows in one Chettiar house. Imagine how could one open all the 1000 windows and close it. Like this many palatial buildings are in my place. But this was the olden history of the Chettiar community. Most of them migrated from their original place and developed their business in far away places. Now most of their houses are unused and locked for long time. Actually they had worked in Rangoon, Malaysia, Ceylon and many foreign countries and earned enough money. They had only developed banking system in this part of world. They had maintained good relationship with the officials of the British Government when they ruled our country. British rulers also honored the chettiars in a special way. Chettinad, the region where these community people lived was ruled by the Raja (king) of Chettinad. The Cheetinad palace is one of the wonderful places to see. The Tamilnadu Tourism Development Corporation has recently developed this place as one of the tourists’ spots to attract the foreign tourists. The UNESCO has also announced it as a heritage village to preserve its value. You are already in the Christmas mood. my advance Christmas greetings. Convey my wishes to Chris and Owen. Cheerio.

Hi Rachel, I would like to share some of the points, which made me to read your blog and comment on that in the last two months. First the topic you have chosen to write was interesting and you have given attention to all the readers. Then you literally took us to your picnic spot (Coogee to Bondi,Noodles) where you had gone for outing. With your busy schedule you keep aside your timings for outings or picnics. This is absolutely necessary for us to keep our mind fresh and relax. Sharing your outing experience was a great one. This helps us to know different places in Australia and at the same time learning the language in more enthusiastically. You have given many day-to-day examples and conversations with Chris (Drama,Drama,Drama and the biggest loser sport in the world) was really interesting to read. You made me to think some of my old memories (many blogs). You have given many exambles of Gerunds, infinitive and articles to learn much easier way. Some of the stories you told us was amusing (the three sisters,Prince Llewellyn dog and Prince Chris’s Italian shoe) to read. Still I found it hard using your new vocab in my writing, though you taught us to learn this in a simple and innovative way. I like the method you used to make us to use the Vocab in your last few blogs. It helped us to think the new words in real situations and forced us to write. Altogether I feel great to have such a marvelous blog teacher. bye

Dear Rachel, If someday you decided to come to Ahwaz, plan it in a way to arrive at night. Because Ahwaz has one of the most beautiful nights with its seven bridges over Karun river which runs for more than 800 km in the middle of Ahwaz. And there is no need for you to stay in a hotel or anywhere else, because you (including Chris & Owen) are most welcome to our house. The very next morning, we can drive for about 2 hours out of Ahwaz to reach to the Elamite historic complex of Choga Zanbil, and you'll visit one of the three Iranian sites indicated as the World Heritage... and there are more to see in Khuzestan, do come and see for yourself.

Hello Rachel, I like to learn something new every day. Thank you, thank you, thank you again. My personality is now two notches higher compared to that a couple of weeks ago. I just can feel its internal glow expanding my personal horizons. Seriously. :) Oh, I just love the way people adjust things (even religious holidays). This is how I see progress which wouldn't be were it not for breaking the conventional. Unfortunately, here in Russia we don't have a particular way of celebrating Christmas since there was a prohibition on Christmas in Soviet time and it was introduced back again relatively recently. I think what we need to do is just copy what they do for Christmas in Europe as I can't see many ancient Russian Christmas traditions be revived. Landmarks... Here in my city in the centre of Russia they do have this big project the end product of which is supposed to become the main landmark of my city and is expected to be attracting many tourists. I don't believe anybody will gain financially or aesthetically from this project, though. So what will it be? It will be a huge 5-star hotel shaped as a rifle pointed up at the sky and built in the middle of our city reservoir (note: this reservoir is the source of our tape water). There will be a helicopter pad on its roof . Guests and hotel staff will be transported by water (or helicopter, alternatively). This is an utopian project, if you ask me. Why rifle? It's one of those things our city takes great pride of as Mr Kalashnikov (I am sure you have heard this name once or twice) lives and works here. Personally, I think it is a presumptuous, uncivilized and even immoral thing to do, to say nothing of the ugliness of this wonderhotel. Moreover, I am an interested party as my flat overlooks this same reservoir and I don't want anything in the middle of it to blot out beautiful sunsets which I take great pleasure in observing almost daily. Hope you have a good day. Sincerely, Ana

Hello Rachel, Thanks for information about these two places in Sydney. I saw this bridge so many times in TV an important landmark in Sydney, but it's the first time to know these amazing facts about it!! Talking about my country, as you know it is the most important one in Islammic World, why? because in Islam there are 3 sacred mosques: 1- the Holy Mosque in (Makkah) 2- The Mosque of the Prophet in (Madinah) 3- Al-Aqsa Mosque in (Jerusalem) The first two mosques are in Saudi Arabia and the third is in Palestine. I'll tell you some information about the Holy Mosque in (Makkah): the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Makkah, it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims turn towards while offering daily prayer and is considered to be the holiest place on Earth by Muslims. it was famously built by Abraham, with the help of his son Ishmael. through history it still a sacred worship place and every time it's renewed to be perfect. The Kabah is nearly in the middle of the Holy Mosque as it was built through the centuries around this most holy of sites, in the shape of a big, high square room with a height of 15 meters. The door is at its eastern wall, two meters above the ground is made of solid gold but has changed throughout history. The four corners of Kabah are the black corner, the Shami corner (referring to the most northeastern corner), the Yamani corner (the southwestern corner) and the Iraqi corner. At the top of the northern wall, there is the Mizab, A water drain element which is made of pure gold. The Kabah is covered by " kiswah" The Kiswah is woven from pure natural silk, which is dyed black. Some holy sentences are improdered on the black silk in thread of gold. The Kiswah is made up of 41 pieces. Each piece is 14 meters long a

Hello Rachel, Thanks for information about these two places in Sydney. I saw this bridge so many times in TV as an important landmark in Sydney, but it's the first time to know these amazing facts about it!! Talking about buidings in my country, as you know it is the most important one in Islammic World, why? because in Islam there are 3 sacred mosques: 1- the Holy Mosque in (Makkah) 2- The Mosque of the Prophet in (Madinah) 3- Al-Aqsa Mosque in (Jerusalem) The first two mosques are in Saudi Arabia and the third is in Palestine. I'll tell you some information about the Holy Mosque in (Makkah): the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Makkah, it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims turn towards while offering daily prayer and is considered to be the holiest place on Earth by Muslims. it was famously built by Abraham, with the help of his son Ishmael. through history it still a sacred worship place and every time it's renewed to be perfect. The Kabah is nearly in the middle of the Holy Mosque as it was built through the centuries around this most holy of sites, in the shape of a big, high square room with a height of 15 meters. The door is at its eastern wall, two meters above the ground is made of solid gold but has changed throughout history. The four corners of Kabah are the black corner, the Shami corner (referring to the most northeastern corner), the Yamani corner (the southwestern corner) and the Iraqi corner. At the top of the northern wall, there is the Mizab, A water drain element which is made of pure gold. The Kabah is covered by " kiswah" The Kiswah is woven from pure natural silk, which is dyed black. Some holy sentences are improdered on the black silk in thread of gold. The Kiswah is made up of 41 pieces. Each piece is 14 meters long and 95 cm wide. The wide belt, 45 meters long and 95 cm wide, comprises 16 parts. one verse from the Holy Quran is embroidered in gold as circles on the four corners. These circles are surrounded with squares of Islamic decorations. Under the belt, there are also 6 verses of Holy Quran.In the time of the 5 prayers everyday, muslims form glorious circles around the Kaaba, the smallest one is the nearest to the Kabah the second one is larger ..etc. The current structure of the holy mosque covers an area of 356,800 square meters including the outdoor and indoor praying spaces and can accommodate up to 2 million worshippers during the Hajj period (which will come in a month). The Mosque is magnific and no word can describe its beautiful Islamic decoration. ##note : the title of our king is "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques"

Rachel, you wrote about the bridge and made me remember something interesting that happened about two years ago. You know that there are many uruguayan people living in Sidney and another places of Australia. They have a club and they send cooperation for charities here in Uruguay. There was a TV program dedicated to raise? funds for a charity and the uruguayan people there had to make some tasks in order to obtain money. One of the tasks was to put the uruguayan flag at the top of the Bridge. They gathered there, a lot of people and they got the permission from the authorities, so we saw our flag for some hours, in the place where only the Australian flag had been. It was a very good program and also people here could see their relatives living in Sidney. Do you know some people from here?

G 'day, What are you all doing ? I had two wonderful month with you and of course I take my hat off to you . Specially I think your question about new words was a good way of practicing new words . I must confess , Some times I learnt new words with reader ' s answers and with this way I could learn more efficiently . Newly I 'm doubting about my mind , because I forget the new words very soon . But I try to use method of writing new words on a sheet of paper and trying to memorize them in different occasions . The Opera House and the harbour bridge both are attractive and I specially impress by it 's breathtaking view . About Iran 's land mark , really it’s very hard job to choose one or two landmarks and I can mention to Persepolis in shiraz which is Founded by Darius I in 518 B.C., Persepolis was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. It was built on an immense half-artificial, half-natural terrace, where the king of kings created an impressive palace complex inspired by Mesopotamian models. The importance and quality of the monumental ruins make it a unique archaeological site. And I must don’t forget to say Esphehan city and Yazd city and Kermanshah citiy that have many landmarks to say . If I someday be the student Bloger I do will introduce all of them to my dear virtual friends . By the way , my English teacher 's uncle , newly passed away and I really don’t know how can I show my sympathy to him .I 'll be really grateful if you say how we can say condolencing to some one . Kiss Owen and say my hello to your better half Xxx

HI , it 's me again . I wana to give a short message to Habooba from Ahwaz . Dear Habooba please to meet you here , for a long time i was the only Iranian reader here . But i wish you write the name of Iran becide of your city name , because i think most of readers don't know where is Ahwas . By the way i think i 'm about your age and last year i had a chance to see your beufifull city . But i wasn't lucky enough to visit Choga Zanbil . I wish for seeing you as a student Bloger and so, you will be the first Iranian Bloger in BBC . Send my hello and welcome to your friend , Maryam , too . See you later and bye

Hello Rachel¡¡ I am a new blogger. Sorry, but my English is very bad. I am really problem about writting. I hope you nedd me. Is very interesting your blog because I improve my English and I can know different cultures. I like Aussi stars films very mach and I know the beautiful landscapes trhougt films. Mérida is a little towm in Spain.(average 60.000 inhabitanst) The are a lot of anciant Roman monuments. The most important is The Roman Theatre. Every year in July and August has plays theatre. Classical Theatre.Thanks.The tale about Thre siste is very beautiful. I hope writting time from time.

Hey up Rachel! Padua’s landmarks are: The Scrovegni Chapel and Prato Della Valle. The Scrovegni Chapel houses several frescoes by Giotto whereas Prato della Valle is the biggest square in Europe after Red Square in Moscow. Every Saturday “our” square becomes the seat of a market. As your blog’s time is drawing to a close, once again, I would like to thank you for taking time to answer to my comments. It has been very interesting to read your blog. I hope to visit Aussie one day. All the best,

Hi Leila :-) It's nice to hear that the Botanical Gardens in Sydney weren't demolished. From the very beginning of their existence, people have been destroying their environment. Year by year, day by day people destroy their natural surroundings: forests, plants, animals, water and air. The way of thinking is always the same: it's only a few trees, it's only a little river, it's only one or two species of animals but! all over the world it's lots of nature that is destroyed every day. So each time a piece of news about at least a little part of our world having been saved makes me happy. By for now and until next time.

Dear Rachel,your posts have been wonderful and cant help admiring your teaching style,the way you encourage your students,all of us,to learn new vocab is absolutely new to me,thank you so much!Keep up your work,I wish BBC would ask you to be our teacher again,after a while.And one more thing - now,when you have a lot of fans all over the world,can you tell us how it could influence your personal development and what teaching experience you have had online is the most valuable for you?Take care and all the best for your nice family.Helen

Thank you very much for entertaining us by your wonderful Blog. I have tried all vocab. by myself. Has my English improved? I do not know. But the most valuable truth is "I have enjoyed doing that". Thanks,again. And take care of your family.

Owh! It's so great to read your blog! This is the first time I've ever read fully one blog. The reason is that yours are Teacher blog, so it's perfect in structure and in thinking. Everything is clearly, too. I would like to take this event to wish you all of the best. Hope you will continue blogging, not stop as you mentioned! Is it possible, Rachel?