Goodbye and good luck from Anne

Dear Xuan and everyone,

Thanks for all of your messages and good wishes. I am feeling much better. This is mostly because I have been to see a top notch, expert, highly skilled local doctor. Here is a photo of him. I admit that he does look a bit young (and curiously, a little bit like my son Josh…) but he has a lot of equipment. After several injections, my throat was miraculously healed.



I hope you have time to write a quick blog to us all today, Xuan. You seem to have had a very busy month with all of your exams, and it was nice to chat with you when you had the time. I enjoyed hearing about your grandparents, your visits to the country and your school reunion. And you showed us some beautiful picture of flowers, countryside and your friends. I wish you all the best for the future and your English studies. If you can’t blog today, please log in through the comments page and let us know how you are doing.

Well, the BBC have announced the next teacher and student bloggers, so it is time for me to say goodbye. I have really, really enjoyed blogging with everyone and thank you all so much for taking the time to reply, make comments and ask questions. The blog would not be half as good without all the readers, so thank you for all of your efforts. Best wishes to you all for the future and KEEP BLOGGING! Here are a few replies to everyone who posted a comment on my last blog.

Hello Pary – I have told Steve that I need to take a month off work to visit Iran. He said ‘no problem, but what about your boss’? Hmmmmm. I’ll have to work on that one. Please keep blogging when you can and best wishes to you and your family.

Hello Lalya – hello and welcome to the blog. Technically, taking a bath and taking a shower are 2 different things (because a bath and a shower are not the same). But, they both mean ‘to get clean’ or ‘to have a wash’. So if you say ‘I’m going to take a bath’ when in fact you are having a shower, it’s not the end of the world.

Hello Silwal Kishor – thanks for all of your blogs and news from Nepal. I hope that Steve and I will be able to revisit your country one day and show the kids some of the beautiful scenery you have there. Best wishes to you and your family.

Hello Vladimir – I think the best season for visiting Thailand for Europeans in from November to February. This is when it is not too hot, and you can do lots of outdoor activities. But each season has a good side – the monsoon rains in July are fabulous (and it doesn’t rain all day, just in the mornings and evenings). Thank you for all of your posts and comments, and best wishes to you and your son.

Hello Ernesto – the tips about the honey was good. Thankfully, the kids are fine and so far have not caught anything. I think a glass of good, Chilean red wine will also help once I feel 100% recovered. I have enjoyed chatting with you in cyberspace and all the best for the future.

Hi Hyoshil – I hope you have a great half term with your family. I have enjoyed chatting with you as well. Have you chosen your new paint yet? I hope the redecorating goes well and all the best to you and your family.

Hello Maione – thank you for your post. I have also enjoyed chatting with you and I hope you will continue to log in and keep blogging. Best Wishes.

Hello Carme – hmm, I guess teaching English is sometimes difficult, as is any job, but it is made interesting and varied by such wonderful students as we have here on the blog. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get all of us in a room together – I bet we’d have a great time. Keep blogging and best wishes.

Hello Guzin – well done for noticing you didn’t sign your name, I was trying to work out who it could be. You are right, I think this website can get addictive – I will certainly keep logging on once I stop writing. All the best.

Hello Lucia – please do keep trying to use everything you read on the blog. Conversation and chatting is a great way to improve your English. Best wishes to you.

Hello Concetta – thank you for telling us about your favourite meal. I wonder where Steve and I will spend our 25th wedding anniversary (18 years away…) You seem to have a very artistic family. Best Wishes to you all for your English studies and the future in general.

Dear Cris – we were both wrong! I also through the next teacher blogger might be a guy, but ‘Sophie’ is very much a female name. Thank you for being such a wonderful student and I hope that we can say we have become good friends as well. I will miss you, Xuan and all of the bloggers very much. But, as you said when you closed your post last month, what a wonderful experience for everyone this blog is and it is great that we all have the opportunity to meet and chat together. Best Wishes to you, Oscar and all of your family for the future. Bye for now…

Hello Ana Paul – how is your throat? Did the green tea work? I hope you are feeling better. You have such a healthy lifestyle, that I think you should be better in no time. Best wishes to you and your family, keep doing aerobics and eating apples, and keep blogging!

Hello Kuldeep – you have asked me a very big question (and very interesting!) about the differences between British English and Indian English. I cannot possibly answer this properly in a few sentences, but from living in India, I did notice that there were a lot of differences in vocabulary. But this is just one example. I hope this link is helpful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_English Thank you for all of your posts. You always make a big effort to write and it is very much appreciated. Best wishes to you and your family for the future.

Hello Valeriy – I echo your advice. Read as often as you can and chat as much as possible!!! I think I probably write like I speak – quite quickly with the occasional blunder. Please keep blogging and chatting to us all and best wishes.

Hello Alied. Aaah – another interesting question just as I am about to leave! You asked me what the difference between yet and but is. They can both be used as a connector, to mean ‘nevertheless’ e.g.
- She is strange yet kind // She is strange but kind

The word ‘yet’ does have other used though. For example, it can mean ‘up to now’
- I would like to go to China, but I haven’t been there yet (i.e. I have not visited before now)

Thank you for your question and all the best.

Hello Madhav Paudel – I am sorry if I have not given a personal reply to you before. Please accept my apologies, as I do try to reply to everyone. You might be a latecomer for me, but please make the most of being a ‘newcomer’ or ‘early arrival’ for the incoming teacher blogger. Best wishes to you.

Hello Leila – thank you for your final message. I admire you for being so active. I hope that I am like you when I am 58! I really believe that being active is good for us. You know the expression, ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ :-) I am sure that you will keep blogging and best wishes for the future, to you and your family.

Hello Monika – I hope some of the words and phrases you have learnt on the blog have been useful to you in real life. And thanks for the tip about milk and honey. It sounds too good to be medicine! Best wishes to you.

Hello Adek – please feel no pressure to write lots of comments. It has been great to chat to you from time to time and thank you for your message. All the best for the future.

Hello Silvana – it has also been a pleasure for me to chat to everyone on this blog. I have enjoyed reading everyone’s stories, comments and most of all just getting to know people. Please keep blogging and best wishes to you too.

OK folks – that’s it. Here is a final shot of me at my desk, signing off to everyone.
Lots of love and best wishes from,
Anne, as well as Steve, Josh and Rachel
xxxx

Thanks for all your contributions. This blog has now closed and can no longer accept new comments.