Thoughts of home

Thanks for your last couple of posts Shirley. I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get to go further in your competition but you're right (and very generous!) to say that it's good that at least some of your colleagues got through. I hope next year you'll be one of the ones on the plane to Singapore too.

I can't believe you have such darling little kittens right there at work. We could do with a few of those wee creatures here in the Learning English office. Can you guess why?

Your Blue of Indonesia was a really interesting ad. Isn't it amazing what a few pictures and a well-timed piece of music can do to us?

There was a similarly successful ad in Scotland (quite a few years ago now). It was for beer (what is it about these emotive ad campaigns that are for things that are bad for us? First, cigarettes from Indonesia and now beer from Scotland!).

This ad tells the well-known tale of someone living in a big city, missing the simple pleasures of home, far away.

Actually the guy in the ad seems pretty similar to me (except I'm not a bloke! And I don't use the tube, I ride my bike to work most days) but I feel quite differently about London. It's the multi-cultural, packed, frenetic, pace of life that I like about London, whereas, those very features were things that seemed to be getting him down.

Having said that, the song Caledonia (an old name for Scotland) still brings a lump to my throat every time I hear it! So maybe I'm more sentimental about my homeland than I'm letting on!

I'd like to take a look at some of your tenses in your last couple of posts, if you don't mind Shirley. As I mentioned before, I'm sure you know the rules, and these are just a couple of slips, but I still think it's worth running over the basics now and again.

The present simple (I am, she is, we are etc.) can be used to talk about things we do regularly, our habits or things that are always true. For example, as you said Today is Friday… the office is quiet

But what about this example from your blog. Can you see how you should change it?

Every Friday … many employees are doing Friday prayer

These next three are a bit more complicated. Your have two different tenses in these sentences (present simple and past simple and present simple and present continuous). Any ideas how you could improve these?

The good news was the other team from my company made it through as the winner.

I loved the majestic feel(ing) that they created and they remind people about the color of the packaging with the song.

When I watch a movie or reading a book.

The present perfect (I've been living in London for years. Shirley's been writing a blog for a couple of weeks.) can be used to talk about something that started in the past and which continues up till now. Can you see how to improve this one?

Since then, those kittens practically lived there and being taken care of by the studio crews.

And how about this quandary to end on? If we use the present simple for things that are always true (The sun rises in the east.) what should we say here?

Patrick Swayze RIP. He is quite a charming actor, isn't he?

Even though he is dead, he still lives, through his films. So which is right?

a) he is a charming actor or
b) he was a charming actor

All the best,

Nuala
PS I'm glad to see you've moved from Ms O'Sullivan to Nuala, Shirley. It makes the blog seem much more informal. Thanks.

Vocabulary
frenetic – chaotic, frenzied, very busy
getting him down – making him sad
brings a lump to my throat – makes me feel as if I'm about to cry
sentimental – overly emotional
letting on – telling or admitting to
running over – revising
quandary – puzzle or problem

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