Germanic/Tribal Roots

Hello!

Again, I hope you all enjoyed our last session, I'm very happy with our group and how we chat, but I think next week I will have to be more strict with the time. The problem is I think speaking (and writing!) is one of the best ways to really maintain/improve a language, sometimes I let this opinion get the better of me!

Anyway, I found this link which explains quite well the differences of Germanic English (used more for speaking and therefore more prone to changes and alterations) and more formal (Latin) English.


www.teachingenglish.org.uk/files/teacheng/Classroom%20Resources%20DictionariesLang-Chunks-Article.pdf


Keep in touch!
Felicity

North vs South

Hello again!

I hope you enjoyed Thursday's session about the North-South divide, I hope I wasn't too subjective, the North is not that bad, it's simply that the South is better!

Anyway, as promised, here is some extra information about both areas, separated many centuries ago and not yet truly united....

Parts of the articles are taken from facebook groups called
'1000 reasons why the North is better than the South' http://es-es.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2215192716
and (originally)
'1000 reasons why the South is better than the North' http://es-es.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2214666492.

I don't think the groups use capital letters for North and South but in my capacity as teacher I would like to inform you that in correct English we do!


Part 1:

Why it's better up in the north

USER Adam Drewery said: "Today we have food heaven and hell, jellied eels with creamed potatoes versus roast Lancashire beef, Yorkshire puddings and the North East’s finest crisp spring vegetables."

Steven Torrie said: "We have better mountains and we don’t say ‘barth’ and ‘carsal’.

Tom Wilkinson said: "Mountains, lakes, forests, wildlife, chips and gravy, polite people, largest resource for minerals and coal in the country, Thirlmere reservoir supplies water all the way down to Manchester; you can walk for 10 minutes in one direction and be out in the middle of nowhere, real Cumberland sausages, and on the topic of food, Cumbria supplies the nation with the largest percentage of meat, and it’s damn tasty; soft water so scum doesn’t develop in your kettle; the accent is faster, easier and more to the point ... ’ow’s it garn’ ... can mean several pleasant greetings in different contexts.

"Lots of things to get involved in; water sports, climbing, biking, gill scrambling, scree-running and all really possible if you take that 10-minute walk out one way. I could actually write a thousand reasons here and now, but I’ll save some space for others. Because we are polite."

Isambard Rayner said: "Main reason why North is better... better BEER. It’s cheaper as well."

Andrew Richard Barton said: "We have the best rock climbing in England."

Stacey Redpath said: "We drink Vimto and not Ribena, tea is food and brew is a drink."

And Andrew Donoghue said: "No congestion charges up North."

Some of the favourite features include Gateshead Millennium Bridge, the Sage Gateshead, Fog on the Tyne, Newcastle Brown Ale and the Toon Army.




British cities: Manchester’s comeback
Jul 30th 1998 From The Economist


EVERY now and then Manchester gets a reminder of its little brother status. After two failed bids for the Olympics this decade, Sebastian Coe, Britain’s most famous modern Olympian, remarked that if the United Kingdom really wanted the Olympics, it should recognise that the only place that would be taken seriously internationally was London. Manchester’s bid to become the site for the new European Central Bank was widely derided. Its bid for Britain’s new national stadium was taken more seriously—but London got it all the same. Even Manchester’s most famous sons have a habit of decamping to the south. Noel and Liam Gallagher, the front men for Oasis, one of Britain’s most successful bands, make a lot of their Manchester origins—but live in London these days.



Part 2:

Why it's better down south

THERE are 152 discussion topics on Phil’s site – 1,000 reasons why the South is better than the North.
User Suzie Keller said: "I vote Surrey – low crime rate, beautiful houses and countryside and fabulous education – even the non-fee-paying schools are good and close to London and Brighton. Brilliant."
Ashley Morgan, of the West Midlands, said: "I live up North 10 months of the year (Why did I choose to go to York uni?) and I can tell you they are not nicer.
"Their disingenuous chat is only there to maintain the facade that they may not have as much affluence as the South but they have better people skills."
Another topic, entitled "The South must be better than north … that’s why the capital is here", brought the responses: "Statement I believe cannot be refuted – it’s colder up North" from Claire Wimpory, of the London network, and Robbie Roffe, of Leeds, replied: "Yeah, that’s a point, the North will suffer a lot less from global warming as well, maybe the capital will move up here once London is flooded."
Emilia Grace De Wolf said: "Hampshire – land of the gods. An hour away from London, but in the middle of the countryside, lack of chavs, great education, has Winchester in (recently voted best place to live in the UK on that Channel 4 programme) and it’s on the south coast – smashed on the beach, plus tasty lifeguards. Hampshire, land of the glorious middle classes and place of my dreams/forefathers."


A survey of more than 9,000 British postcodes, by CACI Information Services, shows that average income in Britain last year was £26,200, which is 12.5 per cent higher than in 2000 and an increase of 34 per cent on 1996.
1.5 per cent of all UK households have incomes higher than £100,000, with Thorntonhall, a suburb of Glasgow, topping the poll. In a neighbourhood containing just 333 households, almost one in eight enjoys an income of more than £100,000 a year.
The other wealthiest postcodes (those with the highest percentage of households earning more that £100,000) are all located in London and the South East. In second place is Fleet in Hampshire, followed by Hampstead (London), Effingham (Surrey), Wimbledon (London), Wandsworth (London), Bayswater (London), and Kensington (London).



Life expectancy: north-south lifestyle divide blamed for health inequalities

* Sara Gaines guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 June 2008 10.53 BST

There is a clear north-south divide in patterns of binge drinking and unhealthy eating which help explain a growing life expectancy gap, new analysis shows today.
Consultants Local Futures compared life expectancy with data on lifestyle factors associated with poor health and found a clear correlation.
People in the richest parts of England can expect to live up to 10 years longer than those in less affluent areas - and the gap is widening, according to government figures.

Advancing in English – furthering knowledge of the English language and cultures

Welcome!

I hope we can use this tool to write and communicate in English all week long!

Things to be getting on with this week:

Choose a book and order or buy it. (Alibri, alibri.es, Casa del libro, casadellibro.com, Come in Libreria inglesa, www.libreriainglesa.com)

A field guide to the British by Sarah Lyall ISBN 978-1-84724-582-3, Quercus, 2008

Watching the English by Kate Fox ISBN 9780340818862, Hodder & Stoughton, 2005

The adventures of the English Language by Melvin Bragg ISBN 978-1559707107, Arcade Publishing, 2004

The English: A Portrait of a People by Jeremy Paxman ISBN 978-0141032955, Penguin, 2007

White Teeth by Zadie Smith ISBN 9780140297782, Penguin, 2002

Write a first entry for the blog, explaining why you like and dislike English and what you learnt in this week's session.