Samuel Taylor Coleridge was one of the most important poets of the 18th and the early 19th century. He was a close friend of another very influential English poet, William Wordsworth, and his sister Dorothy - so close that he chose to move to the Lake District to live near them. The two Lake Poets …
New Year’s resolutions for language learners
Beginning of a new year is the perfect time to reassess one’s priorities and set personal goals for the coming twelve months. I’ve been doing my New Year’s resolutions for many years, always writing them down on the first page of my annual planner. Looking back, most of my past resolutions were quite unrealistic (lose …
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Latin abbreviations in English
Some find them outdated and archaic, but they are still very much around, and just won't go away: Latin abbreviations in English! While most of them tend to be used in formal, academic writing, a number of them feature in everyday spoken language, as well: a.m. and p.m. in reference to time, AD when talking …
How to describe a painting in English?
Working with students, I’ve realised many of them struggle with tasks connected with art. They are often reluctant to approach the subject because they don’t know much about the history of art, or they feel they lack relevant vocabulary. As they tell me, they wouldn’t know how to describe a painting even if they had …