Luis, thanks for your blog about Mexico's drug war. We hear a lot about it in the news, but it's fascinating to hear the point of view of someone who lives there. I went to Mexico two years ago and, as a tourist, I only saw the positive sides of the country: colourful streets, welcoming people and great food (I heartily recommend guacamole with fried crickets).

It seems the Aztecs also loved gourmet food; they drank a chocolate drink called 'xocoatl' centuries before the Spanish conquistadores arrived, which they flavoured with vanilla. This, along with the fact the Aztecs paid for goods with chocolate -well OK, cocoa beans- gives me a romantic idea of what it used to be like in Aztec Mexico... although the common practice of human sacrifice makes it a bit less appealing!

LUIS'S BLOG - SOME SUGGESTIONS

1) You wrote: what is happening in México with all of those news ...

The word 'news' in English has the letter 's' at the end, but it is a singular noun. Therefore you should write 'this news': The news today is so depressing!

2) You write that: The big mistake of the narco war initiative was not existed the infrastructure, police corps and logistic to win the war in overwhelming.

Here the subject in English (the infrastructure) should be placed BEFORE the verb, so: The big mistake of the narco war initiative was that an infrastructure was not in place, so the police corps were not able to win the war.

In your sentence, 'in overwhelming' is incorrect. 'Overwhelming' is an adjective so you need to use it before a noun: The party was elected by an overwhelming majority.

3) You suggest that: many other hidden operations has made think of Mexican population in the drugs legalization

Here the subject should be placed before the verb 'think': many other hidden operations have made the Mexican population think about the legalization of drugs.
So remember that normally in English, the structure of a sentence is: subject, verb, object.

4) You wrote about the lives of 'the most of Mexican people'

In English you only need 'most' in this case: Most Mexican people... For instance: Most people think English weather is horrible, but I really like our cloudy, moody skies.

HOMEWORK

Complete the story about the Aztec Goddess Coatlicue with these words:

multifaceted / mortals / fertility / depicted / devours / name / skirt

Coatlicue is the Aztec Mother of gods and 1) __________ .

Her 2) __________ means 'Serpent Skirt' and she is represented with serpents on her 3) ___________ and around her head.

Snakes are often seen as a symbol of 4) __________ .

Coatlicue is also 5) ___________ with a necklace of human hearts and skulls.

This Goddess is 6) ___________ : she is a loving mother yet 7) __________ everything that lives.

HOMEWORK ANSWERS

Well done for finding the titles of Beatles songs in my blog... but there are some you missed out! These were the titles I included: 1) Hello, Goodbye 2) Day in the life 3) Across the universe 4) All things must pass 5) Come together 6) Yesterday 7) Help! 8) From me to you 9) The long and winding road 10) Yellow submarine 11) Ask me why 12) Hey Jude 13) Don't let me down

VOCABULARY

heartily - enthusiastically
crickets - a small insect that can jump very high!
ruins - the remains of a building or structure
highlight - most interesting part of something
pyramidal - in the shape of a pyramid
out loud - to speak aloud
gourmet - sophisticated food
conquistadores - Spanish conquerors
appealing - attractive

Today is a special day in the life of BBC Learning English: we're moving out of our office. On Monday we'll be working in a new office in West London. For me it means the commute to work will be much longer: it might feel like travelling across the universe every day. Everyone is a little sad to leave Bush House but... all things must pass!

Can you tell we're packing?

LUIS' BLOG:

Luis, thanks for your blog about Paul McCartney's concert in the Zocalo of Mexico City. In events like these English and Mexican culture really come together. Your blog describes it vividly - it seems you remember it as if it were yesterday.

Here are some corrections from me to you, to help you along the long and winding road of learning English:

1) You wrote about ... The biggest song writer live on live

Here I think what you meant was: The biggest song writer alive performing live

The word 'alive' means 'to exist' whereas a 'live' performance means it is broadcast without being recorded first: My favourite band performed live from a yellow submarine!

2) You write about the importance of Mother's Day in Mexico: People use to celebrate with mothers

Do you mean: People usually celebrate with their mothers.

If you write 'people used to celebrate' it means that in the past people regularly celebrated. The verb 'used to' indicates something in the past: Hey Jude! Do you remember when you used to listen to English music to improve your listening skills?

So when you want to convey how often something is done, use a frequency adverb: always, often, sometimes, never, etc.

3) Luis, I like the way you write both about the concert and the political context of Mexico, but you did make a mistake that made me laugh a little: ...in this time when near 50% of its population live on puberty

I think you meant 'poverty' here: Many people live in poverty even though they work eight days a week. Puberty has a rather different meaning: the period in life when a child changes into an adult!

If there's anything that doesn't make sense, just ask me why.

Homework

Did you notice anything strange about the way I wrote the blog today? Hidden in what I wrote are the titles of a few Beatles songs. Don't let me down; find as many as possible and write them in the comments below!

1) You write: ...I was given the chance to write for another English learners ...

Here, the use of 'another' is incorrect, since this would be used when followed with a singular noun - for instance, 'for another English learner'. If you put this before a plural noun (so here 'learners') you need to use the word 'other': ...a chance to write for other English learners. An easy way of remembering this is to think that 'another' = 'an other' = only ONE other. But 'other' means more than one!

2) You mention: I do not want lost the opportunity

Here there are two small mistakes... After 'want' you need an infinitive verb, so: I do not want to lose. So this verb shouldn't be in the past, but in the infinitive. Also, in this case it would be better to use 'miss out on' which means not to take advantage of a good opportunity: I don't want to miss out on the opportunity of introducing my family to you.

3) Don't forget the preposition 'to' before an infinitive verb in this sentence: My purpose is to improve my talking ...

4) You use some very nice adjectives to describe the English language: this powerful, useful, beauty, and of course important language.

But one of the words you use is not an adjective, but a noun: 'beauty' in this case should be 'beautiful' - since the first is the noun and the second the describing word or adjective: English is a beautiful language but it's difficult to master!

So Luis, your challenge when writing your next blog is not to make the mistakes above!!! I look forward to hearing more about your life in Mexico. I've been there twice and absolutely loved it.

HOMEWORK

Here is an exercise about introducing yourself: please write your answers in the comments section below...

Look at the dialogue between two people who have just met. They make SEVEN mistakes in English. Can you work out what these are and correct them?

Paul: Hi, you must be Virginie. I'm Paul.
Virginie: Nice meet you, Paul. It's such an honour - I've heard so a lot about you.
Paul: All the good I hope! So... tell me a bit about yourself.
Virginie: Well, I'm French and I really want learn English. I have a big family - three brothers and four sister!
Paul: Wow, that's a lot. I really have to go but it was pleasure to meet you!
Virginie: Likewise. See you soon!

Well done to those who did the 'Mr Couch' homework. I was extremely pleased to see that everyone got all the answers right. As Pari suggested, there was more than one correct answer for this exercise:

YOUR QUESTIONS

As this is my last blog, I'm going to answer some of the questions about English you asked in your comments.

From time to time

Rajeeb, 'from time to time' means 'sometimes' and you can use it at the beginning or end of a sentence:

From time to time, I have a coffee. / I go to France from time to time.

Or have a look at Krisztina's very clear example!

Mr. versus Mr

Both Mr. and Mr are correct: the first is used more in the United States.

Adverbs

Sai-fung, it is correct to put adverbs after a verb in English: an 'adverb' is a word which describes a verb so it is usually placed after the verb: He read the book quickly.

So 'quickly' describes the verb 'read'. How did he read the book? He read it quickly.

An adjective describes a noun: She's an intelligent woman.

The adjective 'intelligent' describes the noun 'woman'.

So here's a summary: an adverb describes a verb and is placed after the verb. An adjective describes a noun and can go either after a verb or before a noun. Does this make sense?

Have / Have got

Tenocht, the verbs 'have' and 'have got' mean exactly the same thing:

I have an apple in my bag. / I've got an apple in my bag.

You need to be careful with the position of these in questions:

Have you got time to make me a sandwich?
Do you have time to do your homework?

In questions, the subject (you) is placed between 'have' and 'got', whereas with the verb 'have' we use 'Do + subject + have'.

HOMEWORK

And of course here is some homework for you to see if you read my explanations carefully:

1. Tell me 5 adjectives that describe your personality.
2. Write a sentence with as many adjectives as possible.
3. Look at the sentence I wrote above under 'Homework '(And of course...). What's the adverb in this sentence?
4. Write a sentence with an adverb.
5. Write a question with 'have got'.
6. Write a sentence with the phrase 'from time to time'.

Although this is my last blog, I'll reply to your comments below...

Bye to all of you and well done for all your hard work and fascinating stories! It's been a pleasure to get to know you a bit. Neil will be blogging in April!

Olga, the topic you write about is complex... You are spot on when you write that there is no right or wrong answer. Personally, I have good male friends and as we say in English, 'there is nothing between us' - which means we have a platonic friendship. Let's have a look at some ways to improve your writing... You write:

This should be 'between a man and a woman' if the nouns are singular, since singular nouns need to be preceded by an article such as 'the/a/an'. An alternative would be to write: 'between men or women' which is correct without articles... see my last blog for more on articles!

Be careful with the position of frequency adverbs when you write:

A coin has always two sides

The word 'always' is a frequency adverb and should be placed before the verb:

A coin always has two sides

But remember that frequency adverbs always go after the verb 'be': I'm often late for work! In the following sentence you use the verb 'winding up':

Nowadays the difference between two sexes is winding up and is becoming more and more unclear.

The verb 'wind up' is usually used to mean 'to finish'. Did you mean that it's getting more complex? Another common mistake in English is with the use of 'In these days':

In these days, females have become as active as males...

It would sound more natural in English to write 'Nowadays / Today / In modern society.' And lastly...

The basics of friendship are interest and confidence, not gender!

The word 'confidence' in English is used to describe people who are very sure of themselves. I think here you mean 'trust'?

If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask in a comment below this blog!

Homework answers

Well done to those of you who completed the homework. Here are the answers:

1) an
2) no article
3) no article
4) the
5) no article
6) no article
7) the
8) an
9) no article
10) no article

Homework

Let's practise using frequency adverbs: always, often, usually, sometimes, from time to time, rarely, hardly ever, never.

Mr Couch is a very lazy man. Rewrite the sentences with a frequency adverb:

Example: He is happy when he's cleaning the house.
Answer: He is never happy when he's cleaning the house.

1) Mr Couch does the washing up.

2) He sleeps until midday on Sundays.

3) He does his English homework.

4) Mr Couch lies on his sofa watching TV.

5) He goes to the gym to exercise.

6) He phones his girlfriend because he feels too tired to walk to her house - even though she lives round the corner!

Are these legendary tales passed around just for fun? Some people think they can act as cautionary tales so that we're more careful. This could be true: my mum told me the story about organ thieves when I went travelling during my gap year. I believed it at the time and was horrified... and always checked that water bottles were sealed. Maybe I was a little too gullible.

Do you know any urban legends - or stories that are circulated but might not be true? Do you think there is a grain of truth in some urban legends? Are you a gullible person - do you believe things very easily and without evidence?

HOMEWORK ANSWERS

1) freezing cold
2) snow
3) mild
4) breeze
5) sunny
6) sweltering
7) pouring

CORRECTIONS: a/an, the

Right, let's have a look at articles: when should these be used? Olga, you write:

what a lovely memories!

Here you don't need the article 'a' because 'memories' is plural. So look at these two correct sentences: What a lovely memory! / What lovely memories!

The articles 'a/an' are only used with singular nouns. So I can write: I've read fascinating stories. No article is needed because it's plural, but here we need it: I've read a fascinating story.

Can you guess what the mistake is in this sentence:

A highly skilled archer, who lived in a Sherwood Forest with a group of his companions.

Here, you don't need the article 'a' before 'Sherwood Forest'. This is because a/an/the aren't used in front of proper nouns (names, cities, etc.). Look at these sentences:

I visited the Spain in January. = INCORRECT - Spain is a proper noun so we don't need the article.

I visited Spain in January. = CORRECT

I went to an Epping Forest in North London. = INCORRECT - we don't need 'an' here.

I went to a forest in North London. = CORRECT - the article is needed since it precedes the noun 'forest'.

In this sentence there is a similar mistake:

I bet you heard about English legendary hero, considered as one of the most famous.

Yes, you need the article 'the': I bet you heard about the English legendary hero...

This is because you refer to a specific hero - so look at these correct sentences:

I bet you heard about the English legendary hero, considered as one of the most famous.

I bet you've heard about legendary heroes from your country.

In the second sentence, we don't need the article 'the' because you're talking about heroes generally, rather than about one specific hero.

Let's practise articles in today's...

HOMEWORK

Article or no article? Fill in the gaps with a, an, the ... or nothing.

1) I'm eating ____ orange for lunch. I'm on a diet.
2) I love tasting ____ wines.
3) Last winter I went skiing in ____ Canada.
4) Helen, ____ biscuits you bought yesterday are delicious. Please buy some more!
5) Have you ever been to ____ Hyde Park in London?
6) Do you like eating ____ cheese?
7) I spoke to ____ artist who did these paintings. He seemed like 8) ____ eccentric guy!
9) The English like to drink ____ milk in their tea.
10) My mum looks so young: ____ people often think she's my sister.

VOCABULARY

urban legend / contemporary legend: a story that is circulated and may or may not be true
helmet: a hat that protects your head
sewers: underground passages that carry waste and water away
look-alike: a person who looks exactly like someone else
sealed: closed securely and tightly
gap year: a year between secondary school and university during which a student doesn't study
gullible: someone who believes everything you tell them
a grain of truth: a little bit of truth

A picture I took near my house a few weeks ago...

Come to think of it, we do hear more than the two words 'freezing cold' in London. We also hear windy, chilly, cloudy, mild, drizzle, stormy, fog, mist, wet, icy. Occasionally we hear the words: sunny and warm. We rarely hear the words: sweltering or boiling hot.

This is me enjoying the snow

If you're planning to visit England, it's crucial that you know some weather vocabulary because people love talking about the weather. So this week's homework is to complete the following conversation between two strangers at a London bus stop, using the following words:

sweltering / sunny / pouring / mild / freezing cold / breeze / snow

A: Brrrrrrrr! It's 1) ________ _______ today, isn't it?
B: Yes, I watched the weather forecast and apparently it's going to 2) ______ this weekend!
A: Great - I love having snowball fights! The weather is so changeable: yesterday it was nice and 3) ______ and there was a warm 4) _________.
B: You can never rely on English weather. I'm going on holiday to Madrid in July to enjoy some 5)______ weather. In summer there is 6) ________ heat there.
A: A little too hot for my liking! I like English weather... sometimes. Oh no, it's 7) ________ down with rain! Can I share your umbrella?

Do people like talking about the weather in your country? What are the most common topics of conversation?

CORRECTIONS

Olga, your written English is very good, but as your teacher it's my role to go through your blog entry with a fine-tooth comb and look for mistakes! So here goes...

You write about sangria: The answer should be only one...

This sentence is not incorrect but doesn't sound very natural in English. You could use There is only one answer (to this question). You describe the variety of food in Spain:

I am sure that even the most sophisticated aficionado of refined dishes will find a dish after his heart!

Here we wouldn't use 'after his heart' but perhaps an expression like 'to his liking / to his taste':

... the most sophisticated aficionado of refined dishes will find a dish to his liking / to his taste!

A difficult aspect of English is the use of 'the':

I always bear in mind that the flexibility and adaptability are two of the most important attributes.

Here you don't need the article 'the' before 'flexibility'. We use the definite article 'the' to indicate something specific, so here it shouldn't be used because you're talking about 'flexibility' in a general way. So compare these two correct sentences:

Flexibility is one of the most important aspects of someone's personality.

The flexibility Olga showed when she worked with us was incredible.

In the second sentence, we use 'the' because we're talking specifically about Olga's flexibility. In the first sentence, we don't need 'the' because we're talking more generally.

Olga, I look forward to reading your next blog entry. Could you tell us a bit about Poland? I imagine Polish culture must be very different to Spain - do you miss it?

at the other end of the spectrum - the opposite
sweltering - uncomfortably hot
Come to think of it - now that I'm thinking about it
drizzle - light rain
fog / mist - a thick cloud of drops of water which makes it hard to see
changeable - something that changes in an unpredictable way
with a fine-tooth comb - very carefully

Thanks for all your creative responses to last week's homework. The letters to the mouse really made me laugh! When we write an informal letter/email in English, we can start with:

Hi, Hello, Hey, Hiya!

Instead of writing the formal expression 'I look forward to...' we can write 'I can't wait to...': I can't wait to see you this weekend!

At the end of a formal letter we use expressions such as Kind regards or Yours sincerely. When we write to people we know well we can write: Speak soon, See you soon, See you later, Have a lovely day/evening/weekend. When we write to close friends or family we can end a letter/email with 'Lots of love'.

Krisztina, I'm sorry to hear you have mice too! You write: I think it is not too easy to find an 'animal-friendly' solution to this problem. In English, instead of putting the negative particle after the verb 'be' (it is not too easy), it usually goes with the first verb, in this case 'think': I don't think it's easy to find... So remember that when stating an opinion, the verb that expresses the opinion is negative.

Noel, it's interesting to define ethics. You write that 'people have strong arguments to belief in this way.' Remember that the verb is 'believe' and the noun is 'belief'. So here it should be 'people have strong arguments to believe in this way.' = They have strong beliefs.

Rajeeb, in your fun letter to the mouse, you wrote: So, why to wait, get in and have all the fun. Two small mistakes: it should be 'why wait' without 'to'. After 'why / why not' the preposition is not needed: Why not study some English today? And it should be 'have fun' or 'have lots of fun'.

A GASTRONOMICAL ADVENTURE

Do you like to experience new things and try new foods? Last week a colleague at BBC Learning English brought in some coffee for us to try.

You might be thinking that drinking coffee is not exactly a new and uncommon experience. This, however, is no ordinary coffee. It comes from the droppings of animals called civets - animals that look like a cross between a cat and a ferret. So the coffee beans have been eaten and digested by these animals, then processed and sold for a lot of money: it's considered to be one of the most exclusive coffees in the world and can cost up to $800 per kilo! My initial reaction was that this must be some kind of joke: surely people don't pay that much money for coffee, especially not if it comes from faeces? Yuck! But I was intrigued to taste it to find out what all the fuss was about. At first I'm not convinced, can you tell by the expression on my face?

Not too sure about this...

Yummy! I'm a little surprised to discover that it tastes great. Apparently this is because the very best and juiciest coffee beans are chosen by the civets and then fermented in their stomach by special enzymes... giving the coffee a unique, soft, chocolaty, delicious flavour. I might not pay $800 for a kilo, but I'm glad I tried it!

What's the most unusual food or drink you've tasted? Are you adventurous when it comes to gastronomy?

HOMEWORK

To describe sensations we use the verbs: taste, feel, smell, look, sound. Here are some examples:

This coffee tastes great: I wouldn't have guessed it's been digested by a civet!

It sounds like they're having fun, I can hear them laughing from here!

Now complete the following with the correct tense of these 'sense' verbs:

1) It _______ warm today. The sun is shining.
2) He _________ tired today. He probably went to bed late!
3) I tried to sing in the choir but I _________ terrible.
4) It _______ like burnt toast in here!
5) The coffee _________ a bit like chocolate.

VOCABULARY

gastronomical - related to eating good food
droppings / faeces - the waste of animals
a cross - a mixture
yuck! - an expression to show disgust
intrigued - curious
fermented - the sugar in a foodstuff changed due to a chemical process
what all the fuss is about - why it is so famous or why people talk about it
yummy! - an expression to show something tastes great

Jane, thanks for the blog and the cute photos. We'll look at your writing a bit later, but let's talk about pets first. With all the good care you are giving Midi, I'm sure she will grow big and strong in no time. I don't have a pet myself, but I do have a pest! About a week ago, as I was peacefully sitting in my living room, I saw a black shape move across the floor. I told my boyfriend: 'I think there's a mouse in here! I saw something in the corner of my eye.' He asked me if I had actually seen it. I replied 'I think I saw it.' So we lifted the sofa, but there was no mouse. After searching behind every piece of furniture in the room to no avail, my boyfriend decided I had imagined it.

A harmless mousetrap

...and a harmful mousetrap

If mice could read English, I would put a sign with 'WARNING' on the harmful traps, and the following message on the harmless trap:

Dear Mr Mouse,

Please enter and make yourself at home. Feel free to have some of the peanut butter and cheese we have left for you. We promise that if you enter we won't hurt you. We will release you in a beautiful park - it has a nice café where I'm sure you'll find lots of food scraps.

I look forward to meeting you.

Kind regards,

Rosie

Unfortunately, I don't think Mr Mouse would understand. Jane, when Midi grows big and strong, perhaps I could borrow her to catch my mouse?

Have you ever had mice in your house? Do you think it's ethical to kill animals in these circumstances?

And of course, here is some homework: the letter I've written above contains some formal expressions: Dear Mr ... / I look forward to meeting you / Kind regards. How would you write this letter in a more informal way? Which expressions would you use?

CORRECTIONS:

Jane, I must say I'm very impressed with your level of English. Here are a few corrections... Have a look at this sentence you wrote:

We learn that while she's drinking milk, she will stay quiet and starting to feel sleepy.

Here 'starting' should be the infinitive 'start'. Verbs that follow the future tense 'will' should always be in the infinitive. So here we should have 'she will stay quiet' (which is already correct) and then 'will start to feel sleepy'. You write:

Now about a week has passed, she seems to accept our family and not crying all the time anymore.

Again here there is a mistake with the tense of the verb 'crying', which should be 'doesn't cry':

...she seems to accept our family and doesn't cry all the time any more.

So we use the present tense 'doesn't cry' to describe something that happens in the present on a regular basis. You would use the present continuous tense 'she isn't crying' if right now, in this moment, Midi is quiet. But for a general statement / something that regularly happens, use the present. And lastly:

That day was so tried because we have to jump so many many times.

Two small mistakes: the past tense of 'have' is 'had' so this should be 'we had to jump'. Also, 'tried' is the past tense of the verb 'try'.... I think you mean 'tiring' here? Be careful not to confuse 'tired' (when you feel tired) and 'tiring' (something that tires you). So 'tired' tells us how you feel about something, 'tiring' describes the thing that makes your tired:

I'm very tired because I've had a tiring day.

Does this all make sense?

VOCABULARY:

in no time - very quickly
pest - an animal that invades and isn't wanted
in the corner of my eye - seeing something but not clearly because you're not looking directly at it
actually - really
to no avail - without success
strolled - walked
scurrying - running fast
vanished into thin air - disappeared
harmful - that can hurt
harmless - that doesn't hurt
peanut butter - a paste we eat (usually on toast) made from peanuts and butter
food scraps - pieces of uneaten food

'However, because of the development in technology, we can still be in touch with our loved and dear ones from across the seas and mountains.'

My mum -also an English teacher- lives overseas in Egypt and my sister lives in Canada, so there are seas and mountains between us! I only see them once or twice a year. Here are a couple of photos I took in Cairo whilst visiting my mum:

A view of the huge city of Cairo

A stroll through Cairo in the evening

I keep in touch with my mum and sister by using emails and speaking online with webcams, so it almost feels like I'm there with them: it's mind-blowing that technology has evolved so fast! A few years ago I would have spent a fortune on phone calls, but nowadays it's all free. I said it 'almost' feels like I'm there with them, but it's not quite the same thing: for me seeing someone on a screen can never replace meeting up for real.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. Do you use the Internet to keep in touch with your friends and family? Can this replace the experience of seeing them for real? Do you think it's possible to have a long-distance relationship with a boyfriend/girlfriend?

struggle: to have difficulty with
spot on: you are completely right
overseas: abroad, in another country
mind-blowing: incredible, unbelievable
a fortune: a lot of money
nowadays: today
long-distance: living far away from each other