I loved the film 'Avatar'. Such amazing beauty. I also loved the use of the phrase 'I see you.' in the film to suggest love. This was 'poetic license' as we wouldn't normally use that phrase to suggest that, but it works and is very evocative. It reminds me of the lyrics from one of my favourite songs by British band Keane called 'You don't see me' -

Once again, an easy job for me as teacher! So few mistakes! Zhangjiajie sounds lovely. You say - "Everyday its beautiful scenery which attracts many tourists come here." Better to say "Every day its beautiful scenery attracts many tourists who come here."

Of the Mother and Child cliff, you say "it looks like a mother holding her child before her chest."; we would say "it looks like a mother holding her child to her chest (or breast)".

I was inspired by your description of this beautiful place to search for one of the photos I took whilst visiting friends in Scotland. It's of Loch Tay, which may not have all the peaks of Zhangjiajie, but to me is so beautiful - serene and full of different colours as the day changes. I hope you like it.

Another lovely post about friendship... and once again very little work for me to do as teacher, as you have made only a couple of minor errors in your English.

You also talk about a diamond which you say 'despite through time', 'it's still shining in the dark'. You need a verb for the first part, so we would say something like 'despite being buried for a long time' or 'despite being hidden throughout time'... and then for the tense in the second part, we would use the present simple as it's something that is not just happening at the moment but again and again - so 'it still shines in the dark'.

I really like your use of language in evoking the meaning of friendship. It inspired me to look again for some relevant quotes. I hope you enjoy these:

Quotes About Friendship

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one."
― C.S. Lewis

"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend."
― Albert Camus

"A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you."
― Elbert Hubbard

"It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages."
― Friedrich Nietzsche

"There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate."
― Linda Grayson

"It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter."
― Marlene Dietrich

"A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow."
― William Shakespeare

I would love to read some more quotes about friendship. Why don't you all try and make up your own?

Here's mine to start you off -

"A good friend is someone you may not see for a long time, but when you do, it's like you were with them yesterday."

Finally, there's an expression in English that says a dog is 'man's best friend'... do you agree?!

First of all, let me introduce myself as it's a while since I blogged here in the Teacher Blog. My name is Sean - some of you may remember my Staff Blogs. I'm the Editor of the Multimedia Team here at BBC Learning English and responsible for the production and team of producers and broadcast and online assistants who bring you all the content on www.bbclearningenglish.com and www.bbcukchina.com as well as the English Language Teaching (ELT) content on the BBC World Service Language sites

I used to be a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language to Adults (TEFLA) and have a diploma in TEFLA, with distinction! I worked mainly as a teacher in London and France but my work for the BBC has taken me to many countries, including China. So I'm delighted we have Jinghua as our Student Blogger this month. What a LOVEly blog! I LOVE it!

Now, part of my job here is to highlight some errors so you can improve your English and other readers can benefit too. I have to say, Jinghua, you have made this job very easy, as there are very few errors.

The main point is that with abstract, uncountable emotions - like anger, jealousy, fear, hatred... and, of course, love - we don't use the definite article (the). So, your first question should read -

What's real love?

The same applies to 'life'. So, we would say "However, real life is always different."

The other errors are minor. Everything is perfectly understandable, but you could improve further by paying attention to nouns and verbs. You say there are many problems in front of them (you could also say 'ahead of them'): 'quarrel' is a singular noun but here we would either put it in the plural 'quarrels' or use the verbal noun - quarrelling. You also say 'they know the perfect is not exist'. Here we would say 'they know perfection (or the perfect something, like the perfect relationship)' as this has to be a noun (perfection) or the adjective (perfect) needs a noun it is describing (relationship, partnership and so on). You also say 'is not exist' when we would say 'does not exist' - that's a common mistake for learners of English. So is missing the 's' on the third person verb - it should be 'my mom makes concessions first.' Also, 'choice' is a noun and the verb is 'to choose' so we would say 'Although you have known (we would more naturally say 'Although you know' here) he or she has many shortcomings, you still choose and love him or her.'

Talking of choosing, I can tell you have studied American English by your choice of the word 'Mom'! In the UK, we call our mothers Mum!

Love is a fascinating subject, isn't it? It's clear from your post that your Mum (or Mom!) and Dad love each other very much - especially given that lovely Chinese saying.

If you want to hear some real English people saying 'I love you!' check out this video on www.bbclearningenglish.com, which we made in celebration of Valentine's Day. Do you celebrate Valentine's Day in your country? And are you willing to tell us something about who or what you love?! You can also find lots of related love stories in the right hand column.
https://bbcstreaming.pages.dev/worldservice/learningenglish/specials/2011/02/110211_valentines_how_to_say_i_love_you.shtml\

I'll leave you with some photos which may inspire people to add some comments (please do, as I love reading them!) -

Do you love coffee? How do you like it?

Some people love money. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

I love this old style cash register or till.

This is a lovely bed. Do you love sleeping?!

Are you a shopaholic? Some people just adore shoes! How about you?

Of course, these are all things and Jinghua is talking about love between people. So how about these photos I took in Paris (often called the City of Love!)... I think they tell their own story of love. What's yours?

And finally, I thought you might enjoy these quotes -
 
I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. - Rita Rudner

All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. - Leo Tolstoy

We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. - Sam Keen

You don't marry someone you can live with, you marry the person you cannot live without. ~ Author Unknown

If kisses were the water I would give you the sea, if hugs were the leaves I would give you a tree, but if love was time, I would give you eternity. ~ Author Unknown

Where there is no love, pour love in, and you will draw love out. ~ St. John of the Cross

Love is not love that alters when it alteration finds. ! William Shakespeare

To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage. ~ Lao Tzu.

If you love something let it go. If it comes back to you it's yours and if it doesn't, it never was.

And finally, finally!... as it's supposed to be a summer of sport... here are a couple of sporting idioms with a love theme!

Out of someone's league Team sport
not as good as someone
I'd like to date Maria, but I'm afraid I'm out of her league

plenty of other fish in the sea Fishing
there are many other men and women to date
I know you still love Jack, but remember there are plenty of other fish in the sea

Really looking forward to reading more of your blogs and comments!

Not long ago, at the end of March, I was in Hong Kong for a few days. One of our online partners, Kealearning, organises an annual competition for schools in Hong Kong and Macau to produce a short radio play in English. There were over 200 entries. Along with my colleague, Feifei, I was asked to be one of the judges of the final 16 entries. The theme this year was Wow! We are one! I have to say that the standard of the plays - and the English - was very good. Each team, of a maximum of five students, had five minutes to perform their play live, with sound effects. The judges had several categories to score them on, from teamwork to script, from creativity to best performance. It was quite a demanding, but thoroughly enjoyable, job. The prize-giving ceremony at the end of a long judging session was also quite a performance! It was all worth it though, to see the delight of the students and the pride of the parents and teachers. Writing and performing a radio play is also a great way to practice and improve your English. Maybe you fancy giving it a go?!

The Hong Kong trip coincided with the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. If you're not a rugby fan, and I have to admit I'm not, then this may be a mystery to you. It was to me! Basically, it's a knock-out competition with seven players a side. This year, England got to the final, but lost to New Zealand. I didn't get a chance to see any of the games, tickets were sold out well in advance, but I did see the celebrations of all the fans afterwards. That was quite amazing. It was kind of surreal to be in Hong Kong and to hear everyone speaking English in so many different accents. There were fans from Australia, Wales, South Africa, New Zealand, all having a great time! If you heard them speaking English, do you think you could tell which was Australian, Welsh, South African or from New Zealand?!

The River Nile

And where am I now? I'm in Cairo! I haven't been to Egypt for a very long time and it's good to be back. I'm here because we have a partnership with Egypt Radio and Television Union. BBCe! - E for English, E for Egypt, E for Entertainment! - is an FM radio co-production with a website and a Facebook page set up by the fans themselves. This week, it's the fifth anniversary of BBCe! So on Thursday, we have a special live programme when Abeer, our colleague based in Cairo, and I - along with friends and colleagues from Egypt Radio - will be linking up with the team in London and hearing from listeners in Egypt. The whole programme is about learning English and exchanging views, whilst enjoying music, quizzes and chat. This year is also special because BBCe! won an ELTon. That's the British Council's Award for Innovation. So, we will be celebrating with all our friends, colleagues and listeners!

Egypt and China are of course very different countries. That said, they both have amazing cultures and ancient civilisations. Although on these two trips I've been working in the cities, on previous trips to China I, of course, visited the Great Wall - along with Will, another colleague, I climbed quite a way! And with several colleagues, I have visited the Pyramids and greeted the Sphinx before.

"But that's only two trips!" I hear you say! Ah well, yes. You see, I couldn't do the third one because of a clash of in scheduling. So, Andrew, who's my boss, has gone to Shenzhen to judge a competition organised by another one of our partners, 21st Century.

Talking about the 21st Century: what do you prefer doing when you travel? Visiting ancient monuments and museums or enjoying the delights of modern cities? I have to say I enjoy both, and one of the delights of modern cities is the fabulous food you can find! I love Chinese food, especially the flavours from Szechuan and I have to admit that last night I enjoyed several Egyptian dishes which were delicious. I love mezze and had a beautiful kofta.

Most of all, though, I enjoy meeting the people and learning every day about different experiences and cultural attitudes. Now that is what broadens the mind.

Looking forward to reading your comments.
All the best
Sean

Some useful vocabulary and expressions:

travel broadens the mind
visiting different places and meeting different people makes you more open-minded, less narrow in your thinking

broad-minded
open to different experiences, different people; open-minded

quite a bit
quite a lot

duty trip
travel for work purposes

Wow! We are one!
That's amazing! We're united! We're together!

sound effects
sounds or noises in a play

creativity
being creative

quite a performance!
a big deal; something involving a lot of effort or time

fancy giving it a go?
do you want to try?

knock-out competition
a competition where each team gets one chance to go through to the next round. Teams that do not get through to the next round are knocked out or eliminated.

well in advance
a long time before

surreal
strange; weird; different

partnership
working together with another organisation

linking up with
connecting with

innovation
a new creative work

amazing cultures and ancient civilisations
impressive ways of life and historical societies

a clash
when two events happen at the same time so that you cannot go to or see both

cultural attitudes
what people think or feel because of their culture

So what to talk about? What to say? Right now I'm staring at a blank screen, wondering who is out there... Who will read this? Who will reply? Well, I'm hoping some of my old friends who replied to my Teacher blog a while ago will pop up... and I hope some new friends too! From all over the world! That's the beauty of BBC Learning English - we can all come together from all over the world and exchange views....

But what's your view? What's your perspective? Where do you stand? Who are you?!

Can you guess what this is? Or do you need to change your perspective? Your point of view? Your standpoint?

Did you get it? Did you see?

If not - stand back and take another look!

Can you see what it is now? It's a beach hut. Easy to see when you change your perspective!

Easy now, right? A beach hut! So you see perspective is everything!

When I was thinking about this I remembered a great TV ad from years ago the Guardian Newspaper. It's very clever. It not only communicates the point that your viewpoint or point of view is determined by where you stand - your standpoint if you like! - but also plays very cleverly on 'cultural' assumptions or points of view about who someone is because of the way they look or dress... or indeed behave! You can see the ad on Youtube if you like -

It's only when you get the whole picture that you can fully understand what's going on. But it's not just about your point of view. It's about who you are! And who you are often determines your point of view! Or perhaps your point of view determines who you are! If you just watched the ad, be honest - what assumptions did you make about the 'skinhead', the 'housewife' and the 'businessman'?

I'm talking now about culture.

Culture is an amazing thing. I'm not talking about the arts (the high culture of opera or 'low culture' of soap operas and so on) but about our values, attitudes and behaviour. That's the meaning of culture in the wider sense - and, whether we like it or not, whether we know it or not, our identity - and very often our perspective on things and people, is shaped by our cultural identity - by the culture in which we have lived. Culture - whether national culture or even organisational culture - shapes our values, which inform our attitudes, which in turn affect our behaviour. Powerful stuff!

So who am I?

And how has my culture shaped me? Well, I'm Sean! I was born in Uganda but grew up in Yorkshire. My parents are English but my name is Irish because my ancestors came from Ireland. I have lived in London since I was eighteen years old. But I have also lived in Switzerland, France, Chile and worked in Egypt, China and many European countries. So maybe lots of 'cultural influences'. I also work for the BBC World Service where there are many different nationalities and people with lots of different cultural values. I like diversity! In fact I even like a dance group called Diversity from 'different walks of life'! You can learn more about Diversity here.

So what does this mean about my values? Well, I'm British and a Yorkshireman. So maybe that tells you something about me and my values. Of course, the danger is that we slip into stereotypes! I'm British or English so I must be ... cold? Formal? I'm a Yorkshireman so I must be frank, plain speaking? To some extent of course, some of this may be true. I'd say I value the English sense of fair play... and I like the dry English sense of humour... and I value plain speaking.

I also value honesty, fairness and hope I recognise that not everyone is the same and that that is a good thing! Of course not everyone will agree with me! I remember another great ad that, to me, captures the British sense of humour, the values of diversity and different styles. If you want to see it I think you'll find it surprising - whether you like it or not may be determined by your culture! You can see it here.

So who are you? How much are you shaped by your culture? A colleague of mine, Marc Beeby, made a fascinating series a while ago all about culture and cultural identity called Who on Earth Are We? You can listen and download the radio programmes and scripts here.

Happy listening! Happy reading! And hope you learn something new about inter-cultural communication! If you do, or if you have any comments on my blog... please tell me.

Who are you?
What's your view?
What are your values?
How much are you shaped by your culture?

I've explained some of the words in bold below.

See you soon!
Sean

What's your view?
What do you think? How do you feel?

What's your perspective?
How do you look at this? What do you think? What do you see?

Where do you stand?
What's your position? What do you think?

the point
the key information; the reason

your view point or point of view
what you think

cultural assumptions
what you think or feel as determined by your culture

skinhead
usually a man with a shaved head who sometimes dresses in a particular way - jeans, boots - and perhaps belongs to a gang... but not always!

values
beliefs, what you think is right

attitudes
what you think, your view on something or someone

behaviour
how you act

cultural influences
things that have affected you because of your culture

diversity
difference; understanding and appreciating differences

stereotypes
a simplified mental picture of an individual or group of people who share a certain characteristic; often negative or prejudiced

frank
to the point; honest; upfront

plain speakingtell it how it is; direct

fair play
fairness; equality

dry sense of humour
finding something funny in a quiet, clever, unassuming way

inter-cultural communication
communication across cultures, cultural differences; understanding different, diverse cultures

A drawing of Tigger by Kiki from Wiltshire who sent it to the BBC's Blast site

That's how Tigger, from the "Winnie the Pooh" books by A.A. Milne, says goodbye to his friends! So I thought I'd just say ta-ta for now! Bye for now! See you later! I'll be lurking of course...

@Miguel
You are very kind. Thanks for your nice comments. I have enjoyed being your Teacher for October and you too have been my guide... yes it would be great to meet up some time - if ever you are in UK do let us know. And I think I'm not the only one - after your fantastic blog - who is thinking how great it would be to visit Peru. As for applying to be my 'worker' or should we say 'employee'... well, I've been your 'boss' for a month and your 'probation period' went very well... so let's hope! Stay in touch and take care Miguel.

@Svetlana
Thank you for your kind words! Yes I would have loved to have more time to post more often... maybe I'll find the time in other blogs... I'm glad you enjoyed my time with you here... and yes, not surprising you found the photos a bit gruesome in the Zombie walk!

@sero
Love the way you used the new phrase 'a real treat'! Thanks... I've enjoyed it too.

@Pary
To be honest, it all happened coincidentally - I took my cue from Miguel's posts but they just seemed to lead into ghosts... and then of course I realised Halloween was coming... but the Zombies in Brighton were a complete surprise! I like going with the flow! Glad you enjoyed the blog. Sure won't forget my fans!! It's been a lovely experience.

@everyone
I'm sure you'll enjoy November with Alice who's got some great photos and stories to tell of her life around the world! Take care! TTFN!

A weather vane which is an instrument to show the direction of the wind - let's see where it takes me next! Bye for now! Sean

Colin Strain sent the BBC this photo of himself at a Halloween party

Someone I met yesterday on the seafront at Brighton! Read on to find out more!

Cornelia Cardew sent the BBC this photo of some children dressed up for Halloween

Trick-or-Treating is one of the customary celebrations of Halloween - the annual holiday celebrated on October 31st, mainly in the UK, the USA, Canada and Ireland... though a lot of the activities now happen all over the world. As well as trick-or-treating, people get dressed up in, usually scary costumes, make lanterns out of pumpkins, play jokes or pranks on each other and often watch horror films or tell ghost stories!
You see how a lot of the themes of the past month - Miguel's early posts reminding me of ghosts... King Henry VIII and his divorce from Catherine and break with the Catholic Church redefining how the English see ghosts, and of course Miguel's recent post about Living Between Angels and Demons - has all led up to Halloween!! Spooky!

Halloween (or Hallowe'en) has its roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain (which roughly means Summer's end and was a harvest festival) and in the Christian holiday All Saints' Day (also called All Halllows or Hallowmas where Hallows means saints and mas means mass), in honour of all the saints known and unknown.

These days Halloween is largely a secular celebration; although I just saw on the BBC News website that a Bishop has said that the Church should reclaim Halloween.
I'm not sure the people I saw yesterday would agree. I was walking along the seafront in Brighton and, as well as the usual crowds of locals and tourists, was rather surprised to see a procession of zombies!

Zombies walking along the seafront in Brighton!

Maybe they were locals and tourists as well, but they were pretty frightening! There were I think hundreds of them! Apparently this annual 'Zombie Walk' all started about four years ago, organised through internet sites Myspace and Facebook, in honour of zombie movies such as Dawn of the Dead.

Zombie nurses on Brighton Pier!

This year there were quite a few 'doctors', 'nurses', even 'police' zombies - some holding placards protesting about the cuts in the public sector which were announced by the Chancellor George Osborne on 20 October. Whatever, it was an amazing spectacle. Certainly not what I was expecting when I went for a walk along the Brighton seafront! Here are a few more photos from yesterday -

Seagulls fly past a sign on Brighton Pier

A zombie on Brighton seafront gets a little too close for comfort!

More zombies in Brighton yesterday!

I love Brighton on days like these!

But enough of zombies for the moment. Let's get back to ghosts and spirits! A few of you have asked questions about Henry VIII and about my out of body experience! Here are some answers to your questions -

@Mahjabeen
Yes, basically Henry's 6th wife survived because he died before her! He married her in 1543. She was a wealthy widow and although she argued with him over religion, some say she survived by a show of submissiveness! But I think she must have been quite clever too... she was the one who made peace between Henry and his first two daughters, Lady Mary and Lady Elizabeth - who of course went on to be the amazing Queen Elizabeth the First.

@Pary
My out of body experience was not a dream... it was more of a realisation. Others were asking about it too... well all I can say is that at the age of about 16 I remembered it... but it was stronger than that - it was a realisation of a reality. I don't even know how it came to me. It just did.

@Svetlana
Thanks for your kind comments. It's been a pleasure for me too communicating with you. Yes I know the actor Gerard Butler - a very good actor I agree.

@Abeer
Good to see you here Abeer! You too wanted to know how Henry's sixth wife survived... no doubt you saw my answer above. As for my answer to your questions - I think that the ingredients for success are passion, patience, persistence and perhaps (if that's not enough p's already!) - pacing yourself. As for the definition of success I agree with you and Pary that it's about being happy or content with what life brings... we should all count our blessings!

@Ashish
Thanks so much for your compliments - I loved your analogy of the 'Teaser Ad' ... I like to keep people hooked!

Some of you have asked about the photo of me relaxing on the Nile! Yes a strange photo I admit. Even stranger, earlier today I was having my breakfast I heard a familiar voice from the TV. It was my friend Paolo reporting from Brazil. You see it was Poalo who took that photo and in fact it was he who invited me on that trip on the Nile... I had been working very hard in Cairo running up to the launch of our co-production BBCe! with Egypt Radio and he said I should join him and some friends for a relaxing 3 days and nights on a faluca, the traditional sail boat. It was one of the best experiences of my life and I certainly soon relaxed as you can see!

Finally, I have to say I have really enjoyed learning all about Peru.

@Miguel
It's been a real pleasure being your guest Teacher! And thank you so much for your wonderful words and photos... I am sure we would all agree that you are a great writer. I loved your introduction to Living between Angels and Demons... and the suspense you brought with all your references to 'he' ... who finally you revealed was the devil! It was also fascinating to learn more about The Huace and the City. I certainly now want to visit Peru and will happily use your blog as a guide book if ever I do! Thanks again. Your English is very good, only occasionally do you make mistakes and often these are 'interferences' from your mother tongue, Spanish... below I have a few final notes for you. Keep up the good work!

@everyone
Thank you again for all your comments. As I have enjoyed it so much I think I'll be back but perhaps in the Staff blog... I realise that I still need to tell you and ask you about the mysterious 7th paragraph in my first post... you see Ashish... I still like to be a 'teaser ad'... so watch out for me there - I'll tell you more about the exciting new developments and as always be glad to hear what you think of the work we all do at BBC Learning English. Bye for now!

All the best
Sean

Some comments on Miguel's English -

As usual, excellent overall. Just a few notes here -
We say in English 'the sixteenth century' rather than the sixteen century
We would say 'He made me welcome' or 'welcomed me' rather than he gave me the welcome
When talking about neighbouring countries we say 'On the border' rather than in the borderline
'His wide shiny eyes' is the expression you want rather than his wide eyes shinny
A note about word order - we say 'He was recently named' rather than he recently was named
Also, remember 'In February' rather than on February (that's ok if on a specific date eg: on February 14th)
When talking about large abstract ideas or notions, we don't use the definite article so 'Good and Evil' rather than the good and evil; and 'Everything has been touch by the modernity' should be 'Everything has been touched by modernity.'
We say people dress as someone / something and wear an item of clothing. So 'People who represent Evil dress (rather than wear) as demons and wear masks of devils and people who represent good dress (rather than wear) as an angels'.
'although his family wasn't disagree' should be 'although his family didn't agree' or maybe you mean 'although his family didn't mind or object'
And a few 'Spanish-isms' -
connotation religious should be religious connotation
we say discuss something so discuss the production of food; and talk about something so talk about the production of food
'as a result appeared new religions' should be (word order) 'as a result, new religions appeared'
And -
visitants should be visitors... but I'm sure your blog has encouraged plenty of people to visit Peru! Well done, Miguel!

Some explanations of my English -

a real treat
Something very special

You'd be well advised to
It's a good idea to

treacle
A syrup made during the refining of sugar cane

pumpkin
A large yellow or orange squash; often made into a soup

pranks
Practical jokes, silly games

Spooky!
Weird! Often said when there's a strange coincidence!

secular
Worldly, not relating to religion

Zombies
A dead body that has been brought back to life

submissiveness
The trait of being willing to give in to someone or something

realisation
becoming aware of something; or something becoming real

I've been lurking again and reading with interest all your comments... Today I am going to answer some of the specific questions you have posted and to reveal the answer to the connection between King Henry VIII and the British obsession with ghosts!

Well that's me relaxing on the Nile! And guess what! I just answered about 30 or more of your questions and revealed the answer to my questions to you.... and they have just disappeared into thin air! There is a ghost in the machine!!!! So, sorry about that... I shall now have to come back to this later and add my comments / answers all over again. I guess the lesson is... write your blog in a word document first and then copy and paste it into the system.... Anyway it's late now so I have to go!

Promise the answers will appear soon ... I haven't given up the ghost yet!

All the best
Sean

I'm back!

Hello again! Well, I don't know what happened there. Spooky! But I learned my lesson and this entry was prepared and saved as a word document first! So, where was I? Ah yes... answering lots and lots of questions.

First, the answer to the question I asked about the connection between King Henry VIII and the English obsession with ghosts. Well, both Svetlana and Sero got pretty close. Svetlana talks about Henry and his wives - notably his second wife Anne Boleyn who was beheaded. That's pretty spooky! Of course she wasn't the only wife to lose her head... but more of that in a minute. Sero hit the nail on the head with his answer about the Reformation. You see it goes like this... Henry wanted to divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon because she didn't give him an heir and he had fallen in love with Anne Boleyn. The only problem was that the Pope and the Catholic Church would not agree to the divorce. So, Henry broke with the Catholic church and formed the Church of England. And here's where the connection with ghosts comes in. Henry's split from the Catholic Church changed the way people were allowed to think about the 'undead'.

According to Catholic doctrine, people were encouraged to think of souls of the dead and the living as one spiritual family - and that ghosts appeared on Earth from Purgatory. However, the Church of England banned the idea of Purgatory and this forced the English to think of new ways of understanding ghosts. Their response was that ghosts came from either Heaven or, more often, Hell. So, ghosts were no longer helpful souls waiting to go to Heaven but unhappy or tragic spirits from Hell, mourning their failure to get to Heaven.

So there you have it. Blame King Henry VIII for the nasty ghost stories! And all because he wanted a divorce from Catholic Catherine and to marry Anne Boleyn. Of course he then fell out with Anne after they had married and had her head cut off. I still remember the rhyme they taught us at school to make sure we remembered what happened to all six of Henry's wives - divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived!

Some answers to your questions

Thanks for all your kind comments and your questions. Here I'll try and answer most of them...

@Mahjabeen
My favourite singer? I have lots but I really like Leonard Cohen and Kate Bush. I consider them artists. I also admire the voices of Eva Cassidy (an angel) and Barbra Streisand (a star!). More recently, I have really enjoyed listening to Plan B.

@sero_03
Yes the picture of the man outside the window does look like a trick! And the chocolate cake was for the anniversary of BBCe! our coproduction with Egypt Radio.

@Carossi
Your English is very good. Yes, interference from L1 (your mother tongue) often causes problems with L2 (the second language you are speaking). But as long as you can make yourself understood I wouldn't worry too much about that. Keep climbing!

@Miguel
Thanks for your amazing blog and your kind comments. Like everyone else, I've loved reading your posts Miguel You really are a good writer. For me too writing is an expression of the Arts. I like your suggestion about creating a kind of forum perhaps on Facebook. Of course we already have several interactive social media areas which you can find on the community area of our website. But we are looking at ways of enhancing and improving all our social media work. Abeer, one of our Team Leaders, has been given the 'network' brief and already has some great suggestions. So expect to see more developments soon! As for being a good teacher - thanks! But you are a pretty good student too! Of all the questions, what is the difference between a myth and a legend - that's a good one! Well, I think it's mainly about usage - we tend to talk about myths being from the classical times (Greek myths etc) and legends being from later times (the legend of King Arthur for example). We also more colloquially talk of someone being a legend... for example football fans would consider Pele a legend, meaning he's amazingly good, a star; and use myths to colloquially describe something more recent that is a rumour perhaps but not true - it's a myth that there is a monster in Loch Ness for example. Hope that helps! Finally, glad to hear you can make an exception - does this mean I got the job as your boss!??

@Pary
I know! So frustrating that I lost all these replies last night just before I was leaving the office. Can you believe it? Luckily when I came to re-write them just now (in Word first!!) I remembered most of what I said... As for the Nile it is amazing. That photo was taken on a trip I did with some Brazilian friends - we spent 3 nights on a faluca with nothing but the Nile, a book, some music and the bongos for company... oh and the two 'captains' who sailed and cooked for us.... One of the most memorable trips of my life. Earlier you asked how can I speak so many languages? Well, to be honest I would only claim to really speak English, French, German and Spanish well. As for the others - I was born in Uganda so picked up a little Swahili, I have worked a lot in Egypt over the past five years so can understand a bit of Arabic and know a few expressions... and my Chinese - well, only a couple of words so far! Which languages do you speak? I imagine Farsi is one of them? Can you teach me one or two words? Oh, and listen to that CD about ghost stories! We want to know how scary it really is!

@Abdisamad
Wow! I can't believe we were both in Egypt for the African Cup of Nations! Did you also dance in the streets?! And amazing that you are now in Kampala... that made me feel very homesick! It's my birthplace and I have very fond memories even though I was only five when we left... I went back when I was about 35 and was lucky enough to have an amazing book my mother had just written about our time in Uganda. It's a collection of stories and poems with an almost 'magic realism' style... with me as a four year old as the narrator! It's called "The Boy with the Garden in his Eyes". Can you imagine how weird and wonderful it was to have that with me? I used it as a guide-book and even found all the places my parents worked in during their time there in the '50s and '60s... and where they lived - including the house I spent my first five years in! It was amazing.

@misou / Soumia
Yes responses are important. Thank you for your kind words. And LOL that you call me Sean Connery. I too love that actor. Do you think he was the best James Bond? I think I do. Daniel Craig is also good though.

@Svetlana
Congratulations on your quick response about Henry VIII... if you love history you'd love a TV series called The Tudors all about that period. Actually, I saw the guy who played Henry the other week in my local newsagents. He's a great actor called Jonathan Rhys Meyers. And by the way 'warm words' doesn't have an opposite meaning - it's a nice thing to say, so don't worry!

@bbllmm
Yes enjoying chocolate cake is serious work! As for the mysterious 7th paragraph... more about that in a later post!

@BBC_fan
Glad you like the word "witty". Me too. And I love witty people. Oscar Wilde is famous for his wit.

@Ashish
Thanks for the kind comment about my brilliant start! Glad I compensated for the loss of the first ten days! All good things come to he who waits! Yes, the lucky seven languages... but as I said, not all of them so fluently! My French is pretty fluent as I lived there for a year and my sister and nieces still do. My German is also quite fluent, but a bit rusty. I studied at university and spent a year in Zurich, Switzerland (really another language!). I have friends in South America so my Spanish is not bad... yes, I love languages so will keep going!

@Carossi
You're right - this is a community that transmits warm feelings and support for others as well as a great place to practice and learn English. I've been honoured to be a part of it this month.

@sailormoon4
Tell us about the séance! What happened? What did your friend tell you that you don't believe?

@Ditta
By ghost writer, I meant do you think I need someone else to write for me? Someone perhaps who writes better or more often?! ;-) or is it best to get it straight from the horse's mouth!? Even if the horse is not so fast and maybe more of a donkey?!! As for the out of body experience, yes it is quaint I guess... though not sure I'd use that word... I'll tell you at the end of this post about how it felt for me!

Some answers to my questions -

I don't think I've ever stayed in a haunted house. I'm not sure I believe in ghosts, but I do believe that the spirit or soul exists before and after the body... so I guess I believe in reincarnation too... that belief is coloured by my out of body experience! I'll tell you about that now before signing off...

It was a very hot day. I was looking down on a scene in a beautiful garden. The sun was shining and the colours were bright. There were many people milling around, enjoying themselves drinking champagne and eating. At the centre of everyone's attention was a very small baby. That was 'me'... and this was 'my' Christening party. As I looked down on these people, I asked myself "So, this little thing is now supposed to be me?" and "Who are those people who now call themselves my parents?" It was an amazing experience. I only remembered it when I was about sixteen but it was incredibly real. It was a bit like being given a play to read and a part to study. But I felt incredibly peaceful and serene. My parents, by the way, turned out to play their parts fantastically! They never cease to amaze me. Here they were seven years after arriving in Uganda on an adventure that hasn't stopped. They seize every opportunity to live life to the full. I can only hope I have followed in some part in their footsteps.

Some explanations of my English -

disappeared into thin air
completely vanished

given up the ghost
stopped trying

Spooky
weird, strange

got pretty close.
were nearly right

beheaded
had her head cut off

lose her head
if you lose your head, you do something crazy!

hit the nail on the head
to get something exactly right

'undead'
those not living, but not yet in Heaven or Hell

Purgatory
a spiritual 'waiting room' from which souls may go to Heaven

mourning
being sad about; when someone you love dies you are 'in mourning'

milling around
wandering around, walking slowly from one place to another

They never cease to amaze me
They always surprise me; I am always impressed by them

A strange question perhaps... but I have been thinking about ghosts ever since I read Miguel's post about "The City of the Dead"... and even now, having just read his latest post "In the name of Love", I'm thinking of a famous film - a love story from a few years back, called...

Actually, even after I'd read Miguel's first post, I started thinking about ghosts. Why? Well, when (as Miguel tells us) Lima, the capital of Peru, was founded in 1535, in England King Henry VIII was on the throne. And shortly after reading Migel's post, I read an article in The Times that suggested the British 'obsession' with 'headless' ghosts may have started with King Henry VIII.

King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn played by Jared Harris as Henry and Jodhi May as Anne

I'll tell you more about that soon. In the meantime, why do you think that could be the case?

But before this gets too gloomy, let me put on my sunny face and say yet again what a joy it is to read such excellent writing from Miguel.

Again I loved the first paragraph in the story of The City of the Dead. Talking about going to meet Ricardito... and then the simple, powerful sentence "He is dead." not only made me stop in my tracks but also aroused my curiosity.

Talking of arousing curiosity, are you still wondering what the connection could be between ghosts and King Henry VIII? Well, I'm going to let you wonder a little more and if you have any ideas, post a comment here and I'll see what you think. I'll be posting another blog in a couple of days after I've read your comments (I'll also comment more on your comments so far! Thanks for all the kind words!). And I'll add a few more photos too.

But I wanted to ask you a few more questions, apart from 'Do you believe in ghosts? So here goes -

Have you ever had an out of body experience? I have! I'll tell you about that next time!

Do you believe in reincarnation?

Have you ever stayed in a haunted house?

There's a great TV series on at the moment called Spooks. But what is a spook?

And finally, do you think I need a ghost writer?!!

Don't forget I'll be posting again soon and adding some links and photos after I've read more of your comments and I'll be answering some of these questions and some of the ones you've asked me so far! Enjoy!

All the best
Sean

Some comments on Miguel's English

Again, excellent. Just a few notes here. Miguel talks of the City of Deads; we would normally say The City of the Dead. I also remember visiting a similarly wonderful cemetery in Chile. In British English we would talk about 'the sky turning grey' or 'turning to grey'. Note here that 'gray' is the American English spelling. Instead of saying 'before to built this cemetery', the correct expression is 'before this cemetery was built'. I think perhaps that's a 'Spanish-ism' and there's another one when Miguel says 'finding to' Ricardito instead of 'finding Ricardito' which is correct English. When he says 'the President of that moment' it's not incorrect English, but a useful expression is 'the President of the day.' In his lovely post In the Name of Love, again there are very few mistakes. Perhaps a few typos - 'it's also know' should be 'it's also known'; 'luxuries hotels' should be 'luxurious hotels'; 'places to entertainment should be 'places of entertainment'; and we talk about 'in the surroundings' rather than 'in the surrounding'. Finally, with regard to the love - we would say 'on Valentine's day' rather than 'at Valentine's day'. You can use 'at' when you're talking about a general time (eg: at Christmas, at Easter) but when it's specific use on (eg: on Christmas Day, on Good Friday). I liked the image of 'two lovers couple' but in English that sounds like four! We would say just 'two lovers' or 'a couple of lovers'... and of course we are all curious about the 'she' Miguel ends his post with but, rather than coming 'on his mind' we would say 'she came to mind' or she 'came into my mind'. But these are small points. the main point is that Miguel is treating us to a wonderfully written and descriptive blog. Thanks Miguel!

Some explanations of my English:

to believe in
to have faith in something, to feel it's true

to think about
generally to wonder about, to ponder on

to think of
is more specific, to think of something in particular

on the throne
the throne is the chair of the King or Queen so this means Henry VIII was King

made me stop in my tracks
means made me stop and think, had a powerful effect on me

aroused my curiosity
means it made me interested

an out of body experience
is when you feel you are outside your body looking down on something or someone; it's a spiritual experience I guess

reincarnation
is coming back to another life as a different person or sometimes perhaps an animal

haunted
means there are ghosts living in the house

a spook
is a slang word for a spy

a ghost writer
is someone who writes for someone else, usually their 'autobiography'

A man lurking outside a window looking in

For shirking, I'm sorry - I hope you'll forgive me when I tell you later about what I've been up to and why I'm coming to this blog a little late... and I hope you can be part of some exciting new plans for BBC Learning English...

Enjoying chocolate cake instead of working!

For lurking, I'm not sorry at all! It's been fascinating to read Miguel's amazing posts and fantastic to read all the comments from everyone around the world. By now, you're probably wondering who I am. Well, you'll have to wonder a little longer because I'd like to keep the spotlight firmly on Miguel and his posts. I have to say I am very, very impressed. Miguel, not only is your English nearly perfect but you also write with great style and flair. I can honestly say my job here as Teacher to 'give tips and advice to improve your writing' is going to be a hard one! There is very little to be improved! I absolutely loved your introductory paragraph. You gave us so much information about yourself in such a succinct and witty way - it was no surprise to me to see that you are a journalist but I was surprised you don't have a boss! I'm pretty sure that won't last long as you'll be in great demand. In fact, can I apply for the job as your boss?! ;-)

Not only have you given us a vibrant image of yourself, Miguel, but you have also given us such a rich picture of Peru. You have taken us on a breathtaking tour through over 500 years, from the indigenous wonder that is Machu Picchu, through the founding of Lima in the 16th century with its rich Spanish heritage, to the moving (spiritually and quite literally!) story of the 17th century mural of the Black Christ, saved in the earthquake of 1655. But that's not all. You have brought us right up to date with religious images of the annual procession through the streets of thousands of Peruvians celebrating the Lord of the Miracles. I am sure I am not alone in looking forward to that in a week's time. Talking of 'literally' and 'up to date' - your last post couldn't be more topical with the news that Mario Vargas Llosa has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Many congratulations! Clearly, Peruvians know how to write!

Of course, good writers shouldn't plagiarise... but you may have heard of the expression "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" so I hope you'll be flattered if I say that I can find no better way to introduce myself (yes finally!) than by imitating your introductory paragraph...

I'm (not saying how) old (but I'm young at heart!). I speak English, French, German, Spanish and a few words of Arabic, Chinese and Swahili (just a few!) . I'm learning about Peru! I'm not a footballer (but I have been to a World Cup Final and the final of the African Cup of Nations).

Enjoying the African Cup of Nations final in Egypt

So that's me. I am delighted to be the guest Teacher blogger this month. Before I joined the BBC as a freelance writer (of strange drama about an alien called Antenna who could 'Tune into English'), I taught English for about 7 years in London, Switzerland and France. My first 'proper job' with the BBC was as a radio producer many years ago. I made lots of different programmes - one I particularly enjoyed was 'Lead Vocals' which was about singer-songwriters (Phil Collins, Ziggy Marley, Adam Ant to name a few) talking about the English they use in their songs. I then became an Editor - first for Europe and EurAsia, then for Online (when back in the mid 90's we launched this site!) and most recently for the Arab World, when we launched BBC Xtra English and BBCe! the first BBC programme on Egypt Radio! You can visit the website at and see the Facebook group BBCe! fans have set up here - http://on.fb.me/bc1yr0

My job now is as Multimedia Editor, BBC Learning English, - so the teams that work so well and with such creativity and success on this website (www.bbclearningenglish.com) and interact with people via Facebook (http://on.fb.me/ddTuVE) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/bbcle) on a website for China (www.bbcukchina.com) and in radio and online for Egypt and the Arab World (www.bbcarabic.com/learningenglish) - as well in other language services - all now form part of a new Multimedia Team... and over the past few weeks we have been planning and working together to try and bring the best of what we do to the most number of people around the world, in all kinds of ways. I'll tell you more about that later but it's been a busy time (that's my excuse!) and an exciting one - and we'd like you to share in our plans as they develop. We'll be looking more and more at how we can make Learning English more topical, relevant and interactive. In fact, last week we just re-organised our teams and output to focus more on English News, English Now and English Network! As in social networking... so I'd be delighted to hear from you and to know what it is about what we do that you value and what it is you would like to see us develop!

Finally, - putting my teacher hat back on - I've noted below a few (very few!) corrections from Miguel's blog... but frankly, there are hardly any worth mentioning because so far it's not only a joy to read but the English is excellent. As for my English, I've added some of the highlighted words below too with an explanation for each. I hope you read on and enjoy!

See you soon
Sean

Some notes on Miguel's English -
Overall, excellent! We would say 'Let me introduce myself' rather than 'introduce me'. I think when Miguel said "Neither the Spanish could find the lost city" he meant "Not even or none of the Spanish could find it". Also we say 'called a Lost City' rather than 'called as'. A few 'typos' or spelling mistakes: mistery should be mystery..., cost should be coast.., and skeptical should be sceptical, although the noun is a sceptic. That's it really! As Mariana from Slovakia said "I suppose there won't be find a mistake by no teacher." Almost right, Mariana! But you should have said "I suppose no teacher will find any mistake." ;-)

Some explanations of my English

shirking
when you're shirking, you're avoiding doing your work!

lurking
when you're lurking, you are hiding and watching!

what I've been up to
means what I've been doing

to keep the spotlight on someone or something
means to focus on that person or thing

flair
is a natural talent, usually creative

succinct
means to the point, clear and precise

witty
means funny in a clever way

pretty sure
means fairly certain

be in great demand
lots of people want you or your services

vibrant
means full of energy, life and colour

a breathtaking tour
a tour that takes your breath away, that amazes you

looking forward to (something or doing something)
means to anticipate with pleasure - be careful it's always followed by a noun or verbal noun (I am looking (or I look) forward to visiting Peru NOT look forward to visit Peru)

topical
current, up-to-date

plagiarise
to take someone else's writing or speech without giving them credit

imitation is the sincerest form of flattery
to imitate someone is to compliment them

freelance
working independently or occasionally, not on a long term contract

proper job
a full-time job, employed on a contract

lead vocals
refers to the singer who takes the main role in a group

launched
started, set in operation; often used with reference to ships meaning to put to sea

topical
currently of interest, of the moment

relevant
with meaning or significant to people or a situation

interactive
acting with others, a two-way system