New Year

Do you want to know what people do on the biggest party night in the UK? Read on to find out.

New Year´s Eve celebrations start in the evening on December 31 in the UK. Some young people go to parties and others stay at home with their family. After the celebrations, it´s traditional to make plans for the new year on January 1. These plans aree called ´New Year´s resolutions´ and the idea is to make some positive changes in your life. Some of the most popular resolutions are: to do more exercise, to stop smoking, to eat more healthily, to save money and  to learn something new. We asked young people around the UK about  their plans and resolutions for the new year.

Reported speech 2

Remember that in reported speech we usually change the tense of the direct statement. The present simple tense changes to the past simple, the past simple changes to the past perfect and so on.

Here are some other points to consider.

‘Can’ and ‘will’

• Direct speech: “I can’t remember his name.” Reported speech: She said she couldn’t remember his name.

‘Can’ and ‘can’t’ in direct speech change to ‘could’ and ‘couldn’t’ in reported speech.

• Direct speech: “I’ll be there for 3 weeks.” Reported speech: He told me he’d be there for 3 weeks.

‘Will’ and ‘won’t’ in direct speech change to ‘would’ and ‘wouldn’t’ in reported speech.

Other modal verbs

• Direct speech: “You could be right.” Reported speech: I said that he could be right.
• Direct speech: “You must call me.” Reported speech: She said that I must call her.

Other modal verbs don’t change in reported speech.

Reporting orders, requests and advice

• Direct speech: “Sit down and shut up!” Reported speech: The teacher told me to sit down and shut up.
• Direct speech: “Can you hold this for me please?” Reported speech: He asked me to hold it.
• Direct speech: “You should do more exercise.” Reported speech: He advised me to do more exercise.

Orders, request and advice can be reported using an infinitive.

Reporting verbs

There are a number of verbs that we use to report statements. These can make your speech and writing more interesting than simply reporting every word of the direct speech.

• Direct speech: “It wasn’t me who broke the window.” > He denied breaking the window.
• Direct speech: “I’ll help you if you want” > She offered to help.

There are a number of verbs that can be used to report. They include: promise, claim, suggest, advise, refuse, argue,confirm and others.

Reported questions

When we report what people say, we usually change the tense of the verbs to reflect that we are reporting – not giving direct speech. This pattern is followed when we report questions and there are also other important changes between direct questions and reported questions.

Yes/no questions

• Direct question: “Do you like working in teams?” Reported question: He asked if I like working in teams.

When we report yes/no questions we use ‘if’ or ‘whether’.

• Direct question: “Did you enjoy the party?” Reported question: She asked me whether I’d enjoyed the party.

The tense of the verb changes as it does in reported speech but we don’t use auxiliary verbs. The word order is the same as in an affirmative sentence.

Questions with a question word

• Direct question: “What time does the train leave?” Reported question: He asked what time the train left.

When there is a question word (what, where, why, who, when, how) we use that question word in the reported question but there is no auxiliary verb and the word order is like an affirmative sentence (‘what time the train left’ not He asked me what time did the train leave.)

Look at some more examples:

• Direct question: “Who did you see?”
• Reported question: She asked me who I’d seen.
• Direct question: “Where did you go to school?”
• Reported question: He asked me where I’d gone to school.
• Direct question: “Why are you crying?”
• Reported question: She asked him why he was crying.

Notice that the reported questions do not have a question mark at the end.

Indirect questions

Similar to reported questions are indirect questions.

• Can you tell me what time the train leaves? NOT Can you tell me what time does the train leave?
• I’d love to know what he said to her. NOT I’d love to know what did he say to her.

A short history of Christmas traditions

With only a few weeks left until Christmas, our biggest winter festival is just around the corner! So, we all know why we celebrate Christmas; the birth of Jesus, Bethlehem, the three wise men ... but do we know why we celebrate in the way we do? The tree, the turkey, mistletoe, card-giving? Have you ever wondered where our best loved Christmas traditions come from?

Well actually, most of them can be attributed to the Victorians; Queen Victoria and her husband specifically. Take the Christmas tree which is arguably one of the most iconic symbols of Christmas. Although the symbolic tree dates back to pagan tree-worshiping traditions in Europe, the modern Christmas tree as we know it today was brought to England by German-born Prince Albert. In 1848 the Illustrated London News published a drawing of  the royal family celebrating around a decorated fir tree, a tradition that was reminiscent of Prince Albert´s childhood in Germany. Soon afterwards every home in Britain had a tree covered with homemade decorations, fruit, sweets and candles.

The Christmas feast has its roots from before the Middle Ages, but it´s during the Victorian period that the dinner we now associate with Christmas began to take shape. Previously, meats such as beef and goose were the centrepiece of the Christmas dinner. Turkey however was favoured by the wealthier, middle class sections of 19th century society and before long it had became the fashionable choice; by the late 20th century it was the dominant meat in a traditional Christmas day feast!

The ´official´ Christmas card didn´t come about until the 1840s. It all started with Henry Cole. He commissioned an artist to design a card for Christmas. The image was a joyous and festive one and promptly encouraged people to make their own. The advancement of colour printing technology and the halfpenny postage rate helped the Christmas card industry take off and in 1880 the Christmas card industry had produced 11.5 million cards in that year alone. The beginnings of a commercialised Christmas?

Christmas carolling today is a seasonal tradition to wish our neighbours a merry Christmas in song, but carolling originally had little to do with Christmas. Carols of the 12th and 13th centuries were liturgical songs reserved for church processions. Many of the more popular seasonal songs we associate with Christmas - "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing!", "The First Noel" , and"God Ret Ye Merry Gentlemen" - were written during the 19th century.

Lastly, the elusive mistletoe. Celtic legen says the plant can bring good luck, heal wounds, increase fertility and ward off evil spirits. While the tradition of kissing underneath the mistletoe, unsurprisingly, began in the Victorian era. They believed that a kiss under the mistletoe would inevitably lead to marriage!

B2 Grammar: All about adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives with –ed and –ing

·         Adjectives with –ed express how the person feels about something: She was terrified as Dracula approached her.

·         Adjectives with –ing are used to describe the person or thing which produces the feeling: There’s a surprising article in today’s newspaper (I felt surprised when I read it).

·         Not all of these types of adjective have both forms, e.g. elated but not elating.

Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs

Comparative forms Adjective/adverbs + -er                  + than                    Tennis is cheaper than golf. More + adjective/adverb                                              Golf is more expensive than tennis. Superlative forms The + adjective/adverb + -est                                       Chess is one of the cheapest hobbies. The most + adjective/adverb                                        Playing team sports is the most sociable                                                                                      free-time activity.

Comparison of adjectives

Add –er and –est with: ·    One-syllable adjectives: Fiona is fitter than last year. ·    Two-syllable adjectives ending in –y and –ly, e.g. happy, friendly: My brother’s the friendliest person in my family.	Use more and most with: ·    Adjectives of two syllables or more (except two-syllable adjectives ending in –y or –ly): Biking is the most dangerous activity.
These adjectives form irregular comparisons: good – better – best                                          bad – worse – worst much – more – most                                         many – more – most little – less – least                                             far – farther/further / farthest/furthest old – elder – eldest (for brothers and sisters)
Spelling When there is just one vowel before one final consonant, the final consonant is doubled: hot – hotter, fat – fatter (BUT clean – cleaner, safe  – safer.) Final –y becomes –i: easy – easier, healthy – healthier.
To say two things are the same, use as + adjective + as: She finds doing aerobics as interesting as playing team sports (this means: she finds doing aerobics and playing team sports equally interesting). To say that one thing is less than another, use: ·    Not so/as + adjective + as: Window shopping is not so/as enjoyable as clubbing. ·    Less/least + adjective: Playing chess is less healthy than playing team sports. Clubbing is the least healthy.

Comparison of adverbs

Add –er and –est with: ·    One-syllable adverbs, e.g. hard, fast, straight: My mum works harder than my dad.	Use more and most with: ·    Two-syllable adverbs including adverbs ending in –ly: Maria read the text more quickly than Susanna. She visits me more often than in the past.
These adverbs form irregular comparisons: Well – better – best                                badly – worse – worst
To say two things are the same, use as + adverb + as: Julia finished the exercise as quickly as Mark (Julia and Mark finished the exercise equally quickly). To say that we do one thing differently from another, use: ·    Not so/as + adverb + as: Sophie doesn’t speak Spanish so/as well as Gordon.

The stress of social media

WhatsApps, Facebook messages, Texts, Calls, Instragams, Snapchats, Tweets.

Will we ever be free from the constant stream of notifications? The headache caused by your phone beeping and vibrating 24/7? Being contactable whenever and wherever you are?

Don´t get me wrong, I´d find it really difficult to be sociable without social media. It would be extremely hard to keep in contact with friends and family, especially is they live far away. Organising meet-ups would be a nightmare - imagine having to set a date in writing or in person, weeks in advance, What would happen if you were running late? You wouldn´t even be able to ping your friends a text to let them know. Events on Facebook and Whatsapp group messages have made organising everything so easy. They´ve enabled spontaneity - if it´s a sunny day, why not go for a picnic in the park? Without notifications about the weather, an app for maps on your phone or a Facebook group message to invite your friends and decide who should bring strawberries and who should bring crisps, where would we be? Stuck at home, wishing we´d predicted good weather today when we last saw our friends in person.

But I find social media stressful. If you´re not checking your phone at least every half an hour, you might miss out on something important or fun. If you don´t message that friend you haven´t seen in a while, they might think you´ve forgotten about them. If you don´t remember to shower your bestie with ugly selfies, you might not keep up that Snapchat streak!

If you´re meant to be doing homework, can you resist the temptation to check why your phone is flashing? If you have friends round and there´s a lull in conversation, are you tempted to tap out a quick reply to your friend on the other end of the internet rather than playing a game with your friends on the sofa next to you?

In the 21st century contact is quicker and easier, but that doesn´t mean we have more free time. If anything, the opposite. The ability to send a quick message to one friend means we have time to send one to five others, and before you know it you´re having five conversations at once. How can you really concentrate on any of them? And if your Twitter or Instagram feed is buzzing, why bother going outside to kick a football about or signing up for music lessons? You´re entertained enough - you just never have time to relax, let off steam, enjoy the world. Try leaving your phone at home and doing something productive, maybe even alone, today - you might feel all the better for it.

How to use quantifiers