When I saw this sign in the window of a shop at Norwich station I was struck by how much cultural and linguistic knowledge you need to read this piece of the linguistic landscape.Read more...
From January to March 2015, we had the pleasure of working with a group of 64 Peruvian Secondary School Teachers at NILE over 7 weeks of language development, teaching methodology, intercultural awareness and, of course, lots of fun.
A mental health charity are having a go at inventing some new words. Some of them sound terribly useful to me....Can you make up any others? Maybe they'll pass into common usage...
Spotted in Manchester, by Piccadilly Station
This photo was taken in February and the assumption is that post-Christmas diets don't last beyond the end of January.Read more...
I am an English instructor at Bahcesehir University Preparatory School, a freelance teacher trainer, a materials developer and a blogger. I just completed the online Intercultural Awareness in Language Teaching course of NILE and I feel so proud and glad to have finished it with a distinction.
I attended a face-to-face course at NILE earlier, but I learnt about the online ones after I was nominated for a scholarship by the British Council Turkey. I was so happy after receiving the news that I was chosen. Thanks to the British Council Turkey for giving me this great opportunity.Read more...
Thirty-nine trainee teachers from Graz joined us at NILE for a specially-designed two-week course combining language development, uses of drama in the language classroom, and placements in their subject specialisms at local secondary schools.
This sign outside a local church demonstrates the way language is used to catch people's attention, with plays on words perhaps more familiar in marketing slogans applied to religion and attendance at church events such as the evening mass.Read more...
Playing with the homonym can, this ad outside a fitness centre is designed to catch the attention of potential clients with a 'can of fitness' under a headline insisting that if you want results...
Traditional grammars will tell you that verbs expressing emotions or attitudes,such as like or love can't be used in progressive aspect. But this familiar Macdonalds advertising slogan has had such a strong influence on the way we speak that up-to-date grammars now say that these verbs are not normally used in progressive aspect. Language changes, whether we like it or not...
St Benedict's Street, Norwich, Norfolk UK
The phrase work-life balance became popular in the UK in the 1970s, but the concept has been around for much longer than you might imagine. Apparently it originated as far back as the mid-1800s, when Labour Day (May Day) was established as a public holiday in Australia, with the labour unions claiming that everyone was entitled to 8 hours' work, 8 hours' rest and 8 hours of recreation - a perfect balance. The sentiment is also expressed in the well-known saying "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", first recorded in the mid-17th century, but probably going back to Saxon times. The arrows here, pointing in opposite directions, remind us forcefully that work and 'life' should be kept strictly separate.
Fisher's Lane, Norwich, Norfolk UK
