St Patrick’s day is celebrated in more countries throughout the world than any other national day. Two million people turn out in New York to enjoy the parade – that’s more than a third of the population of modern day Ireland! Tourism Ireland has had the wonderful idea of a Global Greening Initiative where cities turn their most iconic buildings […] Continue Reading
Life in modern Britain is changing. Here are five things that Students might find surprising when they come here to learn English. Do we have a fry up every morning? Not that often, actually. Although we don’t eat a full cooked breakfast every day anymore, lots of people do have a fry up for special occasions, like when friends and […] Continue Reading
Did you start off 2019 full of optimism about all the New Year’s Resolutions – all those things you were going to do and all the things you planned never to do again? Did you make a list and set all the reminders on your phone to make sure you didn’t fall by the wayside? Did you decide to forget […] Continue Reading
PHRASAL VERBS – Don’t you love them! And New Year is the time to practise. So. Get up! Get out! And Get going!! New Year is the time when we are full of resolutions about all the healthy, BORING things we’re going to start doing and, of course, the catalogue of DELICIOUS things we have to stop. Let’s face it, […] Continue Reading
It’s that time of year again, magical for both children and adults alike. Just when you’re getting fed up with dark, cold nights, thinking only of curling up by the fire and waiting until summer returns, a magical sparkle comes to Alyth – the switching on of the Christmas lights. Saturday evening saw the whole town turn out to follow […] Continue Reading
Nothing like the aromatic flavour of the old Arbroath Smokies to tantalise your taste buds. We couldn’t let the opportunity pass to introduce our English Language Student to the colours, activities, music and floral displays of the Dundee and Flower Show earlier this month. Lots of information to learn from the Head Gardener from Glamis Castle Gardens who was happy […] Continue Reading
Active English may be located in a small town but it is only a bus journey away from Perth, a culturally rich city where you can enjoy museums, theatre and art galleries. One of my favourite places is the Fergusson Gallery. I have long been interested in touring art galleries to enjoy what those with real talent have to show […] Continue Reading
The whole town was buzzing with a most wonderful festival, Alyth Creates – a whole weekend of celebrating local Art, Culture, Music and the Outdoors. Whatever your interests and hobbies, there was something here for you. Visitors came from all over Scotland and abroad. We met a group of friends from Glasgow who were celebrating a Henny – no rabbit […] Continue Reading
Blue skies. It’s going to rain! If you don’t come from these islands, and particularly, if you’re learning English as a foreign language, you might wonder why we seem to be obsessed about the weather. My advice to you is – On the list of important topics to learn you MUST include vocabulary about the weather. In that way you […] Continue Reading
As a girl who grew up in the gritty and troubled city of Belfast during the 1970s, moved to teach English in another city, this time in Zaragoza, Spain, then onto East London to work in an Inner Comprehensive, I never for a second considered that I would live in any conurbation of under half a million. No chance that […] Continue Reading