Funny Story from across the World

As reported in Sunday Times 26 April 2009:

‘Not such a cunning plan… A young couple came up with an ingenious plan to outsmart police officers who warned them not to drive home drunk.  They walked to a taxi rank, then phoned to report armed, masked men on the forecourt of a nearby petrol station.  As police cars raced past the couple jumped into their car and prepared to set off.  And that’s when the plan went wrong.

“An officer took a detour on a hunch and located them” said the police in North Shore City, New Zealand.  The couple denied making the call, but the police communications centre redialled the number that had called it.  As the couple were interviewed, the woman’s phone rang.  A 22-year-old woman has been charged with attempted drink driving.’

ingenious: to be clever at inventing
to outsmart: to be cleverer than
forecourt: the part of a filling-station where petrol is supplied
to take a detour: to go off an intended route
to charge someone with: to be accused of a crime
to attempt: to try to

Amusing Quote:

“I’m not just involved in tennis but committed. Do you know the difference between involvement and commitment? Think of ham and eggs. The chicken is involved. The pig is committed.”  Martina Navratilova

to be involved: to participate, share the experience of
to be committed: to be entrusted to do something

English Corner: Three Grammar Rules You Can (And Should) Break

Grammar rules exist so that we don’t sound like complete idiots when we write. Most of them have a good reason for being around; after all, clarity in communication is a good thing. A virtue, even.

However, that’s not to say that all grammar rules are written in stone. In fact, some of them seem to be the work of rabid grammarians, who gleefully enforce confusing syntax and awkward construction in the name of “proper English.”

To read what 3 rules you should break go to: Grammar Rules

by Michelle Pierce reproduced by permission from Aqua Vita Creative

Video: British Comedy In the Loop

A new British comedy has just come out: In the Loop and it is already being dubbed: ‘The British Film of the Year’.  It is a political drama, set in America, with James Gandolfini from the Sopranos.  It is set during that nervous period that would eventually result in the military invasion of Iraq.  A difficult subject but one that provides some hilarious, dark and comic moments.

See the trailer here: You Tube

For more Advanced Learners try this review in The Daily Telegraph

For more English classes like this one, go to Answer English FREE Class

For English courses abroad go to Answer English

If you are looking for the best Cambridge Exam Preparation course London – Camden is an excellent choice!

The programme is 8 weeks of 25 lessons per week, with a maximum of 12 students. The School has excellent Cambridge examination results. For example, with the Winter 2008 CAE Course they had a 100% pass rate and in March 2008 the pass rate for both CAE, and FCE was also 100%!

If you book this 8 weeks Cambridge Exam Preparation course at London - Camden  you save £68.99 and you will get an Exam dictionary “Check your Vocabulary for Academic English: All you need to pass your exams” and 2 One-to-One Conversation classes with James as a FREEBIE.

Please Contact us today for more information!

If you are interested in finding out more about London - Camden please Contact Us.

Hello students!

My name is Jessica and I studied for 2 weeks at London – British Museum School.

Currently I`m doing an Internship at Answer English and the course helped me a great deal to improve my English to work in an English company.

The highly-trained and motivated teachers helped me to advance my English within only two weeks. Now I feel much more confident and comfortable to speak English due to the discussions on current topics in the lessons.  It was a great experience for me to learn in such small classes.  I am very happy to stay in contact with the school for another year because of the e-learning programme.

Another advantage for me was the location of the school.  It was so easy to pop in the British Museum to see the exhibitions without using Public Transport.  Furthermore, I met a lot of people from different countries which was really interesting for me.  I would repeat these courses at any time!

You can contact me any time if you have any questions about my experiences and the courses at this school.  Also, pay attention to our Special offer which will give you the great e-learning for free!

Looking for an English Course in Central London in the Evenings?

Good news!  We still have lots of places available for Evening English Courses in Zone 1, Central London, at our London - Islington centre.  We have General English (Intermediate & Advanced levels) and Cambridge (First Certificate).  These are right by Angel Underground, less than two minutes walk.

Details are as follows:

• Time: 18:00 - 20:30
• Number of hours: 2.5 (including 15 minute break)
• Days of Week: Tuesdays and Thursdays
• Number of weeks: 8
• Fees: £233 (includes £40 Registration fee)
• Location: Angel (see Google Maps)

To book your place Contact Us.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Answer English is on the look out for a Spanish Sales & Marketing Assistant.

This is an un-paid internship role that gives you the opportunity to:

• Gain work experience in a British working environment (Central London)
• Learn new skills linked to career, coursework or other educational activities
• Improve Business English skills (spoken and written)

If you are university educated, from Spain, and have these skills:

• Marketing & Sales
• Communication – Service oriented, with good telephone manner
• Technology – Keyboard skills; MS Windows, Explorer and Office 2003
• Languages - Upper-Intermediate/Advanced English and Spanish mother tongue

And in terms of attitude you have high attention to detail, are able to follow instructions and are a team player - then we are looking for you!

To apply please send your CV and covering letter to James Herbertson: james@answerenglish.com

For full information go to: Spanish Sales & Marketing Assistant

ATTENTION!  All those that are interested in the General English / Cambridge course at London - British Museum, there are just two places left!

To enrol on this course please call Answer English urgently: 020 7402 8651.

For those that book up on Monday, they are still eligible to have our special offer of 1 FREE One-to-one class worth £30!  Don’t hesitate - Contact Us today!

We are on the look out for talent to join Answer English.  Currently we are searching for a Spanish Online Marketing Manager to join our young, enthusiastic team.

Responsible for the Spanish Market, the purpose of this role is to establish answerenglish.es as the leading internet site for English Language students in Spain, measured by traffic and relevance.  Market intelligence, content quality and established digital promotional techniques will achieve the conversion targets. Effective sales management will translate these to clients. Reports to the Managing Director.

Job Spec: Spanish Online Marketing Manager

If you are interested in applying please send a covering letter and CV to james@answerenglish.com Similarly if you know someone that may well be interested in this role - please let them know - Answer English wants to hear from them.

The ‘English for Work’ Evening English Course at London - British Museum is proving extremely popular.  In the last two working days we’ve already received 5 enquiries and the 2009 dates only just got released.  Must be something to do with our Special Offer!

Rob, the very able Director of Studies from the school, has just been in touch.  He wanted to clarify the course content as this course is aimed at people that are planning on working in London and are looking to improve on the English used in the work place.  This is not for people looking for a ‘Business English’ course and hoping to enter corporate life.

He explained to Answer English that the course covers the following areas:

• Jobs (Talking about what you do/want to do and some of the problems associated with working overseas)
• CVs (From advert to CV and app forms)
• Interviews (Writing a cover letter and interview Q&A)
• Formal or Informal register
• Phoning
• Computers (talking about I.T and pc tasks and writing informal emails)
• Giving instructions
• Talking numbers (describing trends, figures and writing a report)
• Presentations

and says ‘The English for Work course enjoyed extremely good attendance and positive feedback‘ and they expect numbers to hit record levels in 2009.  So don’t miss out on your chance to join this fantastic course and take up our Special Offer today.

Answer English has been nominated as agency of the month in the distinguished industry title Language Travel Magazine.  We were very kindly nominated by Karen Bowring, Managing Director of Internship UK.

Each month the magazine asks a different language teaching institution worldwide to nominate one of their preferred agenceis and they explain why this company is worthy of their nomination.  Karen said ‘They feel like a student one-stop shop, pointing students in the right direction for work experience, getting a foothold on London life, sorting their accommodation and of course getting them the experience best English courses around.”

Karen is very well respected in the industry.  Prior to starting her ever expanding internship business Professionals UK, she was principal for a number of years of UIC London.  You can download the article here: Agency of the Month