All posts in June 2020

On April 12th 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first man to travel in space. With the singular success of the North American Space Agency we sometimes forget that it was the Russians, the Soviets, who were the first to shake off gravity’s chains. Gagarin was born in the rural area to the west of Moscow.…

Supporting Real Madrid and Barcelona is all well and good. But it’s not exotic, is it? Why don’t you be a Port Vale fan too? Port Vale Football Club was founded in 1876 ; the year when Custer lost the Battle of Little Big Horn and 26 years before Real Madrid came into existence. “The…

A co-operative, or a Co-op, is a legal entity controlled and democratically directed by its members. There are no shareholders with voting rights. So really, a co-op is the halfway stage between a partnership and a corporation. There are many different kinds of co-ops. Years ago I was a management consultant for a ‘secondary co-operative’.…

“Listen!” is the first word of the the Old English poem ‘Beowulf’ which tells of the adventures of the eponymous hero and his three great battles against two monsters and a dragon. It was made into a dazzling three-dimensional computer-generated movie by Hollywood. Old English is very hard to understand. Look at this: Hwæt! We…

Ten years after Christ died the Romans invaded England. What was merely a political distraction, designed to impress the powerful influences in Rome, had long-lasting linguistic consequences for the peoples of the British Isles. Status Quo is the only British rock band I can think of who have a Latin name. As their music never changes,…

About 80% of my students don’t know how to use a full-stop. A full-stop is the small black dot that you put at the end of a sentence. The North Americans call it a ‘period’. Writing English is easy. You make a point and you put a full-stop. Most experts agree that good English has…

Yes, your Granny kissed with passion!I think one of the least mentioned frontiers is between the young and old. When we look at old people we think of the past. But we should really think of the future. Those old people’s homes, those hospital beds, those walking sticks and rheumatism pills will all be ours…

In most countries talking to yourself is a sign of mental instability, if not downright madness. The reason hand-free telephones are now never used outside of the car is that no-one wants to look as if they are vocalising an internal dialogue. “The voices told me to do it” is the often used plea of…

If you were born between 1961 and 1975 you are a member of “Generation X”. ”. The term comes from a book called “Class” by American sociologist Paul Fussell. Generation X people are not interested in money, status or social climbing. Some of the cultural achievements of Generation X include Hip-Hop music, “Fast Car” by…