Melting Pot

Watch this audio slideshow.

In Bern, migrant women are learning German while having fun cooking together.

The women’s cook group is held twice a week at the House of Religions, a centre which brings different religions together. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians learn about each other’s eating habits and food preferences, while gardening and cooking together. The project helps migrants put down roots in their new home. (Morven McLean and Christoph Balsiger, swissinfo.ch)

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Sunny Disposition

Solar-powered village comes top in the energy stakes.

Villagers in Hessigkofen, canton Solothurn, caught the green energy bug three years ago when the local council launched its own solar programme. The roofs of the village of 260 inhabitants are now festooned with solar panels: 3.1 square metres per head. That’s ten times the national average. Swiss TV took a closer look. (SF/swissinfo.ch)


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Articles, nouns, pronouns, and determiners

....such as a, an, the, some, any, much, many, this, that can be confusing sometimes.

Let's practice a bit.

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Present Perfect Simple

I have wanted to post more work on the present perfect form in English
I have not taken the time until now.
I have been a lazy teacher.
I haven't had as much time lately.
SOOO..
I have done it now!

go here to study
go here to practice

A note from Torrie

Dear English learner,
Do you now how much I care about you and your learning of the English language?
No?
The reason is clear-to promote understanding through the use of language throughout the world!

TH...............................................................as in THINK, BATHROOM, and TEETH

Watch this Quick Time Movie to learn how to pronounce the 'TH' sound as in 'thought'.

Click here to go to the link

Zeitgeist Addendum

- the full movie

Here is the link to the movie which won the award - Artivist´s Film Festival 2008.

It is thought provoking.

Zeitgeist was created as a not for profit expression to inspire people to start looking at the world from a more critical perspective and to understand that very often things are not what the population at large think they are. The information in Zeitgeist was established over a year long period of research and the current Source page on this site lists the sources used / referenced. Soon, an interactive transcript will be online with detailed footnotes and links.

It's important to point out that there is a tendency to simply disbelieve things that are counter to our understanding, without the necessary research performed.
For example, some information contained in Part 1 and Part 3, specifically, is not obtained by simple keyword searches on the Internet. You have to dig deeper. For instance, very often people who look up "Horus" or "The Federal Reserve" on the Internet draw their conclusions from very general or biased sources. Online encyclopedias or text book Encyclopedias often do not contain the information contained in Zeitgeist. However, if one takes the time to read the sources provided, they will find that what is being presented is based on documented evidence. Any corrections, clarifications & further points regarding the film
are found on the Clarifications page. Downloadable formats are also now available.

That being said, It is my hope that people will not take what is said in the film as the truth, but find out for themselves, for truth is not told, it is realized.

click here to watch the full film

Antarctica Video

This is so interesting. It is about the Antarctic.
The Antarctica Desert is the largest desert in the world. Yes, desert!

Watch and enjoy.


Click here


Thank you Cambridge University Press

Listen up People!

Hundreds of lessons to learn English online.
Some of them are really interesting!
Just Click and listen.

Click to begin!

'Countable' & 'Uncountable' Words

Much & Many



Practice makes perfect-

So give it a try!


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Adverb Attack!

Mixed up sentence practice.
Have fun!



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'First' Reading

Reality TV


Cambridge ESOL First Certificate Exam Reading Part 2
Good luck!

PET Practice

Try out your skills for the preliminary English Test.
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Going to

There is no one 'future tense' in English. There are 4 future forms. The one which is used most often in spoken English is 'going to', not 'will'.

We use 'going to' when we want to talk about a plan for the future.

•I'm going to see him later today.
•They're going to launch it next month.
•We're going to have lunch first.
•She's going to see what she can do.
•I'm not going to talk for very long.

Notice that this plan does not have to be for the near future.

•When I retire I'm going to go back to Barbados to live.
•In ten years time, I'm going to be boss of my own successful company.

We use 'going to' when we want to make a prediction based on evidence we can see now.

•Look out! That cup is going to fall off.
•Look at those black clouds. It's going to rain soon.
•These figures are really bad. We're going to make a loss.
•You look very tired. You're going to need to stop soon.

We can replace 'going to go' by 'going'.

•I'm going out later.
•She's going to the exhibition tomorrow.
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Peer Pressure

Friends are an important part of growing up. Your peers are going through many of the same things that you are experiencing and can play a supportive and positive role in your life.

Unfortunately, some friends may not be your true friends. They may try to pressure you into doing things that you know you should not do. This is called peer pressure.

For example, your friends may try to pressure you into trying cigarettes, drugs or alcohol. If they are trying to talk you into trying something you know is unhealthy or dangerous, this person may not be a true friend.

You may also notice peer pressure at school when your friends exclude one classmate from games during recess or activities during class. Your friends may look at you funny when you talk to this person or try to make you feel bad for including him or her in the group. Remember, that it hurts when you are left out too. Always treat people with respect and kindness, no matter how your friends act.

Part of growing up is learning to make smart choices and decisions for yourself. Do not let other people pressure you, real friends will stick by you and respect the choices you make.