Good morning everyone. I have been saving one of my very favourite Georgians for this week. He only just squeaks in to being a Georgian, and for quite a lot of his life he was a Victorian, but being born in 1791 when King George III was on the throne (or not) he qualifies for our series.
(Interested in King George III's illness? Watch this documentary about Royal Diseases:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJecSrFfprI)

I had forgotten what a wonderful person Michael Faraday was. When I was a little girl Thursday afternons were very special: it was the day the  mobile library came to our area and I could go and choose my books. There was a children's biography of Michael Faraday in the van, and that was often the book I chose.

Those of you who are in lessons next week will find out more about why MF is my heartthrob, for the rest of you here's a documentary about British scientists:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu3TCj_zr2Q

Last week some of us got quite stuck using different tenses.
Here is some online practice:
http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/mixed-verb-tenses3.html

Good afternoon from sunny Landkreis Verden, where Karoline (oven range) has been lit for the first time this year as Rouladen are on the menu for this evening. October, especially when it is so golden, is one of the very best months.

This week some of  us will be thinking about birthday cakes, inspired by Anya's 7th birthday last Thursday. She told me she had chosen a Frozen cake, which confused me for a second.
Here it is:

That is one cool cake.
Here are some birthday cake ideas:

http://www.marthastewart.com/274819/birthday-cakes
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/birthday-cake

Here's a terrific site packed full of things for you to do to improve your English:
http://www.manythings.org/

And just for those of you not yet Frozen fans:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk

and, as we know, some People are worth melting for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KODq5mpAbTs

Many, many years ago whilst volunteering with Blackfoot Indians in Montana I spent 10 days (or nights) sleeping on a child-sized camp bed. I remember exactly the bliss of getting into a real bed again. That is the feeling this week with the arrival of my new - although clonky - keyboard.
Some of us are enjyoing flicking through English-language magazines. Here are the websites with tons of free material:

The classic British women's magazine:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/

Best in the USA for crafts, recipes & home ideas:
http://www.bhg.com/
You can sign up for their free emails on different categories too.

Popular science (UK):

http://sciencefocus.com/

Gardening (UK):
http://www.gardenersworld.com/

And for a completely different view:
Australia:
 http://www.aww.com.au/

Southern USA:
http://www.southernliving.com/

For IT fans:

http://www.computerworld.com/

And the news:
http://www.newsweek.com/en

Now, that should really be enough to keep you busy!

Excuse me if I keep this short today; my Keyboard is not working properly and a Touchscreen is modern but tricky... for me at least.
we looked at 10 Downing Street this week, here's some more info:

https://www.gov.uk/government/history/10-downing-street

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYRM4tYm-Ik

http://www.eyerevolution.co.uk/blog/get-inside-10-downing-street/


And here's a quiz  to check phrasal verbs (groan)
http://www.stuff.co.uk/phrasal.htm

Back home again after a week to remember!

We have been talking about phrasal verbs  recently, and my what fun they are. Here are some online quizzes and explanations:

http://www.eslcafe.com/pv/
(alphabetical list of phrasal verbs)

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/ppva.html
(quiz)


And a special quiz featuring 'get'
http://www.5minuteenglish.com/apr3.htm


And, from our Best Favourite BBC, some Funky Phrasals!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/148_phrasalverbs/

What a week for the United Kingdom. Who knows how much longer we will be united?
Here's an interesting interactive map of Scotland:
http://www.incallander.co.uk/mapofcotland.htm

And here's the famous 'Freedom' speech from Braveheart:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEOOZDbMrgE

Here is a great online  Feature to give you more background on  Robert the Bruce and Wallace:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/hist/wallaceandbruce/

What about Bonnie Prince Charlie?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/launch_ani_bonnie_prince.shtml

Enjoy!

Hello again, back after a long and sometimes hot summer, visiting Borneo, Britain and the surprisingly mountainous Sauerland.
But now thoughts turn again to Unterricht.
At the end of last term I asked students what they would like to do this term, and lots answered "Games!" Laura is also finding that her little Chinese, Korean & Malaysian pupils like nothing better than a round of Spitz paß auf!
So off we went to the Fleamarket in Thedinghausen and bought lots of games.
Funnily enough I heard a piece on the BBC this week about 'Mensch aergere Dich nicht'
Here you can read the text:
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29050369
And here you can download the Podcast of 'From our own Correspondant' and listen to the original report:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/fooc

And here is an online game for practising your prepositions:
http://www.eslgamesplus.com/prepositions-of-place-esl-fun-game-online-grammar-practice/
Play nicely!