english matters

Just Booked Japan!

Just Booked Japan!

I’ve been looking forward to this week for months, for this is the week that I had set aside to sit down and book my summer holidays... An enjoyable moment of anybody’s calendar year, this one is particularly exciting as it ties in with my 35th year on this here planet - And for that reason I’ve decided to treat myself to a special trip to Japan to see a couple of friends living out there. I’ve never been to Asia before, so it’s going to be amazing! The first leg of the…Czytaj dalej …
Another Sunny Day

Another Sunny Day

I woke up this morning and witnessed something I haven’t seen in Poland for a long, long time - bright sunshine peeking through my bedroom window! While it hasn’t been a particularly harsh winter here, it has felt like a long one and any indication that spring is on the way is fine by me. What irony then, when I sat down with a cup of tea (with milk of course) and read online that the north of England has been hit by heavy snowfall and “thrown into chaos”. All morning flights were…Czytaj dalej …
Pining for Pizza

Pining for Pizza

While I rarely find myself in churches these days (aside from playing tourist or attending weddings), there is one religious tradition that I do like to partake in - Lent. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, the 46 days before Easter are treated slightly differently depending on where you have been brought up. During this period, many folk in the UK tend to forfeit something they enjoy, with two prime examples being chocolate or alcohol. This year I have chosen fast food, and it’s proving much more difficult than I thought it would. I’m extremely…Czytaj dalej …
Romantic Gestures

Romantic Gestures

What with Valentine’s Day almost upon us, it’s time to show the love of your life just how much they really mean to you. This can of course, be done in a number of ways - lavish gifts, an expensive piece of jewellery or a romantic candlelit dinner for two. While some people feel the need to dig deep into their pockets, others prefer the simpler option such as treating their partner to breakfast in bed, or surprising them with a personalised poem. Flowers are always a surefire hit with the ladies too…Czytaj dalej …
Say What?!

Say What?!

For those of you who might have a bit of Christmas money left over and are still searching for something entertaining to spend it on, then look no further than Bill Bryson’s ‘Mother Tongue’. It’s a great little book which not only explains how the English language was formed, but how it’s used today and adopted by countries right around the globe. As well as sections looking at why spelling is something of a minefield (‘weight’ versus ‘wait’ or ‘aisle’ versus ‘I’ll’), and why pronunciation can be a nightmare (‘knight’ and ‘bomb’ anyone?),…Czytaj dalej …
Setting off for the Slopes

Setting off for the Slopes

Hailing from the sunny climbs of Northern England, skiing isn’t a sport I was particularly into as a kid. In fact, it’s only been the last two years that I’ve started watching it and that was basically to appease my Polish friends. However, after a few goes on a local dry ski slope, I’ve really started to enjoy it and am ready to give it a go on the proper slopes. So, where to go? I’ve visited Zakopane before and have even trekked over the border to the Czech town of Harrachov, although…Czytaj dalej …

Everybody has their own New Year traditions and one of our family favourites is holding hands and belting out ‘Auld Lang Syne’ after the bells strike midnight. Of course anyone else standing nearby is welcome to join in (sometimes they have no choice!) even if they don’t know all the words. 
Written by Robert Burns back in 1788, the poem (which roughly translates into ‘Long Long Ago’) is perhaps one of the most famous to come out of Scotland and a number of different versions exist to this day. Nowadays, singing the song…Czytaj dalej …

Ask people which month of the year is their favourite and a fairly large percentage will answer “December”. But the final month of 2015 was made just that extra bit special by witnessing the official release of the new Star Wars film. As little as four years ago, the idea that we’d ever see Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill (and of course Peter Mayhew) grace our screens in another instalment of the classic saga seemed almost impossible. But how wrong we were. Anyway, for those of you who haven’t yet seen it,…Czytaj dalej …

Well, as we tend to say each year, it’s certainly come round fast again! But jokes aside, Christmas is undeniably one of the most exciting holidays. Not only do you get to feast on chocolates, cakes and lots of other unhealthy grub until your heart’s content, it’s also a great excuse to spend time with those that you might not see too often. However, one of the best parts of the festive season has to be the good old British Christmas Dinner. It might take days to prepare, but it’s worth every last…Czytaj dalej …

I’ve written about USA in this blog before but it’s always hard to pinpoint my exact favourite place there. People often assume that just because Americans share the same language with us Brits, that we are a similar kind of people. But let me tell you, that’s certainly not the case. Aside from both speaking English, we actually have little in common - in fact, we probably have more in common with our European neighbours than we do with those on the other side of the pond. Different foods, different mentalities, different outlooks...…Czytaj dalej …
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