Making questions

Helmut and I are using some of my teaching materials here so he can improve his English. We’ve never spoken English with each other, because I’m an English teacher and there’s always this slight feeling of hierarchy in a teacher-student relationship, which doesn’t do a marriage any good. But here we are, and he wants […]

The Police: Roxanne

This song is still amazing after over 30 years. Don’t you love early videos of great bands? They’re working their butts off jamming and the audience is sitting there like so many dead ducks. Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light Those days are over You don’t have to sell your body […]

Englischlernen mit Blogs is as easy as 1,2,3

If you are practicing English online by yourself, here are three lovely blogs written especially for you to start with. Each one is special in its own way: 1. Der Englisch-Blog Dieser Blog von Markus Brendel ist auf Deutsch geschrieben und erklärt täglich entweder einen Ausdruck oder eine Frage aus der Grammatik. Gestern hat Markus […]

Stealers Wheel: Stuck in the middle with you

Gary Rafferty and Stealers Wheel sang this way back in 1972, but the feeling is universal, isn’t it? “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you!” Life can be a circus. If you’re stuck, well, I hope you find a way out of the […]

To make a beeline for something

When you’re going straight and fast towards a goal you make a beeline for it. And do bees make beelines, too? They sure do. This is no mean feat, but it’s vitally important, because like the geese they’re on a knife-edge energy budget. The straighter their beelines, the less energy they expend. Get a buzz […]

Question: Which skill would you like to develop?

http://annehodgson.de/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/skill.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThere comes a time when you realize that you’ve been working hard in one direction or area and have become quite good at what you do. Generally it happens in the middle of what my husband Helmut calls “die Schuftphase” (when you’re slaving away at full throttle). So you’re […]

I’m in the doghouse

I’m in the doghouse with Google – they’ve taken my site off for 30 days because it was hacked and so I don’t meet their standards. My personal Lent – at least it’s not 40 days 🙂 Englisch lernen/ BC: animated explanation of the idiom “I’m in the doghouse” here. Why are poor outsiders called […]