English Recordings

The poem In Flanders Fields was written in 1915 by Lieutenant Colonel John MacCrae. Some of the bloodiest battles of The Great War took place in the fields of northern France (Picardy) and Flanders (southwest Belgium). On May 2nd, 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer was killed by a German artillery shell. He was a friend of the Canadian military doctor John McCrae. It is believed that John began writing his famous poem that day. McCrae's poem is one of the most famous and poignant poems of WWI. It was published in December 1915.

In the Slytherin Common Room, there are several objects and pieces of furniture in a green and silver environment.
In the fireplace, there is an intense fire. In front of the fireplace, there are two sofas. Next to the sofas, there are four tables with chairs. Under the tables and chairs, there are rugs.
On the fireplace, there is the Slytherin emblem.
On the walls, there are lamps and portraits of notable Slytherins.
On the tables, there are chessgames, candles, books, pen nibs, and sheets of paper.
On the sofas, there are pillows and blankets.

This house is one of the prettiest of Brooklyn. It is near a huge
park. We have an enormous garage for 2 or 3 cars
There are two floors . The three bedrooms with a bathroom are upstairs. The living room is warm and sunny. You can relax in front of our king size tv screen. There is the wi-fi everywhere in the house for your computer.

We are located in the heart of New York city, not very far from Brooklyn Bridge.
From our house you will have an amazing view on the spectacular skyscrapers.

Many of you have asked me about a phrase in the newsletter entitled Handprints. The phrase was, "We had her dip her hands in a contrasting color."

One person said that he would have written, "We dipped her hands in..." However, that would mean that we held her hands and dipped them in the paint. My phrase means that we told her to dip her hands in the paint. Here are some other examples of that kind of phrase:

The doctor always has her sit in that chair.
The mother had the baby take a nap before going on their trip.
The teacher has the children read a book before they're allowed to go outside.
She will have her son wash his hands before eating lunch.

I hope this will help you to use that form of the word have with confidence.

You can read about how to drive a car all day, but you won't be a good driver until you DO it.

You can read about knitting a sweater, but until you actually knit the first row, you won't really know how to knit.

Similarly, you can read and listen to English all day, but if you don't actually speak it aloud, you won't become fluent. So speak by yourself at home, saying things like, "I'd better straighten my desk so I can find that paper. I wish I had a new desk, but I'll have to wait until I have more money. I wonder if I'll get an increase in my pay this year..."

Just say whatever is going through your mind aloud. If you don't know a word, either look it up, if you have time, or just skip it and keep talking.

Do you know what these thoughts flowing through your mind are called? Stream of consciousness. I hope you'll give it a try and let me know how it impacts your English!

Do you see this picture of the dilapidated shed and land? It looks like this property has really gone downhill. Perhaps at one time, it was a beautiful farm, with a lush, green cornfield and maybe some horses and a few barn cats.

Can you imagine buying this property? It would sure be a lot of work to bring it back to its previous condition, wouldn't it? Right now, it's nothing to look at, but it has a lot of potential. If someone had the time and means to fix it up, it might be a productive farm once again.

If you looked at this property, would you think of it as having seen better days and not worth the time and money it would take to fix it up, or would you get excited about the challenge and envision what it could be?

A FEW MILES south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees - willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter's flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool. On the sandy bank under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them. Rabbits come out of the brush to sit on the sand in the evening, and the damp flats are covered with the night tracks of 'coons, and with the spread pads of dogs from the ranches, and with the split-wedge tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark. There is a path through the willows and among the sycamores, a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway in the evening to jungle-up near water. In front of the low horizontal limb of a giant sycamore there is an ash pile made by many fires; the limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it. Evening of a hot day started the little wind to moving among the leaves.

Football star Michael Oher was born on May 28, 1986, in Memphis, Tennessee.

He was one of 12 children born to Michael Jerome Williams Sr. and Denise Oher, who couldn't take care of them.
Michael Sr. was often in prison, and Denise was a drug-addict.
As a result, Michael Jr. was taken to foster homes and sometimes homeless when he ran away from his foster home.
He wasn't a good student, and he went to 11 different schools during his first nine years as a student. Oher's father, was murdered while Oher was in high school.
The young boy was finally taken in by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy when he was 16, and the Tuohys became Oher's legal guardians when he was 17.
Oher began to excel in football. He quickly became a top football prospect in the state of Tennessee. He finally accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Mississippi
In 2006 the author Michael Lewis released a book "The Blind Side". It tells the story of Michael Oher's life from foster child to college football star.
The book was turned into a movie in 2009, and starred Sandra Bullock
That same year, Michael Oher was selected by the Baltimore Ravens. He helped take the Ravens all the way to the 2013 Super Bowl . The Ravens were victorious and Oher said "I came so far—from nothing to a Super Bowl championship,"

Lately, I have read in the news about many house fires. In most of the fires, the people escaped without injury, but in one, the family dog died, and in a recent one, a handicapped person couldn't get out in time and died. These stories reminded me of some safety tips for using a stove in the kitchen.

Never leave food unattended while cooking. This is especially important when cooking with oil or sugar, as these foods are more flammable than most.
When cooking with oil at a high temperature, remain at the stove and keep your full attention on what you're doing. The hotter oil gets, the more dangerous it is.
Don't wear loose-fitting clothing when cooking, and if your hair is long, tie it back. I'm sure you can guess why these ideas are important.
Never leave tools, towels, or other items on the stove top. I remember a time when some friends were over, and one of them set an empty pizza box on top of the stove. Soon, it caught on fire. Fortunately, someone was near the kitchen and they quickly put the fire out.
Clean the stove and wipe up any spills to prevent igniting the food the next time you cook.

I also thought about writing on this topic because we're getting a new stove tomorrow. Our stove has developed a gas leak, and has become dangerous to use. As long as the delivery truck can get through the snow tomorrow, we'll have a new, safe stove for cooking.

Ellis Islans used to be the gateway to America for millions of European immigrants between 1892 and 1954. They fled poverty, wars, famine or diseases and wanted to start a new life in the new country. If they had stayed in Europe, life would have been worse for them.