World Cup 2010 Trivia Quiz

Do you remember much of the world cup in South Africa? Or do you remember only Waka Waka and the vuvuzelas?

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For Your Browsing Pleasure: problems solved (kind of)

Well, I'm not sure what has happened. My files which controlled the script for the dynamic tree control disappeared. I re-uploaded them, but that didn't work either. I tried another file server, but it didn't work properly, so, for the time being at least, I've decided to use ids' (from The Blogger Guide) files.

For Your Browsing Pleasure: problems

I have to apologise to users for the malfunction of the For Your Browsing Pleasure section. My files have suddenly gone missing from the file server I'm using, so I'm looking into it. Meanwhile, you'd have to use the other options available to browse, e.g., labels, Wowzio, archives, etc.

Dying for chocolate? Here's one cake to die for!

I'm surrounded by chocoholics, so every now and then, I like to come up with an invention or an adaptation or two. I baked this for my son's 12th birthday and christened it 'Devil in Disguise'. It's similar in taste and texture to my brownies, but yet subtly different. For one thing, it doesn't use flour. Here's the recipe.

Don't forget to look at this post, too: Cooking Verbs

Ingredients:

(Note that weights are approximate as my weighing machine has gone a little loopy!)

5 eggs

200g dark chocolate

150g sugar

200g butter

100g hazelnuts

100g almonds

Procedure:

1. Melt the butter together with the chocolate in a bowl. Mix it well and let it cool.

2. Separate the egg whites from the yolk.

3. Whisk the yolks with the sugar until it's creamy and almost white.

4. Ground the hazelnuts and almonds together. I like to leave them a little coarse, so I can feel my teeth grinding into them!

5. Add the nuts to the yolk mixture. Mix well. Pour and mix in the melted chocolate.

6. Mount the egg whites in a bowl until stiff. Remember to avoid any fat (including the yolk) from getting into the bowl. The presence of fat will prevent the whites from ever mounting.

7. Fold the whites into this mixture, little by little.

8. Grease a cake mould, and pour the mixture into it with TLC.

9. Now, here comes the trick of the devil. Cover the mould with aluminium foil. Place the mould on an oven tray and pour a couple of glasses of water onto the tray. What we're doing here is effectively baking it à la bain-marie. The foil keeps the moisture in, so you won't end up with a dry chocolate cake, like most are.

10. Bake it in a pre-heated oven at 175ºC for about one and a half hour.

11. Remove it to cool.

12. Enjoy it!

If you do make it, let me know how it went, and send me some photos!

Tip: When having it from the fridge, take it out about an hour before consumption, unless you like yours hard. ;-)

Make or Do? Fun game activity for practice!

Do you make or do your homework? Do you make an exam or do you do it? When to use these often pose a problem because most languages have only one word for it. Native speakers use the correct word unconsciously, and will have difficulty in telling you the reason for their choice, if you were to ask them.

The reason is simple: there isn't really a clear rule for it! Just like phrasal verbs, the best way is probably to learn them by heart. You do your homework, but you make plans for your future. You make a cake, but you do the washing up.

However, having said all that, there are a few guidelines to help you.

When we talk about an activity without saying exactly what it is, we use ‘do’.

Do something!

What are you doing?

I don’t know what to do.

When we want to describe an activity that we have to do, often over and over again, we use do. Do also contains an element of duty and responsibility.

I’m not going to do any work.

I hate doing the cooking and the shopping.

I am always doing the washing up!

I wish I had a maid to do all the boring jobs!

She hates doing business with the Italians.

Could you do me a favour, please?

Make is used to describe a creative activity or something you choose to do.

I’ve just made a cake.

Let’s make a plan.

My father and I once made a boat.

I’ll be back in a minute – I have to make a phone call.

I’m no good at making decisions.

You have to make a better attempt at learning English!

Stop making excuses! I know you don’t want to come.

And now, it's time for you to practise with the dustbin game! Remember the score is the clock, so the lower the score is, the better you are! Don't forget to write your name/class/school and your score in the comments below!

Click the wordle image to start the dustbin game.

Open or opened? Welcome or welcomed?

When do we use 'open' and when do we use 'opened'? Do we say 'You're welcome' or 'You're welcomed'?

These questions often pose problems to even advanced learners, let alone beginners. I've also seen teachers making mistakes with these.

The reason for this confusion is that the adjective form of some verbs is exactly the same as their verb form. "Open" and "welcome" are two examples. Look at these following sentences:

There's a shop around the corner that is open for business 24 hours a day.

Who left these windows open?

He was slumped in his armchair, fast asleep, snoring with his mouth wide open.

'Open' in the above examples is used as an adjective. However, in the sentences below, it is used as a verb. Remember that both the past tense and the past participle of 'open' is 'opened'.

Do you mind if I open this window?

The school gates are opened at 8.25. (Passive form)

The shop around the corner first opened in 2009.

'Welcome' is used in the same way:

You know that your friends are always welcome here.

You are welcome to that last piece of cake; I'm too full.

Everyone is welcome to attend tomorrow's meeting.

'Thank you!' 'You're welcome!'

'Welcome' in the above sentences is used as an adjective. These below use it as a verb:

They all welcomed the new proposals put forward at yesterday's meeting.

Visitors to this hotel are always so warmly welcomed. (Passive form)

I always welcome comments from my readers.

CLOSE

Although close exists as an adjective, as in 'We can walk to the cinema from here; it's quite close', when used to mean 'shut', the past participle form is used.

This shop is closed on Mondays.

Who left these windows closed?

Does education kill creativity?

If you're an educator, you must watch this video! If you're a student, watch and see if you agree with the speaker. Subtitles are available in several languages, but I'd suggest you try English first.

Now that the school year has ended, you can spare these few minutes to listen to what Sir Ken Robinson has to say. And, he's so hilarious! To be a good public speaker is a great talent, but to be a funny one is even more admirable.

Those who have heard Sir Ken before know that he's rather wonderful with quotes, and here he makes no exceptions, and uses Yeats' Cloths of Heavens (1899) and Abraham Lincoln's message to congress just one month before signing the Emancipation Proclamation (1862) to great effect.

"Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."

- William Butler Yeats (The Wind Among the Reeds 1899)

"The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disentrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."

- Abraham Lincoln's Annual Message to Congress -- Concluding Remarks, 1862

Now, after watching that, you must be curious about his other talk, so here it is, the one he gave in 2006:

So, what are your opinions? Is Sir Ken right? Is education too academically orientated? Are we stifling creativity in our children? Your opinions, as usual, will be most appreciated.