Pageviews / Birthdays

On the left, a short way down, you will see something that counts the number of times people look at this page. It has now reached the year of my birthday :-)

When will it reach your birthday? You can add a comment below when it does... and who will look at it the 2010 and 2011th times?

Learning tip

Do you like music? Do you like learning English?

Now you can practise your listening and vocabulary by testing yourself when listening to songs you like, by going to this website.

Fill in the missing words as you listen to your favourite songs!

Have fun...

Holiday idioms

- Hurray! It's the holiday! Let's paint the town red! We can go to a restaurant, then go to the pub and some clubs and dance all night!

- Actually, I can't come tonight. Can I take a raincheck? I'll come to the next night out.

- OK, but we're also going to go to a big midnight party, which will really be the icing on the cake.

Cold

To reflect the cold weather, here are some idioms that use the word cold...

- I never know how he's feeling... He's a real cold fish

- Oh, it's terrible. He asked her to marry him, but before the wedding he got cold feet and cancelled it!

- She made me really angry, but instead of having an argument at work I'm going to give her the cold shoulder and ignore her!

- He asked me to help him, but after he was so rude to my sister, it'll be a cold day in Hell before I ever help him!

- He couldn't defend himself - they just killed him in cold blood!

- My manager blows hot and cold! We can never get him to make a decision because he's always changing his mind.

Happy Christmas from everyone at IH Tbilisi

Warm

A couple of idioms using the word 'warm' to warm you up...

- Look at those two children holding hands and helping each other. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!

- I was struggling to get home with my shopping, but someone stopped and helped me for no reason. It warms the cockles of your heart!

Monday news story

A happy news story to start the week:

Snow forces eight-day lock-in at Kirkbymoorside pub

A couple and five staff spent eight days trapped inside one of Britain's highest pubs because of heavy snow.

The Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge, near Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, was cut off since Friday last week, as 20ft (6.1m) of snow drifted against the pub.

The couple, from Darlington, were trapped until a plough made its way over the North York Moors and they followed it back to the nearest town.

The staff remained until the road was officially opened on Saturday night.

The Lion Inn is also a bed and breakfast and during their eight days inside the pub the couple and staff were able to stay in its bedrooms.

Speaking before the pub reopened, chef Daniel Butterworth admitted he had been talking to himself during the enforced lock-in.

At first the staff, all aged under 25, got stuck into the drinks, he said, but on the third day they eased off.

"We haven't been getting ratty," he said. "It's been fun and we have had a laugh.

"We have been getting on with little jobs, having our tea, a drink, playing games and then going to bed.

"The bosses aren't here, they are snowed out.

"We have wireless internet here and the television works so we have been fine."

During the day, the couple and staff managed to get out onto the snow on improvised sledges made from beer trays.

The beer did not run out and there was plenty of food at the inn, which stands 1,325ft (404m) above sea level.

Mr Butterworth admitted the icy internment had not been all fun.

"I have been going a bit crazy, doing weird things like talking to myself," he said on Saturday.

"Hopefully, we will get some more customers in when the road opens again. I could do with some more company.

"We have had people phoning up asking to get trapped in, but it's kind of boring now and I would like to go home.

BBC © MMX

Phrasal verbs with 'pack'

The holidays are coming soon, so to celebrate, here are some phrasal verbs using the verb 'pack':

pack away - "OK, children, pack away your toys now."

pack it in - "It hurts when you hit me with your pen. Pack it in!"

pack out - "The concert last night was packed out. I'm lucky I had a ticket."

pack up - "It's been a busy day at work today. Let's pack up and go home."

Snow

England has had a lot of snow this week, and people can't get to work, so in preparation for Georgia's winter, here is some language to help:

I spoke to my brother today. He told me he hasn't gone to work because he's snowed in. The snow plough was supposed to clear the roads, but because of the heavy snowfall, it hasn't been able to do all the roads. My brother is a little annoyed, because he's snowed under at work, but he's looking forward to building a snowman and going sledging.