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How to ‘have the last word’

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General LessonTo have the last word…

John ‘To have the last word’ means to be the winner in an argument.

Here is a great saying I read last week. It talks about one good way to win arguments:

The best way to have the last word is to say ’sorry’.

In some cultures it is not good to say sorry. In some cultures, people never say sorry. In English speaking cultures, it is usually good to say sorry to someone, if you have done something wrong or something that hurt the person.

Ask john English QuestionQuestion: Do you think it is good to say sorry? Why or why not? When might it not be good to say sorry?

Put your answer in the comments!

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How to make friends and meet new people

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Today, let’s talk about how to make friends with native English speakers! 

Recently, I interviewed a good friend of mine. I asked him how he made friends when he first moved to Australia. Watch the video below and see what he said!

Watch the video below.

Can’t see the video? Click HERE

Some places to meet friends:

  • At work
  • At school
  • Join a sports club
  • Join a social group, such as a church or youth group
  • Join a volunteer organisation

Remember: Go somewhere safe to make friends. Joining a sports club or a social group, such as a church or youth group is a great way to start!


Question: How do you meet new people?

Put your answer in the comments!

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Australian Big Things!

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Bondi Tsunami!

Have you ever seen any Australian films?Last week I saw an interesting one! Australia is famous for being a multi-cultural country and this film is definately so!

It is an Australian film, starring Japanese actors, and the whole film is in Japanese!

The film is called ‘Bondi Tsunami‘.

The film is about Japanese surfers, who come to Australia to go surfing. It shows their lifestyle and the surfing culture.

Overall, I thought the film was a bit strange and the characters were too stereotyped, but it did include some famous Australian ‘big things’, such as the Big Banana, the Big Pineapple and the Big Marino, which was interesting.

Along most of  the major highways in Australia you can see ‘big things’. Usually they are great places to stop and do some sightseeing and buy some souvenirs. Take a look at the film and you’ll see what I mean!

 
 

Question: Have you seen this film? What did you think of it? Do you think it shows how Japanese people really are?

Put your answer in the comments!

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ANZAC Day – A Day To Remember

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Today is ANZAC Day here in Australia.

Q: What is ANZAC DAY?

A: ANZAC means Australian and New Zealand Army Corp.

ANZAC Day is a day when all Australians and New Zealanders stop to remember the people who fought and died in war.

In particular, it is a day when the battle of Gallipoli is remembered, which took place in Turkey from 25 April 1915 to 9 January 1916, during the First World War. 98,758 people were killed in this fight. You can read more about what happened here.

This video is part of a movie about Gallipoli. It shows the first day of the war on 25 April 1915.

Can’t see the video? Click HERE.

I wish you, your family, your country and our world peace.

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Learn How To Write And Deliver A Eulogy Speech And Give The Highest Honor To The Person You Loved And Lost In Death

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advanced Today, a guest writer shares some tips on how to write a eulogy speech.

Q: What’s a eulogy speech?

A: It’s a speech made at a funeral. It is a speech about someone who has died. Usually a eulogy speech will talk about how special someone was.

Writing a eulogy can be very difficult, not only because of the language. It is hard to write a speech if you are sad.

Activity:

1) Listen to the article. Click the ‘listen’ button above to start listening.

2) Read the article.

3) Answer the question after the article.

Here’s the article:


It’s not easy to make and deliver a funeral speech especially when the person who just passed away is someone you love, a family member, a relative or a close friend. That person may not be the best person you have known in this world but if you want to pour out your emotions and let the world know how you feel towards that person, you need to know how to make these speech for the dearly departed and get a good example of eulogies online. If you have not prepared for it, for sure, you might end up breaking down in tears and you might end up stumped and you will barely feel the earth on your feet and before you could even get to the first line, you might end up crying and that’s a real heart breaker. With a book guide, you can have your eulogy finished with ease. First of all, why don’t you dig deeper into this fact that all of the people all over the world should try to learn how to give a eulogy?

The main reason for giving a funeral speech is to give the highest possible respect for that person that everybody has already missed so much. Speaking before a swarm of people present during the funeral service will make them keep in mind and cherish those memories that they had with that missed person and it will give them a sense of peacefulness and will constantly remind everyone that life in this world is not the life that everybody should be after but rather the After Life where everyone will be coming home to one way or the other and live an everlasting Life.

Eulogy speeches can also help all people present during the service lessen the burden of their heavy and saddened hearts by recalling those memories and instead of saying goodbye to that person feeling mighty sad, they can say “goodbye and hope to see you again” with a smile and a radiance of hope and a positive thinking of what life is really all about.

Writing a eulogy doesn’t only mean that you have to make it as sad as you want it to be. . Do you know what can make all people in a funeral service have a light heart? Humorous speeches. You see, when you deliver some eulogy speech for someone who just died, be it a member of a family or even a pal, the people present should need to have good memories for that person and eulogy speech can help and mind you, you also need to put a little humor in your speech to let everybody remind that the person is also a jolly good one even for once in his life. So, how can you mix humor with a solemn eulogy speech? The giving of a hilarious speech is actually easier than you think. The same process is always involved: you just got to bring to mind all the fun memories you had with that person. But the organizing of thoughts and arranging them is the hardest part because as what have said earlier, you might have all the right ideas but once you are facing a crowd of mourners with a deep feeling in your heart, you might get stumped and you could even break down in tears before you even get to start speaking your first word. And to overcome this, you need a funeral speech guide that can give you an example of eulogies or two and eventually make an original one that you can call your own. You might even need to write your own original funeral poem to make it more appropriate and more solemn, poems that come straight from the heart and guide that person going to the next life- the Everlife with peace and serenity.

So, where can you find the best funeral speech guide? As always, the best source of all kinds of things these days is through Cyberspace and here, you will find the best of all eulogy speech guides which is called “A Eulogy To Remember” and you can say that it’s the best for it was written by a professional public speaker and funeral presider by the name of Kevin Burch. And before you get to the part of getting a copy of yours of this book, here are the six basic steps you need and learn how to give a eulogy and they actually came from Kevin Burch. 1) Take a moment for yourself before you write that eulogy speech, 2) then, decide the kind of eulogy you want to create and it depends on the situation and the kind of person that you have already missed in death, 3) gather all the needed information, 4) bring it all together in one big idea, 5) rehearse your speech (this is the part where most people would eventually ignore and it’s the biggest mistake in preparing for a funeral speech) and 6) you finally deliver the eulogy.


QUESTION:  Imagine a friend tells you that one of their family members has died. What would you say?

Put your answer in the comments.

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The song! Hot Cross Buns

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Hot Cross Buns

One of my friends mentioned the song ‘Hot Cross Buns’. I haven’t thought about that song in a long time!

I used to sing it in primary school!

So here it is! A nice memory for me, and you can learn to sing it too!

Activity: Can you find a picture of real Hot Cross buns on the Internet? Put a link to one in the comments!

PRONUNCIATION: Learn the ‘Hot Cross Buns’ song.

Record yourself singing or saying the words in the comments!

Don’t be shy! Give it a try!

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But, Why Eggs and Chocolate?

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Why Do You Eat Chocolate at Easter?

One of my friends asks: Why is Easter a day of chocolate?

A: Actually, many people do not know why we eat chocolate at Easter. Let’s take a look:

Recap from last week:

  • Easter is a special holiday that comes once a year, on the first Sunday after the full moon on, or following the spring equinox .
  • Easter is celebrated over 4 days from Friday to Monday.
  • Easter is a time when Christians remember that Jesus died (Friday) and came back alive (Sunday).


Part 2: Why do people eat chocolate eggs and bunnies at Easter?

Chocolate eggs and bunnies are often given as presents and eaten on Easter Sunday, especially for children. Often parents will hide the chocolate around the house or in the garden. They will then tell the children that the ‘Easter Bunny’ has visited and hidden the chocolate, and that the children must find it. This is called an ‘Easter Egg Hunt’ (Good fun too!)

Why eggs?
The festival of Easter, was NOT originally a Christian festival. It was a time that people celebrated spring. Spring is a time of new life after winter. The egg is a symbol of new life.

Why bunnies?
Rabbits are also a symbol of new life.
In English we have the phrase: “Breed like rabbits“. The word ‘breed‘ means ‘to have babies‘. So if you have a friend who has 5 children, you might say: “They breed like rabbits!” It means they have MANY babies!

Why chocolate?
Easter eggs, were not originally made from chocolate. They were made of boiled eggs that had been painted. The first chocolate Easter egg was made about 150 years ago.

Question: Do you know what the ‘Easter Bunny’ is? HINT: CLICK HERE to see my chocolate Easter Bunny!

Activity: A bunny is a rabbit, a puppy is a baby dog, a kitten is a baby cat.

What is:

  1. a foal?
  2. a kid?
  3. a joey?

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Chocolate?? And Easter? What??

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What is Easter and Why Do You Eat Chocolate at Easter?

One of my friends asks: I love chocolate!! But I don’t know “Easter“. Why is Easter a day of chocolate?

A: Good Question!!

Actually, many people do not know why we eat chocolate at Easter.

Part 1: What is Easter?

A: Easter is a special holiday that comes once a year, like Christmas.

Christmas is every December 25, but Easter does not follow the usual calendar.

Easter is always on the first Sunday after the full moon on or following the spring equinox.

The date for Easter changes every year, as the day of the full moon is different every year.

Sometimes it is in March and sometimes in April.

Easter is celebrated over 4 days:

  • Easter Friday
  • Easter Saturday
  • Easter Sunday
  • Easter Monday

Why 4 days?

Easter is a time when Christians remember something important that Jesus did for us all.

 

Jesus died on the cross on a Friday. He then remained dead on the Saturday, but rose to life again on a Sunday.

In Western Countries we celebrate God’s gift for us by:

  • Easter Friday – Eating ‘Hot Cross Buns‘. these are buns that have a cross on them.
  • Easter Sunday – Giving gifts of chocolate to people.

Many people also go to church on these days.

Many people do not go to church every week in Western countries anymore, but they will often still go to church at Easter.

So that is a simple outline of Easter!

Tomorrow: Part 2 – Why do we eat chocolate at Easter?

Question: Do you know what ‘Hot Cross Buns’ are?

Activity: What does ‘equinox’ mean? take a look in a dictionary, and let me know in the comments!

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My bunny died! – but Happy Easter!

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HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

In Australia (and most western countries) we give each other chocolate for Easter.

Often the chocolate is in the shape of eggs or rabbits.

But mine had an accident!

Take a look:

Question: Do you do anything for Easter?

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Earth Hour – SATURDAY 28 MARCH AT 8.30PM

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Do you know what ‘Earth Hour’ is?

Watch the video to find out:

Earth Hour 2009 will take place Saturday, March 28th at 8:30pm wherever you are around the world. Website: www.earthhour.org

 

CHALLENGE: Will you turn your lights off for one hour?

What can I and you do to help the world be a better place?

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