Rock Your English! newsletter

I’m baaaaaack! (Click!)

How was your summer? I hope just as awesome as mine! I rested, chillaxed (chilled + relaxed), detoxed (lovin’ my green juice every morning!) adopted a kitten, bought bright red sky-high heels, and now I’m ready to roll!

Did you find that your English was slipping when you were on vacation? Did you pick up bad habits of people you were hanging out with? Remember, it’s important to keep your English fresh and fabulous! My online course can go with you wherever you go! And all the answers to the exercises are here. We’ve had orders from so many countries, thank you for ordering if you have!

NEWS

We are working on a ‘Media’ page on my website where you can have a quick look at all the articles, websites, and TV shows featuring moiself (which, by the way, is not a word). For now, you can re-read all the newsletters and some highlights here.

FIND THE MISTAKE!

I’ve always got my Rock Your English! antennae out for mistakes when reading signs, menus, etc when I’m out and about. This vacation I had a wonderful time at the Floriade. I learned a lot but was shocked to see these signs. Can you find the mistake? One word needs to be changed in both of these signs. And have a close look at the spelling – which is the correct spelling of….that p word…? Answers at the bottom of this newsletter!

STOP! GRAMMAR TIME!

There’s a huge difference between stop smoking and stop to smoke. Can you figure out what it is? If you stop smoking, this means that you will not smoke anymore. And if you do, I’ll buy you a new toothbrush! Good for you! But if you stop to smoke, it means that you are stopping whatever you are doing to have a cigarette. So watch out if you take the verb+ing, or the infinitive (to+ verb) form after the word stop. Thanks, Mr H.A., for the tip via my FB page!

Watch out for the difference between hard and hardly. If you use hard, it can describe either a verb (he works hard) or a noun (this chair is so hard, my tuchus hurts!). But if you say hardly, that means almost never, or barely. When a student says ‘I was working so hardly on my English homework last night!’, my first reaction is ‘So, what was on TV? And was the beer good?’ Would you rather be working hard or hardly working?

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

The Olympics were opened by one of my musical heroes – Evelyn Glennie. She’s an award-winning percussionist, composer, arranger, and collaborator – who just happens to be deaf. Be inspired by her story here

ANSWER TIME!

Those signs should not read ‘Welcome in ’ but ‘Welcome to’ ….and the correct spelling is P-A-V-I-L-I-O-N! There are hundreds of you reading this, and if anyone knows the people at Floriade, please pass it on! Thanks!
Hoping you have a wonderful week full of amazing adventures, and delicious delights….and thank you for letting me into your inbox today!

Sending you a personal massage session with the Olympic athlete of your choice…in my head,

X Buffi