Archive for March, 2012
Who is Shakespeare? Posted by Gabriele on Mar 16, 2012
This is a very good question indeed; who is William Shakespeare? Some historians do not believe the writer we know of as Shakespeare truly wrote all of the works that are attributed to him or that he lived the life we ascribe* to him, but since some of these facts are still debated I will…
March 15th: The Ides of March Posted by Gabriele on Mar 15, 2012
The day, March 15th, which is today, is known as the “ides of March.” In fact the fifteenth of any month is considered “the ides” of that month as “ides” is a word that means the day that is the middle of the month. This word comes from the Latin word “Idus” which means “half…
Similes Posted by heather on Mar 14, 2012
“It’s been a hard day’s night, and I’ve been working like a dog.” – The Beatles A simile is something compared with something else to create an image in the reader’s mind. A simile usually includes the words “like” or “as.” You can create similes for adjectives (as light as a petal), verbs (He crawled…
S’mores Posted by Gabriele on Mar 13, 2012
Yesterday I wrote a post about Girl Scouts (also called ‘Girl Guides’) in commemoration of National Girl Scouts Day in the United States, but I neglected to mention s’mores, which is a famous campfire treat invented by Girl Scouts! Today I will try to make up for my oversight yesterday by telling you all about…
National Girl Scouts Day Posted by Gabriele on Mar 12, 2012
Today, March 12th, is National Girl Scout Day in the United States. This is a day that recognizes and celebrates the Girls Scouts of America. This date celebrates the creation of the first Girl Scout troop* on March 12, 1912. Girl Scout (or Girl Guides) troops can now be found in almost every county around…
Degrees of Higher Education in the United States Posted by Gabriele on Mar 11, 2012
As any foreign professional who has tried to transfer their degree of higher education to the United States knows, America is very particular* about its higher education system. Many degrees earned in institutions outside the United States cannot be transfer to work or study in the United States. The reason for this is that there…
Affect vs. Effect Posted by heather on Mar 10, 2012
One of the most misused and misunderstood word pairs would have to be affect and effect. Despite their almost identical spelling and similar (although different!) pronunciation, these two words do have a different meaning. Learning this difference and putting it to good use, will put you well ahead of many native English speakers. The difference…