English by Viola

28 October 2015 16:08

Today we would like to tell you about one particular animal.

The Peregrine Falcon.

It is often referred to as the Duck Hawk. It is a very fast bird in flight, with movement up to 200 miles per hour for short distances. It is one of the largest Falcon species. There are 19 subspecies that have been identified. It is believed to be the bird of prey with the biggest distribution in the world.

It is probably the fastest bird in the world. A famous "Сапсан" train is named after it.

English by Viola

26 October 2015 18:03

By the way, as Wikipedia states, the bald eagle is important in various Native American cultures and, as the national bird of the United States, is prominent in seals and logos, coinage, postage stamps, and other items relating to the U.S. federal government.

English by Viola

25 October 2015 08:50

Laughable, Risible and Amusing Complaints Made By Holidaymakers to Travel Agents

1. I was bitten by a mosquito - no-one said they could bite.Holiday maker complaints
2. I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts.
3. It's lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during "siesta" time - this should be banned.
4. On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food at all.
5. We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels.
6. The beach was too sandy.
7. A guest at a Novotel in Australia complained his soup was too thick and strong. He was inadvertently slurping the gravy at the time.
8. Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined as my husband spent all day looking at other women.
9. We bought "Ray-Ban" sunglasses for five Euros [£3.50. $5 USD] from a street trader, only to find out they were fake.
10. No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled.
11. It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans three hours to get home.
12. My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked.
13. I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends' three-bedroom apartment, and ours was significantly smaller.
14. The brochure stated: "No hairdressers at the accommodation". We're trainee hairdressers - will we be OK staying here?
15. There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners.
16. We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white.
17. We had to queue outside with no air conditioning.
18. It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel.
19. A tourist at a top African game lodge overlooking a waterhole, who spotted a visibly aroused elephant, complained that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel "inadequate".
20. A woman threatened to call police after claiming that she'd been locked in by staff. When in fact, she had mistaken the "do not disturb" sign on the back of the door as a warning to remain in the room.

Funny tourist complaints kindly sent in by John Reeves. Source: Telegraph.co.uk

English by Viola

23 October 2015 16:35

Well, everyone likes chemistry, right?

English by Viola

21 October 2015 16:03

Next time it won't be an idiom, we promise.

English by Viola

18 October 2015 10:16

This is just the best idiom to finish the topic.

English by Viola

16 October 2015 09:50

Good morning! The week of food is continued by this playlist. It's a real treasure.
https://youtu.be/go_QOzc79Uc?list=PLR6fnyIoefidHwvUPGCKd0rY9zyFlX4Rr

English by Viola

13 October 2015 09:40

Hey! Have you ever planned to attack someone with food? Even if you haven't, now we will give you an ultimate weapon. John Burgess from Quora.com said the following about it:
"Durian, without a doubt.

My first volley would be a barrage of Durian fruits at the far end of ripeness. The chemical assault might end things right there by causing vomiting which, as we know, has an infectious effect in groups. A disabled troop is unable to fight.

My second volley would be with Durian fruits as the near end of ripeness. These hard, spiky fruits would draw blood, break bones, and demoralize the still retching enemy.

The conquerors, however, will have to be supplied with gas masks and protective clothing in order to occupy enemy territory now covered in Durian slime and vomit.

BTW: I really do like Durian!"

English by Viola

09 October 2015 15:56

While we are talking about numbers, we cannot miss 42. That's what a Quora user Tanvangi Tiwari said about it:

"Apart from it being the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything, it also has the following properties:

•All columns, rows, and diagonals of a 3x3x3 magic cube sum to 42.
•It is a pronic number, the second sphenic number, a catalan number, a Harshad number, and a (2,6)-perfect number.
•Incidentally, the angle for which the rainbow appears when rounded to the nearest whole number is 42.
•The gravity train method of transportation lasts exactly 42 minutes in frictionless tunnels.
•It is a repdigit in base 4 (2222).
•42, in the base of 13 = 6*9, in the base of 10.
•42 = 101010 in binary (making it the reason why Ubuntu chose 10/10/2010 as the release date for its version 10.10).
•In the TIFF image file format, it is the second 16-bit word of every file.

For non mathematical magic,

•First book to be printed, Gutenberg's Bible, had 42 lines per page.
•In the Harry Potter series, Harry discovers he is a wizard on page 42.
•Cricket has 42 laws :)
•According to the Gospel of Matthew, in the bible, there are 42 generations in the Genealogy of Jesus.
•Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has exactly 42 illustrations.

I can keep going on, but I guess you get the point. :)"

English by Viola

06 October 2015 10:04

We are still in process of choosing a new topic of the week, sure. However, we have lots to say about schools&teachers.

English by Viola

04 October 2015 14:44

Well, now we can afford some irrelevant tongue twisters - it is sunday whatsoever!

English by Viola

03 October 2015 11:00

Wake up to celebrate a hundred of members!
More educational&amusing stuff is in the go.

English by Viola

02 October 2015 09:10

Hey! It's great to see so many newcomers here today.
We will definitely please you with some jokes but now it is a longread time!
....
There was a question on Quora - What are some tips for people who are bad at making smalltalk at parties?
Lawrence Celestino tried to answer it in the most detailed way possible.

English by Viola

30 September 2015 17:34

We will copy the picture from U.S. Embassy, in case you don't know what the day is today.

English by Viola

30 September 2015 10:30

Morning, guys! A fresh idioms is comming.

English by Viola

27 October 2015 16:10

Nice idiom for bad circumstances.

English by Viola

26 October 2015 11:15

Time to start a new topic!

Animals are coming.

English by Viola

25 October 2015 08:50

After a Saturday without posts, a new longread is just what you need.

English by Viola

22 October 2015 13:52

It's time to remind you that the topic of the week is travelling :)

English by Viola

19 October 2015 16:53

Hey!

The day is near its close. However, there is no wrong time for a new week's topic announcement.

It's travelling!

English by Viola

17 October 2015 10:39

We are still blowing up your mind with food idioms.

English by Viola

14 October 2015 10:18

Don't be a bad egg and share this link - telegram.me/violaclub

English by Viola

12 October 2015 16:01

Long time, no see!
Hey. We are back after a small holiday. Frankly speaking, we understand that sometimes there are too much idioms, so we decided that this week will be a special one. It's the week of food!
...however, there are some expressions to which we could not give a miss. Nevertheless, we promise more fun and increadible stuff in the near future!

English by Viola

07 October 2015 13:43

Are you ready for the week of numbers? We will give you plenty of them.

English by Viola

05 October 2015 16:10

Hey! Today is a great day. We will overload you with study collocations soon. But for now we are celebrating!

English by Viola

04 October 2015 10:45

While we are choosing the topic for the next week, here is a new collocation connected to parties.

English by Viola

02 October 2015 09:10

As noted, the answer is practice. Here's a few techniques to get you started:

1. Anecdotes. File away 3 short (2 minutes, max) very funny, general audience anecdotes you can share to ease tension. Do not use repeatedly! Practice delivery in the mirror. Use shorter jokes to start.

2. Have opinions. Small talk is about talking about nothing. It's the emotional content that counts. Confidence matters more than what you actually say. So, prepare by having an opinion about as many commonplace subjects as you can - weather, sports, technology, news, fashion, and entertainment news is a good start. Your opinion doesn't have to be popular, but you have to deliver it in a friendly, nonconfrontational manner, and you have to be confident enough to deliver it straight and not change it. It doesn't have to be a big deal. Most people prefer their own voices anyway. So say your piece quickly and sweetly, and deflect by asking another question.

3. Listen. For most talks, including small talks, listening is more important than talking. If you don't have to speak, don't. Pay attention to what the other people are saying. Do not concern yourself with your own stuff. Concern yourself with other people's stuff. If you find something interesting, a short "That's interesting!" followed by a silence suggesting that they elaborate is enough to get other people going at length. You don't have to agree. A short, "I disagree because of (three word rationale)," is enough to have an opinion and also throw the ball back. If you're not prepared to talk at length an honest and apologetic, "I'm not prepared to explain my opinion right now," is enough.

The important thing is to listen to what other people are saying, not be worried about what they think of you. They'll think whatever they want to think anyway.

4. Learn how to express things about your interests in ways that are short and friendly to the general public. No one wants to hear you going on for 15 minutes straight about your 12th level paladin, but a few, easily understandable 10 second remarks about her in general conversation can give you character and mystery. Of course, if someone gives you the go-ahead to dive into the deep end, then go right ahead! That's hardly small talk at that point, though.

English by Viola

01 October 2015 13:37

They say that the early bird catches the worm. Well, it's true for a certain extent. However, a good infographic does you good even in the middle of the day.

English by Viola

30 September 2015 16:11

Some more stuff related to anticipation of parties.

English by Viola

29 September 2015 16:17

Well, most of us here are digital natives, but still some jokes about Net addiction are just awesome.