Limericks from my Intermediate Class

The following are a some limericks (a type of poem) written by the Intermediate class. Enjoy!

There is a young man named Bill,
He always climbs a hill,
And he always whines,
If the sun shines,
So he is considered a person who is ill. - Min hee

She was dancing in the sunshine,
Drinking a bad bottle of wine,
She woke up in a field with a cow,
She touched her head, ow!
She really needs an aspirin to be fine - Pascale

There was a beautiful cow,
Which I had never seen until now,
I wore a new jumper, blue,
And she thought: "It's not true!"
In the end I said "bye bye" with a bow. - Agnese

At midnight I heard the bell,
And I didn't feel realy well,
I saw standing beside the gate,
My well-known class mate,
Then I told him to go to hell. - Adam and Sunny

Mary said: "My dress is blue"
Her sister answered: "It isn't true!"
Mary's dress was cool
But her sister said "You're a fool!"
Mary thought: "Your brain too!" - Adriana

Last Saturday I lost a shoe
It's very beautiful and blue
I don't know how
But I can't find it now
And I'm very sad because it was new - Nerea & Mari Carmen

Jon showed Peter the snow
He said "I can ski, do you want to know?"
The sun did shine
The time passed fine
In the evening they had to go - Raffaele


(Chris abandoned the Limerick and wrote some "blank verse"!)

There are two girls in school
They are too ugly
So I don't want to see them

One day, I saw a saw in a sow cage
Because I saw "Kill Bill"
I wanted to kill them
But they are still alive - Chris


Feel free to add your own limericks (or other poems) in the comment box!

Coffee in Dublin

I have lost count of the number of times that students have told me that they can't get nice coffee in Dublin. Good coffee, they claim, can only be found in their own country. This complaint comes from students of all countries, but mostly from Italians!

Of course, Dublin (like Rome and Madrid and Paris and everywhere else) has places where you can get terrible coffee, and I have had bad coffee in lots of these cities. But I have good news! There are lots of places to get really good coffee in Dublin too. You just have to know where to look. So, here are a few suggestions:

1. Try 'Lemon' on Dawson Street (just beside the side entrance to Trinity College). It mainly sells crepes but it has very good coffee too. Also, they will give you an extra 'shot' of espresso for free if you like your coffee strong

2. Go to 'Bewley's' on Grafton street. This is a very old Irish cafe which has been a meeting place for Dublin people for years and years. They also serve very good coffee.

3. 'The Bald Barista' or 'Milk and Honey' have won awards for their coffee. The second one has just opened, so go and tell me if it's nice, I haven't been there yet. They are both on Aungier Street (this is the street that continues on from George's St if you keep walking away from Temple Bar).

Finally, did you know that there is a World Barista Competition! Baristas (people who make coffee in cafes) come from all over the world and compete to be the best Barista in the world. An Irish guy won it in 2008. And this year, an Irish guy came 4th. Check out the video:

http://www.worldbaristachampionship.com/videos/2009finals_ireland.html

Enjoy!

Halloween

We love Halloween here in Ireland! Ghosts and skulls and spiders and all sorts of creepy crawly things slithering along the ground, things that go bump in the night.
But guess what? Here in Delfin, it's party time! So go on! Take out your blue and yellow make-up, dust off your feather boa, put on those crazy shoes, get all dressed up and boogie on down to THE DELFIN HALLOWEEN PARTY! It was fantastic last year and this year, it's going to be EVEN BIGGER! There will be plenty of music, fancy dress, games, prizes and beer flowing till the late dark spooky hours.

Details to follow...watch this space!!!

For and since

We use ‘for’ to measure the amount of time something lasts.

This film will last for two hours.

Come to Ireland for a month!

You can study in Delfin Engluish School for any length of time you wish.

To measure a past time until the present, we use the present perfect, I have + participle.

I have been here for an hour.

I have been speaking for ten seconds

I have lived in Dublin for ten years.

We do not use for with all.

I have been here for ten years

I have been here all my life.

We do not say, I have been here for all my life.

So, when you say for, the next words will be a period of time

For two days

For five minutes

For a while

For three seconds

For one million years

When you say since, the next words will be a point of time

Since three o’clock.

Three o’clock is not a period. It is a moment in time. It is the name of a time

Since Tuesday

Since 1995

Since last Christmas

Since Mary's birthday

I have been living in Dublin since 1996

I have been living in Dublin for eleven years.

I’ve been learning English since I was 12 years old

I’ve been learning English for six years.

Why not visit us here in Delfin English School...

For as long as you like!

Make and do

Make and do often present problems for learners of English as the two verbs often translate to one verb in other languages. So what exactly is the difference?

The first thing to say is that rather than learning a single rule the learner probably has to consider each example individually. That is to say, learn the fixed expression. However, having said that, there is a basic concept which can separate the two verbs.

Do is all about actions. It’s about performing activities. Here are some common examples:

He’s not doing anything

She should do something

They did the washing (up).

I’ll do the shopping later

It’ll do no good at all

What are you doing?

Could you do me a favour?

Make is about creating something. Bringing something into existence:

I finally made a decision

Make me a sandwich will you?

The company made a profit last year

He makes a good living as a plumber

I’m making a new table for the kitchen

I make my bed every morning

It just doesn’t make sense

There are also idioms with make and do. What do you think the following means?

He made such a scene. We were all so embarrassed!

Try to make sense of this expression. That’s your homework, so go and do it!