 When a few years ago my niece told me that she wanted to be a YouTuber I must confess that I didn’t really get what she meant by that. I was at that time a frequent YouTube user but saw very little value in following people and watching them talking about what back then I had considered loads of nonsense. Thank God, I kept my mind opened and at some point, my friendship with YouTube went to a completely new level. I don’t know, maybe the videos started to get better, maybe more people saw YouTube as an opportunity to promote their ideas, maybe I finally found the channels I really enjoyed. I have picked up 3 of my most favourite ones to share with you. #1 Living big in a tiny house. The channel is full of inspiring stories of downsized, eco-friendly living. A real gem! #2 Pick up limes. The lady who runs this channel has won me over. She is so gentle and softly-spoken that it literally melts my heart. Plus she talks about things I love dearly: fruits and veggies. #3 Inc. I must say that it was a tough choice as it normally wouldn’t be in my top 3 but since I would like to show you a bit of diversity in my subscription choices I’ve decided to include Inc. here. The channel gives you loads of info and advice on business topic ranging from sales and marketing to management. Plenty of short videos to broaden your knowledge. My choice is very subjective and might not be to everybody’s liking but this is not the point of this post. The point is to encourage you to find your own channels to follow. The closer they’re linked with your interests the better. They need to be some sort of your guilty pleasure, but the one with benefits. And what are the benefits - first of all, you have some contact with a contemporary, daily language. Also, your vocabulary range should increase; your listening skills become stronger and there’s a chance your pronunciation improves as well. But, I guess, the biggest benefit is that you’ll be able to talk about your areas of interest with confidence.  I recommend starting by picking up 3 channels to follow. I don’t think I need to say that the channels need to be in English :) You don’t need to choose channels run by native speakers but make sure that the quality of the language is good. For example, I used to love watching Jenny Mustard. She is a Swedish vlogger and I absolutely adore her food video recipes.
Choosing your channels should make you happy; watching them should be relaxing. By increasing your positive experience, you increase your motivation. And you know, your motivation can take you higher than you have expected.  I am sure that for everybody who is actually celebrating Christmas, it is the time to meet with family and friends, go to church, sing carols and eat delicious things. On your to-do Christmas list, there is probably no space for English - and good - so it should be. But, when it is all said and done and you are ready to cherish the spare time this holiday has to offer, you may want to try out one of the recommended things below.  Let’s start with music. I know that I do this time and time again but my number one December music set every year is Sting’s If on a Winter's Night album. I take enormous pleasure in listening to these songs and I can guarantee they will put you in a winter and Christmasy mood. Here is a link to the album on Spotify. Next, I want to recommend two series. I am going to start with a shorter one. It has got only 3 episodes and it’s called Mrs Wilson. The series is based on a true story but the facts are one great mystery. I am not going to reveal more, apart from the fact that Ruth Wilson plays her own grandmother and she does it brilliantly. The series is now available on BBC; for other sources please search the net. The second series would be for those of you who like crime stories, the 1920s and a bit of a romance. Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries is always fun for me to watch. The series is witty and playful, the acting is a bliss and the fashion of the 20s - yes- it's a must see. The series is available on Netflix.  There was a bit of music, a bit of something to watch so now it’s time for a book. I have one book in mind that I believe reading would be worth your while. It’s the latest Seth Godin’s creation- This is marketing. You can access this book, or the audiobook- to be more precise, on Audible. The app is a paid one but you can enjoy one free month, which I am sure is enough for you to listen to one book. And for those of you are not especially keen on the topic of marketing, I personally believe this is very unlikely- in my book everybody is interested in marketing :), anyways- should you be not - then Audible gives you the abundant choice of different genres and titles. I am singing off now; Wishing you ALL a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! 🎄
Again, I'd like to invite you to take part in a daily (this time daily means Tuesday-Thursday) program to improve your language skills. This month we will be honing our listening skills. The program called "What are you saying?" is based on short video clips from movies and series. The extracts are seconds long so it shouldn't take a lot of your precious time. But, please feel encouraged to listen to the extract as many times as you need. Once you do this, please type your answer. Yes, yes - we're using the Whatsapp communicator for that. If you want, you can also take a more passive role - just listen to the text and then check the answer HERE but I'd recommend to get out of your safety zone and be active for once! The extracts are sent to you at about 8-9 pm o'clock, Tuesday-Thursday. They're also published at the website around the same time. If you wish to take part in this program but haven't registered for my Whatsapp updates you can do this HERE. 
You might have heard this expression before and wonder what this is all about.
In a nutshell, a grammar nazi is a person who knows the difference between "there," "their" and "they're." More seriously, though, it is a person who uses proper grammar at all times, esp. online: in emails, chat rooms, instant messages and web-board posts; It is someone who believes it's their duty to attempt to correct any grammar and/or spelling mistakes they spot. If these definitions don't convince you, let's watch this short clip. (You can find the script below)  I came across this video yesterday and I found it truly inspiring. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did. |
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