"I am not afraid of the storms, for I am learning how to sail a ship"
Little Women is a delightful movie that follows the life of four sisters and their neighbor in New England during the civil war.

Word Wizardry

Little Women

The cutting of huge figures or ‘geoglyphs’ into the earth of English hillsides has taken place for more than 3,000 years. There are 56 hill figures scattered around England, with the vast majority on the chalk down lands of the country’s southern counties. The figures include giants, horses, crosses and regimental badges. Although the majority of these geoglyphs date within the last 300 years or so, there are one or two that are much older.

The most famous of these figures is perhaps also the most mysterious — the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire. The White Horse has recently been re-dated and shown to be even older than its previously assigned ancient pre-Roman Iron Age* date. More controversial is the date of the enigmatic Long Man of Wilmington in Sussex. While many historians are convinced the figure is prehistoric, others believe that it was the work of an artistic monk from a nearby priory and was created between the 11th and 15th centuries.
The method of cutting these huge figures was simply to remove the overlying grass to reveal the gleaming white chalk below. However, the grass would soon grow over the geoglyph again unless it was regularly cleaned or scoured by a fairly large team of people. One reason that the vast majority of hill figures have disappeared is that when the traditions associated with the figures faded, people no longer bothered or remembered to clear away the grass to expose the chalk outline. Furthermore, over hundreds of years the outlines would sometimes change due to people not always cutting in exactly the same place, thus creating a different shape to the original geoglyph. The fact that any ancient hill figures survive at all in England today is testament to the strength and continuity of local customs and beliefs which, in one case at least, must stretch back over millennia.

The Habits of Highly Effective English Communicators

Cambridge 16 Reading Test 2.   The White Horse of Uffington

People move for many reasons: study, work, money...  What factors will you consider when choosing a new home?  In this podcast, Karen and Baiwei chatted about their experiences of relocating homes.

Chillchat (Learn Chinese and Chill)

你搬过几次家？How many times have you moved?

En este episodio hablaré sobre Colombia, información relevante sobre su cultura, su música, su comida y otros detalles. Bienvenidos.

Learn Spanish with Rick.

Episodio 1 - Colombia, tierra querida.

Travelling is one of the best ways to unwind, discover new places and flavours and, why not, learn a language. So, in this episode of Your Spanish Journey, I'll talk about five breathtaking places that, in my opinion, you should visit if you are planning to travel to Latin America.

Your Spanish Journey

Five breathtaking places to visit in Latin America

日本人の結婚式についてお話しています。
やさしい文法/ぶんぽう と 単語/たんご をつかっています。

Nihongo Hanaso (Beginners)

Beginners 日本の結婚式/けっこんしき

Some people love to brag. They might brag about where they live, the money they make or how great they are at sports.

In fact, some people even brag about how busy or stressed they are.

And it's becoming quite common.

It's called "busy bragging" or "stress bragging" — and people find it just as annoying as any other bragging.

You may have heard it at your workplace, when people tell everyone about how much work they have to do, or say things like: "You have no idea of the stress I'm under."

They might be doing this to show others that they're important or working hard.

However, a study from the US found that the colleagues of stress braggers find those people less likable and less competent because of their bragging.

And colleagues were found to be less likely to help stress braggers.

The study also found that colleagues may even begin to feel stress themselves because of the effect of people stress bragging.

Study author Jessica Rodell said: "People are harming themselves by doing this thing they think is going to make them look better to their colleagues."

However, Rodell said sharing workplace stress with others is not a bad thing to do: it's only when people brag about their stress that it causes negative feelings.

"It's not the being stressed part that's a problem," she said. In fact, the study found that if your colleagues think you're stressed, they do think you're more competent.

You just can't brag about it.