April 13th, 2008 by Joe
“Some seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge – and that is curiosity. Some seek knowledge that they may be known to have knowledge – and that is vanity. Some seek knowledge that they may give to others their knowledge – and that is charity.”
Bernard of Clairveaux
Saint Bernard of Clairveaux was a French abbot of the 12th century.
Tags: knowledge
Posted in Quotations | 7 Comments »
April 7th, 2008 by Joe
I expect to pass through this world but once;
any good thing therefore that I can do, or any
kindness that I can show to any fellow-creature,
let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it,
for I shall not pass this way again.
–
by Grellet
Tags: kindness, poem
Posted in Poetry | 9 Comments »
April 1st, 2008 by Joe
April 1st is called April Fool’s Day in English, and it’s a day when people play jokes on other people. They can be small, personal jokes or tricks, or big “industrial-size” hoaxes by newspapers or television channels like the BBC. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: april fool's day, bbc, hoax, spaghetti harvest, un
Posted in Curiosities | 4 Comments »
March 29th, 2008 by Joe
Below is probably the most classic April Fool’s Day hoax of all time. On April 1st, 1957 the BBC ran a short programme about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland, showing spaghetti growing on trees. Many people believed the programme and phoned in to ask how they could grow their own “spaghetti tree”.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Curiosities | 13 Comments »
March 21st, 2008 by Joe
I wish I loved the Human Race;
I wish I loved its silly face; Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: poem
Posted in Poetry | 2 Comments »
March 14th, 2008 by Joe
Several sources claim that Shakespeare used nearly 30,000 different words in his works. However, we need to ask what we mean by “different words”. Is it reasonable to count go and going and gone as three different words? If we count go and going and gone as one word (GO), then Shakespeare used fewer than 20,000 “different words”.
Tags: english, shakespeare, Vocabulary, words
Posted in Vocabulary | 2 Comments »
March 8th, 2008 by Joe
Riddles are short poems or texts that ask a question that seems difficult to answer. The following famous riddle by Catherine Fanshawe is talking about something, but what is it? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Curiosities | No Comments »
March 7th, 2008 by Joe
Tell us about the best vacation (holiday) you’ve ever taken. Where did you go? Why did you like it?
Tags: holiday, vacation
Posted in Writing | 32 Comments »
February 28th, 2008 by Joe
What do you think is the perfect age? Why?
Posted in Writing | 66 Comments »
February 23rd, 2008 by Joe
Posted in Vocabulary | 1 Comment »