Articles written by Liz Allen - Page 29

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About me - Liz Allen

Hello, I am Helium Site Steward for the French Language Sub-sub-channel, within Arts and Humanities. My love of languages encompasses my experience of teaching English, my fluency in French, and also my ability to speak colloquial Arabic.

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Travel > Europe My favorite vacation destination in Europe: 2 of 2
My first experience of the city of Zurich was the central railway station, or Hauptbahnhof, and it did not endear me to it. I arrived on a train from the airport at an underground platform and was to meet my son and his partner somewhere in the station, but I didn't know where. I decided to follow the signs for those who wan... More..
Education > Secondary School (Other) Developing good reading and writing habits: 2 of 2
The transition from primary to secondary school in the UK is not always an easy one, and parents who wish to encourage their children to develop good reading and writing habits might be on the look out for a book such as 'Testing KS3 English Year 7'. The book contains six test papers, each of which focuses on a particular to... More..
Arts & Humanities > Language Resources Best foreign dictionaries: 2 of 2
Although aimed mainly at advanced learners or professional users such as translators, I would recommend this dictionary to any serious learner of the French language, partly because of the informative central section, but also because it will show you the correct word to use where there are several possibilities. Brits who e... More..
Arts & Humanities > Poets & Poetry Poetry analysis: What Were They Like?, by Denise Levertov: 2 of 2
An English poet who moved to New York as a young adult, Denise Levertov voices her opposition to the USA's role in the Vietnam War in her poem 'What Were They Like?' The poem is presented in a particularly unusual way, where the first stanza consists of a series of numbered questions asking about certain aspects of the Vietn... More..
Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie reviews: Au Revoir Les Enfants: 2 of 2
It is January 1944 and Julien Quentin (Gaspard Manesse), a young teenage boy, is reluctantly returning to his Catholic boarding school in rural France. The bed next to his in the dormitory is allocated to a new pupil known as Jean Bonnet (Raphael Fejto). Julien has until then been the brightest student of his class, but Jean... More..
Arts & Humanities > French Language Book Review: French for Cats: All the French Your Cat Will Ever Need, by Henry Beard: 2 of 2
Are you thinking of house-sitting in France next summer, and are worried that you won't be able to communicate with your hosts' cat? Then this is just the book for you. When the cat says meow, is it trying to say, "Here comes a fur ball," or "I did not break that vase"? All will be revealed in Henry Beard's mini bilingual bo... More..
Arts & Humanities > Poets & Poetry Poetry analysis: Cold Knap Lake, by Gillian Clarke: 2 of 2
Gillian Clarke's poem 'Cold Knap Lake' centres around a childhood memory of a girl almost drowning in a lake in Glamorgan (South Wales). The poet, with her parents, 'watched a crowd' of people pull the girl out of the water. It seemed at first that they were too late: the girl's lips were blue and she 'lay for dead'. The met... More..
Arts & Humanities > French Language The French verb 'voir': 2 of 2
Voir is a useful verb to know; it is irregular in the present, perfect and future tenses and therefore needs careful study. Present Tense Je vois I see, I am seeing Tu vois you see, you are seeing (singular, familiar) Il voit he/it sees, he/it is seeing Elle voit she/it sees, she/it is seeing Nous voyons we see, we are seein... More..
Arts & Humanities > Children's Literature Book reviews: Rattletrap Car, by Phyllis Root: 2 of 2
As 2008 is the National Year of Reading, I thought I should look for some different books to read aloud at the nursery where I work. I found just the book to inspire me at my local library: Rattletrap Car, by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Jill Barton. Why has it taken me so long to discover this wonderful book? What if I neve... More..
Arts & Humanities > Poets & Poetry Poetry analysis: Baby-sitting, by Gillian Clarke: 2 of 2
BABY-SITTING by Gillian Clarke Gillian Clarke's poem centres on her experience of baby-sitting for a baby that is asleep but will wake up to find the baby-sitter, a stranger, and feel that it has been abandoned by the mother. The first stanza opens with the baby-sitter sitting in a 'strange room', telling us that this must b... More..