Für die deutschen Leser (gelesen auf XING):

Kostenloser Englisch-Einstufungstest für die Leveleinschätzung

EF Englishtown entwickelte zusammen mit der Universität Cambridge ESOL den EFCELT (EF Cambridge Englisch Level Test), der das Englischniveau anhand international anerkannten Standards einstuft. Jeder EF Student kann diesen 40-minütigen Test online absolvieren und erhält so eine detaillierte, anerkannte Einstufung des Sprachlevels, die sich nach den Kriterien des Gemeinsamen Europäischen Referenzrahmen für Sprachen (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) richtet. Der EFCELT wurde in 18 Monaten Forschung entwickelt und an mehr als 8000 EF Studenten in 14 verschiedenen Ländern erprobt.

For the rest of the world:

English Level Test EF Cambridge (EFCELT) is a free assessment test of your English language skills provided by Englishtown.

This EFCELT test was developed by EF Englishtown and Cambridge University to assess your skills on an international standard level. To attain a detailed and recognised level assessment, every English as a Foreign Language (EF) student may take this 40-minute online test. The levels are based on the European framework of language testing (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2). EFCELT has been tested on more than 8000 EF students in 14 different countries within its 18 months of research.

To take the free online test, click on Englishtown online Cambridge student quiz

The holidays are drawing near, so for some of you who would like to experience a touch of home, visit the British Christmas Bazaar.

The British Club of the Taunus invites you to a uniquely British shopping experience at their Christmas Bazaar.

* Stylish Christmas Gifts
* Minced pies
* Homemade Cakes
* Jewellery

Date: Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Place: Vereinshaus, Saalburgstrasse 158 in Dornholzhausen, Bad Homburg

Dornholzhausen, a suburb of Bad Homburg, can be reached via B 456.

Over the years of teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English (native speaker level), I have run across two different rules for when to use a numeral versus spelling it out. One rule stipulated that numerals up to ten need had to be written in words. Another rule said, all numerals up to twelve need to be written. Below is a guide I can recommend, finally.

The Style Guide from BBC offers the following rules:

Write one to nine in words. Use numerals for numbers from 10 upwards and for all numbers that include a decimal point or fraction. The same applies to ordinals -’first’, ’second’, and so on. However, use words – even for numbers over nine – in the following cases:

• when a number comes at the beginning of a sentence
• for approximate numbers: about thirty people attended

NB: numbers twenty-one to ninety-nine are hyphenated. Use numerals – even for numbers one to nine – in the following cases:

• when the number is an exact measurement: 5 metres, 4 tonnes
• when it is followed by million or billion: 2 million
• for page references: see page 6
• where there are two numbers in a range and one is over ten: between the ages of 4 and 11

If the number is followed by an abbreviation, don’t put a space between them:

• 35mm, 10kg, 128MB, 11am

Write percentages in numerals and with the % sign, with no space between them:

• 2%, 33.3%

Write fractions less than one in words, with a hyphen where appropriate:

• one-third, three-quarters, a twentieth

Large numbers

Always include commas in numbers from 1,000 upwards. Write out ‘million’ and ‘billion’ in lower case, with a space after the number except in amounts of money.

• 10,000, 15 million viewers, £15billion

Special thanks to Graham Tappenden for sending me this link and helping me clear up this mystery numeral world.

For those of you who watch what you eat, here’s the final word on nutrition and health. Of course, if the joke has to do something with English, I am likely to post it. Just for fun!

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the English.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the English.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the English.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the English.

5.. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the English.

CONCLUSION
Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Nou praat ek maar Afrikaans!

This came from a good friend in Namibia, this is why I decided to leave the previous sentence in my post.

Posted 27 July 2009:

Concierge-24 in Frankfurt is looking for a private English teacher.

For more information, contact:

Mr. Maico Hörst

tel.: 06028 – 6610
mob: 0160 – 74 77 600