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Top 10 des erreurs en anglais - British American Institute Top 10 des erreurs en anglais - Par Jack COLLISTER   En tant que professeur d’anglais vivant en France, il est assez courant d’entendre nos amis ou étudiants faire des fautes récurrentes en anglais. Voici ici le TOP 10 des erreurs que j'entends le plus :   1) “I AM agree.” Il s’agit de...

Quels livres lire pour apprendre l’anglais ? - British American Institute Quels livres lire pour apprendre l’anglais ? De nombreux stagiaires nous demandent quels livres lire pour améliorer leur niveau d’anglais. Il peut parfois être difficile de répondre à cette question étant donné que cela dépend des goûts et centres d’intérêts de chacun. Cependant, l.....

I never thought I would be sad when I heard that the Queen had died. I am not a royalist and not particularly a big fan of the Queen but when I heard the news on the 8th September, 2022, I felt a strange mix of emotions. During my life - and my parents’ life - we have only known a United Kingdom with Queen Elizabeth II. She represented a big part of British culture and was a better role model than every Prime Minister I can remember. The people she met - Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Marilyn Monroe, JFK, The Beatles - and the countries she visited - 101 in total - is just incredible and now we can look back, and celebrate the life she lived. Of course it was a privileged life but she did everything with grace, unlike a lot of her privileged family members (children included). Some people say we should abolish the crown; it is an old tradition that we don’t need anymore. Personally, I am more neutral than that but I definitely think that King Charles III has a very difficult act to follow.

Jack COLLISTER

🌹Portland Rose Festival🌹

The city of Portland in Oregon is well known for its roses. Since 1888, it has been nicknamed (🇫🇷surnommé) the Rose City. It is nicknamed this because of a type of rose, originally from France, the Madame Caroline Testout, that was introduced to the city of Portland that year. Portland still has its own Rose Garden.

To celebrate the city of Portland, its businesses and people, a festival is organized each year. The festival is back for the first time since 2019 due to Covid. This year, it starts on May 27 and will end on June 26, 2022. During this month long festival, celebrations include concerts🎤🎸, carnival with rides like a ferris wheel🎡 (🇫🇷grande roue) and of course, fireworks🎆 (🇫🇷feux d’artifice) over the Willamette River. There will also be art shows around the city and boat races. The much awaited Rose Contest will take place on June 9 and 10. You can even go see the roses put on display at Lloyd Center mall in North East Portland. The contest looks for the most beautiful roses in Portland. The Rose festival also hosts a few parades, one for the flowers, one for children and a nighttime parade.

Another fun feature of the Rose festival is that a Queen is crowned. Fifteen high schools in Portland hold a pageant (🇫🇷un concours) where a few girls try to win the title of Rose princess for their school. Then a panel of judges decide who will be crowned Queen to represent the city and to receive a scholarship (🇫🇷bourse d’étude).

If you like roses and having fun, check out Portland’s Rose festival.

🍽Little weird things to know before you eat at a restaurant in the US 🇺🇸

1. Unlimited water refills

In many American restaurants, they will automatically serve you water. The waiter or waitress will not ask whether you want still (🇫🇷 eau plate) or sparkling (🇫🇷 eau gazeuse) water; they will stand behind you and pour (🇫🇷 verser) ice cold water into the tall glass placed at your table set. It is possible to ask for water without ice but the water pitcher (🇫🇷 carafe) typically comes full of ice and the waiter will always keep your glass full throughout the meal.

2. The Entrée is the main dish🍛

This may sound strange especially to the French: Americans call the main dish the entrée. It admittedly makes no sense since “entrée” means entrance in French so it should be the first dish.

Americans would call “une entrée” an "appetizer" because it opens the appetite.

3. Leftovers🥡

Have you ever wondered why portions are so big in American restaurants? Well there may be multiple reasons but one big reason is that people are expected to take a portion home. We call this portion of food that is left over from the meal: the leftovers. It is very common to ask for a box at the end of the meal, which is sometimes called a ‘doggy bag.’ In the US, it is considered wasteful to leave food on your plate at the end of the meal. The waiter or waitress will always ask if you need a box before they grab your plate. These leftovers then become an easy and delicious meal for the next day, or for whatever future meal you want to enjoy.🥡

Hope you enjoy your future trips to the US and don’t forget to tip (🇫🇷 laisser un pourboire) the waiter or waitress before you leave the restaurant!

🤩National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day🥪🧀

While this is a little known celebration, it is a very delicious one🤤. National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day is celebrated on April 12th of each year in the USA. There is no parade or gifts associated with this celebration, but it is the perfect opportunity to make your own grilled cheese sandwich at home. You can make a classic grilled cheese with sliced bread and a slice of cheddar cheese or you can make a fancier version with onions, turkey or ham, spinach, etc.
Fun fact: The grilled cheese sandwich became popular during the Great Depression (1930s) and it was originally called “the cheese dream.”

Recipe for the perfect grilled cheese
Ingredients:
• 🍞🥖2 slices of the bread of your choice (white bread and sourdough (pain au levain) are the best)
• 🧀🧀🧀As much Cheese as you would like (Gouda, Swiss cheese, Cheddar or to make it more French, try Raclette), cut into slices.
• Toppings of your choice: 🧅onions, 🥒vegetables, 🥬spinach, 🍗turkey, ham, chorizo.
• Some butter for the pan.

Instructions:
The chef has selected two slices of sourdough, Cheddar cheese and onions.
First slice your onion.
In a small pan, heat up butter on medium heat and caramelize the onion until it is brown. Then remove from the heat.
Once you are done with the onions, in a large pan, heat up butter on medium high. Once the pan is hot, lightly toast the bread on both sides.
Leaving the slices of toast in the pan, add cheese to both slices of bread. Allow cheese to melt and then add caramelized onions.
To assemble your grilled cheese sandwich, simply put one slice on the other slice.

Eat your grilled cheese with a side of tomato soup. Enjoy!🤩🤩🤩

Have you ever made a grilled cheese sandwich at home?

The 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics🥇

We have just entered into the second week of the 2022 edition of the Winter Olympics.⛸⛷🏂 This major event that gathers the very best of the world’s winter athletes is now taking place in Beijing, China. The Paralympics will also take place in Beijing, however they will take place the first two weeks of March. All sports of these games are associated with cold weather, mostly taking place on snowy mountains, or ice rinks. ❄️

Due to the general location of these games, the events have had to rely on the use of artificial snow. The 2022 winter Olympics are actually the first Olympics to use 100 percent artificial snow. 1.2 million cubic meters of snow has been created to make sure the athletes can compete. According to some athletes, fake snow is more dangerous and it hurts more when they fall.

Good luck to them on their quest for gold!🥇

What’s your favorite Winter Olympics event?
Which event are you most looking forward to?

Cool Runnings - Feel the Rhythm

❤️Valentine’s Day❤️

In most countries, Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14. It is a day to celebrate love and being in love.😍 Couples will exchange gifts like chocolates, flowers, jewelry, etc.
It’s also a great day to go on fun dates. You can fill a basket with delicious foods and take your date on a picnic. You can go for a walk along the beach before a candlelit dinner.🥰

🇫🇷La Saint Valentin se fête le 14 février chaque année. C’est un jour pour célébrer l’amour et être amoureux. On échange des cadeaux tels que des chocolats, des fleurs, des bijoux, etc.
C’est aussi un jour pour les rencards hors de l’ordinaire comme un piquenique avec plein de bonnes choses ou se promener le long de la plage avant un diner aux chandelles.

What will you do for Valentine’s Day ?😘

Groundhog Day !

Groundhog Day is a tradition celebrated in the United States and Canada on February 2nd. It comes from the superstition that if a groundhog (🇫🇷marmotte) comes out from his burrow (🇫🇷terrier) and sees his shadow then winter will continue for six more weeks. If the groundhog does not see his shadow, spring will arrive early.

The ceremony to see if the groundhog will see his shadow is held every year in multiple locations across the United States and Canada. Americans will gather around the television to see if spring will arrive early!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day !🇺🇸

Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrates the life and achievements of Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. It became a national holiday in 1983.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Christian minister who was one of the leaders of the nonviolent protest movement against racial inequality in the United States. He is of course especially known for his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. He was tragically assassinated in 1968 at the age of thirty-nine.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed in the United States every year on the third Monday of January.

Dry January !😇

It’s long been a tradition in many European countries to start off the new year with some good intentions: to search for that new job you really want, to eat food that’s travelled less, to spend more time with the family, or less…and also to stop drinking alcohol!… For a month! 😱

‘Dry January’ now has its own name and is something that started in the UK as a health campaign to ‘ditch the hangover’ in 2012 and which has now spread across the western world.

Adopted initially as a new year's resolution for many after ‘overdoing it a bit’ at Christmas🎄, this sober period is a chance to reset the batteries and start the year with a clear head. 🤓

It’s also an opportunity to sample the increasing abundance of non-alcoholic ‘alcoholic’ drinks on the market like alcohol-free beer, gin and wine where you can stop counting the units and still drive home at the end of the night.😇

So let’s start the year off fresh as daisies and go for a drink! A non-alcoholic one. I’ll take mine shaken,,,😃

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving, when stores have very good sales that attract many people.💰
On this day, stores open very early, sometimes as early as 12:30 am. People wait in line for hours in front of stores to get these incredible deals. Stores sometimes offer flat-screen TVs for 50 to 60% off and this sometimes causes people to fight or get trampled over for hot ticket items.😱
This is traditionally an American thing but it has reached many other countries including France !💸💸💸

🇫🇷Le "Black Friday" est le vendredi d'après Thanksgiving. Les magasins proposent de très bonnes soldes, ce qui attirent beaucoup de gens. Ce jour-là, les magasins ouvrent très tôt, parfois même à minuit et demi ! Les gens passent des heures à faire la queue devant le magasin de leur choix, en espérant acheter, entre autre, un écran plat à moins 50 ou 60%. Cela a déjà mené à des bagarres ou à des piétinements de foule. Le Black Friday, à l’origine, était une journée exclusivement fêté aux Etats-Unis mais les commerces français s’y sont mis aussi !