A touching video about kindness...

About emails...

 Email is a short word for electronic mail. You create texts and send them over a network of computers. The first emails go back to the 1960s. The invention has influenced our lives and emails have become a popular means of communication. 

Advantages of emails:

• Emails are easy to use. You can organize your daily correspondence, send and receive electronic messages and save them on computers.
• Emails are fast. They are delivered at once around the world. No other form of written communication is as fast as an email.
• The language used in emails is simple and informal.
• When you reply to an email you can attach the original message so that when you answer the recipient knows what you are talking about. This is important if you get hundreds of emails a day.
• It is possible to send automated emails with a certain text.
• Emails do not use paper. They are environment friendly and save a lot of trees from being cut down.
• Emails can also have pictures in them. You can send birthday cards or newsletters as emails.

 Disadvantages of emails:

• Emails may carry viruses. These are small programs that harm your computer system. They can read out your email address book and send themselves to a number of people around the world.
• Many people send unwanted emails to others. These are called spam mails. It takes a lot of time to filter out the unwanted emails from those that are really important.
• Emails cannot really be used for official business documents. They may be lost and you cannot sign them. http://www.english-online.at/media/emails/advantages-disadvantages-of-electronic-mail.htm

A very useful lesson about emails with a native speaker

       Formal and Informal Email Phrases

      Greetings

                                           Formal                                               

• Dear Sir/ Madam,
• Dear Sir or Madam,
• To whom it may concern: (especially AmE)
• Dear Mr/ Ms Jones,
• Dear Dr Smith,

Informal

• Hi Dennis,
• Hello Claire,
• Dear mum,

  Reasons for writing

  Formal
  
• I am writing to make a reservation/ to apply for the position of…/ to confirm my booking/ to ask for further information about …
• I am writing with regard  to the sale of …/ to the complaint you made on 29th February
• Thank you for your e-mail of 29th February regarding the sale of… / concerning the conference in Brussels.
• With reference to our telephone conversation on Friday, I would like to let you know that…

         Semi-formal / Informal

• Just a quick note to invite you to…/ to tell you that…
• This is to invite you to join us for...
• Thanks for your e-mail, it was wonderful/great to hear from you.
• I wanted to let you know that / tell you about / ask you if…

  Ending

  Formal
• I look forward to hearing from you.
• I look forward to hearing when you are planning to visit our town.

        Informal

• Hope to hear from you soon.
• I’m looking forward to seeing you.

  Closing formula

  Formal
• Yours faithfully, (when you start with Dear Sir/ Madam,)
• Yours sincerely, (when you start with the name e.g. Dear Ms Collins)
• Sincerely Yours, (AmE)
• Sincerely, (AmE)
• Yours Truly, (AmE)

        Informal

• Love,
• Thanks,
• Take care,
• Yours,
• Best regards, (semi-formal, also BR),

  It should be kept in mind that in  formal correspondence contractions are rarely used, so we should write I  do not   instead of  I don't  and so on.
  

I love it when it rains...

  
We are lucky to have enough rain this  year. Frankly speaking I haven't seen as much rain as we are having  this June and May as well. I think I've been shown a gallery of all thinkable kinds of rain -from short gentle light rains  like ocean breezes to heavy thunderstorms and showers with so many puddles that you can walk with your eyes closed. Every time it's different and it makes everything so beautiful  and I like it!And you,do you like summer rain?

A fine collection of rain quotes is here-http://www.bestsayingsquotes.com/category/rain-picture-quotes-and-sayings-1.html
Rain idioms

♦ as right as rain – to feel as right as rain is to feel completely well again. This expression is often used as a reassurance.

Examples:
1. He had an operation on his back last month; but he’s as right as rain now.
2. I don’t feel well but I’m sure I’ll be as right as rain for tomorrow’s meeting.

♦ raining cats and dogs – if it is raining cats and dogs it is raining very heavily.
Example:
Don’t forget your umbrella: it’s raining cats and dogs!

♦ come rain or shine – come rain or shine means whatever happens or whatever the weather.
Examples:

1. I’ll be there for you, come rain or shine.
2. I take my dog for a walk every day, come rain or shine. (I take my dog for a walk every day, whatever the weather)      

♦ save for a rainy day – to save for a rainy day is to save something (especially money) for a time in the future when it might be needed unexpectedly.

Examples:
 I’m saving £50 a month for a rainy day.  

♦ it never rains but it pours – this proverb means that when one bad thing happens, other bad things will inevitably happen at the same time or quickly one after the other.

Example
I’ve had a horrible week. First I locked myself out of my house, then my car broke down, and today fell over on my way to work. It never rains but it pours!

Rain Poems

 Rain

The rain is raining all around,
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.
- Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1895)

Rain Poem
The rain was like a little mouse,
Quiet, small, and gray,
It pattered all around the house
And then it went away.
It did not come, I understand,
Indoors at all, until,
It found an open window and
Left tracks across the sill.
- Elizabeth Coatsworth (1893-1986).
 
 The Rain
Pitter-patter, raindrops,
Falling from the sky;
Here is my umbrella
To keep me safe and dry!
When the rain is over,
And the sun begins to glow,
Little flowers start to bud,
And grow and grow and grow!

 Raindrops

Raindrops are such funny things.           
They haven't feet or haven't wings.
Yet they sail through the air,
With the greatest of ease,            
And dance on the street,
Wherever they please. 

 And this one I like most-

When I'm In The Rain

I feel so complete when I’m in the rain,
I feel no sorrow I feel no pain,
It may give me a cold but I don’t care,
There’s a calming sensation from grass to air,
The feeling of love I don’t have, I will gain,
Because my heart falls open as I stand in the rain. 

- Rachael M. Costello

ура лето!

saying good-bye to my 11th-formers...