Sunday, August 12, 2012

In the Middle of the Night

Here is the link for a cute video of "In the Middle of the Night" by Billy Joel. The lyrics are as follows:

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
From the mountains of faith
To the river so deep
I must be lookin' for something
Something sacred i lost
But the river is wide
And it's too hard to cross
even though I know the river is wide
I walk down every evening and stand on the shore
I try to cross to the opposite side
So I can finally find what I've been looking for
In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the valley of fear
To a river so deep
I've been searching for something
Taken out of my soul
Something I'd never lose
Something somebody stole
I don't know why I go walking at night
But now I'm tired and I don't want to walk anymore
I hope it doesn't take the rest of my life
Until I find what it is I've been looking for
(Three beat Pause)
In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the jungle of doubt
To the river so deep
I know I'm searching for something
Something so undefined
That it can only be seen
By the eyes of the blind
In the middle of the night (break)

I’m not sure about a life after this
God knows I've never been a spiritual man
Baptized by the fire, I wade into the river
That is runnin' through the promised land (Long Five beat Pause)

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the desert of truth
To the river so deep
We all end in the ocean
We all start in the streams
We're all carried along
By the river of dreams
In the middle of the night

Brussels online food delivery

Here is the link for pizza.be, where you can order food online and track your order.

Burgers in Brussels

Here are some "gourmet" burger restaurants, which are somewhat overpriced:

- Burger Republic
- Ellis
- Houtsiplou

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Linking words

The first and second parts of the documents on linking words are hereby available.  You can also find the key for the exercises here.  As you do the exercises, please remember the following three types of linking words we have identified:


  • Linking words that connect two parts of the same sentence as in the following example: We only have one week off for Easter, so we will be staying in Brussels.
  • Linking words that connect two separate sentences as in the following four examples, which are different ways of saying the same thing:
  1. We only have one week off for Easter.  Therefore, we will be staying in Brussels.
  2. We only have one week off for Easter; therefore, we will be staying in Brussels.
  3. We only have one week off for Easter.  We will, therefore, be staying in Brussels.
  4. We only have one week off for Easter; we will, therefore, be staying in Brussels.
  • Linking words that are covered under both the first and second types as in the four following examples:
  1. Besides giving his friend a lift after work, he helped her with her grocery shopping.
  2. He helped his friend with her grocery shopping, besides giving her a lift after work.
  3. I am afraid I am not allowed to help you with that question.  Besides, I do not know the answer myself.
  4. I am afraid I am not allowed to help you with that question; besides, I do not know the answer myself.
Note that the meaning of the word 'besides'  in the first two examples is different from its meaning in the last two examples.

In all these examples, please pay special attention to the punctuation.

Underdog

Here is the link for the song called "Underdog" by the Kasabian.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Subject-verb agreement

Here is a document with a quiz on subject-verb agreement.

Reported speech

I am hereby providing some documents on reported speech as well as object and subject questions with the key for the exercises from English Grammar in Use: Intermediate by Raymond Murphy.  More  exercises on reported speech along with the key are also made available.

Here you can also find more information on subject, object, verb, tense, time and location modifications in reported speech and indirect speech. (Business Grammar Builder by Paul Emmerson)

Jouralistic titles

Here you can find a brief explanation on journalistic titles used in, e.g., newspaper headlines.  We, however, should not use this style for our titles in administrative writing.  How would you change the headlines provided as examples in the hot-linked document into administrative style titles?

Cambridge Dictionary

Here you can have access to the online Cambridge Dictionary, in which you can listen to the British and American pronunciation of words.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Articles

Here you can find the document on articles along with the key for the exercises.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Composite nouns and possessives

Here you can find some information on composite nouns and possessives with exercises, as well as the key for the exercises. I am hereby also making another document on the same topics with exercises, as well as the key for the exercises.

Mr. Cab Driver

Here is the link for "Mr. Cab Driver" by Lenny Kravitz.  Here are the lyrics:

Mr. Cab Driver won't you stop to let me in
Mr. Cab Driver don't you like my kind of skin
Mr. Cab Driver you're never gonna win
Mr. Cab Driver won't stop to pick me up
Mr. Cab Driver I might need some help
Mr. Cab Driver only thinks about himself
Mr. Cab Driver
Mr. Cab Driver
Mr. Cab Driver don't like to way I look
He don't like dreads he thinks we're all crooks
Mr. Cab Driver reads too many story books
Mr. Cab Driver pass me up with eyes of fire
Mr. Cab Driver thinks we're all 165'ers
Mr. Cab Driver f**k you I'm a survivor
Let me in
Mr. Cab Driver
Mr. Cab Driver

How to Write Clearly

Here you can find the Commission guide entitled "How to Write Clearly".

Ice cream and French fries in Brussels

Ice cream:
- Cocozza
- Frederic Blondeel (in the summer)

Fries:
- Flagey
- St Joost
- Next to De Beurs

Gerund vs. infinitive

Numerous exercises on gerund vs. infinitive along with their key are hereby made available for you to have access at your convenience.  You can also find the list of verbs used with gerund and/or infinitive here.

Here you can find more information and exercises on the same topic.