Sunday, July 4, 2010

Keep Your English Up to Date

Staycation

Listen

Mark Shea explains the origin, meaning and use of the expression 'staycation'. Click below to listen:
A holiday in Britain

Staycation

These days people have less and less money to spend on luxuries, things like holidays, for example. So, when they have some time off work, some are choosing to stay at home, instead of flying, or driving perhaps to the beach or mountains, maybe to another country. It’s a staycation, a combination of the words stay and vacation. Particularly if you live in a big city, you might not get time to enjoy everything that it has to offer in terms of entertainment – to go to the theatre, to concerts or just to go sightseeing. So a staycation might be an attractive idea. Other reasons to take a staycation might be having very young children, or perhaps you want to make some home improvements, like redecorating. In any case, a staycation will almost certainly save you money! I have some friends from the US who come over to London every year or so and stay with me – so I regularly take some time off and have a staycation. Sometimes I visit them in Seattle, and they have a staycation.

Talk About English

Talk About English (Learn English)

Talk About English (Learn English)

Improve your English vocabulary, grammar, and listening skills with the BBC. Our weekly 20 minute chat show includes features and interviews to help you practise and develop your English. We cover a range of topics using everyday informal English, highlighting useful words and expressions. Talk about English is presented every Thursday by the team from BBC Learning English including Callum Robertson, William Kremer and Jackie Dalton.