Happy New Year Everyone!!

I just want to wish everyone one of you who reads my blog a very happy new year and I hope I can continue to educate you, inspire you and entertain you throughout 2008.

A big thank you for taking the time to read this blog

AND NOW….

CARL’S NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS!

1. Quit Smoking

2. Learn Korean

3. Learn Flash Animation

That’s it. I always believe in keeping it simple and that’s as simple as it gets.

Have a great night everyone and see you all next year.

PS. I hope you all like the new style blog and website (www.carlpullein.co.uk)

This Was Fantastic ^^

While watching TV, I saw these guys singing a song from “Big Bang” - Check it out here

January 2008 Schedule

I have posted my BCM schedule for January 2008 on my website today. You can view my full teaching schedule by clicking HERE

Also, don’t forget my special ONE:ONE package which is a unique special offer for all students available through FES Training. You can get further details by clicking HERE.

If you are interested, you need to be quick as places for these classes are filling up very quickly.

Seth Godin Is King!

As a regular reader of Seth Godin’s blog (required reading for all people involved in business) I want to point all my readers to his last 2 posts. They really do hit home the importance of customer interaction and being aware of your customers perceptions and thinking.

Post 1 (click here)

Post 2 (click here)

English Learning Secret 6

Today’s English learning secret is all about “Immersion” (click here for 한국어)

IMMERSION

There are only two parts to learning English. If you can master both these parts you will become a fantastic English speaker, speaking naturally and fluently. Sadly, most students of English only learn the first part and then wonder why they are not improving.

Learning English is very much like learning to drive a car. The first step is to learn the theory and pass the driving test. Once you pass the driving test, then you start to REALLY learn how to drive, how to react to different driving circumstances and how to drive in heavy rain, snow and ice.

The same applies to learning English. The first part is learning the grammatical and structural rules, and in Korea, as in most countries you do this in school. Once you have learnt the basic rules, as in learning to drive, then you need to start learning REAL English.

How do you do this? Now here’s the difficult part. TO really take yourself in to the next level you have to immerse yourself in English, you have to surround yourself with English and you have to USE English in an everyday situation.

I know this part is difficult, but remember you do not spent 24 hours a day driving, sometimes you might not drive at all, and that is the same with English, you do not have to immerse yourself in English 24 hours a day, but you do need to look at the news in English whether it is by newspapers or TV / radio, you do need to read English magazines and books, watch English movies and TV shows and practice speaking whenever you get a chance.

So there you go guys, to really take your English to the next level and to stop feeling like you are not improving your English, you need to immerse yourself in English and actually use it in an everyday situation. Get yourself an English pen pal, when your teacher tells you he or she is happy to receive your emails, write to them, don’t be afraid and DON’T be lazy - DO IT.

Take every opportunity to use the English you learn regularly, because this really is the only way you can improve your English.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Christmas Message

This year the Queen has given her Christmas message through You Tube.

So for all you students of English and those of you who have an interest in the British Royal family, here for the first time you can have a look at one of the UK’s Christmas traditions as the Queen’s Christmas message is alway broadcasted at 3pm on Christmas day.

Happy Christmas Everyone

Merry Christmas everyone, and I want to thank you all for visiting my blog this year and I hope I can help you all learn English and give you some wonderful photography from me and others around me.

As it’s a Monday (Christmas Eve) it means it is “Photography Monday” so here are some wonderful sites to visit for some fantastic photography….

1. Check out John Caponigro’s amazing surreal photography. It really is quite stunning (click HERE)

2. For those of you who are interested in wedding photography check out David Ziser’s wedding gallery. This guy really is an amazing wedding photographer. (Click HERE)

Well that’s it for now. Talk to you all later.

One To One Classes

FES is launching a unique One to One programme for anyone living in Seoul.

For a set monthly fee you will get 4 x 90 minute one to one classes per month. These classes will cover anything from basic conversation English to specific training for TOEIC /TOEFL.One to One classes are the best way to improve your English quickly and efficiently.

The time of these classes are designed to suit you. So when you are free you can do your class. Weekends, late evenings or the afternoons.

If you are interested you had better be quick as these classes are very popular. You can contact me through FES at carl@fandcorp.com

Friday Comedy Clip ^^

Ho ho ho guys (Christmas greeting

Here is this week’s Christmas clip -

This week’s clip comes from my favourite TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson (mentioned many times before here)

Jeremy Clarkson LOVES cars. Cars are his life and this clip shows him being more bothered about the car than his wife and children leaving him. The script is below the video so you can follow along.

From an English language point - I would always recommend that you copy his intonation. It is clear and fluent with a lot of tone

SCRIPT

JC: Now this is a kind of car. It’s smooth, it’s stylish, it’s sexy. It’s got just the right amount of poke so that you …

WIFE: I’m leaving you!

JC: Yeah, in a minute
It’s a car for men who love women. It’s got balls

WIFE: You’re only interested in cars and you’re a sexist pig!

JC: It’s even got power steering so the little lady can handle it and there’s plenty of room in the back for all the family.

KIDS: Bye dad … bye

JC: It comes complete with electric windows, and central locking and with it’s compact V6 engine it’ll rocket you from 0 to 60 in 8.4 seconds. It is, in short, and absolutely wonderful car.

English Learning Secret 5

Number 5 in my series of English learning tips is here ^^ !!!

IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK LIKE A NATIVE THEN LEARN LIKE A NATIVE

This tip is an obvious one, but to be honest so many educational systems in the world focus on structure, grammar and error identification because this is the easiest way to test a student, and the whole idea of actually learning the language to use in the real world gets forgotten.

When native speakers start to learn English they get taught the basics of grammar and structure, and then to advance this learning, they read and use English everyday.

As a native English speaker, I have never spent hours and hours with my head inside a grammar book. I HAVE spent many, many hours reading books that interest me on subjects I find exciting. Do you know what has happened? My grammar has become natural and I understand idioms and strange expressions with ease.

Ask me to explain why a certain grammar principle is used in a certain way and I find it extremely difficult to explain, but I never have to do this in a real conversational situation.

So if you really want to learn English effectively and efficiently throw away those grammar books now. Go and buy yourself an English reading book on a subject that YOU find interesting and start reading. I can guarantee that your grammar, structure and vocabulary will have improved 5 times faster at the end of the month than if you had bought a grammar book.