When important events are happening around the world, most people turn to traditional media sources, such as CNN and BBC for the news. However, during the war in Iraq in 2003, many people followed the war from the point of view of an unknown Iraqi citizen who called himself "Salam Pax" (Salam Pax means peace).

    Salam Pax wrote a diary about everyday life in Baghdad during the war, and posted it on his website. Pax's online diary was a kind of website known as a "blog". Blogs are online diaries, usually kept by individuals, but sometimes by companies and other groups of people. They are the fastest growing types of website on the Internet.

    A blog differs from a traditional website in several ways. Most importantly, it is updated much more regularly. Many blogs are updated every day, and some are updated several times a day. Also, most blogs use special software or websites, which can help ordinary people easily set up and start writing their own blogs.

    There are many different kinds of blogs. The most popular type is an online diary of links where the blog writer surfs the Internet and then posts links to sites or news articles that they find interesting, with a few comments about each one. Other types are personal diaries, where the writer talks about their life and feelings. Sometimes these blogs can be very personal.

    There is another kind of blogging, called "moblogging", short for "mobile blogging".

    Mobloggers use mobile phones with cameras to take photos, which are posted instantly to the Internet. The use of mobile phones in this way made the headlines in Singapore when a high school student posted a movie he had taken of a teacher shouting at another student on the Internet. Many people were shocked by what the student did, and wanted phones with cameras to be banned from schools.

    Many people think that as blogs become common, news reporting will rely less on big media companies, and more on ordinary people posting news to the Internet. They think that then the news will be less like a lecture, and more like a conversation, where anyone can join in.

Guided Walking Week  April 2016

Dates: April 30th-May 7th 2016

Location: Abdet, Costa Blanca

    A week of guided walking in the mountains around Abdet. Highlights include the climbing of Valencia's highest summit (Sierra de Aitana), traveling completely around the impressive Puig Campana, and several explorations in the Sierra de Aitana. Ancient trails lead through spectacular canyons( 峡谷 ) to abandoned settlements situated high in the mountains. You will discover the snow trader routes which lead from the incredible snow holes high in the mountains down to the villages and towns on the coast. These years, golden eagles have made a return to this area, and you may also see other animals—wild goats, foxes, wild pigs and red squirrels.

    As part of the week you are invited to help clear some local walking paths. This involves clearing collapsed walls and rocks, cutting back fallen trees. This is of course optional and is just for half a day, it's actually great fun!

Price:$499

Includes:

● Accommodation in the beautiful mountain village of Abdet

● All food-good home cooking

● Beer, wine, soft drinks

● Snacks and post walk treats

● Packed lunches & drinks(except café/bar visits)

● Expert guiding

● Photos/Videos of your days in the mountains

● Airport pick-up/return $25 each way(fly to Alicante)

● Single room supplement $75

To book or get further information, please contact info@abdet.com.

    I was asked in an e­mail about learning idioms in a foreign language. Maybe I am different from most people，but I do not bother with them. To me they are kind of dessert of language learning. They come at the end of a meal. Once you have filled up with the key words and phrases that are used in a variety of situations，then you can add a few idioms. And by that time, you will be able to pick them up naturally anyway.

    I find that many learners have trouble with idioms，as if repeating some very colloquial expressions is going to upgrade how they sound in a language. In fact, it is the opposite. Idioms are difficult to use correctly.

    Yes，occasionally you hear idioms and do not understand. But，in my experience，there are always situations where you do not understand. It is best to focus on the most important words，what they mean and how they are used. Certainly，it is best for a non­native speaker to stick to standard speech.

    Some teachers even try to teach the “real language”．Then you hear non­native speakers saying things like “I goanna”, “You wane” etc.

    You will learn all the idioms you need just by exposing yourself to the language. In general，you can save any phrase that you find interesting，and if that includes idioms，go to it. But I would not make any special effort to go after idioms. I，in fact，avoid them. If I come across something in Russian that strikes me as a particularly idiomatic use of words，I just leave it aside; do not even bother trying to learn it. If it keeps on appearing，then I will learn it.

    It is commonly believed that in medieval France, New Year was celebrated on 1 April. Then in 1562, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world, changing New Year to 1 January. With no modern communications, news travelled slowly and new ideas were often questioned. Many people did not hear of the change, some merely forgot, and others chose to ignore it. These people were called fools. Invitations to non-existent "New Year" parties were sent and other practical jokes were played. Over time playing tricks on 1 April became a tradition. The custom eventually spread to England and Scotland, and it was later transported across the Atlantic to the American colonies (殖民地) of the English and the French. April Fools' Day has now developed into an international festival of fun, with different nationalities celebrating the day in special ways.

    France and Italy

    In France and Italy, if someone plays a trick on you, you are the "fish of April". By the month of April fish have only just hatched and are therefore easy to catch. Children stick paper fish to their Friends' backs and chocolate fish are found in the shops.

    America and Britain

    Today, Americans and the British play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on 1 April. A common trick is to point to a friend's shoe and say "Your shoelace (鞋带) is untied." When they look down, they are laughed at. Schoolchildren might tell a friend that school has been cancelled. Sometimes the media get involved. Once, a British short film was shown on April Fools' Day about spaghetti farmers and how they harvest their crop from spaghetti trees!

    Scotland

    In Scotland, April Fools' Day lasts for two days! The second day is called "Taily Day" and tricks on this day involve the bottom (or the "tail", in informal speech). Often a sign saying ‘kick me' is stuck onto someone's back without them knowing.

    Our tolerating ability is indeed way beyond our imagination. But not until the very critical moment will we realize our potential tolerating ability.

    There was a woman in the countryside who got married at the age of 18 and had to escape with her two daughters and a son wherever she could at the age of 26 due to the Japanese army's invasion, Many people could not bear the suffering of being a fugitive (逃亡者)and wanted to commit suicide. Knowing that, she would come to those people and soothed them by saying, "Don't do that silly thing. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome. The Japanese armies are bound to be driven away one day!”

    Finally, she insisted until the day when all the Japanese armies were kicked out of China. However, her son died of disease without sufficient medicine and nutrition in those days of hardships. Her husband, after knowing the death of his son, lay in bed for two days without eating and drinking anything. She teared to her husband and said, "We have a tough destiny, but however tough our lives will be, we should persist in our efforts."

    After she gave birth to the second son, her husband died of edema (水肿), which almost, blew her away. But eventually, she recovered and embraced the three young children, saying, "My sweet hearts, don, feel scared. You still have me, your dear mum!”

    It took her painstaking efforts to raise her children up and, the life of her family was getting better and better. Two daughters were married and so was her son finally. She said to everyone she met," Look! What I said is absolutely right. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome! My life is so happy now!”

    She lived until 86. Before she went to Heaven, she said to her children, You all should live to your best. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome!”

    Whether you are a national or an international student, we welcome you to Middletown University. Our reputation is built on providing high-quality education in both academic and vocational (职业的) subjects. As well as priding ourselves on our traditional face-to-face learning, we have recently introduced a range of distance-learning courses.

    What do they cost?

    Costs for our coursers vary considerably. Click on each department's homepage for more information. Scholarships and bursaries an available for certain courses, particularly for those in the sciences and education.

    SAMPLE COURSE OVERVIEW

    BA in English Language and Literature

    The main purpose of this course is to develop your ability to describe, analyze and manipulate features of the English language, and to see how these are expressed in literature. As well as taking core modules which cover these areas, students will be able to specialize in their fields of interest.

    Duration: three-year course

    Course: Choose 12 out of 20 modules.

    Weekly timetable: eight hours of lectures/four hours of seminars

    Assessment: essays, exams and an 8,000-word dissertation at the end of the third year

    Requirements: academic experience and interest in the subject; good school-exam grades

    Diploma in teaching

    In the first term, you will learn about the theory of teaching and how to be an effective teacher. In the second term, you will also begin teaching in a school. The third term is completely practical.

    Duration: one-year course

    Course: Choose six out of ten modules (three are compulsory).

    Weekly timetable: six hours of lectures/ two hours of seminars/ six hours of classroom teaching

    Assessment: combination of essays and classroom observation

    Requirement: first degree in specific subject area