Most English people have three names: a first name, a middle name and the family name. The family name comes last. For example, my full name is Jim Allan Green. Green is my family name. My parents gave me both of my other names.

    People don't use their middle names very much. So "John Henry Brown" is usually called “John Brown”. People never use Mr., Mrs. or Miss before their first names. So you can say John Brown, or Mr. Brown; but you shouldn't say Mr. John. They use Mr., Mrs. or Miss with the family name but never with the first name.

    It is different from Chinese names. In China, the first name is the family name, and the last name is the given name. For example, a man called Zhou Jian puts his family name Zhou first.

Hot pot(火锅) and Hotpot

    I'm learning English in the UK where I meet a lot of new friends and eat something delicious. Hot pot is many Chinese people's favorite food, including(包括) me. After having three days of hamburgers, sandwiches and potatoes in the UK, how excited I was to know that there was going to be a free meal of hotpot to welcome the new students. On the way to the canteen, I seemed to smell the hot pot in the air.

    To my surprise, when I stepped into the room, in front of me were still potatoes and bread. Where was the hot pot?

    With many questions in my head, I sat down to have the free meal. After talking with a French girl, I got to know that hot pot is completely different from hotpot. Chinese hot pot is written in two words and hotpot, one word, is a traditional English dish.

    Hotpot is made from mutton and onion. On the top there are sliced potatoes. People put it in the oven all day in a heavy pot and on a low heat. You can often see it at parties in the UK because it's easy to prepare for a large number of people and is not expensive.

    Hotpot doesn't taste bad. However, I still miss hot pot, two words!

    Cats are the most popular pets among Americans. So it is not surprising there are many expressions about cats. Do you know any of them? Now let me tell you.

    Some cats like to catch small birds, like canaries. If someone feels excellent about himself, we say, "he looks like the cat that ate the canary."

    Sometimes, a cat likes to play with a small animal it catches. So if you play "cat and mouse" with someone, you change between different kinds of actions when facing another person. For example, a child might serve something sweet to her little brother, and then take it away when reaches for it.

    A cat will often catch a small animal and show it to its owner. The saying "that looks like something the cat dragged in" describes something in bad condition.

    A fat cat is a person with a lot of money.

    There are many other expressions about cats in America. How interesting! Which kind of cat are you, or which kind would you like to be?