Easter traditions

For Christians Easter is the most important religious holiday. It celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A lot of Easter customs exist in various countries.

In Poland the whole families gather together to celebrate Easter. On Holy Saturday they prepare special Easter baskets. The baskets contain eggs, bread, meat, salt, horseradish and a figure of lamb made of sugar or cake, which represent the Lamb of God – Jesus Christ. The baskets are decorated with white cloth and box twigs. Once a basket is ready, it is taken to a local church where a priest blesses it with holy water. On Holy Sunday a great Easter breakfast takes place, when family members eat the contents of their baskets and much more.

In the United Kingdom and the United States parents prepare for Easter by buying chocolate eggs and bunnies or similar items made of sugar. On Saturday morning they hide the treats in their gardens where children go looking for them. Some children receive small gifts given to them by an Easter Bunny. Special games take place such us egg rolling (a race with rolling eggs on the grass) and egg tapping. There are some foods associated with Easter,such as hot cross buns (sweet buns with spices), Simnel cake (fruitcake with marzipan) and roasts. 

Prepositions of Time: at, in, on

In English we use in before months, years, centuries and parts of the day:

• in 1997           I was born in 1984.
• in January          In England, it often snows in December.
• in the 20th century          There should be a lot of progress in the next century.
• in the morning          I usually meet my friends in the evening.
• in the Ice Age          Mammoths became extinct in the Ice Age.
• in the summer          
• in the 1990s          
• in the past/future          Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?

small and little

Form and meaning

"Small" and "little" are both adjectives. We use "small" to talk about the size of something.
          Your cat is very small.
          Can I have two small pizzas please?

We can use "little" to refer to size in the same way as "small", but we usually use it with another adjective to express an emotion.
          He's a clever little boy.
          Nobody's looking after that poor little dog.

Additional points

In comparative and superlative form, "small" is more common in British English, and "little" is more common in American English.

          That's the smallest phone I've ever seen.          British English

          That's the littlest phone I've ever seen.          American English

Irregular verbs are often mistaken for other verbs

FALL / FEEL

fall /fɔːl/ – fell /fel/ – fallen /ˈfɔː.lən/     /upadać/

to suddenly go down onto the ground or towards the ground without intending to or by accident

He has fallen flat on his face.

The book fell to the floor.

Warning: Check your verb endings! Many learners make mistakes when using 'fall' in the past tense. The past simple and past participle of 'fall' is 'fell'.

Paul felt off the roof and broke his leg.

Paul fell off the roof and broke his leg.

'Felt' is the past simple and past participle of 'feel'.

feel /fiːl/ – felt /felt/ – felt /felt/     /czuć/

to experience something physical or emotional

I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder.

She has felt ashamed of herself.

FIND / FOUND

find /faɪnd/ – found /faʊnd/ – found /faʊnd/     /znaleźć/

to discover, especially where a thing or person is, either unexpectedly or by searching, or to discover where to get or how to achieve something

I found my keys under the bed this morning.

Interesting facts

English (just like any other language) has a lot of interesting facts. Here are some of them:
Język angielski (podobnie zresztą jak każdy inny język) posiada sporo ciekawostek. Oto niektóre z nich:

1. English is one of the languages ​​that have the most words - about 600 thousand (excluding medical and technical terminology! Without these terms would be "only" 300 000 words)
   Język angielski jest jednym z języków, które posiadają najwięcej wyrazów – około 600 tysięcy (licząc terminologię medyczną i techniczną! Bez tych terminologii byłoby "jedynie" 300 tysięcy słów)

2. However, the average user of English uses about 5,000 words during the conversation, and about 10,000 words when writing
   Niemniej jednak przeciętny użytkownik języka angielskiego używa około 5 tysięcy słów podczas konwersacji i około 10 tysięcy słów podczas pisania

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Frost grows outside the window
First kiss under the mistletoe
Bells chime inside a steeple
Open the doors hear the people sing

And when the snow is falling down, down, down
You know that Santa is back in town, town, town
That’s when it’s Christmas time again

      

                       BSB  “It’s Christmas Time Again”

All my Dear,

On the occasion of the most beautiful holidays of the year – Christmas holidays,

I wish you all that is the most important to you.

Health, love, joy, fulfillment of dreams, family warmth…

May the upcoming New Year 2013 will be a hundred times better than passing.

Greeting, Ann

"to look", "to see" or "to watch"

to look     to pay attention; to try to see what is there; seem
[Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary]

phrasal verbs
look back - to think about something that happened in the past
          When I look back I can see where we went wrong.          Kiedy patrzę wstecz, widzę co poszło źle. 

look in - to visit a person for a short time, usually when you are on your way somewhere else
          Can you look in on the kids before you go to bed?          Możesz zerknąć na dzieci zanim pójdziesz spać?

look out - said or shouted in order to tell someone that they are in danger
          Look out! There's a car coming!          Uważaj! Samochód nadjeżdża!

look up - to become better
          I hope things will start to look up in the new year.          Mam nadzieję, że w nowym roku wszystko będzie lepsze.

COMMON MISTAKE
look at
When "look" has an object, the correct preposition to use is "at". Do not say "looking something", say "looking at something".
          She looks at the photo on her desk and smiled.          Ona spoglądała na zdjęcie na biurku i się uśmiechała. 

look forward to
When "look forward to" is followed by a verb, that verb should be in the "-ing" form. Do not say "look forward to do something", say "look forward to doing something".
          I look forward to meeting you at the conference.          Z niecierpliwością czekam na spotkanie z Państwem na konferencji. 

"to listen" or "to hear"

to listen     to give attention to someone or something in order to hear them 
[Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary]

phrasal verbs
listen in on sth - if you listen in on a conversation, you listen to it, especially secretly, without saying anything
          I wish Dad would stop listening in on my phone conversation.          Życzę sobie, aby mój tata przestał słuchać moich rozmów telefonicznych. 

listen out for sth - to make an effort to hear a noise that you are expecting
          Would you listen out for the phone while I'm in the garden?          Możesz nasłuchiwać telefonu kiedy ja będę w ogrodzie? 

listen up - INFORMAL - something you saying you say to make people listen to you
          Okay everyone - listen up! I have an announcement to make.          Ok wszyscy - słuchajcie! Mam wiadomość. 

"to lend' or "to borrow"

I lend to you, you borrow from me.          I borrow from you, you lend to me.

to lend          "pożyczać, pożyczyć"          to lend sb sth          to lend sth to sb
AmE to lend = to loan
[Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary] to give something to someone for a short period of time, expecting it to be given back

She doesn't like lending her books.          Ona nie lubi pożyczać swoich książek.
If you need a coat I can lend you one / lend one to you.          Jeśli potrzebujesz płaszcza, mogę Ci pożyczyć jeden.
Her father lent her 100 dollars.          Jej ojciec pożyczył jej 100 dolarów. 

Work-related phrases...

to do/work overtime  "pracować na nadgodziny"

I do overtime because I need money.      Pracuję na nadgodziny ponieważ potrzebuję pieniędzy.

to be on double time  "otrzymywać podwójną stawkę za godzinę pracy"

On Sundays people are on double time.      W niedziele ludzie pracują za podwójną stawkę.

to be on piece work  "pracować na akord"

Students usually are on piece work.      Studenci zazwyczaj pracują na akord. 

to be on shifts / on shift work  "pracować na zmiany"

In factories, people are on shift work.      W fabrykach ludzie pracują na zmiany. 

a white-collar worker  "pracownik umysłowy"