Article Time! When people's identities are attached to their belongings.

Article time!

So, a friend of mine shared this article on Facebook and I found it quite interesting! I think it would make a good read for English learners!!

It's called: The Woman Who Lost Her Sense of ‘Mine’ By Melissa Dahl and you'll find it here:
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/07/the-woman-who-forgot-everything-she-owned.html?mid=atlas

It's an article about how people get attached to their stuff (their material possessions) and how people seem to express their self-identity through their belongings.

Melissa Dahl points out: "In 1890, William James, the 19th-century scholar who is considered by many to be the founder of modern psychology, wrote in The Principles of Modern Psychology, “a man’s Self is the sum total of all that he can call his, not only his body and his psychic powers, but his clothes and his house, his wife and his children, his ancestors and friends, his reputation and works, his lands and horses, and yacht and bank-account.”"

Presented in this article is a case study, which was published in the journal Cortex by science writer Rolf Degen, about a woman who lost her sense of ownership over her belongings and about how it felt to her to not be emotionally attached to anything.

This article contains some words you may need to look up, so get your dictionaries ready!

I hope you find the article interesting!
Have a great day!

:) :) 

Ally vs Alley

Word Wars!!

Ally VS Alley

First of all... they are pronounced differently.

ally sounds like Al-eye and alley sounds like Al-ee

An ally is a friend, someone who is on YOUR side. The plural is allies.
Countries have allies. From this comes alliance.

An alley is a small, narrow street or passage, usually only for pedestrians. The plural is alleys.
This city has may alleys. We also say 'alley-ways'. 

Have a great Tuesday and beware of walking in dark alleys at night!! ;)

Words of the Day!

Good morning peeps!!

So today I was thinking about starting a "Words of the Day" feature and here it is!!!

What is it?
Well, every week I'll open up my trusty dictionary at random and choose three words from the two pages in front of me!! Some random vocabulary... Why not? ;) ;)

And the Words of the Day are:

keepsake
kennel
ketchup

What's a keepsake?? keepsake (n) = a gift, usually small and not very costly, that is kept in memory of the giver or previous owner (if the gift was something that belonged to them).
e.g. My best friend gave me a key-chain as a keepsake to always remember her.
My grandma gave me one of her brooches as a keepsake.

kennel (n) = shelter for a pet dog or a place where dogs are bred or cared for.
e.g. They put their dogs into kennels when they go on holiday.
His dog lives in a kennel in the backyard.

ketchup (n) = a thick sauce made from tomatoes (and vinegar) and is used cold as a seasoning.
e.g. She always puts tons of ketchup on her fries and hot-dog!

I think you all know what ketchup is!! ;) ;)


I hope you all enjoyed this mini-burst of vocab!
Have a great week! :) :)

Happy Independence Day!

Today is Independence Day!! It is a national holiday in the U.S.A. and is celebrated every year on the Fourth of July.
If it falls on a weekend, then the previous Friday or following Monday will be a holiday.

On July 4, 1776, the United States of America proclaimed its independence from England by signing the Declaration of Independence. While the signing of the Declaration itself was not completed until August, the Fourth of July holiday is seen as the official anniversary of U.S. independence.

Celebrations include parades, barbecues, picnics and fireworks throughout the country and the estimated number of hot dogs eaten by Americans on the Fourth of July is 150 million!!!

As this is a Federal holiday, not only will schools and libraries be closed, most federal and state offices will also be closed and there will be no mail deliveries on Independence Day.

Citizens of the U.S.A., have a wonderful 4th of July holiday!! :) :)

Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day!!

On July 1st 1867 a federation was born with the unity of the British North America provinces of Canada.

Canada Day is Canada's birthday, celebrating the enactment of the Constitution Act 1867 in which all colonies were united into one single country called Canada, under the British Empire.

The holiday of July 1st was established by statute in 1879, under the name Dominion Day, later becoming Canada Day on October 27th 1982.

In 1980, a formula was developed whereby the federal government sponsored the development of local celebrations all across Canada and since 1985, committees have been established in each province and territory to plan, organize and coordinate the Canada Day celebrations locally.

A lesser known fact: The name Canada is generally accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word 'kanata', meaning 'village'!!

So... my fellow Canadians, Happy Canada Day!!! Enjoy the celebrations across the country. And from now on I will proudly state that my village is Canada! :) :)

Happy July everyone! ;) ;)