These are not English words (as far as I know), although I'm guessing that "redonkulous" could be a mispronounciation of "ridiculous". Actually "Pudge" might come from "pudgy" which means (for a person) slightly fat.

Nice article.  Just a couple of suggestions: The Cats and Dogs one, while correct and also quite famous, is a bit dated,  to be honest.  And for stair rods, yes, but you'd use it like 'it's coming down in stair rods out there' - for very very heavy rain.

 

One that doesnt apppear in most guides is, when extremely cold, 'it's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey', origin unknown but may have to do with storage of cannonballs in old sailing ships - it sounds slightly rude nowadays, don't use it in a business meeting :-)

On age:  About 10 years ago my (British) cousin married a Dutch man.  So our grandfather started studying Dutch.  He was 90 at the time.

Career benefits: long ago the same grandfather, as a soldier in WW2, was promoted, at least in part, because there were very few British officers who could speak French, German and Italian.  And also in the post war period he often went to foreign conferences ahead of more senior people at his insurance company because of his language abilities.

And he's still generally OK at just turned 100 :-)  A bit forgetful but never had dementia, so perhaps the languages have helped there too :-) 

Thanks for this balanced view. As you say, it's simplified, but fair enough - a full picture would take a lot of reading!

 

I guess I just wanted to respond to the Braveheart bit: a lot of no supporters have said that the Yes campaign in based on things like that, stories from the middle ages. But in fact I have heard nothing along those lines from the Yes camp.

And in fact that film may be inaccurate in a lot of detail, but the broad picture is true and the main characters were real.

(I'm a Scot living in Scotland, and I'm keeping my voting intentions to myself for now!)

You can, however, also say 'I just wrote one article' with the same meaning as 'only'.  But you could not use 'only' in the first phrase - 'I have only finished writing an article' doesn't have the same meaning.  It has in fact almost no meaning, except in a fairly limited circumstance (a sarcastic response to someone suggesting you haven't been working).

 

'I have just done something' is an expression meaning that it was done very recently.

English cover letter

Hi everybody,
I am looking for a job. I wrote a cover letter in English. Tell me if you think there are some any mistakes. Thanks


Marie xxxxxx
xxxxxxxxx
75013 PARIS
FRANCE
tel: +33 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
[email protected] at Paris, the 30th September


Re: application for a position as graduate chemical engineer’s position


Dear Sir or Madam,


Construction professionals are looking for materials with many properties, environmentally friendly and low cost. To remain competitive, it is necessary to develop innovative materials. My knowledge acquired during my studies and my professional experiences lead me to offer my application.

During My 6-month internship in the Lafarge research center of Lafarge I gained experience of enabled me to synthesis of polymers (superplasticizer) for concrete. These syntheses were carried out by conventional radical polymerization or RAFT using methacrylic monomers. The syntheses were followed by Gel Permeation Chromatography. The polymers were then tested on grout or mortar to determine the performance of concrete: setting time, compressive strength, rheology.

I did a 1-year internship in Vietnam in Long Thanh in Rostaing Tannery. My work was to control the production of leather. For that, I worked with purchasing, production, R & D, marketing departments.  I set-up an analysis laboratory. I tested the leather made so that respects European standards. In addition, I trained and managed a chemical engineer in these tests.

As a member of a youth organization, I have developed interpersonal and teamworking skills and I appreciate teamwork, which I regard as very important.

I am confident that my enthusiasm to learn would enable me to fit into your team. Moreover, the challenge of working abroad would provide me with a most very valuable cultural and linguistic experience.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully

Marie xxxxxxxx