Is "Holland" the Same Place as "the Netherlands"?

 

People often use the terms "Holland" and "the Netherlands" interchangeably, but they don't match up exactly. The official name of the northwestern European land of tulips and windmills is "Koninkrijk der Nederlanden," or Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was founded in 1579 as a union of various provinces and cities who resisted rule by the Spanish. One of these provinces was the province of Holland (now divided into Noord [North] Holland and Zuid [South] Holland), which originated in the 12th century as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire. Even after the provinces of the Netherlands united, Holland was still the dominant region. The cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague are in the Hollands. Thus, a lot of the economic and political dealings outside countries had were with the Hollands, and the name "Holland" continues to be popular with foreigners.

The right job. Worksheet with exercises. Reading. Beginner.

 

Parts of the body. Vocabulary and exercises.

 

Internet Acronyms - what's that and who needs them?

 I'm sure you have already seen some of these funny short abbreviations. When you visit some blogs or forums, or may be chats, you will see these words very often. Especially they are being used in chats, in order to make the conversation flow faster. It's sort of a secret language, which is understandable not for all memebers of the chat. Why? 

Oh, well, many of not native speakers just don't know what are these words, how to "translate" or "decode" them. Today, I want to show you that everything is not so difficult, you just have to start noticing these words and if you don't know the meaning, I inserted a picture in this post, which will help you at the beginning to decode acronyms, which you will see online.

Of course, we don't use acronyms in real life, we use them in text messages. Please, notice, that some people think that it's not very polite to use acronyms in a conversation, because it shows that a person whom you are talking to isn't very important for you, that you don't want to spend time and energy even to write the whole word. And of course, try not to speak with acronyms only, because people will think you are some kind of a spy.  

Enjoy yourself, people around you, your new knowledge and acronyms of course. 

Why do we miss people and how to express it in different words.

 We usually miss people who we love or care about. Do you agree with this? I hope, you do. We miss our friends and our beloved, we sometimes miss ourselves from the past. But as long as we don't always know how to express our love, we also don't know how to tell someone that we miss them. Human's community is very diverse, our lives change constantly and we want to use different words and expressions to show people our affection. 

Some of these phrases may sound very formal, others you have already used, but all of them will help you to express your feelings to other people, tell them how you miss them.

I hope, these nice and kind words will bring some light and joy to your life and to lives of people to whom you will tell them. 

Why do we need and use slang?

What do you know about slang words? Why do we need them? And when do we use them?

Slang words are being used all over the world, especially in native English speaking countries. We can hear slang words in series and movies, although, people, who don't speak English very good, won't understand what they heard. 

People use slang words to make their speech more casual and fast, to connect words. That's why sometimes it's difficult for us to understand native speakers. They speak very fast, connect words without defining each and every word, sometimes they swallow letters and make big words sound very small.

So, please, look at these most common slang words, try to understand why they sound more natural and how they help people to connect words. But notice, slang words are being used in spoken language, don't use it with strangers, during business meeting, etc. Also try not to use them with people who speak very poor English, they won't understand you for sure.