Happy Burns night! Well, almost! On the 25th of January, Scots and lovers of poetry around the world celebrate Robert Burns, our national poet.

Burns is best know as the writer of one of the top 3 most known songs in the English language (Auld Lang Syne), however his talents go much further! He was a man ahead of his time, writing poetry and songs about inequality, the value of money over people, and the environment. And of course, love. Rab (as he is often called in Scotland) liked the ladies, as his poetry reflects.

It's traditional to celebrate him with a Burns Supper, a night where we eat haggis, drink whiskey and read and sing his poetry and songs. We have collected some links for you to plan your perfect Burns night and learn all about him, at the same time as practising your English!

The lovely people at Visit Scotland have prepared some brilliant PDF resources explaining all about the history of Burns, and how to plan the perfect night, from selected poems to recipes.

Please click the appropriate link for your level

Listening practice No Burns supper is complete without haggis! Learn here how to hunt one down ;)

There are lots of ways to access information about Burns and his poetry. The always wonderful Scottish Poetry Library has a great summary of his life and selection of poetry which you can find HERE .

Burns wrote mianly in Scots, not in English, so it can be difficult to understand his poetry, even for Scottish people! However, you can find some translations of poems into English HERE and a useful Burns translator from The National Trust for Scotland HERE.

And to finish, the wonderful Scottish singer Sheena Wellington performing A Man's a Man for a'That at the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1997. This a beautiful song and poem about how we should value the person, not their money, and that all people are equal. You can find the poem in Scots and English below. 

We hope you have a wonderful Burns night! Slàinte! 

A very Merry Christmas from The Edinburgh Experience! We can't believe that we have nearly reached the end of our third year!

As always, we have prepared a special Christmas blog post for you. This year, we couldn't stop laughing at the comedy group 4 Screws Loose's excellent telling of the nativity through pop songs. So, we decided it would be the perfect option for a Christmas listening class!

Just click on the PDF button to download the materials. First of all read through the lyrics and see if you recognise any of them. Then, watch the video and fill in the missing words. You can find the answers on page two. Remember, no cheating, or Santa won't bring you a present! You can find the video below.

It's been a great year for us here after a wonderful summer and a great start to our regular academic courses. If you are looking for excellent teaching at affordable prices in the city centre of Edinburgh, look no further! We are now taking bookings for January 2015.

But for now we will be signing off until the New Year. We wish you, your friends and your family all the best for the holidays and Hogmanay! Remember to have a look at our archives for other great Christmas themed posts, including a Christmas phrasal verb special.

There is only one thing being talked about in Scotland at the moment, and that is the result of the independence referendum on the 18th of September. On the morning of the 19th, we will know if Scotland has chosen to go it alone or remain part of the UK.

Regardless of personal opinion, it is extremely important to understand how we have arrived at this point and discuss the possibilities. So, we have put together a class all about the history before the referendum with lots of great videos and a selection of useful vocabulary.

These resources are also great for teachers to download if you'd like to use them with your class.

As always, our materials are 100% free, we just ask that you share them with your friends!

You can find the downloadable material at the top of the blog, just click for the PDF, and you can find the videos listed below.

Whatever happens on the 19th, the debate so far has been peaceful, respectful, intelligent and eye-opening. Here at The Edinburgh Experience we think that spirit will continue regardless of the result. What do you think the result will be? Leave us a comment!

Looking for English classes? Our academic year has started in Edinburgh, have a look HERE for more information.

VIDEOS
For our ADVANCED class, you can find the 1979 referendum and mine closure videos at this link, along with a great summary of our recent history

Video of Alistair Darling and Alex Salmond

For the INTERMEDIATE level you can find the YES campaign video here

And the video from the NO campaign

Hello and welcome back to The English Blog! We apologise for taking so long to do another post, but we have been very busy updating our website with all of our new fantastic courses this year. We're excited to announce our English courses for teachers of bilingual schools, especially designed to boost your level from B1 to C1, and with a special focus on educational language and skills for this area. We will also be running a complete beginners course this year and CAE preparation, alongside our already fantastic intermediate and advanced courses. Have a look at all of these excellent options HERE. Please remember we offer discounts for groups, students and the unemployed. Get in touch for more information.

This week we have chosen one of our favourite listening resources, TED.com, to do some listening practice with.  We have designed the class to show you how you can use TED for self study and to improve your listening. It's a brilliant resource and we hope you enjoy using it. As always, please download our PDF where you can find all of the instructions and questions. Then, watch the video below. If you have any friends who you think would enjoy our blog please share with them! We have also categorised all of our entries to make it easier to look for topics or language skills, so if you're new to what we do, why not check out our previous posts?

You can also go directly to see the video on TED.com, where you also have access to the transcripts, by clicking HERE 

Until next time!
The Edinburgh Experience Team 

You'll find the answers on page 2 of the PDF. Next, you need to watch the Irn Bru version!

After Nessie there is an homage to the famous painting, The Monarch of the Glen, and then we see the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which you can see in the Harry Potter films. They then fly over the stunning Eilean Donan Castle and finally two of Glasgow's landmarks, The Royal Concert Hall and George Square. Please click on the name of each place in red to read more information.

We're sure that after seeing all these amazing places, your New Years's resolution will be to visit Scotland in 2014, and of course you can perfectly combine your visit with our courses. In 2014 we will also be launching our course exclusively for teachers working in bilingual schools. We'll have more information on this after the holidays.

Please have a look at last year's December blog Christmas special, which has lots of information about our traditions. You can also see the full film of the Snowman HERE. And until next time.....

Here at The Edinburgh Experience, we believe that Edinburgh is the best possible place to come and study English! But just in case you don't believe us, we've prepared a special listening class to prove it!

We're sure that after you see the video and learn about this beautiful city, you'll all be desperate to come and visit! And of course, the best course you can do in Edinburgh to improve your English is with us! More information HERE.

First of all, please download the PDF and do the vocabulary preparation . Then, watch the video below. Next, answer the questions on page 2 of our PDF and watch the video again to check your answers. Finally, on page 3 you can see if you were correct.

Want to find out more about Edinburgh? Go to the wikipedia page for more reading practice.

Remember, our courses are limited in size to ensure our students get the best possible learning experience, so if you're interested get in touch soon to make sure you can reserve your space!