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

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.

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 

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!