Your English Test guide

🐶 NATIONAL MAKE A DOG'S DAY! 📅 Thursday, 22 October 2026 They say a dog is man's best friend. But today, it's our turn to return the favour! 🐾 What's it all about? National Make a Dog's Day was launched in 2019 by Japanese car manufacturer Subaru, in partnership with National Day Calendar. The idea is simple: do something special to make a dog happy! Take your dog for an extra walk, give it a favourite treat, or simply spend more time playing together. ❤️ Not every dog has a home Behind the celebration lies a more serious message. Millions of dogs enter animal shelters every year, and some struggle to find new families. Older dogs and those with disabilities are particularly likely to be overlooked. Subaru calls these special animals Underdogs, and the campaign encourages people to consider adopting them. After all, every dog deserves a loving home! 🇬🇧 DOGS AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Dogs have been our companions for thousands of years, so it's hardly surprising that they've found their way into the English language. In fact, English is full of colourful expressions inspired by our four-legged friends.But how many do you actually know? 🎯 THE SEVEN DOG CHALLENGE! We've prepared seven pictures, each representing a well-known English idiom or proverb involving dogs. Can you work out what they mean? 🐕 Study the pictures carefully. 🧠 Think of the English expression. ✅ Choose your answer in our quiz! Can you score 7 out of 7? And remember, you don't have to own a dog to make a dog's day. Supporting your local animal shelter can make a real difference. ❤️ #MakeADogsDay #EnglishIdioms #LearnEnglish

🐶 NATIONAL MAKE A DOG'S DAY! 📅 Thursday, 22 October 2026 They say a dog is man's best friend. But today, it's our turn to return the favour! 🐾 What's it all about? National Make a Dog's Day was launched in 2019 by Japanese car manufacturer Subaru, in partnership with National Day Calendar. The idea is simple: do something special to make a dog happy! Take your dog for an extra walk, give it a favourite treat, or simply spend more time playing together. ❤️ Not every dog has a home Behind the celebration lies a more serious message. Millions of dogs enter animal shelters every year, and some struggle to find new families. Older dogs and those with disabilities are particularly likely to be overlooked. Subaru calls these special animals Underdogs, and the campaign encourages people to consider adopting them. After all, every dog deserves a loving home! 🇬🇧 DOGS AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Dogs have been our companions for thousands of years, so it's hardly surprising that they've found their way into the English language. In fact, English is full of colourful expressions inspired by our four-legged friends. But how many do you actually know? 🎯 THE SEVEN DOG CHALLENGE! We've prepared seven pictures, each representing a well-known English idiom or proverb involving dogs. Can you work out what they mean? 🐕 Study the pictures carefully. 🧠 Think of the English expression. ✅ Choose your answer in our quiz! Can you score 7 out of 7? And remember, you don't have to own a dog to make a dog's day. Supporting your local animal shelter can make a real difference. ❤️ #MakeADogsDay #EnglishIdioms #LearnEnglish

Comprehension Quiz: Answers and Explanations 1. A. A British horse race The text states: “First organised in 1875, it was inspired by England's famous Epsom Derby.” The Kentucky Derby was modelled on an existing English horse race, rather than an American fairground attraction. 2. C. The winning horse receives a garland of roses. The text states: “The winning horse receives a beautiful garland of red roses, giving the event another nickname: the Run for the Roses.” The roses are a traditional symbol of victory in the Kentucky Derby. 3. B. An Irish American showman The text states: “In the 1920s, an Irish American showman named George Valentine Tonner introduced Kentucky Derby games to Blackpool Pleasure Beach.” Tonner helped bring the American racing theme to British seaside entertainment. 4. D. By rolling balls into holes The text states: “Players compete by rolling balls into numbered holes, moving their horses towards the finishing line.” Unlike real horse racing, the funfair game depends on the players' accuracy when rolling balls towards the targets.

🇺🇸 🐎 19 October: National Kentucky Day The Kentucky Derby: From Horse Racing to the Funfair! Have you ever played a game at a funfair where you roll balls into holes to make a little horse race along a track? You might be surprised to learn that this popular attraction shares its name with one of America's most famous sporting events. The Kentucky Derby is held every May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. First organised in 1875, it was inspired by England's famous Epsom Derby. Today, it attracts enormous crowds and millions of television viewers. Known as the most exciting two minutes in sports, the race is famous for its fast horses, colourful hats and a traditional drink called the mint julep. The winning horse receives a beautiful garland of red roses, giving the event another nickname: the Run for the Roses. But how did the Kentucky Derby reach British funfairs? In the 1920s, an Irish American showman named George Valentine Tonner introduced Kentucky Derby games to Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Early versions featured miniature wooden horses racing along electrically powered tracks. Over time, the game developed into the familiar roll-a-ball attraction. Players compete by rolling balls into numbered holes, moving their horses towards the finishing line. The winner usually receives a prize or tickets to exchange for prizes. So, whether you're watching real racehorses in Kentucky or rolling balls at a British seaside funfair, the excitement is the same: everyone wants to win! 🧠 COMPREHENSION QUIZ See the spoiler below for the correct answers and explanations. 1. What inspired the original Kentucky Derby? A. A British horse race B. An American funfair game C. A traditional Kentucky festival D. An Irish sporting competition 2. Why is the Kentucky Derby called the Run for the Roses? A. Spectators traditionally wear roses. B. The race takes place in a rose garden. C. The winning horse receives a garland of roses. D. The race was founded by a rose grower. 3. Who introduced Kentucky Derby games to Blackpool? A. An English jockey B. An Irish American showman C. A Kentucky racehorse owner D. A British fairground manufacturer 4. How do players move their horses in the modern funfair game? A. By pressing electrical switches B. By pulling small levers C. By throwing darts at targets D. By rolling balls into holes #KentuckyDay #KentuckyDerby #IELTSLearnEnglish

🐄 It’s Friday! Time for The Bovine View! 🐮 📰 This week’s UK Guardian newspaper had a headline which said “Stop making sense”, above a report on research into how people hear the sounds of another language. 🔗 Read the Guardian article The published study by researchers at UCL and Tohoku University examined 207 Japanese learners of English. The researchers found that students who were better at noticing small differences in sound were also better at hearing the difference between English vowels such as /æ/ in cat and /ʌ/ in cup . 🔗 Read the published study 🎶 The headline is also a reference to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense, the concert film and album. That explains the David Byrne picture and the record in our cartoon. When we first hear a language we don’t know, we hear sounds before we know the words, translations or grammar. The research suggests that having a good ear for sound may help learners recognize unfamiliar pronunciations. Could it help to watch an English film with subtitles in your own language, but focus on listening to the English? It’s an idea you could try, perhaps with Ororo.TV. The study didn’t test this approach, though. (And we wouldn’t recommend following Joey’s example in Friends, when Phoebe tries to teach him French! 🔗) But that’s by the by. Today, we’re looking at expressions from other languages that have become part of English. We use them without necessarily knowing exactly what each word means in its original language Take déjà vu. In French, it means “already seen”. In English, it describes the feeling that you’ve experienced something before. Maybe a place, a sound or even a smell seems familiar. Instead of saying, “I feel as if this has happened before,” we can simply say déjà vu. Here are three more examples: 🇫🇷 Je ne sais quoi literally means “I don’t know what”. In English, it describes an indefinable quality: There’s a certain je ne sais quoi about it. 🇪🇸 Hasta luego means “see you later” and can be used as a casual goodbye. 🇩🇪 Auf Wiedersehen means “goodbye”. Many British viewers know it from the television series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Using an expression like this in the right context can add range to your English. It can work in speaking and, depending on the subject and style, in writing too. An academic essay might not be the place for every expression, but there’s no blanket rule against using one when it fits. 🎯 NOW IT’S QUIZ TIME!

"Fix Me A Waldorf Salad" | Fawlty Towers 🍽️ WHAT'S IN A NAME? A TASTE OF GEOGRAPHY! 🌍 🇬🇧 Today, 13 October, Americans celebrate National Yorkshire Pudding Day! For anyone expecting a sweet dessert, Yorkshire pudding might come as a surprise. It's actually a traditional British savoury dish made from batter, usually served with roast beef and gravy. But there's another interesting ingredient in its name: Yorkshire, a historic county in northern England. And Yorkshire pudding isn't the only famous dish with a place hidden in its name. 🥗 Take Waldorf salad, created at New York's Waldorf Hotel in the 1890s. It also features in the accompanying clip from Fawlty Towers, the classic 1970s British sitcom about an eccentric hotel owner and his unfortunate guests. 📺 Watch the full episode, “Waldorf Salad” (Series 2, Episode 3), on ORORO.TV, a website I've recommended for years. It's an excellent way to enjoy classic and modern TV series and films while improving your English, with subtitles in English and other languages. 📚 WORD OF THE DAY: TOPONYM /ˈtɒp.ə.nɪm/ So, what do Yorkshire pudding and Waldorf salad have in common? Both have names connected to particular places. And there's a linguistic term for geographical names. A toponym is the name of a geographical place, such as a town, city, region or country. When a food takes its name from a place, we can describe its name as toponymic. But here's an interesting twist: a food's geographical name doesn't always tell us where it was actually invented! 🌍 QUIZ TIME! How much do you know about the places behind famous food names? 👇 Seven questions coming up in our Telegram polls! Let's test your culinary geography! 😋 #LearnEnglish #EnglishVocabulary #FoodAndCulture

⛪ CHURCH ENGLISH: QUIZ ANSWERS EXPLAINED Did you know the words, or did you guess correctly? Here are all ten answers, with their meanings and simple English equivalents! 1. VERGER ✅ REAL A person who assists with church services and helps look after the building. 💬 Simple English: Church assistant. 2. SACRISTAN ✅ REAL A person who looks after sacred objects and prepares the church for services. 💬 Simple English: Church caretaker. 3. CLERGISTER ❌ FAKE An invented word. The genuine word clergyman refers to a member of the clergy. 💬 Simple English: Religious minister. 4. SEXTON ✅ REAL A person who maintains a church and its grounds, sometimes including the graveyard. 💬 Simple English: Caretaker. 5. PULPETEER ❌ FAKE An invented word based on pulpit, the structure from which sermons are delivered. 💬 Simple English: Preacher (the genuine word for someone giving a sermon). 6. NARTHEX ✅ REAL An entrance area or vestibule in some churches. 💬 Simple English: Entrance hall. 7. THURIBLE ✅ REAL A metal container used for burning incense during religious ceremonies. 💬 Simple English: Incense burner. 8. PEWLING ❌ FAKE Not an established church word. A pew is a long seat used during church services. 💬 Simple English: Bench (for pew). 9. CIBORIUM ✅ REAL A covered container for communion bread. Also a canopy over an altar. 💬 Simple English: Covered container / canopy. 10. CHURWARDEN ❌ FAKE An incorrect spelling of churchwarden, a person who helps manage and maintain a church. 💬 Simple English: Church administrator. 💡 Remember: Specialised words often have simpler everyday equivalents, but their meanings aren't always identical. 🤖 WANT TO LEARN MORE? ASK MRS T! There's a whole world of Church English to discover, from architecture and religious ceremonies to the people who work in churches. If you'd like to explore this fascinating area of vocabulary further, ask Mrs T, your AI English teacher! 💬 Try asking her: "Teach me some more useful English vocabulary connected with churches and explain what the words mean." 👉 https://t.me/MrsT_IELTS_bot #ChurchEnglish #LearnEnglish #EnglishVocabulary #DuolingoEnglishTest