There are certainly many more varieties of English, American and British English are the two varieties that are taught in most ESL/EFL programs. Generally, it is agreed that no one version is "correct" however, there are certainly preferences in use. The most important rule of thumb is to try to be consistent in your usage. If you decide that you want to use American English spellings then be consistent in your spelling (i.e. The color of the orange is also its flavour - color is American spelling and flavour is British), this is of course not always easy - or possible. The following guide is meant to point out the principal differences between these two varieties of English.

Use of the Present Perfect

In British English the present perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment. For example:
I've lost my key. Can you help me look for it?In American English the following is also possible:I lost my key. Can you help me look for it?
In British English the above would be considered incorrect. However, both forms are generally accepted in standard American English. Other differences involving the use of the present perfect in British English and simple past in American English include already, just and yet.

British English:
I've just had lunch

I've already seen that film

Have you finished your homework yet?

American English:
I just had lunch OR I've just had lunch

I've already seen that film OR I already saw that film.

Have your finished your homework yet? OR Did you finish your homework yet?

Possession
There are two forms to express possession in English. Have or Have got
Do you have a car?Have you got a car?He hasn't got any friends.He doesn't have any friends.She has a beautiful new home.She's got a beautiful new home.
While both forms are correct (and accepted in both British and American English), have got (have you got, he hasn't got, etc.) is generally the preferred form in British English while most speakers of American English employ the have (do you have, he doesn't have etc.)

The Verb Get

The past participle of the verb get is gotten in American English. Example He's gotten much better at playing tennis. British English - He's got much better at playing tennis.

Vocabulary
Probably the major differences between British and American English lies in the choice of vocabulary. Some words mean different things in the two varieties for example:
Mean: (American English - angry, bad humored, British English - not generous, tight fisted)
Rubber: (American English - condom, British English - tool used to erase pencil markings)
There are many more examples (too many for me to list here). If there is a difference in usage, your dictionary will note the different meanings in its definition of the term. Many vocabulary items are also used in one form and not in the other. One of the best examples of this is the terminology used for automobiles.
·American English - hoodBritish English - bonnet
·American English - trunkBritish English - boot
·American English - truckBritish English - lorry
Once again, your dictionary should list whether the term is used in British English or American English.

Prepositions
There are also a few differences in preposition use including the following:
·American English - on the weekendBritish English - at the weekend
·American English - on a teamBritish English - in a team
·American English - please write me soonBritish English - please write to me soon

Past Simple/Past Participles
The following verbs have two acceptable forms of the past simple/past participle in both American and British English, however, the irregular form is generally more common in British English (the first form of the two) and the regular form is more common to American English.

· Burn

Burnt OR burned

· Dream

dreamt OR dreamed

· Lean

leant OR leaned
·

Learn

learnt OR learned

· Smell

smelt OR smelled

· Spell

spelt OR spelled

· Spill

spilt OR spilled

spoilspoilt OR spoiled

Spelling

Here are some general differences between British and American spellings:
Words ending in-or (American)-our (British) color, colour, humor, humour, flavor, flavour etc.

Words ending in -ize (American) -ise (British) recognize, recognise, patronize, patronise etc.

The best way to make sure that you are being consistent in your spelling is to use the spell check on your word processor (if you are using the computer of course) and choose which variety of English you would like. As you can see, there are really very few differences between standard British English and standard American English. However, the largest difference is probably that of the choice of vocabulary and pronunciation.

UsiNg BLogS to eNhanCe StuDenT's cOmpEtEncY's iN acQuiRinG eNgLisH LanGuagE

Blogs is a website that we can post anything that we like.

It can be the things that we love or hate.

We also can posy our experiences through out the blogs.

As for students nowadays mosf of student using blogs as their place to share their knowledge.

Blogs nowadays are very important for students especially to post their ideas, knowledges and so on. They also using english writing skill in their blogs and at the same time they can improve their english.

Lyrics Halo' by Beyonce

Lyrics Halo’- by Beyonce

Remember those walls I built

Well baby they’re tumbling down

And they didn’t even put up a fight

They didn’t even make a sound

I found a way to let you in

But I never really had a doubt

Standing in the light of your halo

I got my angel now

It’s like I’ve been awakened

Every rule I had you breakin’

It’s the risk that I’m takin’

I ain’t never gonna shut you out

Everywhere I’m looking now

I’m surrounded by your embrace

Baby I can see your halo

You know you’re my saving grace

You’re everything I need and more

It’s written all over your face

Baby I can feel your halo

Pray it won’t fade away

I can feel your halo (halo) halo

I can see your halo (halo) halo

I can feel your halo (halo) halo

I can see your halo (halo) halo

Woah…

Hit me like a ray of sun

Burning through my darkest night

You’re the only one that I want

Think I’m addicted to your light

I swore I’d never fall again

But this don’t even feel like falling

Gravity can’t forget

To pull me back to the ground again

Feels like I’ve been awakened

Every rule I had you breakin’

The risk that I’m takin’

I’m never gonna shut you out

Everywhere I’m looking now

I’m surrounded by your embrace

Baby I can see your halo

You know you’re my saving grace

You’re everything I need and more

It’s written all over your face

Baby I can feel your halo

Pray it won’t fade away

I can feel your halo (halo) halo

I can see your halo (halo) halo

I can feel your halo (halo) halo

I can see your halo (halo) halo

I can feel your halo (halo) halo
I can see your halo (halo) halo

I can feel your halo (halo) halo

I can see your halo (halo)

Halooooo ouuuu

Halooooo ouuuu

Halooooo ouuuu

Ouuuuu ouuuuu ouuuuu

Everywhere I’m looking now

I’m surrounded by your embrace

Baby I can see your halo

You know you’re my saving grace

You’re everything I need and more

It’s written all over your face

Baby I can feel your halo

Pray it won’t fade away

I can feel your halo (halo) halo

I can see your halo (halo) halo

I can feel your halo (halo) halo

I can see your halo (halo) halo

I can feel your halo (halo) halo

I can see your halo (halo) halo

I can feel your halo (halo) halo

I can see your halo (halo) halo

My opinion:

Basically, this new guy she's got in her life is an angel and he's everything she could ever ask for. His "halo" is what's making her so happy and she prays that he won’t go away. And when she says "I swore I'd never fall again. but this don't even feel like falling." means she probably had a bad relationship in the past and swore she'd never fall in love again, but he makes her feel so special that she can't help but fall in love with him and it doesn’t feel like it cause he is the best thing that has happened to her.

Alcoholism

Alcoholism Overview

Alcohol problems vary in severity from mild to life threatening and affect the individual, the person's family, and society in numerous adverse ways. Despite all of the focus on drugs such as cocaine, alcohol remains the number one drug problem in the United States. According to community surveys, over 13% of adults in the United States will experience alcohol abuse or dependence (also referred to as alcoholism) at some point in their lives.
Withdrawal, for those physically dependent on alcohol, is much more dangerous than withdrawal from heroin or other narcotic drugs.
Alcohol abuse refers to excessive or problematic use with one or more of the following:
Failure to fulfill major obligations at work, school, or home
Recurrent use in situations where it is hazardous (such as driving a car or operating machinery)
Legal problems
Continued use of alcohol despite having social, family, or interpersonal problems caused by or worsened by drinking
Alcohol dependence refers to a more serious disorder and involves excessive or maladaptive use leading to 3 or more of the following:
Tolerance changes (need for more to achieve desired effect, or achieving the effect with lesser amounts of alcohol)
Withdrawal symptoms following a reduction or cessation of drinking (such as sweating, rapid pulse, tremors, insomnia, nausea, vomiting, hallucinations, agitation, anxiety, or seizures) or using alcohol to avoid withdrawal symptoms (for example, early morning drinking)
Drinking more alcohol or drinking over a longer period of time than intended (loss of control)
Inability to cut down or stop
Spending a great deal of time drinking or recovering from its effects
Giving up important social, occupational, or recreational activities
Continuing to drink despite knowing alcohol use has caused or worsened problems

Alcoholism Causes
The cause of alcoholism is not well established. There is growing evidence for genetic and biologic predispositions for this disease, but this research is controversial. Studies examining adopted children have shown that children of alcoholic biological parents have an increased risk of becoming alcoholics. Relatively recent research has implicated a gene (D2 dopamine receptor gene) that, when inherited in a specific form, might increase a person's chance of developing alcoholism. Twice as many men are alcoholics. And 10-23% of alcohol-consuming individuals are considered alcoholics.
Usually, a variety of factors contribute to the development of a problem with alcohol. Social factors such as the influence of family, peers, and society, and the availability of alcohol, and psychological factors such as elevated levels of stress, inadequate coping mechanisms, and reinforcement of alcohol use from other drinkers can contribute to alcoholism. Also, the factors contributing to initial alcohol use may vary from those maintaining it, once the disease develops.

Alcoholism Symptoms

Alcoholism is a disease. It is often diagnosed more through behaviors and adverse effects on functioning than by specific medical symptoms. Only 2 of the diagnostic criteria are physiological (those are tolerance changes and withdrawal symptoms).
Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are associated with a broad range of medical, psychiatric, social, legal, occupational, economic, and family problems. For example, parental alcoholism underlies many family problems such as divorce, spouse abuse, child abuse and neglect, welfare dependence, and criminal behaviors, according to government sources.
The great majority of alcoholics go unrecognized by physicians and health care professionals. This is largely because of the alcoholic's ability to conceal the amount and frequency of drinking, denial of problems caused by or made worse by drinking, the gradual onset of the disease, and the body's ability to adapt to increasing alcohol amounts.
Family members often deny or minimize alcohol problems and unwittingly contribute to the continuation of alcoholism by well-meaning behaviors such as shielding the alcoholic from adverse consequences of drinking or taking over family or economic responsibilities. Often the drinking behavior is concealed from loved ones and health care providers.
Alcoholics, when confronted, will often deny excess consumption of alcohol. Alcoholism is a diverse disease and is often influenced by the alcoholic's personality as well as by other factors. Therefore, signs and symptoms often vary from person to person. There are, however, certain behaviors and signs that indicate someone may have a problem with alcohol. These behaviors and signs include insomnia, frequent falls, bruises of different ages, blackouts, chronic depression, anxiety, irritability, tardiness or absence at work or school, loss of employment, divorce or separation, financial difficulties, frequent intoxicated appearance or behavior, weight loss, or frequent automobile collisions.
Late signs and symptoms include medical conditions such as pancreatitis, gastritis, cirrhosis, neuropathy, anemia, cerebellar atrophy, alcoholic cardiomyopathy (heart disease), Wernicke's encephalopathy (abnormal brain functioning), Korsakoff's dementia, central pontine myelinolysis (brain degeneration), seizures, confusion, malnutrition, hallucinations, peptic ulcers, and gastrointestinal bleeding.

Compared with children in families without alcoholism, children of alcoholics are at increased risk for alcohol abuse, drug abuse, conduct problems, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders. Alcoholic individuals have a higher risk of psychiatric disorders and suicide. They often experience guilt, shame, and depression, especially when their alcohol use leads to significant losses (for example, job, relationships, status, economic security, or physical health). Many medical problems are caused by or made worse by alcoholism as well as by the alcoholic's poor adherence to medical treatment.

Alcoholism Treatment

Self-Care at Home

Alcoholism is best treated by professionals trained in addiction medicine. Physicians and other health care workers are best suited to manage alcohol withdrawal and the medical disorders associated with alcoholism.
In fact, home therapy without supervision by a trained professional may be life threatening because of complications from alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Usually an alcoholic will experience alcohol withdrawal 6-8 hours after cutting down or stopping alcohol consumption.
Several levels of care are available to treat alcoholism. Medically managed hospital-based detoxification and rehabilation programs are used for more severe cases of dependence that occur with medical and psychiatric complications. Medically monitored detoxification and rehabilitation programs are used for people who are dependent on alcohol and who do not require more closely supervised medical care. The purpose of detoxification is to safely withdraw the alcoholic from alcohol and to help him or her enter a treatment program. The purpose of a rehabilitation program is to help the alcoholic accept the disease, begin to develop skills for sober living, and get enrolled in ongoing treatment and self-help programs. Most detoxification programs last just a few days. Most medically managed or monitored rehabilitation programs last less than 2 weeks.
Many alcoholics benefit from longer-term rehabilitation programs, day treatment programs, or outpatient programs. These programs involve education, therapy, addressing problems contributing to or resulting from the alcoholism, and learning skills to manage the alcoholism over time.
These skills include, but are not limited to, the following:
Learning to identify and manage cravings to drink alcohol
Resisting social pressures to engage in substance use
Changing health care habits and lifestyle (for example, improving diet and sleep hygiene, and avoiding high-risk people, places, and events)
Learning to challenge alcoholic thinking (thoughts such as, I need a drink to fit in, have fun, or deal with stress)
Developing a recovery support system and learning how to reach out for help and support from others (for example, from members of self-help programs)
Learning to deal with emotions (anger, anxiety, boredom, depression) and stressors without reliance on alcohol
Identifying and managing relapse warning signs before alcohol is used
Anticipating the possibility of relapse and addressing high-risk relapse factors

Synopsis of movie The Uninvited

Synopsis The Uninvited movie.

Anna, a beautiful teen girl (Emily Browning) is being released from a mental hospital. A therapist advises Anna to 'finish things that she has started', implying be productive and positive going forward. We learn Anna recently has lost her invalid mother in a fire, causing her breakdown. She returns to her New England. Her father (David Straitharn) introduces his new girlfriend to Anna's distress it is Rachel (Elizabeth Banks), the former at-home-nurse for her sick mother. Her mother had been housed in the family boathouse, and died when it burned down. It has now been restored, distressing Anna. We meet Anna's older sister Alex, and Matt, who makes out with Anna that night. He has something to tell Anna about the fire, but is stopped by Rachel's arrival. Meanwhile Rachel continues to try to befriend the girls, as they all fake their smiles. Anna that night has a vision (we dont see her as asleep) of the grotesque burned corpse of her mother warning her about Rachel, by pointing in her direction, with a bell around the wrist she used to summon help when she was alive. Anna tells her sister the next day about the warning. Her sister says it was not a nightmare, "you looked awake". They plan to snoop around about who Rachel really is or wants. In town Anna has a vision of three ghostly children in a diner (appears to be another vision). She finds Matt, who agrees to tell Anna more about the fire when they are alone that night. Back home, Alex and Anna rummage through Rachel's belongings find different ID cards, call past employers, and google Rachel's name. All of this calls her identity into question. Anna confronts Rachel, implying she is an imposter. Rachel threatens she will just tell her dad she is having mental problems again. The sisters agree more evidence is needed before telling their dad, who announced Rachel is actually his fiancée. That night in her room Matt is about to tell Anna about the fire. Instead he turns into some kind of creature with a broken back, similar to what Anna saw resembling her mother. He says her mother tried to warn him but he didnt listen. We see that it is actually daylight when Anna leaves her room. Offshore police boats dredge up Matt's body. The Sheriff says Matt broke his back in an accident while coming to see Anna, and he knows how she must feel, so he can talk to him about anything. Later Anna shows Alex claw marks on arms as they talk in front of the bathroom mirror, as proof it was not a dream. They talk in the bathroom in many scenes, presumably to avoid Rachel. At Matt's funeral, Anna sees the same ghostly children. They lead her to their graves in the woods. She googles the names on the family plot. Their teen nanny, who fell in love with their father, stabbed them to death some years ago. Anna concludes the teen nanny is Rachel, who now repeats the pattern of murdering their mother to be with their father, and they are to die next. A photo mother who was killed by the nanny shows her pearls, like the ones Rachel wears all the time. Anna confronts Rachel and steals the pearls as her proof of the past murders. Rachel tries to inject Anna from her nursing supplies. Before Anna escapes to town, she sees Alex is injected and sedated on the ground. She goes to the Sheriff with her story about the murdering nanny. He seems to recall the story, and asks her to wait there while he helps Alex. Only he returns with Rachel, who injects her saying "its ok Im a nurse" and she is taken back home. While being put to bed by Rachel, Anna sees Alex sneak up behind Rachel, before Anna passes out. Anna awakens and finds Alex standing outside covered in blood with a knife, and she think that her sister killed Rachel but once her father came back and asked her what she’d done. Anna says it was Alex. Actually Alex died in the fire that night too. It was Anna alone covered in blood, holding the knife, not her sister’s. Several prior scenes now replay, but now show Anna always alone, talking to herself, implying a psychotic hallucination. This was hinted when Anna talks to her sister as they face the bathroom mirror. When people do this, it looks like they are talking to their reflection. Also, no one addressed Alex directly, but the direction is incoherent anyway. Now by flashback we see what happened in the fire. Anna saw her dad having sex with Rachel while her mom was bedridden in the boathouse. She seemed to be carting kerosene from the boathouse to burn the main house down with her dad/Rachel inside. She accidentally spilled kerosene, killing her mom and sister instead. Then she was put in the mental ward. As Anna is being driven away in the squad car, she looks placidly back at her dad. The sheriff mentions the name in Anna's murdering nanny story to her dad. He says it was never Rachel's name, but Rachel did change her name to avoid a stalking ex-boyfriend. Neither mentions anything about a murdering nanny story. Some time later at the mental ward, a contented looking Anna colors and tells her therapist "I did what you said. I finished what I started." We see that Anna's cellmate has the teen nanny's name and carries pearls. This implies the nanny story was also a delusion, since the Sheriff never repeated it when he asked her dad about Rachel's name change.

My opinion regarding this movie shows that the teenage girl had been in mental hospital because murdering her mother accidentally. This movie actually makes us think that Rachel being doing all the incident. All the evidences shows that Rachel was a guilty person in this movie. Alex who died that night was really exist in the movie,talking to Anna and together investigated about Rachel. If you can see no one talked to Alex excepted Anna who being hallucination all time. Anna was put in the mental ward because murdering her mother and sister accidently. This was made Anna became hallucination and think that it wasn’t her doing all that. Anna finished what she had started like her physician told her before she got back to her house.

speech:PM shocked by Ah Long cruelty

PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is shocked and appalled at the level of cruelty loan sharks inflict on defaulters and wants authorities to take action against the culprits.
The Prime Minister said he could not believe how inhumane some Ah Longs could be against those who fail to settle their debts.
“I’m truly shocked with what the media had reported. Authorities must take swift action.“This is a lesson for all Malaysians. I hope they realise the danger and negative implications of borrowing money from loan sharks. The public should never take loans from them,” he told reporters yesterday.
The Prime Minister was commenting on media reports of three men who were rescued by the police after being held captive for two months by loan sharks when they failed to settle their debts.
The victims, aged 25, 34 and 49 years, were abducted from Segambut, Semenyih and Gombak and were held in a shoplot in Seri Kembangan after failing to settle their debts of between RM1,500 and RM4,000 each.
They were found chained by their necks and legs and showed signs of having beaten by their captors.