What and which

Here you can find a document with information on the use of 'what' and 'which'.

Which car

Here you can find the documents for the meeting, during which we will be choosing company cars for various employees.

Position of adverbs

Here are the main rules and exceptions on the position of adverbs in sentences:

First rule: if there is only one verb in the sentence, the adverb comes before the verb as in the following example: He usually comes to work on time.
Exception to the first rule: if the only verb in the sentence is 'to be', the adverb comes after the verb as in the following example:  He is usually on time.

Second rule: If there is more than one verb in the sentence, the adverb comes after the first verb as in the following example: He has already arrived at work.
First exception to the second rule: if the first verb in the sentence is an auxiliary verb with 'to', i.e., have to, need to, ought to and used to, the adverb comes before the first verb as in the following example: He usually has to start working by 9:30 AM.
Second exception to the second rule: if the first verb in the sentence is a contracted negation, the adverbs 'probably', 'possibly' and 'certainly' come before the first verb as in the following example: He probably won't come to work on time.

These being the main rules and exceptions, there is more to this topic.  You can find more information on this webpage, which also provides you with some exercises. 

Here is another document with exercises on the same topic.  You can find the key for the exercises here.

Christmas Dinner

Here you can find a document for the meting dedicated to choosing the best option for a Christmas dinner attended by the employees of your DG.

Choosing a travel insurance policy

Here you can find the document for our next session on choosing the best travel insurance policy.  We will be assuming that we work at DG DEVCO, and the policy concerns our staff travelling to third countries in South America.

'Like' vs. 'as'

Here you can find the document and exercises on the use of 'like and 'as' along with the key.

Exercises with audio: meetings

Here are three audio files for the exercises that are hereby made available:

Audio 1 for exercises no. 1 and 2 on the first page

Audio 2 for exercises 3 and 4 on the first page

Audio 3 for the last exercise on the second page

Useful phrases and expressions for meetings

Here are the links for some lists of useful phrases and expressions we have covered so far:

- Agreements, disagreements and interruptions
- Opening and setting the agenda
- Moderating 

Heath: diet, food additives, and lifestyle

Here you can have access to a short piece on a book I am currently reading.  It is called The Story of the Human Body by Daniel Lieberman.  I think we can use this piece to initiate our discussion on well-being, life style and diet.

Here is an Economist article on sweeteners.

Here you can find a Guardian article comprising an interview with the founder of the slow food movement.

Here is a list of key words and expressions that can be used during our next session:

- quick fix
- obesity
- cardiovascular disease
- chronic
- well-being
- to vote with your wallet
- mismatch
- immune system
- detoxify
- scientific evidence
- misguided

- sweet tooth
- white hope 
- ingredient
- retail

- organic
- farmers' market
- allotment
-  foodie
- homogeneity
- unsustainability
- herbal
- artisanal
- economic woe
- downturn
- heavy hand
- dog-eat-dog economy
- to tighten the purse strings
- niche product
- moderation
- put something on a pedestal 
- leftover
- hunk of meat
- food stall   

Oxford comma

Digressing from the main focus of our course, here is a humorous tip on punctuation: