"Long time no see". Well, Italkians - of new and old. How are you? For those of you who don't know me, I used to be a tutor on this site a long time ago, and I helped a lot of people (no, I won't check your exam papers for you). A lot has changed, so much so that I don't know where to begin with this update. I don't really teach English any more, my website/business didn't "take off", and I think the problem was the advertising; it's really hard to find the people who are looking for you (much like the rest of life). I had to move back home, to become a full time carer for my mother, who has ongoing mobility problems. This led me to build a "super computer" to play GTA V on, and I adopted a rescue kitten (called Amber). This life can be very lonely, as it's hard to meet people and it's impossible to even go out for a night. But you have to see the positives in all situations, I have a much nicer life than some people. I also started going to a boxing gym, just to get fit and have an outlet for stress. I'm currently renovating/decorating this house, as it's been neglected for a very long time. Every job I try to do, reveals three more serious ones that I didn't know about. But I enjoy the work and each success motivates me to carry on, treating it as though it were a puzzle which can easily be solved in time, with effort: patience. That's about it for now. I feel like I've aged over night, and time is speeding up more than ever. Wherever you are in the world, I hope your life is good, and I hope you're either living your dreams or you are travelling along the path which will take you to them. If you're nowhere near your dreams, I hope you're coping with what you dislike; that's a big part of life. Take care, Craig

Any help, today? Turkey, airport, a friend's being held there A guy I know @AkrobatikMC on Twitter, is being held in airport in Turkey. I don't know why, but they've told him to pay thousands of euros or live in the airport indefinitely. Could anybody contact him via Twitter to help him? He seems very worried and nobody is helping him.

English Conversational Practice. Hi :) italki, used to be a source of students to me; granted I've not shown my face around here for a long time, but aren't people looking for English tutors any more? It's sad, because italki was what got me started on my journey of teaching English (www.english-with-craig.co.uk) I even learnt a new language myself (HTML/CSS) to make a website and advertise for students. Well, although I have regular students - which I truly love - and although I have recently helped someone to "pass" the ielts exam, I find myself struggling for money. Do contact me, should you require a talented and warm, English tutor. It feels like so long ago, the days when Jura would send me emails, Arwa would write fascinating posts, Jeff and friends would wrestle with definitions. Things have changed: some for the better, some for the worse. Even homeboy Damir, has forsaken me. :)

Please sign and SHARE my petition :) Hello everyone, Would you be kind enough to sign and share my petition? I am trying to ask Google to incorporate an English spell check into their browsers, instead of "American English". I think it's important because a lot of people (especially young people) rely on spell checks, and they are learning the American spellings of English words. This drives me crazy because the American language, is absolutely NOT English. Please sign and share my petition to have an English spell check in Google. (Not American English). <3 http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/english-dictionary-in-google Please sign and pass it on. Many thanks. Craig

A bonus for writing well! Hello italki friends, "long time no see". I like to "treat" myself from time to time, and buy myself some chocolate from a shop called: "Hotel Chocolat" (Sounds like "sho-co-laa" it's French hehe). When you have bought your delicious chocolates (which cost a fortune) you can go online and fill out a survey, in the hopes of improving the shop and more alluringly: "win a year's supply of chocolate". The proverbial Willy Wonka golden ticket! So, I filled out the survey and about a month later I have just received a phone call: "Hi is that Craig Mansfield?" "Yes" "Hi Craig, how are you today?" "Champion, thank you" "I'm calling from Hotel Chocolat, and it's in regards to the survey you filled out recently" "Oh, yes?" (I start to get a little bit excited) "Well, I'm happy to tell you that you've won the prize for a 12 month subscription to: "The Tasting Club"; we're going to send you a box of chocolates every month, for one year! " "REALLY!?" (I'm laughing and amazed) "Yes! Really!" (Nicola laughs with me) "Oh wow! That's amazing! Thank you! I don't know what to say!!" "Oh, you're welcome! Well done!" "Oh this is the best thing that's happened to me all year!" So there it is: write English very well, and you can win beautiful chocolates for the entire year. :)

My Vegetable Garden. I’m moving on with my garden, again. I’m getting to know my new tools, cutting down all the weeds, and burning what I can to make room for some order. On one hand it’s intimidating, on the other hand it’s exciting. I think the best advice I read on gardening was: “Don’t try to do it all in one go, you’ll think it’s too much hard work, and give up”. I had thought along those lines before I read that interview (with a Royal Gardener). He also said something else that I’d been thinking, which was: “only grow what you can manage”, meaning don’t try to grow things which are notoriously tough to grow, and become dissuaded when they don’t work. My vegetable garden project should be for at least five years, I think. -------------- moving on: continuing/developing/physically leaving somewhere on one hand, on the other (hand): comparing two sides of a situation give up: stop trying to achieve a specific thing/concede Taken from: http://english-with-craig.co.uk/blog/?p=2710

Wonky These amusing terms have just come into my mind; they all mean something isn’t straight, or isn’t right/ in order. Higgledy piggledy Skew whiff Wonky Not plumb Read more on my full blog. http://english-with-craig.co.uk/blog/?p=2694

Free Online Novels Hi, I just found a site where you can read novels for free online; http://www.wenovel.com There are other sites if you just "google" free novels online. Hope it's useful for you.