Dearest,                               

Wishing you tons of good fortune and happiness on your birthday.

    Best wishes from my heart,sent your way
   Hoping that much joy, be yours today
  This special prayer for you, I will say
    God bless you on your very special day.

 

Hello everyone!

        As an English Language Learner, if you want your English to sound more natural especially when dealing with native speakers,  using some of  business idioms in the correct way would certainly help.

In this blog, I’d like to concentrate on our two favourite domestic animals, the cat and dog. 

I’ve selected just ten:

1/ Let sleeping dogs lie – do not make trouble if you don’t have to.  

2/ Not enough room to swing a cat – not enough space.

3/ To be dog tired – to be exhausted.

4/ Let the cat out of the bag – to reveal a secret.

5/ Go to the dogs – not as successful as in the past.

6/ To put the cat among the pigeons – to cause trouble.

7/  A dog’s dinner or dog’s breakfast – to make a mess.

8/  To fight like cats and dogs – to argue and fight with someone.

9/ Top dog – the most important person in an organisation .

10/ More than one way to skin a cat – more than one way to do something .

Feel free to share any others that you know and have used!

      A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as when one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.

She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see.”

Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied. 

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. “Which are you?” she asked her daughter.

So think again guys!When adversity knocks on your door,how do you respond ? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

Hello dear friends,

I'd like to introduce many of my friends in my blog ,but dear Tara said we have to choose 3-5 EC members :(

Cold moon is a university student, she is Palestinian . She lives in UAE. Her native language is Arabic and she speaks English good. Lately, I knew that Cold moon is learning French.She is  studious girl ,I'm sure she'll succeed.  She is courteous  and loyal friend ,I'd like to meet her one day :D

+Verve+  is an old member here so, she is my granny LOL .She is from Iran and she lives in Iran. Her native language is Persian .Verve's English is excellent ;she can speak Turkish too. I realized that she is a truly open-minded,I love her character so much....

The Ultimate is from ......????? Well, I checked his profile and I found that " well in the end I was right ^_^ "It's Famous country,isn't it ? -_-  The Ultimate once told  me  that he  is from Algeria and he lives in Algeria.His native language is Arabic,his English is excellent and he speaks French as well. He is enthusiastic and discerning person ;he never has a negative reaction to anything.

Gabriel Sowrian is an admirable teacher on EC,he is from Malaysia .He is Malaysian - people of several different ethnics ,religious,languages ,and traditions.His first language is Tamil,this is the language that they speak among Indians.Malay is his second language,teacher Gabriel speaks English language fluently. He is well versed in all the three languages both written and spoken form Woow!! I like his sense of humor very much ,he is inspiring, knowledgeable, and a trustworthy person. If you have any questions about learning tips,don't hesitate to ask him.
Dear teacher,I thank you from the bottom of my heart :)

1/For Oily Skin: Carrot Face Mask

Your will need

2-3 carrots

4 1/2 table spoons of honey

Cook the carrots and then mash them up. Mix the carrots with honey and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Apply gently to the skin and wait for ten minutes. Rinse off with cool water. Carrots are known to be rich in vitamin A and C. They are also rich in potassium. Vitamin A and C are antioxidants Honey contains sugar, enzymes, minerals, vitamins and amino acids.

• Lemon Mask For 

• Lemon -     ¹/₂ piece

• Oatmeal -  ¹/₂ cup

• Egg White - 1

Make a fine paste with egg white lemon and oatmeal. Apply it on the face. After it get dry wash the face in hot water.

2/For Dry Skin: Honey and Egg Mask

You will need1 tablespoon honey

1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon almond oil

1 tablespoon yogurt

Put all ingredients into a large bowl and stir until it becomes sticky and thick. Apply the mask to your face for 5 minutes and wash face thoroughly with a mild facial soap. Honey stimulates and smoothes, egg and almond oil penetrate and moisturize, and yogurt refines and tightens pores.

Tomato Pulp Mask-Crush some tomatoes, drink up the juice and spread the pulp all over your face.It tightens up your skin, and closes the pores.The tomato juice is for refining your skin from inside.

 3/For Normal Skin: Apple Honey Mask

You will need

1 Apple, cored & quartered

2 Tablespoons Honey

Drop the apple pieces into a food processor and chop. Add honey and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Pat the mixture onto your face with a light tapping motion, tapping until the honey feels tacky. Leave it on for 30 minutes and then rinse.

 "I loved today to  introduce  the Algerian dish called "DOLMA" .It is useful in terms of nutritional value and it contains stuffed vegetables."

-Ingredients:

1-Half a kilo grams of  minced meat.

2-Half a cup of rice.rice.

4-bunch parsley.

5-We get a quantity of potatoes , zucchini , artichokes ,do not forget the egg yolk.

6- Two onions , little of oil and a piece of butter.

The spice :
  

Salt - black pepper - ground cinnamon.

-How to prepare:

We get the pot, put oil and butter and chopped onion we add  spicy, salt, black,

pepper and ground cinnamon.After that, we put the pot on low heat until all 

ingredients are mixed.Then we add to them amount of hot water and cover

the pot and leave it to boil. On the otherhand, we should wash the vegetables  

well then,we mix the minced meat with egg yolk for stuffing vegetables. 

And when we finish stuffing vegetables, we put them in the pot. While the broth 

 are boiling we add a few of beans and let the pot cook on medium heat.

  

  Finally ,we put the vegetables in the plate and little of parsley. 

                       **Good appetite for all EC members**

Hello friends,.......

Criticism is the practice of judging the faults of  someone in an intelligible way.

Winston Churchill once said : "Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary.
It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body.
It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things."

Criticism is crucial for personal improvement. It’s the most direct way to find out what you should improve on. However, accepting criticism can be emotionally challenging. Afterall, we are  only human, who wants to hear bad stuff about ourselves?

It’s hard to not take it personally. Our instinctive reaction is to become defensive and we shut out potentially helpful and life-enhancing tips. By doing this, we miss out on what could supercharge our improvement.

So, how can you take criticism without getting self-conscious and defensive?

One coffee cup does not fit all! Did you know that the type of cup used for your daily brew can have a real impact on its flavor? Why put all the effort into selecting a perfect roast, brewing it to perfection, and then put it in a cup that reduces its flavor?

First off, let’s agree on one thing, the cup will not change the taste of your coffee dramatically. However, it might improve it in certain cases, and it will definitely boost up your drinking experience and the perceived enjoyment from your coffee.

we will look at each coffee drink and consider the cups the fit it best.

Drip coffee

A drip coffee cup does not have many unique requirements other than to keep it hot. But a surprising number of things can go wrong. If the cup isn’t filled to the top, the coffee will cool faster because of the larger cool mass of the mug. So own a variety of sizes of coffee cups and choose one that allows you to fill it to the top. You’ll be surprised at how dramatic a difference it makes to have a coffee cup filled to the brim.

Café latte

Here size matters! This is a large drink and you need a large cup. Same guidelines as in the drip coffee cup apply, only now the main liquid is frothed milk rather than water. The latte should also fill the cup all the way, with the thick milk foam at the top holding it without spilling.

Cappuccino

Enough with the size variations! A cappuccino has a fixed size and you definitely want an upside-down pear-shaped 6-ounce cup. The small cup base diameter allows the espresso, which is poured before the frothed milk, to flow-in on the cup’s slope, so no “evil” bubbles are created in the process. Just like the latte, the cappuccino should fill the cup all the way to the top. It may come with a cup saucer for a nicer presentation.

Espresso

Espresso , as its cappuccino cousin, comes in a fixed size (2-ounce, unless you go for a double) and uses a cone-shaped glass so the coffee is flowing in on its slopped edge and creates no bubbles. The espresso should not fill the cup. It may also come with a saucer for a nicer presentation.

Turkish coffee

Did anyone say tradition? The traditional Turkish coffee goes into a small cup called finjan (1.7oz, although an espresso cup should do the trick too). The most important feature of Turkish cups is by all means the design. Here you are looking for oriental patterns that will make you feel as if you are in a coffeehouse in Istanbul. The coffee should fill the cup and it should definitely come with a matching saucer for a true authentic presentation.

Rain a free car wash for poor people, and one of many manifestations of the purest most divine substance on Earth, water. Without rain, crops would not grow, cultivation of grain without irrigation would simply not be possible, and entire nations would eat each other. 

It is no wonder our minds and personas are wont to assuage themselves in the advent of rain, as it is a most veritable antecedent of both food and sustainability, as well as cleansing and renewal. 

Rain yields a broadband noise excellent for masking noise. Natural rhythms in rain calms and holds the attention better than mechanical or software sources of white noise.