Dealing with the damned prepositions: "talk to" or "talk with"

What preposition follows the verb "to talk" when it means to speak, to communicate?
I was pretty convinced that the correct preposition was "to", therefore "talk to "is allowed and "talk with" is frowned upon... Now, I step back after discovering that on BBC they use "talk with"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8583589.stm

From "The Great Gatsby"

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us, but that's no matter-to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning

It's a fragment form the last page of "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the last book that I read in English.

TOEIC

Dears,

In the last week one friend of mine questioned which is the best certification for proving your English proficiency to the companies or employers.
First of all, after tons of researches on English job offer website, I never come across a job offer which absolutely demands TOEFL or IELTS or TOEIC.
I concern that they ask you to master English, if you prove your competencies with a certificate it's even better of course, but it's not strictly needed.
I might say that TOEFL and IELTS are required mainly for university purposes (e.g to enrol at university).
Yet, you have to take into account that after two years the certificate expires.
What hell does it mean that you no longer speak English?
I don't think so.
If you had a work experience with foreign clients you could state in your cv "I'm confident in English because I worked abroad or because I dealt with non Italian speaker partners or customers. A real experience, surrounded in an English environment is a commodity more important than a certification, I guess.
Whether you're really interested in getting one certification, maybe the best one for non native English speaker that wants to give a proof of their English skills is The Test of English for International Communication™ (TOEIC).
Indeed it seems a specific and reliable test to qualify your English competencies in a work setting.
What I wish to ask you is:
1) Do you think that a (long term) work experience in an English speaking work environment is more worthy than a certification such as TOEIC?
2)Have you ever been asked to prove your English proficiency to your company by showing a certification?
3)If I'm compelled to get a certification which I should to choose ? TOEIC?
Thank you in advance for your consideration !
please lurkers answer the question...I really need a feedback

Other English podcasts

I already emphasized how important is to practice English every day.
For instance, you can listen to English podcasts which take a few minutes. As well, I showed you where some of them are available.
Now I want to suggest another resource that might be helpful especially for people who need English for their work.
I can't leave a comment yet about their usability, practicability and quality but in the meanwhile you can try them out for me and report a comment :)
I'll try them as soon as possible.
Bye

Thank you Nadia for her corrections

LOOK LEFT, LOOK RIGHT

In London there is a huge amount of pedestrian signals all around. Before crossing the street, you should notice from which direction the cars come.

In order to help the people distinguishing the correct way to check they write on the street "look left" or "look right" near the crosswalks.



Above all they help the tourists to settle in, I guess.

What I want to point out, here, is the presence of these indications that I've never seen in other cities. Since in my city I don't have this kind of road signs and I was about to be run over several times, I got used to look at both ways... I know I was a fool:)

Another weird thing occurred to me. When I cross the street, generally, I 'm in habit of looking at the driver's head. I have my theory: you don't need to look at the car but just the driver's head and if they seem absent minded or they are looking at some girl :) you shouldn't cross the street, it's unsafe.
When I was in London I looked at the driver's head but given that I'm European I mistakenly looked at the passenger on the left while I should have looked at the one on the right !!!
Result : in the early time I thought that British people didn't care about the pedestrians and I was utterly confused where to look, you know, they are those kind of actions that you take without reflecting, they are spontaneous.

Now in Italy, l always look at both directions, even though I exactly know from which way the cars are supposed to come. Before my departure for London I didn't do it !

Seiko's pen

When I was in London I met some guys and I stroke up a friendship that I hope will be lasting.
I've never spoke about and now I want to write some lines.
My classmates were mostly Asian people, Koreans, Japanese and with them I spent my time during the lessons, just once I went out with Nyungian to visit the Tate Modern.
Among them there was Seiko (Japanese) who is friendly and she laughed at me a lot of times. I always asked her to lend me her blue pen. I thought it was a special Japanese pen because of the Japanese characters signed on it. She, Seiko, said to me it's not Japanese you can buy it everywhere in London but I replied it's not true and I needed her special pen to do my exercise.
She, kindly, lent it to me but recommended to give her pen back. I always gave her the pen.. day to day we fought like cat and dog for this.
The last day Seiko said to me "I want to give you a present, it is my NOT Japanese pen as a sign of your friendship". I happily took it and I've been keeping it jealously .

In the afternoon I usually went out with my Spanish and Brazilian friends and we had a whale of a time. It was wonderful to wander London and mass around with them or simply to drink a pint of beer.
With the Spanish and Brazilian people I got in touch easily and immediately, it was almost normal to spend our free time together, perhaps it was due to the fact we were arrived all us alone or because we are sunny, shiny, share our history and we have the same behavior.
I still thank to God to let me know these people.
It was funny to speak to M. (Spanish friend) who always said to me "quick", "quick" while we were crossing the street or you're not a good photographer at all !! I'm missing these moments...

The last weekend

Sorry guy for the long (really long) pause.
I know I`m not a good blogger at all, since I haven`t updated my blog for weeks, but I have had a great time in London and busy in different activities.
For them interested in my experience, I`ve decided to write several posts when I`m back (next week) or at least I hope to do it.
Now I want to resume my last post and complete it.
Where were we? uhm
I talked about we went to the church.
it`s not a church as we (Catholic people) usually think about. The Mass was hosted in a theater, the atmosphere is almost impossible to describe, there are light effects, one band, some preachers and many many guys.
The Mass lasts about 2 hours but it`s not boring or tiring, on the contrary it`s quite relaxing, warm and lively, just to give you an idea, take a look at the intro of their website, it really summaries the atmosphere in the Church and the message they want to deliver.
It was an awesome experience because I thought that something can happen only in the movies. For some aspects it was extraordinary, at the beginning I felt a pent up emotion that came out with a mounting excitement.
At the end I realized that I really enjoined it.
We`ll see

Piccadilly by night

Sorry guys,

I'm short in time as usual and wiped out to write anything.
In the meanwhile enjoy these pictures that I took while I wandered Piccadilly.

Weekend 2

Dear Guys,

I'm so sorry that I haven't posted for a long time but I was very busy.
In the weekend I did a lot of things, or better, I visited some places. First of all on Friday night we couldn't miss our appointment with one of the club in the lively London.
Obviously I didn't do AM on Saturday morning, but in the afternoon I went (along with other Italian girls) to Camden Town.
Actually, I didn't know this borough, but my friends told me that it's a popular area dotted with lots of stands and it was worth visiting so I took their sound advice and joined them.
As you can see from the pictures below, the market is literally over crowed during the weekend.


I think that the main characteristic of this market is to sell hand crafted objects (clothes, paintings, earrings,...) and the atmosphere, which is a contamination from the hard rock to the Jamaica sounds.

On Sunday I had to go with some classmates to Hampton Court Palace (I made a lot of efforts to persuade my friends to go together to this place.)
Unfortunately, some of my classmates stood Hyun-Jung (from Korea) and me up for a long time that we supposed they didn't want to go to the palace so we decided to wander the area that stretches from the London eye to Tate Modern (it's a museum).

Graffiti under one of the bridge that crosses the Thames.

View of Buckingam palace

During our hike, we came across in a Korean celebration, indeed it wat the korean National day and Hyun-Jung told me about their traditions and culture... an excellent event to know something about a popultation that I don't know at all!

When we arrived to the Tate modern, I made the decision to visit only the floor dedicated to the pop art ( I really like it) and Hyun-Jung, once again, was a good guide that gave me some explanations about the paintings.

outside view of the Tate Modern

In the evening, Fernando and me went to.... church!
Maybe you're wondering " Does Puntino remember the meaning of church?" or "it's a typo, they couldn't go to church" but I'm not taking you for a ride... it's true !
Provided that I want to make this post gripping I'll continue it in the next days...

London kisses

....maybe a lot of people know the famous French kiss (actually I have never tried them... I'm teasing you of course !!) , here in London there are the famous London kisses, what do I mean by that ?
That for an unknown reason when I say hallo to someone I never give him/her a kiss on the cheek as I used to do when I was in Italy, it's quite strange because sometimes I tend to kiss someone but I have to stop this natural gesture.
When I say London kiss, simply, I mean those kisses that I never give when I say hallo.

Go sightseeing by bus 88

You can take in London by the bus 88, it's a dirty cheap way of doing sightseeing because it's one of the bus you can get on with your ticket or your Oyster card.



I took it with my friend Fernando, who was my guide for the trip. The bus offers you the views of Tower bridge, Convert Garden and Trafalgar Square. We started our trip from Plimico, a residential area in zone 1 and got off in Trafalgar square where is located the famous National gallery (you can enter for free).
Obviously we entered the National Gallery and we saw the stunning paintings but we want to go back again with another friend of us that will give us some explanations about the paintings.
Then we enjoyed a nice cappuccino, offered by my skinflint (Fernando).
Some pictures...

Excuse me if they aren't very clear because of the rain drops on the glasses of the bus

One week

I've been here for one week, and the time has been going very quickly.
Yesterday I visited Hyde Park and Harrods mall.
Hyde Park is very nice, a place where you can find the snail's peace. You can see lots of gray squirrels that sometime are close to you, I wish I had brought with me my camera :( to take some pictures of them.
Hyde Park is very large, as you probably know, and we didn't have enough time to wander, but I hope to go back.
To tell the truth, we needed a brief of relief and for this reason we went to Hyde Park.
After we went to the famous Harrods, I was really impressed by the lust.
First of all I didn't expect some kind doormen at the entrance and I didn't know that you can even buy old fossils! it might be a souvenier for some friends of mine :)

On Friday, we ( I mean some Italian friends and me) horsed around Tottenham court road by night. It was funny and my friend Fernando presented me two girls.
Another thing that kept my awareness was that it's not allowed to stay over midnight in some clubs. Why ? I'm looking for an answer ?
We'll see

149 or 1-4-9

English is a language that can drive you crazy, during these first days I`ve come across the pronunciation of the numbers greater than one hundred.
They have two different pronunciations, the well known one hundred and... but the other one is to spell every single number if you mean the number of the bus.
Going to give an example:
if you get on the No. 149, you have to say "I take the number one-four-nine"
but if you have to pay a bill.. you say:"I pay one hundred and...."

With this post I also want to start a new column "Advice of the day", in which I can give you some, maybe noteworthy, advice.
If you are going to live in an English house with carpet inside, you had better bring with you a huge plenty of socks, because it is not allowed to put your slippers or shoes on and your socks get dirty very soon.

PS
How do you say "I catch up the number 30"? thirty or three-oh ? :)

First day at my English school in London

Hi
I'm very sorry if you have missed me :) .
I'm here in London and fortunately it's available a wifi connection so I can keep you posted as it's possible. I wanted to write some notes down before my departure but I ran out of time.
Today I took my English placement at Mayfair school, it was not bad at all and I have to attend an English course in the morning (9-12) from Monday to Friday plus other lessons in the afternoon (I chose a semi intense course).
I haven't had time to horse around London, I saw only Oxford street.
Here I'm guest of a host family, they are very welcoming and friendly.
I'm dead tired.. I go sleeping.

Where are you going?

I looked for my English course and I have found one that I suppose to suit my needs.
Just a question for you.. where do you think I'm going to attend my English course?

London or Dublin

Cheers

Don't buy them !!

You know, I'm striving to get my English better with different kinds of efforts and "little experiments".
I have already told you that I try to use an English dictionary instead of a translator. For this reason I bought some months ago a dictionary and "phrasal verbs" dictionary, both depicted in the picture below. I wanted them to be portable thus I can bring them with me everywhere for this reason they look very small in the picture.




Concern about the School dictionary which is an English dictionary, it has a wide list of vocabulary with a deep explanation despite its small size. Unfortunately it lacks the pronunciation for the words and that would be very useful to me!
Anyway it's my fault because I should have checked this before buying it!
Regarding the phrasal verb is not good at all!!
It misses many phrasal verbs that I manage to find in the school dictionary. Honestly, it is not worth buying, trust me.
Bye

A great surprise

In the afternoon I received a wonderful gift by my American friend Scott, look at the picture below:

They are 7 books (in English of course) that Scott advised me to read and I wanted to do it
!! it's awesome

Thank you, Scott

P.S.
From which to start ? :)

My dilemma: accommodation in a host family

As you know I m' looking for an English course abroad.
I want to spent about one month and half in an English speaking country so I have to crunch the numbers carefully and be care about my choices. You can run out of money quickly in a new country that you don't know yet :)
I would have opted for an accommodation in a host family who provides bed, breakfast and dinner too. It seems a less expensive solution compared to others offered by the schools.
Anyway given my age (I'm 25) I could look like a chubby child who needs someone to take care about him! without knowing that in somewhat I'm forced to chose this solution.
Have you info about students old like me hosted in a host family ?
How was their experience ?

The pronunciation that you like

When I speak in English, ops it's better to say when I barely speak in English I always focus my attention on the "stress" and pronunciation of words (despite this I make some horrible mistakes but this is another story..)
Anyway I've noticed that many words in English has two way of pronouncing, for instance the words "either", "schedule", "tomato" and so on.
For a while I got frustrated from this because I needed to learn the same words but with more pronunciations, it was quite stressing, sometimes I hardly remember the word !!
I made my decision when I come across words that have more than one way of speaking I'll choose the easiest and who cares if it can be a reason for making fuss in my future like George and Ira Gershwin sung in their "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off""!!

To use the translator or the dictionary: that is the question!

When you learn a new language, one of the problems to face is to understand the original meaning of the words.
In early times, when you're still a freshman, you take your translator and find out the meaning of the desired word, but I think it's a solution only for the meanwhile, because as well as the translator are, they can't make in our native language the original meaning of the word and sometimes they can't provide any valid translation.
To sort "this problem" out I have been adopting an easy and efficient solution.
First I look up in the dictionary and if the meaning isn't quite clear, I take a look at the translator too.
The point is you have to learn the meaning of the word and do not translate them.
what do you think about?


Surfing on Internet I found two useful tools: MSN DICTIONARY and WORD REFERENCE.
MSN Dictionary is an online dictionary with a good word search engine, which helps you when you spell the word badly, in addition it also provides the pronunciation of the searched word.

WORD REFERENCE has more features than MSN, indeed it can work as translator for different languages (e.g from Italian to English, French to English and so on), like MSN Dictionary it gives you the pronunciation but it has an unique characteristic: you can suggest an own your definition, which will be discussed in a properly forum.