Bletchley Park and codebreaking

Husbands, sons and boyfriends are impossible to buy presents for but I had a brainwave when I was thinking of a present for my husband this year. I decided to get him the Bletchley Park Brainteasers book to challenge him in a different way from his daily work! I don't think he appreciated the challenge as it has been sitting on the coffee table since his birthday in April! So, this week, I decided to have a go at the first problem which is the crossword that secretly tested people in 1942. If they could do it in less than 12 minutes, then they received a letter asking them to join the war effort at Bletchley Park and become a Codebreaker.

So far, I have got about 4 clues correct and taken 3 days....I don't think I am a very good codebreaker!

However, playing word games is fun so I have found some interactive sites where you can try your codebreaking skills in English!

1. gamestolearnenglish.com
This game is for Phrasal Verbs which you probably know make up a huge part of the English vocabulary and are tricky things to learn

https://www.gamestolearnenglish.com/phrasal-verbs/

An explanation of Phrasal Verbs in French if you happen to be a French speaker:

https://www.anglaiscours.fr/phrasal-verbs.html​

There are other games on that website too so have a look around.

2. British Council learnenglishteens

A lot of games here need Flash Player but this one worked fine for me without. It was challenging though!

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/study-break/games/wordshake

3. Brain Pages

This is generally code-breaking related but as codes and words are related then it's a good place to challenge the language part of your brain!

http://brainpages.org/code-breaking/

Can you do this puzzle based on one from the Bletchley Park Brainteasers book?

A king of a land far away was planning a day out in the hills. He wanted to bring some guests and after looking through his contacts list chose his father's brother-in-law, his brother's father-in-law, his father-in-law's brother, and his brother-in-law's father. How many people do you think will join him as a guest?

Post your answers in comments!

And finally, have you seen The Imitation Game?

It is about Bletchley Park and Alan Turing played by actor Benedict Cumberbatch. Watch in the Original Version for some beautiful English accents - there is a link to the trailer below.

Summertime Tutoring

Back to blogging...

I've started to tutor some young French students recently who are between 2nd and 3rd year of their Bachelor degree. After the upheaval of the Confinement in France and the change to all online lessons, there is definitely a great opportunity to keep up the online presence with help and links. In tandem with my teaching resources and a pseudo-blog through school, I have decided to dust off this old blog, rename it and get it going again too.

A film to match the weather today

I actually found it hard to write the word 'summertime' in the title as it has been raining for 9,5 hours as I write and is forecast to rain all next week too. The heating is back on and I'm drinking hot drinks rather than cold ones. So much for the summer...!

However, I guess we need the rain because the fact that this area was already close to drought conditions has been in the news recently. So while we wait for warmer days, it's always a good plan to watch an entertaining movie...

There's a trailer for a film called "A Rainy Day in New York" here. The film has not had top reviews so it may be a "washout" - better to check the reviews first. Still, the long trailer, in itself, is useful for English!

Do you know about Shadow Speaking?

You could also try to Shadow speak while you watch the trailer. You listen to a bit of the audio, practise saying it yourself then go back, play it again and speak along with the person on the audio. That way, your skills in listening will improve - try it with this one!

Vocabulary from the trailer

scoop - an exciting news story or a portion of ice-cream

a squeeze - a girlfriend/boyfriend or a tight fit

imbibe- to drink alcohol

copiously - in large quantities

absurd - ridiculous

funny business - idiom for something that is happening but is not normal

lousy - terrible, rubbish, awful