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A city in the hills

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Nuala Nuala | 16:36 UK time, Thursday, 10 June 2010

Hi Jan,
Your blog around Sofia was brilliant. I've never been to Bulgaria but if I ever do get the chance to go there, the first thing I'll do when I get to the capital is find a map, get out my red pen, copy your circular route and know that if I follow it, I'll have a fantastic tour of the city. Thank you!

The churches look imposing, the pizza delicious and the giant egg very impressive. I like doing jigsaws in the winter and I thought the great big egg of happiness would make a great puzzle.

I also thought Vitosha Boulevard looked lovely, with the trees lining the street and the mountains in the distance. It kind of reminded my of my home town - Glasgow. Most people think of it as a post-industrial, old shipbuilding city - which it is - but it's also a bit like Sofia because it's a city nestled in the hills. The hills that you can see in the distance here (behind the spires of Glasgow University) are called the Campsies:

glasgow_hills_450x350.jpg

It looks like there are tramlines on the Boulevard. Do trams still run in Sofia?
We don't have trams anymore in Glasgow but whenever I'm in a city that has them, I always enjoy riding on them. Do you?

Now, turning to the learning English aspects of your blog, I have to say no particular grammar point jumped out at me. But I did notice a rather formal tone creeping into some of your writing again. It might be because written histories of cities or countries are often quire formal and perhaps you've picked up on that and used it in your blogs. But as you know, blogs are quite informal - they're almost like having conversations with people - so whenever possible, I'd encourage you to use informal language whenever you can. I also thought we could have a look at some spelling too.

Formal language
I know we've looked at this aspect of writing already in your blogs but, a bit like our work on articles, I think it's the repetition and revision that will help you take your writing to the next level.

Can you look at the sentences below and try to change them into a more informal style? I've italicised a few words here and there to highlight the areas you should be concentrating on:

1. Its population is about 2 million people.
2. Here were founded the structures, dated the 4th century BC.
3. We begin our tour on the square where Alexander Nevsy Cathedral is situated.
4. It accommodates about 5,000 persons.
5. 14,000 students receive their education annually.

Spelling
I'm sure a few of these spelling errors are actually just typos but I thought I'd include them just in case they weren't. See if you can correct the spellings which I've put in italics:

6. if you ever do get the change to go there
7. bus rout
8. a salutary yogurt bar
9. frozen barriers
10. St Nicholas the miracle make
11. Yang people choose this place to ride their skateboards

Thanks again for your informative and colourful tour round Sofia.

All the best,

Nuala

Vocabulary
imposing - (often used to talk about buildings) to describe something which looks important or causes admiration
spires - tall pointed structures on the tops of buildings
jumped out at me - was noticed by me immediately
creeping into - coming gradually or slowly into
take your writing to the next level - If you take something to the next level, you take something (which is already good) and improve it or make it better
typos - (informal) typing mistakes

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    Hi deat Nuala , Your homecity looks really imposing ! I will surf the net for more photos and thank you for your grammer tips . They are so hlepful . I 'm keen on your posts even I can't put commnet regularly .
    Have a nice sunday and bye !
    Pary from Iran

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