2000

We are becoming increasingly influenced by what we see, hear or read on the multitude of media available to us. As the Internet expands and media companies grow bigger, richer and more powerful, we must learn to distinguish between the truth and the hype.

Despite its historical wealth and numerous attractions for tourists, the county of Cornwall, at the far end of England's southwestern peninsula, has long been in economic decline. Recently it achieved European Objective 1 status, if it can be called an achievement to be officially recognized as one of the poorest areas in the European Union.

You really have to see a baseball game live to understand it. Television doesn't give you a real idea of what's going on if you haven't seen a game in the flesh before. The ball is hit by the batter and the outfielders run to try to catch it. When the batter is facing the pitcher, the action takes place in a split second. Either the batter misses or doesn't attempt to hit the ball, or there is a sudden burst of activity as he hits the ball and sends it into the field, or even out of the field entirely for a home run!

"Nobody' s perfect" - the last words of the Marilyn Monroe film Some Like it Hot are all too true when we speak a foreign language. Everybody makes mistakes when they talk to foreigners no matter how good their command of the language. Here are a few amusing mistakes made recently by learners of English. We have also included a couple made by native English speakers desperately trying to learn Polish.

Piotr and Monica

Gaelic games are the national indigenous sports of Ireland. Gaelic football and hurling are the most popular sports while camogie, handball and rounders also come under the auspices of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association).

American sports are a world apart from European sports. We take a look at what they're all about, from high-school heroes to stadium spectators.

Worldwide interest in sport is always high during an Olympic year. No one can deny that Europeans and Latin Americans are crazy about football, Scandinavians love winter sports, and people of every nationality follow the successes of their favorite tennis stars, volleyball teams, runners, boxers, ski jumpers, racing drivers, etc. But, as in many other fields, in this respect the United States is in a class by itself.

When the cold winter days are over, you start thinking about holidays in the sun. Numerous places come to mind and you still don' t know where to go. But it' s simple! The answer is: OUT THERE!

I'd like to comment on the article "Congratulations 'Maturzyści'. I am a graduate of NKJO from Tczew (branch office of University of Gdańsk). I fully agree that studying there helped me a lot in improving my English, but what next? Many graduates want to go further and get an M.A. but there are very few universities that offer a two-year course after which one can obtain such a diploma. The Ministry of Education urged universities to set up such three-year studies and you can find them in almost every city in Poland which has a university.

When listening to native speakers they do not seem to say one hundred or one kilometre properly. The 'one' sounds more like an 'er' sound. Can you please explain to me why this is and if I should try to do it too?
Malgorzata J., Warszawa.