DOGONews - News for children

Do you want your children to keep informed and know what is going on in the World? Are you afraid if they go to a newspaper website and they see news that might not be suitable for their age?

No problem; DOGONews is the digital newspaper for children therefore all the news that is published is in accordance with their age. DOGONews is a Web page with a very attractive and intuitive design so it makes browsing easier for the kids. Moreover, the content of the website is in English so the kids will be practising the language while reading the news interesting for them.

The news is grouped in different categories: Science, Sports, Social Studies, Did you know, Green, General, Entertainment, International, Amazing, Fun and Video. It is also possible to give your opinion about the news and read the most-liked articles.

Even more, in DOGONews you’ll also find a section (Sites) with hundreds of links to Web pages with more material in English for children and another section (Earth) that is a 3D animation of the World where you are shown different news and events as well as the location in the world where the news has taken place. It’s truly amazing and worth seeing.

Link | DOGONews

Comicsworld - Comic Books

If you like comics, the website that we introduce to you today will surely delight you. The name of this Web page (in blog format) is very descriptive: “Comicsworld”; it’s just that, the World of the Comics.

With more than 35,000 books and series there is no doubt that we’re talking about an impressive collection.

The books and the series are sorted alphabetically and you’ll find anything that you can imagine and more: 300, Action Comics, Asterix, Barbie, The Beast, Captain Universe, Casanova, Dear or Alive, Terminator, Devil may cry, Doom, Elektra, Hellboy, Heroes, Hitman, Marvel Comics, Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Spiderman, Star Wars, Tomb Raider, Transformers, Venom and a very long etcetera.

If you want to read really good quality comics in English that you can download to your computer then this is without doubt an ideal Web page.

Learn English while you have huge fun, visit Comicsworld

More comics in the following post: Gocomics

IdiotVox - Podcast Directory

Are you interested in podcasts about African music, the environment or wine? Don’t know where to find them? What if you were to look into a podcast directory?

Today we want to introduce you to a podcast directory that offers thousands of podcasts and videocasts, as well as rankings and reviews about them.

In IdiotVox you’ll be able to find podcasts in English about practically any topic that you can imagine. Apart from the ones already mentioned in the introduction of the post, you’ll also find podcasts about agriculture, animals, anime /manga, art, Asia and more than 50 other subjects that are sorted alphabetically.

If you don’t have time to dig into every category, you can visit the lists that contain the best podcasts (by user votes) and then listen to those with better quality content.

The truth is that the amount of categories is impressive and you’ll surely find some podcast that you like and that you’ll be able to listen to several times and by doing this improve your comprehension, as well as your pronunciation in English.

Visit IdiotVox

20+ Mother's Day Quotes in English

Mother’s Day is coming, have you already thought what you are going to say /give to your mother? Why not surprise her with a lovely quote in English?

In the blog to learn English online we have prepared a list containing more than 20 quotes in English so you’ll be able to pick the ones that you like most and congratulate your mother in a different way.

Before introducing the quotes, did you know that Mother’s Day is celebrated in different dates depending on the country or place in the World? Do you know the origins of the Mother’s Day? You’ll find all this data in the following link from the Wikipedia: information in English.

And now, here you are the list with the 24 quotes in English as well as the author of the quote:

A child recognizes his mother by her smile.
- Unknown

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.
- Honore de Balzac

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.
- Tenneva Jordan

Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.
- William Makepeace Thackeray

God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.
- Jewish Proverb

Mother: the most beautiful word on the lips of mankind.
- Kahlil Gibran

No language can express the power and beauty and heroism of a mother's love.
- Edwin H. Chapin

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.
- Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty

Mother's love lasts forever and is priceless.
- Unknown

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs... since the payment is pure love.
- Mildred B. Vermont

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.
- Rajneesh

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.
- Marion C. Garretty

Mother - that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries.
- T. DeWitt Talmage

A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.
- Irish Proverb

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.
- Chinese Proverb

A mother understands what a child does not say
- Unknown

Never marry a man who hates his mother, because he'll end up hating you.
- Jill Bennett

Anyone who doesn't miss the past never had a mother.
- Gregory Nunn

That best academy, a mother's knee.
- James Russell Lowell

Mother is another word for Angel.
- Unknown

A Mother is a rose in the garden of life.
- Unknown

Mothers are not paid for their work because it is priceless.
- Unknown

If I could choose from all the mothers in the world, Mom, Mum, I'd choose you.
- Unknown

I'm glad God chose you to be my mother.
- Unknown

Happy Mother’s Day!

Text in English - Spain headed for Irish-style austerity

The following is a recommended reading text that compares two countries and economies with a similar evolution, it also shows how in Spain can happen the same things that are happening right now in Ireland.

Spain could be sliding towards harsh budget cuts like those forced on another former euro zone high-flyer, Ireland.

Concern about Ireland's deficit and exposure to bank losses pressured its government to slash spending and hike taxes this month to reassure investors of its long-term solvency.

Although Spain has just launched a bank restructuring plan, it has nothing like Ireland's exposure to bank liabilities nor its dependence on housing-related revenues. This relatively favorable position means bond markets are giving Spain more freedom to spend, but therein could lie its greatest risk.

Spain's Socialist government may be given enough fiscal room to double its debt level and build a double-digit deficit, then be unable to correct imbalances as growth fails to rebound.

In such a scenario, rating agencies could turn on Spain and impose the same kind of downgrades that have hit Dublin, which launched what critics dubbed "the budget from hell".

"You can think of Spain as a slow-burn situation. If they don't get the right policies over a number of years, they'll get themselves into quite a mess over public finances," said BNP economist Dominic Bryant.

Spain is the only one of the world's eight largest economies that will suffer two consecutive years of contraction in 2009 and 2010 after the collapse of its domestic housing boom coincided with the global crisis, according to Fitch Ratings.

Unemployment in Spain is rising faster than in any other developed country and is widely expected to top 20 percent, or 4.5 million, in 2010.

On the eve of the global crisis, Spain and Ireland seemed in good fiscal shape with balanced budgets and low public debt after running the euro zone's two biggest ever property booms.

In the space of 18 months, the Spanish and Irish governments have had to take responsibility for the collapse of housing and credit bubbles funded by their private banks.

Spain launched one of Europe's biggest fiscal stimulus packages, paid for by public borrowing, and Ireland could see a massive jump in national debt due to its efforts to cleanse banks of tens of billions of Euros in risky assets. Most analysts say Ireland's government has been forced to punish its economy to save banks, a situation Spain must avoid.

"I am angry and disillusioned at the price we all have to pay for the failures to manage the economy," wrote Jim Power of financial services firm Friends First after Ireland's emergency budget was unveiled.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has made no secret of his aim to keep up discretionary spending and compensate for a collapse in construction, tourism, and car sectors that formerly drove half of Spanish growth.

He fired Economy Minister Pedro Solbes this month after he said Spain had to respect EU deficit limits and appointed his public administration chief to speed up fiscal stimulus equivalent to nearly 5 percent of gross domestic product.

Spain's government accuses Bank of Spain Governor Miguel Angel Ordonez of alarmism for warning the social security system could enter deficit and Spain must launch structural reforms, the need for which the IMF also emphasized on Wednesday.

In the case of Ireland, pressure from the European Commission and markets helped convince Dublin to place a levy on public servants' pensions to improve social security accounts.

"If you look at a country like Spain it just shows how politically difficult it is to push through these kinds of decisions," said Rossa White at Dublin-based brokerage Davy.

Interesting Vocabulary:

Harsh - severe
Slash - To reduce or curtail drastically
Rebound - To recover, as from depression or Disappointment
Eve - The period immediately preceding a certain event
Cleanse - To free from dirt, defilement, or guilt; purge or clean
Unveil - To disclose; reveal
Levy - the imposition and collection of taxes, tariffs, or fines.

© Reuter, this information has been sourced from Business World, a service of Media World Ltd.