A or AN before H?!

Use an only if the h is silent: an hour, an heir, an honourable man, an honest woman; 

Use a when you pronounce the h: a hero, a hotel, a historian 

(Writing tip: don’t change a direct quote if the speaker says, for example, “an historic”)

Getting the best out of Email:

addressees 

• check you are only sending emails to those who need to know 
• think twice before using the ’Reply to All‘ option 
• use the ’To‘ field for people you want to act on your email 
• use the ’cc‘ field for those included for information only 

content 

• include the name of the recipient 
• explain the purpose in the first few lines and, if necessary, who you are 
• distinguish between fact and opinion 
• summarise/explain the contents of attachments 
• if replying, include the original email to provide context 
• use hyperlinks to intranet content – see Microsoft Outlook Help facility 

style 

• be aware of the tone of the message 
• use plain English 
• avoid unnecessary length 
• check spelling before sending 
• avoid unfamiliar abbreviations and emoticons 
• use a signature 
• explaining who you are and giving contact details – see Microsoft Office Outlook Help facility on how to create and insert these automatically into emails. 

Fall behind schedule

BEHIND SCHEDULE or FALL BEHIND SCHEDULE is a useful term when talking about delays or lateness, especially in a work context:


The project is behind schedule by three weeks.
Our supplier hasn't delivered the data on time and we are in danger of falling behind schedule.


Meaning: having failed to do something by the scheduled time. Happening or done later than the time that was planned.


The opposite is: ahead of schedule


We finished the project ahead of schedule (We finished earlier than we expected/planned).

Word of the week: LET

LET means allow or permit:

• Please let me in (Allow me to come in)
• They didn't let us board the plane because we were five minutes late. (They didn't permit us to get on the plane.)

LET is also used to make suggestions:

• Let's go! (Andiamo!)
• Let's begin the meeting.

LET is used in many expressions and also forms many phrasal verbs. Below are some common uses:

Let me know (Fammi sapere)
Don't let me down (don't disappoint me)
Don't let on that you know about the party - it's a surprise (rivelare)

DANGER! Beware of google translator!

Why using Google translate can just be embarrassing:

I’ve done it myself... I’ve been in a hurry and needed to write an urgent email in Italian. But I can’t get hold of someone to check it for me before sending it off... so I’ve used Google Translate. And more often than not, have ended up making a complete fool of myself... So, my advice is, DON’T DO IT...

Have a laugh:

join a gym - unire una palestra

it blew me away - mi ha portato via

from time to time - dal tempo di cronometrare

He’s a go-between -e’ un va tra

Make a fool of yourself

MAKE A FOOL OF YOURSELF means to make yourself seem stupid by behaving in a silly or embarrassing way.

For example: Yesterday, I made a complete fool of myself. I had to write an email for work in French. (My French sucks!) I didn't know how to write something, so I used google translate. I sent the email off and thought nothing of it. Later that day, my French colleague called me and was rather amused! Because I'd used google translate, I was completely wrong in my email and it had no sense at all. Instead of saying: "I'll be in touch soon" I said, "I will go in welcome to be in contact" ......  I was so embarrassed.