An entertaining article about the frustrations of living with the bureaucracy of Russia.

And all this for a few H&M jumpers.

Wise words from George Orwell (Animal Farm, 1984…).

In my opinion, rule 2 is particularly insightful for learners of English. Avoid “nevertheless”, “nonetheless”, “furthermore”, ”consequently”… Too many of these words in a text are tiring to read, and show little feeling for the language.

Try instead clearer, more neutral (and less pretentious) alternatives such as “however”, “but”, “also”, “as a result”…

Questions for discussion:

What was the problem? Who was MORE wrong? What would you have done? What would you do now if you were one of the women involved? …and if you were the boyfriend?