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It’s raining cats and dogs is an idiom I have never used other than to express, by way of example, how idioms can often serve as dead metaphors. In other words, the language has stopped working as it should.

If you're planning an English Language course in Cornwall for 2025, it's likely that dedicating time to practising your English is a priority. It might be that you’re interested in walking the South West Coast Path too, or just spending time in our landscapes, but improving your English is often the main reason for visiting.

This week there has been a drop in temperatures: cool winds from the north are blowing across the north coast of Cornwall. It feels like Autumn is already here. This cool air has come as a surprise. We have not had a particularly warm summer, typically we experience low 20s from April to October, but this year’s weather has been more changeable. These recent cooler temperatures are still a surprise.

It can be quite unnerving to use English in ways that don’t seem appropriate at all. When we say something is stunning – we mean that it is visually attractive; it’s a synonym for beautiful.

Over the last 5 years, there have been 30 sightings of Humpback Whales off our Cornish coast, with at least one recorded incident of spectacular breaching (leaping from the water). There are often sightings of Fin Whales too.

For those of you who have already learned English with us, you might have remembered my interest (and obsession) with Philip Larkin. If you remember, then it’s likely that we studied his poem ‘The Trees’. With each coming spring the poem is on my mind.

Weather in Cornwall is not as unpredictable as you’d think: we get all the weather, but seldom snow. This week, however, on the last day of November, snow returned. For us it was a complete surprise. Imagine the entire Cornish population staring at up at the clouds in awe, and you’ll get a little closer to our collective amazement.

The first of many daffodils in St Agnes makes its appearance in late January. It is the first colour after the subdued winter, when hedgerows are green and brown, but for the occasional Red Campion that peeks out from the murk.

In a world of giant corporations and the pervasive influence of technology on our lives, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to escape the gravity of mainstream macro culture. According to the zeitgeist of 21st century capitalism, progress is synonymous with expansion; always more, always bigger.