Minute English

Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award 2025 - the best pictures so far

8/28/2025

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Joy in nature - we all need more of this.

click

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Oh no - Germany's trains no longer run on time!

8/5/2025

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Germany: the land of beer, sausage and trains that run on time.
Actually, make that the land where 56 percent of trains run on time.
More precisely (or imprecisely, depending on how much of a rush you are in), the land where 56 percent of trains arrive within six minutes of the scheduled time — which is the cushion Deutsche Bahn, the national railroad company, allows itself for an “on-time” arrival.

more...

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Are you this tech savvy?

5/23/2025

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Inside the world of extreme-privacy consultants, who, for the right fee, will make you and your personal information very hard to find.

The Atlantic article

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The Alabama landline that keeps ringing

4/24/2025

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This help line was started at Auburn University in 1953 as a resource for students and the general public. It's still answering questions today. What would you ask?

Oxford American article

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Regeneron Science Talent Search recognizes high school students for innovative research

3/12/2025

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Regeneron Science Talent Search recognizes high school students for innovative research, as reported by NPR. Check out NPR for loads of fascinating articles that you can read and listen to at the same time.

NPR read and listen

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A Visit to Dog College from Popular Science Magazine

2/12/2025

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Popular Science Magazine is a great source for a daily dose of English. Here is an article about training dogs for disaster response, disease detection and more. I am sure you will be surprised! Read the article and then browse the magazine's table of contents for articles on science, technology, environment, DIY, gear and more.

PopSci article

PopSci table of contents

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Stunt awards

1/28/2025

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From Vulture: Our first ever award for Best Achievement in Stunts went to actor and martial artist Scott Adkins, a.k.a. The Human Special Effect, and the Best Overall Action Film was awarded to Casey O’Neill, the stunt supervisor of Top Gun: Maverick, and his team.

click

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Humans have used enough groundwater to shift Earth’s tilt

7/10/2023

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Human depletion of groundwater has shifted the global distribution of water so much that the North Pole has drifted by more than four centimeters per year.

If you had to read that sentence twice, don't worry, I did too. Click on the button to read more.

tilt

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A poem: Forgiven, also known as Alexander Beetle, by A.A. Milne

6/10/2023

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Forgiven, also known as Alexander Beetle, is a poem for children with a lovely rhythm by the author A.A. Milne, of Winnie-the-Poo fame. I am sure it will make you smile.

Forgiven by A.A.Milne

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Verbs are where the action is!

6/1/2023

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Engineers and business people need verbs and more verbs to write clearly and succinctly in English. In this witty and pertinent opinion piece, linguist and writer James McWhorter gets it exactly right, and he explains it well: verbs are the backbone of language; they are also fundamental to effective business and technical writing. Let's discuss!

Verbs!

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Millipede hunting with a millipede expert

5/18/2023

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Share this one with your kids.

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Do you know how to behave? Etiquette tips for our time

4/14/2023

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The rules have changed! Check out these 194 rules on how to how to text, tip, ghost, host, and generally exist in polite society today. Let me know if you agree or disagree:)

Etiquette today

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Amateur metal detector hobbyist unearths an early Tudor gold pendant and chain

3/8/2023

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A cafe owner in England uncovered a 500-year-old pendant linked to Henry VIII and his first wife Katherine of Aragon using a metal detector. (This keepsake lasted a lot longer than that marriage.) What a find!

metal detector

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Top podcasts for daily news

2/22/2023

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Looking for a daily news fix on the run? Check out these podcasts.

daily news podcasts

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Minnesota teen has slept in his back yard for nearly 3 years

1/30/2023

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... and it is cold in the winter in Minnesota!

Minnesota, USA

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Pocket's most read articles in 2022

12/20/2022

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Get your daily dose of English here.

52 things Tom Whitwell learned in 2022

12/14/2022

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I especially like this one:
20. If you want a question answered on the Internet, post a wrong answer first.

52 things

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New Yorker: The Beautiful, Brutal World of Bonsai

11/30/2022

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Some years ago I received an exquisite bonzai as a birthday present. I was quite pleased and started talking about it to my friends. Quite quickly I noticed that when referring to their bonsai, everyone used a nostalgic past tense, i.e. "I had a bonsai once..." That was my first clue as to the challenges that awaited me.

Bonsai article

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Recipes to die for?

11/23/2022

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Unbeknownst to me prior to reading about it in the press, there is a "longstanding tradition" of etching recipes on gravestones. As I bake a lot, this is something to think about!

read me

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Amazing trees

11/8/2022

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From Moss and Fog Magazine: There are more than 60,000 species of trees in the world. They range from diminutive to absolutely colossal. Their unique forms and shapes are incredibly varied, and they inspire us, and our love for the planet. Here are a collection of remarkable trees, from marvelous to strange, throughout the world.

Moss and Fog article

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Busload of Books travels to all 50 US states

10/25/2022

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This tale of a family travelling around the US to spread their love of reading inspires me; it also strikes me as being very American.

Busload of books article

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Now for an important question:

9/25/2022

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What's the better way to cut a sandwich? For the answer, click on the link. But warning: I stopped pretty quickly to make myself a grilled cheese sandwich. Yumm.

Triangles or Rectangles?