When studying English, it’s best to focus on the big picture. Trying to improve your speaking? Aim for fluency and “standard” pronunciation. Want to get better at writing? Practice vocabulary and grammar.

But this way of learning, though necessary, misses one big thing: all the differences there are in how different people speak English. For example, people from the US and the UK speak very differently. If a British friend invited me to eat lunch at his apartment, he might say: “Come over to mine ‘round 12 pm’.”

But if I invited him over, I might say: “Be at my place a little after 12.” “My place” is more commonly used in the US; “mine” is more frequently used in the UK – both are informal ways of saying “my house” or “my apartment”.

Even people in different parts of the US speak very differently. For example, imagine that you are talking to a group of people and want to address them all at once. What pronoun do you use? “You”, you should reply — that’s the correct pronoun whether you’re addressing one person or a group.

But using “you” to address multiple people feels strange in conversation, so speakers find ways around it. The most common choice around the US is to say “you guys”. But working class natives of my hometown, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, say “yinz”: as in, “yinz wanna go to the bar later to watch the game?” In eastern Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, some people say “youse”: as in, “youse are always hanging out in the street”. In the southern US, people say “y’all”: as in, “don’t forget about us, y’all!”

The point is, there’s a lot more to languages than what’s standard and proper. So take a tour around the US, y’all. Yinz will be glad that youse did it.

If you’ve ever had a dog, you know just how deep a connection you can develop with “man’s best friend”. But a dog has a much shorter life span — about 12 to 15 years long — than humans, which means every dog owner has to go through the heartbreaking moment when their loving pet passes away.

Why not make a clone of that dog then? This is the solution offered by a South Korean company, Sooam Biotech Research Foundation. The company has successfully cloned at least 400 dogs, mostly for US customers, ever since it pioneered the technique in 2005. Now, Sooam Biotech is planning to introduce their business to UK dog owners, offering them dogs that look just like their lost ones.

Meanwhile, another dog is selected to supply an egg. Researchers then replace the DNA in the egg with that from the skin cell and implant the egg into the womb (子宫) of a female dog. The egg grows into a puppy over the following two months. To clone a dog, researchers first need to take a skin cell from a living dog or one that has just died.

The whole process takes less than a day, but it comes at a shockingly high price — around £63,000 (614,000 yuan). But if you can’t afford it now, you can also save the cells in a laboratory and access them at a later date. Just like identical twins of humans, they share the exact same DNA but there will still be small differences between them. “The spots on a Dalmatian clone will be different, for example,” Insung Hwang, head of Sooam Biotech, told The Guardian. However, as magical as cloning might sound, there is no guarantee that the cloned dog will be a perfect replica of the original one.

Dog owners will also have to accept the fact that personality is not “clone-able”. Apart from genes, personality is also determined by upbringing and environment, which are both “random elements [that] cloning technologies simply cannot overcome”, Professor Tom Kirkwood at Newcastle University, UK, told The Telegraph.

Perhaps bringing our dogs back with cloning is not the best way to remember them after all.

Kirkwood, a dog owner himself, pointed out: “An important aspect of our relationship with them is coming to terms with the pain of letting go.”

Alex Wong, a junior at Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra, California, is working hard on his application to a top college. His resume shows off his nearly straight A’s in difficult classes, experience at a summer program at Stanford University, Eagle Scout project and time on the soccer team as well as the school choir. But his steady progress stopped unexpectedly this year. Aiming to open access to college-level Advanced Placement (大学预科) courses, his school began using a computer-based lottery to give out spaces. Alex got shut out of all three of the courses he requested.

The new system caused anger among families whose children failed to get into AP courses, which many consider important to develop advanced skills, improve grade-point averages and allow students to earn college credit, saving them and their families tuition dollars. Students and parents wrote to administrators to complain, circulated a petition (请愿) and launched a Facebook group for trading classes. “I’M DESPERATE! I’LL GIVE YOU FREE FOOD,” one student, Kirk Hum, posted on the 210-member AP Flea Market Facebook group.

AP classes have long been held dear by the most talented and ambitious students. But now they are seen as positive for all students who are willing to push themselves – and schools are increasingly viewing access to them as a basic educational right. But this change has brought challenges.

Miracle Vitangcol, a junior at Downtown Magnets High School with average grades and test scores, is failing her AP US history class. She said she can’t handle the rapid pace and volume of material she needs to remember. But she said she intends to stick it out because the class is teaching her to manage her time, take good notes and work hard. “I’m struggling to adjust,” she said. “But I keep telling myself: ‘It’s OK. You can do it. Just push yourself’.”

Some critics worry that the open-access movement is pushing too many unprepared students into AP classes, as shown by higher exam failure rates over the last decade. They also fear that open enrollment (录取) policies are encouraging teachers to weaken courses and give out high grades to students who don’t deserve them. “While expanding access is generally a good thing, we need to make sure we’re not watering down the experience for the high achievers,” said Michael Petrilli, executive vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington-based educational policy organization.

We all regard receiving presents as a pleasant experience and yet it can be one of the most awkward situations. It is often difficult to look pleased when you receive a gift which is entirely useless or the wrong size.    16     However, you have no right to change an article purchased just because it does not fit or is not to your taste. Worse still, the agreement on the sale is between the person who bought it and the shop.

So you will have to tell your favorite aunt that the T-shirt does not fit. But an exchange is not always that simple because there has to be a good reason for it.     17     For example, if the buyer was told that a switch was voice-operated and later found out it was not, then action could be taken. You would have the right to return it and get the money back.

But if you are returning something, no matter what the reason is, you will be expected to have proof of purchase. If the receipt cannot be found, then it is possible to use another proof of purchase such as a credit card receipt.     18    

Many big stores have a much more tolerant policy towards returns and see it as a gesture of goodwill to exchange goods without question. Stores including Marks & Spencer are well known for their “no argument” policy on returned goods.     19    

So if a shop refuses to exchange the goods or to offer a refund, the seller is likely to be within his legal rights unless there is something wrong with the goods. In that case, the boot is on the other foot. You have every right to demand a cash refund or a replacement, but only if you have returned it within a “reasonable” time.

    20     Some shops and stores expect things to be returned within a week of purchase, while others may permit a much longer time limit. In any case if you return a thing after what is considered a “reasonable” time, then all you are legally entitled to is the cost of repair.