Clear communication and powerful text can have untold amounts of influence and, likewise, poor communication can create problems that weren’t even there.

Here are 5 rules set out by one of the English languages most ingenious writers, George Orwell.

Look him up, he is quite an extraordinary man and if you have any interest in English, you should familiarise yourself with his work sharpish.

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figures of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

This sounds easy, but in practice is incredibly difficult. Phrases such as toe the line, ride roughshod over, stand shoulder to shoulder with, play into the hands of, an axe to grind, Achilles’ heel, swan song, and hotbed come to mind quickly and feel comforting and melodic.

For this exact reason they must be avoided. Common phrases have become so comfortable that they create no emotional response. Take the time to invent fresh, powerful images.

2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.

Long words don’t make you sound intelligent unless used skilfully. In the wrong situation they’ll have the opposite effect, making you sound pretentious and arrogant. They’re also less likely to be understood and more awkward to read.

When Hemingway was criticized by Faulkner for his limited word choice he replied:

Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.

3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree (Ezra Pound). Accordingly, any words that don’t contribute meaning to a passage dilute its power. Less is always better. Always.

4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.

 This one is frequently broken, probably because many people don’t know the difference between active and passive verbs. I didn’t myself until a few months ago. Here is an example that makes it easy to understand:

The man was bitten by the dog. (passive)The dog bit the man. (active).The active is better because it’s shorter and more forceful.

6. Break any of these rules sooner than saying anything outright barbarous.

 This bonus rule is a catch all. Above all, be sure to use common sense. These rules are easy to memorize but difficult to apply. Although I’ve edited this piece a dozen times I’m sure it contains imperfections. But trust me, it’s much better now than it was initially.

The key is effort. Good writing matters, probably more than you think.

I hope you find these rules helpful, and through their application we’re able to understand each other a little bit better. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to read Orwell’s original essay. It contains many helpful examples and is, of course, a pleasure to read.

We have become very used to taking our financial advice from slick money men that have given us ‘rich’ insight whilst secretly squandering our money.

Now, Homer Simpson is not famous for his common sense but his impulsive outbursts actually offer more advice than he realises.

Don’t spend on impulse, too much

Homer: I would like to buy one of your guns please.
Shop keeper: Ok, just fill in this registration form and you will receive your gun in 48 hours.
Homer: Aaahhh, but I’m angry NOW!

Homer is acting on pure impulse here and had his wish been granted, a lot of bad things could have happened. The lesson here: don’t spend purely on impulse. It is crucial that you think through the majority of the financial decisions you make.

Between the ages of around 16-23, you will be enjoying your first steps to freedom and the enjoyment of being increasingly financially independent. If you spend all of your money, there may not be anyone to help you out, so it is always important to think through your bigger decisions and anything that doesn’t get spent, gets saved.

Set a budget, stick to it and manipulate it

Doctor Hibbert: My God, you have been grossly misinformed.

Now don’t take this advice too literally otherwise you will end up sweating gravy. What should be taken is; set a budget and stick to it. You can play fast and loose with a budget but one thing will always remain; spend more than you earn and you won’t be able to buy a thing.

Here comes the maths – The best budgetary advice I can give is:

Work out how much you earn a day – e.g. If you earn £12,000 a year, divide 12,000 by 365 (32.8)

Work out how much you are guaranteed to lose per day – e.g. if you pay out £1200 a year on your car and train tickets say, divide 1200 by 365 (3.2)

You have then worked out your daily spend – you earn £32 per day but you lose £3 of that before you even see it. So, everyday you have £29 to spend on whatever you like.

Now the beauty comes in when it is an ordinary Monday; you only buy breakfast, lunch and a drink, in total costing you £10, therefore saving £19. That £19 can be added to the next day’s budget meaning on Tuesday you can spend £48, Bingo.

It’s a great way of staying in control of your finances and having an easily calculable way of keeping tabs on your spend.

Try saving a certain amount everyday in the week and then indulging yourself on the weekend. Save £10 a day in the week = £50 extra to spend on the weekend.

This is a game that has swept the globe recently and has created an internet storm. The game involves little more than lying down on your front. I don’t know why this is so funny but it really is; I think it’s their faces being so flat but anyways take a look at these gems.

Click the link for the full gambit, courtesy of our friends at The Telegraph.

Science is at its best when it is demonstrated in front of you. Anyone who saw our screaming Jelly Babies experiment at our open day will know the fun you can have experimenting.

 I’m guessing anyone who lives near Bournville College will never have seen a tornado and is unlikely to ever see one. With the mastery of science we can bring tropical weather to shores of Birmingham.

Things You'll Need:

• 2x 2 litre clear plastic soda bottles
• water
• 1 inch metal washer
• Duct tape (or "Tornado Tube Connector")
• Food colouring (optional)
• Glitter (optional)

Step 1

Gather 2 clear plastic 2 liter soda bottles for every tornado you wish to create. Though coloured plastic bottles will work as well, the full tornado effect is much more visible in clear bottles.

Step 2

Remove the labels and thoroughly wash all the bottles. At this time you will also want to remove any plastic rings that remain on the neck of the bottles.

Step 3

Purchase a tornado tube connector at a teacher supply or science store, or, if you wish to spare the expense, you can use duct tape and a 1 inch metal washer to connect the bottles together. The only advantage to using a connector is that the experiment is less likely to develop a leak.

Step 4     

Place one of the bottles on a flat surface and fill it approximately 2/3 full of water. For a more tornado-like effect or just to add some flair, you can add a drop of food colouring to the water and add glitter to simulate dirt and debris.

Step 5

Put the washer over the opening of the bottle. Then turn the second bottle upside down and line it up on top of the washer. If you are using a tornado tube connector, merely twist it onto the top of the first bottle and attach the second bottle to the other side.

Step 6

Have another person hold the bottles steadily in place as you wrap the bottle necks and washers tightly with duct tape. You will need to fasten it tightly enough that the bottles stand straight up together -- they shouldn't be able to separate or tilt in any way. The duct tape should also be secure enough that when you turn the tornado experiment over (the top bottle now on the bottom) there is no water leakage.

Step 7

Place the tube so that the water is in the top bottle and rotate the top in a swift, circular motion. As the water pours through the washer to get to the bottom bottle, it will form a vortex that clearly represents a tornado. This vortex makes it easier for the water to flow quickly into the bottom bottle, by displacing the air that competes for the space.

Collages are the staple artistic diet of college students; they are easy, look good and have unlimited artistic potential.   

Newspaper articles, magazine clip outs and various household objects are great for making attractive, thought provoking work. But my favourite as a former art student was CD covers. CD covers are the easiest to use (they’re all the same size) and they are individual canvases of art in their own right. Just so you know these rules spread across the board for all materials not just CD covers. 

Things You'll Need:

• CD covers
• empty frame, glass is optional
• thick cardboard for insert (if it’s missing)
• white glue (dries clear)
• disposable chopstick for mixing glue
• foam brush
• LIGHTLY dampened white soft cloth
• water-base polycrylic
• brown parcel paper for backing

Step 1

To make a CD cover collage, gather CD covers together. If there are no willing CD cover donors in your home (aka teens), you can buy used CD covers on Ebay. Dive into a bin if you have to. However you get them, they are so varied in design that just a few will make an interesting collage.

Step 2

Remove insert.Take the cardboard insert (and glass, if any) out of your frame. If it's not at least 1/8" thick cut an additional piece of cardboard for backing and glue the two cardboard inserts together. This is the canvas for your CD cover collage.

Step 3

Play with layout. To make a CD cover collage, cut the CD covers first in square shapes, exactly where the folds are. Keep long pieces too if the graphics are pleasing to you. Play with their arrangement on the cardboard until you are satisfied with the look you're getting. You may discover an even more interesting layout as you progress; this is the beauty of this art.

 Step 4

Mix white glue in a bowl for the CD cover collage with some hot water drizzled over the glue through your fingers. Add a little at a time. If unsure, start with a teaspoon of hot water; it must not be watery, but smooth and thin in texture.

Mix with chopstick. With your brush, apply a thin coat of glue on cardboard where you want your first piece to go. 

Step 5

Gently dab excess glue. Continue layering and gluing the CD cover collage. With your VERY lightly dampened cloth, gently dab any air bubbles with each piece. Remove any big glob or streaks of glue on the collage as you go.

Tear a cover's edge for interest, or cut out song lyrics to layer on top. When finished, let dry well.

Public sector courses are some of our most popular courses to attend. Serving the public is something that appeals to a lot of people’s sense of community and generosity. 

The Police Force is a very sought after career and one that takes a range of skills and mental strength. The ’Could you’ campaign was very effective in pointing the mental strength involved in Police work, dealing with some of society’s more difficult characters.

So how do you join? Do you have what it takes? And what do you get out of it? Well, it is a rewarding job where no two days are ever the same; you are constantly challenged and always learning; you contribute hugely to your community; it is well paid and it has an excellent benefits package.

Can you protect the public from violence; provide a reassuring presence in the community, support victims of crime and offer help to those who have witnessed crimes, investigate complex crimes using a mixture of cutting-edge technology and time-proven traditional methods.

The soundtrack of my youth must have been mums and girlfriends saying ‘it’s only a game’, quickly followed by a screaming retort ‘IT’S NEVER JUST A GAME!!!’. So why does sport mean so much to us, and I am loathe admitting it, but it is just a game (uurrgghh! I feel dirty).  

Competitive instinct is a vital part of our genetic make up; basically anyone of our ancestors that lacked it would have found themselves defeated by a rival pretty quick.

With this link it is easy to see why we can be so territorial when it comes to fighting our corner. Obviously competitiveness has very close links to quantities of testosterone, in general, making men much more susceptible to pointless competition and stubborn rigidness.  

Sporting occasions consistently bring in the largest television audiences, peaking with an estimated 2 billion people watching the 2006 World Cup final. Think about that statistic for a moment, that means one in three people in the whole world watched, basically anyone with access to a television watched. The Superbowl and Premier League regularly pull in audiences in excess of 100 of millions. 

 But what has always surprised me is how attached we become to sport teams and individuals with whose success we gain no tangible reward. I’m sure Wimbledon did not pass any of you by, as we all sat gripped to the TV wishing every one of Andy Murray’s shots to destroy his opponent. We support him naturally because he represents Britain and therefore his success reflects well on the country and in turn, ourselves.   

That is not the full story though. I reckon an alien would know when there is a World Cup on and England have won a game. The atmosphere is tangible and the sense of communal spirit and jubilation is completely infectious. How can it mean so much to us; I have cleaned my entire house to get over my nerves prior to England’s quarter final in the 2002 World Cup and have cried salty tears at their impending exit. Sad, I know, but I am not the only one.    

What does sport mean to you? Is it the be all and end all or is it just boys with toys? Is it a vital part of our make up and the more competitive people amongst us are actually the sane ones? Answers on a postcard please.  

To learn more about sport, its science and joys; look at our course leaflet.

About 10-15 years ago though, the government went on a huge university drive and encouraged all and sundry to go to university regardless of whether they had in interest in their selected subject. The benefits for mass university attendance are obvious; students have a huge effect on their surrounding economy, culture and environment. The only draw back is that an average degree doesn’t hold half the kudos it used to and employers are starting to seek experience alongside qualification.  

Any modern jobseeker will tell you of their frustration with age old catch 22; experience. You can’t get a job without but you can’t get it without a job. Apprenticeships get past that.  

The world of apprenticeships holds huge benefits; paid work on the job, periodic study and the chance to learn on the job and from a seasoned professional. British industry has suffered greatly from the lack of skilled tradesman and administrators and, I believe, the reintroduction of wholesale apprenticeships will have a huge effect on the quality of staff and expertise the country will produce.  

Do you agree? Have you benefitted from university rather than working and going to college? Should university be just for scholars, doctors and professionals? Let me know your thoughts, feel free to comment on our Facebook page.  

To see apprenticeships in business administration, have a look at our choices. 

We are very fortunate to have free health care in this country, but with privilege comes responsibility.

It is within our interests to keep healthcare costs down to maximise the NHS’s ability to treat us properly. For example, smoking costs the NHS £1.4 billion pounds a year. So in theory we are all better off quitting smoking, saving our health and saving the NHS money. As we know though, life doesn’t work like that and we often treat privileges as a right.

As observed when the smoking ban came in, insisting on quitting is seen as a violation of civil liberties. It is our decision if we want to put our health at risk and our tax money goes into keeping the NHS and its services, so essentially, its our money to waste.

So what are we to do? Continue to haemorrhage cash out of organisation designed to help us at the price of protecting our civil liberties or is the greater good of the NHS and our health worth sacrificing our freedom of choice for? 

I am staying impartial on this one, but I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

In keeping with the mood of music, take a look at some of these pictures. We all have skeletons in our closet, most of which are photos, but none quite as bad as Eminem’s abominable snap. 

Here are a few examples to whet your appetite.  

http://digg.com/d1vAML