In this Issue

Welcome to the December 2004 issue of MED Magazine, the monthly webzine of the Macmillan English Dictionaries resource site. Last month the webzine turned two years old, and many of our readers contacted us with their best wishes and comments. You can read a selection of these birthday greetings in this issue.

To invite more students and teachers to celebrate with us, MED Magazine is free to access until January 2005. Spread the word to your friends and colleagues!

The countdown to the end of the year has started and this is the time when we reflect on the year gone by. We do this in a unique MED Magazine style by giving you a snapshot of 2004 in twelve new words.

The language interference series continues with a follow-up article on English words borrowed by Polish. You can find out about the differences and similarities between the vocabularies of the two languages, and the lexical 'friends' they share.

We conclude the short series on issues in Business English teaching with an article discussing learner independence. Find out how learning styles and self-reliance affect your day-to-day Business English teaching.

The top tips article this month gives you some more practical tips for teaching presentation skills. As in the previous issues, the article also includes some useful vocabulary activities with teacher's notes.

On the Language Study pages you can read about word formation and how compounds and acronyms are formed to create new words in English.

Are you looking for more information about a specific topic? Would you like to read another article by the same author? Visit the index page to find what you're searching for. On this page, you can view the covers of all the back issues. If you'd like to read what other readers have said about MED Magazine, visit this page.

On behalf of the Macmillan Dictionaries and MED Magazine team, I wish you a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

Kati Sule
Editor