Less is More

One of the best things about my day job is that I often learn as much (if not more) than the students. It's a give and take: they come away with a better grasp of English, and I end up with useless interesting knowledge for pub quizzes and/or impromptu games of Trivial Pursuit.

Take today, for example. In the midst of verifying vocabulary, polishing pronunciation and diagramming diction, I discovered a big difference between American and European measures of automotive fuel consumption.

In the US, we look at miles per gallon. The bigger the better. The focus is on going further.

In Continental Europe, we look at litres per 100km. The smaller the number, the better. It's about consuming less.

Here's a handy calculator if you find yourself on a different continent and want to speak fluently about your car's efficiency.