I used to go on holiday with my parents until the age of 17. We often went to the seaside or the mountains or a lake in the neighbouring countries. It was lots of fun, and I didn't have to think about travelling, money, places to stay, what to eat, everything was arranged. However, then came the time when I wanted more freedom, and I started thinking about going to festivals, camping, visiting a major city with my friends. Fortunately, I was soon able to do that. My friends and I went to Exit, Budapest and the Monte Negro seaside. Nevertheless, I still cherish the memory of holidays spent with my parents as we could never again repeat that afterwards. You're probably at the age when you also start (or have started before) to think about these matters.
Here's a teenagers short argumentative essay on spending the holidays with parents (don't mind the grammar, it was written by a learner of English). It also serves as an example on what you should write in (one of) your next blog post(s). So please write an discursive/argumentative essay on the given topic. Although we have studied about this genre of writing, here's some more help in case you need a reminder on how to do it. The task should be completed by next Thursday, May 30.
Related to this classic there are two tasks you are expected to write.
- My alter ego: if you had an alter ego what would he/she be like? What would that alter ego do? What would his/her life be like? Would your alter ego be the opposite, an improved or an "upgraded" version of you? These are a few things you might consider when you write this post... If you don't wish to post it on your blog you can hand it in to your teacher on paper :-)
- As a second task, there are a few topics to choose from:
You're Dorian Gray's housekeeper. Describe the event when he's found dead in the attic.
You're a journalist. Write an article on the above event in the local newspaper.
You're Dorian Gray. Write a diary entry about your break-up with Sybil Vane and the moment you notice your portrait is changing. OR You can also write about murdering Basil.
Your Basil. Write about the portrait of Dorian Gray and your relationship to him.
The second task should be a post which is based on the novel. All the details you add should be in coherence with the story.
This blog post (or these blog posts) should contain the questions that you have written about the things that represent some kind of a mystery to you. You should include your classmates' answers or guesses, the information or answer you found on the internet (indicate these with a hyperlink), and finally your own comment stating your opinion on what you have found, your surprise, amazement, dissappointment etc.
To sum up:
- questions,
- classmates' thoughts,
- information from various internet sources (including hyperlinks)
- your comment.
Have fun! :-)
"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure" - said Bill Cosby, the famous American comedian. I completely agree with him but what success actually is to an individual is another topic. Success is a concept that has changed with time and it can mean different things to people living in a developed/developing or a remote, isolated part of the world. Success is different for a baby, a teenager, an adult or a retired person.
What does success mean to you? Do you consider good marks at school a success? Is it winning a game, a match, a competition, a debate etc.? Is it when you learn or achieve something you've always wanted? Is it when you persist in what you believe in? Is it solving a problem or a difficult situation? Is it convincing someone of your own point of view? Does the opinion of your family, teachers, friends matter?
The above are some of the questions you might consider when writing your post, but you can freely include anything else you think is related to the idea of success or any kind of media (pics, videos, music) that illustrate your thoughts. Start your post with a quote, you might find some for eg. here. Introduce a few people either famous and well-known or those from your environment that you think are/were successful. Then explain what success is to you and try to give some advice on how to achieve it. Don't forget to use paragraphs, a variety of vocabulary, grammar structures and linking words. The deadline for writing this text is March 3.
To finish off here's a few surprising data about some famous people's failure experience before they became successful.
After you have left your comment on the short video posted in Death penalty or punishment as reform? you can go on to watch this debate Death penalty, luxury prisons and false convictions in which activists, professors, criminal prosecutors, victim advocates, editors exchange thoughts and ideas on the topic. Your task is to write a discursive (for and against) essay titled "The only way to cut crime in our country is to make punishment more severe" and post it in your blog. REMEMBER that skillful writers spend much more time PLANNING their text than writing it. It means that careful planning enhances the quality of writing.
Here are the guidelines (adapted from Writing Help 9) for completing the task:
- PREPARATION: brainstorm ideas for and against hard sentences and softer, more humane punishment, add arguments and reasons to back up the ideas
- PLANNING: make a sketch of your essay, plan the paragraphs:
introduction: the background of the topic, the situation in your area/country and its possible reasons
arguments FOR: attitudes and reasons to support the title of the essay, use facts and examples to support your arguments
arguments AGAINST: attitudes and reasons against the title of the essay, use facts and examples to support your arguments
conclusion: your personal opinion on the topic
- WRITING: Use your plan to write the essay. Choose key vocabulary and linking words (there are many listed in Writing Help 9), find synonyms (for eg. in the Thesaurus), try to use formal grammatical structures and expressions such as passives and impersonal structures It is feared/believed/thought/claimed etc. Remember that this is a formal text the audience of which could be newspaper/magazine readers for eg. So don't use contractions and informal expressions. Your opinion should be stated only in the closing paragraph.
- CHECKING: Read your essay. See if it really expresses what you had in mind. Evaluate your writing according to these questions and make the necessary changes:
How well does your essay flow?
Have you used a variety of linking expressions in all the paragraphs? Can you add more linking words and this way eliminate short sentences?
Check the style of your essay. Can you make some sentences more formal by using passive or impersonal structures?
Check your essay for grammar, vocabulary and spelling mistakes.
Finally read your classmates essays and leave a comment on two of them in which you agree AND disagree with ideas expressed in the text.
The deadline for completing both tasks is 24 February.
It's Valentine's Day today and we're supposed to be celebrating love :-) If you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend it seems natural (and advisable) to send them a love message, but sending messages to best friends and family members is also quite common in the English speaking societies.
You might have different opinions on whether Valentine's Day should be celebrated or not, and how it should be done. Feel free to express your ideas related to this, but I'm sure we can all have a good laugh if search for funny Valentine messages, greeting cards or pictures. Here's a list of funny textual messages. Write your own blog post on (funny) Valentine messages, share your favourite ones and possibly include one of your own as well.
We have introduced blogging into our English lesson in the middle of January, and we have discussed some issues of blogging (for eg. what blogs are, why people blog, its usefulness in language learning etc.) You yourselves have a month of blogging experience now, and I'm really curious about what YOU think of blogging. Please leave a comment here until 17th February the latest. You should think about the following points:
- Blogging is like....
- Blogging for the purpose of practicing English is...
- It is really good in blogging that...
- My problems/difficulties in blogging are...
- My expectations for the following month:
- My plans for the following month:
Do we need capital punishment or not? Is life sentence a fairer, more humane punishment? Here's a short video on how people from different countries think of this issue. Watch it and then leave your comment here stating your yes or no opinion, giving a few reasons to support your choice.
I've just seen the trailer of a brand new French movie which is based on Boris Vian's book, Froth on the Daydream. I have mentioned this book in my blog post on personal higlights of 2012 as one of the things that made the year 2012 remarkable to me. This book was a fantastic literary discovery, and now here it is in the form of a film titled "Mood Indigo" which I can't wait to see. It looks amazing according to the trailer. I'm really curious if it will have a similar effect on me as the book had. I would say it's not an easy task to dramatize any of Vian's books because of their surreal nature. Another thing I'm really happy about related to this is that it stars the cute Audrey Tautou well-known to many of us from the film The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain. I believe she will be perfect as Chloé, the female main character of the book.
Oh, I'm really happy and excited now! :-)
Your next blog task will be to summarise the content of a newspaper article. We have started dealing with society and social issues in module 9 of the textbook, and we have also learnt about reading strategies that you can use when you need to summarise a text. These are:
- read the text to get the general idea
- identify the topic of each paragraph in the form of topic words or key words
- underline the key sentence in each paragraph (often at the beginning), find information that backs it up
- summarise each paragraph in one or two sentences
- write the summary as a coherent text: use your own words to write down the main points and the key information
I've chosen several recent articles from the website of the Guardian. They all deal with different social issues. Choose ONE of them and write a short summary of 100-150 words, which includes the most important ideas expressed in each paragraph and the whole text.
There are numerous lists of 2012 world events on the net, but in my opinion the really interesting stuff is actually personal highlights of the people you know and of those you don't. For eg. I found this one on the website of The Guardian really cool, not only because it's funny. I liked it because of its personal flavour and privacy. It drew my attention to the small but important things in our life, the ones that make a difference, the ones that really matter and make people, events, things memorable to US.
My three-year-old daughter's funny words, such as cizmározni (cipzározni), Józsiska (Jézuska), izmonyom (izmom), taski (taxi), etc. I try to keep a record of all of them, they will be funny to talk about later when she gets older.
Mason of the year: my friend's father who built a small new house in our garden out of the material from the old house that was pulled down. He reused every bit and piece that was in good condition in order keep the "spirit" of the garden and save money naturally. He had so many great ideas that are cheap or even costless to realise. I really admire the way he thinks and feels about buildings, spaces, decoration, nature and harmony.
In Bruges: a fantastic story in the form of a beautiful film that's both funny and sad, comedy and tragedy, real and surreal. It made me laugh my head off and cry like a baby several times during the 107 minutes it lasts. It's full of suspense and tension, and weird turns of events. Here's the trailer.
A literary discovery - Boris Vian: I like reading books that are in some way magical or even absurd, I like tales very much, those modern, contemporary ones mostly. Vian knows how to do it. The first book of his that I read was Froth on the Daydream (Tajtékos napok) which is a strange, surrealistic love story full of wordplays, made-up-words that take you into a familiar yet completely new and special world. The way he uses the language is really funny and it adds up so much to the overall effect of the book, it's simply amazing.
Gardening - The place where I spent a huge amount of my free time was our garden. All those quiet, peaceful mornings with a cup of coffee and plants to take care of... Brings back lovely memories. It also reminds me of how much I look forward to the spring when I'll be able to indulge in this activity again.
There is a huge number of various websites telling you about the most important world events in 2012. I found Google's Zeitgeist 2012 really interesting because it's not only someone' s opinion but the number of clicks and searches according to which the important people/events/etc. are shown. I've chosen some that I found interesting, and here they are in no special oder:
Olympic Games in London - I've just checked the medal section of the official website: Serbia won 4 medals and Hungary 17
Steve Jobs's death - the head of the Apple Inc. passes away, all those lovely gadgets such as iPads, iPods, iPhones are to be thanked to him...
Barack Obama's reelection - the first Afro American president is reelected.
The Socialists and the Radicals make up the new government of Serbia - a change that many people feared and many expected here in Serbia! i just hope it doesn't mean going back to the past completely and irreversibly. we'll see!
The Mayan Calendar and the end of the world on 21st December - what a hoax! what a media upheaval!
Pussy Riot arrest - 3 members of a Russian feminist punk-rock band get arrested because of their song against Putin.... 2 of them got 2 years of imprisonment which is an exaggerated punishment for singing a song imho
