speaking

Another Thursday. Another stint at Prince Charles pub. Our topic of conversation this time was tattoos.

If I cast my mind back a few years, I would remember how my fellow grammar school friends got tattoos surreptitiously done on all just imaginable parts of their body. Unlike them, I didn't get one as the mere thought of the needle used in such a procedure made me feel frozen with fear.

Nevertheless, back then I committed myself that one day I would find out more about tattoos and this day has finally come.

GENERAL INFORMATION ON TATTOOS

A tattoo is a mark made by inserting pigment into the skin as a way of body modification. The word derives reportedly from the Samoan or Tahitian word tatau which means to mark or strike twice.

Tattoos have been around since time immemorial as they go hand in hand with different cultures where they symbolise ranks, rites of passage etc. Nowadays they are seen as expressions of a person's character. Some tattoos are a form of cosmetics called permanent makeup which is used to intensify a person's eyebrows, eyes etc. by using natural colours.

The procedure of getting a tattoo revolves around an electric tattoo machine which inserts ink into your skin via a group of needles.

Although many people get tattooed or even heavily tattooed following the maxime no risk, no fun, I still look at tattooing with a cautious eye because of the health risks attached which can range from the less harmful infections and allergic reactions to diseases like tetanus or hepatitis due to being tattooed with unsterilized equipment.

Despite the fact that most people wear their tattoos forever, some repent their decision very soon and usually try to turn back time via laser removal. Alas, every laser removal is a complex, painful and costly procedure and no removal can prevent permanent scarring.

Taking all the above mentioned into consideration, before you get a tattoo, weigh all the pros and cons carefully, so that you don't end up with a hole in your pocket and a salutary lesson learnt.

Sources:

http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/skin_stuff/safe_tattooing.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattoo

p.s. While talking about something else, someone told me the English equivalent of "Versuchskaninchen" namely guinea pig.

reading-Mother's Day

As tomorrow is Mother's Day in many countries around the world, this post is dedicated to the intricate history of Mother's Day in the USA and Mothering Sunday in the UK.

1. The history of Mother's Day in the USA

It is believed that the earliest celebrations of Mother's Day date back to ancient Greece and the practice of mother worshipping.

A good deal of centuries later, in 1872, the social activist Julia Ward Howe introduced Mother's Day in the USA as a day of peace commemoration after the Civil War was brought to an end.

By 1908 the function of Mother's Day changed thanks to Anna Jarvis who said that this day should be a memorial day for women from all the corners of America and such a view of the role of Mother's Day spread like a fire on to 45 countries in the world, including my home country.

2. The history of Mother's Day in the UK

In the UK Mother's Day is known under the name of Mothering Sunday as a synonym for Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent. (this year it was the 18 March)

Other names given to Mothering Sunday are Simnel Sunday (because of the simnel cake; picture above), Refreshment Sunday or Rose Sunday. On this day centuries ago domestic servants were given a day off to pay a visit to their families. Today the main tradition is "church clapping" when worshippers congregate and build a ring around the church building, holding hands.

3. Contemporary Mother's Day

Alas, contemporary Mother's Day is all about spending money on lavish gifts for your mother. In other words, Mother's Day has been stripped down to yet another lucrative business in our greedy world and its true spirit is all but gone.

In my desperate quest to keep the spirit of Mother's Day alive I wish to thank my mother for her all-embracing love with this post. What's more, thank you for being my unfailingly reliable and most ardent supporter in good and bad times, and for being willing to move heaven and earth just to lend me a helping hand.

Finally mom, let me just say that you are worth your salt as a mother.

My sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_day

http://www.holidays.net/mother/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothering_Sunday

writing

This weeks' writing post revolves around the correct usage of short forms in English.

Everything I will be writing about is adapted from the May issue of Spotlight magazine.

1. Short forms common in writing

Many common abbreviations have Latin or French origins:

AD (Anno Domini)- in the year of our Lord

cf. (confer)- compare with- cf. The New Fowler's

e.g. (exempli gratia) - for example- Try not to eat sweet foods, e.g. chocolate, cakes or ice cream.

etc. (et cetera)- and so on- We'll need drinks for the party: beer, wine, orange juice, etc.

i.e. (id est)- that is- The club is open only to adults, i.e. people over 18.

NB (nota bene)- note well- NB this door is locked from 2 p.m. to 8 a.m.

RSVP (réspondez s'il vous plait)-please reply- Come to our party, from ten till late. RSVP Tanja& Thomas

2. Everyday short forms

aka- also known as- Agatha Christie, aka "The Queen of Crime"

Nimby-not in my back yard- you hope to keep something unpleasant out of your neighbourhood

TGIF- Thank God it's Friday!- used at the end of the week

3. Small ads

If you want to rent accommodation, you might stumble across the following:

n/s prof non-smoking professional
refs reqd references required
320 pounds pcm 320 pounds rent per calendar month

If, on the other hand, you're looking for a partner, knowing this short forms may be very helpful:

GSOH good sense of humour
OHAC own house and car
WLTM would like to meet

4. Your task

Can you comprehend the abbreviations in this advert?

Pretty woman, slim, 40s, SOH, loving, intelligent, WLTM man for mutual appreciation, TLC, adventures and perhaps LTR. Hants, Box 0652.

listening

This week I have been getting a thrill out of watching and listening to my dearest series CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) on this link:
http://www.tv-links.co.uk/index.do/1

1. Why is CSI my best-loved series?
First and foremost, CSI is my favourite series because of its subject matter- the investigations of a team of Las Vegas forensic scientists who risk their life and limb daily trying to unearth the truth behind robberies committed by sly and treacherous thieves or violent deaths executed by cold-blooded killers with a heart of stone.

What attracts me even more about CSI is the renowned style of each episode with its involved plots, odd camera angles, crime reconstructions, and lighting in the manner of avant-garde films. Of course, what makes this series special are also its multifarious main characters who have to carry out a bewildering array of tasks in order to corroborate someone's guilt or innocence. What's more, what seems like light years ago I would have sold my soul for becoming a crime scene investigator myself if I wouldn't dread the thought of examining dead bodies.

2. Criticism of the series and its two spin-offs

Me loving the series is only part of it. The amount of people who critizise it for showing so much violence and sexual content is the other side of the coin. Alas, violence has become the norm today and CSI has pushed the boundaries in that it was the first series showing such themes during prime time.

As much as the series is railed against for the violent pictures shown it is also disparaged by the police and the juridical forces for portraying far-fetched police procedures as well as nurturing the belief in some people that any crime is soluble. The latter belief is also known under the name of the CSI Effect.

This all may be well and good, but we must remember that a television series is fictional and accordingly everything it depicts should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI:_Crime_Scene_Investigation

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/

Some compelling vocab I came across while watching CSI:

entourage- British English-a group of people who travel with an important person
the president and its entourage

graveyard shift-especially American English-a regular period of working time that begins late at night and continues until the early morning, or the people who work during this time

hideous; hideously; hideousness-extremely unpleasant or ugly
hideous crimes

put/press/push the pedal to the medal-American English-to drive a car etc. very fast

reading

This week I read an article in the May issue of Marie Claire about 21st-century relationships where women earn the same or more than their partners or husbands.

Today, 21% of couples in the UK are in a situation similar to the one described above. Gone are the days when men brought home the bacon and women where at home doing all the chores that needed to be dealt with. Nowadays, women and men are on an equal footing in partnerships.

Such a state of affairs isn't, however, all sweetness or light. Because one of five women in the UK today are the main breadwinner, the notion of what a relationship comprises has to change. The relationship of the future should be about co-operation, compromise, and flexibility. The women will need to find a scheme how to give over power in the home, while the men will have to learn to develop pride in helping tu run a successful home.

The way I see it, this 21st-century relationship is a great thing as not so long ago men owned all the income and all the property in a relationship. Today, on the other hand, women and men are leading their relationships as equals. Many men are pleased to have a high-flier girlfriend or wife and women are enamored with men who are all-round partners rather than providers. Still, these 21st-century relationships have a long way to go before they're completely accepted by both the society and the partners themselves. After all, women having heavier wallets than their partners is still uncharted waters.

listening

This week we watched in a lecture the play "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw and so impressed am I by it that I figured out I just have to write something about it here and now.

The play is based on a classical myth which can be found in Ovid's "Metamorphoses". It is about the sculptor Pygmalion who carved a woman out of ivory. Although he is not interested in women, his statute is so real-to-life that he falls head over heals in love with it. The Godess Venus sees his infatuation and finally brings the statue, Galatea, to life and the two marry an have a son.

George B. Shaw's "Pygmalion", on the other hand, talks about the complexity of human relationships in a social world. In a nutshell, the play is about the truculent phonetics professor Henry Higgins who tutors the very Cockney Elizabeth Doolittle, the focal figure in the play, in the fine-tuning of her speech and her manners.
Although Higgins at first sees this tutoring as a fun way of killing time, he realises soon enough that his work has far-reaching implications.

Much more prominent as the play is its Broadway adaption under the title "My Fair Lady" which many of you have probably had the pleasure to see. "My Fair Lady" is a 1956 Broadway musical production based on Shaw's play "Pygmalion" which was dubbed on of the most successful musicals in history.

My opinion:

I hold the film version to be very compelling in the depiction of the difference between social classes and in the portrayal of the sad truth that at the beginning of the 20th century a woman's faith was completely in men's hands.

Sources:
http://www.bartleby.com/138/
(about Shaw's play)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_%28mythology%29
(Pygmalion in mythology)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Fair_Lady
(about the musical "My Fair Lady")

speaking

This Thursday Sabina, Pia and me ventured to the Stammtisch at the Prince Charles pub once again. Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that there would be so many native English speakers there this time around.

There were Rosie, Jim, and another woman and man from England whose names are on the tip of my tongue, but I cannot remember them just now. Anyway, there were also people from America and one guy form Sydney. All in all, it was a very multi-faceted Stammtisch.

Most of the topics we talked about were attention-grabbing and as the night progressed, the conversations were getting more and more animated and everyone was buoyed up by them.

What nonplussed me most was my talk with Jim, an English engineer, about the tuition fee debts he still has to pay off although he finished university some time ago. Although I had had some vague notion about tuition fee debts in the UK before talking to him, I had never thought that the debts are so mammoth. He, for example, still has 4,000 pounds debt left from his loan and in comparison with other people he knows, he finds his situation bearable. While he was talking about it, I was ruminating how I would feel if I would be in his shoes.

I believe that I would be beaten into submission when thinking about how much I still needed to settle. Still, as today you should go to university if you're aiming to be a high-flier, for the British this tuition thing is just a normal problem they cope with as with any other.

Naturally, after our talk, back in my cosy home, I went online and here is what I found about tuition fees in the UK:

http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/paymentbydegrees/tuition_fees.asp
(general information about tuition fees)

writing

In this weeks' class Ms Welland called our attention to the fact that the British favour verbs to nouns when writing.

Never having heard of this detail before, I fancied finding out more about it. Such was my luck that I discovered all I wanted to know through my first reference namely the "Spotlight" magazine.

In his column topic for May "English at work" Ken Taylor, a communication consultant from the UK, advanced his opinion about writing in English saying, amongst other things, that one should use verbs when one writes in English.
First of all, by using verbs, you make your writing more reader-friendly. Secondly, many English noun and verb phrases (especially those ending in -ion) are concealed verbs.

So, if you are planning to write something in the future (we certainly are bound to do it), use, for instance, apply for instead of make an application for, or provide instead of make provision.

reading

This week I read an article in the May issue of Marie Claire which is worrying beyond belief.

It is about the mushrooming of child spas around the USA where children as young as three years go to have a cosmetic treatment.

What appalled me even more than the story itslef, which is shocking enough, is what girls from the spa the journalist visited said about their looks and being popular. One fourteen-years-old said that being popular is the biggest thing and that it solely depends on your looks. Another ten years old girl was lamenting over her body saying that she would like to get surgery and change it entirely.

My immediate thought after reading the text was to ask myself if our world has really transformed into a place where your looks dictate your whole life. Sadly, but true I hold that our world has become such a place, especially after being confronted with this article where young girls think of themselves as sex objects, as pieces of meat which have to be in perfect shape before being consumed.

Small wonder that in this world of ours anorexia is budding as well as depression. The more I mull it over, the less I understand why our society is so focused on the appearance, which is known, after all, to be deceiving.

Maybe because it is easier to change your looks than your inner-self. No, the reason has to be much more complex than that. Nevertheless, whatever the reason for our appearance obsession might be, I sincerely hope that people will come to their senses again and that this situation isn't past redemption. If it happens to be beyond redemption, then we are heading towards self-distruction and our future looks bleak.

speaking

Yesterday the time was right for another outing to the Stammtisch at the "Prince Charles" where you can put your English into practice with native speakers, or people who speak as good as though they were native speakers, still your insatiable curiosity for new cultures and fire vocabulary questions at the British.

Just yesterday I committed to memory that you say a face is numb if a person has had to many Botox injections and cannot move the face muscles anymore.

Moreover, as the evening progressed, a bunch of us was engaged in an intense discussion about food in the UK. Having the preconceived idea that UK food isn't tasty, I was relieved to learn that this is just another lousy stereoytpe. In fact, the British assembled there were singing the praises of their mashed potato pies.

Talking about British food, I came across a brilliant internet page where the British freelance journalist Graham Holliday, who is living in France, reveals the truth behind the notion that British food is bad.

Here is the link:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2007/02/in-defence-of-british-food.html

listening

This Monday evening I was bored to death at home, so I decided to do something good for my listening skills and headed to the Royal English Cinema to watch the film "Notes on a Scandal."

Like numerous times before, the cinema was almost empty, but this made me relish the film even more as there were no people chit-chatting.

In hindsight, I must say that this film with a superlative storyline and three amazing actors (Dame Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and Bill Nighy) who do the story justice is the best I've seen in some time.

"Notes on a Scandal" is premeated with a sensationally tense atmosphere showing the viewers the deeply disturbing faces of the human nature namely the desperate things loneliness and social envy will drive us to do.
The film takes a chilly and dim view on humanity, but such films are the ones which depict the real world and not the chick flicks with a happy ending.

All in all, I would highly recommend this film to anyone who wishes to listen to English how it is spoken on the street and watch a riveting portrayal of the lenghts to which a friendless person in pursuit of happiness would go.

To read the summary of the plot, visit:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465551/plotsummary

writing

This week we received back our homework from Ms Welland and had a look at the most typical mistakes we had made.

Doing this was for me the best exercise in what seems like an eternity because your writing can enormously benefit from it. If you become increasingly aware of your mistakes, you are bound not to make them anymore.

Anyway, I wish to feature here exactly the mistakes Ms Welland pointed out to us, so I also have an online version of them.

1. Commas

Under no circumstance should you use a comma in these sentences:

I have to say that……. Subject+ object

Another thing which I liked………… (defining clause- can I leave the which out?)

What I liked about it was………

One organisation which I liked was………..(One organisation I liked was……..)

I think everybody- subject, verb, object

The most interesting thing I discovered was………..

Due to the fact that...........(defining clause)

2. Tenses

I had never thought about volunteering projects before.

It was fun to see what organizations we’d have if we worked abroad.

Not only did I learn, but I also…… (negative adverbial; inversion)

3. Vocabulary

Possibility: used-slight possibility of rain

Possibility I’ll come

Not used: There are so many possibilities to volunteer. (opportunities, ways, options etc)

Offer: used-The shop has a great offer on men’s jeans this month.

I’ve had a good offer on the car.

A special offer

Not used: There’s a great offer of voluntary jobs. (variety, selection, wide range)

reading

Here is my report on another article which caught my attention in Marie Claire's May edition.

It is about people who had been kidnapped at some stage in their lives and the question if they all had suffered from the infamous Stockholm syndrome.

The Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in abducted people, where the kidnapped people show affection for the person who has abducted them.

The name of the syndrom was coined by the psychologist and criminologist Nils Bejerot after a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1973. Three female and one male employee were held for six days and identified so strongly with their captors that they later raised money to defend them.

Back to the article. It features stories of people who have been kidnapped and then tortured, sexually harassed, and treathened with death. If they are lucky to flee from the nightmare they were in, the first question put forward to them is why they didn't try to escape sooner.

The thing is that the public is only aware of the kidnapping and the reappearance of the kidnapped person. What happens in between the public doesn't know. Victims are usually brainwashed, constantly in fear of being killed and it is only natural that their basic instinct in such a situation is to survive. As they cannot just walk away from their kidnapper, they develop mechanism the public cannot understand.

Another thing all the victims have in common is that their life will never be the same. For the public the kidnapping is just another news story which will soon become water under the bridge, but the victims have to cope with what happened to them. Many of them are accordingly sucked into a vortex of alcohol or drugs abuse.

This article immensely saddened me. I cannot imagine that anyone could know how it is to be kidnapped and survive such an ordeal. It is only normal that the victim is ineradicably changed and has great difficulties in trusting another person ever again.
Sometimes I ask myself if it is not better to die than to survive a kidnapping knowing that what awaits you is a life full of psychic problems.

speaking

Here I am again reporting on my adventures during my weekly visits to the "Prince Charles" pub.

This Thursday only Sabina and I made our way there as the others were incapable of joining us for one reason or the other. What glee they missed.

To be frank, I don't know when I last roared with laughter so much. The person to "blame" is an Italian guy with his rudimentary knowledge of English. This was particularly noticeable when he tried to explain the Italian body language in English. Some of his word creations were so hilarious that the rest of us were in stitches.

All joking aside, I must admit that the example of this Italian guy proved me right in my belief that one has not only to learn a foreign language thoroughly, but also to know about the culture that language is part of. What was very comical to us could have been seen as offensive comments by someone else.

listening

This week I got an unparalleled opportunity to listen to spoken English from the 19th century as in a class I watched "The Importance of Being Earnest", the film version of this outstanding play by Oscar Wilde.

1. About the play

"The Importance of Being Earnest" is either a three or four act play (depending on the edition) by Oscar Wilde on the seriousness of the British society during the late Victorian era.

This play is often also refered to as a comedy of manners. A comedy of manners ridicules the social graces and affectations of a social class. The plot of the comedy, often talking about an illicit affair or some other scandal, is mostly less important than its witty dialogue.

The same is the case with "The Importance of Being Earnest". The storyline is about two men who fall madly in love with two women (after seeing them for the first time) and their wish to marry immediately, which isn't met by much enthusiasm on the part of the girls parents. What really captures you as a viewer is not the plot, but the clever and at times pungent dialogue. Let me give you the best example of it (when the mother of one girl talks to her daughter's potential fiancee):

Lady Bracknell. [Pencil and note-book in hand.] I feel bound to tell you that you are not down on my list of eligible young men, although I have the same list as the dear Duchess of Bolton has. We work together, in fact. However, I am quite ready to enter your name, should your answers be what a really affectionate mother requires. Do you smoke?

Jack. Well, yes, I must admit I smoke.

Lady Bracknell. I am glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind. There are far too many idle men in London as it is. How old are you?

Jack. Twenty-nine.

Lady Bracknell. A very good age to be married at. I have always been of opinion that a man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing. Which do you know?

Jack. [After some hesitation.] I know nothing, Lady Bracknell.

Lady Bracknell. I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square. What is your income?

Jack. Between seven and eight thousand a year.

Lady Bracknell. [Makes a note in her book.] In land, or in investments?

Jack. In investments, chiefly.

Lady Bracknell. That is satisfactory. What between the duties expected of one during one’s lifetime, and the duties exacted from one after one’s death, land has ceased to be either a profit or a pleasure. It gives one position, and prevents one from keeping it up. That’s all that can be said about land.

Jack. I have a country house with some land, of course, attached to it, about fifteen hundred acres, I believe; but I don’t depend on that for my real income. In fact, as far as I can make out, the poachers are the only people who make anything out of it.

Lady Bracknell. A country house! How many bedrooms? Well, that point can be cleared up afterwards. You have a town house, I hope? A girl with a simple, unspoiled nature, like Gwendolen, could hardly be expected to reside in the country.

Jack. Well, I own a house in Belgrave Square, but it is let by the year to Lady Bloxham. Of course, I can get it back whenever I like, at six months’ notice.

Lady Bracknell. Lady Bloxham? I don’t know her.

Jack. Oh, she goes about very little. She is a lady considerably advanced in years.

Lady Bracknell. Ah, nowadays that is no guarantee of respectability of character. What number in Belgrave Square?

Jack. 149.

Lady Bracknell. [Shaking her head.] The unfashionable side. I thought there was something. However, that could easily be altered.

Jack. Do you mean the fashion, or the side?

Lady Bracknell. [Sternly.] Both, if necessary, I presume. What are your polities?

Jack. Well, I am afraid I really have none. I am a Liberal Unionist.

Lady Bracknell. Oh, they count as Tories. They dine with us. Or come in the evening, at any rate. Now to minor matters. Are your parents living?

Jack. I have lost both my parents.

Lady Bracknell. To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness. Who was your father? He was evidently a man of some wealth. Was he born in what the Radical papers call the purple of commerce, or did he rise from the ranks of the aristocracy?

Jack. I am afraid I really don’t know. The fact is, Lady Bracknell, I said I had lost my parents. It would be nearer the truth to say that my parents seem to have lost me... I don’t actually know who I am by birth. I was... well, I was found.

Lady Bracknell. Found!

Jack. The late Mr. Thomas Cardew, an old gentleman of a very charitable and kindly disposition, found me, and gave me the name of Worthing, because he happened to have a first-class ticket for Worthing in his pocket at the time. Worthing is a place in Sussex. It is a seaside resort.

Lady Bracknell. Where did the charitable gentleman who had a first-class ticket for this seaside resort find you?

Jack. [Gravely.] In a hand-bag.

Lady Bracknell. A hand-bag?

Jack. [Very seriously.] Yes, Lady Bracknell. I was in a hand-bag - a somewhat large, black leather hand-bag, with handles to it - an ordinary hand-bag in fact.

Lady Bracknell. In what locality did this Mr. James, or Thomas, Cardew come across this ordinary hand-bag?

Jack. In the cloak-room at Victoria Station. It was given to him in mistake for his own.

Lady Bracknell. The cloak-room at Victoria Station?

Jack. Yes. The Brighton line.

Lady Bracknell. The line is immaterial. Mr. Worthing, I confess I feel somewhat bewildered by what you have just told me. To be born, or at any rate bred, in a hand-bag, whether it had handles or not, seems to me to display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life that reminds one of the worst excesses of the French Revolution. And I presume you know what that unfortunate movement led to? As for the particular locality in which the hand-bag was found, a cloak-room at a railway station might serve to conceal a social indiscretion - has probably, indeed, been used for that purpose before now-but it could hardly be regarded as an assured basis for a recognised position in good society.

Jack. May I ask you then what you would advise me to do? I need hardly say I would do anything in the world to ensure Gwendolen’s happiness.

Lady Bracknell. I would strongly advise you, Mr. Worthing, to try and acquire some relations as soon as possible, and to make a definite effort to produce at any rate one parent, of either sex, before the season is quite over.

Jack. Well, I don’t see how I could possibly manage to do that. I can produce the hand-bag at any moment. It is in my dressing-room at home. I really think that should satisfy you, Lady Bracknell.

Lady Bracknell. Me, sir! What has it to do with me? You can hardly imagine that I and Lord Bracknell would dream of allowing our only daughter - a girl brought up with the utmost care - to marry into a cloak-room, and form an alliance with a parcel? Good morning, Mr. Worthing!

We watched in class the 1952 remake of the play and in the beginning it was strenuous to understand the speech of the actors, but with time you grow used to it and I can say that I revelled in the play, especially at the poking fun of the aristocracy. If you wish to watch a more recent production, there is a remake (released 2002) where the cast includes Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, Dame Judi Dench and Reese Witherspoon.

Finally, I can only recommend you to see "The Importance of Being Earnest", or read the play if you are a bookworm.

writing

On Monday we received our corrected homework back and what startled me was the fact that my work was seen by Lisa as satisfactory.

However, there were a few mistakes here and there which I'm going to write down here both to do my utmost not to make them again and as a help to others:


1. The citizens are to a country like cultivation is to a soil.
but what I should have wrote is:
Its citizens are to a country like cultivation is to soil. (the citizens are not defined; it is a general statement)

2. Nowadays, Croatia is a free state which has closed the door on the past some time ago.
but what I should have wrote is:
Nowadays, Croatia is a free state which closed the door on the past some time ago. (I must become much more aware of tenses)

3. In the last but one paragraph I used the linking phrase secondly and finally and in the last paragraph I used in the end which is a synonym for finally.

4. I also made the error of misinterpreting a sentence as non-defining when in fact it was defining:
....are two character traits, which I feel, are typical of every Croatian soul.

.....are two character traits which I feel are typical of every Croatian soul.

The fact that we are blissfully unaware of our mistakes when we write amuses me. Fortunately, we get a lot of practice in writing which will be of service to us in our endeavour to write more concisely and to double-check more each and every essay.

speaking

Currently, I'm continuing my speaking preparation for the oral exam on the 10th of May. I'm must say it is very strenuous work, but one that has to be done as the speaking shows how good I've mastered English.

Progress is slow, but it is not out of reach anymore. Thanks to my weekly speaking with English people in Graz, I'm miles better than I was just two months ago in that I speak very freely and without inhibitions. There is, however, still a lot of work awaiting me in the fields of pronunciation and coherent speaking.

Come to think of it, better stop writing immediately and go on to improve my speaking.

By, folks

listening

Some time ago I was reading Georg's blog and saw an entry which intrigued me. In it he transcribed one of his favourite songs as a means of listening practice.

Being a music lover, I just knew this was the very thing for me to do.

So, the next step I took was taking my Joss Stone CD (the girl is great; listen to a song of hers' when you have time) and putting it into my CD-player.


In next to no time I was under the spell of her fabulous voice and the addictive melodies. I had to punch myslef, so I would be able to concentrate on the matter on hand-choose a song and try to transcribe it without fail.


As I imagined it was very hard to do it, but with a few mistakes here and there I finally managed it. Here are the lyrics of the song "Right to be wrong":

I've got a right to be wrong

My mistakes will make me strong

I'm stepping out into the great unkown

I'm feeling wings though I've never flown

I've got a mind of my own

I'm flesh and blood to the bone

I'm not made of stone

Got a right to be wrong

So just leave me alone

I've got a right to be wrong

I've been held down too long

I've got to breake free

So I can finally breathe

I've got a right ot be wrong

Got to sing my own song

I might be singing out of key

But it sure feels good to me

Got a right to be wrong

So just leave me alone

You're entitled to your opinion

But it's really my decision

I can't turn back, I'm on a mission

If you care don't you dare blur my vision

Let me be all that I can be

Don't smother me with negativity

Whatever's out there waiting for me

I'm going to face it willingly

All in all, listening carefully and transcribing music was a very informative experience. Not only did I realise that listening to music is a great means of practice, but I also came to the conclusion that one can work on his pronunciation and vocabulary while listening.

You just must try it. Another way of learning English that is great fun. Girls, after all, just wanna have fun.

reading

All that I did for reading this week concerns Northern Ireland. As the landmark event happened on 26 March (picture above; the text with the picture on http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6494599.stm) ,leading to the Protestants' and Catholics' decision to share a devolved government, I reckoned that it was high time to inform myself properly about the two major political parties behind this event- Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party.

Let me give you a brief overview of them, and the rest you can read yourself under the internet addresses I'll provide.

the Democratic Unionist Party- is orientated towards the Protestant community. It is staunchly committed to British rule in Northern Ireland and it fiercely opposes any form of union with the Republic of Ireland.

It's incumbent leader is Ian Paisley, a Presbyterian minister.

To read more about Ian Paisley and the DUP, visit:

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0041309.html

Sinn Fein-Although this name was used by a series of political movements in the 20th century, in modern politics it refers to the political party, which emerged as a splinter group during the 1970s Irish republican movement, dedicated to Irish Republicanism.

It is allegedly seen as the political front of the Provisional IRA, though this has never been neither admitted nor denied. It's current leader is Gerry Adams, an Irish Republican politician. He is also alleged to have been a member of the Provisional IRA's army council from the 1970s until mid-2005.

If you wish to read more about Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein, visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinn_F%C3%A9in

My comment:

You cannot imagine how pleased I was to have been finally able to find just the information I craved for. If there is one thing I particularly loath, then it is to learn about something (here Ireland) without knowing the bare facts about its history.

Thanks God, now the history of the major Northern Irish parties is not shrouded in mystery for me anymore. For Northern Ireland I sincerely hope that the door on the past will be closed and that a new, brighter future beckons.

speaking

Miles away from the Prince Charles pub and any English speaking person (we are really scarce on them in Lovran), I had to come up with new ideas about speaking.

Luckily, I had a brainwave and reminded myself of my looming speaking exam. So I took the script in my hands and started to record myself with my digital recorder while answering questions from the script a week ago. I have been doing it every day without fail since then.

The great thing about being able to use a recorder is that I can see just how long I have been speaking. I try not to speak longer than a minute, but still say no rubbish.

You cannot even imagine how hard it is.