LM #13: Media

W. Shakespeare or A. Conan Doyle

The students of RGL department organised The Days of English Classic Literature to give credit to Arthur Conan Doyle.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Days were held on 18 May in the Ostroh Academy Students prepared a vast number of contests and activities in order to heap praise on Arthur Conan Doyle. Needless to say that it has been already a tradition to organize such days dedicated to W. Shakespeare, but this year freshers took a dramatic turn of events  and make a controversial decision.

An organisor of the event, Sofiia Adamets revealed what was behind the scenes: "One of my friend detected that The Days of English Classic Literature became boring, due to the repetitive main theme. She proposed to enhance them by changing W. Shakespeare into A. Conan Doyle and a screening of the film "The King of the Lost World". It seemed like a nice idea to me, so I fully accepted the proposal."

If you want to visit this remarkable event next year, make sure that you follow the latest news of the RGL department, which help keep students informed every day.

Moreover, we have an exclusive interview with one of the spectators - Uliana Misiura.

- Hello, Uliana. I hope you had an enjoyable time during the Coffee Hause. What is your first impression of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Days?

- Well, I definitely enjoyed all the marvellous performances, which surely attract my attention.Oh and also, anchors were hilarious.

- That's great! What do you think about the unexpected change in the main theme of the Week of English Classic Literature?

- At first I showed my disapproval and was highly critical of it, but it emerged that it was a change for the better. The guys had success and I should speak highly of them.

- Do you personally like works of A. Conan Doyle, for instance Sherlock Holmes? 

- I adore them! I've read every single story when I was a child. Stories about Sherlock Holmes are my personal favourite, because they had a significant impact on my outlook and these scenes where Sherlock reveal the truth, they're adorable!

- Thank you for your time and have a nice day!

- You're welcome.

LM #12: Bloody History

Hey there!

When I say “Bloody Mary” what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? No, it’s not a drink – it’s actually the historical figure - first queen of England, who restored order with the help of the fierce fightings and counter-productive methods. Why am I interested in such cruel woman? Well, thanks to her rule, we can fully appreciate the reign of the latter - Queen of England, Elizabeth I, known for her remarkable achievements in the vast majority of military operations. 

Mary I Tudor – so called “Bloody Mary”, was the first and one of the cruelest England female monarch of all time. Henry VIII, her father, doted on Mary when she was little, calling her "the greatest pearl in the kingdom." She took control of the country only for 5 years by sheer luck. During this period, she managed to create chaos and prepare for the all-out war against the heresy.

Mary declared herself a sole head of the church and the country in order to have a lot of influence on local government. She made history by creating England’s heresy laws, which were a recipe for disaster, and began an outbreak of the annihilation of Catholic’s enemies at the stake, starting with her father’s longtime advisor Thomas Cranmer. Almost 300 convicted heretics, mostly common citizens, were burned, dozens more died in prison, because they were unwilling to compromise. But things went badly wrong and she failed miserably. 

The events of Mary’s reign—including attempts at making good progress in currency reform, creating large-scale commerce and a brief warfare with France, which ended with signing a peace treaty were in the shadow of her rage extermination of the civilians and causing the terrifying horrors of war.

Be yourself.

LM #11: Money

Hallo, human!

You know, today I gave one unusual game a go, and I actually liked it so much, that I played it several times in a row. The game is called "SPENT" and it raises awareness of people all over the world about poverty.

The point is, you have 1000$ dollars and you have to live month on them. Very often you have the tough choice while dealing with problems, because you are needy and can’t afford anything. You can have a job, but it’s easy to get a sack and just lose our salary – the only steady income that you have. Rent, high prices, debts, outgoings and even more problems. In the end, you just tighten your belt and make ends meet.

One thing, that I liked the most was the possibility to donate money to people who live on a shoestring budget and, by doing that, help them get essential things.

My Fakebook Profile

Have a wonderful life!

LM #10: Health

! ATTENTION !

New magazine about health, food and diets are now available in your city!

I strongly advise you to check out the extract from it, just in case you have some doubts.

Going Vegan

As you all probably know Vegan is a person who goes without any of the animal products. Sounds a little bit scary and ... wrong, but actually vegan diet is considered to be one of the healthiest diet in the modern world. But why do people switch to a vegan diet? Because of their love for animals and the environment, religion, health diseases, determination to become healthier or just ordinary curiosity. Very often people cannot take a decision because of the prejudices and misinformation, which eventually leads to a tough choice and a burning desire to remain everything the same.

Let’s destroy some myths about vegan diet.

1. Vegans get all necessary minerals and vitamins from their food, even the B12, protein and iron. The main point is to choose right and fresh produces which contain needed elements and have high nutritional value, such as beans, seeds, nuts, dark chocolate, spinach and so on.

2. Vegan food isn’t expensive. If you go to the ordinary supermarket, the pound of organic veggies or fruits will cost you almost the same as the ¼ pound of veal or plaice.

3. Not all vegans are healthy eaters. Some people assume that vegan is equal to healthy, but it isn’t. In most cases, people try to cut down on junk and processed food, but some still prefer greasy chips or sugary casserole (which are still pretty vegan).

4. It isn’t boring. All you need is imagination (sometimes Internet and time) and voila slap-up and square meal is done, with no need to die of hunger.

5. You won’t lose weight. Yeah, it might sound strange, but it’s true. As well as you can be vegan and do regular workouts with no harm to your body (still providing it with all needed minerals and vitamins and building your muscles).

All in all, vegan diet is just one of the ways getting desirable health. Think over with what you fill yourself up and be happy!

Thanks for your time!

LM #9: Company

Are you searching for a high-powered and permanent job? Do you want to see yourself at the peak of your career only in a few years? We are here to offer you such kind of job with a benefits package and opportunity to work flexitime. If you are interested, here is the general overview of what should you expect and whether you meet the requirements.

The “Corner Shop” is an up-and-coming organization, which is dealing with a whole range of things – starting with an arrangement of the exhibitions and ending with finding a groundbreaking works for our gallery. Moreover, we are dealing with the antiques, which we sell to the real experts or passionate lovers.

To put it in a nutshell, we are searching for employees, which are good at using their own initiative, have a ‘can do’ attitude and the most important – have an eye for details. Now we are having two vacant posts of the gallery manager and antiques expert. What do these positions involve? As a gallery manager, you should have a qualification in art, and be an asset to the lost customers as well as be ready to handle various problems. For the antiques expert, you are responsible for the quality of the works and you should easily spot an error or pick holes in collected works. An experience in working closely with pieces of art is required.

So, what are the working conditions? Your wage depends on your working hours (no less than 25 per week) as in every part-time job: 1h – 15$ for gallery manager and 20$ for antiques expert. You’ll also receive perks, such as free tickets in the gallery for your nearest and dearest and free tea breaks twice a day.

Still having some doubts about this job? This feedback from our last manager might help you to decide: “Thanks to this job, I`ve found the passion of my entire life – art. Yes, it was rather demanding, but while encountering with differences, I’ve become streets ahead of ordinary employee.”

LM #8: Education

It's been a long time, huh?

As we all know: getting an education is a part and parcel of your future life and being a literate employee increases our chances of getting a wonderful job and becoming a leading authority in the desirable field. Moreover, in order to enhance the standart of education as well as approach to learning, we should search for new and innovative methods, which will not only help us to efficiently acquire knowledge, but also to develop mental agility and a thirst for knowledge. Here are some suggestions, which might change our perception of the learning:

• Step #1: Nothing is impossible. Education should finally get down to insisting on the idea that what is not possible now, will be possible in the future, so that students would show considerable initiative in finding new paths.
• Step #2: Developing creativity and critical thinking. With the rapid development of technologies, most of the tasks will lose their point, because Siri and Google can do that for you. So what must be evaluated is critical thinking and creativity - the demostration of the ability to do something, not just filling the test blanks with A/B/C. For instance, in maths - how you solve the problem and in literature - what the story means to you. 
• Step #3: Finding path in life. It's common knowledge that it is really demanding for students to find their own interests and values, especially in their teens. Students learn through practice and having that possibility to know at what they are good at will help them to find their own place. 

Want more? Here are two awesome videos (№1 and №2) by TED. But if you are lazy - here are some of the main points:

• №1 - Education is a human system, not a delivering one (it's all about people) - and all that we need to do is to invest in the education: in the professional teachers and in the children. With the help of the individual approach, we can engage students and stimulate their curiosity, so called "an engine of achievement". Children are natural learners and all that actually matters is whether they are filled with enthusiasm and desire to learn or not.

• №2 - The main problem of today's education is that we don't need it, because it's not up-to-date, even despite the fact it is well constructed. And what we actually need is encouragement of the children, showing them the purpose and that there's a room for improvement. Then the miracle happens - they teach themselves, self-organisation becomes crucial and teachers become a lever that starts the motion of learning ("grandmother method"). 

Put your thinking cap on and be happy, bye!

LM #7: Appearance - Character - Relationships

Let me introduce you a tiny comics called "SUMMER HOLIDAYS". Enjoy!

THE END

LM #6: Feelings - Emotions - Body Language

Hey, you!

I'm back here, thrilled to bits and excited about our new extensive topic called "Emotions". Do not jump into conclusion that it will be boring and confusing, let me handle it!

First and foremost - Music - an essence of life, the part and parcel of it!

This music video  makes me feel a shiver down my spine! I was on the edge of my seat while waiting for the return of the band "Gorillaz" and finally this great event made my day. Moreover, being in the state of euphoria, I couldn't listen to anything else. The extraordinary effect of 360° helps me boldly observe and glance at different elements, while listening to the song.

To put it in a nutshell, it is a sheer bliss (I’m slightly exaggerating, I know that, but what can I do, if I’m on the cloud nine?)

Now, let's move on to the other part of everyday life - body language (gestures and facial expressions), which we subconsciously use on a daily basis and which has one of the biggest influences on our communication.

Follow me, if you want to know what's happening every Friday evening at my best friend's.

That's all for now, bye!

LM #5: Communication

Hello, dear Noname.

Today's format will be quite different and more entertaining (I hope). Let's get started!

LM #4: Latin & Greek

Dear, Conqueror

If you haven't invaded Britain jet, please, make sure that you leave alone at least English. 

And for the rest of the audience - hello, I hope you're having an incredible time!

As you could understand, I would like to talk about the multiple antient roots in English. Probably, most of you know that words like philosophy, chronological or biography are from Greek, but there are way more exported words whose origin might be not evident for you. For instance, words like bicycle, monarch or even vacation are transported from Latin and Greek.

As for the language learners or the philologists, knowing the word's root is beneficial for you and might even prevent from making various mistakes (such as misspelling or misunderstanding). Moreover, it helps in mastering word formation, which is rather challenging. I wish I knew that during my Latin course in the Uni. Overall, do not postpone rediscovering infinite numbers of prefixes or suffixes - it'll definitely pay off.

Word Families

"History Lesson" U7

NOUN	VERB	ADJECTIVE	ADVERB
approval	approve	approving	approvingly
myth	-	mythical	mythically
brutality	brutalize	brutal	brutally
actuality	-	actual	actually
conqueror	conquer	conquering	-
commerce	-	commercial	commercially
subjectivity	-	subjective	subjectively
extreme	-	extreme	extremely
sign	sign	signed	-
grant	grant	granted	-

Good luck!

LM #3: Online Tools and Resources

Dear, Asparagus 

How are you? I hope everything is marvellous and you haven't given up learning English yet. In order to help you achieve your goal and stay motivated about this process, I've done my best to select some of the most appropriate online resources, which might be an immense asset to you. I know that it'll probably rack your brains (because of the modern technology), but I'll try to make sense of this list. So don't worry - you'll fully take them in after a while.

Want to learn unknown words with remarkable ease? Give Quizlet a try! It's a wonderful website where you can not only create a wide range of flashcards, but also brush up on different words which will never slip your mind if you use them on and off. Check out my set:

Now, it's high time to concentrate your mind on online dictionaries! First and foremost, Oxford - one of the most classical and popular online dictionaries (you might like Cambridge as well).

 

If you're lost in defining what some slang phrases mean, Urban Dictionary is here to help you!

I know that it's sometimes so hard to find an accurate definition of the idiom or fixed phrase, but don't worry - Free Dictionary can easily deal with it (it also has an amazing Thesaurus)

I hope you're still reading my letter and haven't fallen asleep. Just two more resources - they are fun and useful, I promise. Nice website (Lingro), which helps you to get a gist of every single word while reading!

And the last but not least - game Knoword. All you need is to type a word accordingly to its definition!

I hope you are not sick and tired of all this information, just take your time to make the most of it. 

I can't wait to hear from you.

Take care, Mary
✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧ 

LM #2: Using Dictionaries Effectively

Hello, folks!

Today I would like to talk with you about effective usage of the dictionary. We all know that sometimes it might take a while to recognize the most appropriate definition, but stay motivated and you'll make the most of your dictionary!

So what can you do to break this task down into small and manageable chunks? Follow me:

1. Know Your Dictionary. Do you know the difference between prescriptive and descriptive dictionary? Well, you'd better do. When you go through a prescriptive dictionary, you won't find any explanation or definition of the word, because it's mainly used by native speakers, who are already fluent in English (or sometimes by advanced learners in order to build up their confidence). So, what dictionary provides a wide range of relevent information for average language learner? That's descriptive dictionary, which includes not only a definition, but a whole bunch of examples, grammar notes and even pictures.
2. What Is the Word. Sounds quite stupid, I know, but hold on I'll make myself understood. What is the difference between ridicule and ridicule? It looks like there is no difference, but, if you concentrate your mind, "ridicule" can be a noun or a verb, depending on the context. This knowledge can easily break you out of the vicious circle of searching the right explanation. So, the dictionary tells you how to use specific words, accordingly to the part of speech. Moreover, make sure, that you do not omit so-called "word families", because, when you figure out the word formation, it'll never slip your mind.

Well, now, you can look the words up with remarkable ease and build your vocabulary with the help of dictionary.

Here's the word I constantly mispronounce:
Company /ˈkʌmpəni/ - a business organization that makes money by producing or selling goods or services.

My often confused pair:
Ensure - to make sure that something happens or is definite.

Ex.: We must take steps now to ensure the survival of these animals.

Insure - to buy insurance so that you will receive money if your property gets damaged or stolen.
Ex.: The painting is insured for $1 million. 

The new words (2016):
Soft kill - a winning shot which is struck with little or no force, by deceiving an opponent;
Lixival - relating to, or of the nature of lixivium or lye;
Goaler - a player whose principal duty is to defend the goal.

Have a nice life, bye!