English For Pleasure

The lesson in the 9th form is going and my pupil decided to dedicate me a poem about English language. I was very glad to get it, but it was pity that it was in Russian. I waited for an English one. Here it is:

Английский язык

Английский язык – он, как русский велик

Читаешь слова, учишь перевод

Только помню лишь одно: cat – это кот.

А знаете, кто такой Вальтер Скотт?

Наверняка, пока еще нет

С его дня смерти прошло более двух сот лет

Он был признанный писатель,

Гений и мечтатель.

А вот знаете, что такое апостроф?

Нет, не остров, а апостроф!

Он используется для притяжательного падежа образования,

Но все это понять для нас суровое наказание!

Это запятая вверху слова, проще говоря,

Но все эти сложные понятия, просто не для меня,

А также в английском много всего интересного

Для школьников сложного, но очень полезного!

Ладно, пойду учить английский,

А то уровень по нему совсем еще низкий!

I got up at 6 o`clock and I immediately began to prepare my breakfast, my clothes. I slept very badly at night, because I worried about my first meeting with my class and other pupils. I have missed them for a long time, during my holidays.

When I came to school, I got a lot of best wishes and congratulations from my colleagues, pupils, parents with this famous holiday. Some of them presented me flowers. It was great! I was very glad.

At 9 o`clock the line, dedicating to Day of Knowledge began. There were congratulations from our director, pupils, and the members from our local administration of the village. They also gave some presents to the pupils from the first form.

After the line I and my pupils met on the Lesson of Knowledge. I told them some interesting stories from our life, gave the information about their duties this year. Some minutes later came the 7th form with their teacher and congratulated me and gave a present with the past birthday. It was a surprise for me. I didn`t know about it, but it was very pleased for me.

Some minutes later I gave my first lesson in the 8th form. It is our “the biggest” form in our school. There are only four pupils there. At the beginning of the lesson we congratulated each other with this main holiday and then started working.

My second lesson was in the 6th form. The pupils were very glad to see me and me, too. We began working with the topic “Appearance”. And I also played with them. They liked my lesson very much.

It was my first day at school this school year.

Every dancing style has its own history. There are seven styles of dance, which have recently become classical in India.

South styles are Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam, Mohiniattam, Kathakali; east style is Odissi; north style is Kathak; east-west styles are Manipuri and Sattria. The eighth style of Indian Classical dance was accepted Sattria

in 2000.

Classical Indian Dance is called so, because it is following by the canons, which are imaged in the old treaties “Natya Shastra” (“The Science About Theatre”), “Abhinaya Darpana” (“The Mirror of Actor`s Expressiveness”), “Nritya Vinoda”.

The feature of this art is the sequence of actions of different parts of the body of a dancer. Canon prescribes the special movements of a head, eyes, a neck, eyebrows, a nose, a breast, feet and body; different kinds of dance pa and poses; a famous language of facial expressions and gestures.

Its age is about some thousands years. The imagination and elementary knowledge about the history can help to feel the depth of antiquity. Dance in Ancient India was a developed kind of art and took the special rule among cultural treasures. The excavation of Mohenjo-Daro is evidence of it. The image of girls-dancers in a little bronze plastic art is the evidence of the high status of the art of Indian Dance in those distant years.

This art was performed by Devadasi (“God`s servants”). The girls-dancers were called so, because they were dedicated to God. They were considered his earthy wives and were respected in this quality. Devadasi lived in temples.

The creator and the patron of the art of dancing in India is Shiva. He was one of the three great Gods of Hinduism. Dance was the form of prayer, ritualized gift to divinity and was developing only by temples for long centuries. It presented itself the religious dance drama. This art was closely connected with the temples` rituals and for the departure of the dance cult was erected the special construction near the main sanctuary of the temple. These altars for the gift of dance were called Nata Mandap and were presented itself the areas on the high pedestal, penciled under the roof. The highly sensitive décor of these constructions is still surprising. The fronts are decorated with the figures, poured in different poses of Indian dance. Some of the wonderful images were kept in the State of Gujarat and Modher, which are the source of inspiration of many performers.

The new century of the history of Indian Classical Dance is connected with Islam. The art of dancing had some serious changes. The aesthetics of dance and virtuosity of performers` began valuing more than highly religious treatments of plots, holy for Indians. The dance drama began reminding the choreography in a clean view. Dance became the palatial entertainment.

With the beginning of the English colonization, the ancient art of dancing, praised Indian Gods and penetrated by the exquisitive erotic was practically forgotten.

And in the 20 century Indian Classical Dance, thanks to many dancers, was renewed. The pleiad of brilliant names, such as Uday Shankar, Balasarasvati, Ram Gopal and hundreds of dancers recreated this art for future generations.

It was the main points of the history of Indian Classical Dance.

The ability to write well in English is very important nowadays. You fill out various forms, exchange SMS and other messages, chat in the Internet and write letters. And do you think sometimes about your spelling and punctuation? What about your grammar, especially tenses? Were there cases when you addressee didn`t understand you?

Written English is more formal than spoken English. It means that in writing the rules of grammar are observed more precisely, the choice of words is more careful. The style is more elaborate. In oral speech you can correct your thoughts. What you write and send should be correct. Good writing skills are very important.

Good spelling is also very important part of writing. And it is also one of the most difficult fields of written English. There are many spelling rules and many exceptions from the rules, too.

Punctuation rules specify where to use the signs of punctuation. The English punctuation is a little different from the Russian one. You also should know how to make an English sentence. It depends on your understanding of English syntax and its rules.

In addition to the writing skills mentioned above, language learners need to know how to write different kinds of letters: business letters, reports, essays.

These summer holidays I dedicated to preparation for the Pedagogical Conference. This idea came to my mind when I saw the document from our Committee of Education by my school director. And also she suggested me to take part in it. I didn`t want, but at the last moment I agreed.

First of all, I thought about my topic. There were no ideas in my mind, everything about I thought was told some years ago or last year. I was searching for something new. The thoughts left my mind. Then I remembered my best friend, I asked him to help me with the topic. He agreed with pleasure. He suggested me some of themes and then I began to formulate my future topic of the report. After it my friend gave me some recommendations how and what I can write about. The main aim of my work was to make interesting my report in order to attract my listeners` attention.

My work began from the searching material in the Internet and books. It took one week to find an interesting and useful material. Then I had to print and read it carefully. After this work I began writing. In some days my report was ready and I sent it to my friend for reading. He sent me it back some days later with the list of recommendations what I must change in my report. My work continued and in some time I made a new verse of my report. Then I decided to make a presentation of some useful points of my report and I did it.

The work finished some days before the Conference. I had to connect with the Committee of Education. I rang, but that who was responsible for this work didn`t answer. This situation repeated every day. At last I found out that I wouldn`t take part in the Conference. Some other participants were chosen. I was so disappointed. I spent a lot of time for making report and also a lot of forces. But some minutes later I thought: “I can present my report on the English teachers` forum, isn`t it?

Nowadays, Indian cinema is divided into “old” and “new” one. And a lot of followers of old Indian cinema watch “new” one, certain part of the Indian population put under boycott some films. It happens, because their favourites are acting in films a little now, or some favourite and well-known actors have already died. But they are not all differences of “old” and “new” Indian cinema. The main difference is that there are a lot of songs, more “clearance”, as I can say, in “old” films. There are a lot of blood, open scenes and so on in “new” Indian cinema. It is the reason of boycotts of inhabitants, old mode`s followers, of this country in some cases. The reason of these changes in Indian cinema is that Bollywood tweaks generally accepted Hollywood`s samples, in other words what must be without fail in the films.

A lot of people who doesn`t know the culture and traditions of India, I can ask, why did happen such changes. It is worth engrossing in the Indian history, where naked body or sari was taken off before a man was the shame. All these things in “old” Indian cinema were banned. Every film was checked before screen entry. On the contrary, the girls doesn`t wear sari in “new” films. They usually wear short skirts, topics and other clothes in such style. Because of it I called “old” Indian cinema clearer than “new” one.

There are a lot of dances in Indian cinema and it is the main difference from the other countries` films. Only some people know that a lot of feelings are expressed with the help of dance. The dancer’s movements are formed into words. Every girl was taught by nuts and bolts of such dances from her childhood. They can freely “speak, dancing. Dances was the main thing of girls` education. That is why there are a lot of dances in Indian cinema.

P.S. I wrote this article after watching some "new" films. I decided to compare them with the "old" ones, which I like

more.

Holidays are a really important topic at the beginning of the school year. When talking about holidays, pupils need to be able to talk about past holidays. They should also show that they can operate in different tenses. The teachers are pupils` assistants with ideas and vocabulary.

Prepare a short presentation about a holiday you went on once. You can show them some photos to make your presentation come alive. Put these headings on the blackboard:

destination;

food;

lodging;

activities;

the best day;

Ask pupils to listen carefully and make as many notes as possible.

When you have finished see if you can all recreate what you said together. Write it up on the blackboard. This can be a model for them. Then ask them to prepare their own presentation about their holidays, using the headings and the model on the blackboard.

E.g.: I was in Nizhniy Novgorod to visit my relatives last summer. This city is situated on the river Volga, has a long interesting history, a lot of beautiful sights. I have stayed by my relatives for three weeks and I have really enjoyed my holidays and rest.

Every day I got up at 9 o`clock, greeted my aunt and then had breakfast. I had only a cup of tea with cakes. After breakfast I went shopping to buy food: bread, milk, and fruit. Some minutes later I went to dacha to help my uncle. In the evening I stayed at home, watched TV

or walked with my niece on the beach. There was a beautiful birch grove near the sea, where we liked to spend our time.

My best and unforgettable day was, when I visited the concert of the Moscow group “Banderos” for free. It was really cool.

As we know, movement can be used to great effect to reinforce language at all levels. At primary level, I have great fun with parts of the body and instructions to make a very good gymnastics pause. Here are some elements I combine to make my own gym pause.

Head, shoulders, knees and toes…

Introduce the words from the song. Practice them by repeating and touching. Vary the volume of your repetition – sometimes loud like a scary gym instructor, sometimes quiet like a little mouse. Get pupils to touch the part of the body you say.

When you feel the pupils are well practiced, sing the “Head, shoulders, knees and toes…” song. As homework, ask pupils to teach the song to someone at home.

When I see my pupils after the lessons, they remember this song and sing it for me. They also teach their friends. They sing it on the street, at home, by one word everywhere. They like it very much.

My career of teaching English began, when I was a student of the third course of the Pedagogical University. It was the most difficult course, because I must study two languages: German and English. I studied English from the first course and on the third course I continued studying it. There were no thought about work, I only thought about my study.

One day I was called by the dean of our faculty. She suggested me and my friend to work at the technical college. We had to go by bus two times a week there. The way took about 10 minutes. The dean was asked to find two students from our faculty by the director of the college some minutes ago before our meeting. Nobody agreed in our and other groups. And she decided to suggest us, me and my friend. I promised her to think one day and then to give her an answer. I took up all the variants of my future, how to connect work and study. Next day I agreed and my friend too. Our dean was very happy and we were very happy too.

My first day of working at the technical college began. I was so nervous before the lessons; I had different bad thoughts in my mind. I thought about the students, especially about their future attention to me. I had three pairs, 6 lessons. I had two groups. I began my lesson from introducing myself and asking some questions about students` knowledge in English. The students were very interested in me from the first minutes of the lesson. I was liked by them and I liked them too. We became friends. We met two times a week at our lessons and when we had a break from our lessons at the University we went by bus to meet our students. I worked the whole year at the college.

Then I changed my place of work, being a student of the fourth course. I wanted to work at school and I got this opportunity. I became a teacher of English of one of the town school in the town, where our University was situated. I had to go to school only one time and teach the pupils from the ninth form. They were such pupils, who didn`t want to study English. They used to mock at teachers. They didn`t have the constant teacher. All the teachers refused to teach them. I worked at this school over three month and then left it. I was so disappointed, I was sorry myself; I had a thought not to go to school to anymore.

Two months later my good friend, my teacher of German, she taught me at school, rang me and suggested to work at my school and I agreed. I came to an agreement with the dean of the University and began working. I taught German and English lessons were only as optional courses. The students were so curious they studied foreign languages with pleasure.

Nowadays, I continue working at my native school as a teacher of English and

I am the only one. I teach English for pupils from the second till eleventh form. I love my pupils very much and their parents too. The pupil`s parents help me in difficult minutes, giving advice.

Till recently in Indian cinema was only one and the same plot: a guy meets a girl, they fall in love and after some time they get married and live happily, everybody dances and sings.

Nowadays, the streets of Indian cities and towns are decorated with posters with ads of new films. A lot of posters have grinning faces, expressing fear, cruelty and aggression. It is strange to see such things in the country, where the main religion preaches nonviolence. The energy of cruel films influences so, that a schoolboy can take a knife and kill the rude classmate. Such things happen not often. Imitating the main hero of the film, a young man wants to be cool, to have the same muscles, the same costume, the same car or motorbike. A girl wants to look attractive too, to have expensive dresses and make-up.

A lot of Indians pay skeptical attention to the modern blockbusters. There are protest forums in Internet and also the whole public movements, trying to stop the production of the films, demonstrating the violence.

The film industry of the State of Karnataka lost over 100 millions rupees last year, because the spectators refused to go to the cinema. Nevertheless, the cruelty of Indian films adds speed, trying not to be inferior in the quality of torn dead bodies.

And there is the other danger, the most terrible. Watching one after another cruel films, the people change their world view. They forget, what is love and sympathy. Murders, explosions, violence, wars, terrorism. And what do you want? This is a very cruel world. But stop! It is shown on TV and the people believe in it, losing the habit step-by-step to react negatively to evil.

We have no choice to think, to what do prepare India Indian films? And to what do Hollywood`s action films prepare Americans, Hong Kong`s – Chinese, and Russian – us?

Choosing your song

One word of warning – youngsters are increasingly sophisticated and critical and are exposed to all sorts of influences, so choose your song carefully. Repetition is a factor to bear in mind depending on the level of student you are dealing with. If a song has a snappy repetitive refrain, students will probably retain it with ease. Some songs are very serious

and merit discussion of content; others are just a bit of fun. You can use both types of songs in your teaching, just make sure you are clear about what you want to achieve by the end of the lesson.

Exploiting your song

Once you have chosen, what can you do with your song? Here are some ideas for exploiting a song rather just listening and following it through:

• Give students the title of the song and ask them to predict what type of vocabulary they are going to hear.

Ask them what type of song they think it might be;

• Make a transcript of the song then cut it up and jumble up the lines so that they are out of order. Students listen

to the song and simply tick the lines as they hear them;

• Once they have done this, students can try and number the lines as they hear them. You can make this more

or less difficult depending on how long you make the chunks of song;

• Give students a number of symbols that they represent the meaning of the song, but in the wrong order;

• You can use gap fills if you want students to listen out for particular vocabulary or grammatical structures.

Be careful not to have too many gaps too close together as songs move forward fairly rapidly!

• Give students a short list of words and ask them to note down how many times they hear each word;

• Split sentences from the song in half and ask students to match the sentence halves before they listen,

then to check their answers by listening;

• Give students a list of words and ask them to listen for the words that rhyme with those on their list;

• Spot the difference. This activity is best done after the song. Give students a version where some of the vocabulary

is wrong, but makes sense. Ask them to spot the rogue words and to change them back to the correct version

by listening to the song again.

Songs on the Internet

Here is one site where you can get hold of lyrics for English songs:

www.amalgama-lab.com

P.S. This material I found in my university`s notices.

Pieces of language from the “real world” can include newspapers, menus, magazines, adverts, radio broadcasts, television programmes, websites and etc.

The web is a fantastic resource for finding simple and more complex texts about almost any topic.You will find reviews, articles, and longer texts for your pupils to read.

Because the text is real, the language is not graded, so start with some pre-reading tasks with your pupils.

• Predicting the co ntent of the text by looking at the title/picture/headline;

• Eliciting what students know about the subject of the text, what they don`t know;

• A group discussion about the subject of the text;

• Answering questions about the subject of the text;

• Guessing meaning;

• Identifying key words;

• Skimming – reading for the basic gist;

• Scanning – looking for specific facts;

• Matching key vocabulary – English to target language;

• Matching key vocabulary to definitions in the target language;

• Extract the key vocabulary and ask pupils to put the words into groups, e.g. nouns connected to personality.

Jigsaw texts

Find a text with 5-6 paragraphs. Cut it up and give one paragraph to each pair. They read it and then summarize

the paragraph and read it to the others. They then decide as a group in the target language the order of the paragraphs.

Give them the completed article to see if they were right.

An alternative to this is to summarize each paragraph yourself in a sentence and then ask the pupils to match

the sentence to the correct paragraph. They can then put the paragraphs into the correct order.

P.S. This material I was also found in my university`s notices.

India is one of those countries, the modern art of which is rooted in the deep past. The cinema of India took the traditions of the national theatre, which has the strict canons. The line of possessing good qualities heroes, heroines and the character, which embodies evil must present in the plot. And the main part of each Indian film is music, songs and dances. The plot must be understood by all spectators: from bankers till the last beggar. It seems to be the spectator has a feeling that he plays a part in the film.

Every one of us read books by R.Kipling, the stories about Captain Nemo in our childhood. All these characters are from India. That is why there is no wonder that the Indian films appeared on the screens of many cinemas. They were immediately approved by spectators.

One after another came out such films as “The Tramp”, “Mr. 420”, affecting stories about love and fight with evil. The magic world of music, dances, bright colours, the world of tears and laughter, sorrow and joy, fails and victories conquered thousands people. Enormous queues for the tickets, full halls confirmed the success by the Soviet people.

India is the country of contrasts, where there are modern technologies and hand work. Temples and airports, big highways and winding mountain roads, the past and the present run into, creating that colouring, which can come in sight the play of imagination. Nevertheless, it is India. Probably, that is why the Indian films seem to be the fairy-tale for many people, but the art must reflect not only the reality, but also give the freedom of phantasy.