Final Blogpost

Hello to everyone! This is my last but not least blog post in this trimester in which I would like to share my brief summary of this three fulfilling months with you. I’m in jubilant mood and cannot suppress my feelings. Anyway, actions speak louder than words. So, let me encroach upon a few minutes of your attention.

To tell you the truth, my expectations were not undermined. Of course, I knew that I would face the prospect of deluge of tasks and shortfall in time. However, I didn’t jump into conclusions because I was sure that I would fit in with a hectic schedule, and a real effort would be worthwhile. Mind you, my heart told me the truth. Our vocabulary classes were overwhelmed with absorbing material and tasks which we had to accomplish. I tried to prioritize this subject because I knew, “Practice makes perfect.” During this productive period of time I learned how to write blog posts, use online tools, etc. Moreover, I can definitely say that now it is not a considerable difficulty for me to google useful collocations because I became acquainted with such web-sites as www.netspeak.org, www.just-the-word.com, fraze.it, etc. Our instructor fostered initiative, so I didn’t stifle creativity and had a train of thought, while editing the newspaper and creating speaking avatar which “offered” a lucrative job with the benefits package.

I like that there were related topics in English practice and Vocabulary because it helped me not to lose track of the necessary stream of information which we got on a daily basis. I jotted down tons of new words and expressions, and mounted up their quantity in my notebook. I also tried not to bury my head in the sand, but to use my active vocabulary in different dialogues and group projects. As it is said, “Two heads are better than one”. Our classes were a classic example of this proverb because we had true team spirit, mutual respect, a moral boost, and productive cooperation with each other. That’s why I can say that my progress is a common goal.

I wish we had more opportunities to watch some videos, or short movies related to the topics. To my mind, it would also help the students not to misinterpret the meaning and correct usage of the words. By and large, I have a clear insight into this course now and anticipate its continuing. I hope we will not procrastinate our next meeting!

My Comments on Blogs

My Comments on Blogs

1.      http://maria-kravchuk.blogspot.com/2014/09/my-first-vocabulary-test.html?showComment=1416669584491#c7383191630591037298

2.      http://maria-kravchuk.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-fairytale-about-two-dictionaries-long.html?showComment=1416669831080#c4436012048337132074

3.      http://maria-kravchuk.blogspot.com/2014/09/vocabulary-sci-fi.html?showComment=1416670645019#c4091013827499076934

4.      http://maria-kravchuk.blogspot.com/2014/09/life-isnt-about-finding-yourself.html?showComment=1416672612522#c7912417447416071231

5.      http://maria-kravchuk.blogspot.com/2014/10/communication.html?showComment=1416672850924#c4322602032982183389

6.      http://maria-kravchuk.blogspot.com/2014/10/my-remix-httpbit.html?showComment=1416674330325#c418674584901583175

7.      http://maria-kravchuk.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-travelagency-birds-eye-view-of.html?showComment=1416692853977#c8949851785384069931

8.      http://dreamaboutpast.blogspot.com/2014/09/my-first-vocabulary-class.html?showComment=1416676840180#c3512234406551332451

9.      http://dreamaboutpast.blogspot.com/2014/09/vocabulary-sci-fi.html?showComment=1416678730232#c4275111054233282676

10.  http://dreamaboutpast.blogspot.com/2014/10/communication-body-language.html?showComment=1416680254586#c3037199922747403271

11.  http://dreamaboutpast.blogspot.com/2014/10/you-are-flower.html?showComment=1416686383013#c6281591613973728095

12.  http://dreamaboutpast.blogspot.com/2014/11/help-im-in.html?showComment=1416768557454#c4929112008195676858

13.  http://ruslana-pasichnyk.blogspot.com/2014/10/there-are-poisons-that-blindyou-and.html?showComment=1416695662948#c6555231349500538500

14.  http://ruslana-pasichnyk.blogspot.com/2014/11/building-cleaning-service-sphere-of.html?showComment=1416735604153#c3180473812860097301

15.  http://ruslana-pasichnyk.blogspot.com/2014/10/httpbit.html?showComment=1416758350039#c8398276290351815817

16.  http://ruslana-pasichnyk.blogspot.com/2014/10/body-language-body-language-is.html?showComment=1416760682166#c5016299677730738757

17.  http://marharyta-sukhodolia.blogspot.com/2014/11/normal-0-false-false-false-ru-x-none-x.html?showComment=1416765838952#c3676479000635636351

18.  http://marharyta-sukhodolia.blogspot.com/2014/10/happy-end-was-thefirst-week-of-october.html?showComment=1416767012633#c5966869429959411698

19.  http://marharyta-sukhodolia.blogspot.com/2014/10/what-knowledge-means-to-you-me-it-s.html?showComment=1416767978649#c4969858741375981004

20.  http://a212lesnianska.blogspot.com/2014/11/hello-ive-ended-up-on-earth-in-ukraine.html?showComment=1416769378500#c9145697353288778982

21.  http://a212lesnianska.blogspot.com/2014/11/height267-width200-classidclsidd27cdb6e.html?showComment=1416769993005#c344624594014272942

22.  http://a212lesnianska.blogspot.com/2014/10/article.html?showComment=1416770767465#c6932540187541915202

23.  http://a212martyniuky.blogspot.com/2014/11/we-deal-withdesigning-things-houses-and.html?showComment=1416771401498#c8507206419325511776

24.  http://a212martyniuky.blogspot.com/2014/10/life-through-eyes-of-child.html?showComment=1416772418959#c1931706140117737232

25.  http://a212martyniuky.blogspot.com/2014/10/itis-out-of-question-that-every-person.html?showComment=1416773209193#c2661875422234966999

Houses and Buildings

My dear friends,

I’m writing to you from the Earth. Yes, you didn’t misinterpret the previous sentence and this letter isn’t a spam. Unfortunately, I broke my time machine, lost my GPS, and as a result I’ve lost track of my location. Despite I encountered difficulties, I pooled my ideas, and decided to write this letter.

To begin with, I found myself near the building. I had a train of thought. However, I didn’t bury my head in the sand, knocked at the door, and a young tall man opened it. He raised his eyebrows because he didn’t anticipate seeing an alien opposite him. Nevertheless, he invited me to come in. He told me that his name is John and he’s an owner of a design company.  I told John my story and he did me a favour because he offered me to live in his house. This man also guaranteed me absolute safety. In order not to undermine his authority, he made a phone call to his secretary and told that he would be absent from work for a week.

As I was saying, I stayed in the John’s house. It is a two-storey cottage which is located in the suburbs of Nicosia in the Republic of Cyprus. This house has up to date interior. John used his initiative and didn’t stifle creativity when he designed the interior decoration. For example: he used a concertina door instead of an ordinary entrance door. There is a studio on the ground floor, where you can see a fitted kitchen, eight chairs around a square oak dining table, a cosy grey sofa with cushions, an orange armchair, a white standard lamp, a cabinet, and some paintings on the walls. A small fitted fireplace is in the front of the sofa. A coffee table is between the fireplace and the sofa. There is a TV in the corner. There is also a small grey carpet on the grey tiled floor. This room is very spacious because of the French windows. Mind you, there are all conveniences you need, such as electric heating, air conditioning, etc. Then you can go upstairs. There are wooden staircases with metallic handrails and glass instead of balusters. Moreover, there is a landing between two sets of stairs. However, there is more ample space in John’s cottage if to compare it to our dwellings. For example: there is actually only a balcony on the upper floor. There is also an airy loft in this cottage.

The exterior of John’s cottage is also cutting-edge. The house is made of wood and stone. Furthermore, it has got a wooden sloping roof. It’s also got an extensive garage and a drive. There are a small patio at the front of the cottage and a few flowerbeds. John also told me that this house is easily accessible and easy to maintain. All in all, I definitely feel at home.

Well, I should finish now because I need to do my time machine up. I hope, I will recondition it quickly and it will be in mint condition. I look forward to seeing you. Take care!

All the best

Yours,

A-397

Creating a Company

Advertising company Train of Thought

My name is Monica Blank and I’m an owner of an advertising company Train of Thought, which works with famous mass media resources. Our motto is, “Be observant and don’t lose your train of thought.” The biggest aim of our company is to find new members of Train of Thought who will keep track of advertising trends, have new insight into ordinary things, and will not stifle their creativity. We also want to prove that the shortage of experience is not a reason to bury your head in the sand.  

Our company has some rules which we pooled in a few statements. Firstly, our employees should accomplish their tasks on time. They are solely responsible for it and accountable to their chiefs. That’s why they should use their time sparingly in order not to squander it. Secondly, they are not allowed to be absent from the work place without reasonable excuses, and to delegate their parts of work to someone else. Finally, they should maintain team spirit and mutual respect in order to fit in with each other and have productive cooperation.

The company Train of Thought offers excellent working conditions to employees because there are a lot of different kinds of benefits and perks. To begin with, all the employees have high income on a regular basis. Moreover, we also have a bonus scheme. For example: if our employees win an important tender and it is their common goal, they will mount up bonuses. As a result, this group of co-workers may anticipate higher salaries. That’s why I may guarantee that our stuff hasn’t got shortfall in money. As an owner of the company I value my employees and prioritize their rights. We provide every one of them with comprehensive healthcare provision, 35 days’ holiday entitlement, maternity and paternity leaves, etc. They may also break off doing their tasks from the hectic schedule and go to subsidized canteen twice per day. We don’t work unsociable hours, and halt working day at 6 pm.

We have free vacancies for PR-Managers, copywriters, and marketing managers. If you are prudent, inclined to think critically and know how to break the deadlock, if you want to set an example how to tackle the problem successfully and boost morale, we will foster your initiative. By and large, don’t procrastinate our meeting. Train of Thought is waiting for YOU!

Practice Makes Perfect or Freshers' Day at the Faculty of Romance and Germanic Languages

http://bitly.com/1DMkIWY

An Unexpected Twist

An Unexpected Twist

Mr. Smith was excited about playing the lottery. Unfortunately, he hasn't won even £1 for a long time. He felt devastated and gutted every time he saw the results. However, he always tried to calm down and said, “No news is good news.”

One day, his heart told him to buy one more ticket. Could you imagine Mr. Smith’s reaction, when he knew that he hit the jackpot? His heart was pounding and the man was in jubilant mood. Mr. Smith wore his heart on his sleeve. He couldn’t suppress his feelings. The man disclosed that news to his nearest and dearest. There was a stunned silence because everyone was gobsmacked. However, in a minute they were over the moon.

A month later, Mr. Smith decided to set up his own business. By the way, he took an interest in reading. That’s why he wanted to connect both these spheres. First of all, he consulted an expert, who suggested him to open a book cafe. “It will also have a positive impact on your future savings, which will be by-product of this business,” mentioned the expert. That piece of advice did wonders for his plan and his career gradually started taking off.

Nowadays, Mr. Smith’s business is booming. He has more than three hundred book cafes around the world. They have an interesting design because all the cafe buildings look like ordinary houses. However, when you come in, you can see an amazing interior, with thousands books on the shelves. He says, “A book cafe is a right place for people, who don’t want to absorb bad vibes. Here you can reduce stress after a tense working day, loosen up, drink a cup of hot tea or coffee, and just read a book, where all your problems have already been put into words. So, probably, if you connect yourself with a character of a book, you will find an appropriate way how to solve your problem.”

All in all, Mr. Smith lives his life to the fullest. He travels a lot, brings new books to his cafes, and sometimes… buys a lottery tickets, but just for fun.

Communication. Body language

Communication. Body language

It’s said, “The more the merrier.” Actually, I’m not sure, that this saying is about body language. In my opinion, gestures should be used rather sparingly than excessively if you don’t want to be misinterpreted.

As for me, such nonverbal communication is an absorbing phenomenon. That’s why, I like to observe, how people display emotions with the help of gestures. Besides, I try not to make generalizations about somebody’s behaviour. Of course, you may say that it is easier said than done, but I tell the truth.  

By the way, my daily life helps me to be more observant, because I can notice the use of body language, even if I’m at university. For example: sometimes students bite fingernails, because they feel worried about results of tests or exams.

They may also have sweaty palms if they need to make a speech and feel nervous about it.  Alternatively, if a person is confident, he or she will maintain eye-contact with the audience. 

Nevertheless, I’ve also observed, that when we have a discussion in our subgroup and have to think carefully about difficult questions, boys are mainly scratching their heads, while girls are stroking their chins. 

We also lean towards each other, in order to explain something important. One more interesting observation is that raised clenched fists, or crossed fingers may imply support and a wish for success. 

And what about the folded arms? This common gesture may imply stubbornness, but not necessarily. It may also indicate that the person is feeling judgemental.

By and large, keep in mind that different combinations of gestures may have different meanings. So, make sure that you understand everything correctly, before jumping to conclusions. 

Life Is like a Theatre, but the Question Is Not Whether You Are in the Audience or on the Stage but Rather, Are You Where You Want to Be?

It seems to be improbable, but the life of a human being is like a theatre, where a person plays a great variety of roles, which are absolutely dissimilar.  Firstly, we are naive children, who believe in the cloudless future. Then we are immature teenagers, who are mostly disobedient, confident that they are the most sensible, and cannot misunderstand something. After that, we play the roles of adults, who have to cope with complications, in order to achieve success. Finally, we are seniors, who can always support, or give an impartial piece of advice.  

In my opinion, the role of an adult is the most impressive. It is a suitable time to find your place in the sun, and also it’s very important not to postpone, but to make a right decision, whom and where you want to be. Sometimes people, who may be proficient actors, cellists, or bilingual speakers, just waste their valuable time and underwork, because they are afraid of unveiling their internal talents. However, they should keep in mind that they will not have an opportunity to revert and make alterations to something, because unfortunately it’s impossible to press rewind in the real life.

So, try not to be passive, and when you find out what your real purpose is in life, you will definitely realize it. Just listen to your heart.

Vocabulary Sci-Fi

Vocabulary Sci-Fi

Dear peer from 1991,

I’m writing to you from 2014 to say a word about the modern opportunities of learning a language, which is a mother tongue for British people. I’m sure, you are out of touch with the changes that have happened during these 23 years. That’s why, I want to make it clear for you, so that you could tell the difference between the levels and the quality of learning English in 1991 and in 2014. So, let me start.

I live in the XXI century, in the age of up-to-date technologies, when everything progresses day in day out. The process of learning English is not an exception. There are a lot of opportunities to learn this language, even if you run out of money. One of them is the Internet, which has an immense web. There are an enormous amount of different web-sites, which could be useful if you decide to enrich your vocabulary. In my opinion, http://quizlet.com/ is one of the best, because here you can choose unknown words and do some tests or play some games, which will consist of them. For instance: http://quizlet.com/49789453/the-theatre-for-the-deaf-flash-cards/ . This is a link on a set, which I’ve recently created, so, if you want, you could open and look through it. One more interesting web-site is http://fraze.it/ , where you choose an expression you like, and find the examples of the sentences with it. Moreover, you can also open the sources of the articles, which include these sentences. For example: I chose the expression to lose touch with, limited my search to the topic “Education”, and without putting a lot effort found the useful sentence, and the article.

Jowell was an encourager, and many able social researchers gained experience at SCPR/NatCen, pushed by a scientist with a sharp intellectual edge, charmed by a humorous colleague who never entirely lost his South African accent. He was concerned with the moral welfare of all kinds of social inquiry. He did not lose touch with those asking questions on behalf of companies wanting to sell things and the Market Research Society awarded him its gold medal. He helped establish the Social Research Association and write a code of ethics for the International Statistical Institute.

However, I also use more customary methods to learn English. For instance: if I want to remember new words visually, I make a word map or create a word cloud.

Furthermore, I frequently connect with my friends, who live abroad, via Skype. I find it amazing, when you can not only hear from them, but also improve your English. When we have small talks, we smile at each other, and before hanging up we always wave at each other. Usually I also chat with my pen-friends. However, when I have problems with Internet connection I try to get through them.

One more interesting way to learn English is to watch movies in the original. My close friend Zina and I have an unusual tradition. When we have a lot of free time, I make an appointment with her, and we watch English movies. I also have a unique opportunity to come into contact with people, for whom English is a native language, because they come to my university. Sometimes we talk business, or just talk non-stop about everything.

Well, I should finish now. I hope, you were not yawning, while reading this letter. I tried to speak my mind about all the benefits of learning English, and all the opportunities you will have in your future. I wish you good luck. And who knows? Maybe one day we will bump into each other somewhere in EnglandJ.

                                                                      All the best
                                                                      Your peer from 2014,
                                                                      Alla