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

A Fairy Tale About Two Dictionaries

A Fairy Tale About Two Dictionaries

Once upon a time there were two dictionaries in the indescribable Kingdom of Words. The first was Mr. Archy, a senior Dictionary of Archaic Words, who always reflected on literary circumstances. The second one was Urbi, a boy, who was a bit green dictionary. He was a daydreamer, who would rather look, how the old spruce tree was reflected in the river, than absorb new information.

One day Urbi saw Mr. Archy, who was reading a book in the orchard. “Good morning, Mr. Archy! What are you reading?” asked the boy. However, he had only nodded his head, and then continued reading. Urbi came closer and saw a strange book with a lot of inexplicable words. They seemed to be pointless for him, so the boy had only shrugged his shoulders, and went away. The next day, he saw Mr. Archy again with a noticeable new book.

“Mr. Archy, could you do me a favour and explain what is this book about?” requested Urbi.  Mr. Archy raised his eyebrows, smiled at him and said, “My dear fellow, this is a worthwhile book, which describes the origin of ancient words.”

“Do you keep in mind all these words?”

“Sure. I could easily recognize one word from another.”

“But how do you take in so much information?” asked the inquiring boy.

“When I was as young as you, Urbi, there were eventful times. There were a lot of poets, who were writing their masterpieces and creating new words. So, I had a great opportunity to learn them and enrich my knowledge. Later, of course, these words were simplified, but a lion’s share of them is still in use,” replied the old man.

“What an amazing story, Mr. Archy,” said Urbi.” I’m ashamed of my previous behavior. Also, I feel ashamed for wasting so much time. I give you assurance, that I’ll be a reputable dictionary in the future.”

It's been a long time, since Urbi was a young boy. Nowadays, he is a famous Urban Dictionary. However, even having a large following in the Kingdom of Words, he doesn’t forget about Mr. Archy.

My First Vocabulary Class

My First Vocabulary Class

Hello to everyone! My name is Alla Kuznietsova and it’s my first post, which is aptly named My first vocabulary class.

To begin with, it was a classic example of a sunny September day.  Moreover, there were no gale-force winds or torrential rain that day. That’s why I had considerable difficulty not to have head in the clouds, but to concentrate my attention on studying. It was pleasant to see familiar faces of my groupmates at university. Of course, we were overwhelmed after the long summer holidays, and it was a real effort for our instructors to start the classes on time, because the noise in the lecture room didn’t die down. However, when it was our turn to have the first vocabulary class, our behavior was entirely different and we tried not to make a noise.

I have been waiting for this subject, since I was a fresher. I knew it should definitely be not only helpful, but at the same time interesting. While I was thinking about it, the instructor came. I was a little bit anxious and my thoughts were in utter chaos. My main concern was not to make absurd mistakes or not to speak with a strong accent. However, I tried to keep my head. To my surprise, our instructor didn’t face strong criticism. On the contrary, she put us in a positive frame of mind. She also gave us a brief summary of her subject to made it clear to us. I’ve reached a conclusion that it’ll be really useful subject for me, because it’ll help to enrich my knowledge, improve my language skills, etc. For example: if I learn new collocations, and their use in practice, I will know how to settle an argument between the English people. Moreover, if I speak English fluently, I will reach the point where I’ll face the prospect of working as an interpreter. We also had an activity, which helped us to tell something about ourselves in the fascinating way. Our task was to choose adjectives and phrases, which begin with the first letters of our names. We burst into laugh and had fun. It was a good way to clear the air.

Time went by too fast and the minute hand of a watch was a real eyesore, because it showed that our class came to the end. All in all, we spent great time together, and I hope that all the best is yet to come!