Good morning, afternoon, evening Camilla, Greg, Gabriel and families,

these are the first pages of the adventure book our young pupils are reading, from last to first page. 

As homework for all of you and whoever wants to participate, here's the beginning of a parallel story we decided to invent to see where it may lead.

Don't forget, what works with children works with adults too! Also Prof. Simon Sweeney from the University of Leeds says that. 

Then the children started their adventure story:

"Camilla, Greg and Gabriel are sitting around the table in Gabriel's kitchen.

Suddenly the clock on the wall stops; then the hands run faster than before and they break the glass to start running on the table.

"We are tired of turning, we do not want to continue!".

To start the time again they have to be replaced and ....................."

How would you continue the story? Bear in mind it is an adventure!

Adults can contribute to children's work with their ideas.

And you, children, everybody is waiting for your story to read!

We are also continuing the story with Jill and Ahmed, of course. 

See you all next week,

Anna - Coordinator

Source: Young ELI Readers Granny Fixit and the Pirates 2009

Good morning, afternoon, evening,

this is the page for the Elementary groups that we started studying in class and we didn't have time to complete.

Please for next time read it carefully and write a similar letter to someone you know, speaking about your class.

Divide your writing into paragraphs and make them correspond to Danka's letter.

It will be easier for you to be formally correct. Then read it aloud and start telling it without reading any more.

As far as we are elementary students, it's much better to follow patterns, and Danka is exactly like us, a student of English as a second language; her English is perfect.

Do the same to become familiar with the language and develop your writing skill time after time so to consolidate your competence and have the capability of reemploying it also orally. 

Ask any questions you may need and upload your letter as a comment.

We will reply.

See you in class to continue working together

Anna - Coordinator

Source: Headway Elementary - Digital - OUP 2010

These days I'm going around with copies of the "Squirrel" mentioned below, in my car, in case there's someone who wants to support our NPO and its projects, offering the book as a present to a friend or anyone else.

Anna

Massimiliano: very good job! in a class, singular; thirty students; they are all Italian; I live with my wife in Cecina.

Francesca: very good email! English and all nationalities need capital letter; at UP, no article; psychologist then punctuation; safety, I, subject pronoun, always capital letter. 

Gianluca: very nice letter! Nationalities with capital letter; at Università Popolare, capital letters, no translation; Silvana is a ...Safety technician; Francesca has a cat, his/its name's; remember punctuation, including commas.

Annapia: my suggestion to everybody is to follow a pattern, i.e. Danka's letter above, for an English-style writing. You can adapt the pattern to your situation.

Christmas holidays plural, they pronoun, aren't going well.  

Rest/stay calm, live peacefully; is this fine to express your ideas?

It won't last forever. These ideas are too difficult at our level, use present simple and focus on formal correctness and accuracy.

I can't understand this last line, I present etc. The tense should be present continuous, we haven't studied it yet. 

Soon, adverb, not son noun; greeting etc is a translation from Italian, but it is not English. Have a look at Danka's letter again. 

When speaking and writing at elementary level, you should be like English people at that level. Use your elementary English studied so far to be like them. 

Fabio: I'm writing, present continuous, a tense we haven't studied yet. Danka writes, here  is an email etc; because; my English isn't enough, refers to quantity; you can say my English isn't good enough, referring to quality; she's very nice and a very good teacher, using the indefinite article for countable nouns; small; greeting dear embrace, have a look at what I wrote to Annapia; use simple English expression to close an informal email.

Silvana: UP no article; he is plus indefinite article for a countable noun; after exciting, punctuation; some restaurants are expensive; walking.  Good job!

Pina: very well done! Continue, choosing another page on the blog and writing other comments!

Nicola: very nice email! Except for a few/very few; he works for a computer company that makes...; Cecina is a small town. 

Annapia: I heard you are not feeling well; your daughter will care well; I will tell the teacher and the class about you. Best wishes to recover soon to Maria Grazia then, by all of us!

Vincenzo: you've done a very great job, Vincenzo, the same you're doing in class. Continue practicing, paying attention to any single detail, and I'm sure you won't have problems any more with your English very soon! 

Do not forget, nationalities need capital letter, then Italian; she is no apostrophe, or contracted, she's; because I am not very good at.... speaking, performing, English, or my English isn't very good. I wouldn't say that, continue choosing another page and upload your comment replying to the questions.

See you in class!

Anna

Good morning, afternoon, evening,

this is a page for those students who have to prepare the First, the level B2 examination developed by Cambridge English Language Assessment, part of the University of Cambridge. 

To spend on targeted purposes the time between classes, we selected a page from the teachers' handbook to practice writing. 

The assessment scales consist of four subscales, namely

Content, how well the candidate has fulfilled the task;

Communicative Achievement, how appropriate the writing is for the task and whether the candidate has used the appropriate register;

Organization, the way the candidate puts together the piece of writing, that is to say if it is logical and ordered;

and Language, vocabulary and grammar. 

Write your essay and answers here as a comment to let us read them before our next meeting.

When in class, we'll compare your written productions with the ones in the handbook, reading the examiners' comments.

There is also an article from Speak Up, the magazine for students of English we hope can meet your interest.

This is written comprehension, reading, before listening to the English speaker in class reading it. We'll talk about the main points.

See you in class then,

Anna - Coordinator

Source: Cambridge English Language Assessment, First, Handbook for Teachers

Speak up, November 2015

Eleonora wrote what she was asked for a pre-intermediate test:

Test A.

1. When specifying something you need the definite article

2. Write short sentences with subject, verb, complement, then start a new sentence.

3. When connecting sentences with linking words, e.g. but, keep in your mind the coherence of your text.

I met, past simple, but I didn't know her yet?

4. Giving simple information: she was in ih the third year at university

5. Our friendship

Test B.

1. On plus date. Why choosing last?

2. The professors Definite article here, those ones not in general.

3. In which .... go plus to, believe plus object.

See you in class,

Anna

Good morning, afternoon, evening,

this is English practice for everybody, including beginner students, making buiscuits too.

It is a page for families, children and adults to have fun together.

Never forget that what works with children works with adults too!

First: if you do not know the story of the Gingerbread Man, find it on the Internet and listen to it watching the videos. There are American and British versions. Then remember it.

Second: write it down as a comment using only present simple, subject, verb, complement, and come to class ready to say it with your mates.

Third: read the recipe to make a Gingerbread Man.

Fourth: make your Gingerbread Man very expressive the size you like, deciding the best position of its head, arms, hands, legs, feet.

In class we'll paint it with chocolate, according to each one's fantasy, and the best buiscuit will win a prize. 

We will decide together when coming to class with all our buiscuits. We will take a photo of all of them, when painted.

Have a look also at page 3 article number 8 about chocolate, a very interesting subject.

See you in class, enjoy your English!

Anna - Coordinator

Source: The Gingerbread Man, Windmill Readers, Raffaello Editrice, 2000

Eleonora: information singular, an old woman prepared, her husband, when she baked it object pronoun, the gingerbread man (it subject pronoun), jumped.  

As you can see from these photographs, everybody, children and adults, enjoyed themselves painting the Gingerbread Men with chocolate and eating them.

In the class for adults, two painters are decorating the biscuits, while in the one with children, Gabriele and Camilla, both nine, are  doing an excellent work with the well shaped, little biscuits baked by Camilla's mother.

Thank you all for your contribution and never forget that the more you behave a language, the more real it is and becomes yours, one more identity to be added to the one/s you already have.

Annapia: finally you did it!

Francesco: is it? 

See you in class, Anna

Shop now: thank you, unfortunately we can't meet in class, you could be helpful. Anna

Good morning, afternoon, evening,  

this is a new page for all the students who are coming to class next week. 

Have you ever thought to resemble some wild animals?

Is there a wild animal whose characteristics you like for any special reason? 

Here there are a few exercises for you to do, replying as a comment, paying great attention to formal correctness and accuracy:

Which animal

1 is very clean?

2 likes people who give it food? 

3 likes to look good?

4 doesn't live in Britain now?

5 likes to live in a big group?

6 can't remember where its food is?

Continuing talking about the animals in the article,

1 Which of their features are positive and which are negative?

2 Which lifestyle attracts you most? Why?

3 Talk about your family and your friends. Which animal are they like?

Compare this page with the one about "Wolves and a richer life", going to page 4, article 11.

Let's talk about all possible wild animals your mates resemble according to you, see you in class

Anna - Coordinator

Source: CULT 1 DeA Scuola 2015

Vincenzo: so unexpected finding out what animal you think you resemble. I will better ask you in class. 

I subject, capital letter. Correct short answer, Yes I have. Before a vowel the article a becomes an. Because it has, it is the pronoun for animals, unless they are domestic animal. In this case, if you think you are like an elephant, the pronoun could exceptionally be he. The Owl has a good  eyesight. Britain capital letter. But it did in the 1800s. The wolf likes living in a big group (in this case the group is called pack). The fox lifestyle  attracts me because it lives in small families.

Vincenzo, I dare say you worked quite well, thinking a lot, and writing very interesting comments. Continue your job. The more you practice choosing what you like doing,  the better your writing and speaking skills will be. 

The animal inside: thank you for this very interesting comment! I read the book many years ago. Plural of woman is women, who read, found. Punctuation helps the reader, after woman, period. She has the same character as, third person simple present with s, Jungian analyst, how women period. In "Women who etc" since it is the title of a book. 

Anna 

Good morning, afternoon, evening,

archaeology is within us as a great resource to explore.

If we don't know what happened before us we can't know what we are.

Food too is included, we are what we eat, aren't we?

The more we know about food, the more we know about ourselves.

What is your favourite dish?

How often do you have guests at home to share meals with?

What is a successful menu of yours?

This book - we translated - is about Romans' empire, civilization, culture, society and cookery.

Interesting texts, beautiful pictures, delicious recipes, elegant design. 

Be curious, find it on the Internet and study it, then offer your guests unusual recipes.

The two ones you find here and you can try are a possibility to create a connection between you and a people who influenced also British developement. So many remains are in the language too. 

Can you think of Latin in the English language?

How many samples do you know? 

Why don't you write them down here with your comment?

Thank you for contributing to our "language excavations" in addition to the gastronomic ones you can read about on the book.

See you in class, enjoy your English

Anna - Coordinator

Source: Taste Archaeology, Pacini Editore, Pisa, 2015, a project to support the renovation of the Archaeological Museum Palazzo Bombardieri, Rosignano Marittimo, Italy

Thank you Giuseppe for your contribution, we are going to invite a few more students to partecipate in giving the answers. We'll see what happens.

Good morning, afternoon, evening, 

do you have any special eating habits?

What is the role played by food in your life?

What do you love eating?

What is the role of food in a healthy lifestyle, according to you? 

What type of food should you eat? 

Have a look at these two pages and reply to the questions as a comment. 

We will talk about that in class; after reading write down notes, come ready to talk and ask questions. Pay great attention to formal correctness.

Anna - Coordinator

Source Cult DeA Scuola 2015  

Hello to everybody, 

this is the third stage of our work on the website. Replying after your comments. Please consider that what is said referring to a comment and that is in common with others, is not going to be repeated, so to encourage you to read all comments and take advantage of your mates' writings. 

Emiliano:  check singular and plural, tenses, think English and simplify your writing. Be concise and direct, aiming at formal correctness with just subject, verb and complement. Check prepositions. Adjectives before nouns in correct order.

Nicola: would you correct...when speaking in general, no article before nouns. Types of food... in a balanced diet, countable noun; first subject pronoun, capital letter, I. 

Maria Luisa: please write down a little more. 

Fernanda: prepositions, pay attention to..., comparative with short adjectives adding er, easier, playing a role in, better no possessive adjectives when speaking in general.

Paola: of all foods; when referring to daily habits, the tense is present simple; use punctuation and start frequentely new srentences; Orange jam is marmelade in English; you eat bread and drink milk, you have both; Before singular countable nouns,indefinite article; food is an opportunity, creates the opportunity, gives you the ...; position of adverbs, I especially like...; role in a healthy lifestyle; in my opinion is quite formal, I think is more informal; check orthofraphy.

Sergio: possessive adjectives are very common in English when speaking about ourselves, my family;       like plus ing form; without exceeding; rich in; animal protein, when nouns have the role of adjectives are singular. 

Claudia:  In Italy lunch time is also the occasion; Mediterranean capital letter.

Lucia:  great! 

Giuliano: answer 2, check the subject.

Francesco: pay attention to prepositions and tenses.

Emiliano: I subject pronoun, capital letter; choose between for and two, not together; English and all nationalities capital letter; movie, no double o; it is, subject needed if referring to English Extra, otherwise other subject; four guys, plural, no s with the verb; together spelling mistake; short is an adjective, no s for plural; actors plural subject no s with the verb; easy is an adjective, easily is the adverb; funny's? Thank you spelling mistake.   

Vincenzo: 1. I subject pronoun, capital letter; a, singular, with habit, singular. 2. I drink much water; 4. eating many. 

After reading Francesco's comment, what do you think of the role each one can play to resolve the planet's problems?  

Thank you all for contributing with your very useful comments.

Come to class next time ready to tell us quite briefly about fish & chips.

Choose a page you like on the blog among the so many there are, and start preparing a very short speech, 60 '' to present it and say your own ideas.   

See you in class, Anna 

Good morning. afternoon, evening, 

how do you pronounce the word privacy, so common in Italian too?

Quite likely the procunciation you adopted, like the majority of people, is the American one.

There are many differences between British and American English, and many more if you consider English spoken by Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians etc. 

What's intriguing is developing strategies to become familiar with as many accents as possible.

Suggestions? Watch films with no dubbing, and appreciate English spoken by actors with their many different accents and beautiful voices, read books, enjoy them with friends, your children and become aware of your progress, time after time. Write down notes, compare impressions and ideas, let the language do its work, that is to open your mind and your heart while you have to do the same. Come to our classes. 

Choose films and books that you like and love what you do. Create a bond with English and find time to practice it with other students and native speakers, travel. 

Having a perfect pronunciation might not be the point, but what's fundamental is understanding when people speak to establish a proper interaction, communication, and in order to achieve this abjective you need to train yourself, the same you do when practicing a sport. 

What is your experience with English? Are you better at performing one of the five skills?

The five skills involved in acquiring a language are aural comprehension, ie listening, written comprehension, ie reading, oral production, ie speaking, and written production, ie writing, plus interacting with English speakers. 

The more you do something, the better the results are. So, come to class and practice English that like any other language is action, behaviour, motivation, feelings, beliefs...

What else is a language?  

If you are a false beginner in your studies, build up short sentences with just subject, verb, complement. Do not worry about mistakes, making them ias a way to learn.     

See you in class, 

Anna - Coordinator

Source: Speak Up October 2015 

Stefania: try to find by yourself which mistakes you can avoid making next time; have a look at a possible simple version of your ideas:

I studied English when I was at school 50 years ago.

My teacher used to teach/taught us grammar (no passive form) without practicing conversation.

I would like to develop the skills of listening comprehension and interaction with English speakers.

I hope that despite my mistakes I will be able to learn.

Of course you will, Stefania. Interest helps to convey appropriately attention to formal correctness and accuracy.

See you in class,

Anna

Good morning, afternoon, evening

Andrea, Giulio, Valerio, Antonella, Mihaela, Sara, Emiliano, Vanessa, Eleonora, Giovanni, Chiara, Francesca, 

this is an easy reading article mainly for you who are ready to begin studying English, waiting for the groups to be complete. 

Anyone else who wants to practice English and participate in our blog is very, very  welcome with comments, answers and questions too.  

Do you know of any similar festivals in Italy even if much, much smaller?

Where are vthey? Have you ever been there? What do you usually do when you go to festivals in the open air? 

In just two days this "Fiesta", or festival is going to start in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Is there anyone who has ever been there?

What are the most spectacular activities?

How can you describe them?

Say something about the balloons' different sizes and shapes. 

Have a look at these videos 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8YaMK4-MYg

and write your comment. 

See you in class. 

Anna - Coordinator

Source: Speak Up Magazine, September 2015

p.sw. we do hope there are no problems with creating accounts like last Summer. Try and enjoy your English! 

Eleonora: I subject pronoun, capital letter, in the open air

Francesca: indefinite article before countable nouns like surprise, it would be nice to...

Giuliano: to rise in the sky, flying, flight.

See you all in class, Anna  

Good morning, afternoon, evening,

after enjoying working in class for four weeks, we met Mediterranean cruise passengers "In the open air", that is the square in the city centre where the shuttles from the port leave cruisers before they set out on their trips to visit Tuscan cities. 

Livorno is one of the calls in the Mediterranean Sea for people who come from all over the world - Canada, the States, Australia, New Zealand, all Europe, Japan, China, India -  to spend a few weeks on board of beautiful ships and want to visit the countries overlooking the sea.

It was such a great occasion for students to practice the language, to exchange ideas with people generous of their English and who appreciated our "beautiful program", that's what they said.

To continue practicing, upload a comment about the morning with cruisers or the whole Summer course and keep in touch with your mates. 

How did the course help your English? If so, why did you find it useful?  What did you like most? 

Activities, dialogues, oral and written onto papers on the walls, stories built following pictures cut from magazines, written and narrated to win a prize. English books to continue  the experience and improve the language.

All students had a permission signed by their parents for being photographed and for the photos to be published coherently with the aims of the English training course. 

Thank you all for participating, it has been great working together!  

Anna - Coordinator

Thank you Giuliano for your comment.

Each one of us should feel part of this little planet we live on and protect it, that means caring for the past, present and future. The Mediterranean is this magnificent common sea - Mare Nostrum - that gave all of us living around it the same identity, we all belong to this common "land" that produced unforgettable history, culture, art, civilization to be shared and spread. All the times someone interrupts this flow everybody should ask themselves why, what has gone wrong, since there are so many responsabilities, and each one of us might not be excluded from having some.

Continue writing about your journeys around the world, it is a great pleasure reading.

Thanks once more Giuliano, for one more comment. Each one of us is a mine of feelings, a special lens to read the reality. All the times we feel anger, hatred, we should wonder why and find the answer. By the time we have the answer, our feelings would change, would be more mature, productive and useful.

Destroying the remains of ancient cities means to cut the threads that keep us linked to the deepness inside ourselves. On the contrary, we all need them to understand which places we belong and continue the very long walking each one of us can contribute to, in order to leave something to those who'll come after us.

We are developing projects about the Mediterranean, considering it a conmon area shared by so many different peoples with their different cultures, languages, behaviours, that are still in time to know each other and design a common humanism for a future to share.

Anna  

These two photos are from the news broadcasted on 4 August 2015 by Granducato TV,  whose journalist asking perfect questions to both Mediterranean cruise passengers and students, is now - June 2019 after the administrative elections of May 26 - the Major of Livorno. 

We invited him to visit once more our open labs, we wish he will. We'll let you know.