A Squirrel

Good morning, afternoon, evening, 

the special squirrel we are talking about is the one in a poem written by the Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet in 1948.

To Life

Life is not a joke/take it seriously/as the squirrel does, for example/without expecting anything/ from the outside or in the hereafter./You won't have to do anything else than living.//Life is not a joke./Take it seriously/but seriously to the point/that put against a wall, for example, hands tied/or inside a laboratory/ with a white coat and big glasses/you die so that men can live/men whose face you won't ever know/and you will die knowing/that nothing is more beautiful, more real than life.//Take it seriously/but seriously to the point/that when seventy, for example, you will plant olive trees/not because they have to be left to your children/but because you won't believe in death/even if fearing it/and life will weigh more on the scale.

We do believe this squirrel is quite wise.

Shall we imitate it and try to be as wise as it is?

That's why, undeservedly, attempting to find this wisdom somewhere, one day we met a squirrel while driving along a country road where we started writing about it. 

This book is aimed at promoting cultural issues, civil and human rights, through the NPO Eurocontact Plus Onlus we funded. At this stage, the book tries to support all its efforts, initiatives and projects, to spread bi/multilingualism as a lively common citizenship to share, and to encourage all possible forms of art underlying in young people, creating work for them.   

It is a collection of texts aimed at sharing meaningful feelings. We would be very pleased if you left your comments here.

If you want to help us and know more about our work, this book is for you to buy, as a donation to the NPO Eurocontact Plus ONLUS whose IBAN code is IT47 Z076 0113 9000 0101 9775 509; we will send it to your address, as soon as we receive your communication via email - see bottom of the page - with your address. If the coordinator of the website is your English teacher, you can ask her directly and you will have the book with a discount compared to the price it has on the Internet.

You can also donate your 5 per thousand on your tax return; the fiscal code is 92121150491. Useless to say that any donation to Eurocontact Plus ONLUS is very welcome and will be fruitful as an investment on the so many projects we are working on.

Let us know in case you want to know more and partecipate. 

It would be very nice of you reading the book and writing a comment about some texts you like.

 

Anna - Coordinator

Thanks to all five comments whatever the content is. Continue reading and writing, Anna

Source: as written on the cover  of the book

 

4 comments

Livorno, its canals and the largest bridge in Europe

Good morning, afternoon, evening,

can you see from the photographs what we are referring to?

We are going to visit the place and the surrounding area with English students on Monday the 8th of June, getting together at 3,00 p.m. with the first group and 4,30 with the second one in Piazza del Municipio, just under the board showing directions for New York, London, Madrid, and quite nearer cities in Tuscany.  

It would be a pleasure meeting you too, in case you like to join us, to practice English and welcome whoever does the same. Please be punctual. 

While we are going to give you the booklet from which we took the last photograph below and information to consult for answering these questions, here they are for you to reply. 

The aim is to develop the skills of written comprehension from the text given, and to reemploy and rephrase it in formally correct structures, both in writing and speaking. 

When was Livorno founded? Pg. 3

What are the two fortresses in Livorno called?

Why? When were they built? Pg. 13 and Pg. 17

What is it that connects them? Pg. 3  

What are the Medicean Fossi? Pg. 3 

What are in Livorno Capitana, Ampolletta and Canaviglia? Pg. 13

What is actually Piazza della Repubblica? What is it called in Livorno? Pg. 17

Why is the Venezia Quarter called so? Pg. 15

Have you ever been on a boat trip along the canals in Livorno? 

Would you like to sight-seeing Livorno from the canals? 

Enjoy your English, 

Anna - Coordinator

Source: Comune Livorno, Dipartimento Turismo and self - made photographs 

Thank you Natalia, you know then what we mean when we say our city is fascinating. Come and visit it again!

Anna

1 comment

The Price Of Tourism

Good morning, afternoon, evening,

this is a page also for Elementary Students whom we warmly invite to participate in replying to questions and writing comments.

Think of a place where a lot of tourists go. Do you think tourism has a positive effect on that place? 

Read the text you have below and try to find the answers to these questions.  

1. How far is it from London to Sidney?

2. How long does it take to get from London to Sidney?

3. How many tourists go on safari  each year?

4. Which doesn't damage the environment so much: going by train or flying?

5. Which countries earn a lot of money from tourism?

6. Who owns the hotels in many tourism resorts?   

Can you think of more tips for responsible travelling in addition to these ones? 

1. Treat wild animals with respect

2. Wear appropriate clothes

3. Travel in small groups

4. Eat food which is grown locally

5. Speak to local people

6. Don't stay oin big hotels

7. Use public transport

8. Don't use too much water 

Using the mind map of the last picture, write complete questions for each item, and give the answers. 

We'll talk about it in class, see you there

Anna - Coordinator

Source: Cult DeA Scuola 2015

Eleonora: nationalities need capital letter; developed; have arrived (but it is not very English); landscape has changed; and the ecosystem has been damaged; it takes; and a half; world is becoming; for the environment; local populations.

Claudia: always in a hurry replying to students! Thank you for your comment. Possible improvements for your comment: 

then in the past; sorts; everyone has their different consideration for; and everything from; for everybody; we don't have to; because we are guest; for future generations.

See you in class, Anna


23 comments

Paleolithic Diet

Good morning, afternoon,evening, 

 

Eleonora is an agronomist, a professional with very tight roots into the earth as a resource capable of guaranteeing everybody to live on if properly used. Redifining what sustanaibility is for everybody's benefit is something we can't delay any more. There are too many differencies among people on the same very small planet.   

Today we invite you to practice your English with this article to read, suitable also for corageous elementary students.

Do you feel concerned about nutrition? Are you interested in eating habits? Why?

What is the role played by food in your life? 

Do you find it sensible trying a Paleolithic diet? 

Why, according to you, going on a diet called Paleolithic?

What is your perception of such a definition? 

 

After reading the article, please complete these prompts for sentences according to what's written in it:

  1. Homo Sapiens ...

  2. Many people today...

  3. The Paleolithic diet...

  4. The Paleolithic era...

  5. People from the Paleolithic era...

  6. Devotees of the Paleolithic diet...

  7. People on the Paleolithic diet eat...

  8. People on the Paleolithic diet don't eat...

  9. People on the Paleolithic diet don't...

10. The diet is enormously popular...

11. Singer Tom Jones...

12. Singer Miley Cyrus...

13. Gwyneth Paltrow...

14. The Paleolithic diet does...

15. It's impossible...

16. Food, like people...

17. Our early ancestors... 

Practice your English paying attention to formal correctness!

See you in class, ' good day, enjoy your English, 

Anna - Coordinator

Source: Speak Up, March 2015

 

 

 

3 comments

Wishes for the world

Good morning, afternoon, evening, 

 

thank you Caterina for appreciating biking. I's so important to keep a strong bond with phisical activities. Too frequentely we miss the perception of what our body is, we don't know what potential it has, what its resources are. We go too often to the doctor, without observing what we can do due to embodying all our skills. For we do have skills, haven't we?  

One of them is the capability of making wishes, what we are going to talk about today.

 

1. If you had to make some, what would they be? 

2. What does it mean putting wishes in action? 

3. What are TED Prizes aimed at? 

 

After reading the page, 

 

4. What kind of food is a problem for Jamie Oliver?

5. Who does he think should eat more healthily?

6. What is Sugata Mitra's "school in the cloud"?

7. Who does Mitra think children can learn without?

8. What does JR believe could change the world?

9. Who did JR want to influence in Pakistan?  

 

After replying to these questions, find words or phrases from the text that mean:

 

a. participate (Miranda)  

b. alone, without help (Daniel) 

c. the way they prefer (Daniel) 

d. change the world dramatically (Leila) 

 

Practice and enjoy your English, if you love it, it will love you. 

Anna - Coordinator 

Source: CULT DeA Scuola 2015

12 comments

Teamwork 3

Hello everybody, 

our teen classes can find here a few questions to reply about the subject they/you chose for your team to work on. 

Whoever wants to partecipate is as usual very, very welcome. Adult students can give their contribution referring to themselves when they were teenagers. 

Biking: 1.what do you think of using a bicycle in towns and cities? 

2. What are the positive aspects of cycling and the negative ones? 

3. When do you use a bicycle? 

4. Where do you go? 

My Space: 1. can you describe your bedroom to your mates in class? 

2. Please draw a map to make us better understand what it is like. 

3. Did you decide how to furnish it? 

4. Who helped you? 

 

See you in class, enjoy your English 

Anna - Coordinator 

 

 

 

3 comments

Teamwork 2

Good morning, afternoon, evening, 

thank you so much Eleonora for appreciating our very brief article about Gandhi. He was only seventeen when he understood that using the language of the British Empire for freedom purposes would have doubled the effects of communication, making people feel free to spread  what they strongly believed in: freedom is everybody's right!    

To make it easier our work, since time flies and technology sometimes doesn't help, today please

1. choose among the pages from a text book we uploaded on the previous page; 

2. choose also one or more partners to work with and

3. come to class with ideas of yours, notes written and present the topic to your mates.

We all are very interested in listening to you and to the following conversation. 

Enjoy your English and involve families

 

Anna - Coordinator 

Source: Pages from Get Thinking - Cambridge University Press - 2015

 

1 comment

Teamwork



1 comment

Teens and Screens

 

Good morning, afternoon, evening,

 

this is team homework mainly for all our teenager students, but any other is very, very welcome to partecipate. 

Decide which classmates you want to work with, read this page and give as a group your answers to the questions below or write your ideas and comments.

What time of the day do you enjoy most?

What do you prefere doing at school?

What do you like doing in your free time?

What do you do with your computer and smart phone? 

Are there any negative aspects in always carrying a smartphone with us or using other digital devices?  

Let us know, it is so interesting to know what you think. 

 

Enjoy you English, see you in class, 

Anna - Coordinator

Source: Get Thinking, Cambridge University Press 2015, Student's Book  

 

1 comment

Healthy Lifestyle

       

 

Good morning, afternoon, evening,  

 

in class we listened to this article and the following conversation was so stimulating!

Do you agree that body and mind are deeply intertwinned?

What is the role played by exercising in your life?

We said it's important to become aware of this importance if action has to be taken. With no consciousness there's no decision to start something new.

How many perceptions can we develop to produce never ending resources?

Which ones do you base your daily life on?  

Let us know what you think and what your experience is.

Enjoy your English and practice it.

Anna - Coordinator 

Source: Speak Up January 2015 

Thank you Maria Luisa,

just a few words here after listening to your comment in class:

Latin capital letter, you can find context and other spelling kistakes by yourself. Coordinate subject and verb, singular singular, plural plural. When speaking in general no articles before nouns.

See you in class, Anna 

2 comments

A Short Story

      'morning, 'afternoon, 'evening,                                                                                                               thank you Fabio for your accurate comment. There would be so much to enquire about your last answer,  what it means being a native speaker of a Language the way you mean. 

We think that being a native speaker of a Language is a very special condition; it refers to where and who we were born with, to the languages we have been speaking and listening to, for sure.

But there's also the condition of feeling close to a native speaker of that Language, because you share the same reality the language represents.

Being communicatevely competent should be feeling at easy sharing this same world.

It is a deep feeling, a very strong bond with the Language and people who speak it, that allows you to behave, to embody the language itself and be like any other who speaks it. Being united by the same Language, capable of communicating, comparing realities, sharing feelings and ideas.  

Let's go straight to our article: we have read this short story in class dividing it into three parts for three different groups of students; each group had to guess what the whole story was about and compare ideas with the other two. Only after saying the content of each part listening as much as possible to the other groups, students have been allowed to read the whole story. 

They did that and enjoyed this very good teamwork without knowing the title of the story, since it had been cut off from their copies. 

Try here to summarize the story catching the humor, but focus on what strikes you most. 

Have a good job! 

Anna - Coordinator

Source: Speak Up, February 2015 

 

 

Add new comment

Pleasure to meet you!

Good morning, afternoon, evening, 

if you think it's useful having a few preliminary notions to behave properly when meeting English speaking people, then read the article.  

Do you have any experience with American or British people?

Have you noticed any differences from us in their behaviour when meeting new people? 

What is the meaning of "Hi ya" in informal English? 

What is the context for using "All right?" by young people? 

Before having a look at Quora, second page, give your own answer to the question: 

"What can a non-native speaker do to achieve native fluency?"

We are very interested in each one's answer. 

Think of the reverse side of the phenomenon, how non-native speakers of Italian become fluent. 

See you in class, enjoy your English 

Anna - Coordinator 

Source: Speak Up February 2015 

 

No problem Smart Watch Prices, continue visiting  our blog.  All the times something nice is written in English, thet's the topic.

Unfortunately I am not the designer of the blog, I mean the technical planning. I'll try to find it out! Thank you, Anna 

3 comments

Niagara Falls

             

 

Good morning, afternoon, evening,

 

back to Canada and mesmerizing shows! 

Contextualize the Horseshoe in this article and the Bridal Veil. Try to make people understand what they are with your writing. 

Why is there the risk of  not being a natural wonder any more? 

Visit the web sites and write down/tell us in class your comments and how possiblities of visiting the spot are organized.  

 

We will listen to the interview with Petra Aykler in class so to role-play acting as a tour guide for the Falls. 

 

Enjoy your English,  

 

Anna - Coordinator  

 

Source: Speak Up, January 2015                          

 

 

1 comment

Wow, London Skyline!

Good morning, afternoon, evening,

 

"the driving and creative force that is transforming the economy and society, and which has advantages and disadvantages for different social groups, is still to be taken seriously because it is generating in London many activities and valuable opportunities to work lacking with us.

For centuries the pedagogy of the Nordic countries has promoted a hands-on learning, cooperative, based on problem solving, which offers the most young people the tools to fit more easily into work at the end of their schooling.

The futuristic buildings that have changed the urban London seemed to me the continuation and the materialization of the activities done in the school during the course of which the teachers glimpse the path suited to the future surveyor, electrician, mechanic, architect, engineer, to the banker, the financier, the artist". 

Make yourselves feel this magnificence even more fascinating and attractive so to take important decisions for your entire life.

 

What about Italian education?

Is problem solving an Italian approach to reality so to turn any problems into opportunities and learn how to cope with them and create new working outcomes?

What is your experience of London? 

Any recent one? 

 

In case anyone interested in sharing the experience of this blog can read this message, please send an email for further inquires. At the bottom of the page there's the email address. It will be a pleasure reading you and replying.

 

Enjoy your English and any place where it is spoken!  

 

Anna - Coordinator

Source: Arrigo Speziali, ACLE Italy Director

 

Thank you Daniele, I may not have lots of instruments to evaluate the quality of life in the cities, but the very first impression you have in London is that of a lively city, with that driving force that is lacking in Italy, maybe all over the country. Your lucid evaluation of the quality of Italian schhools and school reforms are the sign of a still existing capability by young people to understant the base of all Italian problems. Education is not seen as an area to invest on, thinking of it as the best way to have a better future.

The system of cooperative too in Italky is frequently a mask to hide other interests.

Going abroad is a chance to take with no hesitation, without excluding the one that is the greatest bond with our country: to fight all the times it is possible to improve everybody's living conditions, becoming competent and resolute to claim for people's rights.

Italy is a stagnant country, with other priorities than its citizens' serenity, rights and happiness. But it is our duty first to improve ourselves then the square meter surrounding us all the time.

2 comments

Winter Solstice

Good morning, afternoon, evening, 

 

they continue to call it a mistery.

What's your idea about Stonhenge?

Do you know any other Neolithic monument and/or place? Think of Italy too.

Season's Greetings, Anna - Coordinator

Source: Speak Up December 2014  

 

1 comment
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