1 st school day

 Welcome back to school!

How long is your school year and your summer vocations? What activities do you have on your first school day? Which of them do you like? How do you mark the occasion in your family?

Write about your first school day. I`m looking forward to your comments!

Visit Belarus!

В ходе изучения курса английского языка в пятом классе учащимся предлагают создать визитную карточку страны, своеобразное приглашение в Беларусь для иностранцев. Что мы можем рассказать о своей стране? Какие места посоветуем посетить зарубежным гостям? Это явно тема не одного и даже не двух проектов!

Предлагаю вам ознакомиться с проектом о Лидском замке, просмотреть план и рассказать своим одноклассникам о других интересных городах, замках, музеях и других достопримечательностях Беларуси, руководствуясь этим планом. Вместе вы сможете сделать отличную визитную карточку нашей страны!

Lida Castle

  Lida is a name of a city situated in Grodno Region. Nowadays more than 100 thousand people live in Lida. We can say that today Lida is a big industrial (промышленный) city, it has more than 30 different factories and plants. Of course, we cannot forget about cultural value (ценность) of this city.

Lida was founded in 1323, but some scientists (ученые) think that it is even older. The name of the city comes from the name of the River Lidzeya. There are many places of interest in Lida. For example the Roman Catholic Church built in 1770 in the Baroque style (в стиле Барокко), St. Michail`s Cathedral, houses on Zamkovaya and Sovieckaya streets, Gedemin`s monument and, of course, Lida Castle.

Until the early 14th century, Lida had a wooden castle. In 1323, the Grand Duke (Князь) of Lithuania Gedimin built a brick castle there. Famously built on sand, Lida Castle was not damaged for 7 centuries of battles and wars. Unfortunately, Lida was badly damaged in a fire in 1891 and the stones from the southwestern tower of the castle were used to repair fire-damaged houses.

In the 1920 was began the restoration of the castle walls and in 1940 the Castle of Lida was awarded (присвоен) the status of an archeological monument. Today Lida castle is an all-season tourist attraction. During the summer, knights’ tournaments are regularly held there, in autumn a big musical festival takes place near Lida Castle and in winter the inner yard of the castle is converted (превращается) into an ice-skating rink.

I really recommend you to visit Lida and wish you to have a good time there.

Plan.

1.    Give information about the city.

2.    Tell about the history of the city and about some sights.

3.    Tell about the monument (castle, museum, church). Give information about it`s history or about the person.

4.     Tell what can tourists do (see) there today.

5.    Give recommendations.

Now, use the plan and tell about the most interesting cities and places in Belarus. Use, Wikipedia.org , Belarus.by and other sources.

Good Luck!

Types of houses that we can live in

При подготовке к сдаче экзамена по английскому языку за 11 летний курс изучения, учащимся предлагается порассуждать на тему типы домов и сравнение жизни в городе и в деревне. Данный материал будет в большей степени полезен для подготовки к ответу на экзаменационный билет "Типы домов", т.к. предоставляет основную информацию по данной теме. 

Не стоит забывать, что при ответе на экзаменационный билет выпускникам предлагают описать свой идеальный дом, что может стать рефлексией к прочитанному материалу.

Many centuries ago people lived in caves, than technologies and architecture went forward and nowadays we have all possibilities to choose any type of housing we want. 

   

For those who appreciate quiet life in the country it can be small cozy cottage or even large farm house or luxurious mansion. The advantages of living in such houses is that you have your own land where you can grow fruit and vegetables, make flowerbeds and plant beautiful flowers, lay out an orchard, etc. You can also build some outhouses like a green-house, a garage, a tool shed or an arbour. But the greatest disadvantage of living in a farmhouse or in a cottage, in my opinion, is that it takes much time to get to the nearest town, for example to our office, or to the supermarket to buy products, for children and youth to school, college or university to get better education, as it is known that in Belarus, for instance, the best educational establishments are in big cities, but if you have a car it isn't a problem for you.

 

However, people are trying to live in the city or at least somewhere at the suburbs, as there are all the advantages of both city and country life. In Europe there is such type of housing that is called semi-detached house, or duplex, as Americans call it. Living in this house is cheaper than in the mansion and you always have a neighbor to give you a helping hand, but also you neighbor can disturb you from time to time. In Belarus semi-detached houses are not well spread, as people choose to live in townhouses. Actually they are practically same, but in this case you have to share not only one wall with your neighbor, but you have neighbors on both sides of your house, still it is rather good to live in a townhouse, as you have your private territory and entrance hall. 

                             

If you want to live in the city with all the advantages and disadvantages of busy city pace, you, certainly can choose a flat in a block of flats. It is considered to be the cheapest type of dwelling, but it depends on many factors from size (one-roomed, two-roomed, thee-roomed and etc.) to location (city center or outskirts, disposition of metro stations and city parks). Besides all the advantages of living in a block of flats ,unfortunately we should speak about the convenience of living in such a big house, as in this type of housing you have neighbors everywhere, and your peaceful life depends on them. However mainly people live in flats and disadvantages don`t bother them, as they have possibility to get all modern conveniences from housing services.

In the end I'd like to add that there are many types of housing and all the people have the right to choose where to live. 

So, immagine that you are moving to your own house or flat, describe it, speaking about type, location, its exterior and interior. 

Good luck!

Apartment that can shock you!

We know that most people in Belarus live in flats, but sometimes it is really difficult to say how much space we need to live comfortably.

Watch these videos and fill in the missing information in tasks 1, 2 and 3 (to watch it you should switch to youtube). 

Good luck!

1. 

London`s smallest apartment.

The area of the flat is ________________.

I`m ______________ and this is the length of the flat.

The apartment is a __________ porter`s toilet and clock room.

The estate agent ___________ the location, high ceiling and natural light coming through.

This apartment got more than ____________ viewings.

2.

Paris micro-apartment.

The rent is very high, but it is typical in this ___________.

The area of the flat is __________ sq. meters.

The _______ is quite high, so it was the petty to hide the lights.

The idea was to create the _________ without blocking the ____________.

There was very tinny space for shower, so we choose _______ shower.

For the sink we created a wooden _______, so you can feel a bit of intimacy.

In Paris people live ________ they don`t need many people coming to their home.

3. IKEA Dream Home Tour  (click to open)

IKEA dream house Tour.

Women reflect _____ % of IKEA`s customers.

Small house is showing smart, ________and _______ solutions.

When you need _______ you go in your own room.

Victoria has the most ________ bedroom in soft colours.

With complement intier organizer it is easy to ___________________.

Dahlia has a ________ for travel.

Sofia`s style is ________ and ________.

Sofia`s bedroom is the ___________ in the house.

A living room, dining room and kitchen ___________ together.

The sliding doors can solve the problem of the _________ space behind the desk.

The pull out box are also _________. 

Choosing a career

Выбор профессии - одно из главных испытаний в нашей жизни. Не удивительно, что учащимся, еще не прошедшим через процесс составления резюме, прохождения собеседования и работу в коллективе, трудно судить о сложности овладения какой-либо профессией, а также о качествах, которые могут пригодиться при ее выборе. Данный материал будет полезен всем учащимся выпускных классов, для ознакомления с основными вехами, касающимися получения работы, а также для подготовки к сдаче выпускного экзамена, где им будет предложено порассуждать на тему "Выбор профессии".

To find a job that brings not only money, but also joy and sense of personal fulfillment is a dream that undoubtedly should come true. Each year you should spend on average 253 days working, so it really ought to be time well spent: time when we feel excited challenged, fulfilled.

Too many people start looking for a specific job before thinking out their occupational aims. It is a good idea to begin by attempting to define in clear terms what your requirements are from career, that means taking a realistic view of your strength and weaknesses. We all achieve things and we all have different skills, abilities, qualities and attributes. If you like working to tight deadlines, it is valuable in certain jobs like accountant or programmer.  If you don`t like working under pressure so it will be very difficult for you to have such occupation. For communicative people it will be unbearable to work with numbers, as better jobs for them are teacher, HR-manager, psychologist or even administrator. 

To get a suitable job for you, of course, you should go through a job interview. This thing can easily strike fear into the hearts of many jobseekers. Not to be nervous you should prepare for your interview properly. Think about what you are going to wear on the day, while it is important to “look the part”. Also, remember that your body language says a lot about you – as soon as you meet interviewer keep eye contact without staring at him and smile warmly. You can “mirror” your interviewer`s gestures that makes him feel more comfortable about being around you. And you may ask your interviewer questions about your future duties, working hours and your schedule.

When you are finally hired to the job of your dreams, remember that you should act professionally at all times, be a reliable team player, ask your colleagues for help or give them a helping hand as you all work for the success of your firm. Still, if you work hard and don`t talk behind other`s backs you will become a valued member of the team. 

What kind of job would you like to have in future? Do you have all skills needed for that kind of job?

Why do we say "bottled water is bad"?

Sales of bottled water have quadrupled in the past twenty years. In just the US, sales accountedfor $11.7 billion in 2007, which was the year of record sales. More and more people make health-conscious decisions to buy water instead of soda, sugary juices, and caffeinated drinks. However, one liter of bottled water produces as much as half a pound of greenhouse gases once the plastic is produced and the product shipped halfway around the world. With all the water consumed in the US, you could power 250,000 homes for a year. It's a drain on and an unnecessary use of resources.

Bottled water can be useful, though. For example, it provides a healthy alternative at large events because people will need to buy something to drink. In areas without access to clean water sources, bottled water is beneficial. Yet too many people reach for bottled water instead of tap water at home. Both bottled water and tap water are equally healthy, and tap water costs a lot less. In addition, most people would find it difficult to notice any difference between the two. In taste tests at Ithaca College in New York, tap water beat out bottled water four out of five times.

Many people recycle the plastic bottles, which of course helps the environment. But too many plastic bottles still end up in landfills - in the US, 3900 million pounds (1770 million kilograms). Many states in the US don't redeem plastic, which worsens the problem. More importantly, though, people should strive to reduce their use of resources, reuse resources whenever possible, and lastly recycle resources. All those empty water bottles simply don't allow that.

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Do you agree or disagree? Why?

1.Tap water is better than bottled water.

2.There is a big difference in taste among the varieties of bottled water.

3.I drink at least five bottles of water every day.

4.Bottled water is a waste of resources.

5.I recycle the plastic from bottled water.

Remember how the fragments were used, and complete the sentence from today's article.

1.More and more people make health-conscious decisions to buy water...

2.With all the water consumed in the US, you could...

3.Yet too many people reach for...

4.In addition, most people would find it difficult to...

5.Many states in the US don't redeem plastic...

Talk about the following questions in pairs/groups. Remember to support your answers!

1.How concerned are you with plastic bottles and their use of resources? Why?.

2.Will this article cause you to stop buying bottled water? Why/not?

3.What problem causes the greatest damage to the environment? Why do you think so?

4.If we continue to use resources and pollute, what will the world be like in fifty years? Please explain.

5.Were you surprised by how much Americans pollute? Why/not? How does your country compare

Welcome to Belarus!

 

The republic of Belarus is situated in the heart of Europe at the crossroads of trade routes. The territory of the Republic is 207 thousand square kilometers. On that territory there are numerous rivers and lakes, best known of them are the Neman, The Berezina, The Zapadnaya Dvina, Lake Naroch, Lake Svitiaz and Braslav Lakes. Of course, all those lakes and rivers make our country prone to frequent precipitations that`s why Belarus has a moderate continental climate, with cool humid winters and warm summers.

The population of the Republic is about 10 million citizens. About one sixth of the population lives in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Minsk, or Menesk, was founded on the banks of the Svisloch and the Niamiha Rivers at the beginning of the 11^th century. Having joined to the Great Lithuanian Duchy, Minsk turned out to be among 15 largest towns of the state, so in 1499 it was granted the Magdeburg Right. Unfortunately, practically nothing preserved from those days, but Minsk is still interesting to visit, because of its tremendous history.

Except Minsk, visitors should see Brest, with its Memorial “Brest Fortress”, Grodna, were they can look at the ancient Kolozha Chirch and the Old Castle. In Mir there is one of UNESCO World Heritage list`s Castles – Mir Castle, and in Niasvizh there is a unique architectural masterpiece – Niasvizh Castle. The list won`t be full without Belarussian museum towns of great historical value – Polotsk, Pinsk and Navahrudok.

 

Also, Belarus is a country of outstanding natural beauty. Take for example Prypiats National Park or Berezina Biosphere Reserve, they are an illustration of the virginal nature and an ideal habitat for endangered animals such as golden eagle, black-grouse, black stork and others. I can`t help telling about Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park, which is a closed area with unique flora and fauna.

I would say that the best season to see the beauty of Belarus is either winter, when you can participate in a national celebration – Koliady – people go from home to home dressed like animals or other fairy characters, sing songs and dance and also take part in active winter sports like biathlon in Raubichi; or in summer when there is another traditional celebration – Kupalle – a holiday of nature with its roots deep in ancient times, which won`t let you cold, and a festival of national culture held annually in Grodna.

To sum everything up we can highlight that Belarus is not only the country of great history, but also of natural beauty, a unique country that is full of traditions and tolerant hospitable people.