Time marches on...
Crikey! Half way through another year already! Where does all the time go? As you get older, the days, months and years seem to pass more quickly. I'm happy to say that I'll be with you for another month, so let's enjoy it while we can...
I'd like everyone to put their hands together and give a warm round of applause for Taru, who’s been blogging with us this last few weeks and has given us all plenty of food for thought. I don’t say goodbye because I hope she will keep reading and send us her comments from time to time. Thanks Taru – great job! You have a really great ‘turn of phrase’ in English, in other words, you use the language really well and with imagination. I hope that you have learnt something this month and will reflect on the experience and think of it as a positive one. Look forward to hearing from you again soon.
Welcome Jiae – what an impressive first post! I’d be interested to know a bit more about the summer school you are currently enjoying. How does it work? What do you study? What other activities do you do there?
I spent a short time in Korea last year, in fact I took a ferry from Pusan across to Japan. I was just passing through so I didn’t have time to stay there, so I’ll be interested to hear more about your trip. Can you guess or do you know where the photo below was taken?
Dream destinations
I promised to write about my dream destination but, now I’ve thought about it, it seems like a thankless task. How can I possibly choose one out of so many? I’ve travelled a fair bit, and although I was born and grew up in a city, what really floats my boat is nature; landscapes, scenery, mountains and lakes, islands, sea, forests, flora and fauna. That’s not to say I don’t like cities – they’re exciting and vibrant and also great places to visit. But experiencing the beauty of the natural world speaks to my soul, gives me peace, fills me with awe and wonder, with joy and sadness at the same time, makes me feel powerless but at the same time empowered.
thankless task - a task you have to do for which you will get no reward
a fair bit - quite a lot
floats my boat - interests and excites me
A new challenge for today’s post. I’ve decided to try to describe, in exactly 50 words, a memorable experience I’ve had on my travels. When I was teaching in Ecuador, I used to enjoy weekends outside the city in the Andes, walking and climbing. Two friends and I decided to climb the highest peak in the country. Here’s my description.
Chimborazo
We climbed through the night, through snow, ice, cold and exhaustion. Ice axe, crampons, frozen breath. Dawn broke, at last - the summit. Breathless relief and exaltation – we had made it. As far as the eye could see, snow, volcanoes, clouds, everything white. For a moment, it belonged to us.
Think of a memorable experience you have had – can you describe it in exactly 50 words? It’s harder than it seems as you have to choose each word really carefully. I look forward to reading your descriptions! (this activity is loosely based on the idea of the 'minisaga')
Comments corner
Adek – I wonder why tennis isn’t so popular in Poland. Is it because the facilities are not so good? I think it's quite surprising as lots of other countries in Central and Eastern Europe have produced so many great players.
Hi Bahij, well done for trying to correct those mistakes. It’s not an easy exercise for any level – I don’t want the exercises I set to be just for high level students. Please keep trying the exercises! You can also learn from other students’ comments when they try to do the same exercise.
Thanks Valeria, Wimbledon is quite unique in terms of atmosphere, tradition and history. It’s a wonderful place to visit, even for people who are not great tennis fans.
Cheikh Vall, I deliberately put some mistakes with verb tenses as a way to see whether students were able to recognise them as they often make similar mistakes. There's more than one way to skin a cat…. 'An orderly line would form' is fine as the orderly line is seen as the subject of the sentence. The line is seen as forming itself (rather than being formed by an outside agent). Another example might be 'The queue grew longer as the day went on' (not was grown).
Hello Sora! Yes, it is possible to book tickets in advance for Wimbledon, but it has to be quite a long time in advance. Some people enter a special ‘raffle’ and are lucky enough to win tickets. I only decided to go at short notice so I wasn’t able to buy a ticket – still, it was certainly worth going, despite the queue!
Toni, I’m sorry you couldn’t be with us for the past month. Better late than never though, and I hope you’ll keep checking out our blog for July.
Hyoshil, you’re almost a grammar genius, but in fact you’re a plucky loser! Look at number 6 again… To be fair to the referee, it must have been difficult having divided loyalties between the two players. A yellow card for dissent seems like a fair punishment to me – in fact, maybe you’re lucky it wasn’t red!
Leila, I hope it’s a healthy addiction for you! It sounds like you have some fond and still vivid memories of your time here, I hope you had fun reminding your daughter of those times. Marianna, thanks for reminding me about homework – I’ll have to set double for my next post! Benka, the ‘cult of celebrity’ is something which I find really hard to understand. Why does having a large fake chest and a pink horse make somebody a role model? Ana Ivanovic, from the little I know of her, seems to be a good role model. I just hope her head doesn’t get turned by all the stuff that seems to accompany women’s sports these days, or that if it does, it doesn’t distract her from her gift, which is tennis. Abdisamad, your English is very good – in your comments it’s hard for me to find any mistakes. Where did you learn English? What is the ‘status’ of English in Uganda? I admit that I’m surprised to learn that it rains all the time in Kampala – I guess we all have our preconceived ideas of places and it’s good to have them corrected sometimes. Asma, thanks for putting me right about the storms – can you rephrase this sentence: ‘the more stronger the wind, the more severe will be the storm’? Ana Paula – I didn’t realise Star Wars had such a loyal following in Brazil - glad you enjoyed yourself at that and 'bloomsday'.
Comments
Thank you Jim. You was very poetry when descripe "your dream travelling destination". See You
Hi Jim, I hope everything's Okey with you. I'm glad to hear that you'll be with us for July, that's wonderful to hear. I see how lucky we are to be able to have a teacher for two months. I'm also very pleased to hear that you loved the idea of the rain-soaked city of Kampala. And it really is. On the other hand, of course I'm going to be honest with you by telling you where I studied English. To begin with, I learnt English at the school of adult and continuing education at the American University in Cairo. You know, learning a foreign language in adulthood can be challenging , however, I'll keep my head up. I do hope that you'll be able to have a relaxing and quiet moment with us during this month of July. Well done! I wish you all the best future, Abdisamad
Hello, Jim! I like remembering the time when I was a teenager and spent the time with the friends, what else would possibly teenagers do, but this hangout is dedicated to my best friend Daniela, who holds that title even today, so, because of that I’m fond of the memory. We went fishing in a wooden boat on the calm sea at night, throwing nets, lightening the lamps, pulling the nets out of the sea. We were selling the sardines at the market. We banked the money. That autumn we paid the tuition fees with our savings. Ana Ivanović is a UNICEF’s ambassodor and I completely trust her to stay true to herself. I must have some guidance or unshaken belief in good people that will keep me going. If I can't find it in my life around me amongst the close people,I don't lose hope, I take a broader view.
Hi Jim, You posted so much beautiful picture of Mahatama Budha, a apostle of peace, that I was forced to make this picture a Wall Paper of my PC just to infuse into mind a peace while it is in inactive condition. Thanks.
Oh, Jim I already worried of time running too fast these days but you remind me to think of it again. Though anything we can get back in the life but time, only pros of passing time is we get new opportunities and challenges, and the joy of reminisce. I am quite baffled why it has been decided to be 24 hrs a day, is it because the nature permits us to utilities only that much time and it knows we get fatigue if we go beyond that. Or else, we accustomed to adapt to the nature and decided to stick to 24 hours. Whatever, as long as we enjoy every moment in life that should be fine. And only the time can decide on realizing our dreams even though we have willpower to make it happen. Okay, let me see whether I can manage the feat to write about my memorable experience in 50 words. Here I go -“I revel on hunting my first job where the competition for the position was huge. I attended interviews in at least 50 companies within 90 days but failed to clear. Now, after some years, I am in a position to reject their offers and did so. My hardworking paid off.” Look forward for your next comments as usual.
Hi.HANGING ON THE BBC LE: I can´t resist. Are you on the way getting yourself on the Celebrity-teacher´s Olymp? Bravo! Alex is the one I read repeatedly with delight. I wondered where Kampala lies. Having a look into pocket Atlas I wasn´t surprised about the rain. Learning continues. Any better experience for me! Let´s go!
Hi Jim I am glad to hear that you will be staying with us for another month. I really like the way you respond to every person individually. It makes you feel that your message has been read carefully and responded to it accordingly. Although, it is not an easy task to read so many comments and reply to them but you do it brilliantly. On top of my head I couldn’t think of anything that could be outlawed in cricket. The Ashes is starting soon, so I might be able to come up with something when I watch it played. Now about a memorable experience: I am going to talk about my first ever interview experience for postgraduate studies. So lets get started. After a lot of preparations and thinking the day finally arrived. I was very nervous and couldn’t wait to be over with. I waited nervously outside the interview room and finally, I was called in. Four people interviewed me but it wasn’t as nerve braking as I thought it would be. I was relieved when it was over. This is it for today. Hope you have great time with us. Take care Rabail
Hi Jim, It was summer holidays of my school days. My friends used to go to water falls near my home town. It is situated 20kms from my home town. We were cycling to reach the spot. It took more than one hour to reach our destination. In the mid way we had a break and swam in the pond. After had wonderful swimming in the pond started again to go the falls. Again we enjoyed bating in the falls. Then we opened the bottles to drink. From our home town to the falls lots of mango trees are grown up well. We intruded the mango grooves and plucked the mangoes. It was thrilling and enjoyable. Will the school days come again to enjoy.
Hi Jim, It's great that you are with us one more month. Recently we went to Mountain Jabel Hafeet. Let me try to recall and squeeze it in fifty words:-Jabel Hafeet is in Alain. It's 1500 meter's tall. There is an excellent road, newly built which takes you to the top of the mountain. You can see a private palace and a hotel close by. From the top you can see the view down, which is mainly a desert area with no trees and flowers, you can only see few birds flying. Best regards and take care.
A peaceful picture Jim, my homework goes as follows: Samaria Gorge astounds you. The ravine in Crete measures your might, the gorge starts at an altitude of 1227 meters near the village of Omalos and ends after an 18 kilometers walk at Agia Roumeli. On arrival to the end destination your legs are throbbing and a bathe in the sea is well earned.
Hi Jim It’s nice to know you have had a little taste of my country. I hope you got a good impression of Pusan. Have you ever had any students from Korea in your class? The place where you took the picture is on the tip of my tongue, but I am afraid I ca you the place’s name. To be honest with you, it is very tempting to ring my mum, who knows a lot of Buda’s statues in temples in Korea. But I’ve have decided to wait your answer. Cheating is not my cup of tea! About the homework, I thought it would be easy- peasy lemon squeezy for me and I could do it like a shot, but it was a fair bit difficult. I had to rack my brains hard to minimize words. Here is one of my memorable places. We started walking after rambunctious greetings - through pitch-dark, hilly and winding paths - only heard night owls cooing from afar. We were soldiering on sudden steep ascents or descents. We finally reached the snowy, windy and misty summit of Mt.Sulhark-watching the splendid New Year’s sunset break with a bunch of wonderful friends. Could you please let me know how I did? I have singing hearts because you’re with us another month to help us. Have a wonderful day!
Hi Jim It’s nice to know you have had a little taste of my country. I hope you got a good impression of Pusan. Have you ever had any students from Korea in your class? The place where you took the picture is on the tip of my tongue, but I am afraid I can’t remember the place’s name. To be honest with you, it is very tempting to ring my mum, who knows a lot of Buda’s statues in temples in Korea. But I’ve have decided to wait your answer. Cheating is not my cup of tea! About the homework, I thought it would be easy- peasy lemon squeezy for me and I could do it like a shot, but it was a fair bit difficult. I had to rack my brains hard to minimize words. Here is one of my memorable places. We started walking after rambunctious greetings - through pitch-dark, hilly and winding paths - only heard night owls cooing from afar. We were soldiering on sudden steep ascents or descents. We finally reached the snowy, windy and misty summit of Mt.Sulhark-watching the splendid New Year’s sunset break with a bunch of wonderful friends. Could you please let me know how I did? I have singing hearts because you’re with us another month to help us. Have a wonderful day!
Congratulations to me and my blogmates for your staying with us for one more month and hopefuly more.I was wondering how could you manage to take care of all the comments`details at the same time and answer every one as if you were his sole tutor and then thought to my self maybe he forgets this is the BBC blog and deal with it as he does with his class one.I would not try to describe an experience with 50 words as I have not reached that point where i can limit the number of words when i write in this language .But i do enjoy reading it and collect new words from it. Thank you and have a nice weekend
Hello Jim, It's nice to know that you'll be around for another month. This way I'll have a chance to follow your posts more regularly. Especially because this is a month off, or maybe half a month, in my job. I can't really say where you took that picture you showed us, but I'll risk to say it was in some eastern country. I'm not very good at geography. I haven't traveled much in my life. At least not long and exciting trips. But I'll try to do the chalenge you assigned us: - I got there by plane. Itself an adventure for me. A large city full of warm people talking funny. I felt like being abroad. A lot of the country's history took place there. Nice and peculiar food and marvelous beaches with cristal clear water. Salvador is really a great city. Thank you Jim, see you soon. Mauricio.
Hi Jim You can say it thousand times again that time goes fast! There never seems to be 'the present' as if the future is only bridged over the past. I was lost while tramping. Trees were wearing a blanket of moss or liken and often ferns on top of that. Tree trunks were bulged like gored skirts and those roots were seen like tangled snakes. I felt my adrenaline pump as I was forest alone and couldn't find anyone.
Hi Jim. I'm new to your blog even though I've been following it for quite some time. I must say that I really enjoy reading your posts especially because one can see that you have that special touch only experienced teachers have. Now, your last post made me really think. You're absolutely right. Time flies! I've always been sort of 'time-conscious'- I don't want life to just pass by so I try to live for the moment, which, unfortunaltelly, isn't always possible :( The second thing that caught my attention was the homework. I find it challenging. I also travel quite a lot and it's really difficult to pick the most memorable trip, let alone describe it in 50 words. I racked my brain for the most memorable experince I've had on my holidays and wasn't sure what to pick. I finally opted for whale watching in Norway. Here goes: Anxiety began building up when we headed for the open sea. Suddenly, I saw it. A magnificent whale, gently floating on the sea, calm and mighty, exposing itself to the summer sun before diving into the unknown. I gazed in awe and felt more alive than ever. t was overwhelming. There; I hope I made myself clear. It wasn't easy, not at all. Take care and I realy do look forward to reading your new entry. Bye
the picture above was taken in Sorak mountain in Sokcho, my hometown. the place is the most beautiful places in South Korea. have you ever been there? if you did, you would probably be blessed!
the picture above was taken in Sorak mountain in Sokcho, my hometown. the place is the most beautiful places in South Korea. have you ever been there? if you did, you would probably be blessed!
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