New words – 10 November 2014

About Words - Cambridge Dictionary blog

smartgun

smart gunnouna gun with various technologies, such as proximity sensors and biometrics, that are intended to improve gun safety

The so called ‘smart gun’ has recently been causing tension in both the EU and US firearms industries.

[www.bbc.co.uk 23 May 2014]

barrel bombnouna type of improvised explosive device made from explosives packed into a barrel

Since the end of 2013, government forces have waged a deadly aerial campaign in the city using barrel bombs, allowing them to make several gains.

[www.bbc.co.uk 28 April 2014]

The Syrian air force has used so-called ‘barrel bombs’ dropped from aircraft to try to put down a rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad.

[www.bbc.co.uk 30 May 2014]

genericidenounthe use of a brand name to mean a class of similar items and the consequent dilution of that brand name’s potency

Cue rival businesses, circling the exposed brand and swooping to attach…

View original post 48 more words

New words – 13 October 2014

About Words - Cambridge Dictionary blog

spoonula

spoonulanouna cooking implement that is a combination of a spoon and a spatula

Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook on low-medium, scraping and folding the mixture with a silicone spoonula (I love this one).

[thehhouseblog.com 06 April 2014]

clean eatingnounthe dietary practice of avoiding processed, refined foods and eating fresh wholefoods

Take BuzzFeed’s Clean Eating Challenge, Feel Like A Champion At Life

[www.buzzfeed.com 07 May 2014]

nanofoodnounfood containing nanoparticles of silver to prevent spoilage and prolong shelf life

‘Major food companies are investing billions in nanofood and nanopackaging,’ Friends of the Earth stated in a 2014 report.

[m.motherjones.com 11 June 2014]

About new words

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Writing Competitions

Hey everyone! 😀 Sorry for not being active last week, I was at the linguistics seminar at Petnica Science Center (http://www.petnica.rs/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27&Itemid=41). It was amazing! I’ll write a blog post about it as soon as I find the right words to describe the time spent there. 🙂

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about some writing competitions…

1) Konkurs za najbolji literarni rad ili strip na engleskom jeziku

“My English Book 2014”

Pozivamo sve učenike uzrasta osnovnih i srednjih škola iz Republike Srbije da nam pošalju svoju priču, esej, pesmu ili strip na engleskom jeziku na temu po sopstvenom izboru.

Stručni žiri doneće odluku o izboru više najboljih radova, koji će biti objavljeni u knjizi “My English Book 2014”. Knjiga će imati svoju promociju na Beogradskom sajmu knjiga u oktobru 2014. godine, a tri najbolja rada po oceni žirija biće i posebno nagrađena.

Rok za dostavu radova: 10. maj 2014. godine
Proglašenje nagradjenih i dodela nagrada: 7. jun 2014. godine

Vaše radove možete dostaviti na e-mail adresu: myenglishbook@englishbook.rs ili poštom na The English Book, Staro sajmiste 29, 11 070 Beograd.

2) Macmillan Short Story Writing Competition

http://www.macmillanreaders.com/short-story-competition

That’s all for now… 😉 Good luck and have a nice day!

Luka R.

Okružno takmičenje iz engleskog jezika za osmake – testovi

Regional English Language Competition for 8th Graders – Preparation Tests

Hey guys! Remember the post before the Municipal competition? Well, this is pretty much the same thing. 😀 I’ve already said everything you need to know, so I’ll just wish you good luck! You’ll definitely need it.

Here are the tests, all stumbled up:

http://sdrv.ms/1caDwzi

You will find various tests, for all three stages of the competition (years 1997-2013). You don’t have to do all of them now… Leave some for later. 😉

Also, here are some tests your peers from Croatia do at competitions. You are able to check them out thanks to professor Aleksandra! I agree, it’s a great idea to practice as much as you can. Of course, you have to know when’s enough. 😀

If you found this post useful, please share it. And if you’d like to receive my posts directly to your Inbox, why not subscribe to my blog?

Bye!

Luka R.

ENGLESKI ONLINE

                                                           

               Još par dana do okružnog, pa nije na odmet provežbati sve testove do kojih dodjete. Nikad se ne zna na šta ćete da naletite. Srećno!

2008  – svi nivoi 

2009 – svi nivoi

2010 – svi nivoi

2011 – svi nivoi

2012 – svi nivoi

2013 – svi nivoi

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И заједничко ћутање пуно је узбудљивог разговора

Ciao everyone! What’s up? This is my Serbian essay. My friends seemed to like it, so I decided to post it here. You can read it both in Serbian and English (I didn’t want to publish only the English version, because it doesn’t sound the same when translated. It somehow loses the true value. I did my best and hope, among others, that foreign visitors will receive the real message (if there is one anyway :D) and realize the means of this essay). Share your impressions in the comments. 🙂 By the way, the topic of the essay is: “Shared silence is also full of exciting talk”.

______________________________

„Речи су врло често сувишне и превише опасне. Њима се грли, милује, вређа, удара. Ћутање, пак, ретко коме може наудити. Оно говори кад речи не могу. То је наш једини одговор у поједином тренутку. Покрет руку, мимика, осмех, загонетан поглед…

У животу постоје веома посебне особе са којима пролазимо кроз воду и ватру. Заједнички доживљаји нанизани као пера на концу пријатељства која красе сваки тренутак проведен крај ње.“

Многи кажу да је љубав нешто најлепше на свету. Чини да се осећамо узбуђено, и у исто време, преплашено. Једноставно нас чини бољим људима. Чудна је та љубав – свако је схвата другачије, на неки свој начин. Вероватно зато нема ниједне потпуно одговарајуће, праве дефиниције тог тајанственог појма који је стар колико и само човечанство. Уосталом, коме треба дефиниција…

Сваког дана једва чекам да видим тај предиван, искрен осмех, те тајанствене окице боје дивљег кестена, то прелепо бело лице и лепршаву бујну косу како пролазе поред мене, остављајући веома јак утисак и мирис шумских јагодица. Од накита носи једино очи. Њен стидљив осмех упућен мени довољан је. Ах, тако се лепо смеје, дан ми улепша! Једно њено „ћао“ скрива хиљаду емоција… Одаје је, жели нешто да ми каже. Можда она не мисли тако, али све је већ речено. Ни ја не могу све да држим у себи… Тог тренутка све наше бриге нестају, гледајући једно друго и благо се осмехујући. Тај неописиви моменат траје свега неколико секунди, а за мене, то је читава вечност. Та слика вредна је хиљаду речи. Ту слику треба проживети, искусити. Упустити се у неповратну дубину њеног нежног погледа и тамо остати заувек. Мислио сам да је пролећна трава зелена, а онда сам видео њене очи. Живот је леп!

 – Упс! Извините… – налетех на једног професора.

Док сам се прибрао и окренуо, није је више било. Однела ју је река људи, ужурбано пролазећи кроз тесан ходник. Штета, било је лепо док је трајало.

На следећем часу био сам неуобичајено одсутан, другачији. Сви су навикли да гледају марљивог Луку, увек расположеног за шалу. Руку на срце, и даље сам такав. Само ми је требало мало времена… да се вратим у реалност, да бар на тренутак побегнем од њених бисерних очију и јарко-црвених усана које се лагано осмехују. Надам се да ћу се повратити пре следећег сусрета. Ех, шта један наизглед обичан тренутак може да учини човеку!

 – Лука, је л’ све у реду, нешто си замишљен данас? – упита ме професорка.

 – Да, да, све је океј. Хвала.

Малопређашна ситуација на ходнику оставила је толико јак утисак на мене да читав дан ништа нисам могао да радим. Само сам седео и лутао својим разбацаним мислима… Било је девојака до сада, али ова је специјална.

.   .   .

Ма колико год се трудили, не можемо се ваљано испричати. Није све у речима. Зато је ту тај осмех који чини да на тренутак заборавимо на све и уживамо у животу. То све говори. Али ипак, делује тако нестварно…

„Питао сам професора шта је то љубав, рекао је да није учио тај предмет. Питао сам возача шта је то љубав, рекао је да не зна за тај пут. Питао сам лудака шта је то љубав, рекао је да је то разлог због којег је постао луд.“

 _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _

 _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _

“Words are often redundant and too dangerous. They are hugs, caresses, insults, strikes. Silence, however, can rarely hurt anyone. It speaks when words can’t. That is our only answer in a particular moment. A single hand movement, facial expression, smile, mysterious glance…

There are very special people in life with whom we last through thick and thin. Shared experiences are strung like feathers along the string of friendship that adorn every moment spent by her side.”

Many people say love is the most beautiful thing in the world. When you look in her eyes and she’s looking back in yours… everything… feels… not quite normal. Because you feel stronger and weaker at the same time. You feel excited and at the same time, terrified. The truth is… you don’t know what you feel except you know what kind of man you want to be. It’s as if you’ve reached the unreachable and you’re not ready for it.

Every day I can’t wait to see that that wonderful, sincere smile, those mysterious eyes the colour of a chestnut, that beautiful white face and swaying luscious hair passing by me, leaving such a strong impression and the smell of forest strawberries. The only jewelry she wears are her eyes. Her shy smile addressed to me is enough. Oh, she has such a nice smile, my day embellished! One her “hi” hides a thousand emotions. It reveals her, she wants to tell me something. She might not think so, but it’s all been said. Neither can I keep everything to myself. At that moment, all our worries disappear, looking at each other and smiling mildly. That indescribable moment lasts only a few seconds, but feels like eternity. That picture is worth a thousand words! That picture should be lived, experienced. Engage in the irreversible depth of her gentle eyes and remain there eternally. I thought vernal grass was green until I saw her eyes. Life is beautiful!

 – Oops! I’m sorry… – I bumped into a professor.

When I pulled myself together and turned around, she was gone. A river of people took her downstream, hurriedly passing through the narrow corridor. Too bad, it was nice while it lasted.

At the next class, I was clearly away, different. Everyone is used to the industrious Luka, always in the joking mood. To be honest, I’m still like that. I just needed a little time… to get back to reality, to escape from her pearly eyes and bright-red lips slightly smiling. At least for a moment. I hope I’ll succeed before our next encounter. Oh, what a seemingly ordinary moment can do to a man!

 – Luka, is everything alright? You seem a bit conceived today… – a professor asked me.

 – Yes, yes, everything’s just fine. Thank you for the concern. – I replied.

The situation in the hallway earlier that day has left such a strong impression on me that I wasn’t able to do anything the whole day. I was just sitting and wandering through my scattered thoughts… There have been girls so far, but this one is special.

.   .   .

“A little voice of yours makes me feel alive,
A little hug of yours makes me feel happy,
A little care of yours makes me feel perfect,
A little love of yours makes me feel complete,
& a little ignorance of yours kills me inside.
I find my reason for living in those moments.
No matter how much it might hurt,
It will be totally worth it”

.   .   .

We cannot have a proper talk, no matter how hard we try. It’s not all in the words. Therefore is that smile that makes you forget about everything for a moment or two and enjoy life. That says it all. But still, it seems so unreal…

“I asked a professor what love is, he told me he hadn’t studied that subject. I asked a taxi driver what love is, he said he hadn’t heard of that street. I asked a madman what love is, he said that was the reason he became insane.”

______________________________

If you found this post useful, please share it. And if you’d like to receive my posts directly to your Inbox, why not subscribe to my blog?

Bye! 😀

Luka R.

Atmospheric Pressure

2014-01-29-1252[1]2014-01-29-1253[1]

Unconditionally Slender

Creatively English

Slender in woods

We sneaked into the school’s darkest classroom. We shut the door, made sure the wooden blinds were securely closed, turned off the light, switched on a single torch and began studying Slender Man themed conditional sentences.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/204034371/Unconditionally-Slender

So much fun. 🙂

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The Atmosphere

2014-01-29-1247[1]2014-01-29-1248[1]2014-01-29-1250[1]2014-01-29-1251[1]

Opštinsko takmičenje iz engleskog jezika za osmake – testovi

Municipal English Language Competition for 8th Graders – Preparation Tests

Hey guys! It’s time to start testing your knowledge before the first competition. 🙂 Are you afraid? Well, don’t be. Just concentrate and don’t think about the results much. You can do it. I believe in you! The test is not that difficult, you’ll see it yourself. There’s not much to say about the competitions… I suppose you are familiar with most of the ‘tips and tricks’. Never do this: http://goo.gl/TpQqgT, although you shouldn’t leave any question unanswered. Always write something, even if it makes no sense. xD Remember, there is no answer scheme, so don’t get confused because you marked most of the answers B or such. You only have to free your mind and do your best! Trust me. 😉

Here are those tests, all stumbled up:

http://sdrv.ms/1caDwzi

You will find various tests, not only for Municipal, but for Regional and Republic competitions, too (years 1997-2013). Don’t bother doing all of them now… Just go over the ones for Municipal competition, and leave others for later.

If you found this post useful, please share it. And if you’d like to receive my posts directly to your Inbox, why not subscribe to my blog?

Ciao,

Luka R. 🙂

ELT: Teaching English Comma Rules

BroadyELT

;Please cut and paste links into new browser windows

Lesson Plan Ideas:

http://www.eds-resources.com/edcommas.htm
-This lesson plan is designed for junior high and high school students on identifying and applying commas correctly in sentences.

http://www.myenglishteacher.net/usingcommas.html
– Discusses the importance of commas

*After introducing commas to students, we use sentence strips and elbow pasta to identify where students need to use commas correctly.

Videos:

http://www.brainpopjr.com/search/?keyword=commas
– This provides you with two videos on commas (with clauses/ with lists and adjectives)


– These two videos explains the correct ways to use commas

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