Republic Foreign Languages Competition 2009

I am proud to say that Dunja Ilić, VIII2, my most gifted English language student, took part in the Republic Foreign Languages Competition on 16 May 2009, in Surčin. It was a perfect opportunity for her to check her knowledge and show how much she knows. And, she handled everything really well.

The exam consisted of 3 parts: reading and listening comprehension tests, and a grammar test.

My Favourite Person (essays)

Write an article about a person you admire.

• Who is it?  How do you know this person?
• What does this person do?
• What does he/she look like?
• What is that person like? 
• Why do you admire him/her?

Hmmm... I admire Bob Marley, Superman, Spiderman, Nikola Tesla, but the person I admire most is my mother.

Her name is Mara. She is a forty-two-year old, short, and a little bit fat woman. Her eyes are brown. Her hair was once brown, too, but now it is black. She dyes her hair because it has become grey. Why? She is getting older, and we, my brother and me, aren’t very good sons. We have cost her wrinkles on her forehead and a lot of tears and bad yellow minutes. After all, she says that we are good sons and I love that. I love the moment when she tells me that she is proud of me, and that she loves me. She has said that more and more rarely to me, because I have become bad. ’What can I do? You’re in the process of growing,’ she says. Huh, yes...

And, then, the fight... After a few hours we meet half-way and make peace.

My mother is very caring and good. She always says that I must be better at everything, like school, sport and my behaviour. She also says that I must be honest and brave, and things like that. Those are in fact her best qualities.

I love my mother because she is always there for me, to help and to teach. She is the person I admire most.

Đorđe Milosav VIII2, 13 May 2009

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (reading activities)

This is a story about two different sisters. The older one is called Elinor and she represents sense, and the younger one is called Marianne, who represents sensibility.

Elinor is sensible, calm, clever and she hardly ever expresses her feelings. When Elinor finds out that Edward Ferrars, her secret true love, is engaged with another woman, she keeps her pain for herself. Behind her coldness, there is hidden sensibility and a big heart, which belongs to Edward.

Elinor is a generous person, too. She is nice, polite and everybody loves her. Elinor is the smartest in the family. She advises her mother and sisters to make some decisions. She takes care of them and we can see that when Marianne gets ill.

On the other hand, Marianne is sensitive, full of passionate and romantic feelings. She likes having fun and partying all night long. She cannot understand how Elinor can be so cold and not express her feelings.

Marianne believes that true love can only be felt by the young. When she meets Mr Willoughby, who is romantic and passionate just like her, she falls in love with him. The time that she spends with him is the most pleasant and romantic time she has ever had. When Mr Willoughby comes to Marianne to say goodbye to her, because he has to leave the town and Devonshire, Marianne reacts passionately and refuses to talk to him. Here we can see that she is different from Elinor who would probably stay calm at this.

There is also Colonel Brandon, a middle-aged man, who likes Marianne. Is he going to conquer Marianne’s heart?

I liked the book very much. The characters are very interesting and complicated people.

Ivana Grubišić, VIII2, May 2009

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (book review)

The book is about a man who survived the shipwreck and lived on an island for seventeen years.

It is an exciting adventure book. The main heroes are Robinson Crusoe and his friend Friday.

Everything is happening on the island.

Robinson survived the shipwreck and was now safe on shore. He walked about and looked round to see what kind of place he was in. He was wet and had no clothes to change into or anything to drink. He walked inland to see if he could find any fresh water to drink, which he did, to his great joy. As it was growing dark, he decided to get up onto a thick tree and sit there all night. Being very tired, he quickly fell asleep.

When he woke up, the first thing he saw was the ship, now very near the shore. During the next thirteen days he made eleven trips to the ship and brought back food, clothes, tools and a gun. On one side of a small hill he found a big rock with a hollow place like a cave. There he decided to put up a tent. He built a fence round it and brought all the things from the ship.

Robinson stayed on the island for many years. It was a hard life and he was all alone. He had to find food. He learned to grow wheat, made his own furniture, wrote in his diary, and the time passed.

Then, one day, as he was returning from the other side of the island, he sat down for a few moments. He was very tired and fell sound asleep. But, what a surprise when he heard a voice calling out his name, 'Robin, poor Robin Crusoe! Where are you? Where have you been?' Was he dreaming? The voice went on, saying, 'Robinson Crusoe.' He was very frightened. Then, he saw his parrot Poll on a nearby branch. He was far from home, but Robinson immediately knew that it was Poll who spoke to him. He held out his hand and called the parrot by the name Poll. He came to Robinson and sat upon his hand. Poll went on talking to him, 'Poor Robinson Crusoe,' and ''How did I come here?' This was the first time Robinson heard any words but his own on the island. Poll seemed happy to see Robinson again, so Robinson carried him home.

Robinson tried to make his life more comfortable. He made a boat and sailed around the island. One day, at about noon, as he was going towards his boat, he suddenly saw a print of man's foot in the sand. He was very surprised. He listened and looked round him, but could hear nothing. He went up a small hill to look round. He went up the shore, but could see nothing. He went back to the footprint to see if there were any more. He was curious how it got there. Very frightened, he went home. Every two or three steps he looked behind him.

He did not sleep that night. He was wondering if there were other men on the island, how they got there and where the ship that brought them was. Then he thought that the footprint could be his. He felt a little better.

A few days later he went back to the beach. The footprint was still there, but Robinson realised that his foot was smaller. Again he was frightened. For the first time in fifteen years he was not alone on the island!

Robinson Crusoe had a lot of adventures before he finally returned home in England.

I suggest that everyone should read the rest of the book because it is fantastic.

Boris Škapik, VIII2, April 2009

Amazing Creatures (song)

Here's another wonderful song from our coursebooks, greatly enjoyed by my pupils.

The lyrics are:

The world is full of animals
Some are big and tall
Some are strong and dangerous
Some are cute and small.

All creatures are amazing
Just like me and you
Help protect the animals
This is their world, too.

Animals are wonderful
They're beautiful to see
Help them live a happy life
Help them to be free.

The following clips show the performances of my classes V2 and V1 in April 2009.

A Horror Story (story)

Knowing how much my students enjoy a good drama and suspense, I read them the beginning of a story I had come upon and asked them to finish it. The following imaginative essays are the endings they came up with.

...But she was no ordinary woman, she was a witch. ’Come in,’ she said. And they went into the house, which was big, warm and dark. All around the room there were some strange pictures of big, black eyes. Jack and Liza just stood there and looked around. It was a bit cold in the room.
The witch took them to a small, warm room at the back of the house. Jack and Liza were very tired, so they went to bed... But the witch wasn’t tired, no, she wanted to make a spell to curse them. The curse was about those eyes on the pictures. But to make the spells, she needed some hair, so she went up to the room to take one last ingredient – their hair. She took the hair and made the spell, but the spell wouldn’t work if there wasn’t a full moon. And they had to stand on the top of the closest hill.
The next morning, Jack and Liza got up earlier and went on a tour around the house. They found a secret room, where the witch had made her spells, and they decided to run away. So they did.
When the witch woke up, she found the room empty, with a message on the bed saying, ’We know who you are.’ The witch was desperate. She went to the town and tried to find them, but she never came back home. The curse fell on her!

Smiljana Karadžin, VIII2, March 2009

The old lady said, ‘Come in.’ Jack and Liza didn’t like her look or her voice. But, they entered the house. It was old and dark inside. The old lady turned on the light. Jack and Liza were very confused. The furniture was huge and white, and they expected something much more different.
The old lady showed them the whole place, and simply disappeared. Jack and Liza didn’t speak. They just put their things down and sat on the bed. They fell asleep and never woke up.
In the morning, the old lady came with her children and ate them. Nobody ever found out what happened.

Dunja Ilić, VIII2, March 2009

The old woman stood there. She had short, dark hair and big, cold, grey eyes. She was looking at Liza and Jack. The old woman invited them to come into the house. They entered a big, dark, cold and scary room. In the room, there was a big fireplace and some old furniture. On the walls, there were some animal heads, and in the air, there was a bad smell. Liza and Jack were frightened.
The woman said to them, ‘Go upstairs. Your room is on the left.’
When they entered their room, they saw an old man sitting on their bed. He was smiling. The man said to them, ‘Congratulations! You are in a trap.’
He opened a big wardrobe and with one swing sent Jack and Liza to the wardrobe. They screamed and tried to escape, but they couldn’t.
Then they heard someone’s steps. The old man opened the wardrobe and took them to another room. The room was full of needles. They had to enter the room and take the key to the middle of the room.
While the old man was unlocking the door, Jack hit him in his head and the old man fell down. They went downstairs and saw the old woman. She was boiling something, and then they saw that she was boiling the heads of some dead people. They were frightened.
Then Liza took the pan hanging on the wall and hit the woman. They ran to the front door, but when they wanted to open it, something started pulling them. They were running in one place.
Then Liza woke up and realised that she had a nightmare. Liza was lucky that it was just a dream...

Ivana Grubišić, VIII2, March 2009

They stood there, speechless, very surprised, when the old lady said, ‘Can I help you?’ Liza said, ‘Yes, we’ve been looking for a house to stay in for the past three hours.’ ‘Come in,’ said the lady. She looked a little bit scary. She had long, curly, black hair. Her dark eyes looked dangerous.
Anyway, Jack and Liza went into her house. It was dark in there, but they were not afraid. The old lady said, ‘Sit down, please. I’ll be right back. Feel yourselves at home.’ They sat down and waited for the lady.
A few seconds later, they heard a scream. Liza suggested Jack to get out of there, but Jack didn’t want to. ‘I’ll go and check out what’s happening,’ Jack said. ‘That’s not a good idea, Jack. I’m going out of this house. It’s quite scary and dangerous, Liza said that, but soon afterwards she agreed with Jack and they went to the other room together.
There was a lot of blood and dead bodies were lying around. The door closed. Liza felt somebody standing next to her and Jack. Somebody was breathing. ‘You are brave kids.’ And she killed them with a big axe. She started to cut their fingers. Suddenly, she heard somebody knocking. There were some other victims there, perhaps. But, who knows, maybe these people would be smarter and run away before the old lady opened the door.

Andrea Tapai, VIII2, March 2009

‘Come in,’ she said. The house was beautiful. They were happy. The old woman told them that the dinner was ready and left.
Jack and Liza went into the kitchen. They found a small piece of paper. It said, ‘Welcome home, Liza.’ That was very strange, because they hadn’t told anyone their names.
After dinner, they went to the living room. Soon, Liza had to go to the bathroom. When she came back, Jack wasn’t there. She started looking for him. ‘Jack, Jack,’ she shouted. ‘Help! Help!’ The sound was coming from the basement.
Jack was there. Five ghosts were there, too. Liza started running away. One ghost caught her. ‘Welcome home, Liza,’ he said. He also told her that he was her great-grandfather. He told her that old, wild-looking woman killed them and their spirits were trapped there.
Liza called the police. The bodies of the spirits were found in the lake. The police arrested the old woman and the spirits were free. Jack and Liza had a beautiful holiday after all.

Boris Škapik, VIII2, March 2009

...The lady said, 'Hello, what brings you to my modest home?; Jack answered, showing the newspapers, 'We saw this ad in the newspapers and we're not sure if it's yours.' 'Yes, it is', answered the lady, 'Would you like to take a look around?' 'We've travelled for three hours, why not?' said Jack.
They came in. A moment later, the door closed. 'Don't worry, it's just the wind,'said the lady. They continued upstairs. The lady led the way. Sudden;y, she started running. Jack and Liza stopped walking. Liza said, 'We'd better go out.' A moment later all the creatures from their nightmares appeared and started eating them.

Pavle Mandić, VIII2, March 2009

Regional Foreign Languages Competition 2009

Two of my oldest students, Ivana Grubišić and Dunja Ilić, both from class VIII2, took part in the Regional Foreign Languages Competition on 21 March 2009.

The exam consisted of 3 parts: reading comprehension test, grammar and vocabulary test and guided composition. Out of 20 competitors, 6 were asked to do the speaking part, but only 3 passed to the next level. With 57 points, Dunja was among them.